As of this moment, I have over 10,000 words written for my thesis and over 60 pages in material at 1.5 line spacing. I haven't been very liberal with spacing as of yet but the goal will be to hit 70-80 pages for the thesis once I am complete. I have inserted a lot of points that I haven't referenced yet and I still need to insert more figures and then to a check of the whole thing after finishing up. The thesis is due in 3 weeks and if everything goes well, I will have this thing done about a week in advance. I would have never imagined myself being on the ball for the thesis writing but this is most relaxed end stretch I've ever had for a large project, especially for one that I've been working on over the span of 2 years. Go figure, but I am pretty happy about it.
In other news, last weekend was a party for the lab members after finishing their job hunting efforts. We have all been placed. 3 will be going to Canon, 1 to Hirose-denki (connector manufacturing), 1 to Sony (me) and 1 to Hitachi. Everyone here has been placed into large corporations. We will see how things go from here, but we will have the opportunity to stay in contact as all of us will be based in the Tokyo area. Out of the group, I have the honor of being the first one placed after doing a one-shot application to Sony (no applications to other company), passing all 3 interviews and making it in. My fall back was the University recommendation system that would likely get me placed somewhere.
I spent the next day with a friend checking out a caldera in the mountain in a region called Zao. I'll post pictures later, but it was pretty nice and there was still snow up there, despite it being warm enough for me to walk around in shorts. I spent the afternoon in a hot spring and then headed home.
I still have much to do with my thesis and will look forward to getting it done. Then I will try and have this research published in a journal somewhere. First things first, finish the thesis and defend.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Grilled Apple
I hit the Apple store this weekend while waiting to meet up with a friend (as this friend of mine has chronic punctuality issues), so there I was looking at some MacBooks contemplating if I should ever get one. To summarize the story, I grilled 3 store clerks and was totally unconvinced about buying an Apple computer and left the store with them apologizing to me (well this is Japan) that they couldn't give me any real reasons to switch.
Now, let me tell you how did I come to that conclusion. While I was fiddling around with a MacBook, one of the store clerks came by and asked me if I had any questions, so I decided to chat it up with him to find out if there were any good reasons for me to switch over to an Apple computer.
Reason #１: You don't get viruses or spyware.
No, I am absolutely not buying an Apple computer just because it will protect me from viruses or spyware. I am already an experienced PC user that can handle my own against computer problems. This is seriously a weak reason to me because when I want to buy new hardware, I want a technical advantage.
Reason #2: Nice software that lets me do things.
The sales people basically pitched the photo album software (organization and printing software) to me that looked nice with smooth moving windows. I already have free software like google's Picasa that let's me to pretty much the same thing and I made my case out to them. Then they pointed out other applications like Adobe's Photoshop or Illustrator... which are terrible reasons for me to switch because there are Windows versions of the same software.
To add insult to injury, I asked them if I had a license to run these programs on my PC, would I be able to transfer it over to the Apple computer?
Their answer: nope, you'd need to buy a new copy.
Reason #3: It's got good hardware
They started telling me how they've got the Intel Core Duo 2 chips inside the laptops which are pretty good processors, but you can get them for any other laptops too. I don't buy that reasoning. Anything Apple branded generally costs more than if it were to come from some other laptop manufacturer for the exact/similar hardware configuration.
Reason #4: The OS is nicer
They told me that Mac OS is nicer because I can get to my applications in say 3 clicks instead of 5. Last time I checked, I can usually get to my applications in about 2 on my computer (it's called the toolbar). Then they told me that the OS looks nice.... then I asked them if the OS ran any faster than Windows... to which they didn't have an answer.
So after spending about 45 minutes in the Apple store, the main reason why I should shell out $1400+ for an Apple computer (or say $200 more than a similar, non branded Apple computer) is because I don't get spyware, have to rebuy software that I already own for the PC but have an opportunity to try software that isn't on the PC (which I can find equivalents to!) and use a nicer looking OS in a nicer looking box.
I'm kind of sad to say, but that's some weak reasons to me and I think Apple's computer market share reflects that.
Now, let me tell you how did I come to that conclusion. While I was fiddling around with a MacBook, one of the store clerks came by and asked me if I had any questions, so I decided to chat it up with him to find out if there were any good reasons for me to switch over to an Apple computer.
Reason #１: You don't get viruses or spyware.
No, I am absolutely not buying an Apple computer just because it will protect me from viruses or spyware. I am already an experienced PC user that can handle my own against computer problems. This is seriously a weak reason to me because when I want to buy new hardware, I want a technical advantage.
