February 10, 2009

  • i still believe in Dell

    This is in light of Bethany's customer service post; I still believe in Dell and will continue to shop with them.

    This is computer #6 from Dell within the past 7 years. Dell usually has the lowest prices, and for me to build my computer from parts would not be much cheaper, considering the time, as well. If I were to buy another desktop, I would most likely go with Dell; if another laptop, I'd probably have to do more research and comparison.

    I just got my laptop back today (Inspiron 910 / Mini 9) after... over 2 months! (Date that I first contacted them: December 8, 2008. Date that I received back a fully functioning laptop: February 10, 2009.) I had an issue where several keys on the keyboard would not respond when pressed, so I had to get it fixed. The first time, they sent me a replacement keyboard. No good; keys would still not work. The second time I called, one of the managers said that he would personally take care of the issue. After being neglected, I called again. I had to ship my laptop back to them. After they "repaired" it, I received it back nearly two weeks later, only to discover that the problem was still there. I called, again, and they had me ship it back to them one more time. This time, they fixed it--they replaced the keyboard and motherboard.

    As this laptop was still under warranty, all of this didn't cost me anything; only my TIME and MUCH lost PRODUCTIVITY without a laptop. I probably would have just purchased another one and dumped this one, if I could. The customer service reps were apologetic, but merely being apologetic did not help my situation--I was still stuck without a laptop for so long--and meanwhile, the prices on this model were dropping!

    If I had discovered the problem within the first 21 days, returning it altogether would have been much simpler.

February 5, 2009

  • JTLYK Made Up Acronym

    Setting: A couple years ago, while hanging out in Royston 110 (Jon Tsang, Kyle, and Calvin's old place).

    Characters:
    Kathryn Chen
    Jason Yu (or Jeff Yin?)
    Various Random People

    [ Conversation about acronyms is going on ]

    KC: Oh! What about "JTLYK?"
    VRP: ??? o_O ???
    KC: You know, "Just to let you know?"
    JY: Isn't that just FYI?
    KC: . . .
    VRP: *nods*

    Today, I felt like using "JTLYK" in a GChat conversation. But I refrained, because no one would know what it means.

    Try to type: "define: jtlyk" on Google. It returns no results. I haven't checked UrbanDictionary yet, but I'm sure it would have similar results.
    -----
    Edit:

    I should have checked before posting. I stand corrected.

    So, from now on, even though acronyms are already shortened, and the art of good conversation is brevity and conciseness, to add more flavor to the conversation, I will use JTLYK from time to time.

February 4, 2009

February 3, 2009

  • 3:16 and Donald Knuth



    I came across this book today while doing some research for LaTeX, and was reminded about what Bernard shared its author.

    Donald Knuth is a very talented and respected individual in the computer science field--he wrote the textbook that I used for Math 55 - Discrete Mathematics. Interestingly, he wrote a book, called 3:16 -- Bible Texts Illuminated, that is a commentary on all of the 3:16 verses found in the Bible.

    After I get through most of my other books, I'll try to pick up a copy of this =)

    Some of the reviews on Amazon for this product will do a much better job of introducing him than I can.

  • circles

    Wired.com Photo Contest: Circles

January 28, 2009

January 27, 2009

January 26, 2009

  • if only they will read

    a Chinese gospel presentation. an urge. a plea.
    -----
    [sent 2009.01.26]

    親愛的爸媽，

    請你們去看這個網頁，它是非常重要的。

    http://matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/chinese/

    聖經在羅馬書第一章第十八到二十節說：

    Rom 1:18  原來，神的忿怒從天上顯明在一切不虔不義的人身上，

    就是那些行不義阻擋真理的人。
    Rom 1:19  神的事情，人所能知道的，原顯明在人心裡，因為神已經給他們顯明。
    Rom 1:20  自從造天地以來，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，雖是眼不能見，但藉著所造之物就可以曉得，叫人無可推諉。

