Search and Win some prizes!

Yeah, that's right. Now you can test your fortune by doing searches online with this new search engine called wabbadabba (Why are the names so hard to remember nowadays?). According to their FAQs, they are trying to give back something to the people who are helping them make money. The search results are provided by Yahoo (I wonder why not Google), so those of you who are Yahoo supporters might like it since it gives you a sense of thrill :-P

By the way, I am supposed to be sleeping now since I have an early flight to catch tomorrow. I successfully got into sleep two hours earlier, but woke up feeling some pain in the stomach, thanks to the KFC and ice cream mix I had for dinner :-P But I am OK so don't worry :-)

By the way, recently found an alternative to VMware Server. Let me introduce to you VirtualBox! While both of them are available free of charge for personal use, VirtualBox has an open source edition, too with cut-down functionalities. I tried installing FreeBSD on it and found the results quite satisfying, except for some troubles in the network setup.

OK, I think it is time for me to get back to bed. See you when I am back :-)

Experience some frustrations if your life is too wonderful :-D

Windows RG (Really Good Edition) Online

Have some frustrations!

Well, I think only those who have used earlier versions of Windows will get the sense of humor in this little flash animation. Later versions of Windows which are based on the NT architecture have suffered less of these problems (for example, the notorious BSOD - Blue Screen Of Death).

Well I think this flash game helps recall some good-old-day memories, doesn't it? :-)

It has been a month :P

Ok guys, I am still here alive. Just hasn't been in a mood to post anything :P But that doesn't mean that I do have a mood to post now. So I would like to make this a short post, too.

It seems that many people nowadays are cyberslacking during work time through the Internet. Whether this is beneficial or inefficient depends much on individuals. But I think it is important to hit a balance in between.

On another article, interviewers now like to ask spontaneous questions which don't have a definite answer. Well, I like this style of questions though. So there is nothing to prepare for :P

Have a nice nice day.

Programming might be fun as LEGO!

MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten research group (what a cheerful name ^^) has introduced Scratch, a programming tool used to teach kids how to program. Of course it would be fun for adults, too. Give it a visit and be amazed what the kids are making :-)

Have a nice day scratching (^^)

Microsoft in China

Found an interesting (but a bit lengthy) article about Microsoft's business in China here.

As I once commented in an older post, Microsoft gains a lot of its market share from software piracy. Seem that even Mr. Gates agreed with me.

"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not," Gates says.

I thought I was young but apparently I am not

Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead

I got online since 1997 when I got a 14.4 kbps modem from my sister's friend. I just realised that it has already been 10 years! Wow! How could this be? I thought e-mail was still the simplest technology to keep in touch with people, while SNS was so complicated. But apparently young people think the other way.

In SNS, you have to log in and click around to check what your friends are doing, sometimes it gets so irritating having to check different networks for different people. It reminds me of the time when ICQ was still alive ("What is ICQ? Uncle", some teens might ask :P Give yourself an education here) and Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger were still infants, people tended to use different IMs and you had to keep different clients running at the same time (believe me, you wouldn't like doing this on a Pentium 166 MMX with a mere 48MB RAM).

Luckily, someone came up with all-in-one clients which can communicate with all major IMs and that did help a bit. I did not benefit from that since I have settled down with MSN messenger for a long time.

What is next? A multi-site-compliant SNS, or SNS-for-SNS in short? I am really looking forward to it. :^D

SeedPod Music beta - listen to music while you surf

SeedPod Music beta.

Take this as a search engine specialized in finding music on the web. You can listen to the songs on the site and no download is needed. Enjoy! :-D

Random posts

Have been cleaning up my mail box and read about some interesting news that I would like to share.

First, now you can buy books by chapters, said the people at O'Reilly. Those who know me well know that I like to buy books, now maybe this will save me some money :-) Let's see what else can we split into small pieces and sell. "Give me the sleeve of that shirt." :-P

Then, there is a survey on looking for the next generation search engine after Google. Personally I like the idea of KoolTorch, which focuses on the user interface instead of search results. However, I think they should work a little more on their search results, too.