Reason #2: Nice software that lets me do things.
The sales people basically pitched the photo album software (organization and printing software) to me that looked nice with smooth moving windows. I already have free software like google's Picasa that let's me to pretty much the same thing and I made my case out to them. Then they pointed out other applications like Adobe's Photoshop or Illustrator... which are terrible reasons for me to switch because there are Windows versions of the same software.
To add insult to injury, I asked them if I had a license to run these programs on my PC, would I be able to transfer it over to the Apple computer?
Their answer: nope, you'd need to buy a new copy.
Reason #3: It's got good hardware
They started telling me how they've got the Intel Core Duo 2 chips inside the laptops which are pretty good processors, but you can get them for any other laptops too. I don't buy that reasoning. Anything Apple branded generally costs more than if it were to come from some other laptop manufacturer for the exact/similar hardware configuration.
Reason #4: The OS is nicer
They told me that Mac OS is nicer because I can get to my applications in say 3 clicks instead of 5. Last time I checked, I can usually get to my applications in about 2 on my computer (it's called the toolbar). Then they told me that the OS looks nice.... then I asked them if the OS ran any faster than Windows... to which they didn't have an answer.
So after spending about 45 minutes in the Apple store, the main reason why I should shell out $1400+ for an Apple computer (or say $200 more than a similar, non branded Apple computer) is because I don't get spyware, have to rebuy software that I already own for the PC but have an opportunity to try software that isn't on the PC (which I can find equivalents to!) and use a nicer looking OS in a nicer looking box.
I'm kind of sad to say, but that's some weak reasons to me and I think Apple's computer market share reflects that.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Web 2.0 vs ABC and CNN
I find it ironic that western news often complains about censorship in Chinese media, at least the Chinese are straight forward about it. In America, you don't get censored, you get ignored or manipulated. Which is worse? You tell me.
As of this moment the two most popular candidates making their rounds on the internet are Ron Paul (Republican) and Mike Gavel (Democrat) as a result from their excellent showing at their respective presidential debates. Unfortunately, it seems that because they aren't the main-stream media's favorite candidates, they have been getting less than fair treatment for reasons beyond me.
Ron Paul has been doing exceptionally well on the internet, thanks to sites like youtube hosting clips of him in action at the presidential debates. Though I have not watched much of the other candidate's performance at the debates, what I have seen so far pales compares to the brutal honesty and truthfulness of Ron Paul's comments. If you have not seen this man in action, I recommend that you watch one of his debates. There is plenty more material of him at youtube and I also highly recommend that you watch some of his other debates.
As a result of Ron Paul's excellent showing at the debates, Ron Paul's website has been fielding the most internet traffic to his website according to alexa, an internet traffic tracking page, as the figure below indicates (data current as of June 6th).
Despite his strong showing at the debates and the internet, the traditional media-sites such as CNN and ABC news have been actively trying to limit his success by deleting comments relating to Ron Paul on their websites. In addition to this, a CNN political blog is attempting to downplay his successes in online polls which have been hosted at CNN, ABC and a variety of other sites by mentioning that
"For the three GOP debates so far, Paul has won or placed high in most of the unscientific online surveys including ABC’s, MSNBC’s, FOX’s, and unscientific polls conducted on a number of blogs...
In virtually every scientific national poll — generally regarded as the best measurement of public support for a political candidate — Paul registers, at most, between 1 and 2 percent. Do the debate numbers reflect something different than the national polls? Is it too early to tell?"- CNN Political Ticker Blog
This is the first time I have ever heard the term of an "unscientific online survey" versus a "scientific national poll," it makes me wonder how is an online survey not national or how a national poll is more scientific. In so far as that I am aware, these sites have never mentioned the "unscientificness" of these poll until this circumstance and online polls on other topics are often included in television broadcasts. The slant these websites present to the news and the candidates that they subliminally support is disturbing.
As of this moment the two most popular candidates making their rounds on the internet are Ron Paul (Republican) and Mike Gavel (Democrat) as a result from their excellent showing at their respective presidential debates. Unfortunately, it seems that because they aren't the main-stream media's favorite candidates, they have been getting less than fair treatment for reasons beyond me.
Ron Paul has been doing exceptionally well on the internet, thanks to sites like youtube hosting clips of him in action at the presidential debates. Though I have not watched much of the other candidate's performance at the debates, what I have seen so far pales compares to the brutal honesty and truthfulness of Ron Paul's comments. If you have not seen this man in action, I recommend that you watch one of his debates. There is plenty more material of him at youtube and I also highly recommend that you watch some of his other debates.
