^_^

New harddrive!

2010-04-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

I feel so rich of getting this 2TB harddrive, I probably could store 2800 movies or 400 seasons of TV shows, wow!!!!

Rotten Carrot

2010-03-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Carrot may gets rotten when the poor donkey waits for too long.

Saskatchewan and Skytrain

2010-02-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

My geography is very bad, and I never heard the province of Saskatchewan. When someone said he came from Saskatchewan.

I began to think, oh, he came here by skytrain.

Friends share secrets

2010-02-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

I always feel lonely and complaint about no friends. I feel very difficult to make friends in these years, and I blame the fact that most new people I met are married and have kids. But I feel it is not true today.

One of my co-worker talked with us his personal issues which bothers him recently. I feel weird at the beginning, because I probably only talk this kind of issues with very close friends, and definitely not in the office. Actually most of the co-workers gave him some advices, people joked about his issue but only for the purpose of making him relaxed.

So I began to think, probably it is me who pushes potential friends away. I tried to be nice and professional in the office, always answering the "How are you doing?" question with "Good". After thought about this, I began to chat with a good friend in China, and I told her a big secret of me. The feeling is so good, and I get some emotional support from her, plus I do feel I get closer with her.

DBA?

2010-02-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

Data comes from http://www.indeed.com/salary

I do not really understand what is the differece between DBA and DB developer, it sounds like the DB developer develops the Database, defines tables, writing SPs,functions, triggers;and DBA runs/maintains them. But why DBA earns more than DB developer?

I should be a DBA. Sql is my most favorite language, and it is far from UI so no picky customers at some points. Plus it probably is a good career choice for elder guys/girls, LOL. I actually thought to be a DBA when I was 24, and my friend said no, nobody wants to hire a young DBA. But it seems to be the time now:)

My sweet cat

2010-01-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

Click here for more pictures

Homemade Cranberry Jam

2010-01-09T18:33:00.001-08:00

Recipe:
340 g fresh or frozen cranberry ( 1 package)
80 g sugar
1 cup water

I got this recipe from the package of cranberry, it calls for 200 g sugar. I reduced it to 80 g, and it tastes good!

My breadmaker has a 80 mins procedure for making jam, so I just used it. It is very easy, the only tip I want to share is: You may want to use foil to conver the inner bucket. Some cranberries may pop up and fall into the gap, then get burn there.

My favorite old song

2010-01-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I was shopping in a store in Richmond. Out of sudden I heard this song, then a lot of memory came back...

The good thing about listening to an old song is it recalls a lot of old days. Those sweet and sour memory from 10 years ago had become plainer and plainer. But thanks for this song, I refreshed those memory somehow :)

Plus, it is still a beautiful song even without those memory, LOL

Funny translation in Beijing Olympic Park

2009-12-12T20:01:00.001-08:00

I took those pictures in the bathroom of Beijing Olympic Park....

When I was little

2009-11-18T22:56:00.000-08:00

Came back from my China vacation, and brought back some old photos:

My grandpa went for a business trip to hongkong in the 80s, which is very rare at that time. He brought back this pink 2-layer dress for me. It was super expensive, probably equal to my grandama two weeks salary. All my little friends envied me for this dress ^_^

I was a brave little girl. Look at my right knee and my face.

I still love this dress!!! I just don't remember why I had to alway wear those ugly socks...

I like soaking in the ocean, sitting by the ocean, or just watching the ocean. That' the best thing ever.

I guess I was flying.

As a kid, I never noticed the home was that clean :)

Is there any fish?

I forgot the reason why I was so happy. I really like this smile (:

My cousin and I.
I get together with him and his wife on this trip. His wife complained to me that he didnot want to quit smoking. I was shocked as I never knew him smoking before, then I told to his wife "He definitely didnot smoke when I knew him". LOL

MORE PHOTOS

3 years service plaque

2009-10-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Just clarify: T-shirt + Jeans + Sandals are not mandatory for our work environment, LOL

My picture is on google map now!

2009-10-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

See it in google map:

My co-worker/bike buddy Catharine and me.

My version of Sticky Situation

2009-09-18T22:48:00.001-07:00

Only 124MB free space left after installing windows 7 + msn messenger + google talk + google pinyin IME on my netbook...

Presentation makes a lot of difference

2009-09-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Afternoon tea in office

Finally got refund from the viv3/AcaiBerry scam company

2009-09-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

I thought only stupid people could got scammed by online fraud until I also got trapped lately. Fortunately, I got most of my money back (I have to pay the exchange rates difference between USD and CAD, that is the tuition for the lessons learned)

On July 24, 2009, I ordered Acaiberry Exclusive online, then I got an email from them said CAD$1 will be charged by Viv3Labs. They didn’t mention any additional changes.

On July 25, 2009, my credit card was charged USD$1.43 (CAD$1.60) by VIV3 +442031399027

On Aug 11, 2009, my credit card was charged USD$118.63 (CAD$132.35) by FOCUSCLEANSE 3618088234

On Aug 26, 2009, my credit card was charged USD$119.02 (CAD$134.14) by FOCUSCLEANSE 3618088234

I received my first bottle of Acaiberry in August, I don’t remember the date but there is nothing in the envelope indicated I would be charged additional.

I called my credit card company (CIBC Visa) and they told me the FOCUSCLEANSE is the same company of Viv3. As I gave Viv3 my credit card number, they cannot do anything.

on Aug 31,2009, I called Viv3 to cancel my membership and they did it for me. Then I asked them to refund, but they refuse to refund the transaction on Aug 11. And they said the 2nd bottle is on its way to me, and I need to contact them for return after I receive it.

On Sep 3, 2009, I received the 2nd bottle of Acaiberry. This time they put the invoice of £69 in the envelope.

On Sep 4, 2009, I called them for refunding. They said they will send me an email in 72 hours to tell me what to do.

On Sep 6, 2009, I received their email which told me why they charged me twice, and confirmed my account is cancelled. So I wrote back to ask how to get a refund.

On Sep 7, 2009, I received the 2nd email, they said they cannot credit me as I accepted the terms and conditions. So I wrote back that I didn’t accept the terms and conditions at all, there is not checkbox for me to check. And I attached the original email they send me of charging $1 for shipping the free trial, there is no terms and conditions in that email.

On Sep 8, 2009, I received the 3rd email. They said I did agree to their terms and conditions, but they were going to give me a refund of 118.63 USD, as they prefer not dispute with clients. I wrote back I never accepted the terms and conditions, and if they will refund me, the refund amount should be 118.63 USD + 119.02 USD.

On Sep 9, 2009, I received the 4th email. They said they credited 118.63 USD and 119.02 USD to my credit card.

On Sep 15, 2009, the credit transactions appeared on my credit card (The transaction date is Sep 10). I got my money back

Lessons learned:
Before ordering:
1) When some free trials asked for a very small amount of money for shipping, you should be aware of they actually want to get your credit card number.
2) Never give your credit card number before researching the company. Don’t assume your credit card company will protect you.
3) Read the terms and conditions carefully. You don’t care about wasting a few buckets but you may be trapped into some memberships that cost you hundreds of dollars.
4) Google the company to see what kind of reputation it has, especially in the www.complaintsboard.com
5) If you really want to order the free trials no matter how many complaints you found for this company, buy yourself a visa gift card of $25 or less and use this visa number to order.

If you already got scammed
1) Calm down; don’t upset yourself too much for a few hundred dollars.
2) Google the success stories of getting a refund from that company, so you could get an idea of what kind of difficulties you can expect and how to deal with them.
3) Contact the scam company immediately. The earlier you call them, the smaller your loss.
4) Contact your credit card company, but don’t expect them to dispute all the charges.
5) Try to follow up with the scam company. If other people could get refund from that company, you definitely can as well. If other people cannot, you may also get refund.

My crown falled off last night!

2009-08-31T12:16:00.001-07:00

The dentist just cleaned it then glued it back...So weird...The crown was put on 2 years ago, not sure whether it is normal that dental glue worn out after just 2 years.

Grouse Grind in a hot afternoon

2009-08-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Date: 2009/08/27
Duration: 72 mins
Avg HR:167
Max HR:176
Calories: 696

It is a company team build event. I'm in the middle place, LOL.
The time is not bad, considering the heat and the fact I have worked hard for a whole morning...

The saddest little function

2009-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Got this one from a co-worker's email, I thought it is a joke at the first sight, but it turned out to be real...

-----------------------------------------
SPUtility.HideTaiwan Method (Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities)

Checks whether the Taiwan calendar is hidden based on the specified Web site and locale ID.

true if the Taiwan calendar is hidden; otherwise, false. By default, this method returns true and the Taiwan calendar cannot be displayed for the following SPLangId values: PeoplesRepublicofChina, HongKongSAR, and MacaoSAR.

See MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms441219.aspx

I love mean bunny!

2009-08-09T18:16:00.001-07:00

Grouse Grind For the 3rd time

2009-08-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Time: 71 mins
Avg HR: 162
Max HR: 173
Calories Burned: 649

I paid enough attention to my HRM during the whole climbing to make use I always stay in my heart zone. I only had 2 very quick stops, one is for drinking water, the other is for chewing gummy candy. I haven't used to drinking or eating when climbing...

I carried about 1L water in my camel bag. But it was very foggy and wet, I only drank about 300 ml water, and carried the left 700 ml to the peak, wasted so much energy...

And the 2nd thing I could blame is my hair. I forgot to bring hair strings for binding a ponytail, so my hair stayed loose and it is not comfortable...

I felt much better this time, so I probably could make the grind as a monthly activity rather than a yearly one:)

PS. It seems people (or at least me) look ugly in the fog...I got really ugly photos this time, so I just post a landscape one.

12 Grain

2009-07-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

In the first week I landed Canada, I kept on watching the commercial of Tim Hortons, it was about 12 Grain. It seemed so tempting that I finally encouraged myself to walk into a Tim Hortons store:

Me: "I want to get a 12 Grain"
Cashier:“Do you want a bagel?”
Me: "No, I want 12 Grain"
Cashier: "12 Grain Bagel?"
Me: "I just want 12 Grain"
...

Finally I got my 12 Grain and learned the new word BAGEL...

Don't be a workaholic

2009-07-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Knowing what you really want from life.
Don't be a workaholic, your work probably never let you down, but your co-workers and bosses may do.

Grouse Grind 2009

2009-07-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

I did my annual Grouse Grind this weekend, it is 78 mins. I did not really enjoy the stairs, but I just want to have some record about my fitness level, so I prefer to do it once per year.
Last year is my first time, it was 90 mins.

I think the HRM is very helpful. I did not pay much attention to my heart rate at the beginning, I tried to climb as fast as I can. But I got exhausted very soon, and have to rest for a few times. Later, I kept my heart rate within my trainning zone. If I noticed my heart rate exceed the upper boundary, I slowed down before I got exhausted, then I didn't need to stop to rest any more. HR records: 43 mins in the training zone, Average HR 156, Max HR 175.

I burned 677 calories on the Grouse Grind, but I ate them back on the continuous snacking on the mountain, LOL.

Start and Finish Line:

Life without cellphone is offically ended

2009-07-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

After living without cellphone for 8 months, I finally got a new cellphone.

Actually I like the freedom of no cellphones, as long as I'm outside, nobody can find me. How cool is that! Especially I won't need to worry about phone calls when I was riding!

Of course I suffered many inconvenience for no using a cellphone, that is why I finally gave in and bought one. I will turn it off when I'm riding, I just cannot stand the continuous ring in my backpack. I probably should set a voicemail greeting like "You caught me riding, so leave a message"

About my new phone: It is a 7-11 phone, yes, the phone service provider is the 7-11 stores. I never heard it before until I found it from google on Thursday evening, then I bought it in Friday. It works so far so good, hopefully no more surprises happens. I had got too much surprises from TELUS.

Delicious microwaved apple

2009-07-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Cut an apple into 4 pieces, core, then microwave for 5 mins.

Enjoy!

Perfect for dessert or snack.

Inspired by Damien's delicious apple pie, just simpler and healthier :)

a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime

2009-06-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

This article is from a forwarded email, I usually do not copy other people's article into my blog, unless it is really very good.
For this one, it solved some of my confusion and relieve some of my frustration.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support,
To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons,
Things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson,
Love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life,
Whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Brian Make(s) your browsing faster...

2009-06-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

I'm shocked this morning when reading my email previews, how can my friend Brian make browsing faster????

So I open that email immediately: Oh, the "Make your browsing faster" part is a commercial added by his emailbox provider.

Google Email Preview + Yahoo Email Commercial = LOL

LOL New feature in VS2010: position of the X button!

