HELL YEAH!!! X:O

I am currently typing this entry from my laptop in Ubuntu (Linux). This is the first time I've managed to get this laptop recognize Both the graphics card And the home internet connection with a Linux distro (or with a Windows one, for that matter... XP on this computer never did recognize the network connection, ah well).

HELL YEAH! No more switching to another computer every time I need to go online.

Ubuntu is no Gentoo, in fact it's perhaps easier to install than Windows. =\ So there goes any bragging rights. But internet works, the graphics card works, sound works, external hard drive works and I've managed to get Tor to work on it too to access blocked sites like this one (the connection is still as slow as in Windows though. Ah well, no reason it'd be faster XD ).

I wonder if I should install Beryl, one of the Ubuntu eye candies?

The graphics tablet works, though right now without pressure sensitivity. I might have to edit a few files, but Bah I prefer drawing with a Pencil anyway. I've installed Inkscape, I've installed Gimp, I've installed Krita too for once and will finally be able to try it. I also have to try the scanner.

Downloading Ubuntu was a pain though. To those of you who want to try it out: FIND AND USE A BITTORRENT. HTTP downloads would only give you problems. Then burn it onto a CD, check the CD for integrity, and you're good for an install. Though be sure to read the manual. The "hardest" part is partitioning for those of you unfamiliar, though in my case that was relatively easy to do since I was partitioning (in text-mode no less >_< ) years ago.

Dual-boot worked like a charm too. I thought that I'd have to edit the boot files again! And the XP partition is real easy to access (automatic mount! I'll miss the mnt -t -vfat /hda1 /mnt though... was that the command? It's been a while).

I've completed that Inkscape tutorial! :D

Get it here!

Preview:



I was supposed to come online last weekend, but I had to go away that weekend so I'm only showing up now. On hindsight, I'm pretty happy about it though since it gave me the time to finish this tutorial. ^^

*squeak*

I'm just here to inform some of you that I won't be around this weekend, meaning my biweekly forum trips is pushed back to next week.

On the other hand, I'm in a fabulous mood! :D That Inkscape tutorial that I was hoping to make is coming along surprisingly well! I hope to get it finished before the weekend next week.

( Preview )

Hi again!

Since I've stated not long ago that it's better to put off buying a new computer for now, here are tips to make the most out of your current computer instead! :D

1. Speeding up you computer
2. Computer security: Avast, AVG and others
3. Browsers: Opera, Firefox and Firefox plugins
4. Image programs: Gimp and Inkscape

( Computer tips )

I hope you've enjoyed this particular post, and found something useful in it for you. Happy computing, and I'm open to hearing recs of your own. :)

Ack, I've really been neglecting both my journal and my friends' list. Sorry sorry! :S From what I've seen though, some of you are doing pretty good: congratulations!

Well, might as well post something... Ahem:

I admit, the Way the global warming debate is handled is something I find quite annoying. They're taking perfectly good science (and in some cases, perfectly stupid ones too - carbon dioxide keeps heat in, it's not rocket science, the only question is how Much of it it keeps), and making a complete circus out of it (we're not getting Tsunamis in New York, people!), while blaming everything from hurricanes to the problems in the kitchen sink in it, when these last parts are more debatable.

Basically, the thing that annoys me about all this is the monopoly of the long-term weather consequences (that some seem intent on portraying as short-term consequences) in these debates. The truth is, even if global warming were NOT real, there'd still be More than enough incentives to get the hell away from oil and such as quickly as possible:
- it makes long-term economic sense. The oil market isn't stable, the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks should be reminders, and the recent tripling in oil price isn't exactly a good thing either.
- it makes "very long-term" economic sense. Oil reserves won't last forever. You can start researching now, at a leisurely pace, or you can play crisis catch-up once you're in major trouble, and suffer a major crisis in the meantime.
- it makes political sense. Where do most of the terrorists get there financing? ... right. And the countries that benefit from selling oil don't even distribute it well to its poor (leading to a poverty and inequality that's at least part of the current terrorism equation).
- it makes health sense. Do you like pollution? I don't.
- it makes long-term employment sense. Alternative energy sources is one of the few "certain" new areas of technological growth. Who Really wants to miss out on it?
- and finally, None of the alternatives have truly matured. They are Technologies that just like any other technology, will still need years of research before all the problems are solved and efficiency truly reaches marketable levels.

