The blackberry's kiss of death

I had 20 mins to drive to Laguna beach from my apt. I rushed out in a hurry to attend my friend's wedding and when I flicked out my blackberry to check for directions, the handheld device slipped out of the holster, bounced on the floor and.....landed into the canal along my walkway!!! Infront of my very eyes, I witness the black berry sink into the 3-5 feet of water.

I reached for the blackberry in the azure water..I felt the canal bed and got hold of it and...it was vibrating!! I let out a sigh of relieve only to later be decieved. The black berry died!!! The vibration was probably its last breath before its demise. I quickly removed the battery to prevent any possibilities for short circuit. Surprisingly the battery compartment and the SIM card slot, etc was bone dry. I flicked my hand and removed as much water as possible.

5 hours later I tried reviving the little fella...no luck.

9 hours later..I tried again...this time...a miracle...the hour glass symbol appeared on the screen..the system booted up and my blackberry seems to work...for now.

So folks...here you go...proof that the black berry is err...waterproof..dont try it at home though.

The 80s...

80s was definitely my favourite decade. I was watching the "I love the 80s in 3D" show last night and it was hilarious. They have a series with every year 80,81,..to 89 going through all the crazy things that went on in the 80s. I saw the I love 81' and 82' show that featured guys in fishnet shirts, the behemoth sized VCR players, Cats the musical, Toto singing Susanna (the band member was dating Susanna Arquette then) and "I love candies" song video that had euphemism for cane candies to phallic symbols etc. The show was done really well with comedians reminincing their experiences. Watch it if you can.

Things on two wheels

It occured to me that I do have an obsession with things on two wheels. Something mystical about them. I guess just seeing them balance on two wheels and also its is the most fundamental way of mechanized travel. An engine and two wheels, simple and raw energy transfer. No wonder that no car has the acceleration to a match that of a race bike's.
These are my two mountain bikes. The Scott Thermoplastic Carbon-fibre Endorphin with mostly XTR parts. The Norco fireball with XT parts in Singapore. Both bikes are amazing and have very different characteristics. The fireball having made of aluminum flexes more than the carbon fibre bike. The carbon bike is more responsive with its stiff frame but can be a little uncomfy on the bumps. Mat love and Visco Boy always try to hide their envy of Endorphin.



















These are pictures of a remote control motor bike I created for an undergrad design project. The design was done on Pro-E and prototype was constructed on a SLA machine. The actual prototype as you can see jumped off a ramp and kept its balance on two wheels. The project was KICK ASS! The wireframe and solid models you see are screen shots from PRo-E and you can also see the actual prototype.

I like this one, the bike is doing a wheelie..

This is the 3-spoke design I chose for the front wheel. Simple and classic.

The design for the chassis was important. It houses the batteries, motor, transmission gears, remote control system, servos and attachments to the steering systems. You can see the annulus for the gyroscope system on the rear wheel. The lead annulus spins ~4.5X faster than the rear wheel. It has a plastic clutch that allows the annulus to spin even if no power is sent to the wheel. The annulus stabilizes the bike.
The bike is attempting a stunt now. Doesn't it look like Ducati Monster??
You can see the exploded view of the bike. Also you can see the resin parts from the SLA machine. It is amazing..the machine is like your laser printer. You send your CAD drawings to the "3-d printer" at the click on your mouse button and a day later, you have your parts!!!

This bike runs on gas powered engine and is made by an italian company and costs an arm and a ball.

Who needs perfect decisions?

What is a perfect decision? Can a computer do that for us?

