The gloriousness of technology

So I thought I'd write about a little something that's made me incredibly happy over the past few days and caused me to neglected my math studies.

Technology! More specifically, my new Vaio laptop running the prettiness of Vista (which isn't as bad as I expected it to be) and the likes of little third party apps like Rainmeter, Rainlendar and Rocketdock. I played around with Samurize on my work laptop but didn't like it so much. Rainmeter much more slick, and the coding is easier to work with.

Yesterday, I stumbled across a wonderful site about the amazing Cairo project.

http://cairoshell.com/2007/07/26/cairo-a-windows-shell-alternative/

This guy, along with a team of designers and developers, are trying to put together a whole new way to interact with Windows. Of course, the underlying structure is all the same, but the look and feel is completely fresh and innovative. Hopefully, Microsoft will take a leaf out of this guy's book and collaborate with him for Vienna, but that's simply too much to hope for.


Here is a stacked applications concept. No more taskbar and Start menu, although that would be the underlying architecture.

Another concept that Microsoft has reportedly already been playing with: pie menus.

The taskbar/Start menu configuration has been around Windows from the very beginning, and it is high time to overhaul the boring old concept. Hopefully, that's what Windows Vienna will do, but I have to admit I'm getting very excited about this new shell development. Eye candy to say the least.

As for the future, I really think a big step forward for user interactions would be a 3D environment on the desktop. There are 3D desktop environment in rough sketch mainly for Linux users but those are simply putting application windows in a 3D "street", like you're window shopping or something. Not the most convenient, in my opinion. Who knows, maybe in the future we won't have flat computer screens anymore. Maybe we'll have desktop "spaces" where one can step into and control the desktop all around. That would be nice.

More pictures of my pimpified desktop to come.

I know I've been terrible...

Okay it seems like I've abandoned post. I haven't. Just been really really exceptionally and inhumanely busy this summer. But here goes another round of "Let's Open Nina's Head!"

What exactly have I been up to this summer, you ask? Well for starters, I've moved back to the sunshine state, complete with extraordinary weather and pick-able cherry orchards that'll make you sick and wished you'd never clapped eyes upon the red little dots of devil-fruit. But other people may disagree. So, being back in California, I've taken up skateboarding in my spare time. Hah! It's more difficult than you'd imagine, really, that little flat piece of wood is a little trickster who wants to throw you flat on your fanny. But I've always been one for preventative measures, and have purchased the necessary elbow, wrist and knee pads to keep my scrape-free. This way I don't leave any bits of my skin behind on the pavement. I'm no where near learning jumps and tricks and all that, but, with a decent amount of natural balance, I've managed to successfully propel myself forwards without looking like a complete disaster.

Also, I've picked up guitar, to further embrace the California bum in me. It took me a while to decide upon which one to buy (I wanted a solid-top, I know), but I finally settled on a Washburn D10S. It's a lovely-looking thing, very shiny, excellent build quality (from the very little I know about guitars, that is) and the sound is wonderful to my untrained ear. Ultimate Guitar is now a permanent fixture in my "References" bookmark folder. Many Jason Mraz songs are quite simple to play, though I'm still having trouble with that tricky F chord. If asked to switch to it in a hurry, what usually comes out is the muffled and muddy sound of...nothing. But I'm working on it, and I'll perhaps ask my more guitar-savvy friends at Duke to help me out.

On top of that, I've taken up the glorious and very Asian sport of badminton! It's a funny sport, beautiful once you have all the movements down pat but you look awkward and gawky if you're a beginner. So much technique and skill involved! It's a wonder to watch seasoned players in a match. Magnificent! Not exactly the most tiring of sports, but it will build up your leg and arm muscles quite a bit.

And on top of everything else, I'm also interning full-time at a software company, working with the marketing creative team. It's been a wonderful experience, the corporate sense of self is unattainable by study. I'm so much younger than anyone else working around me but they treat me like one of the team. It's been great, I've really really enjoyed this job, and I'll be sorry to leave it comes fall semester.

You know I'd feel better about my summer "vacation" if I didn't have to study math every night after I got home from work. My first actuary exam is in August and I'm really starting to think I'm not going to pass. I'm really starting to wish I'd taken Math 136 before jumping into the test. Ah well, I'd just have to pay another registration fee if I don't pass it this time. $175 per test, so no pressure eh?

So, with the release of Harry Potter behind me and my exam looming bigger and bigger, I feel like my return to Duke can't come quickly enough. I miss everyone, and the campus, and the atmosphere in general. But I suppose the remaining few weeks of summer will rush by as everything else has, not that I'll be sad to see it go.

Until August 23rd, my lovelies!

Well, I'm ready to leave...

