Piro the Siamese cat from Kanon is just too cute!
From Episode 7:
From Episode 8:
Spoilers: (Show)
Cascada?
What’s with my Cascada post?!?! It’s received almost 2,500 viewings so far, while 2nd place hasn’t even reached 200. I have been getting a lot of spam comments on that particular post and my stats are showing “Cascada” as one of the main keywords from search engines coming to my site, but I don’t particularly see anything special about that post. I wish there was a feature in search engines that would let you do a query and pass in a link and it’ll tell you which result # you are. That’d be neat!
I think I found out why so many people are visiting my page searching for “Cascada”. Apparently Google’s image search returns me as result #19 on page 1.
Random Crap:
Today’s Japanese term is 首飾り (kubikazari) which means necklace.
Body-wired headphones – The new system uses the listener’s body as a capacitor that carries a tiny electrostatic charge. A music or video player sends a fluctuating signal to a conductive cloth pad – such as a wrist band – and this slightly charges the wearer’s body. A pair of conductive ear pads in the headphones pick-up the signal and rapidly convert it back into sound. Neat!
Streamick (from Digg) – Streamick.com provides the largest broadband internet TV service of the web. Thousands of users use Streamick.com every day to connect to the major internet broadcasters and watch free live internet TV in the easier way possible. Pretty neat service. Quality is actually decent.
13 things that do not make sense (from Digg) – 13 phenomenons that science can’t seem to explain.
Man seeks record for arm hair length – Jon Sanford takes good care of his hair, washing it regularly and conditioning it occasionally. Now he might break a record for that hair — on his arms. One particularly long strand measured 4.1 inches. If the measurement is ruled official by Guinness World Records, Sanford will have topped the previous record of 3.96 inches
101 Things you do NOT want your System Administrator to say. (from Digg) – Pretty funny. Really seems to be more like 97 things.
Eight Things You Should Never Say to Your Bartender (from Digg) – It seems I’ve already violated rule #1.
Whiteboard music (from Digg) – pretty cool whiteboard animation.
Stokke Gravity Chair Leans Back and Forward: We’re Stoked (from Digg) – Further proving you don’t have to be in orbit to be weightless, the Gravity Chair from Norwegian baby products maker Stokke can sit upright as an office chair, function as a rocker, and lean way back for that serious contemplation your boss told you to stop doing. See it in its variety of unusual permutations, after the jump.
Get a Laptop (from Digg) – pretty funny commercial.
Top 20 replies by Programmers to Testers when their programs don’t work (from Digg) – another funny list of things to read. The #1 response: It works on my machine. Haha. Neat! haha = 哈哈 (accidentally switch my IME).
Food Network: “There’s much penis going on here” (from Deadlock) – haha. I guess there’s a word such as pea-ness.
Mitch Hedberg Random Quote Generator (from Digg) – I still laugh. What would be neat is if they provided some code that you could add to your site and you can put Mitch’s Random Quote: ____________________ on your website.
Drunk Fails Sobriety Test (from Digg) – This is hilarious. This dude fails the sobriety test before it even begins. The cop asks him to hold a tape and place it on the ground and he passes out and lands on his head.
Megadeth’s “Gears of War” Song Available for Download (from Digg) – Heavy metal band Megadeth has made available as a free download its “Gears of War” song composed exclusively for Epic Games’ third-person shooter.
Body mod – Turn your pee blue! – Haha. By congesting a bunch of “supposedly” harmless blue food dye, you can turn your pee blue! That’d be neat!
So much SNOW!
Driving home was sort of a pain today. Cars were going really slow. Took me about 10 minutes to go 2 blocks. The average freeway speed was about 40MPH.
Then there was the hill. I live somewhat on the side of a big hill and the drive back was somewhat scary where my tires sometimes lost traction and turn left/right didn’t really respond. That probably means I’ll need to get some chains for my wheel. The closer I got to home, the more snow there was (due to the fact less people drove there, so less snow got rubbed away). Anyway, I get to about 10 yards from my house and my wheels get stuck. No matter what I try, it wouldn’t go up anymore. I had tried scooping the snow away from the front of my wheels, but that didn’t seem to help. A couple friendly neighbors came and help. We tried putting cardboard underneath the wheels and that helped somewhat, but still didn’t really get much further.
They ended up helping me push my car in front of another neighbor’s driveway for now and hopefully the snow will melt away soon.