Add them up and damn, even if the world were Freezing, it'd still make a lot of sense to get things moving.

(you'll notice by the way that I mainly name the US, because it's politically the developed country with the most opposition to energy conservation etc - Kyoto anyone?- but many of the things are true for just about any country)

( Why there are plenty of good reasons to use alternative energy sources beyond global warming )

My condolences to the students and families affected by the latest shootings... To have so much invested into one's future, only to meet such an end.

... how the Hell did a disturbed 23 years-old on medication get his hands on a semi-automatic Anyway? He got it Legally, too! I understand that it's legal in the US to possess firearms for self-defense and I won't start a debate on that, but getting semi-automatics, that easily? Aren't normal guns deterrent and defense enough?

Also, I remember reading all those news years back on how many US schools even go so far as to have gun detectors at the entrance to prevent this sort of things. Hello? Wasn't there Any warning system there?

*sigh*

The killer apparently left a note saying "You made me do it" (reactive much?). It's strange, Dale Carnegie had noted that most criminals would always claim to be a victim (even Al Capone said he was just "giving people what they wanted," while a serial killer claimed that all he did was "self-defense" - yeah right).

Sorry kiddo, nobody made you use your credit card to buy an expensive gun, then take it all the way to the University to kill innocent students.

Hmm, since I've finished this, I might as well post this.

( Some useless blabla first )

Anyway, here's some consumer advice for the year. This one is if you want to buy a new computer.

... yes, I know we're all broke. My current laptop is a 5.5 years-old Pentium III which started with just 128 mb of RAM (though I've since added 256 mb) and a hard drive of under 20 gb (I had to add an external one). ... obsolete much?

But the following is actually why to put Off buying a new computer for at Least 1 year, ideally 2. If you have to buy a new one soon, buy a cheap second-hand one, because there are good reasons to put it off right now.

( Reasons to put off buying a new computer (not counting being broke) )

So the above are all reasons to hold out for at least a year, even two. A good strategy might be to buy right at the beginning of 2009, after the 2008 Christmas holidays, to hopefully benefit from sales (*sigh* that'd made my laptop 7 years-old by then, I hope it lasts the extra years). It depends on you, of course!

What do -I- hope to buy, though? Actually, the way I'd have it, it'd be Vista-free. I'd endure the wait just for the shiny new screens. *__*

( My dream computer )

In the meantime, I'm stuck with my old Pentium III laptop that's 5.5 years old and whose display is all dark now. I'll probably be using it for a few years longer. *sigh*

Last post for a while!

Alright now! Here's a post that might benefit some of you. It's a post about possible means against period pains.

This means that if you're a boy, this isn't for you. Unless you're looking out for a suffering girlfriend.

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to give possible tips.

( Period pains )

There you go. That's about all I know. If you have tips of your own, I sure wouldn't mind hearing them myself! :D

Here's a short post!

Something I've read recently reminded me of a book I've read long ago, maybe when I was about 14~15. That book was an alternate version of Robinson Crusoe, that we had to read at school.

I admit, back then, I hated the book. XD

But I still remember this scene:

Robinson's servant at one point got 2 big fat ugly rats as pets. Robinson was disgusted by those, but couldn't kill them outright. So he took them and rowed out at sea, then dumped the rats into the water. However, the rats kept swimming back.

So Robinson tried another tactic. This time, he put the rats on a wooden plank, then tossed the whole out at sea. This time, the rats clinged onto the board instead of swimming back to shore, thus ridding Robinson of the two.

I call this the wooden plank effect. It can be just as easily applied to people.

I have No idea if there is a fancier psychological term for the phenomenon. XD

( The wooden plank effect )

Hi all!

This is just a quick apology for my slow activity. :S You see, my current goal now is to only follow a certain manga one day every 2 weeks. This includes avoiding the manga itself, avoiding the anime, avoiding communities and avoiding new online fanworks.