2009-06-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

I remember I once worked on an .aspx file, and later I wanted to close it. I clicked several times on the x in 'aspx' but the tab is not closed... It's not my fault, the X button of the tabs is in the right top corner of VS2005, totally different from the IE tab style...

VS2008: the X button is still in the right top corner.
But it got a new feature for the tabs, the tab is highlighted when the mouse moves to it....

Finally, the VS2010 moved the X button to the place it should be, LOL. I noticed this feature in yesterday's event, it is really exciting! Here is the screenshot I found from internet, I didn't install the VS2010 on my machine.

My role model: Beth Massi

2009-06-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

There are some people so perfect that I suspect the major reason of their existence is to let people like you and me feel so bad for ourselves, LOL.

I attended a Microsoft Event this evening: Future Directions for Microsoft Visual Basic and C# by Beth Massi. The speaker is a young pretty fit girl. She was an architecture MVP and now working as a PM in Microsoft. She is definitely brilliant and knowledgeable, besides, her presentation style is awesome! Even I like her speech very much, not mentioning those guys.

She is the most perfect girl I have ever seen, I wish I could be as good as her someday....Here is her blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/bethmassi/

my biking activity statistic May

2009-06-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

Bike to work: 17 days.
Totally workdays in office: 19 days
Bike commute percentage: 89%
Marathon event day ride: ~ 70 KM
Spirit Run event day ride: ~ 50 KM
Other ride: ~ 70 KM
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 17 + 70 + 50 + 70 = 480 KM
Total Calories burned in riding: 9600 Calories
According to the calories I burned, I should have lost 1.066kg fat. But I didnot lose any...

BMI = 21.26, same as last month.

I started to use my HRM to record calories burned during workout since June 1st, so I will have a very accurate calories burned in my next statistic.

Summer offically comes

2009-06-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Another professionally taken picture declares summer is already here. Thank you again, Brian!

Nail Arts by Hsin Chiao, a professional nail artist. Thank you, Hsin Chiao!

Finger Tan by the sunshine and fingerless cycling gloves, LOL

Critical Mass Bike Ride

2009-05-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

Quotations:
We are not blocking traffic, we are the traffic!!!
Pedals are Power!!!

I attended the Critical Mass Ride of May last Friday afternoon. The sunshine is perfect, and it is so good to be a part of the special 'Blue Shirt Team' A.K.A. Vancouver marathon bike escort team.

Here is the photo of me and my bike buddies:

You could see the captain from my sunglasses. He is taking picture for me, LOL

This photo looks a little bit weird. I guess the reason is I was drinking from my water bag.

We shut down the Burrard Bridge

I had a conversation with a co-worker who is both a cyclist and a driver before I went to the event. She said she like riding bike, but does not like the Critical Mass. As some people may get late for appointments or important events because cyclists block their way. It also frustrates the bus drivers, as being puncture is their responsibility but they cannot be there on time because of the Critical Mass bike ride blocks their way.

I thought her concern makes sense. So I paid many attentions to other road users when I was riding in the event. Almost all drivers are pretty cooperative, it is not a big deal, it probably only take 10-15 minutes for all the bikes passing by the intersection, so they won't be delayed too long. And it is only once per month in the Friday evening, so nobody is really in a hurry. Many pedestrians enjoyed watching and shooting us, and a boy at the bus stop of Main Street even shouted out "Keep on going! I'm patient !"

I love this event, I'll definitely go for the next time.

Critical Mass is a grassroots reclamation of public space -- a bike ride and skate -- held the last Friday of every month. You are invited to enjoy the safety and comfort in the car-free space that we create by simply riding together! Bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates, self propelled couches, and any other form of human powered locomotion are all welcomed! Critical Mass Vancouver Website is: http://www.bikesexual.org/cm/home.htm

Show the sender's photo in your outlook 2007

2009-05-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just create contact cards with photo for your contacts, then you could see their face when reading their emails! It applies for the emails they send you before.

For the people who wants to set up this feature for their work email, it is easier just copy & paste all contacts from the public folder to your local folder.

Got my photo taken by a professional for the first time:)

2009-05-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Thank you very much, Brian!

Consumer Guide to Mercury in Fish

2009-05-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Copied from: http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/guide.asp

The list below shows the amount of various types of fish that a woman who is pregnant or planning to become pregnant can safely eat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. People with small children who want to use the list as a guide should reduce portion sizes. Adult men, and women who are not planning to become pregnant, are less at risk from mercury exposure but may wish to refer to the list for low-mercury choices.

Protecting yourself -- and the fish: Certain fish, even some that are low in mercury, make poor choices for other reasons, most often because they have been fished so extensively that their numbers are perilously low. These fish are marked with an asterisk (read more below).

This list applies to fish caught and sold commercially. For information about fish you catch yourself, check for advisories in your state.

LEAST MERCURY
Enjoy these fish:
Anchovies
Butterfish
Catfish
Clam
Crab (Domestic)
Crawfish/Crayfish
Croaker (Atlantic)
Flounder*
Haddock (Atlantic)*
Hake
Herring
Mackerel (N. Atlantic, Chub)
Mullet
Oyster
Perch (Ocean)
Plaice
Pollock
Salmon (Canned)**
Salmon (Fresh)**
Sardine
Scallop*
Shad (American)
Shrimp*
Sole (Pacific)
Squid (Calamari)
Tilapia
Trout (Freshwater)
Whitefish
Whiting

MODERATE MERCURY
Eat six servings or less per month:
Bass (Striped, Black)
Carp
Cod (Alaskan)*
Croaker (White Pacific)
Halibut (Atlantic)*
Halibut (Pacific)
Jacksmelt
(Silverside)
Lobster
Mahi Mahi
Monkfish*
Perch (Freshwater)
Sablefish
Skate*
Snapper*
Tuna (Canned
chunk light)
Tuna (Skipjack)*
Weakfish (Sea Trout)

HIGH MERCURY
Eat three servings or less per month:
Bluefish
Grouper*
Mackerel (Spanish, Gulf)
Sea Bass (Chilean)*
Tuna (Canned Albacore)
Tuna (Yellowfin)*

HIGHEST MERCURY
Avoid eating:
Mackerel (King)
Marlin*
Orange Roughy*
Shark*
Swordfish*
Tilefish*
Tuna
(Bigeye, Ahi)*

* Fish in Trouble! These fish are perilously low in numbers or are caught using environmentally destructive methods. To learn more, see the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute, both of which provide guides to fish to enjoy or avoid on the basis of environmental factors.

** Farmed Salmon may contain PCB's, chemicals with serious long-term health effects.

Sources for NRDC's guide: The data for this guide to mercury in fish comes from two federal agencies: the Food and Drug Administration, which tests fish for mercury, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which determines mercury levels that it considers safe for women of childbearing age.

About the mercury-level categories: The categories on the list (least mercury to highest mercury) are determined according to the following mercury levels in the flesh of tested fish.

Least mercury: Less than 0.09 parts per million

Moderate mercury: From 0.09 to 0.29 parts per million

High mercury: From 0.3 to 0.49 parts per million

Highest mercury: More than .5 parts per million

Why computer workers always have a lot of spare time...

2009-05-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

I get time to find this comic and post it to my blog in the working hours because my code is building...

Met an angel yesterday

2009-05-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

When I was waiting for bus in Brentwood town center yesterday afternoon, I met an angel. He made my day and delivered a mysterious message to me. "I know if I don't ask, I'll never get it"

Too bad it is not my commute routine. Otherwise I may got more philosophic messages, LOL.

Failed to get my HRM, blaming MEC

2009-05-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of getting a heart rate monitor for a long time. Finally I decided I will get the Polar F4F after doing a lot of research.

I saw this HRM from MEC's website, it is $92. Then I search Future Shop's website, it is $99.99. As FS has the low price guarentee and it is very close to my home, I decided to buy from FS. But the funny thing is it is available on the website, but it is not available in all the FS locations in Greater vancouver. Then I tried to Walmart, it is even cheaper only $89.99, but later I found I'm search walmart.com instead of walmart.ca. And walmart.ca doesnot have this product...

Finally I went back to MEC and found it is no stock in most stores, but it says low stock in North Vancouver store. So I called them right way, the guy said they still have 2 F4F, so I asked him to hold one for me. But when I arrived at the store, I got a F4M holden for me. I asked a staff, and he is confused about the F vs M, so I have to explain to him that F stands for Female and M means Male. Then he checked on the computer and told me there is still 1 F4F in their store, and he will find it for me. He went to the warehouse, and another staff just realized the first staff actually checked the Halifax store. So he checked their own store, it said still 2 F4F. He promised if the first staff cannot find it for me, he will go to the upstairs bigger warehouse to find me one. The first staff came back after about 5 mins with nothing. The second staff went to upstairs, but after 10 mins he also came back with nothing. They said it is very embarrassing but they just cannot find even one but the inventory says 2. They adviced me to call the 800 to ask them ship the one in Halifax to here, then I

Well, I have been very statisfied with the service MEC provided. But it is really not a good experience today... I think I'd better wait, maybe I could get a better deal/model when the Polar release a newer model.

Good Book: I could do anything if I only knew what it was

2009-05-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I actually got attracted by the book as the first glance of its title. And I cannot agree more for the idea of "What makes people feel happy".
To be happy, there are 2 essentials:
1) You have a goal.
2) You are moving towards it.

I got this book 2 weeks ago, and I'm currently on Chapter 3. I know I'm a (very, very) slow reader, so my next goal is to read faster. Let's see whether I can finish this book in May.

I had a conversation with a younger friend last year. She is a smart girl with Master degree and teaching computer network in an university. But the problem she and I both have is we don't have a goal to work for, which makes me feel unhappy, and makes she think of pursuing a Ph.D degree :) (Jin, if you are following my blog, here is my advice: Read this book first. )

Google definitely changed the way of thinking

2009-05-12T13:38:00.001-07:00

I started to use google since 2003, and became more and more addictive to it. Yes, I love Google, I guess I could not finish ~90% of my research type of tasks without it. But the funny joke I made today let me think maybe I used it too much.

The story is: I need to found what happened in DB when I do certain operations in an application I have never seen before. So I start to trace sql using the profiler. I have used a few basic functionalities of profiler for couple of years, but never touched any 'advanced' functionalities. But this time, I saw too much other sql commands which I don't care, so I decide to use some 'advanced' function of column filter to exclude them. I decide to exclude commands like 'exec sp_reset_connection ' and 'exec sp_VerifyUserSession ', then I found the column filter easily and input the first '%sp_reset_connection%' under the Not Like item. But the funny thing is I don't know how to input the 2nd Not Like item. See the following dialog, it is a pretty simple UI and I cannot find any buttons/hints from it.

So I try to use '%sp_reset_connection% OR %sp_VerifyUserSession%', '%sp_reset_connection% AND %sp_VerifyUserSession%', but they are not working. Then I begin to think maybe I should use some special symbols like && or to replace the AND/OR. So I think I'd better google it. I searched 6 groups of keywords, and read about 10 different articles but still didn't find a solution.

I began to feel frustrated, and decided to go to ask our DBA. Well, I know it sounds funny, but asking co-workers for general technical issues is the last thing I prefer to do. I saw the DBA was on a phone, so I tried it by myself for the last shoot. I pressed the Enter key at the end of the ''%sp_reset_connection%', and to my surprise, the magic happened and the 2nd item appeared. I cannot help laughing at myself for 1 whole minute.

Besides blaming my addiction to Google, I have to blame MS for this dialog. It is really a weird UI design of activating the next item only by pressing the Enter key.

The Best Volunteer Experience: The Vancouver Marathon Bike Escort Team

2009-05-06T22:04:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad I joined the bike escort team, it is so much fun!

There were totally 10 evening practices before the event day. We usually ride for 21KM along downtown, Gastown, Chinatown, Stanley park and English Bay, then have pizza dinner together. It is a miracle that we did not encounter any rain in all the practices, it is quite unusually for the April.

It is very comfortable to riding with a group of cyclists in the evening after a whole day's work. But my personal riding experience is not great. Well, it is all my fault, I ride as slow as an escargot, and I could not remember the roads. It is so embarrassing I always be the 2nd last cyclist in the riding with a sweep cyclist behind me. I had worried about I would be kicked out of the team for my slowness, but to my surprise, I did not get any complaints, all I got are encourages. Later, in the race day, I realized although my speed(~15km/h) is lower than most cyclists, but it is good enough for lead runners.

Pizza dinner is a more fun part. Captain Brian always does his fashion show to amuse us. He has volunteered for the Vancouver Marathon for more than 10 years, so he has 10+ different volunteer T-shirts to show off. I'm so happy that I got a purple year 2000 volunteer T-shirt from him for encouraging me to recover from my bike accident. Now I could pretend that I had volunteered for the year 2000 Vancouver Marathon, LOL.

