Fifth grade first sat me next to her in math class, and the first ‘Problem of the Week’ made her my partner. How many oranges are in a triangular stack — 101 at the very bottom? I did my best impression of Carl Gauss; 101/2 × (1 + 101) = 5151. She disagreed.

“The row above always has one less orange than the row below?”

“Yup. Think of it like many different little triangles. So three oranges in each triangle. Count the number of triangles.”

“But you’re skipping the ones in between.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s one less.”

“OK, you’re confusing me.”

Maybe I didn’t do such a good job of explaining, but I was right — definitely right — and we kept on arguing about how to count it, until a friend of hers, who happened to sit next to us, snidely remarked that we were an old married couple. We shut up. Miss Okazaki picked another pair to do the problem at the front. Yet I liked old married couples. It meant I was able to talk to more people than just close friends and family.

She was a genuinely good and sweet. Although I don’t think anyone would say that she was unattractive, and she had a fairly good figure, but I certainly didn’t think she would win any beauty pageants, either. Still, she was no head turner and at that time I still thought that fighter planes and supercars were the only things that mattered in the world.

Eighth grade then came, and intoxication by hormones came in full force. My vision of this lady would immortalize into ideal. My downfall.

Each time she smiled, each time she smiled, each time she would shout at her friends in excitement — I would remember. I would keep these memories in my heart; she had a spirit for life that was rivaled by few others. Bubbly and effervescent, she carried herself with energy — unparalleled by skin tone, bone structure, or lock of hair.

Then came the big dance — where potential meets performance and expectations meet realization. Following authentically with the cliché plotlines of Disney shows, I found myself bound to the social lines of school. She was cool. Reality never felt so cruel.

Say something, I told myself. She doesn’t remember you.

And so I held myself back with classic introversion. I had bigger fish to fry, I thought, like saying “Hello” to acquaintances across hallways, going up to teachers and asking questions, and looking people in the eye.

As time passed, I created a world of promise for myself, approaching it with deliberate method and perfection in the most technical sense. Public speeches were the easiest. Drop in a script, the right diction, rhythm, and tone, and I could wow a good 500 to 1000 on any given day. My fiery disposition with my violin and bow never failed to elicit applause and accolades. I improved even my weaker attributes. I practiced mock conversations with various different people in my head and perfected the liar’s eye stare as well as the small talk template — weather, news, sports, gossip. On the basketball court, I would take the ball right to the hoop, never settling for jumpers. I overcame my fears.

Tenth grade sat me across from her in English. I decided I would use my newfound social charms on her that year.

“Can I borrow your pen?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks.”

As well as that worked, I then decided to write a letter to her. I wrote it during my sleepless nights, all everyday of them. I told her how I thought she was the most wonderful person I had ever met, how she always seemed to brighten up my day, how those radiant strands of hair were beautiful beyond comprehension, how I wanted to share the energy that she had. I did not tell her about the throbbing chest pains that made the word ‘heartache’ as literal as ever, the longer route I took to my classes because I didn’t want to see her in the hallways, but if I did I would somehow keep her in my view until I could not distinguish black from blond.

I had that letter signed, closed, sealed, and ready for delivery but my hands mistook paper for hot coal.

Graduation sat me a row directly in front of her. I looked forward mostly, never back. I steal my glances from the class picture.

Later on, we moved onto more interesting ventures, such as making animals shaped from soda bottles. I remembered that on one of those days, I drank an entire bottle of Crystal Pepsi (the transparent Pepsi that was a total commercial failure during the mid-1990s) on the car ride there and had make a beeline to the restroom on the second floor the moment we got to the studio. After that, however, it was all fun and games, as we all began to shape stubby little clay legs and a wrinkly trunk onto the Pepsi-shaped elephant body. Normally, my sister would be in the other, ‘big kids’ room painting her penguins and puppies, but that day, they all joined us in the fun. I’ve always sustained that my elephant was more anatomically correct than her elephant.

