Twilight, from a dude's prospective

I've probably read less books than the average reader, at least that's how i see myself. I think reading is great during idle times during a long ride on a train or during a personal favorite of mine: a "woot-off".

Twilight, when i first heard about it as a movie, seemed uninteresting to me since the main actress that was interviewed seemed to be daydreaming more about the co-star vampire than the movie - from what i remember seeing. So i did not think this movie would be anything i'd be interested in. I don't think i would have ever considered tediously reading this book less watching the movie. But like i said before, reading is a good pastime especially during train rides so reading was always a favorite option. The book got to me when my sister finished reading it before leaving for her community service to Africa.

I was warned that the book was pretty girly and that it was like a harry potter series book (something i probably won't be reading). So this book, like all the other books i've read, have been just rare opportunities that have crossed my day. I agreed to check the book out and taste the "girly" side of novels and give her feedback when i've completed. Well i just completed the book and wanted to blog about it.

From early on in the book, i hated the main character - she was someone i found more annoying than anything. the character to me was a snob with nothing to back it up - she's clumsy and scared most of the time but acts pretty tough. It's probably a character that the author chose because she thought it might attract more girls to read but i'm a guy and i found it way annoying. I noticed the book spends much more time describing the attractive details of the characters lover to be than anything else in the book. about 50% of the book (imo) was about how attractive the vampire was and how dreamy it was to be with him...

I would probably give this book a 3.9/5 and that's probably because the book was not meant for grown boys to read. I have never watched the movie so i didn't really know what to expect. After reading it, i am not even tempted to watch the movie - i think the book has given me enough to my liking. The book gives a good "alternative" view of the stereotypical vampires and makes a more believable version of the sun-fearing bloodsuckers. Another positive to the book as the author's epilogue which seemed to have a very good ending since the rest of the book was very dark. This book does not deserve an above-average 4 because a regular guy like me would always be tortured reading about girly fantasies half the time.

Poor Man's Gamer Computer

After successfully rebuilding the old machine with spare parts and whatever i could find at the right price, I got to the overclocking stage I've been waiting for. Even though the real limiter is my ECS motherboard, I still used it and tried to crank out as much juice from my $80 CPU as i possibly could. And the result was an increase of 700MHz which is not bad but also not impressive since most with decent boards got to 4.0GHz according to other owners.

There were many hurdles that were in the way. On the first day, the motherboard could not recognize the new CPU and i needed to flash the bios to a newer version. This unexpected problem and the rumors about ECS almost made me throw the board out the window, but luckily the flashing of the bios worked and I was relieved. Since I had a quad core, I really wanted something equivalent in performance the the very least so the only option was overclocking.

The initial overclocking went well until I saw temperatures rise due to the cooling performance of the stock CPU fans. The first aftermarket fan i purchased was very promising but it did not fit the case at all and ended up on my quad-core afterwards. Not surprisingly, the quad core fan lowered temperatures by 3-5C and this gave me more incentive to purchase that newer fan.

I think the most interesting thing about my computer is that it is being upgraded from a 10 year old design. Sure it would have been easy to just go outside and spend $50 on a new case and save the trouble - but I wanted something more. After working with an advanced case like the antec P180, which is an amazing case, I could not settle for anything less performance-wise. The case had superior design and showed me what makes a great case. I applied as much of these new innovations into the case I had neglected for years.

As I worked more and more on the case, I realized what a great case I had and how fortunate i was to have this sturdy steel chassis to work on. Most of the interior was steel like most of the better cases and it had even a removable hard disk cage, something that was unique from cases. I saw potential in this old case and began shopping for parts and drawing up ideas in my mind. The case kept me happily working for about a month, mostly time spent after work or during the weekends. I was very proud in the end and I would say my project exceeded my expectations and I really did a great job modernizing a century old case.

Software Paradigms

It has been a while since I've last heard someone mention web 2.0, but this is probably an old term already with many different meanings. I've started off as a web 2.0 developer about 2-3 years ago at a start up company that is surprisingly not "complete" yet with their projects. Many different skills were acquired and learned through those rougher times. The job gave me hands on experience on cutting edge ideas and gave me the opportunity to work on a project that was supposedly supposed to get a lot of publicity.

