Next Toy

*** Updated ***
The SZ models are out of stock at SonyStyle.com... @@"

vs 

Time to think about my next toy, and I am debating whether I should get a TV or a laptop. I've even picked out the model that i really like. Both are from Sony (not a big surprise since I'm a big Sony fan) and either one of them will cost me an arm and leg.

If I am getting a TV, I'd probably wait till the end of this year or maybe early next year to get it. The reason being that I need a TV to play Nintendo's next generation console (CodeName: Revolution). Unfortunately, since Revolution doesn't support HD, I really can't justify getting this $2699 TV except for the fact that I can brag about owning one of Sony's best line.

On the other hand, I can't really think of a reason to get a notebook either - except that the idea of going into a Cafe with WiFi and being able to surf the net/blog always intrigue me. Of course I don't need the newest Sony to do so, but hey, it looks trendy with a Sony VAIO.

The other good thing about getting the laptop instead of the TV is that I can use my company's loan program (24-month no interest loan) to pay for it. If i am going for the TV, i kinda need to wait after my trip back home and assess the damage - meaning i might not have the cash.

Oh well, at this point, I am fairly sure that something Sony's coming my way! Just don't know what yet.

P.S. Originally I also planned for an iPod and a new DC. Darn the IRS.

Rant about Xanga and MSN Messenger

I never liked Xanga - and don't think I will grow to like it as well. It is very frustrating when you want to leave comments on a blog that's hosted by Xanga - mainly because they required you to sign-in to Xange first. I only want to leave a message on my friends' blog, and pretty much that's all I want to do with Xanga. Another thing that I don't like about Xanga blog is that they don't have RSS/Atom feeds. For all the other blogs that i frequently visit, I subscribe to their RSS/Atom feed so that I don't have to manually visit their site just to find out that nothing has been updated since I last visited. I can't believe that Xanga doesn't support this! Maybe they do and it's just my friend who hasn't turn on this feature. For those who use Xanga blog, please let me know - i am really curious.

* Speaking of RSS, I am going to try my luck again soon in convincing Sales that RSS is a good feature in our product - we'll see how that turns out *

On to MSN.

For those who still IM me, you'd know that my default IM is still ICQ (btw, ICQ has a new IM call ComPad, but currently only available for registration if you do not live on this planet - I mean, they block registrations from: Israel, Vatican, Italy, Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Australia, Belgium and Denmark).

Where were I? Oh, MSN. Today I took the brave step in installing MSN Messenger 7.5. The UI has too many stuff that I will never use so I found it cluttering. Tabs? Don't use them. The toolbar below my e-mail & message? Don't think I'll be using them eitehr. I like ICQ because it gets the job done. I am not interested in all the ten billion funtions that'e embedded in the application. I just want a UI that would allow me to do simple IM with my friends. Plus the fact that it has ads at the bottom of the app - there probably is some hack out there in the WWW that remove the ads. I believe I hacked my ICQ to remove its ads too - makes it not very appealing to me at the moment. However, if you'd like try IM me via MSN, it's uarzen@yahoo.com.

This concludes my rant of the day.

Memories

Tonight outside Woodman's (a supermarket in town for those of you not in Madison), I saw 4 guys, which I believe are UW students by just the way they looked, loading their groceries into their car. I think they already filled two of their three carts, but the whole trunk is packed - AND they still have one more carts to go! I didn't stay to see what they end up doing with their last cart (since the temperature's sub-zero), but I presume that they'll have to hold on to those in the front.

This scene reminds me of how my friends and I did grocery during our Sophomore year at Purdue. It was our first apartment - located conveniently next to the campus (across from the University parking garage). However, the biggest problem was that none of us had a car at that time.

Hence, doing grocery was a "big deal" for us. We normally would do it every other Friday evening. First calling a cab to "China Garden" for dinner. Our other choice would have been KFC or Taco Bell. Since I was part of the group, you pretty much can be sure that no one is getting Taco Bell.

Afterward, we casually walk to the Wal-Mart/Marsh on the other side of the "street" - a 4-lane State Road 26 main artery in the town of Lafayette) - and began our shopping fun. When we are done, we would call a cab again to get back. Since there was four/five of us each time, i remember each time we would pack - wait, i think a better word is "stuff" - the trunk of the cab. (Of course, Eric and I consuming a case of soda every 2 or 3 days probably didn't help much to the situation). Loading/Unloading was always fun since we can't really walk back into the store and return the stuff just because "We can't fit them in the cabbie's truck".

The whole adventure would normally take us all Friday evening - so when others are out partying on Friday nite, we are busy trying to figure out whether we should stuff the meat into the trunk first or holding the cases of soda with us in the front.

