Now that Blogger supports labels

I can consolidate all my blogs into one blog. That means I'll need to move everything here, but I think that will help me to have everything in one place.

No golf in 3 weeks

It seemed I was in Dallas between business trips... And it was my third weekend back in Dallas but so far, I have not had the chance to play golf. It seemed like every weekend, including this one, it would rain. However, it was then Sunday afternoon and was sunny, so I thought I could at least get in 9 holes. However, I was walking down a sidewalk on my way to eat something. I stopped in a small restaurant. There really didn't seem to be any other customers there. I sat at a table and it seemed like the manager or owner was sitting at the same table. A waitress came by and I was given a glass or something. I then asked where I could sit and they said anywhere. I don't really remember much after that. I don't know if that was the end of the dream or if my dream jumped around. In my dream, I did think about postponing my next trip to Vienna so that I could play golf.

GWT (Google Web Toolkit): New alternative for learning Java

Many of us are interested in keeping up with the latest technologies, and even though my job does not require me to learn Java, I am still interested in learning as much as possible. However, the thought of downloading and utilizing a developer's kit can be intimidating. Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. Regarding learning Java, many know that one of the benefits is that it is platform independent, and to be consistent with IBM's client application development standard, we should not be developing applications for specific platforms. Learning Java can take the following forms. One can start with IBM's or Sun's Java developer kit. Of course, the one available internally within IBM is the recommended SDK (Software Development Kit). The Sun website also provides good tutorials on learning Java. Initially, SDKs were not GUI-based. You can also download the development environment from Eclipse or obtain Websphere Studio Application Developer and use these as your development environment for Java. However, besides learning Java, then you will need to also get familiar with the tools you have downloaded.

Google has provided a new choice. Google has provided what they call the Google Web Toolkit or GWT. Through use of GWT, you can develop Java programs which run from within your browser. Without GWT, it is possible to write Java programs that can run from within your browser but these would have to be developed as Java applets, in which case you would use one of the above methods of developing Java programs. It is also possible to write JavaScript programs to run from within your browser, but JavaScript is not true Java. Therefore, if your interests lie in learning Java, then JavaScript does not contribute much to your objective. However, GWT allows you to write Java programs, and GWT converts your Java source into JavaScript so you can run your code from your browser. There are some limitations with GWT but as a method for learning Java, it provides a new alternative.

This is not a recommendation to use GWT in place of writing a Java application using one of the mentioned Java development environments, rather it is just pointing out that an alternative exists and that after you have been able to begin writing Java programs using GWT, you should feel confident to transition to one of the Java development environments.

How to get started

One of the advantages of GWT is that it is easy to get a program up and running and get immediate feedback. Immediate feedback can provide motivation for continuing to advance your skills. Writing Java programs with GWT still requires a prerequisite knowledge of Java, so if you are learning Java from scratch, I would recommend the tutorials on the Sun website.

How to get and install GWT
You can download GWT as a zip file. There is no installer application. You just unzip the file where you would like the files to reside. (Upon opening the zip file, one of the tasks which appear on the left is to "Extract all files".)

To use GWT in command line mode, you'll need to navigate to where you have extracted the toolkit. When you're in the right directory, you'll find applicationCreator.cmd

Use this command to create your application structure. For example:

> applicationCreator -out . myprog.client.HelloWorld

This will create a new project HelloWorldwith the main class of the same name. The package name is myprog.client. You'll then find that myprogis created in the GWT directory structure under the src directory:

The client subdirectory is for the source code. The public subdirectory is for other files which you can place other files which you need to run your code, such as your html files, graphic files, and so forth.

How to create and run your first program
Upon creation of your application structure, by default, the initial source file will contain the following HelloWorld program:

package myprog.client;

import com.google.gwt.core.client.EntryPoint;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Button;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.ClickListener;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Label;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.RootPanel;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Widget;

public class HelloWorld implements EntryPoint {

public void onModuleLoad() {
final Button button = new Button("Click me");
final Label label = new Label();

button.addClickListener(new ClickListener() {
public void onClick(Widget sender) {
if (label.getText().equals(""))
label.setText("Hello World!");
else
label.setText("");
}
});
//
RootPanel.get("slot1").add(button);
RootPanel.get("slot2").add(label);
}
}

With this program, a new button button is created and initialized to "Click me" and a new label label is created which is initialized to a null value. The button is located in slot1 and the label is located in slot2.

You'll find in the public directory, the html file has a table defined with slot1 and slot2.