The only "break" I've had in that regime was me checking out spoilers last week on Friday, when I checked my friends list and was made curious about it. Thus establishing a sequence of events, the result is that I now avoid looking too much at the friends list whenever there's the risk of me coming across spoilers, and it will likely remain so until I feel confident enough in myself to not break the rules even if the spoilers are there. >_>; Right now, it's Saturday here and my "allowed" day, so I will respond to LJ content between today and Tuesday, but afterwards, spoilers start showing up.

I think I've been doing pretty well though! :) It clears up a lot of time!

Whoo, I only found out about this recently:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/all-courses.htm

MIT is publishing entire courses for free on the internet! Just look at all that! *__*

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have hours of fun now. *__*

If any of you come across something particularly interesting by the way, rec me! :D

A thing that has always puzzled me is why there isn't a better structure for adult education.

In just about every country, education is seen as mostly for those under 25. Why is that?

With all the talks about unemployment and "the old should make room for the young!", you'd think that answers the question: focus on the young, not on the old, for new jobs.

But looking at the overall unemployment rate is really just looking at part of the picture: in just about every country, including in the US and in European countries, there is actually a Shortage of higher-end job candidates, for tasks such as engineers, researchers and accountants for example. Also, young people start at the bottom of the hierarchy anyway because of lack of experience. It's that experience though that is often necessary at higher-end jobs.

( On adult re-education )

So there you go, one of the big things lacking in the world that puzzles me a whole lot.

Another thing is why (affordable) massages aren't an integral part of the prevention health-care system in developed countries, but that's another story. XD

Dale Carnegie and countless other writers on human relations emphasize the need to "understand what the other side wants." A meeting I've had yesterday though, helped me learn a somewhat different lesson. As helpful co-workers later formulated for me, often, during the course of a meeting, some of the biggest obstacles involve understanding. They summed up the lesson for me as follows:

Understand what it is that the other person does Not understand.

The thing is in that particular instance, both sides wanted the same thing. There were actually no problems at all. Both sides just Thought they had a problem. And this is more common than you think.

I. The situation: a not-so-atypical meeting

Party A: What I'm saying is [insert situation A].
Party B: Yes, but what We're saying is [insert situation A in just slightly different wording].
Party A: Yes but [insert something that has nothing to do with situation A].
Party B: But then [insert something that does not contradict situation A in any way].

[the discussions occasionally veer off into pseudo-tangents about the way such and such country worked, legal stuff, people involved in the project, and other things that don't absolutely Have to do with the contract at hand]

[several hours later]

Party A: So what you're Really saying is [insert situation A].
Party B: So you're saying [insert situation A].
Party A: Ah! So we're fully in agreement now!
Party B: Yes, we are.
Party A: Good.
Party B: Good.
Me: *looking up from my notes, and thinking* (Wait a moment, they were both saying [situation A] several hours ago. D: )

Conclusion: the whole thing lasted a whole afternoon, but the contents could be summed up in just one or two pages, and could have been discussed in just 10 minutes. I didn't make this up by the way, the situation above comes from an actual meeting I've participated in. In fact, the one I had two days ago (though not the one yesterday, which was fortunately shorter) was something like it as well.

Are all meetings that bad? Older co-workers of mine summed up the general situation this way: "90% of meetings are that bad."

II. "What the hell?" The pebble stuck in the wheel

Did I jump in and try to correct the "obvious" situation? Sure I did! I came in with blazing bazookas, and achieved... just about as much as everybody else did. Instead of giving out boring explanations though, I'll just bore you to death with an equally boring analogy:

[army car stops]
Sergeant: Why the hell did you stop, soldier?
Soldier: I have no choice, sir!
Sergeant: Why? There are no obstacles ahead! See? Just plain clear road ahead!
Soldier: I know sir! But something's preventing us from going ahead!
Sergeant: There are No obstacles ahead! See? *takes out a bazooka and blasts everything ahead* Nothing! Clear road!
Soldier: The car can't move!
Sergeant: I'll have you know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this car! My dad built it! It's the best in service! It has the pull capacity of 3 trucks and [start 3 hours rant on technical specs]
Soldier: *mumbles* Well it certainly isn't going anywhere right Now.
Sergeant: Well let me tell you something. You might be a youngling straight from Oklahoma, but here in Arkansas we do things differently! And when there are no obstacles ahead, you move ahead!
Soldier: There's a rock that's stuck in the wheel!
Sergeant: .... oh. *takes it out* Move ahead soldier.

