Photos of my last day before returning to Stony Brook
I was disappointed at Stephanie's initially unenthusiastic reaction to receiving her presents, but she did love the Squishable whale that I got her.
The stuffed whale was not the main present however...
It was the Sex and the City Collector's Giftset! This baby cost a whopping $200, so I should mention that these presents were from Brian as well.
We drove to "nearby" Westbury to have an early dinner at Bertucci's, whose food was simply delizioso. Thinking about it makes me want to finish my leftovers that I brought back home.
Packing can wait: the moment I returned home, I took the assembled strips of the Puzz3D Empire State Building (that I completed the night before) and erected the building. I wasn't missing any pieces, which was a big relief for me. I took this shot in my sister's room because her desk light made these buildings glow radiantly. Oh, I forgot to mention that these Puzz3D buildings glow in the dark. Want to see them with the light off?
Too bad. This is the best photo I could get of the buildings glowing in the dark, namely the Empire State. If you look really hard on the right side, or invert the colors... So much for my Powershot's advanced settings.
My father threatened to throw away anything I left lying around after I leave for Stony Brook (Chinese New Year is on February 7th I believe, and the house needs to look presentable by then)... So I'm going to leave these buildings on top of the stereo in the living room. He didn't say anything about the Chrysler building sitting there before, so I guess he won't mind four more buildings. I'm going to disassemble my computer now and pack my bags. Goodbye New York City!
written at 3:14 AM on January 27, 2008
Happy 20th Birthday Stephanie!
You'll still have to wait until the afternoon to get your presents. :-P
written at 12:49 AM on January 26, 2008
Stephanie came in first
Before I knew Stephanie, I had never heard of Woot!. Woot! is an online store and community that sells very useful and cool items (only one item per day) at insanely cheap prices. You need a fast internet connection and mouse-clicking fingers to get a hold of a hot item during a "Woot-Off," a 24 hour period when they sell a new product immediately after the previous one sells out. Now that you know how hard it is to get an item, it must be even more difficult to be the first buyer.
Stephanie noticed this Vandalized Turtle T-shirt was going to sell tonight. I have to admit that this vandalized turtle is really cute. The moment it struck 1:00 AM, she attacked shirt.woot.com for massive damage. 3.220 seconds! If that's the speed of her buying a T-shirt on a regular day, wait until you see her online Black Friday shopping. Speed to post blog entry: 35 minutes 20 seconds. :P
written at 1:36 AM on January 25, 2008
Being Smart about College Textbooks
I know a lot of people buy their textbooks before classes start. They would rather buy their textbooks in advance than wait in a line at the bookstore after they've attended class. Waiting 1 full hour on a line to buy the same-priced textbook that you could buy online doesn't seem reasonable. As a college student who pays for his own textbooks out of his own wallet, I have a few recommendations for saving money on buying college textbooks:
Buy textbooks after you attend the first week of classes! There is nothing more aggravating to college students than buying a worthless textbook, or buying a textbook that is removed from the current syllabus. Ask other students who have taken the class before if they used their textbook on a regular basis. Some professors have textbooks as references to the course; one wouldn't need to study from them for exams. If this is the case, simply don't buy it. Buying your textbooks in a crowded line may be inconvenient, but trying to sell back a new textbook is doubly so.
I personally buy my textbooks after the first week of classes because I tend to drop classes that I don't like. Students spend the first week adjusting to their classes, and might drop it or swap into a different class if it doesn't work out.
The PROs of buying textbooks after the first week of classes:
- Preventing yourself from buying a textbook that wouldn't be touched all semester.
The CONs of buying textbooks after the first week of classes:
- Professors assigned textbook homework or an assignment that's due the next day. Most professors are lenient about assignments in the first two weeks of classes, but there are some who aren't.
Buy used textbooks. A thick paperback textbook is easily $100.00 or more, let alone a hardcovered textbook. However, a used textbook goes for usually half of the original price, which is the retail price at the bookstore. The rate for selling textbooks is anywhere between one-half to three-quarters of the price (may be rounded for convenience) that it was immediately bought for. Otherwise, no one would buy a used textbook for the same price of a newly wrapped textbook.