Turns out my trip home wasn’t as bad as my fellow colleagues. It took them 6 hours and a couple near death encounters compared to my mere 45mins. Looking at the weather, it looks like it’ll be warmer tomorrow. People are already sending in WFH (work from home) emails.
Global warming? Haha.
Random Crap:
Today’s Japanese phrases are 大切 (taisetsu) and 命 (inochi) which means important and life respectively. Together 命は大切 (taisetsu ha inochi) means well, life is important.
Free Services to Inspire Your Cellphone (from Digg) – Here, for your gratitude-generating pleasure, is a rundown of some of the most exciting and powerful services awaiting your cellphone at this very moment. Better yet, at the moment, they’re all free. So interesting story. I was on my way to get my eye examined, but I forget which plaza the doctor’s in. I know the general area it was in, but this being my visit, I was too 2 blocks from my house already and it was too far to go back. I called 1-800-FREE-411 and listened to a 10-15sec advertisement and got the the phone number, despite me saying “overlake eye center” vs “overlake eye design”. Do note, someone mentioned if you mix up the FREE and 411 (e.g. 1-800-411-FREE), you get connected to an adult server. The free international calls is interesting. I wonder if you really have to use a cell phone for that.
Science a la Joe Camel (from Digg) –
The producers of former vice president Al Gore’s film about global warming, myself included, certainly agreed. So the company that made the documentary decided to offer 50,000 free DVDs to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) for educators to use in their classrooms. It seemed like a no-brainer.The teachers had a different idea: Thanks but no thanks, they said.
In their e-mail rejection, they expressed concern that other “special interests” might ask to distribute materials, too; they said they didn’t want to offer “political” endorsement of the film; and they saw “little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members” in accepting the free DVDs.
Gore, however, is not running for office, and the film’s theatrical run is long since over. As for classroom benefits, the movie has been enthusiastically endorsed by leading climate scientists worldwide, and is required viewing for all students in Norway and Sweden.
Still, maybe the NSTA just being extra cautious. But there was one more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place “unnecessary risk upon the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters.” One of those supporters, it turns out, is the Exxon Mobil Corp.
Sigh… when the educational system fears to distribute knowledge because of repercussions by their supporters turning off the money tap, that’s when you know how bad our educational system has gotten.
Speaking of which, someone submitted this letter on Digg:
April 20th, 1994
Dear Mrs. _____,
You may already know this, but in case Alex has neglected to tell you, I am assigning him to detention for one hour this Friday, April 22nd. The reason is as follows:
Alex consistently defied me. During class he contradicted me numerous times when I insisted that the length of one kilometer was greater than that of one mile. Every other student in class accepted my lesson without argument, but your son refused to believe what I told him, offering such rebuttals as, “You’re lying to the class,” and commanding other students to challenge my curriculum.
Although he was correct, Alex’s actions show a blatant disregard for authority, and a complete lack of respect for his school. In the future, Alex would be better off simply accepting my teachings without resistance.
Please see to it that your son understands this.
Regards,
Adam Hilliker
I have a feeling it’s a fake, though Friday, April 22nd, 1994 does exist. Though that last sentence seems awfully forceful and the fact that a student was commanding other students to challenge her curriculum is something you hear in college, not elementary or high school (which it sounds like). Then there’s the fact a 1994 email just popped up on the internet in the year 2006. Though if it’s true… MY GOD!
Was reading Foxtrot and the iguana is so cute!!!
Special one-time federal excise tax credit in 2006 rebates tax overpayment on phone bills.
From SD:
SPECIAL ONE TIME TAX CREDIT ON YOUR 2006 TAX RETURN
When it comes time to prepare and file your 2006 tax return, make sure you don’t overlook the “federal excise tax refund credit.” You claim the credit on line 71 of your form 1040. A similar line will be available if you file the short form 1040A. If you have family or friends who no longer file a tax return AND they have their own land phone in their home and have been paying a phone bill for years, make sure they know about this form 1040EZ-T.
What is this all about? Well the federal excise tax has been charged to you on your phone bill for years. It is an old tax that was assessed on your toll calls based on how far the call was being made and how much time you talked on that call. When phone companies began to offer flat fee phone service, challenges to the excise tax ended up in federal courts in several districts of the country. The challenges pointed out that flat fee/rate phone service had nothing to do with the distance and the length of the phone call. Therefore, the excise tax should/could not be assessed.
The IRS has now conceded this argument. Phone companies have been given notice to stop assessing the federal excise tax as of Aug 30, 2006. You will most likely see the tax on your September cutoff statement, but it should NOT be on your October bill.