The last day of classes is TOMORROW!!!! How is that possible? We just barely got here! Somehow it doesn't feel like a full two semesters have gone by. Every week seemed so long. Every day seemed so long. We live for getting past that big test or that big paper. Funny how those little periods of "I just need to get through this week" can accumulate to "whoa, where did freshman year go?"

This is goodbye to East Campus, to the Marketplace (though I can't say I'm not sick of it right now), goodbye to Randolph and living with a bunch of freshmen all around you. Do you ever get the feeling that we're suppose to be more...important...after freshmen year? We're suppose to be more illustrious or decorated or something like that. We won't be just puny little Duke freshmen anymore...we'll actually have to try to do something important.

Ugh. Maybe it's called responsibility. Not that we're not responsible now, well most of us at least, it's just this feeling of having to think about the future. Freshman year was so carefree. Everyone told us, "Don't worry about it yet, you're just a freshman. You have plenty of time." PLENTY OF TIME? FRESHMAN YEAR JUST FREAKING ENDED! THAT'S ONE-FOURTH OF OUR TIME HERE AT DUKE OUT THE WINDOW!!

And what have I accomplished? NOTHING. That's right. But that's absolutely okay, because I was just a freshman. Well, I don't have that excuse anymore. Now we actually don't have "plenty of time." Freshman year was a buffer. A time to enjoy ourselves after working hard to get into college. It was life's way of saying, "Take a breather, you've worked hard to get where you are. Enjoy it for a while." And now? Life's screaming, "Hey you lazy bum! What are you planning to do with your life? You've had your fun, now's the time for ACTION!" Hmm....

No more lounging around and hanging out with friends. That doesn't help anybody else in the world. No more coasting. That doesn't help cure cancer! That doesn't help starving children in South America! That doesn't do any good for the world! So stop being selfish! Stop hanging out with friends and making memories all for yourself! Sacrifice something to help those less fortunate than you!

Balance. Life is all about balance. Maybe gymnasts with excellent balance have it the best. Balance work and friends. Balance a career and family. Balance having fun and studying. Balance, balance, balance. Yes.

Are you balanced at all? Cause I feel all wobbly and off my seesaw.

Computer Literacy Should be Mandatory

Jeebees heebees what's with people who still confuse Mhz and Ghz? Is it really so difficult to acquaint oneself with the inner workings of a machine one uses everyday? Aren't they *curious*? I certainly don't pretend to know the personal computer inside and out but SERIOUSLY come on people it's the 21st century. Learn about the computer already. (<-- rant directed towards my cousin and his whole family, excluding my little 8 year old cousin who is probably smarter than the rest of her family put together)

I don't know how my dad worked as tech support once. Maybe I just plainly don't have the patience. Oh no! Bad thought...what about my kids? Isn't one suppose to have the slightest bit of patience with them? D'you think I have that slightest bit? Well in that case, I hope to God my husband's got heaps and heaps of patience.

On a brighter note, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is pretty much my favorite thing to listen to right now. The excitement! The dazzling key changes! The crazy melodies! Major happiness ensues. I wish I had better headphones to fully enjoy the music though.

Basically wasted a lot of time today. Got my math homework done. Had the foresight to bring along a raincoat for the...uhh...rain. Had a nice din din with the bf and am now researching some Sartre quotes to make my professor think that I actually read some books this semester.

Hey dood, what are you doing with your life? I don't know what I'm doing with mine. Don't you think we should figure something out soon? I'll leave you with a quote:

I am. I am. I exist, I think, therefore I am; I am because I think that I don't want to be, I think that I … because … ugh! I flee. I exist, that's all. And that trouble is so vague, so metaphysical that I am ashamed of it.
~Jean-Paul Sartre

Shout out to Aidan!

Sorry Aidan! Didn't know you were bothering to read as well!

*big hug*

New Look

Yay, I like.

I just found out that my 50 page philosophy paper, of which I only have about 7 pages written, is due next Friday.

Not a happy thought.

House is pretty much my favorite (fictional) person in the world.

The end of freshman year hasn't hit me yet. Probably because it still feels like midterms or sometime I get a lot of work. More work than usual actually. So I'm basically going to shrink in a hole this weekend and not see a glimmer of sunlight (which will probably be beautiful) until I get my paper written. I've also been double saving my paper on my flash drive like a maniac.

Been getting into Podcasts lately. There are some pretty nice high-quality ones out there, very enjoyable to listen to. We seem to have so many "events" crammed into our day, what happens when we run out of hours? We can't change the speed of the earth's rotation so we can't change the day. But we increase the number of tasks we must do everyday. Dilemma. Or not.

Existentialism is pretty much a kick-ass way of living life. But way too intense. I can't possibly shoulder that much responsibility.