P.S. Situation improved a bit in the 2nd semester when Peter brought his "dependable" car from home. More story on that later~

Things have settled down

After an eventful January - I shall be very content with a quiet Feburary with nothing happening. Hopefully I will pick up my blogging mood by then. Oh well~

For those who doesn't know, today (1/29) is the Chinese New Year! So wishing all who read this post a prosperous year ahead. :)

Andromeda

In the midst of the development frenzy, the Web team has officially moved to the our company's new campus on the 15th. Lucky for us, there were 86 offices on the 3rd floor of our building and we only have 84 ppl in WebCorp+ right now. That means each of us now have our own office. Yeah!

The picture on the left, of course, is my new office. Big window (one section is operable so I can kinda open it during Spring/Fall time) with blue carpet. I haven't done any decoration yet (besides hanging up 3 of the 4 white boards I have, heeheehehee), but i think I'll shop around next week and see if I can find anything I liked. However, I think I'd have better luck finding stuff I like from HK. The only problem I am having is with the motion sensor in my office that turns the light on/off. You see, I sit right behind my 2 monitors when I am at my desk. From time to time, the sensor would determine that there isn't anyone in the office and turn off my lights. I then have to stand up and wave like crazy trying to get the lights back on without having to manually walk over to the switch to turn it on. However, I don't think that sensor picks up waving very well either.

Besides that, the new campus is really great. Walking from the underground parking to my office is a good few minutes walk and should suffice for my daily exercise quota. The only other complaint is that there isn't mush food establishments around in Verona so finding a good place for lunch is quite challenging at the moment.

Mission Accomplished

...well, technically not quite as I still have one or two projects that haven't made it to QA yet - but at the very least, the crazyness is over.

I just checked today that I've logged 230+ working hours this month - and I didn't even count those hours that I was taking breaks because otherwise, I would of died right in front of the monitor!

There is only one word that can describe this development phase - insane! I don't think I've seen so many projects packed into a 2 months period. A few of us were working till 3 or 4am each night for the past couple days just trying to get things done. So it was a great relief that this is finally over. Now we just have to wait for the QAers to get back from vacation to start testing - which in my opinion will lead to more fixes and enhancements (but at least there is one full week before that happens...hohoho).

As a result of this crazy week (and the week before), my Christmas would be rather quiet and uneventful. My current plan includes sleeping, more sleeping, follow by a nap time, then back to sleep again. Don't tell me that doesn't excite you! .\/.

Someone flew me airplane tonite

I...shall...remember...him...!!!!!!

(This actually brought back a funny HS memory - totally not related though)

Never imaging that...

there are real yo-yo competition - I mean at a national level. Nice Tricks

One of the contestants used this song as his background music and now it's stuck in my head. The unfortunate thing is that I can't find the CD single anywhere online (probably because it was from 2001). I've even checked Amazon.co.jp and they don't have it either. The only place I've seen it is the album version at YesAsia.com - but I am not quite willing to dish out 30 bucks for it yet.

Almost here...the deadline that is

In my last post, I rant about coming back home around 10. Little did I realize that 10pm is not a bad time during this time of the year - especially compared to my hours this week. Monday & Friday were the roughly "normal" days. However, it was 3:30 on Tuesday, 4:30 on Wednesday and another 3:30 on Thursday. Um....only if my raise are tied to the number of hours I worked. I remembered pulling crazy hours last year before the development deadline too. Strangely enough, the projects this year and last year were quite similar - both are integration with our reporting products. Hopefully this is the last time I end up with rushing things through.

I did get an excited news this week - the room assignement for the new campus. Starting Thursday, I would have my own office! I was tempted to drop by the new campus this morning just to check it out (last time I visited, Andromeda wasn't ready yet). But I just don't think driving on snowy/icy roads would be such a nice idea. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe. [Downside: a potential day lost on Thur]

This brings me to another point - In the midst of the dev deadline, I am apartment hunting. My lease will run out by the end of Decemeber so I better act quick. Sent some inquires out earlier, a couple of the responses sound promising. If all things line up, I hope to actually go check out some of them next week and make a decision by next Friday.

Taking a Break

Post will be sparse at least till Christmas - as it is officially crunch time at work. Today I left my apartment at 8:48am. When I stepped across the door tonight, it was already 10:00pm. The sad thing is that this trend probably would continue up till next week.

Haven't line up all the peer-QA yet - no idea where I would find the resources at the moment. Oh well~

Let see if I can find the bulk of my project by Sunday afternoon. If so, that would leave me in a better position. Though most likely the "Add to Favorites" functionality won't be done this week since Scott is in training and I really need someone from the Workbench to help with the actual coding.

Back to looking at codes~