Friendship

I've never looked down on friendship. And I have never taken my friendship for granted by any mean. Recently, there are some incidents, good and bad included, go through my life which I like to share. And they somehow change the way I feel about friendship in a very positive way.

The first story is about love.
A friend of mine recently broke up with her partner. This is beyond her what she could expect and of course she is so heart broken. So for a while her friends take her go out and keep her company. We go out for lunch and dinner every weekend. We take self-improvement classes every week. Her friends know that this is the time a person need to be surrounded by words of understanding and encouragement and they are there for her. What I learn in this story is that when the love one leaves you behind you have nothing to loose but good friends. Good friends that will care for your lost and they will set aside their personal time to come comforting you. Love could come and go people, but friendship remains the same. And to my dear friend I could not refrain from tendering to her the consolation that may be found among us.

My second story is about death.
My best friend from middle school was diagnosed with bone cancer 7 years ago. He went though all sort of possible treatment - from surgery to chemotherapy to amputate one of his leg finally. During the first month after getting the bad news about the arrant disease, he was depressed and afraid of dying. Friends came to talk and comfort him, encourage him to fight against the disease instead of giving up. He did listen and go through those treatments mentioned above. But my friend was finally sent home to wait for his death because cancer cells had already spread all over. I still remember that he was calm and brave after all. He called me up one day and we had a conversation about God, what he believed in God and what he believe he would go after death. He also told me that he was spending most of his remaining time to read the bible and pray for his poor mom and dad. I remember what he said was one wanted to die. Even people who wanted to go to heaven didn't want to die to get there. And yet death was the destination we all share. No one had ever escaped it. And that was as it should be, because Death was very likely the single best invention of Life. It was Life's change agent. It cleared out the old to make way for the new. Hah, sorry to be such dramatic but it's quiet true.
He died in 2001 leaving a will thanking all the friends who had come to comfort him. His mom is now living in CA and I often come to stay with her and her husband now and then. They both treat me like their late only son.

My last story is about making the connection.
Couple of years of ago, I knew this friend from college. We started studying in a assigned group project originally. Because of my programming skill and the dedication I had for the project, he asked that we should keep in touch and take class together. Later on that year, I took several classes with him. As far as I knew, he was working full-time and going to school partime to refresh his knowledge. So knowing this friend for two years and I didn't have a clue where he worked or what his job was. I think partly because of his down-to-earth personality. As the last semester approached I asked him if he knew anybody hiring because I'd like to have an internship before getting out of college. He said just give him my resume and he would take care of it. And I found out that he is a VP of PROS Revenue management - the world's leader in optimizing revenue software development products. And of course I was hired (after the 6-hour long interrogated interview) and being trusted in the company.

Guess it must be time for bed because I was uttering this kind of gibberish from my mouth and I don't even know what I was talking about anymore. :-)

My Old Friend - Tim McGraw

Californication

This is the song stucking in my head recently "Californication" of Red Hot Chilli Peppers in 2000.
Both the lyrics and the rhythm are excellent.

Doing some research about his song reveals that the song is a protest song about globalization, as with many of the other songs on Californication. It also talks about pornography, and makes several pop culture references, including Star Wars, the Apollo conspiracy theory, Star Trek, Celebrity Skin by Hole, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, and David Bowie's Station to Station.

Californication is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 4th single from their hit album, Californication. It was released in 2000, in which it hit #1 in the USA, and #16 in the UK charts.

Live Football (Not American Football)

World Cup officially starts today with the game between host country Germany and Costa Rica. Haven't seen the whole game yet but watching the highlight of the game, I know this one of the best opening game ever, especially with Germany involves. The German soccer team has been known for their tactical mind-set, steelie mentality, emotionless in playing soccer.

Branded with all kind of nicknames from WWII history like the Panzers, Blitzkrieg, German team comes out of nowhere and plays like the Brazilian of Europe: 4- 2 is the score!!! I don't remember any opening game with that such a high score, not to mention the two beautiful and unbelievable goals from outside of the 16m50 area from Phillipp and Torsten.
I am always a big fan of the German soccer team. This time I also cheer for the USA and England team. The order of precedence is: USA, Germany and England.