Long time no speak

So I've recently come into a bit of an epiphany about life, so I thought I'd share with the class.

Browsing around ACES today and looking at my bookbag, I decided to remove Physics 53 from my Primary and thought what other classes I would take in its stead. My first thought was "Oh good now I have room to take another math class". HUH?!? *shakes head* whoa there, as much as I like math, that thought really scared me. Two math classes at once is quite a bit of work. And pile on top of that an Econ (though granted, it should theoretically be a review for me, *theoretically* is the key word) and a probably reading/writing-intensive history.

Flash forward a few hours and I'm browsing the Internet looking at random artist's webpages where they display their pieces in a very nicely done flash site. One Anya Belkina's work really impressed upon me, and when I clicked over to her contact info, my eyes fells upon "belkina@duke.edu". She's here! She's friggin is an art professor HERE! (Can I just say that I'm completely in love with Duke all over again?) So I bung her an email immediately relating the extraordinary coincidence, went back to ACES and found out she was teaching Intro to Graphic Design next semester. Should I?

I've taken art lessons for a long long time and really enjoyed the escape all throughout several rigorous high school years. It was a creative outlet. And I miss it. I haven't painted/drawn something in ages. Anyway, Intro to Graphic Design is definitely a possibility right now.

And then I got to thinking about how much I like the creative arts. Visual, music, film (and dance, which is something I regret not getting into earlier in life, but hopefully will try during my years in college). Sheesh I feel bipolar right now. I rational and logical and numbers-y, but at the same time I'm so into artsy stuff. I guess the perfect dichotomy would be for me to have a practical safe and secure job while doing art/music stuff on the side as a hobby. I really should look into doing graphic design commercially. Just need to build up a portfolio....

Call this a...fork in the road. Of course, there's no question of changing my major or deviating from my path in mathematics, I'm too rational and I like math too much for that. But I think I'd like to be more open to other possibilities of intellectual stimulation.

Take astronomy for instance. I love love loved it as a kid. I used to get these pamphlets in the mail when I was in middle school. Every week, one or two placard-dealios would come in the mail. Each had a topic like "Blackholes" or "Time Travel" or "Parallel Universes". They were these two page fold-out things that gave the basic facts and had really nice photos of everything. It also came with a big binder to collect them all in. I wonder if I still have it at home. But Duke doesn't really offer much in the way of astronomy (nor do most colleges I guess, unless I went to...I dunno Montana Institute for Astronomy or some fictional place like that). Still, it's something I find interesting and would like to explore. Many applications from Physics and Math of course, though the calculations side of astronomy probably wouldn't appeal to me as much.

So anyway, really into Jason Mraz right now. Very mellow, great voice. Can do wonders with his mouth. *swoon*. Ridiculously excited to see him perform now. He's recorded many concert albums and he sounds great live. I wonder why more people don't appreciate him. I think he's a true musical talent.

I need to find a job.

I have a test tomorrow. Need to study more.

Hi Alex, you're probably the only other person who reads this...which is probably a good thing.

So I'll go polish off that bottle of Mountain Dew still sitting on my desk and set my alarm for 7:30 am.

Goodnight.

Response to the Gorgeous Weather

I find that my emotional happiness varies directly with the temperature outside.

That's probably a bad thing right? I should definitely NOT live anywhere in the north in my future life. California's probably the way to go. Texas gets a little *too* hot (and the whole southern thing ain't my thang), and Florida has too many critters and crawlies. And Arizona? Too dry, the landscape's too boring. Same goes for New Mexico. So Cali it is!

Personally, I believe this whole "being happy" vs. "being depressed" thing is all very silly. Now, some people are actually clinically depressed and actually have a medical problem (which may or may not be genetic or otherwise, something they probably can't change without a hormonal fixing), but most people who claim to be "depressed" are probably just saying that and trying to change up their lives somehow. Sure, there are serious times in life, and one should certainly recognize those times and slow the fuck down, but honestly, life isn't so bad for most people. And they just psych themselves out. They find the need to balance out their lives with something sad. Maybe they're attention whores and want the pity from people, maybe they guilty about being happy and automatically check themselves into depression. One shouldn't be ignorant of sadness (those mindless ones who live for the present and think life is one big joke come to mind), but one shouldn't bring sadness onto themselves. Life isn't so bad, life is actually pretty nice most of the time, and really really nice some of the time.

Ah, Spring time! It brings about the same emotions in me as Christmas does. That uplifting happy feeling when people around me are happy and I feel warm both inside and out.

FREAKING AMAZING

Duke: 68
Clemson: 66

Best last four seconds. Ever.