The PROs of buying used textbooks:
- It can be 50% cheaper than the retail price. If it is a third-hand book, it would be an additional 50% cheaper (cost is 25% of retail price).
The CONs of buying used textbooks:
- The book may have a newer edition coming out, and this particular one might not be used by the professor anymore. This is a major concern. Check what edition textbook you need with your professor beforehand, and if the seller of the used book has that edition.
- The previous owner may be a slob with textbooks. Water damage, ripped pages, useless scribbles and other things could happen to a textbook. You get what you pay for... Ask about the condition of the textbook with the seller before, and check the textbook after you meet in person. Most students take care of things that are as expensive as college textbooks, but you never know.
Buy your textbooks online. If you know what textbooks to buy, you have the option of shopping online for less-than-retail prices. There are college websites that help students sell used textbooks to those taking the classes now. Make sure to take advantage of them.
The PROs of buying textbooks online:
- Buying cheaper textbooks than those at the campus bookstore.
The CONs of buying textbooks online:
- Professors assigned textbook homework or an assignment that's due the next day.
- Your textbook arrives late. Worst case scenario for just trying to save a few dollars.
- You might accidentally buy the wrong edition textbook off a college student, if you're not observant.
Split the price of the textbook with someone else in the class. Do you have a friend in that class? Perfect solution. Can you make friends in that class? There are those who buy textbooks after the first week. If you can identify and befriend them, you might have saved yourself up to 50% on a new textbook.
The PROs of splitting the price with a friend:
- You co-own a new textbook at 50% of the price.
- You and your textbook's other co-owner can do assignments and/or study together.
The CONs of buying used textbooks:
- Your friend or classmate may hog the textbook and be unavailable when an assignment or exam is coming up. It is extremely important to have good communication with the co-owner of the textbook.
- Your friend or classmate may be a slob with textbooks. Water damage, ripped pages, useless scribbles, etc.
That being said, you could save a lot of money by buying a USED textbook online and splitting the price with a friend or classmate. The cheapest solution would be not to buy the textbook, but instead borrowing it from a friend.
But what about SELLING textbooks? Here are some more recommendations:
- Network, and find someone who's taking the class next semester. Colleges and universities have local or popular websites where selling textbooks eventually becomes a hot topic. You should sell the textbook somewhere between 50% to 90% of the price you bought it for. 90% is when you took good care of it, and know you can weasel it out of the potentially desperate buyer.
- Sell the textbook online. You could get more money out of an internet buyer than with a campus bookstore. Price your textbook reasonably, because you could lose credibility on websites like eBay.
- If all else fails, see if the campus bookstore buys back textbooks. Everyone wants to make a profit. Some campus bookstores might buy back textbooks, and they pay anywhere from 60% of the original price and ...$1.00.
These recommendations are to be taken with a grain of salt. They may not work in every situation or every college/university. I hope this information will be helpful to you for your future college textbook endeavors.
written at 7:45 PM on January 23, 2008
"But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 to 1956, which led to the desegregation of public transportation in that city. King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, an organization which conducted non-violent protests and drew its strength from leaders of black churches in the South. He organized and participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. There, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered the momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination.
Martin Luther King Day is a U.S. federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January each year. It marks the January 15th birthdate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who symbolizes the American Civil Rights Movement. I am greatly inspired by King, and his service and contributions to America. I am for transforming this federal holiday into a Day of Service, a day of citizen action through volunteer service, in honor of King.
written at 2:45 AM on January 21, 2008
Microwave
Nothing noteworthy happened today. But ZAWA draws hilarious pictures. Take a look at above.
written at 6:28 PM on January 18, 2008
The MTA responds
...It took them a while but the MTA finally replied. I had sent a complaint about the B74 bus service on January 2, 2008. This response is adequate, I guess. Thank you Mr. Tony Lennon. I look forward to catching the last bus at 11:00 PM then.
written at 5:47 PM on January 17, 2008
Articles Section
I noticed that my blog is very random. As an individual with a strong interest in web design, I often blog about related things that I hope others find insightful. Sometimes I get the urge to keep the blog strictly about professional web design and development. That has led me to contemplate recreational blog-suicide and removing my past unrelated blog entries. Luckily for those of you who visit my website, I got past that lapse of sanity and I'm currently taking medication for it (in the form of Skissa).