Most of the game this time will be in the afternoon. That means all work and no games for the weekday. Thankfully, ABC is kind enough to air the rest of the games on the weekends (totally about 17 games including the finals). Having said that doesn't mean I can't watch the game while working. We have a little satellite TV in the gym. I notice that traffic to the gym is surprisingly high today because people just keep walking back and forth to watch the game for a few minutes.

For me this ain't enough. I want to enjoy the moment more by going to Fry's and pick up the EASports FIFA 2006 soccer game today. And when I get home to play for an hour, I have already led the US soccer team to the second round. Those are the scores of round one. Pray God it becomes true!!! Just remember don't bet your money on it.

USA - Czech : 5 - 2
USA - Italy: 1 - 1
USA - Ghana: 6 - 0

So US advances to the 2nd round as the first seeder.

Here are some screenshots of the game.

Brian McBride already has 8 goals in round 1

Let live soccer this month everybody!

House Warming Party

A friend of mine recently moved to a new high-rise apartment. So we open a house (more like apartment) warming party this weekend.
The apartment is located somewhere in the galleria, on Post Oak street. It's nice, luxury and has all characteristic I would expect from a place like that: valet parking, strict security. It goes this way: you need to ask permission to get to the elevator, to the pool, to the garage, to the restroom...
The nicest thing about this place is the view. From the 23rd floor facing north you can see I-10 and 610 just around the corner and pretty much the entire north-west side of Houston. Imagine how nice it would be sitting outside at the balcony, having a coffee and watch the traffic passing by.

This is the balcony. Interstate 610 s on the right.

As always, simplicity is always the best design in interior decoration. I think I would hire my friend to decorate my house when I get one.

A Word About Astrology

I normally don't believe in astrology and its related methodology of horoscopes. But some of my family members and friends are truly believers in this shit. My grandma used to donate tons of food and money to a so-called "shaman" just because he was a "spiritual" leader of the local cult. Nowadays, every time I hear anyone calls themselves "spiritual" my blood boils. It's just after they mention astrology and before I land a flying elbow to their crotches.

Just today I receive an apprarently junk mail for my birth sign. Read below:

"Warm and sensitive by nature, dear Cancer, today you could be feeling especially sensual, and sex and romance are likely to be on your mind. Steamy novels and romantic movies may seem especially appealing at this time, as could inviting bedclothes and warm bubble baths. Plan a romantic evening with the special person in your life - perhaps have a special candlelight dinner at home."

Astrology signs are based off arbitrary Zodiac symbols drawn by people who also believed that light from stars come from burning chariot wheels. Do people really read this shit?

Warm and sensitive by nature, sensual? What the hell are they talking about? I am "sensitive" and "sensual" everyday! And "sex" and "romance" are on my mind all the time! Also notice how the tone is set by the use of "dear Cancer", as if some ancient sage (aka "Lord of the rings" nerds) is addressing to his old friend.

I especially like the "...could be feeling especially sensual" which appears to cover the astrologer's ass in the unlikely event that the horoscope is horse shit and has nothing to do with anyone or anything in the universe. In fact, that would constitute fraud, frankly, so thankfully they depend on the doctrine of uncertainty to protect psychics everywhere from getting malpractice lawsuits.

Have you also ever noticed how people ask for your birth sign and always say "I knew it" only after you tell them which one? That is because they are full of shit. It really doesn't matter what sign you tell them you are, they always nod with sympathy and say "yeah, you are totally a [insert an asinine symbol here], I can tell". No, you can't tell because you're an idiot. I hate it when people ask me what sign I am. You want to know what my sign is? Here:

German's Wonders

FIFA World Cup this time is in Germany's 12 famous metropolitan areas. Don't know what it is for other people but to me, this country resembles discipline, innovation and aggressiveness!
aggressiveness : WWI and WWII were the proof
Discipline: look at the way German soccer team plays. No wonder they're coined "German tank fleet". But that's for sport. If you happen to have a German client in your business, may god be with you, because they are very demanding customers.
Innovation: numerous ideas ranging from the most numbed-nutted ones to the brightest ones also come from the German: U-Boat, Enigma machine, relativity. Take a look at these "wonders":



The first photo is Munich Stadium for World Cup opening ceremony. And the 2nd and 3rd photos are new parking garage design from Volkswagen facility.

