Archive for November, 2005
deployed a new web application to manage my DVD collection, checked it out here: http://sherwoodyao.yi.org/phpdvdprofiler.
It is very easy to use, enter my dvd bar-code (UPC) and all the information will be pulled from online database. Then export the data to MySql database via a XML file, very simple workflow. The GUI is not pretty, but usable, maybe I’ll add some section to allow my friends to update the dvd status when they borrowed my DVDs.
November 27th, 2005
Check which seat is considered a good seat, using http://www.seatguru.com/
it allows you search the aircraft seat layout by airline name/plane type, it in particular highlights those “be-aware” seats that has certain restriction or annoyance (such as small legroom or big engine noise etc)
November 25th, 2005
I fought a heroic fight today on the “Best Buy” battlefield! To join the “get read? get set - go!” battle of the day, I rose “dark” and early this morning - it was still pitch dark when I dragged myself out of bed at 3am…I felt like I had just taken a nap as I had just gone to bed 2.5 hours ago. Fatal mistake - I had forgotten that I needed to wake up very early this morning, so I will still up at 11pm last night watching TV with Daddy and Mommy. Boo did not have the integrity and endurance I have 
and backed out of the fierce battle ahead.
After throwing on the clothes that I had carefully laid out last night (being prepared is of crucial importance in a time-sensitive mission such as this) and quickly washing my face, I was out the door by 3:20am (goal was to be out by 15 minutes). It was a straight shot to my battlefield - Best Buy - what usually takes us at least 20 minutes ended up being a 14 minutes drive as I flew on the lonely road. My confidence of beating the others and winning the battle was growing exponentially as I charged onward and saw very few enemies. When an enemy appeared, we would size each other up and step on our gas pedal.
As I turned the corner to the shopping center, however, I began to sense danger so I quickly scanned my environment and saw a long line in front of the battlefield already - there were already about 150 people dressed in armor - hats, scarves, gloves, ski jackets - waiting to fight!!! I was surprised to see such eager fights, as some seem to have been anticipating the fight since last night - they had a blanket (literally) all-body-suit that made them stood out. My morale took a dip, but I was determined not to give up so easily. Putting on my own armor as well, I took my shopping list sword and ran to the fighting line - as I got closer to the other fights, I realized that these gladiators are in it for the long-haul, as many of them were seated comfortably in folding chairs. It was quite a sight as one would have expected these people to be preparing to watch a July 4th fireworks show, and not be prepping for a battle.
The anticipation was immense - all gladiators were anxious to rush onto the battlefield and show the world what they are made of, but the gate remained closed. As other discussed why they are in this battle, I kept my motive hidden and quietly studied my battlefield map that Boo had drawn for me. I even visualized my plan of attack and the treasures I was going after (in order: 1.XBOX 360 - Boo had intelligence that there were few being held for today, 2. Toshiba Satellite 370 laptop which costs $378 - we had already booked online but was not sure if it would be cancelled, 3. Western Digital 160GB USB 2.0 External Hard drive). Business books are right on target when they say visualization is a powerful tool.
Although gladiators continue to join the fighting line, I did not pay attention to these latter ones as they are at a disadvantage. As we stood waiting, gladiators began to exchange war stories - I heard that some gladiators had brought their sleeping bags; some were also talking about how on the “Circuit City” battlefield, a few gladiators had even set up a tent! Despite the cold, fighting spirits remained high as gladiators took on different activities to keep warm - chatting with neighbors, playing puzzles, sleeping, etc. - all had 1 common behavior though: frequent yawning. Around 4am, a couple battlefield administrators starting walking down the line and asking for enrollments in certain events…unfortunately, I was not interested in any of the events they offered except for the one that had already reached quota (the one for Toshiba Satellite laptop).
When it was almost 5am, we saw quite some number of gladiators not in line waiting at the gate - all of us were afraid that these gladiators would outrun us to the battelfield, but fortunately, when the gate was lifted, the battlefield administrators fenced them off. Although we gladiators entered the battlefield more or less single-filed, as soon as we passed the narrow bridge, all gladiators (including myself)broke free and promptly displayed their fundamental skills of sprinting, scanning, pushing, and grabbing. Those whose skills were not as polished were faced with taken treasures, “fake” treasures, and second-rated treasures. Due to my visualization and instinct, I was able to quickly spot my one and only treasure (Boo’s intelligence was inaccurate - there were no XBOX 360) and claim it as my own without using any “pushing” skill. Having found my top prize, I went on to claiming little DVD prizes. Within 45 minutes, I had finished my battle and having registered my prizes with the adminsitrators, left the other gladiators to run about for their own prizes.
I continued to my battles on the “Office Max” battlefield and the “Cary Towne Center” mall, and returned home at 10:30am with prizes to flaunt. Except the battles had taken a toll on me and I need much recovery right now so I need to rest now - hope all of you fight some victorious battles on this Black Friday as well! By the way, did you know how the term “Black Friday” came about? Retailers gave that nickname to the day after Thanksgiving because it represents the official start of the holiday season, accounting for nearly 20 percent of their sales — the day when they go from red ink to black.
November 25th, 2005
Dreamworks is playing catch up game with Pixar (still the best in my opinion) and Disney on 3D animation movies production. Seems it is getting closer and they are finally in the game. The quality of the animation and 3D CG rendering is awesome, the texture such as the skin of each character is very well tuned.
Throughout the whole movie, I cannot stop laughing as it is too hilarious, my favorite goes to four penguins which are really side characters in the movies. They played “friends” as to the main characters: the lion Alex (Ben Stiller) and zebra Murty (Chris Rock) after get caught when Alex and Murty attempting to escape from the New York city central park zoo (Murty is like me, a nature freak).
