Finally got my application for a Social Security Number into the government.

I had to do a lot of errands this morning. First was the waiting in line for social security #. Then I went to the bank to get an account, but the lady was talking to me in Mandarin with a Cantonese accent, so I had to struggle to understand her. That'll teach me to open an account in the International district again.

My group went out for lunch today to celebrate our product that's been delayed, and my arrival. So the food was good. But since I got in late this morning, I'll probably have to work late tonight. People here work some crazy hours, and I'll have to put in the time as well.

Already in Seattle. So much to write about, so little time.

So I'm at work right now. Just got my ID card, and setting up my computer. We each have two boxes, one's Win2k, the other is Linux (still having some mouse trouble with the Linux box).

When we got to the airport on Saturday night, we were going to take some taxis into town. That is until we saw the limos sitting there. So the three of us took a stretch limo, and rode into Seattle in style. I was liking my trip already.

Sunday was a day of discovery: there are a lot of Starbucks in Seattle, nothing is open on Sundays, and shopping at convenience stores is expensive.

Looks like I might be taking a break from blogging for the next couple of days, until I get settled with work and such. That and the fact that I really don't have much to say.

I seem to do my best work at night.

Today I had an argument as to whether baby carrots are grown like that, or processed from bigger carrots.

Well, look at what I've found: http://www.grimmway.com/baby.htm

Damn it feels good to be right.

I just finished The Crucible. That Arthur Miller can really make you hate someone to the point where you just want to go up to them and hit them in the face.

But things like this have happened too often in history. There are many Chinese stories of tyrant prosecutors who buy their way into politics and the aristocracy, but are completely ignorant of their surroundings.

I guess one problem our society, or any society for that matter, faces is ignorance. But how can we prevent it? I myself is ignorant of many things, and I consider myself to be well-educated.

The plan of my academic career.

Subject to change overnight.

I could not believe my eyes as I looked outside this morning. Seeing the greyness of the clouds peeking through my window, I expected a gloomy day to foreshadow my appointment with the dentist this afternoon. But as I walked down the stairs, and saw white on the ground, I was flabbergasted. To think that just 4 days ago I was sitting out in the sunshine and 30 degree weather, enjoying a pitcher of Keith's. Now there's snow on the ground.

It sort of brings Earth Day into perspective.

Fiasco over seemingly racist shirts.

I don't really find them offensive, but I certainly won't pay the money (especially at A&F prices) to buy them. Sometimes I think the North American society is a little too PC.

One more exam to go.

Article from the Washington Post c/o Metafilter:

All the available evidence indicates the school has done its best to instill fear in any student who might think of even raising the issue of CS 1321 homework with a classmate.
...
An entire day at the beginning of the semester is spent lecturing on the evils of cheating and the horrible things that will happen if you turn in work that has not totally come from your own brain

This is exactly how I feel too.

Our goose is famous.

It's amazing how smell can bring back so many memories. Walking home from the library tonight, I passed through 4 or 5 memorable times of my life brought back by the aromatic scent of summer.

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately.

I saw Monster's Ball last night. Okay movie, might have enjoyed more if it wasn't exam time. I didn't quite get the message behind it, I mainly went because of the Oscar nomination.

US woman sues snack company (care of Tracy) for $50 million for incorrectly labelling it's nutritional information and for foiling her diet.

How do you justify $50 million? This is not even a class action suit, just one woman. Sure I agree that you can't measure emotional suffering, but this is a clear case of litigation going too far. Sometimes I wonder in awe at all the lawsuits I hear about in the news. Everyone seems so greedy for money, thinking it will bring them happiness and joy.

All I need is my $20 on Wednesday nights to go to Weaver's.

One down, four to go.

I've heard too much talk about the destruction of terrorism lately. How do you destroy an ideal, something that is ingrained in people's minds?

Not with a war.

Revenge only brings on generations of revenge. The hate for Israel in Arab countries is escalating with every advancement. What do you think that kid in Palestine is thinking when he sees a tank rolling past his old playground with a gun pointing at his home? And how do you destroy terrorist infrastructure when the only infrastructure they need is someone's basement and the hate culminating inside them?

I'd be terrified with my life too if I lived in Israel, or anywhere near there. But unless they kill every Palestinian out there, they will not be able to stop the generations of hate that has evolved between the two states. Stopping suicide bombings for a day, a month, or a year doesn't mean that the risks are gone, because from what we saw on September 11th, the terrorists have patience, and they will wait and plan every detail.

So how do you eliminate terrorism? I don't know, I'm not that smart. But I'd think it would start with education. "Force" the kids to go to school where they are taught critical thinking and world issues (and I'm not talking about a pro-western curriculum, just the facts). Maybe then they would realize that there's something outside of their religions, and that the world is a worthwhile place to live on. It will take time, but at least it's instilling knowledge instead of hate.

Maybe I'm too naive with my thinking. Maybe violence will solve the problem. Only history will tell.

Another thing that bugs me: how all those people on Survivor say "love" all the time.

"Oh I just love you guys, but I have to vote you off."
"I love her with all my heart, but she's got to go."

This is going off a post from Matt about tuition.

I believe that money should not be a first priority in people's educations. Merit should be the only thing that counts when it comes to university application/acceptances. If there's a reason that some person didn't go to university, it would be because (s)he didn't have the marks or the ability.

Let's see how much it would cost the Canadian government to fully subsidize higher education:
100 Universities X $5 000 in tuition (avg) a year/student X 10 000 students/university (avg) = $5 billion.