Sometimes the rock is imaginary. Sometimes the soldier isn't quite sure what the rock is, so the situation is doubly frustrating.

Now make the following replacements:
- "car" -> "project"
- "sergeant" -> "Party A" (or "boss")
- "soldier" -> "Party B" (or "employee")
- "rock" -> "some regulation or other perceived problems"
- and some other minor adjustments
... and you actually get a whole lot of real-life meeting situations. If you think it's absurd by the way, I can point to even More absurd things occurring on an international level, but that would be off-topic.

III. So what to do about it?

Basically, the sooner you understand what's (mentally) blocking the other side, the sooner you can kick aside said pebble (imaginary or real), instead of randomly shooting bazookas in hopes that one of the shots will clear whatever it is that can't be cleared. It usually doesn't hit, either, thus explaining why meetings can prolong so long.

Of course, there are plenty of situations where there Are actual problems that Do justify lengthy discussions, but that's another story. What I'm just explaining here, are the extra pointless situations where there are no problems and people are arguing anyway...

How to solve the situation? I'm still learning as well, but I so far know this: the reason I could understand the whole situation was because I had clear notes written down: when you have clear notes on paper (and they're more easily achieved than you think, especially since there's not much to write down in the first place), the situation simply becomes much clearer.

Compare it to turning around in circles in a district without a map and without paying attention to where you're going: you can go over the same places over and over, arguing over others on whether to go left from the McDonald's or North from the Kentucky Fried Chicken's (both might be valid directions, by the way), or you can attempt to draw out a map and suddenly everything is clear.

So the obvious solution is to pass my notes around. I'm also wondering if having a white board with clear tree hierarchies like the ones I like to use would help guide the discussions more clearly. I'll have to see in the future.

I should try to find books on how to organize more efficient meetings, too.

Conclusion: When surviving long meetings (and just about any pointless conversation), understand what it is that the other person does not understand. This way you can attempt to kick aside the actual pebbles instead of blinding shooting bazookas into the wild.

Cheers! :)

Gosh. I think China has finally blocked livejournal. I've been having all sorts of problems with it, now I need a proxy to access it. XD

I admit though, I've been feeling less of a need to update this journal recently. I've been spending a lot of time with my mother recently, and I've been discussing all sorts of things with her instead. It's quite refreshing actually, I'm pretty glad that I'm benefiting from her experience!

We haven't always been this close. I don't think the current situation would be possible if I hadn't become much more open talking about my past faults to her as well. We take it in good humor now. It's fun to look at past mistakes. ^^

Self-improvement wise, I admit I've lapsed in the past week. XD There are a number of circumstances, and it's a pity I didn't face them as a challenge. Still, I got a good lesson from all this: for me, it seems that one of the major aspects I Have to maintain for things to work is... to maintain my new sleeping schedule. As soon as That one is off, challenges seem much harder to meet.

So I'm quickly moving back to going to bed at 11:00 pm and getting up early. XD In my defense though, even That wasn't enough sleep in the past week because everybody around me is sick, and I think it's been putting a strain on my immune system, or something. Even when I Do sleep more, I still felt dizzy... It's getting better now! So I should just pick up where I've left off. :D

Hi everybody!

I apologize for making some of you worry about my temporary absence. It was Chinese New Year, among many other things, so I was rather occupied. That, and I was using it as a test period against using internet too often (it worked pretty well too *cough*). Also, when I finally did start working on this post, I noticed that it took... a lot longer than I would have anticipated (so long ;_; ). Ah well.

In any case, a person commenting to one of my last book noted that I had "Got more" out of a book ("7 habits of Highly Effective People"), than that person did. That had gotten me to ponder on the way I approach a self-improvement book, something that was timely because I was reading several of them and had planned to eventually make book reviews.

I ended up with what I now refer to as the Principles/Domains/Applications approach, and soon I found myself pondering other approaches as well. I originally intended the Principles/Domains/Applications approach to be used just for reading self-improvement books, but with time I had managed to generalize it to not limit itself to books.