A very funny and entertaining movie for family to watch and laugh is guranteed. After a week of hardwork, this is the perfect material to lighten yourself.
November 19th, 2005
We just finished watching Stealth - I was going to blog tomorrow when I wake up, but I am forced by Sherwood to write this now since my last blog was back in July. 
In any case, I liked the movie - definitely a no-brainer where you don’t have to analyze and pay close attention just to understand what’s going on (don’t like those - I watch movies for entertainment, not to overwork my brain even more!) - so you can actually sit back and enjoy the action.
Guess it was too slow for Sherwood in the beginning because 1/3 of the way into the movie, he told me to enjoy the movie and tell him what happens when he wakes up. However, precisely around this time, the pace begins to pick up. *CAUTION - SPOILER* Before seeing the movie, I thought EDI was bad, but it is not…it was so sweet and sad that it gave its own life to save his “friends’”. Obviously, I don’t believe that in real life since that is what sets us apart - we have a spirit that God breathe into us where as inanimate objects, and even other animals, don’t. Still, the story is touching…
All in all, if you like fighter jet action, this is a flick for you. I personally thought the flying scenes were very real and exciting!
November 19th, 2005
Our last day of the stay is so full: by the time we arrive at the gate for our 5:50pm flight, we barely had any time to eat our take-out dinner.
Our first stop of the day is old town Scottsdale. It really shows the West of westerns. Scottsdale is a town in greater Phoenix region. The old town district has all the buildings decorated with old western style, it really reminded me of all these western movies. You can expect to see all kinds of stores from souvenir shops to restaurant (there is one store having Italian ice cream– Gelato, Chuck might be allured).
The highlight of the day is Pow Wow where we enjoyed watching natives dancing. Pow Wow is an annual community event for Indians to see friends, this year’s Pow Wow is hosted by Arizona State University on Veteran’s day (11/12). Natives from all parts of Arizona gathered to dance in their traditional costume; it is a perfect opportunity to photograph the lifestyle and social activities of Indians. During the event, you can see how they hold memorial to the people passed away in the past year and how they celebrate the newborn babies. We even saw Lilo duplicates - Hawaii dance performers. The even is a whole day event, we had to leave at around 4pm because we have to catch the flight.
The feeling seeing home sweet home after four hours of flight is still the best one can have! (Thanks to Irene to pick us from the airport).
November 13th, 2005
We spent most of the day touring different parts of the region, mostly shopping and dinning.
One proof that the region is growing fast is that my last year GPS map is already outdated when driving on the Phoenix freeways. This is one of the regions that is smart enough to build the freeway road before develop communities, this gives enough room to plan ahead for future growth. I like their highway system, not too bad even in the commute hours. We were caught in the Friday PM traffic when we went to dinner, but it wasn’t too bad to drive on the freeway, the cars were still moving pretty fast, much better than NC.
Another reason that I like the region is that I can find all my favorite stores (IKEA, Fry’s electronics) locally. Phoenix IKEA is pretty new, this November is their one year anniversary, we wanted to buy a lot from the store but we cannot since we have no luggage spaces left. Fry’s is like Bay area’s Fry’s, twice as big as Bestbuy and plenty of gadgets that can keep me interested for about an hour.
Jane’s favorite store is an indoor market, a farmer’s market style marketplace but people selling all kinds of stuff include home decorations, cosmetics, accessories and souvenirs etc. This totally reminded me the market in China since most of the stuff are 100% made in China, and most importantly, the salesman is also Chinese. Jane was very pleased to find some accessories. But be aware, you need negotiation skills in the market place, the marked price is normally not what you ended up paying.
November 12th, 2005
The most famous part of Phoenix should be its deep root of native American (Indian) culture. Arizona has about 20 Indian reservations and that is the most in the country (the Navajo nation is supposed to be as large as the state of West Virginia). The first stop of visit in town is toward Pueblo Grande Museum, a museum showing the history of the city (where Honakam people lived until AD 1450).
Chinatown: The actual first stop is, bearing little relation to Indians, the most famous Chinese groceries store - Ranch 99. It is on our way from hotel to the museum (only few blocks away from the hotel). It has two express eateries, one HongKong style and one Taiwan style (they even serve Gang-Su-Ge, Jane’s favorite food, which we only seen in LA). The food is OK, but considering we haven’t seen Chinese food for days, the food tastes so good.
Pueblo Grande Museum: The museum is ranked as one of the top four attractions of the city according to Fodor’s travel guide, but we didn’t think so after the visit, go figure this: we were the first visitor of the day as of 1pm, consider the previous day got about 5 visitors in total. So unless it is a hot summer day and you need some AC cooling, we don’t recommend it.
Desert Botanical Garden: The next stop after the disappointment is however a pleasant surprise: it is a big garden built in a desert setting. It is our first time to see such full range of desert plants: from 20 feet tall (150 year) old Saguaro to tiny cactus, after seen this, we decided no need to visit the Saguaro National Park near Tucson. If season is correct (Spring and Fall is the best), you can also expect to see several kinds of hummingbirds. We only saw two hummingbirds, the color was not as bright as seen in the postcard, but you will be amazed to see these tiny birds flying around like bees. We highly recommend the park. If you decide to visit the garden, pick a late afternoon and you can get excellent Sunset views with Saguaro sits in the backdrop of mountains.
Arizona Mills: The last stop of the day after the dinner was to stop by Arizona Mills – an outlet mall in Mills franchise. This is a smaller one in all the Mills we have visited (Potomac Mills in VA near to DC is still the largest).
November 11th, 2005
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