In the fiscal year 2000-2001, the Canadian government netted a budgetary surplus of $17.1 billion, and yet the cost of education has continually increased out of proportion.

In the years 1991-2001, tuition at the Math Faculty has increased 145%, from $885 in 1991 to $2015 in 2001, and it's set to go up another 15% starting this summer. Meanwhile, inflation, at an average of 5% a year would only have gone up 62% over the same period.

I can't even imagine paying $885 for tuition. My next tuition bill, with all incidental fees included, will probably round to about $3300, and that's only one term.

IT Anthems, it's just too good.

An excerpt from Ericsson's "Network Intelligence":

Want a call to reach you girl
Anywhere around the world
Wherever you may be?
That's UPT

Wanna dial short, my friend
To reach another friend,
That's VPN

Also there is also SGI's "I Have a Dream" ...

I have a dream, and it's two CPUs
What this will mean, is no more desktop blues
Modelling and rendering, designing analysing
I have one dream and it's called two CPUs.
...
I have a dream, and it's called a graphics pipe
It really works and it's not just PC hype!
Texturing convolving, visual revolving,
Any media type

UW Bulletin Beats Ming to the Punch

Waterloo, ON - The University of Waterloo daily bulletin beat UW student Ming Li to the punch today, posting a story about vicious geese nesting in the CPH courtyard.

"It's ludicrous," comments Ming, a student in his third year of computer science studies at the university, "I was in the library all day thinking about how I'd write the story, and they beat me to it. I knew I should have turned on my computer this morning, I could have focused all that time and energy on more productive tasks like eating and watching TV."

The daily bulletin story outlines the attack on a female student who thought she was going to bleed to death. She now realizes that the wound wasn't as serious as she thought.

The male goose was brought in for questioning yesterday by UW Police. It's long been noted for hissing and chasing after students headed for the library. No charges have been laid yet. A UW Police spokesperson said that "we are still investigating this incident, and haven't made any final decisions yet." The area around the alleged incident was still cordoned off today as police searched for more evidence.

The Geese family couldn't be reached for comments today. Some neighbours said that they probably moved to their cottage by Columbia Lake to avoid the media attention and students looking for revenge. "Good thing we're not in Louisiana," quacked one goose, "otherwise we'd all be in a bowl of gumbo now."

After a long moment of mental searching, Ming recalls seeing "a girl with a bandage on her forehead in the library today," and he suspects she may be the victim of the attack. "Well I'm glad she's back on her feet and studying again. Something like that would have traumatized me for weeks," comments Ming.

UW Police advises that students exercise caution around the Canada Geese during mating season "cause hell, you wouldn't want someone treading near you when you're trying to mate."

One of my previous posts burned by the burnmaker.

I've gotten the fucking impression that my cockgobbling site loads too fuckin' slow. Does anyone else think this bullshit way? SHIT- That's the goddamn answer for you.- Shit on a stick. And if so, god-damn, how in the hell do I make that bastard go faster?

I wish all fuckheads can have *true* broadband.

So I just got word that I'm leaving Canada on the 27th. My dilemma is, my parents are also leaving the same day, for China. But their flight is way early in the morning, and mine is not until late evening. So I can either take the same taxi with them to the airport, and then hang around Toronto all day, or I can go later on.

I shouldn't be thinking about such things right now. Must focus on exams.

I've gotten the impression that my site loads too slow. Does anyone else think this way? And if so, how do I make it go faster?

I wish everyone can have *true* broadband.

I was sent this in the email.

Canadian found guilty of trading with Cuba, according to a Globe and Mail article. Apparently, the Canadian citizen was working for an American company while still living in Canada, and made some business trips to Cuba. Then he moved to the states (big mistake), and now he faces jail time on convictions of conspiracy and trading with the enemy. This is ridiculous. Let's arrest an American next time he comes to Canada on the same charges ... oh wait, Canada doesn't have any enemies.

Good thing I've never been to Cuba, otherwise I might have to watch whose feet I step on in Seattle.

Oh, just so everyone knows, it is very LEGAL in Canada to trade with Cuba.

Book sales are going to be the death of me. I just can't pass by the opportunity to buy a cheap book. Nevermind that I have no time to read right now. I bought and read Death of a Salesman today.

Very thought provoking.

Everyone has their dreams and aspirations, but when do we stop? What if we over-indulge ourselves in our dreams? What if we live only within the world that we've drawn for ourselves but fail to realize the true limitations that bound us to what we are?

Every parent tells his/her kids that they can be whatever they want. Is that really possible? We are all limited either physically, mentally, or emotionally that contains us to reality. I guess that makes me a realist.

That's my blabbering rant of the day.

So classes have ended, and it's the exam period once again. As I reflect back on this term, seeing how I did absolutely nothing except school work, I am making a resolution that I'm probably not going to keep: I'm going to do more "stuff" next term. So what is stuff? Stuff is activities like volunteering to fluff up my resume, or volunteering just for the joy of it (hmm, that sounds a little better), or just watch less TV. For years now I've been the poster child of the North American entertainment industry. I know what movies are coming out that I'll never go see, I know that funny commercial selling something I'll never buy, I know the names of sitcoms that I never see. Well, this is going to change. From now on, I will only use the TV for news ... okay and the Simpsons (the five times a day it's on) ... oh and Survivor ... and Jeopardy ... maybe ER. Who am I kidding, giving up TV is just too much work, I'll never be able to handle it.

This was a little too long to make into a post.