"Chok"

If you watch any recent Hong Kong made TV show, you are likely to see the word "Chok", spelled in English.

It is uncomfortable to see a supposedly Chinese word written out as English.

Ah, its origin is 擢. See here.

Its current use is non-standard and low class. Yuck.

Microsoft will fall apart?

Article says Microsoft's business could collapse. See article here.

Ok, the logic is basically the following: IPad outsells the PC, and Windows phone is not going to be hot, developers leaving the .NET platform, Office cash cow will no longer be relevant and boom their whole business collapse.

I agree with some of the points but I do not think Microsoft will just collapse. Their stuff are too deeply rooted. There are plenty of folks running Windows XP even it is a decade+ old.

Microsoft is formidable, it showed it can knock out leaders. In the old days... Boom! They knocked WordPerfect out. Boom! They knock Netscape out.

Sometimes even if their products are mediocre they still win. Early versions of Visual C++ did not even have try/catch from standard C++. (Details here) MFC was horrible yet people embraced it. Hmm, was there really good alternatives? Delphi was way way better than Visual Basic and now it is as relevant as the ancient Greek god it references, and Visual Basic reincarnated itself to an inferior looking C#. Nope, C# does not (and will not ever) beat Java.

But they do not always knock the leader out successfully. Do you know someone with Zune player? (I don't)

But they can be a mighty contender. The XBOX knocked quite some marketshare out of Sony and Nintendo in gaming world.

If Microsoft continues to innovate, yes people will still pay.

IPad is not going to dominate the world of computing. It is good for casual web browsing, casual gaming, even movie viewing, but not for heavy duty use (like programming or serious gaming)! I cannot imagine myself able to have a great time with a first person shooter on the IPad or play a version of Street Fighter on it. The IPad does not even get as good wifi signal as my cheap PC laptop and my Android phone. It is overrated!

I think Windows 8 will be the MOST important release for Microsoft. It better be way better than IPad or Android for Microsoft/Nokia to stand a chance. However, given all that tiles that I see so far in previews... I have failed to share enthusiasm.

In order for someone to switch, you need to be BETTER. I switched from yahoo map to google map because I like the ajax feature. I don't bother to use Bing because google map serves me well. Are Microsoft phones better than the Android/Iphone that people will dump them and go to a Windows phone?

I do NOT believe Microsoft will fold altogether, but it will shrink to smaller.
I do NOT believe the PC will go away altogether either. The IPad is not that capable to do so.

Super committee failure

Headlines all over the place says the "super committee" has failed. Some details here. And this is causing the Dow Jones to drop.

Both sides stand firm... this is a deadlock. Imagine this, get 6 Coke fans and get 6 Pepsi fans in the room to vote for the best tasting cola. You are not going to get results.

Waita minute, did the constitution give power to the Vice President for tie-breaking? Ok this is not exactly a 50-50 senate vote. I am not so sure if the constitution provides the answer in case Congress can't agree on things. How much $ do we pay these congressmen just for debating? That $ can be used to reduce the deficit a bit I bet.

Look people, country first (is that some candidate's slogan)? Gotta do BOTH of collecting more money and spending less.

Imagine you have a big credit card bill, how do you pay for it? You need to be BOTH making more $ and spending less. No debate needed.

To solve the gridlock, how about get another person in the committee... a RANDOM citizen. Like jury duty.

Failed restaurants at same spot

There is a donut restaurant in my neighborhood that ran out of business. Although it has good ratings on yelp but it still didn't survive for too long. I wish they post a sign saying "thank you customers". I supported your business!

In a previous incarnation, it was a Mexican restaurant... before that it was an excellent Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately the fate are all the same.

Restaurants need to be in a place where a lot of people walk by, like a business district, or close to some shopping area. That neighborhood isn't it. Even if you make 70 cent profit on that $1 donuts if no one is buying you are going to run out of business. But alas, the rent of a good location must be very expensive.

A successful restaurant needs excellent decorations (tons of money to be poured in first) and good food and service. It isn't so easy.

HTML5 Canvas in Action!

f(x) = (For trig functions, use Math.sin, Math.cos, Math.tan)

Your browser does not support the canvas element.