I will channel that urge for professional blogging into a section called Articles, which I will create later. It'll have full page-length entries on web design and development that will be worth reading. For entries that are more along the lines of elementary web design tutorials, I will publish to my student website, at http://www.sinc.stonybrook.edu/Stu/sitsui/. It will be healthy to update both my main website here and the one provided for me by Stony Brook.
written at 6:58 PM on January 16, 2008
In the News: Hero Fights off Muggers
New York Times article: When Crime Was Always on Our Minds
Maurice Parks, a NYC subway motorman was attacked by a group of muggers in Harlem just before midnight on Thursday, but bravely fought back, leaving a possible assailant dead and another in the hopsital. I applaud Mr. Parks for his bravery. Because I'm Asian, skinny, and travel alone, I've been accosted by people looking for trouble on many occasions. I know that standing up to attackers takes a heroic effort. Mr. Maurice Parks should be considered a hero.
written at 4:26 AM on January 14, 2008
UNWANTED E-MAIL
Stephanie called me as I was turning on my computer at home, and told me that I shouldn't come over today because it's going to snow heavily tonight and tomorrow. She mentioned that she received an E-mail about severe snow. Huh? Since when did anyone send E-mails about weather forecasts?
I checked my E-mail, and lo and behold! I received one too. As nice as they are to inform me about the bad weather closing in, I do not remember signing up for any E-mail for New York alerts, etc. I consider this unwanted spam E-mail. They had taken and used my E-mail address without my expressed permission.
I went to their website to unsubscribe as it says at the bottom of the E-mail, and it wouldn't let me register, login or retrieve my username and password! This is a Catch-22:
- I cannot unsubscribe from their E-mail spam because I can't log in
- It won't let me retrieve a username and password because "This Account has no Challenge Questions"
- It won't let me register (in order to unsubscribe) because "The Email Address you are attempting to use is already in use."
I've already sent an angry E-mail to postmaster@nyalert.gov explaining that I can't unsubscribe for myself, so THEY should do it for me. Send your angry E-mails to postmaster@nyalert.gov if you received an E-mail from them but you didn't sign up for one!
written at 4:28 PM on January 13, 2008
What went down on Friday
It was a great day to have another one of those informal Mark Twain get-togethers: It was raining hard! Luckily for Shirley, I brought my huge Totes umbrella and we arrived at this Malaysian restaurant relatively dry. Going around the table from where I was sitting, there was Shirley, Daniel, Julie, Rita, Nina, Theresa and Carolyn. We talked for a while and had lunch while we waited out the rain. I should mention that the food here was great, and I would recommend this restaurant for those in the area. It's called Nyonya Malaysian Cuisine, on the northeast corner of 54th Street and 8th Avenue in Brooklyn.
We walked to Daniel's house after lunch. I could describe our afternoon in several words: yearbook, Guitar Hero, Warioware, and Apples to Apples. Carlen and Katherine showed up towards 4PM, and my girlfriend Stephanie (not a Mark Twainer) came after work. We had a great time, but unfortunately we all had to leave early. Shirley, Stephanie and I took the R and D back to Coney Island before 7:00 PM.
written at 12:20 AM on January 13, 2008
Skissa
Stephanie linked me to an online game called Skissa last night and I was immediately addicted to it. This game is similar to Pictionary, where people take turns drawing out the given word, while others guess what it is. When it's your turn to draw, you get an arsenal of tools derived from MS Paint. You can give up to three hints, and the other people in the room have 1 minute (more when the word is guessed correctly) to guess.
Instead of working on websites or even uploading/sending yesterday's photos, I played Skissa until the wee hours of the morning. This game is incredbily addictive and fun.
written at 4:35 PM on January 12, 2008
Online advertising undoing Google's innovation?
Before Google's redefining PageRank, adult websites dominated search results by abusing meta descriptions and keywords. Now modern search engines check websites for backlinks and relevant information. It looked like the end of tyranny by the adult entertainment industry...
