Shoveling is fun!

Shoveling is fun! This happened on Jan. 23 as a foot of snow was dumped on the previous day. And honestly we were just pretending to have fun. It was an atrocity!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

I have read something over the internet that overusing the hands on a non-ergonomic keyboard may cause carpal tunnel. This surely raises concerns with my hands after intensively playing Ninja Gaiden last night.

Referring to this section of the carpal tunnel article, however, the causes of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) have not yet been found. Any condition that lessens the amount of space in the carpal tunnel can compress the median nerve in the tunnel, hence resulting in CTS. Some researchers believe that overuse of the wrist may be a cause of CTS. But this is not accepted by all physicians.

Since the correlation of repetitive strain injuries and carpal tunnel syndrome has not been established, it seems to me it would be OK to play some more Ninja Gaiden. Just have to get plenty of rest before the boss fight at the end of each chapter.

Duratec 35

Here is the interesting link of duratec 35 in wikipedia. This is the first time I come across this info outside Ford. Of course, we can still google Duratec 35 to find some other links. For example, I found another good piece of analysis in a response to Why No V-8 in Ford 500. For succinct answers, they are

1. It won't fit.
2. No transmission available to handle the load.
3. Worse fuel economy.
4. Duratec 35 is due.
5. Horsepower race is insane!
6. Too much to handle in the launch besides CVT, flexible production system, etc.

Back in wikipedia, there is also a list of Ford engines, which is quite comprehensive to me. The Duratec family page is also very resourceful. These are actually digression from my interest in the Flat Engine that I first saw it from Porsche at Auto Show (pardon my ignorance).

Nina Williams

Nina Williams is the gorgeous, lightning-fast assassin who made her debut in the Tekken® series. In DEATH BY DEGREES, Nina is commissioned to investigate the whereabouts of a stolen high-tech weapon, and steps out of the ring on an intense action-adventure all her own. With an innovative 360 degree fighting system and a fluid, acrobatic hand-to-hand combat engine at her disposal, Nina must infiltrate a shadowy underworld and reveal conspiracy on a global scale. Use any means necessary-including stealth, espionage, ferocious gunplay and brutal weapon attacks to recover the stolen goods and uncover the truth.

Auto Show

I had a short (missed some interesting stuff) trip to the Detroit Auto Show on Jan.19, 2005. Anyway, these are the stuff I spent my limited time with.

Happy Chinese New Year!

A great argument

Musicians, or the vast majority of them anyway, do not make music to make money but to make music. Historically of course, it was ever thus. Before the means of recording music, there WAS no recording industry. The vast majority of great music in history was written without the RIAA's help and without the 'protection' of copyright. It didn't seem to bother Beethoven.

From The music industry must die and be reborn (Score:5, Informative)
by Deep Fried Geekboy (807607) on Friday January 21, @08:30AM (#11430807)

Taipei 101 

More than you wish for ... 

Birthday girl 

Testing with chien's pictures 

Lost

After I finished the episode of Lost last night, I was thinking what Boone went through was even more paranormal than the previous mysteries happened on the island. How are they going to come up an explanation for that? Another interesting thing is if at some point the answers are revealed, the tension of this show will loose and soon it is going to end. How will they manage to drag on all these nonsense for several seasons in the future? As we all know, some clues have to emerge gradually to satisfy the audience but not too much to spoil the mysteries. I can't wait to find some plausible theories before one more mixed-up strange plot twist coming next week. I went to the ABC Lost message board this morning to pick up some theories I can immediately understand.

1. They are all DEAD. They're in "Purgatory" until they can clean up "issues" from their lives.
2. Lemuria / Mu / Pacifica theory
3. The Hallucinations many are having - This is caused by something they are eating. There is a root (Kava Root) in the South Pacific known to be hallucinogenic.
4. Sawyer in Boone's flashback - all of the survivors are related to some event in Australia, whether they realize it or not.

Simulator

Simulator will showcase my effort to creat the next-generation dynamics simulator. The features will include 3D graphics, collision detection, multi-body dynamics with contact and friction.

A beautiful solution

Over the years, the problems that plague me in creating a personal homepage are

• It takes a lot of time to maintain and update all the information.
• I need to find some creative and stylish content to fill the pages.
• I am reluctant to pay for the hosting company, and yet I hate the ads attached to my free home page.

Here I am. Finally, a clean and simple solution emerges. I can just create a blog for myself!!