I actually have 3 "approaches" in mind right now, all of which I'll address eventually and separately:
- The Principles/Domains/Applications approach
- The Feed/Process/Goals approach
- The Information/Action/Attitude approach

So here you go, the first of the Approach series. For the people who ever felt inclined to ask me "How do you come up with these things?", maybe this post will answer some of your questions. And once you're aware of the mechanism, you might be able to apply it yourself. It can't hurt to try!

I. The Principles/Domains/Applications Approach

Introduction
I. The Principles/Domains/Applications hierarchy
I.1. Break-down
I.2. Examples
II. Navigating the hierarchy
II.1. The top-down navigation
II.2. The lateral navigation
II.3. The down-up navigation
III. Synthesizing the above: the process of creating this post

( The Principles/Domains/Applications Approach )

Well, this ends this approach. Next time (or some other time) I'll be presenting the version specifically geered towards reading self-improvement books, and books in general, to give an idea at how I get ideas out of something.

Eventually I'll address the two other "approaches" as well.

P.S. From now on I actually plan to only come to livejournal about one day a week (it should be on Mondays, unless I haven't finished the post yet). This means that unless I see the responses before I log off, I won't be able to respond to them until a week has passed. You can either take this time to think over any questions you may have, or not. I apologize for not replying quickly this way, but I find I enjoy the freed-up time and I actually need it to think up the next post. I'd actually strongly encourage you to do the same.

Still, have a nice week! :)
.

Hierarchy of acquaintances and influence

Remember last time when I was talking about death? The responses left me thinking. And I realized that on the issue of celebrity, I got it all wrong (that's what you get for typing something on a whim without thinking it through first).

I actually took the whole thing upside down! It got me thinking of my perception of the people around me, and how I think I should react.

After a while, I came up with this.


I. Making sense of it all: proactive vs reactive
II. Break-down: what each section represents, and your influence over it
III. My application to all this: do do what's at hand, not see what lies in the distance

( Of acquaintances and influence )

Have a nice day everyone! I will still update this journal once a week, but I won't be attending LJ every day as I used to, until I feel I've done what I can for the people most close to me. I probably won't respond to the rest of you for several days as well, especially with Chinese New Year coming.

Still, in the meantime, good luck with your own lives! If you've been neglecting close people like I have, I hope you'll try to understand them better and try to make their lives better as well. You may not always get along with them, but part of the problem may be in yourself (I've certainly had to change first). You can't blame them for everything that's wrong with you, and they've done a lot for you as well. There's no quick fix, but the end results can be worth it.

Good luck!

.

Sheesh. One celebrity dies and suddenly the whole world is sad for her and if you're not you're an insensitive bitch. Except they're not mourning for the thousands of other people who have died during that time as well, including the millions of children who die each year of preventable diseases or hunger.

Today, how "sad" a death is seems solely measured by two factors:
- how well you personally know that person
- or how publicized the death has been

Everybody mourns the lives lost in the Twin Towers during 9/11. But just about nobody mourned the deaths of the people who were in the planes that crashed elsewhere. Everybody mourned the first few soldier deaths in Iraq, then now news of extra death is just treated like a statistical nuisance that people try to ignore. And forget about the Iraqis who die. And the terrorists? They "deserve to die", as though people forget that under different circumstances many of those fighters would have been ordinary civilians with their own rights and contributions. In the meantime, those people who die every day from a multitude of other causes, including old age? Who ever hears about them?

They've just never been rich enough to be on the front page where everybody can mourn them, that's all.

My view on death is pretty simple:

Death is Not a horrible thing.

At one point in life I was terrified of the idea of death. I was 13, awake in my bed, and imagining how horrible it must be like to be dead. Then I realized... if I were to die, I wouldn't know a thing. Unless there's an afterlife, but then that's another topic. It'd be like sleeping. I'm not afraid of sleeping.

Dying isn't a big deal. Everybody dies, and those who are dead aren't the ones who regret it. They're not physically capable of it anymore. Those who suffer are those who are still Alive. So I think what's most horrible is when you're alive, when you're agonizing over lack of food or pain because of some uncurable illness (or just diseases whose treatments you can't afford), when you have other people who depend on you but you're barely holding on yourself. Eventually, suffering when you're alive can lead to death.

But death itself is (for me) just a consequence. What's sad is the life that came before it.