It was also at SAGA that I would watch Kevin Chao press mindlessly away at his Sega GameGear while waiting for his parents. Raylene also joined me on the sidelines, and would occasionally make a pun on the pronunciation of ‘chaos’ in the game “Sonic in Chaos”. I found it mildly amusing, but perhaps that’s why both of us had the ‘nerd’ moniker bestowed upon us throughout school — but I digress.

So, back to ‘sensei‘; he was one of those introverted, talented artists who spoke little English to boot. Every single time we would take our works to him, he’d silently go to work, transforming our disaster pieces into works of art. He made the eyes on my fox just that much shinier, and its red coat just that much more textured. He was THE fixer, able to touch up anything in a few seconds’ time. Yet, his personal artistic pursuits were certainly not limited to molding animals from putty. On one of my final days at SAGA, ‘sensei’ held a personal art exhibition. His own works were more akin to those of Jackson Pollack and the Irascible Eighteen than to my best Van Gogh impression of a sunflower, and that was my first realization of the huge range of human expression in art. I went onto other art studios, and have now settled with photography, but I still have my red fox stashed away somewhere in our old garage. Its nose fell off, but I do believe I filled the void in with a black sharpie.

I tend to make epic posts that a take a very long time to craft and perfect, so in an effort to keep up the regularity of posts here, posts will be shorter.

Like everyone else I ‘google’ on Google, map my routes on Google Maps, and use Google Calendar. I store some important portable files like my resume on Google Documents, but unlike everyone else, I don’t use GMail. Instead I rely on Yahoo! Mail, which is excellent, although it’s been sent to the wayside by GMail (That’s why Yahoo! introduced RocketMail and YMail accounts in stupid desperation. You also tempted my beloved Yahoo! to deal with the devil, Microsoft/Carl Icahn, curse you Google).

The real reason I’ve never really been a huge fan of your products and services is that, although simplistic, they never seem polished enough for me. You put out a disclaimer out that these services are all in BETA form, but seriously, does anyone really believe it’s BETA still?

You cajole and you tease, giving me free IMAP access through GMail, but you still refuse to take away the BETA. Now, you give me Chrome, and I love how fast it works. But you know what? Chrome is definitely still in BETA form; that I can say for sure. I downloaded it in hopes that this product would be the one that would capture my heart. But it didn’t. Instead, it spies on me, and renders my words hideously. You tried to be controlling with that EULA, before we had you change it.

But what really led me to write to you is this — make your own products to run correctly on your own company’s browser! Whenever I run a YouTube file, Chrome turns into rust, turning sluggishly on every thread. When I open Google Calendar, the To-Do items seem to never render within the lines!

Get your act together Google! I want to be a believer. I want to be like one of your mindless zombies, checking GMail on Android, scheduling meetings on Google Calendar via Android, watching YouTube on Android, uploading to Picasa on Android, blogging on Blogger through Android, buying stuff through Checkout on Android, and finding my way back home through Google Maps on Android. But you know what, I can’t. I just can’t.

RIght now, we can’t close our relationship. I still love Yahoo! and through all these years, I still can’t live without Microsoft. If you want us to be mutually exclusive, you need to show me something real. Stop giving me this BETA crap. I’m sick and tired.

– prolix

1. Kata — I was really keen on Kata ever since I saw their 3N1 series sling bags. They just have really sleek designs that actually have purpose to them. Plus, they seemed to be well constructed (Kata also produces body armour for the Isreali forces).

** 3N1-20 **

Comes in three sizes, S, M, L. Note to Goldilocks: The large is too big! The small is too small! The medium is just right.

The 3N1 is probably going to be a really popular bag in the near future. It just came out this summer, so prices are still up there (although I think that Kata prices are reasonably priced for what they offer, compared to Tamrac or Lowepro). Most of the shops I looked at only carried the small and large versions (3N1-10 and 3N1-30, respectively) but the last shop I went to, which was an official Kata dealer in Taiwan, carried one 3N1-20 bag. Like I mentioned, Kata bags are great. They’re well made from top to bottom and well thought out. This bag almost gave me too many possible configurations to play with, that I nearly confused myself. You can see an in-depth preview here. The one thing I wasn’t keen on was that it was impossible to put a camera with a 70-200 f/2.8 attached, which I really wanted out of a slingbag. Only the large version was able to fit that in, but the 3N1-30 just looks heavy. Granted the side access of this type of slingbag, whether it be this, Lowepro’s Slingshot series, or Tenba’s Shootout, just doesn’t allow fitment of long lenses unless it is the largest version, impractical for a city-going daypack. Plus, they’d just look strange on my relatively small 5′ 8″ frame.