<table align="center">
<tbody>
 <tr>
  <td id="slot1"></td><td id="slot2"></td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>

Therefore, the button and label will appear within the browser corresponding to where the table cells slot1 and slot2 appear.

To run your program within the Google GWT Development Shell (simulated execution environment), you would enter in the command line:

> HelloWorld-shell

The result is the following appearing. By clicking the button, then the "Hello World!" message appears.


Once you have tested your program and would like to place your files on a web server so you can run your files, you would enter in the command line:

> HelloWorld-compile

Note that applicationCreator created the HelloWorld-shell and HelloWorld-compile commands for you based on the project name you specified when you created your application structure.

The compile command will create all the files you need to load onto the web server to execute your code. These are placed in a project directory in the www directory.



One advantage of a product like GWT is that there is an endless supply of people who are willing to share their knowledge of how to use GWT.

As you see, GWT is very easy to start using. Although easy to use to create a simple client application, GWT also supports client/server applications.

Dreams for Home Entertainment System

For many of my goals, I’ll probably take the “Disney” approach, which is to:

1. Dream it
2. Plan it
3. Criticize it (ie, become more realistic about it)

So first, I have to dream it.

• Family room
  • HD-TV, ability to view from back porch
  • Closed caption, support realtime translation to other languages (in particular Japanese)
  • HD-DVR, ability to archive to PC
  • Archive (at least 1.6 TB)
  • Backup of archive (another 1.6 TB)
  • Central library for video, photo, music
  • Region-free DVD player/recorder
  • Internet radio
  • Security camera
  • Home automation
  • Video/photo/audio streaming to any room / outdoors, separate control panel in each room
  • Place-shifting (both inside of house and outside of house)
  • Internet surfing, weather
  • Remote control with display, also can be used for surfing
• Media room
  • HD Projector, 16×9 native mode
  • Closed caption
  • Approximately 120” screen
  • Surround-sound
  • Golf simulator :)
  • Remote control with display, also can be used for surfing
• Game room
  • ???
• Bedroom and other rooms
  • Access to central library for video, photo, music
  • Comfortable position for viewing from bed
  • Home automation / security camera
  • Internet surfing
• Outdoors
  • Projector for projecting “drive-in” movie on garage door
  • Closed caption
  • Appropriate screen for projector (sheet?)
  • Outdoor sound system (speakers which look like old-time drive-in speakers)

Plans for Home Entertainment System

Family Room

Item	Target year	Comments
HD-TV	Long term	Currently have 42" plasma but not true HDTV
Closed caption	3+	Currently have CC device but it frequently causes TV picture to become distorted
HD-DVR	?	Currently using ReplayTV, no HD recording. DNNA introducing TV card with ReplayTV software
Archive	<1	Currently over 1 TB of storage but need device with fan. Stardom Sohotank is good candidate, available from PC Pitstop ($129). Update: Bought it and it failed after 1 year + 4 months. I have now replaced it with a Buffalo TeraStation Pro II.
Backup of archive	3+	No backup. Need at least interim backup in short term--Media room PC?
Central library	?	Will this end up being the same as the Archive? Currently using media room PC
Region-free DVD player / recorder	?	Currently would prefer not to support BluRay and HD-DVD
Internet radio	?	Should be part of whole house streaming strategy
Security camera	?	Should be visible as part of HTPC set up, should be expandable to support additional cameras
Home automation	?	Should be integrated as part of HTPC
Streaming	?	Should be integrated as part of HTPC. Should each room have a PC? If each room has PC, this can replace ReplayTV unit
Place-shifting	?	For outside of house, is Slingbox the answer. For inside the house, a video streaming router...?
Internet surfing	?	Should be supported by HTPC
Remote	1	Should be able to support ReplayTV, also use to navigate PC. Gyroscopic mouse would be most intuitive for navigating

Took me a while to find the next "must have" item...

But here it is... Supposedly, it will help you find a golf ball in a 600 square foot area, potentially by being able to recognize the shape a dimple, I am guessing...

Now 600 square foot area is not THAT big of an area, but it would be useful especially if you are looking into the sun...

Of course, this gadget costs $260 which would actually pay for probably 3 years worth of golf balls, but hey, that's not the point!! (I forgot what is, though...)

Another "must have" item... This one for the car...

With so many "must have" items, I may have to cut back on some frivolous purchases, like food...

Anyway, a wheel which can show images with LED lights...

Click on above image for video. Worth checking out!

Collaborative calendars

Not only are there calendars available online to manage your schedule, but in these days of collaboration, calendars are also designed to not only manage your calendar, but in conjunction with others.