Even though i left, I still have some interest in the company but the employee's lack of passion is probably what drove me out. The CEO was probably the most passionate about the project but the people i worked for were just looking for something to pass the time and possibly pay some bills... not exactly the type of people i wanted to work with for long. I decided to leave after convincing myself that staying there was too much stress and probably unhealthy.

But the idea of web 2.0 to me was a way for the next generation of software to be all online and accessible through a simple browser or streamed via the Internet in some form. The idea of having programs online would decrease the need for applications on your own computer saving hard disk space and possibly preventing any software issues with the operating system. This idea surely should be adopted by everyone - but to some it is still new and probably risky for them to endeavour.

So with my current job working for my uncle, who has been consulting with clients with Microsoft marketing software CRM for years, I was assigned to do more crafty work that he literally had no time for. Although he did have a few connections who he often contacted for work opportunities, I was given a few chances to do their task and gain some experience. It has been months now and I got a better feeling about the CRM platform that I would have ever imagined and gained a lot of knowledge with C#, a big change from the java world.

Since most of my work is revolving around microsoft services and they all use the same login information, it would be convenient to utilize the already existing Windows Live account information instead of prompting for the credentials every time my program starts. So this is going to be a big step that i will need to overcome and will change a lot of my future programs - it is the start of something big and I hope i figure it out fast and keep at it. Lately I have been occupied with so many other projects and personal events this programming project has been taking longer than i wanted.

anyway blogging and watching people like steve jobs speak about their passion and their drive gave me a bit of motivation and allowed me to pass a checkpoint today and i would like the complete the next big one by tomorrow. the new sdk is supposed to be very promising and i hope it lives up to my expectations. For now i better get some sleep and keep my mind of all the good toys coming in the next few days - oh boy :D

Computer cooling obsession

Since I now have two computers, a work computer + project computer, I needed to find an adequate case for this new computer since I have been very picky on the interior cable management. Since this new dual core was inferior to my current quad-core at stock settings, it was expected to be overclock so I could milk as much processor power out of it as I can.

After a few days in San Francisco to attend one of my uncle's Microsoft sponsored events, I spent a few nights over staring at an computer I left there for "future ideas". The computer was super old, something like 10 years - but it was clean and had a very sturdy feel to it. Anyway somehow I ended up watching a few clips of youtube videos (mnpctech) on case modification and eventually I ended up disassembling the entire computer before i knew it! Taking almost everything apart down to the steel parts I admired, especially the detachable hard-disk tray - something uncommon these days.

The computer was an old Athlon 2100+ or something like that with some salvageable DDR memory, two faulty hard disks, and a CD drive. The computer parts were actually given to me from a friend who said it was busted which wasn't the case - eventually I just shelved all the parts someplace and began planning on innovations that this 10 year old case needs.

One very cool thing about this old case was that it had a detachable rear panel as you can see me working on in the photo - this was a huge advantage for me to route/hide excess wires from the power supply. Aside from that upgrade, I had ideas to improve the airflow by attaching an attractive 200mm PSU LED fan that I salvaged from a blown PSU through a good friend of mine. Inspired by many modern cases, I started to add 120mm fans to many common places all over: the top, the front and the back. The initial upgrades cost me nothing until I decided my uncle's cordless dremel was not sufficient and I needed more cooling power based on the "cpu stress tests".

So a week later I began spending a lot of money. I purchased my own CORDED dremel for $50 and a 4-pack of 120mm fans and some random parts i found at a neat computer store, weirdstuff.com, that was a 1 hour away, bike wise. This new computer store reminded me of all the good times I had at swap meets digging for cycling parts except it was a now for my new project computer. I spent a few hours here searching for items for my project case - FAN GRILLS FOR 50 CENTS! I have noticed myself wake up extra earlier everyday to see prices of CPU coolers change and stay on top of any deals and this led to my purchase of one of the single most expensive items that I have purchased so far - the XFX Radeon 4870 1GB DDR5 video card @ $141, one of those top tier GPUs. And shortly afterwards I spent some $50 on a promising cpu cooler, the OCZ Vendetta 2, + more fans.