As a result of Ron Paul's excellent showing at the debates, Ron Paul's website has been fielding the most internet traffic to his website according to alexa, an internet traffic tracking page, as the figure below indicates (data current as of June 6th).
Despite his strong showing at the debates and the internet, the traditional media-sites such as CNN and ABC news have been actively trying to limit his success by deleting comments relating to Ron Paul on their websites. In addition to this, a CNN political blog is attempting to downplay his successes in online polls which have been hosted at CNN, ABC and a variety of other sites by mentioning that
"For the three GOP debates so far, Paul has won or placed high in most of the unscientific online surveys including ABC’s, MSNBC’s, FOX’s, and unscientific polls conducted on a number of blogs...
In virtually every scientific national poll — generally regarded as the best measurement of public support for a political candidate — Paul registers, at most, between 1 and 2 percent. Do the debate numbers reflect something different than the national polls? Is it too early to tell?"- CNN Political Ticker Blog
This is the first time I have ever heard the term of an "unscientific online survey" versus a "scientific national poll," it makes me wonder how is an online survey not national or how a national poll is more scientific. In so far as that I am aware, these sites have never mentioned the "unscientificness" of these poll until this circumstance and online polls on other topics are often included in television broadcasts. The slant these websites present to the news and the candidates that they subliminally support is disturbing.
Mike Gravel, the Democratic presidential candidate has been facing similar issues with the media. After his good showing at the first Democratic debate (I also recommend watching his debate videos), he too also had a surge of traffic and publicity on the internet in May. CNN attempted to exclude Gravel from the debate which caused an online uproar and various online petitions to finally have him included in the New Hampshire debate hosted on June 3rd. Despite this, Gravel was shafted for debate and answering time from the 2 hour debate as indicated in the following graph.
I would find it rather suspicious that CNN is giving the most time to the tier 1 candidates instead of allowing all other candidates to have a equal amount of speaking time. It should be evidently clear about the bias and the control that the media on information and presidential candidates.
Fortunately, for us, we do have the internet, where the dissemination of information is not centralized and open to everyone that has an opinion to make it heard. It cannot be as easily filtered like the news that we see on TV. Despite all the filtering, video clips of Ron Paul and Mike Gravel have been making the rounds on the internet thanks to youtube and other video hosting sites, in addition to all the user aggregated news sites and blogs.
It is ironic to think that, the internet is far more democratic than the traditional democratic process. This is web 2.0, run by the people... and I believe, that this is the future of democracy.
Fortunately, for us, we do have the internet, where the dissemination of information is not centralized and open to everyone that has an opinion to make it heard. It cannot be as easily filtered like the news that we see on TV. Despite all the filtering, video clips of Ron Paul and Mike Gravel have been making the rounds on the internet thanks to youtube and other video hosting sites, in addition to all the user aggregated news sites and blogs.
It is ironic to think that, the internet is far more democratic than the traditional democratic process. This is web 2.0, run by the people... and I believe, that this is the future of democracy.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Oh Canada! Having some problems are better than others
I stopped by an interesting site just today regarding some points on Canadian politics. I am not a huge fan of politics because there is a whole lot of people that talk about things that they don't understand, and the discussions often go unmeasured and nowhere. Listening to conversations on important topics that go nowhere is a pet-peeve of mine, just because it's a waste of time. Sure, I don't mind banter as long as it is interesting (which is the point of banter after all), but when you've got important things to be decided, I don't want to waste my time running around in circles. But anyways, back to the interesting things I've read...
So, there is this article at the Seminal, which brands it's self as an "Independent Media + Politics" blog called "Oh! Canada?? Their Version of Liberal and Conservative vs. Ours," which has an interesting take on the problems that Canadian politicians deal from the point of view of an American. Considering that hot-topics in Canadian politics include, reducing wait times for medical treatment, improved gun control for a country with a low crime rate, debating whether if marijuana possession should be an offense where a person gets fined or sent to jail and same-sex marriage (where even Harper has gone in so far as to accept same-sex civil unions). As the writer of the mentioned article quotes from a friend:
"I wish we had those problems. Reducing wait lines for health care probably doesn’t even crack the top 100 problems facing America, and that’s just thinking about domestic policy."