Calendar	Pros	Cons	URL
Airset	Can sync with phones Drag and drop Click on date for adding new event Very intuitive way of collaboration Maximum flexibility in sharing events Search capability	Little bit slow Cannot customize look Color-coding fixed by calendar	www.airset.com www.airset.com/User/Cal.jsp?gi=YdJCMGlxLgcP&all=0
30boxes	Click on date for adding new event Tag and search capability Ability to highlight selected tags Ability to "publish" calendar Supports "badges"	Only 3 themes for customizing look No drag and drop Events can only be marked private or not private Does not show time of event directly on calendar URL for published calendar contains my full name (privacy concern) Code for "badge" contains my full name	www.30boxes.com http://30boxes.com/
Planzo	Direct typing in calendar for new events Drag and drop Search capability	Some customization available but limited to approximately 8 color selections Color-coded events seem fixed per type of event Privacy limited to private, none (share with all), or with "favorites".	www.planzo.com jimrin.planzo.com
CalendarHub	Drag and drop Supports "badges" Tag and search capability Ability to "publish" calendar	Cannot click date or directly type for new entry Privacy limited to private, none (share with all) or with "favorites". Columns in calendar representing the days of week are not equally spaced. Aesthetically, it looks odd. No color-coding of events	www.calendarhub.com www.calendarhub.com/calendar/55776/month www.calendarhub.com/pub/jimrin
Trumba	Ability to "publish" calendar Click on date for adding new event	For free version, no customization for look and feel (except for primary color) Sharing limited to all (for those authorized) or none No color-coding of events No drag or drop No search capability	www.trumba.com www.trumba.com/t.aspx?e=CgAzdYV*VrG1eOBPBtwQYIzsehUA13kn5-S*H7VK2*CVig!!X www.trumba.com/calendars/jimrins_calendar
Goowy		Problems when adding full-day events (says end time cannot be before start time) Selection of date is not used as default when adding new calendar event
Mosuki	Can define specific groups for viewing events Search capability	No customization for look and feel No color-coding of events No drag and drop Limited view of event description in calendar
Kiko	Drag and drop Color-coding of events (16 colors)	Sharing limited to all, contacts, or none No customization for look and feel No search	www.kiko.com www.kiko.com/appt/application?user_id=2580

Is it still winter...?

I can't believe how cold it has been recently. While I was in Vienna on my last trip, returning on March 17, there were a few days when it snowed! Even in the last week I was there, the high temperatures were generally around 1-2C (low 30s F), just barely above freezing.

Then when I do get back to Dallas, which had extremely warm temperatures while I was away (even as high as 34C/93F), except for one day, the highest temperature so far on days I've been back has been around 13-14C (57F). Even now, the temperature is about 5C (42F) in the early afternoon with the average high this time of year should be around 21C (70F)!

Ugh! This doesn't really help my motiviation for exercising.

Another "must have" item...

Keeping in mind that "must" is a relative term...

The "intelligent" table... Actually, not exactly what I am looking for... I would prefer simply a computer monitor with the computer built into the table. Considering they are now making Windows MCE-enabled TVs, I am sure tables are not too far behind. I appreciate the concept that the data would be presented appropriately to the viewer, depending on where the viewer is sitting. Perhaps this can be done by determining where the mouse/keyboard are.



The "intelligent" wall is also a must have item.


I wonder if Santa Claus will think I've been good this year. I wonder if I can get a discount from our partnership with Panasonic?

More storage...

It would also be useful to have a USB flash memory storage device to carry around from computer to computer. It would be especially nice if plugging in the device would allow personalized settings to be on the USB flash drive too, so that just plugging it in will basically turn that computer into your own personalized computer. (On a side note, it would be good to have one which can be used to boot up Linux. And finally, it would be nice to have a USB flash drive for storing music which can be played on our FM modulator/transmitter.)

The best candidate at the moment is the Sandisk Titanium model for its durability. It comes in a 2GB model for a reasonable price. However, it would also be great if I could get one with 4GB, 8GB or even more...

• Notes storage is currently 7GB.
• My Documents storage (including Notes) is currently 20GB.
• Documents and Settings for my Windows login is 23GB.

L170 supports 1280 x 1024 or not...

I've moved the desktop which was in the study to upstairs, so that Kyoko can use her ThinkPad in the study with her new desk. I kept the old monitor in the study, and when I moved the computer upstairs, I hooked it up with a different monitor, the ThinkVision L170.