Well, I have to say, I did not enjoy the first dinner. Everyone knows the uncomfortable feeling of sitting in a group of strangers, but a more awful feeling is this group of strangers know each other except me! I unfortunately chose a wrong table, the other 2 table mates know each other pretty well and I could barely understand what they were talking about... I felt so awful until the captain came to talk to me. I felt so thankful for him as he saved my whole evening. See, how important it is to be a host. Later, I got better luck with the dinners, I met many interesting people, and had lots of fun conversations together. It added so much highlights to my dull life!

On the event day, I got up at 4:30 AM, and ride my bike to the race place, as there are no bus/skytrain available at that moment. It almost kills me, as I have never been a morning person. But it is really worthy that, it is such a good feeling of riding on the closed road with runners under the sunshine. According to 2 teammates, they actually watched the runner's running very carefully and enjoyed watching the perfect muscles and movements. It's a pity that I didn't notice that part, there are always too many runners together with my target runner, I didn't got a good view. :(

The most impressive part of the race is actually about the last runner. She looks not like a runner, I mean, slightly overweight. But she did finished the full marathon with the time of 7 hours and 1 minute. In the last 1 km, we surrounded her, and escorted her in her speed. 2 bikes at her left and 2 bikes at her right, all other bikes are in one row behind her, and we all ring our bells. I wish I could found the picture and put it here.

It's only 11 months left. (Greg, I know the copyright of this sentence belongs to you. )

P.S. There are 2 related links:
Details about the racing day
Video about our team, could you find me from the video?

my biking activity statistic April

2009-04-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

Bike to work: 15 days.
Totally workdays in office: 17 days
Bike commute percentage: 88%
Total Marathon practice ride: 21 * 8 + 35 = 203 KM
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 15 + 203 + some riding to/from the practice place + extra riding in the weekends = 500+ KM
Total Calories burned in riding: > 10,000 Calories (Don’t ask me how I calculate this value, there are so many different calculation ways. I just stick to the simplest way of 20 cal/km)

According to the calories I burned, I should have lost 1.1kg fat. And it seems I really lost ~ 1KG

BMI = 21.26 now.

My new photo: look at the teeth

2009-04-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

That's my new looking from the bike accident. One front tooth is chopped in the middle and another front tooth is broken in the very end of its root, so it looks longer than usual.

This new looking will last until May 15, when my dentist has time to do root canal and some maxinum filling. To my surprise, they said they are still able to save my teeth. Thanks for the technology. :)

Technician in Sportschek knows nothing about bikes

2009-04-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

I went to sportscheck and asked the technician to fix my bike. I tried to explain the front brake is too tight, I need him to make it looser. He pulled the bike over with his hand, and tried to brake on the right handle bar which is the back brake. I had to tell him, it is the issue of the front brake. Then he got on the bike, rode around slowly and try to brake. I even saw the back tire jumped up from the floor when he braked. But when he came back, he said the brake worked fine!!! I have to tell him I actually already fell down from the bike because of this brake. And I guess he still not understand, as he asked me to leave my bike there instead of fixing it right away.

Later, I went back to the store in evening. The technician is not there, and another store staff gave me my bike. I tried it immediately, the front brake was as tight as before. I have to told the staff that my issue had not been fixed. He also said the front brake works good, it is the cyclist's responsibility to make sure using the back brake first then the front brake. Well, it may works for other cyclists, but for me I will grab both 2 brakes together as fast as possible if there is an emergency. Anyway, he loosed my front brake and warned me that eventually my back brake would wear out. It sounds like a funny warning to me.

Definitely a bike needs to be stopped by its back wheel instead of front wheel. But who should make sure that? The cyclist or the brakes?

Never complain about bad day, it could becomes worse

2009-04-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

It's a sunny Sunday today, I was very happy when I got up as I'm going to ride with some funny people for a marathon course.

The 1st thing ruins my day is, I went to the skytrain at 6:30 AM and found it is not open yet. It begins to run from 7:30 AM on Sunday. Lessons learned: Never take anything for granted, I should at least check the operation hours of skytrain the day before.

Then I have to ride to the gather place, as the only bus I known seems slower than my bike. I forgot my unhappy about the skytrain when I was ridding fast on the flat Kingsway which does not have many cars in the morning. But just out of sudden, I felt something became weird with my bike. God, I got a flat tire! I cannot be there on time and I didn't bring the captain's phone number. To my surprise, the radio still works over 10 KM, and I got contacted with the captain. I calmed myself down and went back home to get my tire pitched. Lessons learned: Bring the contact information any time.
It's the 2nd time for me to do the patch as my mountain bike usually gets only 1 flat tire per year. I usually don't bring the patches with me as I believe if it gets a flat tire the best thing I can do is taking public transit to the destination, then bring the bike home and fix it after I get my other things done. This thinking works for my daily commute, but definitely not works for an bike activity like today. Lessons learned: Think more before an important activity, don't let my habits lead me to the wrong way.

Eventually, I fixed the tire and took skytrain to the gather place. But my radio stopped working. I could hear other people but nobody could hear me. I heard the captain called me several times, but I cannot answer. I began to complain how tough the day is, and I was too focused on complaining that I forgot to use my brain to think why the radio is not working. Actually it is just the plugin of the speaker is loose. Lessons Learned: Calm down and use brain, especially when everything seems against me.

Finally I found the team from the street names they talked with each other, I have to thank myself for doing some homework on the maps the day before. Then I got a happy ride with bells on. Later, a happy lunch with funny people on my table, and I got a good helmet from the lucky draw... Things seem getting better and I think that's the end of my bad day as it cannot get any worse, the one thing could possibly make it worse is another flat tire on my ride home.

But, it seems the universe just wants to let me know how poor my imagination is. I actually made my nightmare of many years comes ture.

Well, I think I should be thankful for and respect the universe. At least, I'm still alive...

Nightmare comes true today

2009-04-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

To my dear front teeth, I never want you to go...

I always have a nightmare of falling and breaking my front teeth for many years.

The root reason may be when I was only 7, I broke my front tooth(teeth) when playing on ice with my classmates. I still remember the vivid scene (age 14+) of red blood on the white ice , so scaring...

I'm not good at sports at all, I guess because I don't have a good sense of balance. My friend in University still remember she was always surprised to see me lying on the ground when we were still walking together one second ago. Things become good when I start to ware high heels, I seldom fall down from walking since then.

I still have this nightmare. When I start to learn ice skating, I'm so afraid of falling & break teeth. When I start to learn skiing, I still have the same fear. When I start to learn roller blade, I also have the same fear.

Then I fell from my roller blade and hurt my face/lips/teeth last weekend. Fortunately only one tooth was loose, and no teeth were chipped. I was actually happy with that fall, as I think the nightmare has come true in a harmless way. I don't need to worry about it anymore.

But I fell again from the bike today, which is the last thing I could possibly fall from... I have been so comfortable with a bike for a long time. The front brake is too tight, and I noticed it long time ago but did not pay much attention to. I always think I could avoid the trouble by being careful with the brake, but it seems I cannot always be careful. This time I'm not that lucky, 2 teeth got chipped, and 1 tooth got looser and falls lower, hopefully it can grow back... OK, learned another lesson today...

Anyway, I still need to be more careful in the future. I won't ignore anything that could put myself into danger. I got a full face helmet and I'm going to fix the tight brake tomorrow....

保持心情快乐的20个好习惯

2009-04-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

copied from: http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=sxsj&MsgID=23958

这是一个焦虑的时代，与其随波逐流，不如有意识地培养一些让你快乐的习惯，随时帮助自己调整心情。
　　有一位作家说过：“如果我们感到可怜，很可能会一直感到可怜。”快乐也许只是一种生活态度，一种生活习惯。心理学博士凯伦。撒尔玛索恩女士说：“我们的生活有太多不确定的因素，你随时可能会被突如其来的变化扰乱心情。与其随波逐流，不如有意识地培养一些让你快乐的习惯，随时帮助自己调整心情。”以下 Psytopic介绍的19种快乐习惯，也许有几款适合您。
　　美国一家调查机构在全世界22个国家调查人们的快乐水平，结果显示，美国人的快乐水平最高，有46%的美国人对自己的生活感到快乐，其次是印度，37%的印度人乐呵呵地生活着，而中国人的快乐水平最低，位列榜尾，只有9%的中国人觉得自己活得快乐。
　　美国畅销书籍《如何快乐》的作者，心理学博士凯伦。撒尔玛索恩女士说：“我们的生活有太多不确定的因素，你随时可能会被突如其来的变化扰乱心情。与其随波逐流，不如有意识地培养一些让你快乐的习惯，随时帮助自己调整心情。”
　　1.每天拍几张照片
　　心理学家建议，每天用相机拍下一些身边的人和事，如窗外的树木、路边的小花、邻居家的孩子和朋友的婚礼。将这些随时可能被遗忘的片段记录起来，当你不定期整理照片时，你会觉得所有的细节都是美好回忆，没什么可抱怨的，于是人会很容易变得快乐起来。
　　2.看悲伤的电影
　　看一部令人伤感的电影，如《当男人爱上女人》，情难自禁时，不妨尽情地放声哭出来，然后安慰自己说，还好这只是电影情节，并不是真实的生活，心情便会大有改观。这是一种反向思考的方法，常运用在心理学中，帮助人们换角度思考问题。
　　3.在周末的清晨做白日梦
　　不少能干的主妇，会从星期六一大早起床开始，马不停蹄地做家务活，如收拾屋子，清洗马桶等。这样的习惯常常会让人在星期六晚上疲惫不堪，并影响到星期日的睡眠。不妨暂时抛开那些琐碎的家务活，在周末的清晨做一个美美的白日梦。不要自责，而应鼓励自己说：“我工作那么辛苦，挥霍一下自己的休息时间，无可厚非。”
　　4.定期写邮件
　　和相识多年的朋友定期以邮件的形式保持联系。有写日记习惯的人，只是在纸上随手涂鸦或草草地写上几句，便能反映出潜意识中的心理状态，写邮件也是如此。而定期与朋友通邮件，聊聊最近的生活，不仅能帮助你放下心里的事情，还能帮助你拾起被淡漠的友情。
　　5.在水边散步
　　有研究指出，因为在婴儿时期便置身于羊水，因此人与生俱来就是亲水的。在水边散步，能有效地帮助人放松身心，即使烦恼再多，在有绿树有流水的环境中，你也能暂时抛开一切，为自己“偷”得片刻悠闲。
　　6.偶尔吃一顿大餐
　　吃一顿大餐的美妙在于，不仅能享受到美味可口的食物，还能让你感觉自己受到了特别礼遇。人在受到与别人不同的照顾时，心情会不知不觉地变好。我们在小时侯都可能有类似这样的经历：当父母特意为你买了一只与其他孩子不一样的、漂亮的碗，你会高高兴兴地吃下比平时多的食物，即使不爱吃的食物也变得“可爱” 起来。
　　7.每星期做1次美甲
　　当看见自己又长又脏又难看的指甲时，没人会有好心情。每星期做1次美甲，不仅能让你的指甲看起来更加整洁、漂亮，还能让你有“一切尽在掌握”的满足感，人也由此变得豁然开朗。
　　8.参加集体活动
　　虽然独处也是调节心情的方法之一，但是不要吝啬自己的休息时间，分出一部分给集体活动。登山、郊游、野餐、party、歌友会……鼓励自己积极参加集体活动，你会在共同的玩乐中找到让自己坚强、平和的力量。
　　9.定期游泳
　　游泳是最消耗体力的运动之一，但这种让人精疲力竭的活动，能让人摆脱烦恼，身心舒展。选择一个人去游泳也不错，被水包围其中，再糟糕的心情也能被软化。
　　10.一边开车，一边大声歌唱
　　心情不好时，打开车上的收音机，调到较大音量，跟着里面播放的旋律大声歌唱，完全不必在意别人投来异样的眼神。也许此时的你在别人眼中有点傻乎乎的，但这确实是一种让人快速释放心情的好方法。
　　11.一边喝咖啡，一边读小说
　　挑一家出名的咖啡馆，带上一本近期最让你感兴趣的小说，选一个靠窗边的位置，坐下来点一杯咖啡，边喝边读……是的，这是电影里常常出现的“小资”镜头。但那又有什么关系，让自己体验一下电影中才有的浪漫镜头，你也会受到气氛的影响，得到真实的放松和享受。
　　12.给朋友寄卡片
　　挑选10——15张别致的卡片，放在包中随身携带，在等公共汽车、排队结帐、等人时，随手拿出一张写上只字片语，如 “想念你”、“愿你的心情和今天的天气一样灿烂”、“一定要幸福哟”、“想起我们上大学的日子”等等，然后邮寄给你的朋友。当所有的卡片都被一一写完并邮寄出去后，一想到朋友们收到卡片时惊喜的表情，你会露出发自内心的迷人笑容。
　　13.在每个星期一的早晨，穿一身色彩亮丽、明快的衣服。
　　14.一边打电话，一边信手涂鸦。
　　15.偶尔吃一份最昂贵的蛋糕或巧克力，并保存价签和包装盒。
　　16.一边洗澡，一边唱歌。
　　17.穿让你感觉最舒服的内衣。
　　18.定期有夜生活。
　　19.在酸奶上撒少许干果。
　　20.每天对着镜子努力地笑一下。
　　如果发现自己的表情很难看，那一定后情不自禁地笑出来，心情马上就会好一点

Bike to work week May 11 - 17

2009-04-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

Bike to work week website:
http://vacc.bc.ca/bike/bike.php?pageID=4

Girls in my company named our bike team as Escargot, as we (ok, it is me) ride as slow as escargots.
See, even escargots can ride, so do you!