Important Safety Message

I just received this message today. I thought it would be helpful to pass it along. I myself sometimes have to flash the opposite drivers when I drive late at night across the cities. It's just meant to alert sleepy drivers to focus on the road. Or when you need to pass an 18-wheeler and you think that the driver can't clearly see you, you flash! I learned that from a friend who used to be a professional cross-country driver.

Here is the message

---------------Original Message------------------

DON'T FLASH HEADLIGHTS AT CAR WITH LIGHTS NOT ON!!

Police officers working with the DARE program have issued this

Warning: If you are driving after dark and see and on-coming car with no headlights on, DO NOT FLASH YOUR LIGHTS AT THEM! This is a common Bloods member "initiation game"

That goes like this: The new gang member under initiation drives along with no headlights, and the first car to flash their headlights at him is now his "target." He is now required to turn around and chase that car hen shoot and kill every individual in the vehicle in order to complete his initiation requirements. Police Depts across the nation are being warned. Their intent is to have all the new bloods nationwide drive around on Friday and Saturday nights with their headlights off.

In order t o be accepted into the gang, they have to shoot and kill all individuals in the first auto that does a courtesy flash to warn them that their lights are off.

Make sure you share this information with all the drivers in your family! Please forward this message to all your friends And family members to inform them about this initiation ritual.

Tracy Zabel
Washington County Community Corrections
Probation/Parole Officer
14949 62nd St. N Stillwater, MN 55082
(651) 430-6905 phone
(651) 430-6999 fax

Randy Cripe, Director
Elkhart County Sheriff's Department
(574) 535-6510

Be safe.

JavaOne - San Francisco - Day 4

Maybe today's agenda is about AJAX.
11 - 12 Java, Web 2.9 and Ajax
2:45 - 3:45 Dojo Framework for Ajax app
4 - 5 Smackdown for Ajax programming models and frameworks

What surprises me most is that the so-called Ajax is a set of technologies existing in the late 90's. It became a big hit when Jesse James Garrett coined it AJAX in 2005. This leads to my personal conclusion that if you want new/old technologies to soar, you need to create acronyms for them. Numerous examples include POJO, CORBA, WSDL... you name it.

This year JavaOne central talk is also about the new version of NetBeans 5.5. As far as I know, NetBeans has been loosing its market share significantly after the birth of Eclipse 2. And for now, most Java developers don't even bother trying NetBeans anymore. So to that, Sun is trying hard to convince developers about NetBeans' comeback. Every LAB, technical sessions using IDE or debugging tools have to demonstrate NetBeans. I am so disappointed.

I also learn a new experience in this JavaOne: don't set your butts in any LAB sessions. It is such a waste of time. I mean it is nearly impossible to get everybody in the same pace in lab sessions. Some guys are just to quick and finish everything just by reading the instructions while other dimwits scratching their asses, pulling hairs figuring how to use Vi to get the coding part done.
My advice is don't take labs. If you need the material just register for the labs and then come pick up CD-ROMs and books. Just don't waste your time sitting in the labs!

JavaOne after-dark bash (kinda like happy hour for nerds) this year features guys from Discovery channel 's Mythbuster, Weird science and AC/DShe. AC/Dshe concert is huge blast. They are a all-girl band play songs of AC/DC. The funny thing is when Ac/DShe starts playing, all the guys (male/female ratio in JavaOne is about 10 to 1) are drawn to those girls just like ephemeral flies into fire!

Longest line ever for the Dojo session. The line is so long that it has to end somewhere outside Moscone!!!
While waiting in the line, somebody from SCO gives me his company agenda and asks me to support SCO! Friendly reminder: SCO starts the war against Linux community when they decide to sue IBM.

That guy probably couldn't get a clue if it were pounded into his head with baseball bat! And I told him that the day I support SCO the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so cold the "brimestone will go superconductive."

Human bowling @ after-dark bash

Mythbuster and James Gosling open the night

And here is the lovely AC/DShe band

The main vocal is so hot that evrybody takes tons of photos of her