It's supposed to support 1280 x 1024 and from what I can tell when booting up Windows, Windows seems to recognize 1280 x 1024. However, the Intel graphics card seems to think that monitor can only support 1024 x 768. Therefore, when trying to configure 1280 x 1024, it then requires me to scroll the screen in order to see 1280 x 1024.

Baffling..! Aggravating!

Need more!

Already having more than 1TB to store recorded movies does not seem enough. Besides, with individual hard drive enclosures, I would prefer something which (1) allows power down when idling and (2) has a cooling fan built in.

I may have found a good candidate in the Sohotank U7-4-B2. The 4 stands for 4 bays and the B2 is for USB2.

NetMeeting, where art thou?

I find using NetMeeting makes it easy to access my other computers in the house without having to go to each PC physically. However, at times, it tells me that the certificate I have may no longer be valid. I have found that re-installing NetMeeting resolves this problem:

I found out how to remove and then re-install NetMeeting from Kelly's Korner.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm

Remove: Start/Run/RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\WINDOWS\inf\msnetmtg.inf,NetMtg.Remove

Reinstall: To reinstall, open the Windows\Inf folder (this is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your Folder Options to show hidden files and folders. Or you can click Start, Run and enter %systemroot%\Inf). Locate the msnetmtg.inf file in the Inf folder. Right click and select Install. Have your XP CD handy.

One interesting fact I found out about NetMeeting is that when it is open, then Windows Media Player seems to have a problem with the codecs to show recorded programs from ReplayTV.

Voltage, schmoltage...

Argh! For the second time, I have ruined my electric razor by plugging it in to recharge but forgetting to switch it to 240V... You would have thought that I would have learned after the first time..

Improving ergonomics while working on notebook computer

One problem with notebook computers is that the screen is attached to the keyboard. If the keyboard is in a comfortable position, then you may have to slouch to look down at the screen.

One option is to use a separate monitor but the notebook computer's monitor may be in the way. Then, if you use an external keyboard, then you can place the keyboard and monitor anywhere you want.

Another option is the ThinkPad Adjustable Notebook Stand. Worst case is that this can raise the screen to eye-level position and allow a separate keyboard to be used.

Update: I also found that Kensington provides a notebook stand docking station.

And if I were to consider speakers to be hooked up to a notebook computer, I might consider the Logitech Notebook Speakers which gets the audio feed and power from the USB connection.

What the...

Michael recommended the book/movie "What the Bleep Do We Know!?"

For photography tips, he suggested that it makes the picture more interesting if you take the picture from a view which is not normally seen. For example, take a picture from your normal height is rather "boring" because you always see things from that vantage point. However, taking a picture from an extremely low viewpoint may make the picture more interesting.

In addition, when framing the picture, the interesting part of the picture should be on the outer third of the frame. This is known as the Golden Cut. Here is an interesting article about the Golden Cut.

Fun with pictures

If you're looking for something to do with your pictures, you can try out Flash Gear at http://www.flash-gear.com/index.php?watV

There are different things you can do with pictures including making a puzzle out of it. I don't know how long they last though. Anyway, here is one created from today:Unfortunately it looks like this website only works with Internet Explorer, not Mozilla Firefox.

Update: I seem to have found how long the pictures stay on their website... Approximately 25 days.

If you like being controlled...

If I were to keep my political cap off and discuss issues not related to a certain political party, then I would say that the group which annoys me the most are MPAA and RIAA in their attempts to control content. They even want us not to be able to record TV shows and be able to watch it at any point in time. Their preference is that if we record something, we have to watch it within a certain amount of time or else it expires. Even if you buy a CD, they want to prevent you from creating mp3 files for the songs on the CD. Very frightening if they get their way.

Into the new HD DVD format, manufacturers are building in the type of controls which the MPAA/RIAA want.

Mike Evangelist - former product marketing manager for DVD Studio Pro at Apple Computer - has called for an outright boycott of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives.

If you care about having control over the content you purchase, then you would consider a boycott, too.

43 Things to do in my life

There is an interesting website which is called 43 Things at http://www.43things.com. The concept behind this website is for people to document what are some things they want to do. It's a bit ambiguous whether these things are to represent more short term goals or long term goals. Some people have put down more long term goals, like "Be happy" while others have realized it is better to put more realistic, achievable goals. Not to say that "Be happy" is not an achievable goal, but in order to accomplish a long term goal, it would be good to document the short term goals which need to be done to achieve the long term goal.