Chinese Calendar

It is the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. Yes, xinhai 辛亥 is the year.

Every Chinese ought to know a thing or two about this important history. But alas, many don't. Come on people, at least read a bit about it. I will smack the next guy who says, "what's the use of knowing that". Yes there isn't a lot of practical use. The mentally retarded don't know that information either and they live a happy lives too.

Rather than discussing the history, which I know little (better than none), I'd like to discuss the ancient calendar.

In ancient China, there isn't BC/AD years like the rest of the world use. They cycle 60 names for their years, using 10 "Heavenly Stems" and 12 "Earthly Branches". See here for glorious details. And those have minimal Chinese education know that "花甲" or "甲子" means 60, a cycle.

For DECADES I didn't understand. Waita minute, 10 and 12... Should the cycle be 120?

The way they increment years is strange 甲子, then 乙丑. Both heavily stems and earthly branches increment by 1. I never bother to figure out when they use up the tenth value of the stems.

Here is the complete list...

甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未 壬申 癸酉
甲戌 乙亥 丙子 丁丑 戊寅 己卯 庚辰 辛巳 壬午 癸未
甲申 乙酉 丙戌 丁亥 戊子 己丑 庚寅 辛卯 壬辰 癸巳
甲午 乙未 丙申 丁酉 戊戌 己亥 庚子 辛丑 壬寅 癸卯
甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥 壬子 癸丑
甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉 壬戌 癸亥

The world is a better place by calling this rather obscure naming system as obsolete.

On Job Creation

Someone needs to be bold to start new companies, expand existing companies to create jobs.

Sometimes, it starts with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, such as Microsoft's "A computer on every desk and in every home" in the old days. Ok, it certainly needs a new BHAG now, that's another story.

Now, a good BHAG can create new business and solve the unemployment in the short term, and have tremendous big impact in the long term.

I have a couple grand BHAG ideas.

1. Solar panels on every rooftop.
2. Americans students do better.

You know solar panels can tap on the sun's enormous amount of energy to generate some electricity on your own. Yes I know it is expensive to set up but it will save money in the long run. (Ok I don't know how it will survive a foot of snow in winter though) Look at how many homes to install, now that's jobs jobs jobs.

About the depressing American student performances, yes we can do better. Yes we can! We test and test students and report they are losers. No one ever go over tests to tell them why they get problems wrong. Come on students, it takes effort to learn. There should be a lot more after-school training centers to help students stay off street and learn something.

There should be: a national effort to promote learning through a TV channel, broadcast good education programs 24x7. And I am talking QUALITY programs, not adults in 40s learning fractions. (Now that's jobs for those screen writers and film workers not working in Hollywood).

To start a business, you need to be psychologically bold, willing to take risks. You need some money. An more importantly is, you need capable friends with similar vision. Without these? you will continuously look for a job in the diminishing job market.

There should be more people with BHAG. There's gotta be more Steve Jobs out there.

Waita minute, even a smaller goal will do, how about a goal of making the BEST burgers or wonton soup? Start hiring!

Google Translate now wants $

Look! Google Translate API now wants money. It used to be free!

If translate.google.com is free, why is the API not free?

There used to be a google dictionary that offers definition, now it is not there anymore! Ok, I'll use the Wiki dictionary instead: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hello.

My VocabList app needs to be tossed out because it relied on these. Webservices, clouds? I hope you're not betting your lifesavings on it.

Starbucks and Create Jobs

I learned about Create Jobs For USA from Starbucks.

Jobs Jobs Jobs. There are too few jobs out there and you need job to get insurance. Without insurance you go instant bankrupt if you need any medical care. (now that's an issue! healthcare is too expensive!!) Unless the president hires you, he can't directly solve your unemployment issue, so someone gotta start somewhere.

This Create Jobs For USA... seems to work like helping the poorest people in Africa by offering them loans so they can help themselves. Yikes, soon we may be needing medications from World Vision because we can't afford the ultra expensive healthcare here.

I admire Starbucks' effort to do this.

Besides unemployment numbers, one other figure depresses me, and that's the low performances of American students.

TO BE CONTINUED...