    以西結書說：
    Eze 18:4  看哪，世人都是屬我的；為父的怎樣屬我，為子的也照樣屬我；犯罪的，他必死亡。

    聖經是唯一神的話語，也是唯一的真理。你不可以拒絕它，否則你會在你的罪終滅亡，永遠下地獄。

    你們不是好人，因爲每一個人在神的眼裏，以他的標準，都是該受懲罰的罪人。

    Rom 3:10  就如經上所記：沒有義人，連一個也沒有。
    Rom 3:11  沒有明白的；沒有尋求神的；
    Rom 3:12  都是偏離正路，一同變為無用。沒有行善的，連一個也沒有。

    Isa 64:6  我們都像不潔淨的人；所有的義都像污穢的衣服。我們都像葉子漸漸枯乾；我們的罪孽好像風把我們吹去。

    Ecc 7:20  時常行善而不犯罪的義人，世上實在沒有。

    Mar 9:47  倘若你一隻眼叫你跌倒，就去掉他；你只有一隻眼進入神的國，強如有兩隻眼被丟在地獄裡。
    Mar 9:48  在那裡，蟲是不死的，火是不滅的。

    Mat 13:49  世界的末了也要這樣。天使要出來，從義人中把惡人分別出來，
    Mat 13:50  丟在火爐裡；在那裡必要哀哭切齒了。

    Heb 9:27  按著定命，人人都有一死，死後且有審判。
    Heb 9:28  像這樣，基督既然一次被獻，擔當了多人的罪，將來要向那等候他的人第二次顯現，並與罪無關，乃是為拯救他們。

    請不要輕看。你以爲我的中文好。其實，每一次要給你們寫一封郵件就要花一個多小時。我學中文，爲了是要跟你們分享這些事情。

    因爲在神的恩賜裏我先收到了福音的消息，我有責任要跟你們分享。

    培正
    -----
    [response]

    培正,

    我看了, Thank you! Happy Chinese New Year.

    媽媽
    -----
    [thoughts]

    apathy? hard hearts? what kind of soil?

    Lord, please grant eyes to see and ears to hear.
    -----
    [Future follow up]

    Psalm 32:9
    Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
    Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
    Otherwise they will not come near to you.

January 24, 2009

  • allow me to introduce you to my travel agent

    Taken straight from an email I sent to a friend. Let me know if you want her contact info.

    Email #1:

    Regarding my travel agent, it's actually quite interesting how I found her. I've never met her in person, only worked with her via email or phone. She was my friend's dad's travel agent, and has helped out with our church several times when we needed to buy mass plane tickets, like 15+ people at a time, so I had asked for her information.

    I was pleasantly surprised to have worked with her, because she works really hard on finding the plane tickets for you that meet your criteria, and somehow they almost always turn out cheaper that the best prices I can find online (this is true of international flights; she probably can't beat prices for Southwest if you use it as a connector for multi-destination flights). The sites I use are Sidestep.com (Kayak.com), Expedia.com, and Orbitz.com, and her prices are always cheaper.

    I was planning another trip to Shanghai in March, and I went to her for tickets (this is my third time working with her). My route this time was LAX -> PVG -> SFO, and the price she gave me was $915 when the best that I could find after searching for an hour on my own was over $1000. Another time, with even just a single round-trip to Taipei, Taiwan, the price she quoted was $20 less than the best I found.

    I haven't figured out how she does it--maybe she gets some commission which she splits with us, or has special deals with airlines, or the information is out there and she's just really good at finding it (like doing efficient Google searches is a skill too). Regardless, I'm not being benefited in sharing about her in anyway, I'm just so happy that I can save money on something I was going to spend on anyway--most people think that going through a travel agent is more expensive, so I just wanted to help defeat that mythical belief and help others save a couple of bucks and reward her with more business.

    That was a long spiel, but that's just how much I like her. She's a Cantonese woman with a typical, not-too-thick Cantonese accent, so if that doesn't bother you, I'm sure she'd be of help to you. Her emails are almost always perfect English. If you contact her, just let her know that I referred you to her.

    Here's her info:
    [omitted so she doesn't get spammed]
    Also, you know a business is good when their on your cell phone address book =)

    Email #2:

    Correction.... when *they're* on your cell phone address book.
    Her English is better than mine.

January 8, 2009