Cycling route planner website

2009-04-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Website: http://cyclevancouver.ubc.ca/

This website shows elevation gains. It is perfect for cyclists like me who hate uphills.
But the calculation for routes is not smart enough, it chose a 15 km alternative route for me to avoid uphills but my regular route is only 8.8 km. Sometimes it may even keep on calculating for a couple of hours. You may have to kill the IE process to stop it.

I don't believe the calories calculation result, it seems the weight of elevation gain VS speed is not proper. I definitely sweat more on my way home than go to work, as it is more steep.

My way to work:
Route length: 8.852 km.
Estimated time: 0 hr 35 min.
Speed: 15km/hr
Calories burned: 192.5 kCal.
Elevation gain: 71 m.

My way from work:
Route length: 8.841 km.
Estimated time: 0 hr 53 min.
Speed: 10km/hr
Calories burned: 192.3 kCal.
Elevation gain: 153 m.

VOcation plan change

2009-04-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

I applied to take vacation day off on Monday. Later I changed my mind and decided to take Tuesday off instead. I wrote an email with the subject of "Vocation plan change" to my manager.

He replied very fast: It is totally ok to switch Monday with Tuesday. But if you are really planning to change your vOcation, we need a serious talk.

You got a package

2009-04-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

The economic crisis has changed some words' basic meaning, e.g. "package".

A co-worker C saw a parcel was on the frontdesk for another co-worker D. Then C walked out the office building and accidently saw D was walking in.

C said to D: Hi, you got a package.
D: ??!!!
C: I'm so sorry, I didnot mean that...you know. The package is from amazon...

Vancouver Marathon Cycle Escort Team - Volunteers still wanted

2009-04-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Copied from: http://bulletproofcourier.blogspot.com/2009/04/vancouver-marathon-cycle-escort-team.html

Almost 20 riders showed up for our first practice last night, riding 10km in a leisurely 90 minutes to generalize ourselves with the race course. At 7:30pm we finished at Something Good Italian Bistro in Yaletown for some slices and soda, compliments of race sponsors. This is my first time volunteering for the team; it was a pleasure to meet a friendly group for an easy ride and have my questions answered:

A marathon is a footrace. Why are cyclists needed?

A 26 mile footrace winding through city streets and parks requires a ton of logistics and support. The cycle escort team helps with this, leading the runners from the start line and sweeping up the rear of the pack. They also act as eyes & ears for race officials and the course technical team.

Am I expected to cycle 26 miles (42.2 km)?

Not necessarily. The cycle team welcomes volunteer riders of all ability, and there are other events we support, such as the half marathon and an 8k race. The riding is spread out over several hours; with all the crowds, noise and excitement on race day, you may hardly notice the effort.

What kind of commitment is involved?

The cycle team practices Tuesday & Thursday nights during April, meeting 5:45pm at the Plaza of Nations taxi stand at 750 Pacific Boulevard, across the street from BC Place. We do a full-course practice Sunday April 26 at 7am, race day is May 3 from 6am to 3pm. It's not mandatory to attend every practice ride - we're all volunteers, so things are flexible.

How do I sign up?

Register online at the Vancouver Marathon website, email team captain Brian at the above address and come enjoy the next practice!

The main website for the 2009 Vancouver Marathon is bmovanmaration.ca.

A record in my riding

2009-04-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

I rode 48 km in total today, I have never ridden that far before. It includes:

8.5 km: home -> work
8.2 km: Rupert & Broadway -> BC place
21 km: marathon ride practice
10.1 km: BC place -> home

Hopefully I'll break this record soon. It is quite possible as I don't feel exhausted at all.

Is English your second language?

2009-04-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

We were having a code review meeting last Friday. There were totally 5 people in the meeting room, include 2 Chinese, 1 Indian, 1 Austrian and 1 American. When we were reviewing the code written by the American, the Austrian found a spelling mistake in the name of a variable.

The American said "Well, English is my second language........ I don't have first language"

Bike to work statistics March

2009-03-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

Bike to work: 12 days.
Total workdays: 21 days
Bike commute percentage: 57%
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 12 = 205.2 KM
Total Calories burned in riding: 342 * 12 = 4104

According to the calories I burned, I should have lost 456 g fat. Adding the 570 fat I should have burned(calculated) in Feb, I should be 1.026 KG lighter than I was in January.
But……… I actually gained ~ 1 pound in these 2 months.

Record my BMI here: 21.64

Have you been to Visual Studio?

2009-03-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend about my trip to L.A.
"Where did you visit?" She asked.
"Disneyland and Visual Studio" I answered without hesitation.

Lost in translation

2009-03-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

There is some MSN robots, I got one for translation.
I gave it an email in English, then it tanslated into Chinese. Then I let it translate the Chinese paragraph back to English, then back to Chinese. After a few round, the meaning is totally changed.
-----------------------
1) I worked on TD 40496 and I just wanted to thank you for the notes you had left in TD. That was very helpful and if that wasn’t in the TD, it would have taken me a lot of time to figure out the problem.
2)我的TD 40496和我只是想感谢你注意到你已离开在TD 。这是非常有益的，如果不是在TD ，它会对我采取了大量的时间找出问题。
3)My TD 40496 and I just want to thank you notes you have left at TD. This is very beneficial, if not in the TD, it would have taken me a great deal of time to identify the problems.
4)我国的TD 40496和我只是想感谢你注意到你已经离开运输署。这是非常有益的，如果不是在TD ，它会对我采取了大量的时间来确定的问题。
5)China's TD 40496 and I just want to thank you notes you have left the department. This is very beneficial, if not in the TD, it would have taken me a great deal of time to determine the problem.
6)中国的TD 40496和我只是想感谢你注意到你已经离开了新闻部。这是非常有益的，如果不是在TD ，它会对我采取了大量的时间来确定这个问题。
7)Chinese TD 40496 and I just want to thank you notes you have left the Department of Public Information. This is very beneficial, if not in the TD, it would have taken me a great deal of time to determine the problem.

【爆笑】才气纵横的英文翻译，你绝对想不到

2009-03-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

“TO THROW TO THROW”= 抛扔 ── 中华文化博大精深，抛和扔是不一样滴......

进站口 = JIN MOUTH？开开开开开开什么玩笑.......

中国海事，拼音大王！

“芬达”是　“THE FRAGRANCE REACHES”…… 吓人啊！ “小可乐”是“SMALL MAY BE HAPPY”，那“可口可乐”是不是“MAY BE MOUTH MAY BE HAPPY？” 搞不懂“小雪碧”是这样译的？看来你对中国文化了解的还不够深，原来“20TH SOLAR TERM”是二十四节气中的“小雪”，加上“BLUE”，就是小雪碧了……

这个 369 翻译的......你成心让外宾看不明白的吧！

Be careful with ExecuteScalar() and ExecuteReader()

2009-03-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

If you use ExecuteScalar() to get a value from a sql command, and updates some records in the same command. (For example, generate a new ID, return the new ID and create the record for this ID). You should always put the select value sentence in the end of the transaction. Otherwise you may get surprised that you can still get the new ID with no exception when actually the record is not created!
There are 2 simplified examples. Believe me, they won’t throw.

Example 1:
string sql = @"select 123
RAISERROR('error msg', 16, 1)";
command.ExecuteScalar(context.MetaDBConnectionString, CommandType.Text, sql);

Example 2:
string sql = @" SET XACT_ABORT ON
select 123
BEGIN TRAN
RAISERROR('error msg', 16, 1)
COMMIT TRAN";
command.ExecuteScalar(context.MetaDBConnectionString, CommandType.Text, sql);

If you change to use ExecuteReader(), there won’t be any exceptions either. But the same sql throws if you use ExecuteNonQuery() or ExecuteDataset().
For ExecuteScalar()/ExecuteReader(), SqlException only throws if you move RAISERROR before the select sentence.

I found some explaination from Internet for this behavior:

> ExecuteReader

Since your proc raises the error after the first result set is returned, you
need to invoke the SqlDataReader.NextResult method before the error is
thrown:

SqlDataReader dr = command.ExecuteReader();
while (dr.Read());
while(dr.NextResult());

> and ExecuteScalar?

ExecuteScalar returns only the first column of the first result set so the
exception is not raised in the app code. If you need the exception raised,
consider using ExecuteReader with NextResult instead. ExecuteScalar is
basically just a convenience method that wraps ExecuteReader and retrieves
only the first result set.

Workshop Note: Stress Management

2009-02-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

Demand -> Resource -> Prospective

Reduce Demand:
1) Say No or "I'll get back to you later"

Increase Resource:
1) Maintain Social Support
2) Find ways to relax
3) Get regular exercise
4) Maintain interests outside work
5) Keep a balanced diet
6) Create good sleeping habits
7) Moderate comsuption of relaxants or stimulations

Stress Relief
1) Spend 15 mins a day to do something you think is relaxing

Bike to work days in Feb

2009-02-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

Bike to work: 15 days.
Total workdays: 20 days
Bike commute percentage: 75%
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 15 = 256.5 KM
Total Calories burned in riding: 342 * 15 = 5130

According to the calories I burned, I should lose 570 g fat, but I didn’t…

完全面包机版汤种全麦面包

2009-02-26T20:12:00.001-08:00

原方是全用中筋面粉的：白塔寺的完全面包机汤种面包：http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200801&postID=39818&&c_lang=gb2312

我的改良配方主要是尽量用全麦面粉代替中筋面粉，这样比较健康。
-------------------------------------
汤种做法：
5TBSP水+2TBSP中筋面粉，搅匀后微波炉加热10秒钟，拿出来继续搅匀再加热10秒钟，反复这个过程大概4-5次，直到面粉水变得像浆糊，可以划出印来。
盖上保鲜膜，冷却到室温后放入冰箱，冷藏24小时。
-------------------------------------
第一次20%全麦面包，成功
配料：
汤种，鸡蛋一个打进量杯加水至蛋水总量为7/8杯，黄糖4 TBSP，油1-2 TBSP，中筋面粉2 杯，全麦面粉1/2杯，Instant Dry Yeast 2 1/4 TSP，两把小红莓干，一把葡萄干
心得：
1）基本上完全忠于原方，只不过用全麦面粉替换了20%的中筋面粉，很成功。
2）干果放得太少了，主要是当时看着面团很小，不敢放太多的干果，没想到后来面包发得很大，吃得时候觉得干果太少了。
3）我过去一直用面包机的sandwich档，一共2小时55分钟，先搅拌20分钟，而后第一次发酵，然后是加料提示音，再搅拌5分钟，然后再第二次发酵以及烘培。这次开始用sweet档，发现搅拌的时间要更长一些，这样估计对于面包的筋度更有帮助。
-------------------------------------
第二次60%全麦面包，成功
配料：
汤种，鸡蛋一个打进量杯加水至蛋水总量为7/8杯，黄糖3 TBSP，油1-2 TBSP，中筋面粉1 杯，全麦面粉1.5杯，Instant Dry Yeast 2TSP.
-------------------------------------
第三次100%全麦面包，成功
配料：
汤种，鸡蛋一个，水2/3杯，黄糖3 TBSP，油1-2 TBSP，全麦面粉2.5杯，Instant Dry Yeast 1.5TSP.

