Stone's log

数学

2010-08-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

老妈要给儿子早期教育，所以每次洗澡时我都交他一些数学。中文数1－10 就是这么教会的。当然用英文数是幼儿园交的，因为家里英文是非法语言（不要问我为什么）。数数也是洗澡时交的。由于每次是数手指或脚指头总是五个，以后每次问他数别的东西的时候，“来，数一数有几个”，回答总是“一二三四五！”。最近交他加减法，他已经学了不少了。我很是欣慰。

一加一等于几？
“二！”
二加二呢？
“三！”
三加四呢？
“二！“
那四加三呢？
”天线宝宝！“

我老早就跟他妈说过，我们儿子是个天才。她只是笑笑。

Be Careful

2010-08-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

每天儿子他妈把我 drop off 的时候，对话一般是这样的：

爸爸：好了，我下去了。
儿子：去工作。
妈妈：跟爸爸拜拜。
儿子：（挥手）拜拜！ Be Careful~~

Videos (my video bookmarks)

2010-03-04T02:57:00.000-08:00

Bookmarking in PDF reader

2009-08-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Plugin: Bookmark A Page In Your PDF

http://www.aldenta.com/2006/09/15/plugin-bookmark-a-page-in-your-pdf/

A PDF Viewer like VIM:
http://code.google.com/p/apvlv/

Willingly exploited

2009-07-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Recently there is news that a Chinese worker at a manufacture site in China committed suicide because an iPhone 4G prototype was lost and he was suspected and apparently interrogated. When I heard the news, immediately I had the suspicion that he might have been killed by his boss from over beating, which is quite likely considering the situation in China, though it is entirely possible too that he indeed killed himself because of the pressure or mental instability.

Regarding the suicide, many people online are voicing about the exploitation of workers in poorer places like China. This is not something new and people have complained about it before. Being a relatively firm believer of free market, I tend to think that the workers in poor places are actually *willingly* "exploited" if we have to use the word exploit. They are free not to work for the manufacture if they don't want to work there. Instead they choose to accept the job, and they get paid for their work so that they have better life than they would otherwise have in rural areas. Since they have a choice, we can't say they are exploited. Or if we have to use the word, we may say they are "willingly" exploited.

But a second thought came across immediately. They choose to work there because that is the best choice for them. And the reason is that they had a lower starting point -- no wealth to start with, low education, etc. Instead, the rich people and the rich countries or the rich companies, or rich whatever controls more resources of the world so that they win in the game of free competition, which is the core of an efficient free market. In a place where competition is not "free", meaning unfair, due to corruption or ruling privileges or power, things can get worse. So in the free market, the poorer people lose, collectively speaking, and the rich half controls greater and greater portions of the total wealth. The poor have to work to sustain themselves. And the only places are the factories, that pay minimum wages. So they are willing to work there - to be exploited - because they need to survive, but rather unwillingly on the other hand if only they had any better choice. They same applies to workers in Walmart, for example. They may be happy for the job they get -- there may be 10 people behind them willing to take the job, but they don't have any better choices.

一岁半

2009-07-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

儿子一岁半了，从咿咿呀呀到现在妈妈爸爸爷爷奶奶都能说了。晚上睡不着，索性把他会说的词记录一下，虽然不完整，但也有个记录，等过些日子回头看看应该很有意思。爸爸妈妈那是出生就能说，除此之外，最早认识的的是”灯“，那是从壮壮哥那学的，后来就是”电灯“，问他电灯在哪，很早就知道用手指了。至于说多早，那是相当早了（所以说记下来很重要）。拜拜也很早会说。应该一岁吧。把他送到homecare,每天我们走的时候跟看他的阿姨说，”我们走了，拜拜“。过几天，他每次听到走字，就自动说拜拜，绝对准时，而且带手势的。有人到家里，刚说个走字，他就挥手跟人家说拜拜啦。这次回国，跟一个阿姨学会了飞吻，只要你说”給个飞吻“，他就給你”恩吧～“前提是如果他高兴的话。动物也颇认几个，狗狗兔兔猪猪鸟鸟都知道。鸡鸡也知道，不过那不是动物。蚂蚁也是知道的，只是还不会说 Yi, 所以说出来是”蚂木～“，飞机，汽”这“都知道说。另外现在知道要”奶～，奶～～“了。而且知道说”屎～，屎“的，只是经常谎报军情。回说的词还很多，这些远不完整（门，鞋，锅，垃圾筒，大大，鼻子，眼睛等等等等）他妈mi(自封，儿子不这么叫）可以作证。再加上他最近他学东西突飞猛进，所以不能全部记录，以后想起来再补充，不过记下来一点聊胜于无，也算是没有白失眠哈。

archlinux

2008-04-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Fedora is slow and bloated. So I decided to install a lighter OS.
My current setup is:

* OS: archlinux.
* Some additional fonts
* Some additional packages: acroread, tetex, qiv, etc.
* Window manager: wmii
* Browser: Firefox + Vimperator extension.
* Email client: mutt
* Terminal: urxvt (from the rxvt-unicode package) with -fn 'xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:pixelsize=15' parameter that displays Chinese properly.