I also, at the same place, stumbled upon the Kata T-212. It was a bit small for my needs, but well designed, and looked like tactical gear for the Navy SEALs. I later found out that there was a larger version, the T-214, that would probably suit what I carry around.

** T-214 **

T-214. Looks and sounds intense.

So then it was off to look at other options. I saw a pack from Jenova, which the sellers claimed was an Italian brand manufactured in China. However, I was pretty sure some random company from HK decided to buy the rights to the brand name because the construction was pretty mediocre. Overall, the organization and the ballistic nylon wasn’t too bad, but what really raised question marks was the construction of the plastic buckles. They just seemed to reek of cheapness. I looked online and could not seem to find a picture anywhere.

HP Pavilion dv4, originally uploaded by HP Malaysia.

It’s a good thing I didn’t completely set my heart on the Dell and Lenovo models I mentioned before, since the new laptops from HP are almost certainly perfect for my needs.

For the longest time, I retained a huge aversion toward notebooks from Hewlett-Packard (although I am a big fan of their printers, although I no longer own one from them; switched to Canon PIXMA), and for no real reason, other than the fact that I thought too many people had them and the fact that they were extremely bland.

Well, HP went along and took care of the biggest problem I had against their mobile products — the looks. While I wouldn’t say I’m completely in love, the updated HP design philosophy is clean and professional looking, far better than the amateur look from before, what with the matte chrome plastic and the ugly decals. To some degree it is still chrome plastic and etched decals since the new look is merely an evolution of the old, but it just seems more refined. The HP Imprint 2 etching is much less commercial and much more workhorse — a change I welcome greatly. It is amazing how such subtle changes can alter the entire feeling of a product line.

With the move from casual user to serious worker in terms of its look, HP has certainly also turned up the intensity in the performance portion as well. HP is one of the two largest computer manufacturers in the world, and certainly has the buyer clout to secure the latest technologies from Intel and the best prices. That purchasing power certainly translates to a great value for the consumer. Aware of that fact, I promptly began fiddling away at the customization specs on HP’s website, expecting a well-appointed computer for relatively little coin.

When I first laid out my requirements for replacing my Inspiron 700m, I decided I wanted a 14.1″ notebook with a curb weight of less than 5.33 lbs and a thickness of 1″ or less. The only requirement the HP Pavilion dv4t series notebook could not meet was the one on thickness, coming in at 1.34″ at its thinnest and 1.57″ at its thickest. Not terribly impressive, but I thought I could forgive it if it had more of the features I wanted in a laptop.

Good thing the HP had everything I needed technically in a laptop and more. It’s the first consumer notebook line from a major manufacturer to ship with the Montevina chipset. It has eSATA (which I actually use) and HDMI 1.3 out (which I fully intend on using on my family’s HDTV). The little things are pluses as well, such as an extra stereo miniplug for a friend to listen to something simultaneously, the requisite integrated webcam/microphone, remote control in the PCMCIA slot, and an empty shell that when replaced for the DVD drive can lower the weight from 5.18 to 4.82 lbs. That weight, of course is when the laptop is fitted with the LED backlit screen, another option that was surprisingly affordable at only $100 above the standard screen.

The price was perhaps the most attractive part of this computer. I customized a well-appointed dv4t with a Penryn P8600 and 3 GB RAM and all the other bells and whistles I mentioned for only about $1200 after an instant rebate. However, I do know of stackable coupons and student discounts that can very well send this system well south of $1000.