做了几个职业/性格测试

2009-02-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

今天一个已经工作了5+年的朋友说自己的工作很枯燥，不知道自己到底适合什么样的工作。我其实也常常有这个疑问，虽然目前做软件开发还是比较喜欢，但是不知道是不是有更适合自己的工作。。。
帮她Google了几个在线测试，我自己也测了测，结论是，测了跟没测差不多
=========================
菲尔人格测试
得分53分
51分到60分：吸引人的冒险家适合市场开发与销售工作，适合独当一面。你是一个令人兴奋、活泼、易冲动的人，是一个天生的领袖，能够迅速做了决定，虽然你的决定不总是对的。你是一个愿意尝试机会、欣赏冒险的人，周围人喜欢跟你在一起。
==========================
测测你适合什么职业及择业的倾向？
http://health.sohu.com/2004/05/05/38/article220033812.shtml
得分 8
分数为7--13：你具有耐心、谨慎、刻苦钻研的品质，是个稳重的人。适宜于选择编辑、律师、医生、技术人员、工程师、会计师、科学工作等职业。
==========================
MBTI测试
http://www.psytopic.com/mag/post/mbti-career-personality-test-psytopic-special-edition.html

Psytopic分析：您的性格类型是“INTP”(内向+直觉+思维+知觉)
对任何感兴趣的事物，都要探索一个合理的解释。喜欢理论和抽象的事情，喜欢理念思维多于社交活动。沉静，满足，有弹性，适应力强。在他们感兴趣的范畴内，有非凡的能力去专注而深入地解决问题。有怀疑精神，有时喜欢批判，常常善于分析。
INTP型的人是解决理性问题者。他们很有才智和条理性，以及创造才华的突出表现。INTP型的人外表平静、缄默、超然，内心却专心致志于分析问题。他们苛求精细、惯于怀疑。他们努力寻找和利用原则以理解许多想法。他们喜欢有条理和有目的的交谈，而且可能会仅仅为了高兴，争论一些无益而琐细的问题。只有有条理的推理才会使他们信服。通常INTP型的人是足智多谋、有独立见解的思考者。他们重视才智，对于个人能力有强烈的欲望，有能力也很感兴趣向他人挑战。 INTP型的人最主要的兴趣在于理解明显的事物之外的可能性。他们乐于为了改进事物的目前状况或解决难题而进行思考。他们的思考方式极端复杂，而且他们能很好地组织概念和想法。偶尔，他们的想法非常复杂，以致于很难向别人表达和被他人理解。 INTP型的人十分独立，喜欢冒险和富有想象力的活动。他们灵活易变、思维开阔，更感兴趣的是发现有创见而且合理的解决方法，而不是仅仅看到成为事实的解决方式。
您适合的领域有：计算机技术理论研究、学术领域专业领域创造性领域等
您适合的职业有：
· 电脑软件设计师
· 系统分析人员
· 计算机程序员
· 研究开发专业人员
· 数据库管理
· 故障排除专家
· 战略规划师
· 金融规划师
· 信息服务开发商
· 变革管理顾问
· 企业金融律师
· 大学教授
· 科研机构研究人员
· 数学家
· 物理学家
· 经济学家
· 考古学家
· 历史学家
· 证券分析师
· 金融投资顾问
· 律师
· 法律顾问
· 财务专家
· 侦探
· 各类发明家
· 作家
· 设计师
· 音乐家
· 艺术家
· 艺术鉴赏

实用英语小句(zt)

2009-02-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

Pull over！把车子开到旁边。
Drop me a line！写封信给我。
Give me a ring = Call me！来个电话吧！
For here or to go？堂食或外卖。
What’s up? = What’s happening?=What’s new? 见面时随囗问候的话“最近在忙什么？有什么新鲜事吗？”一般的回答是“Nothing much!”或“Nothing new!”
Cut it out! = Knock it out！= Stop it! 少来这一套！同学之间开玩笑的话。
Don’t give me a hard time! 别跟我过不去好不好！
Get yourself together! 振作点行不行！
Do you have "the" time? 现在几点钟？可别误以为人家要约你出去。
Hang in there. = Don’t give up. = Keep trying. 再撑一下。
Give me a break! 你饶了我吧！（开玩笑的话）
Hang on. 请稍候。
Blow it. = Screw up. 搞砸了。
What a big hassle. 真是个麻烦事。
What a crummy day. 多倒霉的一天。
Go for it. 加油
You bet. = Of course. 当然；看我的！
Wishful thinking. 一厢情愿的想法。
Don’t be so fussy! 别那么挑剔好不好。
It’s a long story. 唉！说来话长。
How have you been? = How are you doing? 你过得如何？近来可好?
Take things for granted. 自以为理所当然。
Don’t put on airs. 别摆架子。
Give me a lift! = Give me a ride! 送我一程吧！
Have a crush on someone. 迷恋某人
What’s the catch? 有什么内幕？
Party animal. 开Party狂的人(喜欢参加舞会的人)
Potluck Party：一种聚餐方式，主人准备场地和餐具，参加的人必须带一道菜或准备饮料，最好事先问问主人的意思。
Pain in the neck. =Pain in the ass. 眼中钉，肉中刺。
Skeleton in the closet. 家丑
Don’t get on my nerve! 别把我惹毛了！
A fat chance. =A poor chance. 机会很小
I am racking my brains. 我正在绞尽脑
She’s a real drag. 她真有点碍手碍脚
Spacingout = daydreaming. 做白日梦
I am so fed up. 我受够了！
It doesn’t go with your dress. 跟你的衣服不配。
What’s the point? = What are you trying to say? 你的重点是什么？
By all means = Definitely. 一定是。
Let’s get a bite. = Let’s go eat. 去吃点东西吧！
I’ll buy you a lunch (a drink; a dinner). = It’s on me. = My treat. 我请客
Let’s go Dutch. 各付各的
My stomach is upset. 我的胃不舒服
diarrhea 拉肚子
吃牛排时，waiter会问“How would you like it?”就是问“要几分熟”的意思，可以选择rare，medium或 well-done。
I am under the weather. =I am not feeling well. 我不太舒服!
May I take a rain check? 可不可改到下次？(例如有人请你吃饭，你不能赴约，只好请他改到下一次。)
I am not myself today. 我今天什么都不对劲!
Let’s get it straight. 咱们把事情弄清楚!
What’s the rush! 急什么!
Such a fruitcake! 神经病！
I’ll swing by later. =I’ll stop by later. 待会儿，我会来转一下。
I got the tip straight from the horse’s mouth. 这个消息是千真万确的（tip指消息）!
easy as pie = very easy = piece of cake 很容易。
flunk out 被当掉
take French leave 不告而别
I don’t get the picture. =I don’t understand. 我不明白。
You should give him a piece of your mind. 你应该向他表达你的不满。
hit the road = take off = get on one’s way 离开。
Now he is in the driver’s seat =He is in control now.
Keep a low profile (or low key). 采取低姿态。
Kinky =bizarre =wacky =weird 古怪的。
klutz (=clutz) =idiot 白痴、笨蛋。
know one’s way around 识途老马。
lion’s share 大部份。
tailgate 尾随（尤其跟车跟得太近）。
take a back seat. 让步。
take a hike =leave me alone =get lost 滚开。
hit the hay =go to bed 睡觉。
Can you give me a lift? =Can you give me a ride? 载我一程好吗？
green hand 生手、没有经验的人。
moonshine = mountain dew 指私酿的烈酒（威士忌）或走私的酒。胡说八道也可用moonshine。His story is plain moonshine.
chill out =calm down =relax（来自黑人英语）
rip off =steal：I was ripped off. 我被偷了；rip off 也常被用为“剥夺”My right was ripped off. 权利被剥夺(来自黑人英语)。
mess around (with)瞎混；Get to work. Don’t mess around. 赶快工作，别瞎搅和。
snob 势利眼
sneak in, sneak out 偷偷溜进去，溜出来 sneakers 运动鞋
She is such a brown-nose/boot-licker. 她是个马屁精。
This is in way over my head. 对我而言这实在太难了。
I am an exam jitter and I always get a cramp in my stomach. 我是个考试紧张大师，一考试胃就抽筋。
Keep your study (work) on track. 请按进度读书（工作）。
Did you come up with any ideas? 有没有想到什麽新的意见？
Don’t get uptight! Take it easy. 别紧张，慢慢来！
Cheese! It tastes like cardboard. 天哪，吃起来味如嚼腊！
Get one’s feet wet. 与中文里的“涉足”或“下海”，寓意相同，表示初尝某事。I am going
to try dancing for the very first time. Just to get my feet wet.

Hotpot at home

2009-02-22T17:11:00.000-08:00

The whole picture. 火锅全家福

鸳鸯锅：
辣汤：小肥羊辣汤料+蒜瓣+姜片
清汤：香菇+西红柿+蒜瓣+姜片+葱

牛百叶 Omasum
虾 Prawn
带子 Scallop
丁香鱼 Chilean Smelt
三文鱼片 Salmon fillet

金针菇 Enokitake
油麦菜 Lettuce

猪血 Pork Blood
藕片 Sliced Lotus Root
蘑菇 Mushroom
年糕条 Sticky Rice Cake

冻豆腐 Forzen Tofu
肥肠 Pork Intestines

鱼丸 Fish Balls
鱼豆腐 Fish Tofu

还有下述原料没有给特写镜头：
羊肉片 Sliced Lamb
牛肉片 Sliced Beef
海带 Seaweed
魔芋丝
茼蒿

类的造物主和化妆语言

2009-02-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

某资深Java程序员在经济危机中被裁, 在家修身养性，潜心研究炒股，不再关心编程。
某日，他突然想谈论一个技术话题，说这个Class的Creator....老大，那个叫Constructor好不好
又有一次，我跟他说起最近新出了个XAML，是一种新的Markup语言，由于我一贯发音不准，他马上试图纠正我说“那是Makeup Language吧？”

沃尔玛开票员眼中的微软

2009-02-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

记得当年在微软做Vender/Contractor的时候，对微软的一切那可是崇拜备至，并且理所应当的认为别人也应该像我一样这么崇拜微软。

我当时在西格玛大厦上班，马路对过就是新开的沃尔玛。有一次我们这个小组组织大家郊游，需要去沃尔玛买一些食品。买好食品之后我去开报销用的发票时，开票员让我震撼了一把。我跟她说发票的单位写"微软"，于是她问我"是不是微小的微，软弱的软"，我超郁闷的点头说是。。。

The most funny joke ever: Records Retention Policy - Clock is ticking

2009-02-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Time is running out to delete emails older than 180 days/6 months – due March 2nd

**** has adopted a new Records Retention Policy. This policy involves the specifics surrounding the retention of various electronic and paper records including but not limited to emails, instant messaging and voicemails.

March 2nd 2009 is the effective date of the policy and is the date that all emails older than 180 days must be permanently destroyed. This means all applicable emails should be moved to your email’s “Deleted Items” folder and the folder emptied before March 2nd 2009.

You may
Save important emails in SharePoint sites and CRM products
Save attachments on your network drive space or local hard drive (less desirable)

You may not
Save emails to .pst files online or offline
Save emails in their native format online or offline
Print and save emails

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The most funny part is: It is not a joke, it is a serious email from the management. Let's wait and see what will happen on March 2nd.

未加入域的两台机器之间共享文件的问题

2009-02-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

一般家里有了第二天的电脑之后，就会遇到想要从电脑A上面访问电脑B上面的文件的情况。如果两台机器都是在同一个域内，那么非常容易，用域用户就可以不费吹灰之力的实现这一点。但是问题在于谁会闲着没事给家里的电脑建立域呢? 在这种没有域的情况下，共享文件就变成了一件很难做到的事情。
相信下面这个对话框很多人都见过。当从电脑A上面输入\\PinkAcer（电脑B的名字）之后，就会出现一个连接到电脑B的对话框。问题在于这个对话框的用户名被限制为电脑B上面的Guest用户。

我第一次碰到时，以为是自己的电脑的个别问题，没有想起来求教google，而是老老实实的到电脑B上面Enable Guest用户，然后把要访问的文件夹给Guest设上权限，然后拷贝，然后取消Guest的访问权限，然后禁用Guest用户。。。。以后每次见都暗骂MS若干句，然后拿出移动硬盘拷两次了事。
碰到的次数多了，而且换过好几台电脑都有同样的问题（汗一个，没说清楚。不是因为这个问题才换电脑的，是因为种种原因换了电脑后，无意中总是反复重现这个问题）。今天晚上才终于决定花一点时间来解决它。

解决起来其实挺快，打开注册表,把下列键值设为0即可： HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Lsa\forceguest

不幸的是，这个设置仅仅对于XP Pro版本有效，对于Home版没有作用。

下面这篇文章对于ForceGuest的原因解释的很详细：http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxpsimsh.html

Acer Aspire One Netbook 噪音问题

2009-02-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

买了这个可爱的小本本已经一周多了，用的时候却并不是很长。昨天突然注意到好像总是有嗡嗡的声音，虽然声音不大，但是确实有点影响心情。今天Google了一下，发现原来这是这个机型公认的一个缺陷，不过幸亏已经有人写好了程序来控制。

Windows版本的程序可以从这个链接下载，Linux的就自己去Google吧：）
http://www.computentsystems.de/aceraspireonefancontrol/

刚刚仔细看了一下这个程序，它的原理其实很简单，就是控制风扇的启动和停止，由于这个噪音就是风扇的声音，只要把风扇停下来就没有噪音了。它允许用户设定两个温度，一个是风扇的启动温度，一个是风扇的停止温度。一旦CPU的当前温度高于风扇启动温度，就启动风扇；风扇启动后CPU温度自然会下降，下降到风扇的停止温度后，风扇就会停下来，噪音也就没有了。这确实比过去一直开着风扇要更合理。

No Bike day?