You can die one day, having done everything you've set yourself out to do, and dying happy and peacefully in bed. And I wouldn't consider that to be a sad thing.

I think what's sadder is spending a sad lifetime. I could die tomorrow, and I probably wouldn't mind too much because I think I'm happy right now. I'd feel sad for my parents though, because they're the ones who have to deal with pain afterwards.

Stop worrying about death, people! I think it's a moot point. Enjoy your life. You're likely not the person worst off in the world, and yet there are people worse off than you who can enjoy life better than you (it's an attitude problem that you can actually work on). And instead of worrying about when such and such would die, spend as much time with them while they're still alive, so that you won't spend your time regretting when the opportunities are lost. Dedicate time to them when they're still alive, not when they're dead.

A century from now most people won't care if such and such died at exactly this age at exactly that time. They may feel pity that a talented musician wasn't able to contribute more. They may feel the horror of the circumstances of the death. But by then that person would have been dead anyway. It's no more sad than the billions of people who have died before you.

Funny find of the day:

Wii weights! XD

Using weights to get more out of video games. Why didn't I think of that? Pity I don't have a Wii. XD

Well, it's been a while since I've started this journal.

Has anybody actually Started doing anything about it? You are likely to forget at least 80% of anything you've read within a month (at least... I am). At least 80% of people don't even read the books they've bought, and 80% of those who do read probably do little about it. It sure took Me a while to get dedicated. But what about you?

Today's post may help a little. It's on mental addiction, and how to combat it. Since you're reading this, you might be among the masses of people who like me not so long ago, were addicted to internet and don't have a good control over it. This might actually be a big social problem in the future. But that's besides the point right now.

Note: I'm only covering some specific instances of mental addiction. I can't personally comment on everything, and I realize that not everybody is in the same circumstances as I am. In particular, not everyone is "lucky" enough to simply have internet cut off from them for a month, etc, etc.

Still, these are ideas that might get you started. Some ideas might help with other forms of addiction, including real-life ones (maybe you're an obsessed sports fan?) or physical ones (smoking and drinking?). I can't guarantee anything, but you'll never know unless you try. :)

( Concentrating on work Series. Part I: Getting rid of mental addiction )

Good luck!

Welcome to orange_wings! Here you can refer to me as orange_wings, or simply "Ow."

First off, disclaimers. And a bit of history:

On December 27, 2006, an earthquake to the south of Taiwan managed to damage six underwater cables, including the ones connecting much of Asia to North America. The result? 6 weeks for all the cables to be repaired, so although I still had access to Asian websites, I suddenly found myself unable to access my usual websites and services. I soon found the situation quite funny when I realized that hey, at least I wasn't losing time and money like businesses must be. I had no real reason to start pulling my hair out, so I took it in stride.

At first I had thought of improving my drawing skills. I set up this crazy one-year program. I actually managed to keep up with the schedule pretty well for the first two weeks, but as I adjusted my working method to suit the situation, I suddenly realized that my working method could be applied to well... everything else. So I dropped drawing and began an extensive campaign on self-improvement. After a few weeks, I had:
- become more organized
- had my room completely reorganized to reflect it (hey look! A good working environment!)
- read half-a-dozen books on a variety of topics (work environment, finance, happiness, etc.)
- improved my sleeping habbits (speaking as someone who used to sleep late and sleep in)
- improved my posture (speaking as someone who had terrible posture for well... her entire life)
- improved my reading speed
- improved my memory skills a bit
- started improving my handwriting
- started daily mini-exercises
- started improving my attitude
- become less addicted to the internet (we'll see if it holds up after it comes back completely)

And friends of mine were wondering how I took the internet slowdown "so well." XD To be fair, I had more free time than usual during that period as well.

Still, the result of all that is this journal. I dedicate it to all my good friends. I really help there will be something in here that will help you guys! Much love to you! :D

A guide to self-improvement
(by yours truly)

I. Why self-improvement?
II. A hierarchy of self-improvement.
III. Self-improvement in the daily schedule
IV. Resources
V. Getting started
VI. What's next?
VII. Extra tips

( A guide to self-improvement )

I hope this was helpful (it'd better. Getting this done messed up one of my schedules T_T ).

Good luck!