Arbitrating commodity trades and other decisions that best optimize probability of successes are currently permeating towards the use of sophisticated computer programs that run on state of the art number crunching hardware. I was reading a magazine that was mentioning that computers might soon take over stock traders in better handling bull-sell decisions. Humans are inevitably susceptible to emotions. I know for sure that when I listen to techno, I drive like a maniac. I know for sure that when I received a hefty speeding ticket 4 months ago, I started splurging my money on myself to make myself feel better. However, the science of probability is arcane. For example, in the casino, I knew the house had a calculated advantage of 5.4% for the game of black jack but that number comes from pure science. It might be true, if I played with a cold-hard-computer brain, making all the "right" (who knows what right is) decision for 1,000,000 games, the house might have that 5.4% advantage. On the contrary, I played with emotions, I doubled down when I shouldn't and won. I hit when I shouldn't and won and I played right and hit when I should and stayed when I should and lost. So there isn't a right or wrong decision. A computer can't be better than me in making these decisions. Same applies to arbitrating trades, selling stocks, making decisions to send cruise missiles to a vital installation as a strategic decision backed up by computer simulation. There is a limit to what a cold mechanical machine can decide for you. The limit on what a human brain that is typically clouded with thoughts of beer, cars, sex, relationship, food, soccer, TV, etc. can do is almost boundless.

Driving down I-35

I'm listening to Breathe by Telepopmusik on my ipod. It brings back memories of driving at breack neck speed (excess of 130 mph at times) in my red eclipse from my apartment in North of Austin, TX to downtown Austin during the weekends. I used to hang out at this street close to UT Austin that was known to attract an eccentric crowd. There were a bunch of coffee shops, video arcade shops, etc. I will play Breathe on my CD player inaddition to Oakenfold, etc., while I downshift the stick-shift transmission to overtake a Texan truck. The roar of the engine will be in background while the car pounces forward, executing a perfectly seamless manouveur as it changes lane in high speeds.

Also brings sweet-sour memories as I remember Bubutummy visiting me during those times. Driving down to San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans..all the way to Orlando! I lived in Austin for about a year...right now when I think of it, it almost appears surrealistic. I almost feel like it was a dream. I felt really isolated during that year; a period of deep self-reflection...

I'm flying home to California tomorrow. I've spent 2 nights at my apt in the last 5 weeks. I am indeed lost in translation.

More than doubled my money

I wanted to get back the money I spent on my sushi dinner; I felt it wasnt that good and had the strongest contention to get my money back. I went back to the casino with my fellow agents. Armed with some strategy and techniques I changed $50 worth of chips into $5 chips.

I won some and lost some but more importantly I won more than I lost. I disciplined myself to walk out of the table when I doubled my earnings..I eventually did with $120. Net net....$110 for the weekend. That helps make up for my excessive spending this weekend on food, gellato, drinks and souvenirs.

Back to work tomorrow..getting up at 5am for a 3 hour drive..i better hit the sacks rightaway.

Doubled my money (almost)

The temptation was irresistable. I went down to the casino with my fellow agents. I observed the blackjack table for awhile before I decided to partake in the decadence. I changed $50 worth of chips and played in the smallest table ($5 per hand). Sting's song came to my head as I started playing....

"He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for the respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance"

I started calculating probabilities and played accordingly. Even though I lost a few hands I was up by $50 at one point...then it went downhill and I was even again. I was about to give up but I tried again...this time I got back to +$40. I forced myself and left the table with my earnings!! :)

There are some strategy for the game and sourced this chart on-line. Apparently this was devised from millions of simulation even though some doesn't make sense, in the long run, one must have the discipline to follow this.

Bringing down the pants and the house

I did not play a single hand at the Casino. I was observing the tables and I got reminded how the odds are so grossly tilted in favor of the house unless I had the coveted ability to count cards. I walked around San Juan and got back to my room tired.

Back in the Instituition, there was this girl who worked in a lab adjacent to mine. It took me a couple of months to realise that she was a girl as I initially thought she was a a guy..she was very tall, extremely lanky and had really short hair..anyhow...among her other impressive achievements, she caught Agent C from my lab sitting on the potty totally naked!!!!

Agent C was training for the marathon then and came back to the lab all wet from sweating. We have only two cubicles on our floor, one for female and one for male. Often times we end up using the female toilet if the male one is used as there are only like 3 girls and 40 guys on our floor. I remember I was using the male that faithful day. I heard someone go into the female toilet as the door opened and closed but did not hear any locking noise. Agent C proceeded to the female and removed all his clothings to cool down and forgotten to lock the door. Just at that moment, the girl on the floor opened the door and caught him in his vulnerable position.