2009-02-06T20:19:00.001-08:00

I rode to work today. It is so weird I did not see any other cyclists on my way to office. It was 8:45 AM- 9:20AM, I usually could see more than 10 other cyclists on the way.... For the after work commute, it was 6:05 PM -7:00 PM, but I only see one cyclist and he did not have a bike light. Besides, it was cloudy in the morning but it was not rainy. And it was actually sunny for the whole afternoon...It is definitely not a weather issue.
Is it No Bike day today???

Bike to Work 2009

2009-02-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

I started to bike to work today. The weather network reported the temperature is 9 centigrade, but I still saw snow on some streets.

The wonderful part is I started at the beginning of February this year. I remember I started in the end of March last year, it is amazing that I started almost 2 months earlier this year!
And I rode until the end of November last year, I think I still can ride to the same end time.

Deactivate Windows

2009-02-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

A co-worker once asked me "Do you know how to deactivate Windows?" I was confused by his question, so I asked why he wanted to deactivate Windows.

He said "I have installed the windows and activated it in my old laptop before. I bought a new laptop yesterday. If I could deactivate the windows in my old laptop, I should be able to install and activate it in my new laptop..."

超可爱的Netbook

2009-02-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

终于买了这个粉红色的小小的Netbook, 虽说性能强差人意，同时打开4个IE窗口就慢得不行，不过看在$299的售价上，我们实在不能要求太多。难能可贵之处在于，它的键盘设计得很舒服。在这么小（8.9")的空间内可以把键盘设计的跟普通的laptop手感差不多，比Dell那款Netbook强多了。当然这个小本本是超级轻的，还不到1KG，可以轻松的一手托起.

而且这个颜色超级配我冬天最喜欢穿的那件粉大衣，再让老妈给做了一个粉红色的笔记本套，改天拍了照放上来：）

Eye Test

2009-01-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

I know it's a small picture but see if you can do it anyway…

Can you spot the 44th President of the United States in the chart below?

年年有余怎么翻译

2009-01-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

Wish you having left-overs year after year...哈哈，这是我见过最搞笑天才的翻译。

My favorite TV shows

2009-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

最近看了不少美剧，觉得确实很精彩。鉴于我当初选择看Prison Break 和 Desperate Housewives 都是朋友推荐的，我也把我自己的看法写下来，希望可以帮助别人找到自己喜欢看的美剧：）

TOP 0: South Park 南方公园

对于South Park, 用TOP 0 来形容是最恰当不过了。它不算是真正的美剧，因为它是卡通片并且每集只有20分钟，所以我不把它跟其他美剧进行比较。更重要的原因是它实在太有创造性了，永远超乎你的想象，所以我也给它一个创造性的排名，呵呵。
South Park的主人公们是一群9岁小学生，但是千万不要认为这个卡通片很小儿科。它的观众分级是14+，也就是说14岁以上的人才适合看（或者说才看得懂）。里面的情节有暴力有色情，但是最大的特色是恶搞。恶搞中国人，恶搞日本人，恶搞加拿大人，恶搞美国总统。。。恶搞得超乎你的想象。

South Park是一座虚拟的城市，存在在Colorado. 不过我在洛杉矶却看到了South Park这个地名，很兴奋的来张照片：）

TOP 1: Prison Break 越狱

我对于电视剧、电影最大的要求是，故事要讲圆满了，演员最好别太难看(不要像指环王里面那样都脏呼呼的)，至于场景是否恢宏则是无所谓的事。
越狱是我觉得讲得最圆满的一个故事，主线非常集中，第一集就把人的注意力抓住。为什么一个名校毕业的优秀的工程师要全身刺青，而后又要去抢银行，还故意失手被捉住，并且在法庭上完全不肯为自己辩解，主动要求入狱。原来他的目的是越狱，但是不是为了他自己，而是为了他的被陷害的哥哥，越狱的过程充满曲折和绝处逢生，很多的不可思议却又合情合理。
但是，这个电视剧只有第一季最精彩，后面的情节有些牵强，一季不如一季了。好在Fox已经宣布第四季是最后一季，不然我真的怕这么精彩的电视剧最后变成鸡肋。
再八卦一下剧集中的帅哥美女，第一眼帅哥当然是Mike Scofield, 可是不知道为什么好像他不是很耐看，看多了就觉得不怎么好看了。Lincoln Burrow, 一直就没觉得他好看过，不知道为啥剧中有很多情节都是女人觉得他Hot. 女主角Sara Tancredi 我也是觉得一点也不好看。
把我认为的帅哥美女都贴一下：有趣的是，好像大都是成对出现，Sucre和女友Maricruz, Mahone和前妻Pam Mahone. 只有可怜的Sofia和那么难看的Lincoln是一对。

TOP 2: Desperate Housewives 绝望主妇

这个主要讲的是4-5个家庭主妇的日常生活中的种种故事。剧集刚开始的时候，虽然作者试图做到主线集中，让大家都关注Mary Alice为什么要自杀这个主题，但是第一集4个主妇就一起出场，情节难免会引起混乱，没有越狱处理得那么好。
Gabriella Solis是我最喜欢的一个角色，她漂亮自信，自私而又坦白的承认自己的自私。一开始觉得她是一个很物质的女孩，但是后来却可以为了找回真爱依然抛开市长夫人的宝座以及唾手可得的巨额财富。
Susan Mayer虽然已经不再年轻，却是一个天真糊涂的女人。很多人非常喜欢她，但是我总是通过她小鹿一样无辜的眼睛，看到她的憔悴疲惫，不是很喜欢她。
Bree是一个超完美主义者，她永远把事情做得一丝不苟，完美再完美。她也是我比较喜欢的一个角色。
Lynette曾经是一位非常能干的职业妇女，在她的职业生涯中，一直是别人在追赶她。但是自从她有了4个小孩，成了一名全职妈妈之后，她就永远的疲惫不堪的试图赶上其他的家庭主妇。不喜欢她的全职妈妈的样子。
Eddie在前3季我觉得就是一个Bitch的实例，实在是看她超不顺眼。不过看到她在龙卷风的时候主动保护娇小的Gabriella的那段，觉得她也是有善良的一面的。
从第二季开始出现了另一个我很喜欢的主妇，Katherine. 她跟Bree比较像，都是完美主义者。但是我觉得她比Bree看上去更加可亲更加优雅一些。

TOP 3: Heroes 英雄（超异能英雄）

这个剧集的致命缺点就是前几集都没有主线出来，而且主角超多，前几集看得人云里雾里。要不是我的好几个同事都超级推荐这个剧集，我估计我看不了3集就放弃了。
有一群人有各种各样的特异功能，有的可以让时间停止，有的可以超快速愈合伤口，有的可以飞，有的可以穿墙入壁，有的可以听见别人心里所想的事情，还有的可以学会别人的特异功能。这些人想要Save the world，但是至于这个世界为什么需要拯救，说得不够明确。而且我不喜欢这个剧集的一点是，很多好人后来会变成坏人。

Just for killing time:
In Justice

Jokes about travel

2009-01-23T21:52:00.001-08:00

I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window.

A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?"

I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. "Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa." Her response ... click.

I got a call from a man who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada?" I said, "No." He said "But they look so close on the map."

Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time."

A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!

A woman called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who's luggage belongs to who?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?" After putting her on hold for a minute while I "looked into it" (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

I just got off the phone with a man who asked, "How do I know which plane to get on?" I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, "I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them."

A woman called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes." I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever."

A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. "Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, "Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express."

A woman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York" The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer retorted, "Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" "That's it! I knew it was a big animal!"

zt 写给老板要求长工资的信

2009-01-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

One day an employee sends a letter to his boss asking for an increase in his salary!!!

Dear Bo$$

In thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately. I think you $hould be under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much $upport including $weat and $ ervice to your company. I am $ure you will gue$$ what I mean and re$pond $oon.

Your$ $incerely,
Norman $oh

The next day, the employee received this letter of reply:

Dear NOrman,

I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed. You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet.
NOw the newspaper are saying the world`s leading ecoNOmists are NOt sure if the United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential elections things may turn bad.
I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean.

Yours truly

2009 Resolution

2008-12-29T20:13:00.000-08:00

1. Personal Goals
1.1 Fitness goal: I am going to fit in the dark green size 0 pants.
Detail plan:

Bike to work Mar to Nov everyday unless emergency

Go to gym (Weight room) 4 times per week. Monday and Thursday focus on lower body, Tuesday and Friday work on upper body.

Do 20-30 mins cardio exercise on the days when not biking.

1.2 Get a driver license.
1.3 Hobby: Learn inline skate, front crawl.
1.4 Make 1-2 friends.

2. Professional Goals
2.1 English handwriting. I don't need my handwriting to be pretty, but it need to be neat.
2.2 Get 100% understand of South Park, and master the new words. At least finish one episode per week.
2.3 Get 100% understand of 1-2 movies and choose an actress to imitate.
2.4 Talk to 5 different people each day.
2.5 Get involved in those email tech discussions at least once

3. Financial Goals
3.1 Looking for the area which I interest and I can really make passive income from.

09 salary guide

2008-12-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

Refers： http://www.hays.ca/salary-guides.aspx

上面的那个薪资指导包括了IT行业的各个工作，我只把我关心的程序员和DBA的薪水拿出来比较。一直印象中DBA会比同等资历的程序员拿得多，或者说至少是资深DBA比资深程序员拿得多。但是好像事实并非如此，而Business Analyst以及Technical Support却很高，这是我之前没想到的。
还有就是， 2-3年前听说多伦多的薪水比温哥华高很多，现在好像是风水轮流转了。

Unit ( thousand dollars per year)
Developer	<>	5-10 years	> 10 years
Calgary	65-80	80-95	95-110
Toronto	45-55	55-75	75-90
Ottawa	45-55	55-65	70-80+
Vancouver	40-60	60-80	80-100

DBA	<>	5-10 years	> 10 years
Calgary	55-65	65-75	75-85
Toronto	45-55	55-75	75-85
Ottawa	50-60	60-70	75+
Vancouver	45-65	55-85	75+

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

白色圣诞，闭门思过，呵呵
没有思过啦，只不过明天需要交Performence Review的自我评价，所以躲在家里埋头苦写，尽量想要不露痕迹的把自己吹捧成一朵花。。。好难啊。。。比解一个“闹鬼”的bug都难。。。

什么时候可以不费吹灰之力的写需要上交的总结了，生活就会更美好了。这不是英文的问题，即使用中文写时一样觉得写着很困难。。。。

Hard Skill & Soft Skill

2008-12-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

在rolia上看到一个帖子，觉得很有道理。
原帖：http://www.rolia.net/f/listSingleThread.php?f=0&pno=4912963

看到不少朋友以技术大牛自诩，看不起光会“耍嘴皮子的”的白人印度人。我也曾经这样。
by mikesmith (老猫) at 2008.12.11 13:53 (#4912963@0)

1）记得很多年前的一个半夜，刚给一个大用户做完一个城域网的升级，跟我一起干的一个当地白人说：真难相信这是你第一次做项目，我在这个用户上作了2年，对其系统的了解还不如你半夜的功夫。我俩同时被雇佣，我知道他刚被升职，当时级别比我高，是个典型的好人。虽然“技术“永远不会及我，但他可以在公司上千人聚会上，上台说让大家都笑的笑话，而我当时甚至连听都听不懂。他升职而没有我的份，公平吗？公平。

2）记得很多年前的一个白天，刚给一个多伦多银行作完一个项目. 带我干的一个50多岁的资深工程师请我吃饭。这个项目他负责，我做的。我知道我掌握的“技术“他这辈子也不用想了。他在全部细节实现上依赖我。他是香港人。他当时级别比我高3级，公平吗？公平。

因为，所谓“技术“，就是个tool. 与人沟通，合作，交流，让别人心甘情愿的干，是结果。那个白人和香港人，至少在那时候，比我强。他们最终也都没隐藏我的贡献，都是我朋友。而我的现在，也许就是从前的那个白人，那个香港人。

Singleton Pattern vs. Static Class

2008-12-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

refers: http://dotnetperls.com/Content/Singleton-Static.aspx

When I heard singleton pattern, the first thing came in my mind is: not a big deal, it is just a static class.