But the challengers of the old law also demanded restitution. So the IRS has announced that a one time credit will be available when you and I file our 2006 tax return as I explained above. However, the IRS also established limits on how BIG a credit you can get. Here ‘s how it works.
If you file your return as a single person with just you as a dependent, you get to claim a $30 credit on line 71 of your 1040.
If you file with a child or a parent as your dependent, you claim $40.
If you file your return as a married couple with no children, you claim $40.
If you file as married with children, you claim $50 if one child, $60 if two children.
In all cases, the most you get to claim is $60 – UNLESS you have all your phone bills starting AFTER Feb 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006 (do not use any bills starting Aug 1, 2006.), then you can add up the ACTUAL TAX AS IT APPEARS ON YOUR BILLS AND CLAIM THAT FOR A CREDIT.
Now if you have your actual phone bills and come up with an ACTUAL TAX AMOUNT, you cannot use line 71 on your tax return. You have to complete a special form number 8913 and attach it to your tax return.
Individuals using the special from 1040EZ-T will have to attach this form 8913 also.
One final point – this credit is a refundable credit. That means you get this money, no matter how your tax return works out. If you would end up owing the IRS a balance, the refund will reduce that balance you owe. If you end up getting a refund, the credit will be added and you get a bigger refund by that $30 to $60, depending on how many dependents are on your return.
Feel free to pass this on or make copies for family and friends who don’t have computers.
Even Snopes is saying its true and not just a random internet chain mail: Special one-time federal excise tax credit in 2006 rebates tax overpayment on phone bills.
You can find more information on the IRS website:
Telephone Excise Tax
Telephone Tax Refund Questions and Answers
At first when reading the chain letter, it sounded like you need to be currently subscribed to a long distance service through the phone company, but according to the Q&A: Who is eligible to request the telephone tax refund? In general, any individual, business or nonprofit organization that paid long-distance tax for service billed after Feb 28, 2003 and before Aug 1, 2006 is eligible to request the refund. I’ve definitely paid for long-distance service between 2003 and 2006. Looks like I’m eligible for $40 too!
Casino Royale
As mentioned awhile, we went to see this movie as part of our morale event. I was quite impressed with this new James Bond played by Daniel Craig. It’s true there’s less tech and gadgetry, but this being the initialization of James Bond, I can see that being the case. Plus it wasn’t without any technology. There was that tracing bug and the medical condition transmitter attached with anti-venom producer. Then there’s the really hot girl, Eva Green.
Official Site
IMDb: 8.1/10 (18,688 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B+ / Yahoo! Users: B+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 94% / Average Rating: 7.9/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com Soundtrack
MY RATING: 8.5/10
Spoilers: (Show)
Miami Vice
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the original Miami Vice. My only memory about is probably at Universal Studios when they had that stunt show. Given that, I was just expecting a bunch of explosions in this movie. Didn’t turn out that bad.
Official Site
IMDb: 6.2/10 (15,102 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: B- / Yahoo! Users: C+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 47% / Average Rating: 5.6/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com HD-DVD
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack
MY RATING: 6.5/10
Spoilers: (Show)
Highlander
So I finally decided to watch this movie as I’ve heard it many times. Initially I thought it was something Braveheart (also another movie I have not fully watched), where it’s about Scottish swordsman and the Highlander was a hero defending them. Turns out I was semi-right, but it really mixes into modern day. I was somewhat disappointed by the movie, but given it was made in 1986, it might’ve been great for its time.
IMDb: 7.1/10 (23,033 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: Yahoo! Users: B
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 71% / Average Rating: 6.1/10
Amazon.com DVD
MY RATING: 6/10
Spoilers: (Show)
View Count
So I’ve installed a new plug-in called View Count by Michael O’Connell. Was pretty simple. Getting the view count was the 1st step in what I was trying to accomplish. I wanted to add a list of the top viewed posts in my sidebar. Installing the plug-in was pretty simple as I just dropped the folder and file into my WordPress wp-content\plugins directory.
Once activated, there was a new column in my wp_posts table called view_count. The default value is 0, but this’ll change once this plug-in is ran for some time.
So the next step was to create the MySQL query to get the x most viewed posts. Turns out executing the query was easier than I thought:
$results = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT ID, post_title, view_count FROM $wpdb->posts ORDER BY view_count DESC LIMIT $limit" );
Then for each result in the array of results you got back, I did the following which links to the post with title and displays how many views it has:
echo '<li><a href="' . get_permalink( $result->ID ) . '">' . $result->post_title . '</a> [<strong>' . $result->view_count . '</strong>]</li>';
And that’s basically it!