We later found out from the graduate adminstrator that the particular girl was one of the crew members who was part of the famous MIT card counting team that worked in teams to defeat the casinos of their money with their superior card counting mathematical abilities. You can read about their acheivements in the book "bringing down the house".

Anyhow, she was able to decipher the codes well and bring down Agent C's pants...hahaahaha

Ritzy Ritz

I just got to the Ritz. It is probably the most opulent hotel I've stayed so far. The four seasons in Shanghai was pretty good too. The facade is grand with reflecting pools breathtaking landscape. You can see some of the pictures from here: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/san_juan/

There is a casino on the ground floor that I might check out. I don't feel like losing money but I might try a few hands of 21. Poker might be a little too much for me. The fridge is full of small alcohol bottles; I counted 30 different bottles!! A little tempting but things are really expensive here. I will be heading out for a relaxing dinner before checking out the casino...

Engine Capacity vs. Car ownership

Since we are on the topic of cars, I was just thinking about the 5 cars I've owned before. There is a noticeable trend between the chronological order and the engine capacity.

The order:

1. 1998-1999, Subaru Viki, 800 cc
2. 2000-2001, VW Golf, 2000 cc
3. 2001-2001, Mitsubishia Eclipse, 2400 cc
4. 2004-2005, VW Jetta VR6, 2800 cc
5. 2005-present, MB 560SEL V8, 5600 cc

I don't foresee owning anything bigger than 5.6L as I am bleeding money paying for gas. I probably might get a hybrid or solar powered car next.

Ford Taurus

Ford Taurus is a piece of junk on 4 wheels. I knew that long time ago but I just got reminded as my rental this week is a taurus. The interior is revolting; lap joints everywhere inside. Cheap plastic with huge in-built tolerence to make up for the horrific assembly qualities. The wheel has so much play that I could yank about 30 degrees to each side and that doesn't affect the linearity of the car. The seats look like huge couches. I really dread driving that trash back to my hotel tonight.

This is a list of some of the rentals I remember driving and my personal preference (best to worst)

Volvo S70
Toyota forerunner SR5
Toyota Solara
Jaguar
Honda Accord
Mazda hatch back
Mazda 6
Toyota Camry
Toyota Corolla
Jeep Liberty
Nissan Xtera
Mitsubishi Galant
Dodge stratus
Dodge Interpid
Dodge Neon
KIA Amanti
Ford Focus
Ford Explorer
Ford Expedition
Ford Crown Victoria
Grand Marque
Chevy Malibu
Ford Taurus
Chevy Classic

Mambamobile and BlackMamba honored for being around the block

Alas, I got back to Orange County after being away for 3 weeks. I had to try hard to remember my way around and had a difficult time finding my car keys. I went to office at 6:30am as I was suffering from jet-lag and couldn't sleep. I found surprises waiting on my desk...

My dear Mambamobile (below) and I were rewarded for our achievements. Mambamobile recieved a package from MBUSA. It came in a nicely packaged white box with a letter that read:






Dear BlackMamba,

Congratulations on joining the growing circle of Mercedes-Benz owners who own vehicles that have traveled far enough to qualify for high mileage status! Such an achievement requires both as incredible vehicle, and a very special owner who is as dedicated to maintaining a vehicle as we are to building it...blah blah..(you can see the accompanying letter below)




















The box also had a certificate, a black certificate holder that looks better than the one my MIT cert came in and also a hood emblem for the lettering 250,000 KM written below the trident.





















Now for my surprise...to my honor or rather shame...I have made it..I have travelled over 200,000 miles on American airlines and they have presented me the coveted "EXECUTIVE PLATINUM" status!! I have been on just plain platinum status for months and so I recieved a beautiful booklet with my new cards.




















Ironical, mambamobile got her recognition for 250,000 km and I got mine for 200,000 miles...but it took me only 1 year to get mine...heheh

Escape from the instuition part II

I got up early this morning to work on my GMAT. I'm back in Puerto Rico after spending two night in Boston.