But actually, you won't want to use static class to implement the singleton pattern, if you read the referred article.
Basically, using a non-static class with private constructor and a static Instance are much better than static class:
1) Static class cannot implement interfaces, also it cannot be inheritted by other classes.
2) Static class cannot be passed as an object to a method, but SingletonClass.Instance definitely can.

Study Notes: Serialization.

2008-12-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

refers: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301761.aspx

Serialization is the process of converting an object or a connected graph of objects into a contiguous stream of bytes. Deserialization is the process of converting a contiguous stream of bytes back into its graph of connected object.

How serialization works:

1.1) If any fields in the graph refer to other objects, then it serialize these objects, too. In other words, it is convenient to implement deep clone using serialization and deserialization.

1.2) If two objects in the graph refer to each other, then the formatter detects this, serializes each object just once, and avoids entering into an infinite loop.

1.3) It is possible and also quite useful to serialize multiple object graphs out to a single byte stream.

1.4) When serializing an object, the full name of the type and the name of the type's defining assembly are written to the byte stream. By default, the BinaryFormatter and SoapFormatter types output the assembly's full identity, which includes the assembly's file name (without extension), version number, culture, and public key information

1.5) Whole Process
a.1) MemberInfo[] GetSerializableMembers(Type type);
a.2) Object[] GetObjectData(Object obj, MemberInfo[] members);
a.3) write the assembly type info and 2 arrays into the stream.

b.1) Type GetTypeFromAssembly(Assembly assem, String name);
b.2) Object GetUninitializedObject(Type type); It does not call any constructor.
b.3) MemberInfo[] GetSerializableMembers(Type type);
b.4) Object PopulateObjectMembers(Object obj, MemberInfo[] members, Object[] data);

Dev notes:

2.1) By default, types are not serializable. developer must apply the System.SerializableAttribute custom attribute to this type, to make it serializable.

2.2) For performance reasons, formatters do not verify that all of the objects in the graph are serializable before serializing the graph. So, when serializing an object graph, it is entirely possible that some objects may be serialized to the byte stream before the SerializationException is thrown. If this happens, the byte stream is corrupt.

I recommend that you serialize the objects into a MemoryStream first. Then, if all objects are successfully serialized, you can copy the bytes in the MemoryStream to whatever stream (file or network, for example) you really want the bytes written to.

2.3) The SerializableAttribute custom attribute may be applied to reference types (class), value types (struct), enumerated types (enum), and delegate types (delegate) only

2.4) You can easily make a derived class to be serializable if the base class is serializable. But if the base class is not, then you cannot apply the Serializable attribute to the derived class.

2.5) So you may want to make all your classes serializable to grant a lot of flexibility to users of your types. However, you must be aware that serialization reads all of an object's fields regardless of whether the fields are declared as public, protected, internal, or private.

2.6) You can put NonSerializedAttribute to a type's fields, so the fields are ignored when serializing. And the attribute continues to apply to these fields when inherited by another type.

You may need to implement the System.Runtime.Serialization.IDeserializationCalback interface, if you need to do something for those NonSerialized fields.
During deserialization, formatters check to see if the object it is deserializing comes from a type that implements the IDeserializationCallback interface. If the type does implement this interface, then the formatter adds this object's reference to an internal list. After all of the objects have been deserialized, the formatter walks this list and calls each object's OnDeserialization method.

知识更新没有那么可怕。It's your worktime fun.

2008-12-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

成为一个技术高手，不需要头悬梁锥刺股，也不需要废寝忘食。需要做的只是合理利用你的上班时间。

刚毕业的时候，看过一篇文章，大体意思如下：（可惜找不到原文了）

大学生刚毕业的时候都是站在同一条起跑线上（都是什么都不会），等过上3-5年，差别就显出来了，为什么？因为大家每天上班的8个小时都差别不大，都是为了挣一份工资养活自己；但是不同的是除了睡觉之外的其余8个小时，如何利用这些业余时间使得这些社会新鲜人在3-5年内产生了很大的差异。这就是所谓的8小时求生存，8小时求发展。

当时觉得这篇文章说得很对，于是决定好好利用业余时间读技术书，成为一名技术高手。但是在丢掉了学生时代晚自习的习惯之后，想要在晚上读严肃一点的书都会马上起到催眠的效果。结果书也没有读完一两本（技术书都太厚了。。。）。

到了现在的公司不久，领导教育我说，很多人在刚进公司的时候，水平都差不多，但是过了2年以后，有的人原地不动，有的人技术提高很多，为什么呢？（咦，怎么听上去这么熟悉呢？）那么为什么呢？因为有的人会很好的利用Slow time，在这段时间内好好充实自己；而有的人在Slow time就晚来早走，一天在公司也就呆4，5个小时，中间还要来一个长长的午餐，剩下的时间也就上网看看新闻，看看YouTube，聊聊天。

这个说法听上去很有道理，而且很具有可操作性。但是，有一点很重要的他没有提到。一般在Busy time的时候，干的活儿很多，遇到的不懂的技术点也就很多，但是没有时间仔细去研究，只求快点把事情做完。而闲下来的时候，又一时不知道该学点什么，没有边际的学习其实是效果很差的。

所以呢，我就开始保留一个Study List, 每次遇到自己不懂的又想了解清楚的技术点时候，就把它列进去，然后等不太忙的时候再拿出这个列表选一个最想学的去学。

再就是这个列表解决的另一个问题，就是在学习知识A的过程中遇到了知识B，于是去学B，又遇到了C，最后发现自己不懂的东西太多，都忘记自己最初要学的是什么了，只能很郁闷的放弃。用数据结构的语言来讲，这就是树的深度遍历遇到的问题，那么我们只需要采用广度遍历，学习A的时候，遇到B，那么把B放到我们的Study List里面，继续学习A. 学完A了再考虑学B，这个令人沮丧的问题就迎刃而解了。

一个圆的面积越大，那么它的周长所能接触的面积也就越大。假使圆的面积是“知道”，圆外面的世界是“无知”；那么一旦我们“知道”得越多，我们也就相对地越是“无知”。但是我们有了Study List这个利器，就不会迷失在学而无涯的迷茫中。 ^_^

=============================
我的Study List：
1) XML
a. Structed knowledge
b. Sql & xml
c. XmlTextReader, XmlTextWriter vs XmlDocument
d. Namespace?
2) Serialization
3) Delegate type
4) XPath
5) XSLT
a. Xslt parameter (how to pass)
b. Xslt function
c. DataSet & xsl
6) SOAP
7) Design Patterns
8) C# image process
9) ASP.net 2.0 AJAX
http://ajax.asp.net/docs/default.aspx
10) IIS
11) Regular Expression
12) System tables in SQL
13) SQL: Indexes and performance

Bike to work

2008-11-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Last week is bike to work week (winter version), and I rode the whole week. It was amazing that we had a whole week without rain in winter in Vancouver, perfect weather for riding. :)

I started to ride to work since last year, and it was May to October. I caught a cold at the beginning of October, and stopped riding since then.

For this year, I started riding from the end of March. Later I got all my rain gears (waterproof pants, jacket, shoe covers, reflectors...), which make me I could ride in the rainy days. I caught a cold again in the beginning of this October, I stopped riding for a couple of days, but I go back to ride as soon as I recovered. At the beginning of Nov, I heard that the VACC announced the Bike to work winter version, and I thought they were crazy. I never imaged I could still ride in the end of Nov.

Gain(Loss) from this year's riding:
1) Weight Loss of 6.5 pounds
2) Saved the money for ~7 month passes (~ $500, wow!). Minus the money spend on the rain gears, still saved ~$300 :)

Well, good enough. I guess I'll stop riding for Dec, Jan and Feb. I have already seen frost last week, and I can expect to see some ice in the next couple of days. Snow or Ice, that are the stop signs for me.

** is my middle name

2008-11-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

** is my middle name, 这种表达法在电视广告的轰炸下，终于被我深深的记住了，表示**是我最大的特征或者最喜欢做的事。比如：Cool is my middle name. Danger is my middle name.

我们公司有一个同事(假设他叫Eric Cartman)，特喜欢跟别人开玩笑。别人说他你怎么总是harass people? 然后他就得意洋洋的说"Harass is my middle name." 这样听他说了几次，也没觉得有多搞笑。直到有一天，他再次说"Harass is my middle name"的时候，另一个同事说，我明白了，原来你的全名叫Eric Harass(es) Cartman.
^_^

股市大跌影响流浪汉的收入

2008-11-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

在温哥华的流浪汉聚居的区域走过，看到一个流浪汉在追着一个黑人要钱。黑人说“I don't have money!” 而后，似乎嫌语气还不够强烈似的，说“I lost all my money in the stock market!”

zt数学解题新思维

2008-11-09T11:27:00.001-08:00

火鸡节过后的经济形势

2008-10-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

昨天是火鸡节后的第一个工作日。Ok,我知道那是Thanksgiving感恩节,不过鉴于月饼节听上去比中秋节更加生动形象，那感恩节也就该具体化为火鸡节了。
言归正传。一个从来都是吃外卖午饭的同事破天荒带了午饭，于是大家说看来经济形势真的是不好了。但是事实上，他只是前一天家里烤了一只大火鸡，没吃完，所以才带过来当午饭。。。

Low calories veggie dip

2008-09-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

最近跟朋友学到了吃vegetable dipping, 没想到菜花这种我一向不爱吃的东西，生着拿来沾酱料吃还相当不错！西兰花，西芹，胡萝卜也可以拿来沾，很好吃。
唯一可惜的是，超市里面的蘸料都太肥了，一大勺（tbsp)的热量居然就要有70-90。我如果一顿饭只吃蔬菜蘸作为主要的菜的话，估计要吃掉至少5，6勺的蘸料。。。。这热量。。。好像都快赶上炸薯条了。。。。
刚刚在网上找到了几个低卡蘸料的配方，改天自己做来试试。
--------------------
最新发现：Ceaser Dressing可以当作蘸料来用。我买的是Noname的低卡凯撒沙拉酱，一大勺热量只有30，而且还挺便宜的，好像才2-3块一大瓶（950ML），看来近期是不用自己做蘸料了：）
**************************************...
1 - 16 ounce container fat free cottage cheese
1 pack hidden valley ranch mix (dressing or dip)

Put cottage cheese in blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into a bowl. Add pack of Hidden valley ranch mix. Cover, and refridgerate overnight so the powder has time to disolve.

**************************************...
Low Fat Garlic Veggie Dip

8 oz plain fat free yogurt
2 tbsp fat free sour cream
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp parsley, dried
1/2 tsp onion powder

Mix all ingredients together well.
Refrigerate for at least an hour or throw it in your lunch cooler with some fresh veggies and enjoy.

**************************************...
VEGETABLE DIP (LOW CALORIE)

1 c. low calorie mayonnaise
1 c. plain yogurt
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. dill weed
1 tbsp. onion, minced
1 tbsp. Lawry's seasoned salt

Mix above ingredients together until smooth.

**************************************...
CREAMY COTTAGE DIP (LOW CALORIE
RECIPE)

Beat one 12 oz. carton (1 1/2) cups cottage cheese, not creamed, 6 tablespoons skim milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons instant minced onion, and 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt with mixer. Stir in 1 tablespoon finely chopped canned pimiento and 1 tablespoon snipped parsley. Chill. Makes 1 3/4 cups. Good on baked potato too.

Grouse Grind

2008-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Distance:2.9 kilometers
Elevation Gain:853 meters
Time consumed: ~ 90 mins ( 45 mins for the last half, we had lunch in the first half so it is difficult to calculate the time)

Shuttle: translink.
taking Skytran -> Waterfront station (17 mins)
taking Seabus -> Lonsdale Quay (12 mins)
taking 236 -> Grouse Mountain (21 mins)

Finally, I hiked the famous Grouse Grind yesterday :)

家里孵鸡蛋

2008-09-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

这两天，被公司一个在加利福尼亚的同事气得不行。我在做的一个工具需要连接他做的webservice, 结果按照他给的文档生成出来的数据，总是被他的webservice认为是非法数据。而且他还邮件不回电话不接，真是服了他了。。。。
晚上回家跟家里人抱怨这个同事怎么这么懒，然后感慨说在加利福尼亚那边看来太好混了，结果老公没听清，说，“什么，在家里孵鸡蛋的太好混了？”于是，恍然大悟，难怪这家伙对工作这么不热心，原来是忙着在家里孵鸡蛋呢，哈哈。

slang from cubicle land

2008-08-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

Read a cartoon of Cubicle Land recently, it is soooooo funny.Let me just quota the first sentence there: A boss went to the kindergarten to give a speech to the kids. "When you grow up, you will be put into a container called ---- CUBICLE"

Just googled some funny slangs related with cubicle, copy them here:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
comes from http://www.allowe.com/Humor/book/Cubonics--Slang%20from%20Cubicle%20Land.htm:
404
Someone who is clueless. From the Web error message, “404 Not Found,” which means the document requested couldn’t be located. “Don’t bother asking John. He’s 404.”