Anyway, you don't have to document 43 things if you can't think of 43 things. I am up to 23 right now. The interesting part comes in that you can see how many other people have the same goal. You can then document comments about each goal and read other people's comments about them trying to achieve their goals. The website also provides common other goals for people who have the same goal. For example, it is not surprising that a common goal among people who want to learn Japanese is to go to Japan.

There's also a sister website called 43 Places, where you can list places you want to go... You can then see other people who the same desire to go to the same place as well as see comments from people who have already gone there.

An interesting website... How useful it is is another question, but it's still interesting.

Search is over...?

I think I have found my next digital camera...

The good points about this camera:

• Video 640x320, 30fps
• SD memory card, no limit to video except by memory
  
• Thin (making it easier to carry)
  
• Non-protruding zoom lens (coolness factor)
• Wi-fi (a plus)

Steve's Digicam already has a review on the Nikon Coolpix S6.

Some more Mozilla extensions

I added a couple more mozilla extensions...

Auto copy is useful because it will automatically copy what you've highlighted onto your clipboard. I mean, what else would you be highlighting text for anyway? Auto Copy is available at https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=383&application=firefox.

I added the Google toolbar... Some useful parts of the Google toolbar is knowing how many sites are referenced for a particular search term. For example, there are over 16 million hits on "learn japanese". No wonder it would be difficult to get Japanese Tutor better search results.

There is also a tool called Conquery to allow querying of highlighted text by using the context menu (right-click). It's sort of useful to be able to highlight the name of a movie, perhaps found on a program guide, then right click to look up the movie in IMDB. Conquery is available at http://conquery.mozdev.org/installation.html.

And finally, I did add an extension which makes it possible to right-click in Gmail to preview your mail... The guy intentionally did not do it while hovering over mail because he said it was not very well performing, but actually, I don't find right-clicking so convenient either. I mean, if I am going to have to click to see the mail, then I might as well left-click. Gmail preview bubbles are available at http://persistent.info/archives/2005/08/20/gmail-preview-bubbles.



Oh, and this image is simply that there are products, such as Window Blinds, which allow you to use skins to customize your Windows appearence... This one in particular has some transparency in the windows to allow you to see what's underneath. A review of Window Blinds is available at Extreme Tech. I don't have Window Blinds myself... Sometimes I have to think about whether I really need something before I buy it... Hey, wait a minute. What's "need" have to do with spending money?

Next "must have" item

This is too cool. I got to have it.*

A shower which can tell you how hot the water is by the colored lights.

* Of course, by "I go to have it" means unless I find something actual useful to do with my money.

So I think I'll get the shower head right after getting the cleaning robot:



And by the way, this is pretty cool, too. I gotta have this. (The below loads the entire video before playing. Instead, you can also go here to see the streaming video version.)

I wiki, do you?

One of the newest trends these days are wikis. The most famous is wikipedia available at http://www.wikipedia.org. This is an online encyclopedia where anyone on the Internet can contribute to enhance the information in wikipedia.

In general, wikis are collaboration tools which allow multiple people to edit a document to share information. These documents are presented as web pages. However, knowledge of HTML is not required. Wikis have their own simplified formatting markup language. For example, to make something bold, you simply enter *bold*. To make an ordered list, you simply use the # sound, like:

# bananas
# apples
# oranges

And they will automatically appear as:

1. bananas
   
2. apples
   
3. oranges
   

For those of you who are not familiar with markup languages would wonder why you wouldn't simply number your own lists. Markup languages make for easy modification. For example, if I had a list of 25 numbered items, and then I needed to add a new #1 item, I would have to renumber all the other 25 items... But with a markup language, I simply add a new "# pears" and it will automatically take care of numbering all of the items.

At work, we have already discovered the advantages of wikis and are trying to use them within our project. However, the tools we use are only available within our own company. For personal wikis, there are websites available on the Internet which provide wikis, many of them are free.

One of the available places for free wikis is PBwiki. I haven't yet defined the uses for my own personal wiki, but I am sure I will be taking advantage of this soon. Some of the functional benefits are:

• Easy to use markup language
• Sharing of information
• Automatic versioning of changed information
  

Free acounts are available at PBwiki. Premium accounts are also available for more storage.





Google this! (Please...?)

For some reason, the description from Japanese Tutor "disappears" from Google, so that without any description for the site, of course the site will never be found by anyone searching for a tutor. I can't really find a pattern for when the description disappears and when it comes back.