It's interesting to think this way, but I would rather be facing these problems instead of a foreign war, weakening economy, poor international image and more. The author muses on moving to Canada and notes how easy it is to move North, which costs all of $200 to get Canadian citizenship after a 3 year permanent residency, which is listed at the Canadian government webpage. Of an interesting note, being born to a Canadian born parent automatically entitles the child to Canadian citizenship, wherever in the world was born (naturalized people, however need to fill out some paper work before the 28th birthday of the child, but these are minor details).
As annoying as it is listening to hot political problems, when compared to others, the ones we have in Canada isn't so bad at all.
So, there is this article at the Seminal, which brands it's self as an "Independent Media + Politics" blog called "Oh! Canada?? Their Version of Liberal and Conservative vs. Ours," which has an interesting take on the problems that Canadian politicians deal from the point of view of an American. Considering that hot-topics in Canadian politics include, reducing wait times for medical treatment, improved gun control for a country with a low crime rate, debating whether if marijuana possession should be an offense where a person gets fined or sent to jail and same-sex marriage (where even Harper has gone in so far as to accept same-sex civil unions). As the writer of the mentioned article quotes from a friend:
"I wish we had those problems. Reducing wait lines for health care probably doesn’t even crack the top 100 problems facing America, and that’s just thinking about domestic policy."
It's interesting to think this way, but I would rather be facing these problems instead of a foreign war, weakening economy, poor international image and more. The author muses on moving to Canada and notes how easy it is to move North, which costs all of $200 to get Canadian citizenship after a 3 year permanent residency, which is listed at the Canadian government webpage. Of an interesting note, being born to a Canadian born parent automatically entitles the child to Canadian citizenship, wherever in the world was born (naturalized people, however need to fill out some paper work before the 28th birthday of the child, but these are minor details).
As annoying as it is listening to hot political problems, when compared to others, the ones we have in Canada isn't so bad at all.
On my way to Graduating
This weekend was a 2-for-1 deal in terms of making presentations. I did my 4 month presentation on what I have been doing and at the same time, did my mid-term presentation for my graduate thesis. All in all, both presentations went well, with the mid-term going exceptionally well.
The annoying thing is that in reality, I am closer to graduating than I realize; I have to make my final graduation presentation at the end of July and after that, I am technically done. I still have some experimentation that I need to get done before that time and also produce a 50 page report on what I have been doing for the past 2 years. I still have yet to start writing this document.
I got contacted by Sony just recently about my start date and it seems that they want me to join them in April at *their leisure* since Japanese people typically graduate in April as opposed to me graduating in October... and for the fact that I am the only person out of the 400 people they hired that is graduating in October. In short, this means that I have 6 months of free time!
So, what am I going to do during these 6 months? The possibilities are numerous and I know for that I will be planning on doing some traveling. Where I will go and for how long has yet to be determined but rest assured that big plans will be made. I will be reporting in on those at a later date.
The annoying thing is that in reality, I am closer to graduating than I realize; I have to make my final graduation presentation at the end of July and after that, I am technically done. I still have some experimentation that I need to get done before that time and also produce a 50 page report on what I have been doing for the past 2 years. I still have yet to start writing this document.
I got contacted by Sony just recently about my start date and it seems that they want me to join them in April at *their leisure* since Japanese people typically graduate in April as opposed to me graduating in October... and for the fact that I am the only person out of the 400 people they hired that is graduating in October. In short, this means that I have 6 months of free time!
So, what am I going to do during these 6 months? The possibilities are numerous and I know for that I will be planning on doing some traveling. Where I will go and for how long has yet to be determined but rest assured that big plans will be made. I will be reporting in on those at a later date.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Some Humor
I was taking to a friend of mine, Hiroko on the phone yesterday and she was telling me about one of her mis-adventures in English. Apparently one day, she got an e-mail from a friend of hers that was pretty good in Japanese. He sent off an e-mail in Japanese to her and ended it with "talk to you soon" which she didn't understand at first. After doing a word for word translation, she thought that he was going to call, kept the phone near-by and patiently waited for the phone call that never came. I thought that was kind of cute.
I was also just reading a webpage recently with a funny piece of humor. A guy traveling to Australia was asked by the custom's officer if he had any past criminal records. The guy responded with "I didn't know that it was a requirement to get in." Haha!
I was also just reading a webpage recently with a funny piece of humor. A guy traveling to Australia was asked by the custom's officer if he had any past criminal records. The guy responded with "I didn't know that it was a requirement to get in." Haha!
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