Adminisphere
The rarified organizational layers above the rank and file that makes decisions that are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant.

Alpha Geek
The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. “I dunno, ask Rick. He’s our alpha geek.”

Arachnoleptic fit (n.) The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
Assmosis
The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

Batmobiling
putting up emotional shields. Refers to the retracting armor that covers the Batmobile as in “she started talking marriage and he started batmobiling”

Beelzebug (n.) Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Beepilepsy
The brief siezure people sometimes suffer when their beepers go off, especially in vibrator mode. Characterized by physical spasms, goofy facial expressions, and stopping speech in mid-sentence.

Betamaxed
when a technology is overtaken in the market by inferior but better marketed competition as in “Microsoft betamaxed Apple right out of the market”

Blamestorming
A group discussion of why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.

Blowing Your Buffer
Losing one’s train of thought. Occurs when the person you are speaking with won’t let you get a word in edgewise or has just said something so astonishing that your train gets derailed. “Damn, I just blew my buffer!” (Synonym: “Head Crash”)

Body Nazis
Hard-core exercise and weight-lifting fanatics who look down on anyone who doesn’t work out obsessively.

Bookmark
To take note of a person for future reference. “After seeing his cool demo at Siggraph, I bookmarked him.”

Bozone (n.) The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Brain Fart
A byproduct of a bloated mind producing information effortlessly; a burst of useful information. “I know you’re busy on the Microsoft story, but can you give us a brain fart on the Mitnik bust?” Variation of old hacker slang that had more negative connotations.

Cashtration (n.) The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

Caterpallor (n.) The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
CGI Joe
A hard-core CGI script programmer with all the social skills and charisma of a plastic action figure.

Chainsaw Consultant
An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee head count, leaving the top brass with clean hands.

Chip Jewelry
Old computers destined to be scrapped or turned into decoration. “I paid three grand for that Mac and now it’s nothing but chip jewelry.”

Chips and Salsa
Chips = hardware, salsa = software. “First we gotta figure out if the problem’s in your chips or your salsa.”

CLM
(Career Limiting Move)
Used by microserfs to describe an ill-advised activity. “Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM.”

Cobweb
a WWW site that never changes

Crapplet
A badly written or profoundly useless Java applet. “I just wasted 30 minutes downloading that crapplet!”

Cube Farm
An office filled with cubicles.

Dead Tree Edition
The paper version of a publication available in both paper and electronic forms.

Decafalon (n.) The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Dilberted
To be exploited and oppressed by your boss, as is Dilbert, the comic strip character. “Damn, I’ve been dilberted again! The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week.”

Dopeler effect The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Dorito Syndrome
The feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction triggered by addictive substances that lack nutritional content. “I just spent six hours surfing the Web, and now I’ve got a bad case of Dorito Syndrome.”

Egosurfing
Scanning the Net, databases, etc., for one’s own name.

Elvis Year
the peak year of popularity as in “1993 was Barney the dinosaur’s Elvis year”

Foreploy Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Generica
fast food joints, strip malls, sub-divisions as in “we were so lost in generica that I couldn’t remember what city it was”

Giraffiti Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Glazing
Corporate-speak for sleeping with your eyes open; a popular pastime at conferences and early-morning meetings. “Didn’t he notice that by the second session half the room was glazing?”

Glibido All talk and no action.
Going Postal
totally stressed out and losing it like postal employees who went on shooting rampages

Gray Matter
Older, experienced business people hired by young entrepreneurial firms trying to appear more professional and established.

Graybar Land
The place you go while you’re staring at a computer that’s processing something very slowly (while you watch the gray bar creep across the screen). “That CAD rendering put me in graybar land for like an hour.”

High Dome
egghead, scientist, PhD

Hipatitis Terminal coolness.
Idea Hamsters
People whose idea generators are always running.

Ignoranus A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
Inoculatte To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Intaxication Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
Irritainment
Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying, but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example.

It’s a Feature
From the old adage, “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.” Used sarcastically to describe an unpleasant problem you wish to gloss over.

Karmageddon It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.
Keyboard Plaque
The disgusting buildup of dirt and crud found on some people’s computer keyboards.

Link Rot
The process by which web page’s links become obsolete as the sites they’re connected to change or die.

Meatspace
the physical world (as opposed to the virtual) also “carbon community” “facetime” “F2F” “RL”

Mouse Potato
The on-line generation’s answer to the couch potato.

Ohnosecond
That minuscule fraction of time during which you realize you’ve just made a terrible error.

Open-Collar Workers
People who work at home or telecommute.

Osteopornosis A degenerate disease.
Percussive Maintenance
The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

Perot
To quit unexpectedly. “My cellular phone just perot’ed.”

Physmental (adj.) The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
Plug-and-Play
A new hire who doesn’t require training. “That new guy is totally plug-and-play.”

Prairie Dogging
When something loud happens in a cube farm, causing heads to pop up over the walls trying to see what’s going on.

Reintarnation Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
Ribs ‘N’ Dick
a budget with no fat as in “we’ve got ribs ‘n’ dick and we’re supposed to find 20K for memory upgrades”

Salmon Day
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed in the end. “God, today was a total salmon day!”

Sarchasm The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
Seagull Manager
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, shits over everything and then leaves.

Siliwood
the coming convergence of movies, interactive TV and computers; also “Hollywired”

SITCOMs
What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. “Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage”

Square-Headed Spouse
Computer

Squirt the Bird
To transmit a signal up to a satellite. “Crew and talent are ready...what time do we squirt the bird?”

Starter Marriage
A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property and no regrets.

Stress Puppy
A person who thrives on being stressed-out and whiny.

Swiped Out
An ATM or credit card that has been used so much its magnetic strip is worn away.

Tourists
Those who take training classes just to take a vacation from their jobs. “There were only three serious students in the class; the rest were just tourists.”

Treeware
Hacker slang for documentation or other printed material.

Umfriend
One with whom one has a sexual relationship; as in, “this is Dale, my...um...friend.”

Under Mouse Arrest
Getting busted for violating an online service’s rule of conduct. “Sorry I couldn’t get back to you. AOL put me under mouse arrest.”

Uninstalled
Euphemism for being fired. Also: decruitment.

World Wide Wait
The real meaning of WWW.

Xerox Subsidy
Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.

Yuppie Food Coupons
Twenty dollar bills from an ATM

减肥周年庆：最重要的是生活态度的改变

2008-05-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

2007年5月21日：开始减肥，体重67.5KG
2008年5月21日：稳定在56KG了

开始减肥已经整整一年了，一共减掉了23斤（体重的17%以上）。这个减肥的速度虽然并不快，目前的体重也并不低，但是重要的是我改变的我的生活态度。我不需要再谈论减肥成功与否，不需要太在意什么时候才能够到达所谓的理想体重，因为真正的理想体重本来就没有一个确定的数字，因为我已经养成了良好的生活习惯，已经不需要再用“坚持”这个词了。健康的习惯已经融入了我的生活，只要正常生活就可以了：）

一句话总结：要是知道这么好减，我早就开始减了。

从小就不喜欢运动的我，居然渐渐的喜欢上了运动，运动已经不再是一种负担，而是一种爱好。喜欢运动的人比较容易快乐，这是另一大收获：）

原来以为减肥要痛苦地忌口，觉得不能吃好吃的东西，就失去了至少一半活着的乐趣。但是自从每天都吃大量的水果蔬菜之后，可乐薯条薯片巧克力对我的吸引力慢慢变弱了。当然，如果几周不吃，我还是会想吃它们；想吃了就吃一点，只要不是连续吃几天，就没关系。
再就是，我们一贯接受的所谓正常的饮食，其实不一定是正确的饮食。比如“主食”，其实吃菜比吃米饭的量应该大很多；比如说“早点”，可不是随便来点就可以了，记得我过去为了省事以及减肥，早点有时只吃一小杯酸奶或者牛奶，现在觉得那都是自杀式行为；比如说白米白面，显然不如糙米和全麦面粉来得健康；比如说为了减肥晚饭不敢吃主食，什么叫不敢吃主食，是本来就不该吃主食；比如说水果，不是可吃可不吃的，想起来才吃的，是每天都必须要吃的，而且最好一天吃几种不同的水果；比如说菜炒熟了才叫吃菜，其实凉拌甚至有的时候连拌都不用更加的好吃，当然也更健康。

简易烤杏仁

2008-05-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

原料：生杏仁200g左右，盐2茶勺(10g)

步骤：
1) 将生杏仁平铺在锡纸盘中。
2) 烤箱预热175度，放入杏仁烤10分钟左右。可以先烤5,6分钟，拿出来翻一翻，再继续烤几分钟。烤到有香味就可以了，注意不要烤糊了。
3) 炒锅中加入2茶勺盐，1大勺水(15ml)，将烤好的杏仁倒入炒锅中搅拌。
4) 加热炒锅，一边加热一边不断搅拌，直到盐水全部干燥，杏仁表面结满盐霜即可。
5) 晾凉后就可以吃了 (注意一定要晾凉后再吃，热的时候杏仁不够酥脆)

-----------------------------
千万不要这样做：
我刚开始打算烤杏仁的时候，想当然的拿盐水把杏仁泡了一晚上，然后再烤泡过的杏仁。
结果，杏仁吸饱了盐水，烤出来倒是够咸，但是怎么烤都香味不足。

Joke of Database Developer

2008-05-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our company have 3 kinds of developers. Database Devs, MiddleTier Devs and UI Devs.

One day, an UI Dev came to talk with a Database Dev for a new feature. Later, the UI guy went back and told his lead "The DB guy has written ASP page for this feature..."

I overheard their talking, and felt so weird. How come a DB guy write ASP page??

The DB guy also heard their talking, and began to carify it "No, I wrote a SP, Stored Procedure, for this feature...."

About the Millionaire Mind Seminar

2008-05-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the seminar for all the 3 days. 9am - 11pm for Friday, 9am-10pm for Saturday, and 9am-4pm for Sunday.

I think it is a good seminar, I did learned something there. But it is too long and contains too much sale promotion. My back began to pain, and my shoulders were very sore, after the first day, as I sat straightly for a whole long day...

Things I learned from the seminar:
1. The money jars(accounts) system.
This system has been explained in the book in detail, and get strengthened in the seminar. I think it is the most usefully point of the whole book and seminar.
For myself, I think I live a modesty lifestyle, I only need 30% of my income in my Necessary Account (which is recommended to be 55% in the seminar). So I just got a big part of exact money to divide in my other accounts:
FFA: 35%
EDU: 10%
LTSS: 15%
PLAY: 7%
GIVE: 3%

2. Name you top 3 biggest successes.
This shocked me a lot. I always have the idea in my mind that I am smart and talent. But I just cannot pick out my top 3 biggest successes in a short time. I just have the feeling that I have a lot of successes in my life, but them are either difficult to remember or too small to mention...
That's the thinking pattern I need to break. I will start to write a "Success Diary/Blog", to write down even the smallest success in my every day life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW, the $100 bill and cheques are used in the seminar. Don't worry, you won't need to give them to someone else.

I also got shocked by the truth that I could be moved to tears by a song....The Living Years.
Just heard this song in the seminar, and sang it together with all attendees...

Millionaire Mind Intensive Seminar

2008-04-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

I got the book Secret of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth By T. Harv Eker for free. I have finished about 2/3 of it, the idea of the author makes some sense. Some people have thought this book sounds like Chicken Soup, which gives some mental stimulation, but does not give any action plans. I'm not quite sure as I haven't finish it, but it really does not give actual plans till now.

Together with this free book, I also got the free ticket for this 3 days seminar. I wondered why it takes so long, so I googled it online, and found very few feedback of it. The organizer said this 3 days seminar will help the attendees to build their money blueprint. As people are lazy, if just leave them at home to build their money blueprint by themselves, they will end up no changes. It sounds reasonable, I just want to give it a try, at the risk of wasting my one vocation day off.

There are 2 things weird with this seminar:
1) How come will it last to 11 PM in the night?
Course Schedule:
Registration: Friday, April 25 7 am - 8:30 am
Day 1: Friday, April 25 9 am - 11 pm
Day 2: Saturday, April 26 9 am - 11 pm
Day 3: Sunday, April 27 8 am - 7 pm

2) It said the attendee should bring $100 bill and company or personal check. But they said it is a free seminar.....
I don't know, I won't bring my money...

I'll post my feedback here, after I attend this seminar.

^_^