THIS is why we go to Duke. Screw the premed, screw the "discovering your academic passion", screw everything! That feeling of camaraderie, that amazing adrenaline rush, that *whoooshhh* of people leaping to their feet and screaming and cheering and yelling themselves hoarse.... That is why Duke is amazing.

Duke Basketball, you make me happy.

Things have changed. For the (better?)

Well now. Hum.

Now that I've settled (people tend to use that excuse a lot, "Well, I haven't *settled*, give me some time to *settle*), Duke is once more home.

Tina's moved out. No matter how badly I feel for her given her current situation, I still can't help but be elated about my living situation. And the best part is I'm not even lonely. People are in my room all the time. It's quite a nice arrangement, except when I feel like kicking people out and having some alone-time. But naw, I wouldn't want that. I like these people.

My classes are alright, dropped that damn 49s seminar (for which I would've had to wake up *far* too early), so now I'm taking only two math class (cue the "aww"s), a history and a philosophy. Somehow, I feel like I have less work this semester. Though that may have just resulted from my feeling more comfortable with Duke and this whole college deal, thing, arrangement...yeahhh.

Anyway, everything's great. Life is splendiferous. Duke is phantasmagorical. And Alex is...wonderful.

[no title]

It's 4 o'clock in the morning on the day of my flight. I'd have to leave at 5 anyway so there's no point in sleeping at all. I'll probably regret this decision later on today but it's too late to do anything about it now.

My mom insisted I pack a bunch of homemade sausages into a box. They are yummy but I don't think I'll be able to eat much of it. Well, then again I'll probably be holed up in my dorm a lot of the time next semester. Oh and news flash, Tina won't be coming back for spring semester. I hope she doesn't mind my making this information semi-public, but she's going to take a semester off and stay at home, find a job I think. But she'll be back for fall semester next year. I don't understand why, so don't ask me. Personally, I think her parents are crazy, even for Asians, but that's business I don't want to butt into.

Television is bad. Certain well-made shows, in particular, are bad. Specifically, engrossing shows such as '24' should not be allowed into the lives of busy college students. Even more specifically, Nina Chai should not be caught up in '24' right now because she needs to focus her attention on the upcoming semester. However, Nina cannot help her desire to know more about the scrumptious Jack Bauer and his adventurous escapades. What a dilemma. What a dilemma.

I've discovered that I am not actually coherent sometimes.

I miss you all very much and I can't wait to see everyone again.

My days of wandering are at an end

Break is almost over and I'm not sad at all. It's gone by pretty quickly, and I've had a good time with old friends. Seeing old teachers was wonderful. Got to school at 11 am and didn't leave until 5 pm. Just making rounds, going from classroom to classroom. It will be sad moving to California and not seeing them again. But then again, I don't think I could do this every winter or summer break. The novelty wears off, I suppose.

I'm starting to pack again! Packing isn't so much fun but the thought of returning to Duke keeps me going and *makes* it super-duper fun. The plane ride even seems endurable when I think of my final destination. I'm bringing a rice cooker! Huzzah for that. Rice is amazing. Marketplace rice is disgusting. They give such a skewed representation of "Asian food". Pshawwww. It's just half-cooked vegetables on top of half-cooked rice all drenched with soy sauce anyway. Not at all what Chinese food tastes like. Terrible terrible. My mom should go out there and train them for a week...*then* we might be able to get some really Chinese food.

Okay, I'm gonna go back to watching 24 now...I'm so hooked!!! Jack Bauer is my hero!

I'll think of something later...

Is anyone enjoying home as much as they should? Does anyone else get the feeling that somehow time is being wasted waking up much too late everyday, meeting friends and doing stupid yet fun things, eating mom's good cooking until I can't eat anymore...anybody feel restless? I guess that's the moment you realize that you actually went to the right school, when you'd be willing to give up winter break just to be back at the institution of learning again. I even miss the perpetually bumpy buses with the drivers who would fail any driver's license test if they took it now. And I miss Randolph, and I miss my dorm bed, which is actually more comfortable than my own bed at home. It's strange, that I'm calling this house home, when I've only been here for a few weeks versus the much longer time I spend at Duke.

On a sidenote: The Shins have a new album out, I must say 'tis rawther sublime. I love songs that build up slowly from a meager sound to full guitar, full everything. I always liked that band. Very creative, they are. The new Explosions CD is also quite fantasmagorical. 'All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone'. Precisely, is what I have to say to that.

I was suppose to do so much this break. But that really didn't end up happening. I haven't even worked my way through a single book. It's depressing.

I miss people a lot, I miss being able to go next door, or down the hall, or upstairs and see them and talk to them. I miss the style of living at Duke. The classes (maybe not so much), the whole...way of living. I love college.

Anyway, can't wait to get back to Duke. Can't wait.