Heartbroken news: promising teen shot dead

My heart is broken as I read this: news.

A young talented teen who just performed at the Obama inauguration shot dead... by a bullet not intended for her. And there has been over 40 people shot dead in January alone. If statistics is of any value, and that there were over 500 homicide last year, there will be 450+ people out there breathing right now who will be shot dead by the end of this year. (and you can be one of them)

There will be people who say, "look, Chicago has tougher gun laws and look at those numbers" and then cry gun laws are useless as they embrace gun owner associations. Their reasoning is this: look if bad people have guns, we better have guns.

The talk of gun control is talking about banning high round clips and some semi-automatic weapons... That's a good first step. However, even that is facing challenge after people who lost their loved ones speak out, even Senator who got shot speak up. Waita minute, what kind of gun killed that talented teen and many others? They are probably regular hand guns and no one is talking about restricting them.

I don't feel safe. So do kids I suppose. If kids don't feel safe, how can they grow up correctly and not end up in vicious cycle of gang violence?

In addition to gun control, we need law-and-order restored in our neighborhoods! Are there enough police out there? Are there cameras all over the place to watch over the street corners? We perhaps need propaganda-like posters all over saying: "If you kill, you will be in jail" posters with gruesome pictures all over. A lot more need to be done.

Android 8 vs 16

Android API version 8 means the popular 2.2. There have been 9 versions after that and now the latest is at 17. See here for the version history. Android is changing frequently! Ooh, it is named after delicious-but-high-calorie things alphabetically: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo... Ice Cream Sandwich

Which one you like better?

The one on the left is version 8. (2.2). It has buttons that looks like buttons (with various gray gradients). The "Toast" also has rounded corners. The one on the right is version 16. (4.1). Ok, the modern UI features FLAT buttons, and RECTANGLE Toasts. Come on it doesn't look as nice. I thought only Windows make things uglier with subsequent releases.

New phone: Nexus 4

My old Huawei Comet is lightweight, small, trusty but low-end phone. Once upon a time I peaked someone in the CTA playing Angry Bird on a modern phone I am like gee, how come Angry Bird does not look like that in my phone. And when I look at the kinda blurry pics taken, hmm, I can use something slightly better. And as an Android enthusiast, I deserve a good upgrade for a new higher end phone. Should I get the Samsung Galaxy III (or the Mini)? or the Nexus right from Google? Head-to-head reviews indicate that Nexus and Samsung Galaxy are very comparable. Gee, the Samsung is so expensive! Ok, the price determine that the Nexus is a better choice. This is a highly wanted product on Google Play. Frequently it is in SOLD OUT status, and I waited 2 months for it. But your local phone dealer may have it, yea they probably want you to renew contract and adhere to them forever.

Both the Samsung Galaxy 3 and the Nexus have one problem though: it is BIG to carry around. Why modern phones are so big? Ok so it is easier on the eye you say? But why do you have to watch videos on it? Get a 7-inch or 10-inch device for that. My sole complain is the size.

The Nexus's battery is not detachable! The SIM card is a Micro version and you need to poke it with a staples to open up the fragile tray. Not sure if I like this design.

Pics and videos: sure it can do better than the old phone, but don't expect phones to replace your trusty Canons yet. It even has a flash.

But when you compare head to head with an IPhone... I am sorry to say this Android, but the IPhone does look even better. I am not sure what exactly is missing here.

And I am saddened to find out some of my apps don't work well on large phones... yes, I didn't test on big phones and didn't bother to find bigger icons for bigger layouts. Some of my apps not just look bad but crashed. Ok, let me open up the code, get logcat ready and see what exceptions get thrown... Hey, all I need is re-compile and didn't have to touch the code and it now works?! What's up with backward compatibility at binary level? When I have time I will try to fix the look of some of my apps.. with larger icons and better handling... That layout thing... sometimes is hard to tweak to make it look right.

Not everyone needs modern expensive phone. A lower-end one actually provide most of what you need. Save your $ if your phone is working fine... unless you develop apps too.

Yes, Angry Bird (Star Wars) is more fun on my modern phone.

Response to "Why I Raise My Children Without God"

This is a parent's manifesto: Why I Raise My Children Without God

I applaud this article's honest, open thoughts. What are your thoughts? Come on, you have some.