Now the system boots up quickly, is more efficient and usable. Don't think will want to go back to Fedora or any bloated system again.

embed fonts in latex generated pdf files

2007-11-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

It is sometimes tricky to trick latex/pdflatex to embed all fonts in the final PDF files. But embedding all fonts makes the document self-contained, and some publishers require this. The following is a list of steps that should guarantee the fonts are embedded. The information is collected from the internet, and should work for Texlive 3.0.

1. If you use latex-> dvips-> ps2pdf, then in the ps2pdf step use the following:

ps2pdf -dSAFER -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
-sPAPERSIZE=letter -dPDFSETTINGS=/printer \
-dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dMaxSubsetPct=100 \
-dSubsetFonts=true -dEmbedAllFonts=true \
file.ps

2. If you use pdflatex, then
(a) make sure pdflatex embed all fonts that are used in the text part by running the following command (to download all the 14 Adobe Base fonts)
updmap --setoption pdftexDownloadBase14 true
(b) run pdflatex on the .tex file
(c) check that all fonts are embed by using
pdffonts file.pdf
or open acrobat reader and check Document Properties->Fonts
(d) If there are still fonts not embedded, then those are from the
included figures. These can be corrected by running the following
gs -dSAFER -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH \
-sDEVICE=pdfwrite -sPAPERSIZE=letter \
-dPDFSETTINGS=/printer -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 \
-dMaxSubsetPct=100 -dSubsetFonts=true \
-dEmbedAllFonts=true -sOutputFile=newfile.pdf \
-f file.pdf

ASUS Eee PC

2007-11-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

ASUS Eee PC is close to being my dream laptop. It has no hard disk. It is small, light (2 pounds), has a webcam, VGA, wireless internet, USB, and Linux OS, and it is cheap ($400). The things I like less are: 1) 7" screen is a bit small; I am sure it will get bigger as cost drops. 2) The flash storage 4GB is small. 8GB or 16GB will be better. 3) 512MB memory is kinda small. There is a 1G model, but not available in the US yet. 4) Also it has a fan - not good.

So my dream setup is:

1GB memory
>8GB flash drive
Fanless -- so no moving part and absolutely quiet
Webcam, wireless, USB, Linux
Bigger screen (>=9")
Light (<=2 lbs)
Appealing external design (current model OK)
Cheap (<=$500-600)

It is said that Asus is coming up with a T83 model. I hope it has the above features. I will not be able to resist the temptation then.

Some scripts

2007-10-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Some scripts that may be useful:

1. pdf-merge: merge several PDF files into one.
2. pdf-extract: extract pages from one PDF and save them in another.
3. flickr-get: download photos from flickr.com in batch

http://code.google.com/p/random-scripts/downloads/list

picasa web album

2007-10-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

I found this python script that can upload to picasa web album
in batch mode:

http://code.google.com/p/upload2picasa/

It works very well. It requires installing gdata-python-client first though.

Annual credit report for free

2007-08-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Each person can obtain a free annual credit report for the following website.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/

This is the "official" website.

Little Sichuan

2007-08-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Sichuan restaurant in Minneapolis, spin-off of the old Teahouse,
has a website: here. Save it here in case I forgot.

基本属实

2007-07-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

教授摇唇鼓舌，四处赚钱，越来越像商人；商人现身讲坛，著书立说，越来越像教授。医生见死不救，草菅人命，越来越像杀手；杀手出手麻利，不留后患，越来越像医生。明星卖弄风骚，给钱就上，越来越像妓女；妓女楚楚动人，明码标价，越来越像明星。警察横行霸道，欺软怕硬，越来越像地痞；地痞各霸一方，敢做敢当，越来越像警察。流言有根有据，基本属实，越来越像新闻；新闻捕风捉影，随意夸大，越来越像流言。

Gates versus Jobs

2007-07-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Two biggest players in the software world. I admire both. Haven't finished watching their joint interview yet -- will check it out fully when I find more time. From part 1 and 2, I have to say I like Gates more. He is less pretentious than Jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Z7eal4uXI

little grass flower

2007-03-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Dad's "little grass flower".

My wood burn for parents.

my workbench

2006-12-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

my workbench: from six 8-foot 2x4's, and one piece 1/2"x4x6 plywood. Finished size: LxWxH=24"x48"x35".

garage

2006-11-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

人跟人不一样啊

2006-11-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

blog idea

2006-11-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

I believe a server that hosts blogs with no ads (in the beginning), provides all the functionalities that are nice, and provides fast response, will attract many users and eventually make money out of it. A user can upload photos, organize photos into albums, upload videos, etc. Doing all this without non-sense ads will be attractive and can make money with little investment (moneywise at least).

Fill in PDF forms

2006-11-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

When you have a PDF form that you can fill in, print, but cannot save, you can work around it in the following way (assuming you have a Windows machine):

1. Install Foxit PDF reader (the free version is fine)
2. Fill in the PDF form using Foxit. Save the file as needed.

You may also export the form data as a .FDF file by Advanced -> Form -> Export data ..., and then open the FDF file using Adobe Acrobat reader. This is necessary sometimes when the form has some auto-fill fields that Foxit cannot fill in automatically.

Using Foxit + Acrobat Reader, form filling can be accomplished as if you have Acrobat Pro.

Desiderata

2006-10-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

cc

2006-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

i miss cc, i hope he can be adopted soon by some loving family

autumn in mn

2006-10-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am your brother

2006-10-10T19:26:00.000-07:00