I have only a few minor gripes:

- No option for 1440×900 display, although that would not come with an LED backlight; 1280×800 is plenty good for 14″
- No 7200 rpm HDD option; I don’t need lots of storage space, just speed
- No DisplayPort? OK, I’m stretching a bit. It’ll be years before DisplayPort plugs are popular

HP Pavilion dv4, originally uploaded by HP Malaysia.

HP Pavilion dv4, originally uploaded by HP Malaysia.

HP Pavilion dv4, originally uploaded by HP Malaysia.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the PRC banned all Yahoo! USA pages.

Redondo Pier, originally uploaded by tomscy2000.

Time for another picture review. I was at the Redondo Pier at sunset early February of this year and thought I could get some nice sunset shots. When I first shot this, I wasn’t really into it. It might’ve been because the camera simply couldn’t get all the color in the sunset. The pixel depth of the S3 IS is only 8-bits, and the camera cannot shoot in RAW. Thus, the dynamic range of the scene simply could not be captured accurately. Additionally, because any shots over ISO100 on this camera are nasty, my shutter speed was restricted to 1/6 of a second at f/5.6. Luckily, the S3 has some relaible image stabilization.

The original shot was a bit bland. The sky was muddy, and thus I chose to pull up the shadows to make the pink/maroon sunset come through. However, this resulted in blowing out the highlights. HDR would’ve helped immensely for this shot. The only redeeming part is that blowing out the highlights actually improved the uniformity of the shot, with the white part being largely a horizontal portion on top, not really affecting the important parts of the shot, such as the pier and the water. The upper right corner shows some un-blown out portions of the sky due to slight vignetting, which in hindsight I probably should’ve painted over in white.

I was quite surprised when multiple people told me they really liked this shot. I guess I was worried too much about the technical aspects and afraid people would wonder about why the sky was so white, but the natural beauty of this scene really saved it. The water was deep blue and sparkling that day, and the purple cast was gorgeous, serving as a great backdrop over the silhouetted pier.

I’d imagine taking this same shot again with my 40D and bracketed from -2 to +2 EV would significantly improve the quality of this shot, from sharpness to color gradation to dynamic range.

Focal Length: 6mm (36mm Full-Frame FOV)
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/6 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure: Manual

Lost in the shuffle is USC’s Rebecca Soni giving it to Leisel Jones in the 200 breast. Jones is no longer that annoying, petulant little baby who bitched during Barcelona in 2003 and Athens in 2004, but I think she got complacent this year when she thought no one could challenge her speed in the breaststroke events. While keeping up in shape for the 100, she probably didn’t train to endure the 200 as much. I know the 200 hurts a million times more than the 100, and Rebecca Soni really did something special, breaking Jones’ WR in the process.

Today was upset day, as Ryan Lochte dethroned backstroke king Peirsol in the 200 back and then got too tired to challenge Phelps in the 200 IM. This was not surprising at all, though, since Lochte already did this at Melbourne last year. I just thought Peirsol would’ve made it more interesting at the finish, since he is so strong closing a race.

Natalie Coughlin, of whom I’m a big fan of, won her 10th Olympic medal today with a bronze in the 100 free. She matched her personal best (and American Record) with a 53.39, but was disappointed probably because the entire field wasn’t swimming as fast as it could have, and she definitely had a chance to out touch Steffen or Lenton (I prefer her maiden name over Trickett). At least she won the 100 back. Still, I feel bad for Kirsty Coventry, who is swimming so well, but just always has that one person ahead of her. I blame Robert Mugabe and their ten million dollar bill.

The nice thing is that most of the British Commonwealth isn’t doing as badly as Zimbabwe, like Australia for example. I actually like Eamon Sullivan. He’s a pretty boy, and he looks tiny compared to other sprinters (have you seen Alain Bernard? He’s a giant!) but he’s just so efficient in the water and just seems like a good bloke. It’s too bad Sullivan didn’t get the 100 free gold, but he still has a chance in the 50. Plus, if he can stay healthy, he still has a lot of swimming in front of him.

Kirsty Coventry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars in Zimbabwe!