1. God is bad parent and role model.
Waita minute, he did intervene as a parent. He kicked Adam and Eve out of Eden for not obeying. Wait minute, just for eating a certain not-allowed fruit? (Yes)

2. God is not logical
"Why did God allow this to happen" -> "It's not for us to understand". This is the great question of suffering. The classic answer is... if you know the answer you will be God yourself. Yes I know this is not so satisfactory. We just have to admit there are things we don't understand. I am sorry I don't have satisfactory answer either. This means: don't bother looking for an answer as there isn't one. The author is wishing God to be the true world policeman to stop bad things. If God had to intervene, and kill everyone doing bad things the world would have ended long ago. There is promise of Judgement Day... in which all things are resolved.
3. God is not fair
Answered prayer on silly things like winning a soccer match but denied the prayers of parents with dying children... I am sorry about children suffering and I am not sure if they can win soccer match just by praying alone. I am sorry I don't know how the prayer-answer system work, as I am not God.
4. God does not protect the innocent - See (2)
5. God is not present
One cannot actually prove or disprove he is here or not... because he is some higher being. But you can believe he is.
6. God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good
So this is about externally focused or internal structured... Yes, teach them to be internally structured good kids. I agree.
7. God teaches narcissism
"God has a plan for you." came from a little line in Jeremiah 29:11. Waita minute this is talking to Jeremiah (concerning the future of the exiled Israel people) and not you or me. But book authors infinitely enlarge this verse to give hope to the hopeless. This actually may not be a bad thing... but I wouldn't go so far to call it narcissism.

So we live in a world where there is no world policeman that stops bad things from happening. I wish that's the case but unfortunately it is not how the world works. Yes, We are helpless. We don't know when the next tragedy will come.

I would tell kids to practice their soccer. Do their best. (and that alone)

I would tell kids to be good not just because I'll watch them, or any higher being watching them (with hand gesture of 2 finger pointing to eyes then pointing at kid). (Just like the author)

Now for the suffering. We need sensible people who take real actions such as gun control(!) Are the psychological disturbed people getting enough help? (Something the government ought to think about)
People need to love their kids so they don't grow up resentful and be criminals.
For those who have extra $, donate to charity so you can do something that Jesus talked about: feed the hungry, give drink to thirsty, cloth the naked, etc. (Matthew 25:31-46)
You can make the world a better place...even you are no more special than the next creature around you.

And for daunting questions about God. Yes I know you have heard the book of Job, and I know you are lost in the text after chapter 2. Skip right into chapter 38.

Windows Annoyance (part 5)

In Windows XP, there was an convenient Show Desktop that minimizes everything that is running and give you the desktop, where you may put icons to quickly access your files. Oh it has been gone for a long time. The icon is gone, but the functionality is still there for Windows 7. You have to click all the way to the right-hand-side, to the right of the clock to get to it, and it is not even clear. See details here. Ok, I actually don't use this too much so I didn't even notice with a couple years banging on Windows 7, and this tradition carries to Windows 8.

Windows XP	Windows 7 & 8

I refuse to give in. Computer should work for me. Not the other way around. I want to add the minimize shortcut icon back down in the task bar.

A two line VBScript will do the trick:

Set shell = wscript.CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Shell.MinimizeAll

Ok, create such script, drag to the taskbar... Alas it doesn't work, it gives you a wacky popup instead.

To overcome this, you need to create a shortcut, then make that call: wscript.exe minizeall.vbs, and then you can drag to the taskbar. Find pretty icons in %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll. You are a real old timer if you remember moricons.dll

Java gets so much attention these days

The Department of Homeland Security wants you to remove java. There are many news article about this. It is a big security loop hole!

I like this article the best: See here as it tells you the detail.

Oh, nowadays you can do Class.forName() and invoke any method? How silly is that! This reflection thing looks like recipe for disaster. People are adding more and more to Java without remembering its original goals? Can someone interview James Gosling please. I'd like to see what he thinks... and just how he is doing in career after Sun.

Yikes this is a big punch in the eyes for Java...

Oracle offered a fix now. But who knows if there are more undiscovered loopholes? Even Microsoft doesn't get this much concern about security from the Department Homeland Security.

Abandoned Android App

You hear in news almost everyday in Chicago: so many people shot. In 2012 there were more than 500 homicides.

I had a good app idea: visualize Chicago homicide data. See data here.

I wanted to integrate this with the map, to see how close you are relative to crime scenes. I want to sprinkle the map with a blood icon for each homicide, tap on icon to see details of the incident. Well I have partial success in this. But 500+ overlays seems to be too much for phone to handle. See I have to take each address, reverse geo code it to find lattitude/longtitude, add an overlay with handler on the map. And there is fuss of getting MAP API to make anything to display. Oh no, the MapView has deprecated. Ok I am not going to bother... I haven't had a good app idea for a long while now.

Chess FEN

I have this interesting Android game: iChess Tactics. This provides me hundreds of puzzles to solve. It can export its puzzle in Forsyth-Edwards Notation notation. (Hey how come I can't easily screenshot my phone)

I found a very nice FEN viewer in DHTML Goodies. Enter the FEN notation and it will draw a board for you! (No, you can't play right on it, it is just a viewer.)