Recently however, I have heard from the staff of an internet publication that they've had problems with Google Ads on their website. Because the phrase "Asian American" appears on their website very often, their Google Ads have been displaying advertisements for Asian escorts, and other completely unrelated ads. So much for relevant advertising from Google Adsense. May Google save us from the resurging adult content advertisers.
written at 10:32 PM on January 9, 2008
Simon says
- If a new product doesn't have support for older models, I consider it a failure.
I'm sure most of you know by now that in Windows Vista, Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents are saved with extension .docx, and are incompatible with older versions of Word. I received a .docx document during the semester, and have yet to be able to open it correctly on my Windows XP.
- If the website doesn't do what it says, the website is a failure.
I obviously used Google to search for an online converter. I was able to find an online converter for word documents to .PDFs, so I thought a .docx converter would be a piece of cake.
I visited docx-converter.com around the time that I received the document. This website promised to convert it for free, as long as I specified an E-mail address to send it to. After submitting the document, I checked my E-mail. The link attached went to a page that stated "Not found." I tried again a full month later, with the same result. The website that shows up first in Google for ".docx converter" failed to work! Unbelievable.
- If I know I can get the same service for free, then I won't pay for it.
I visited another website, one whose name I don't care to mention. It stated the same thing as the one before, but when I clicked submit, it told me to pay $5.00 USD "for unlimited converting until this date." For a service I can get for free? I promptly clicked the back button.
- If I have to download an update, I'd rather not have it.
The other websites pointed towards a "Microsoft Office compatibility pack" to open Office Word 2007 documents. Whaat. There's a reason why I'm still using Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003: I hate upgrading! Instead of rushing a product and later sending patches to correct errors, Microsoft should have put more thought into designing Office 2007. Having .docx open in older versions of Microsoft Office should have been obvious! I googled ".docx converter" to have it converted online, not to download yet another Windows update and do it myself.
- If I don't see it on the first page of results from Google, it doesn't exist.
I reached the bottom of the Google search results page. I don't bother searching past the first page because it's not worth the effort.
I have been a Windows user for 13 years now. I can let this issue slide for now. But if Microsoft keeps disappointing me, I will look into buying a Mac.
written at 2:20 AM on January 7, 2008
Jakob's Law
I'm having a field day reading a variety of web design blogs. I came across a hilarious sort of Murphy's law for websites:
Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."
written at 1:43 PM on January 6, 2008
Comparing a website to a subway station
The West 8th Street subway station is served by the F and Q train in the Coney Island neighborhood. A causeway over Surf Avenue connects this station to the New York Aquarium and the Boardwalk. Around the same time as the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station renovations, West 8th Street received its own rehabilitation via the MTA's Arts for Transit program. This is the finished look of the station now: image from the nycsubway.org website.
As I passed through the West 8th Street station the other day, I realized how similar a website's design and the artwork in a subway station are: the artwork and a page design are just shells. Beautiful shells but nonetheless, they are not permanent and can be replaced quite easily. The green sloping panels on the West 8th Street station do not interfere with the movement of trains/passengers entering and leaving the station. A website's design should be similar in that respect: it should not limit the functionality of the website. If it does, the layout should be scrapped.
I think MTA Executive Director Katherine N. Lapp said it best when accepting the 2003 Art Commission award for Excellence in Design: "West 8th Street illustrates the important contributions the MTA's Arts for Transit program can bring to the job of making subway stations more functional. The idea is not simply to put pretty art into the system but to use artwork and creative design to enhance the station's functionality while beautifying it — to make something useful beautiful and vice versa — and to link the art to the neighborhood and its unique history."
Quote cited from the MTA Newsroom.
written at 6:07 PM on January 5, 2008
The B74 is the worst bus service in New York City
written at 11:50 PM on January 2, 2008
2008
I missed the Times Square ball-drop at the stroke of midnight. The rest of January 1, 2008 passed by without much significance. Brian and Fanming came over to play a variety of Wii games. I saw a Wii Zapper for my first time and I was disheartened by it. It is an accessory after all, and I didn't get to see it used for Link's Crossbow Training.
I will try to be productive this winter break, even if I don't spend it working. I will be brushing up on my Photoshop and PHP skills in the meantime.
written at 1:44 AM on January 2, 2008