So far, the video card has not come home yet and the $33 CPU cooler i bought didn't even fit into my case! So.... the next day or two I researched on a new fan and it looked like I narrowed it down to the Coolermaster Geminii S fan or the risky Geminii (original) heatsink. Both of these were sold from the coolermaster store for REALLY nice refurbished prices and I wanted to buy two but considering my space issues from the previews fan i just got the newer / less bulky one, the Geminii S. Their online store has a lot of the last little things i needed to completing my case - especially the items you can't find on older cases: audio / firewire / usb jacks!

In the end, all the tools / parts / stuff for case cost me an extra $150... but the entire process was fun and kept me busy for days. =)

Sequoia Century - June 07, 2009

This is the first century I have attended and it was successful and ended with relief and something to reflect on.

100 miles was no small challenge - but I signed up for one since it seemed reasonable for me to try and I believe it was the right choice. The route was very balanced with a lot of climbing and a few descents and plenty of scenic flats. I can't say that the century was easy but it was a great challenge and you should probably do one if you're willing to test your next level from just training rides.

I went with 2 college friends of mine and made it through 100 miles (uncertainty from resetting cyclometers). We stared around 7:50am and finished around 7:15pm taking it easy in the beginning and pushing time towards the end. I think most of our timewas lost in the resting spots and from incidents we had along the way. I was pretty scared from descents so the both of them usually waited for me after a long downhill course. The bigger one of us had a challenge with the uphills and the more experienced rider of us had a nasty "deserved" fall after goofing around.

So from the experience I need to improve my downhill cornering and also figure out a better "grip" on the downhills since I always seem uncomfortable on the drops. My climbing is very persist ant and I oddly enjoy the burn sometimes even when there are indications of near-cramping. On straights I need to learn to catch up with others and take advantage of wind-tunneling with others (peloton) .

After blogging about this I realize how much more i need to train and I will probably focus more on the drops and figure out a good angle on the handlebars.

5.1 sound on audigy 2 FINALLY on a terrible day

Last night, i got home from an overstayed day in san francisco because some careless chinese computer shop didn't bother calling me about my order being delayed. Anyway made me wait till the 7:30 caltrain to get home around 9pm in san jose... while i was going to the train station i spotted my old cannondale that i sold to a friend's friend of mine ... it was a good site that kinda changed my mood. I wanted to stick around and see if the lady i sold it to was around - but i was kinda anxious to get home and decided to just move on instead of looking suspicious.

Riding at night was something i never really like doing since i keep advocating safety when using a bike.... and coincidentally some caucasian driver shouted out his window giving me a lecture about it ....

The day was bad ... and i could have saved myself a lot of time by getting home earlier - it was 9pm and i was hungry - i came home to a pot full (~5lb) of raw chicken with an odor that i was supposed to cook yesterday ... i just threw away the chicken despite my hunger - since food poisoning isn't an option with a bike event coming along. PBJ was my dinner along with some overly flavored "producer's vanilla ice cream" that i regret buying.

anyway I'm starting to enjoy this blogging and it is a good way to put off some stress and rant about others. well the day wasn't over, i still had my project computer there begging for me to try out some new ideas to work around that good for nothing audigy 2 ZS platnium pro.... the most expensive of the audigy 2 series.

Last time i got most of the drivers working with help from nomoregoatsoup.com or whatever their site was... seems like a site dedicated to bashing on creative but also providing support for all those who were affected by creative's lousy drivers.

the workaround was to use an Xi-Fi driver package and unzip it and only install the drivers located within. This was a great solution since the driver package contained drivers for my audigy 2 card ... and it worked 100% with windows 7 (probably vista too). so the program had two options: installing drivers + removing drivers - removing the existing drivers was first step and then installing drivers after a required restart. This program only installed the drivers so no applications provided - if you want applications i'd suggest installing one of creative's software packages and then use this work around right after.

well these drivers alone wasn't enough, so the other tool i used was AC3filter, an application that specializes in dolby digital sound manipulation and has probably tons of other features... i used their S/PDIF direct feature and now my logitech z-5500 gets that "DOLBY DIGITAL" i was hoping for .... AFTER ALL THIS I WAS FINALLY SATISFIED!!! I guess the card actually works... so i'll keep that in mind if i come across some angry owners willing to give it up.

new toys, new plans

Today I am supposed to be returning to San Jose before the evening, but looks like i'm at the mercy of some local computers store in San Francisco who were supposedly supposed to have something i order by the afternoon.