Chess can be full of surprises... one wrong move can cost you the game. In this puzzle, the game is just barely started. Almost all pieces are here. Black to move, can you spot the killer move?

FEN:
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/8/4P3/6n1/7P/PPPNPPP1/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1
Chess Piece Type: Motif Cases Merida Alpha Smart Leipzig

Momath in New York

You may have heard the famous art museum MOMA in New York. If you go to New York, even if you are not an artist it is still worthwhile to go there. It may open up your imagination and perhaps release the artistic ability in you.

Today I found out there is Momath... Museum of Math. If I go to New York I will definitely visit it. But yikes, math alone... there may not be that many fun demos that can draw lots of audience. I hope whatever they have is lots of fun for kids to enjoy math.

If I get to decide what's in exhibits I would put...

1. Huge platonic solids
2. Huge compass with a string to draw circle on sand
3. 2 Settable Pins with a string to draw ellipses.
4. Sieve of Eratosthenes: A grid of 10x10 with lights... step on it to knock out multiples.
5. ...

Mouse is dead? no way

People argue the mouse is going to be dead.

Sure. Trackpad is nice... much better than eraser-head mouse on some laptops. Touch screen is even better, for some cases. Of course, on the iPad and devices without a physical keyboard, such as the ATM. I am not going to use a mouse on a cash station alright.

But what about a regular computer, where you need to open programs, rearrange windows etc. If you have to reach out to the screen all day, you get TIRED. The mouse gives you precise location, more precise than your finger. The mouse is a good addition to computing and I don't see anything that can replace it yet. And I ain't buying a more expensive machine with touch enabled. The right click, how the heck are you going to simulate with Touch? some finger detection? and the Mac lacks that. Option-Click is not as good, ok?

Some people just HAVE to think they are some forward thinking revolutionary, but they are NOT.

The mouse is dead? I beg to differ.

Windows 8 Annoyance (part 4)

I am not the only one not liking the Metro interface. There are plenty of negative reviews to Windows 8. And to anyone who thinks Metro is stupid, Microsoft would respond by saying, well, at first people thought the mouse was stupid.

See this fairly-long-but-interesting Microsoft article on Windows 8 user experience.

I do not agree that the Aero style is "dated and cheesy" and should be taken away. The now flat layout of windows takes you back to Windows 3.1 (where the window title is centered, not left-aligned like in Windows 95). The merit of removing Aero is for battery-life saving. Ok. But what about those desktops and laptops that are plugged in all day? There should be an option to bring back Aero. I have never seen anyone object to Aero and turned their Windows 7 theme to some flat ones.

So the merit of the Metro tiles ("Live tiles make it personal") is to tell you everything perhaps you want to see in one screen: email notifications, IM notifications, news, sports, stocks, etc. To achieve this, all we need are widgets on your screens that you can place on your desktop to give you frequent updates and not needed to rob the entire screen of flat tiles. I was playing with Windows 8 one day, a friend IM me. I had to go to forget everything I am doing on the desktop, go to Metro, to the full screen Messaging app to write back. This feels like DOS when one app occupies your own screen.

Oh, in the Metro, where the heck is the clock? There isn't one! You have to bring out the charm bar to find out what time is it.

Horizontal scroll is really stupid... why must people scroll? Many people have big screens.

The Mac used to be a hobbyist thing, though flashier than beige boxes, it was incompatible with mainstream, and I dare say WACKY interface. However, modern Macs are now powerful, more robust (not as virus prone), with Unix as its backbone, with a lot of good apps out of the box now it is a very attractive choice. I predict it will eat the marketshare of home computers soon. Sure, most people's Windows 7 machines are still working so this isn't happening yet. But if nothing done to make Windows 8 better, doomsday will come to Microsoft.

Ok, how do you write an Metro app? Go ahead, search for it. I found a PDF file by searching for "how to write metro app pdf". Though it is HTML5 + javascript, OMG, proprietary wacky things:
<!-- WinJS references --> <link href="//Microsoft.WinJS.0.6/css/ui-dark.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="//Microsoft.WinJS.0.6/js/base.js"></script>
<script src="//Microsoft.WinJS.0.6/js/ui.js"></script>


Some advices for Microsoft.

1. Bring back the Start button. People wanted it. See you HAVE it, Windows-X. It needs to be more visible.
2. Bring back Aero as alternative, keep the battery saving flat theme as default.
3. Bring back search within desktop, don't make me jump out of it

For the record, I LIKE the following aspects of Windows 8:

1. Painless install. (But it attempts to pull contacts from facebook, twitter etc. To me, an Operating System shouldn't be tied to these)
2. Faster boot up.
   
3. Better Files Explorer. (though this is not must-have)
   
4. Defender. (Goodbye McAfee, Norton. I hope this is sufficient to keep virus away)