I did notice 1 problem with with the plug-in’s instruction. It states to show your posts sorted by view count, to just add this link: ?ordrby=view_count, however, the correct link according to the code does have the ‘e’ which is ?orderby=view_count.
Apparently, it’s also counting when I’m writing/editing the post. I frequently save due to times in the past when I lost complete essays by accidentally closing the tab or if my browser crashes and each reload counts as 1 view. I’ve changed it so it ignores my views, so it seems like a good workaround for now.
First Snow in Seattle of Winter 2006-2007
So after I got the screenshots of Neji’s “absolute defense”, I went on to watch that battle and Naruto vs Gaara and ultimately Sarutobi’s death and funeral.
First I noticed some Naruto kids pictures which I thought were awfully cute:
Then I looked out the window and saw:
Title should really be “First Snow in Bellevue of Winter 2006”, but I’m pretty sure if I’m getting this much snow here, it’s probably snowing in Seattle too.
Here’s some more pictures:
Here’s a few videos I took:
Force Field Width and Rice Noodles
First, let me wish Happy Birthday Belldandy!
I was thinking (while swinging my bent curtain pole around), that spinning force fields must’ve had widths. Let me explain. Similar to Neji’s force field in Naruto, where he spins around really fast and reflects anything that comes near him. Neji’s force field is known as Hakkeshou Kaiten (八卦掌 回天). Although revisiting the episode (#61), it appears that by spinning, he’s generating a force field by releasing chakra along the way. Of course this is animation. But similar ideas have been about and the term used Naruto is: Absolute Defense. Gaara has a similar force field thing where the sand creates a bubble around him and if that is penetrated, a layer outside his skin is formed. However, my force field width really only deals with ones generated by spinning, like when movies or cartoons have a guy spinning a bo stick really fast and the bullets or ninja stars get reflected off it.
As I was saying, I was spinning my broken curtain pole around, when I got to thinking what if I can spin this stick really fast, would I be able to create a bubble around me, similar to a force field. If it’s hard to imagine, think of the ends of my stick as 2 electrons and I’m the nucleus. Those 2 electrons don’t have any strict path they’re following and there will be one point in time where it’ll have touched every point of the sphere’s surface area that it rotates along. Of course with anything spinning, it can’t be protecting all points all the time, but if spins/rotates fast enough, lets say a full cycle takes a second, it’s pretty much an absolute defense. However, if the bullet is small and faster, it can easily penetrate that through that outer layer of this so-called force field.
However, that then got me thinking, I’m not really limited to just the initial outside layer. Since I’m spinning a stick, I basically have a force field from the end of my stick to me (which I’ll be calling the width). Even if the tips of my stick doesn’t hit the bullet, as long as it’s spinning fast enough, somewhere along the stick would hit the bullet before it can even get to me. In other words, even at 1 cycle per second, I’m getting a lot more coverage than 1 second gaps.
Similarly, if I was rotating a stick in front of me, the width would be the width of the stick (the diameter of the circle). If I was rotating a stick 360 degrees, the width would be half the length (if I’m holding the center) or the full length (if I’m holding the end) of the stick.
Not really sure why I’m talking about all this imaginary stuff. I just thought it was interesting.
Last night, for some reason, even after the big feast, I was hungering for rice noodles (河粉 – took me awhile to figure out which he3 to use; really… river noodles?). Anyway, I have no idea what came over me. I was laying there about to fall asleep, and then I got thinking of the tofu, fish balls, cuttlefish, other ingredients which I’m not sure but tastes good in a hot pot soup that I had earlier that day, then it got me thinking about broth that was used. Hot pots sometimes use water, but other times, it’s mixed with chicken broth or beef broth. Then I thought about my mom using chicken broth with rice noodles, and well, that got me thinking about rice noodles. It’s a very easy dish to make. If I like it soup-less, I can put it in the microwave for 3 minutes, add soy sauce and hot sauce and be done. If I want it in soup, I’d still use the microwave, but then cook chicken broth with some veggies and mix it together. I was actually contemplating on getting up and going to 99 Ranch when I realized it was 6am. Something to think about on my next shopping trip for food. I’ve actually moved closer to 99 Ranch now (14 miles away). Wow, it’s practically next to the airport… Hmmm, maybe I’ll stick with Uwajimaya for now, I mean the staff there all speaks Cantonese anyway.