Anyway, after succesfully testing windows 7 and trying out the new computer the other day I spent another 5 hours figuring on how to utilize the suposedly awesome soundblaster audigy 2 ZS platnium pro that i bought a few years back. I have ad problems with it since i last remember with vista issues but now seemed like a good time to use it on the new machine i just built. To cut to the problem, the company that manufactered the card is just after your money and would not really want to help write new drivers for vista till someone like Daniel_K of brazil nearly destroy their reputation by writing drivers better than their own. This brazillian, probably as fed up with the lousy creative drivers like most of us, used his assembly experience to tweak some of the software installs of creative's drivers; it seems that creative intentionally shut off features if it detected the vista OS - so he just enabled them instead. 

Well thanks to him looks like it saved a lot of grief for many others - but for me i just regret every purchasing this $100 pile of shit since it's made by such dumbass thiefs. This experience probably gave me another layer of "mistrust" with new products and technology. With the new drivers people enjoyed a bit more functionality with their vista (and probably windows 7) but, as i am now more fluent working with sound, i discovered that the sound card i got was notorious for not supporting full 5.1 digital signals even though it is very capable of. After the 5 hours of software bashing, I saw a small glimpse of hope with the 5.1 sound via a digital coax cable but as soon as i played a DVD, all i get is some crazy loud crackling sound constantly playing.... so this wasn't cool (on windows 7). I've read on forums that this problem goes away in vista so i'd probably try that next time. But for now I think i will go with the other solution which is this onboard SPD/IF pinout i see on my motherboard - which seems promising because that's similiar to what i use on my other desktop that has fantastic sound. 

So yesturday i went to san francisco to visit my grandpa, who is leaving for taiwan this weekend, to help him setup his iRobot roomba that i "woot"ed for him during a long woot-off some weeks ago. The roomba is some small vacuum cleaner that moves by itself and supposedly clean entire rooms. I never really messed with one untill yesturday and it was quite predictable and pretty impressive at the same time. My grandpa, who is an engineer, wanted to reverse engineer this ultimately and have a look into it more to see if any innovations can be found and probably outsource it to china to be manufactered. It is always a dream for him to design something cool and i guess this was a first step for him even though he's really old and near his 90s - probably will give him a few more years to play around with.

Anyway, after charging for 16 hours, I had to stay overnight to see it in action the next day (today) but yesturday i looked around town for computer shops in search for that blasted SPDIF motherboard accessory which i found after visiting two shops. Coincidently, i have been to this shop many years ago to purchase my first performance sound card and here i am returning to get a "hard to find" sound card piece for a new system that i have high expectations for. The guy said the part will arrive the next day around afternoon and here I am waiting and it's near 5pm.... I hope these assholes know that i need to get out of town and i'm not really a local here.... I would expect some discounts or something because this isn't cool to make me wait like this.

Yesturday i kept myself busy taking apart the computer i left here, a athlon 2100+ that my friend gave me a few years back because he had no need for it. I cleaned up the case and got it ready for another project idea - modifying it and hopefully making it a better case for my new dual-core. Anyway this case will be pretty fun to work with - really heavy duty case made of steel by antec (not sure what model) i bought a few years ago. After disasebling the entire thing the case doesnt' look half bad from what i can see and has some potential with some ideas of mine. I'm probably going to ask for my friend's big fan that i disasembled from his powersupply and use that as the case fan on the sliding panel. I youtubed some videos on how to do this and it seems pretty simple - just need some patience. Other ideas would be to add more ventilation and airflow since most of these old cases weren't really engineered for the new overclocking crowd.

I met up with my uncle today and we had some korean food at brother's restaurant just outside of his aparment complex - which was exactly what me + my mom ate last night. The food was about the same as last night just a little economical during the lunch hour. Anyway he had a dremel rotory saw which is what i needed for my project and that would save me some money / time. So now i am still waiting for my stupid audio adapter from this store and already finished about 2 chapters of this book: "Twilight" that my sister left me before she went to africa. I am so glad there's wireless internet around here provided by my neighbor.