I think an angel sings like this :-)

She is 6 years old, and her voice is just fantastic :-D

More Free Photos for Public Use :-D

The title says it all.

You can find free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use at Morguefile.com. I am happy to have more materials for making pretty web sites.

Read the FAQs and related terms of use if you are concerned about the rights to use the photos.

Sorry, this is just for programmers :-P

To find out which type of programmer you are.

>>> Programmer Personality Test <<<

This is my result:

Your programmer personality type is:

DLSC

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

You like coding at a Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.

You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

You are a Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently.

Enjoy!

For all the web designers

For those who have to create a website for someone, the most exciting part might be to present the websites with the coolest design! But, for many, this is also the biggest headache. Personally, I always start with some good designs created by others. (Although recently I would prefer to use some CMS systems and simply apply a theme to it :P)

So where do you find those inspiring designs? Here comes a complete list of web design galleries, created by Web Design Blog.

Hope this comes in handy :)

お弁当のブルーズ

朝10時台の新幹線で東京に行くとしたら、最初から冷たいコンビニのお弁当を買って、12時に食べるか。。。。それとも。。。最初は温かくておいしそうに見えるお弁当を買って。。。冷めていくのを覚悟しながらそのおいしさが保つこと期待するのは。。。自由だ～！～！～！～！

お弁当 is freedom... お弁当 is freedom.... お弁当 is freedom... お弁当 is freedom....

でもな。。。期待のあまりにめっちゃくっちゃまずいときもあるんで。。。そのときは自己責任でお願いします。。。

by 新幹線でまずいお弁当を食べているコーイ（T T)

皆さんそういう経験はありませんか。＾＾

SuTree - free video how-to lessons

Now, here is something like YouTube with more useful contents (^ ^) While YouTube is a fine place to kill your time(sometimes over-killed :P), the clips over there are mostly for entertaining purposes. What if you would like to find some video lessons that are more useful for your daily life?

I was looking for more ways to tie a tie yesterday. I didn't look hard enough so all I ended up with was some pictures with text instructions. If I have found SuTree then I would not have to struggle over those mysterious moves shown in the pictures(they certainly look like the Kung-fu figures carved into the wall of Shao Lin Temple :P).

So, here you are, hope you find some useful videos for yourself (^ ^)
http://www.sutree.com/

「要らないプライドを捨てなさい。」

Throw away your unnecessary pride.

A few years ago, a friend told me that. I don't think that she still remembers that but I do. I kind of agree with her, though.

Pride, while keeps you motivated and feel good about yourself, might hurt you in some situations. Sometimes you don't even realize that it is your pride which hurts you more than any other reasons you struggled to think of.

Following is the list of common unnecessary pride:

• You don't ask questions because you think you know more, or you think you can find out the answers yourself.
• You get upset and angry when you found out that others are doing better than you do, instead of trying to improve yourself.
• You think the world should treat you better because you are just so good. (But you can't really tell how good :P)

More to add but I can't think of them now. Would you please help me out? :)

GOM Player - The Ultimate Solution

I finally found the almighty video player. Come welcome GOM Player! It just plays! Everything from WMV to RMVB! Including XviD, DivX, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, H263 and the list goes on. Quick! Dump your current media players and get this one (^ ^)

Btw, I have been sick these two days... (-_-)

This explains a lot!

Official: Powerpoint bad for brains

The title says it all. (^~^)

Blogs by CEO

企業家ブログ
http://www.kigyoukablog.jp/

企業家たちのブログ集。
これを読んだらなかなか面白かったのでメモしときます。

それではおやすみなさい。

Read faster, can you?

Many of my friends read, be it novels, technical documents, research papers, whatever. The 6 tips mentioned in this article, "Double Your Reading Rate" by Scott H. Young might help you to improve your reading skills. Here I jot down the points for my own reference, please refer to his article for more detailed explanation on each point.

1. Remember, Reading is Not Linear
2. Stop Subvocalizing
3. Practice Reading
4. Use a Pointer
5. Eliminate Distractions
6. Find Your Motivation

I especially like the idea of "Stop Subvocalizing".

Does distance really make hearts grow fonder?

I doubt it.