Nostalgic; the buildings were there, the weather was there, everything looked familiar except for a starking difference..the people I knew and had a great time with were absent. Thank god Visco-boy, MatLove and his gal and a bunch of other Singaporean jokers were there.

The first thing I got to Cambridge, I looked for Visco-boy's red junk bike so I could kick it to the ground and outline it with chalk to signify its impending demise but I couldn't find the bike. Visco-boy must have known I was coming.

I went to see my professor and had a good chat. He is such a true gentleman as always. He brought me down to the lab to show me generation II of my machine. The appendix of the machine, a heat-exchanger that pumps 45 gallons / min of mineral oil fluid for heating and cooling is about 5X5X6' !!! Apparently that thing leaks oil and causes mist that stinks up the entire floor. Not surprised, my lab is known for causing health damages for the last 20 years probably.

I called matlove to know i landed. On my way the non-newtonian fluids lab to see ....tah-dah..100+boy (visco-boy), I met Giorgia. I warned her that I was on my way to torture the pigs. Visco-boy looked as gay as ever with his two pigs. I was so happy to see him man; brought back my best memories for the time I spent at the instituition. I played with all the contraptions he had..from his 911 turbo car to the pigs-torturing shafts. The pigs were naturally hiding on the other side of 100-plus boys desk, conditioned to stay away from the ogre.

After the info-session, I met Mat-love, his gal, visco-boy, Cyborg and some new cool Singaporean students for Mar-lah. After which we went to Mat-loves pad. I realise the tolerence on the driveway to his parking lot is about 4 inches bigger than his car. So if you drive probably 5 degrees off tangent, your paint job will be on the brick wall. Mat-love as usual had a bunch of tech gizmos he bought from craigslist and ebay. He never fails to entertain me with them.

Next day I met Sexy-A in the morning and he brought me to the lab again and he chatted for a while. I had to be back at Au Bon Pain for the info session. I met up with Sexy-A again, his fiancee, and his really cool in-laws for dinner at my fave thai place in porter square. We had some great fun chatting over dinner and had ice-cream at his new place. His new place is awesome; he has the whole house himself and his fiancee. It was great catching up with him and his new family.

I had to leave as it was time for SOCCER!!!! Sexy-A drove me in his amazing car. Sexy-A is one true genius; he hooked up a computer in his car and even fabricated all the housing, the buttons, the hot-keys, programmed an OS and a touch screen 6" (i think) LCD monitor. It plays MP3, DVD, has awesome GPS, capability to connect to internet and ofcos...play porn (Sexy-A's favorite past time) while you drive!!!

Soccer was great. Visco-boy organized it and we had to sneak to get into the mac-court. The last time I was in the mac-court was during my graduation. I was surprised to see almost 9 aside; we never had so many people playing for a while. Visco-boy as usual played defense and I played against him for a while. Mat-love played an awesome goalie and Ali, our senegal import was also there. Visco-boy caught me failing in my attempt to do a rain-bow (flick the ball wedging it with your back heel ) but i pretended that I tripped over the ball. It was great fun..!!!

We proceeded back to Sidney-pac like the good old days and tried the rum I brought. As usual, we chatted about everything under the sun and finished half the bottle. I got back to my hotel and set the alarm for early morning to meet Visco for breakfast. Mat-love couldnt make it.

I also met up with Adam for my second breakfast before heading back to Puerto Rico..

I left instuition reminding myself of all the crazy things we did...all the crazy things we did in the lab with Sexy-A and Alaskan Sausage, walking back from back-bay in boston half-drunk, drinking bottles of wine during the weekdays while we do our homework (some of my tutorial had wine stains). Playing soccer, eating mah-lar, cooking curry, playing pictionary, and torturing kwang with anal-pears, etc.

Would love to have Mat-love, his gal, Visco-boy, Sexy-A, etc. visit me in the OC. Meantime, I am planning to go back again so I can perfect my rainbow during soccer....hehe...