Google results (previous):

japanese tutor flower mound	japanese class flower mound	japanese language class flower mound	learn japanese flower mound
4. KBCafe Argyle reference		3. Learn101.com reference	25. KBCafe Argyle reference
6. Wink.com reference		97. Wink.com reference
25. Jimrin's Gadget blog
26. Learn101.com reference
33. Blogger profile
38. japanese-tutor.com

Yahoo results:

japanese tutor flower mound	japanese class flower mound	japanese language class flower mound	learn japanese flower mound
1. Japanese Tutor on Comcast
2. Tagbert Grapevine reference
6. KBCafe reference
10. Japanese Tutor in Texas Frappr reference
17. Japanese Tutor in Texas Frappr reference

MSN results:

japanese tutor flower mound	japanese class flower mound	japanese language class flower mound	learn japanese flower mound
1&2. japanese-tutor.blogspot.com	1&2. japanese-tutor.blogspot.com	1&2. japanese-tutor.blogspot.com	1&2. japanese-tutor.blogspot.com
3. Japanese Tutor in Texas on Frappr

I can add URLs to Google or add a sitemap to Google.

Cold, you think?

When I arrived in Vienna on this trip, the highs were in the lower 20s (approximately -6C) with the wind chill must colder. However, it was warm compared to the previous couple of days where the highs did not get out of the single digits!

The Danube was actually frozen over. Well, the hotel is on the Danube and on half the side closest to the hotel, it was frozen over. It looked like the river on the other side was still flowing.

If only I had my camera! I did have my phone which has a camera, but it is quite an old phone and the resolution is not that good. In fact, you have to e-mail pics which are saved on the camera. Ugh! See! I do need a new phone!

On the last couple of days, there was a heat wave... with the highs getting above freezing! And I forgot to bring my swim suit!

All's well that ends well?

Friday was not such a good travel day, but it could have been worse. I normally have to wake up around 4:30 am, so I can leave the hotel around 5:20 am to get to the airport in time for a 7:00 am flight. I actually woke up a few minutes before 4:30 am, and I was trying to think should I try to get a few more minutes or sleep or should I just wake up. I ended up falling asleep, but then I woke up one minute before the alarm clock was supposed to go off... But then I noticed I had not turned the alarm clock on!!! Needless to say, it would have been terrible if I had overslept. I either set the alarm time but forgot to turn the alarm on, or when I previously woke up, I turned the alarm off... Anyway, then my reserved transportation to the airport did not show up... The front desk then called a taxi for me... The taxi then arrived but just as he was pulling out, he was saying there is a 10 euro surcharge for taking me to the airport... What..??? So I had him take me back, and we talked it over with the front desk, and the front desk also agreed this was BS, so they called for another taxi. I then got another taxi, and I ASSUMED he wouldn't be charging me the 10 euro surcharge, but when I got to the airport, he asked for 10 euro more than the meter. Sigh. This guy also took me the long way to the airport, heading into the city instead of taking the most direct route. However, as it turned out, it was not significantly different, and he didn't speak English that well anyway. I asked for his business card but he said he had none. Hmmm...

Even though I didn't get to the airport as early as I wanted, fortunately, there was not a long line at the Swiss counter, so I was able to check-in quickly. In the end, all's well that ends well, but the problem was the transportation was mainly because the transportation desk at the hotel did not set up the transportation properly for me, so I'm sure I'll be giving some feedback to the hotel.

Update: February 28. I finally wrote to the Hilton Vienna Danube to complain about the fact that I did reserve airport transportation and noone showed up. We'll see if they respond.

I must not be having much luck in traveling these days. On my trip to Vienna on February 28, I noticed I was in row 39. I hate being in the back. When I checked in, I told him I know I want to change my seats to something as close to the front as possible. Apparently, he thought I was joking because he did not do anything. When I did ask him again, he basically said that I should check at the gate. Ugh. OK, so I go to the lounge and ask if they can move me closer, and she was able to get me to row 20. At least that is 19 rows better... Anyway, when in Zurich, at the airport lounge there, she noticed they lifted the wrong ticket at Dallas. Instead of lifting the Dallas to Zurich ticket, they lifted the Zurich to Vienna ticket. So now, I did not have a ticket to Vienna anymore. Actually, I was fortunate she noticed because if it would have been discovered at the gate.. Or worse yet, if they would have continued to lift the wrong ticket on the next portion and then discover on my trip back to Dallas that I had no ticket, it would have been a confusing mess. Anyway, this was all caused by the first guy who stapled the boarding pass to the wrong ticket. I think I'll avoid him in the future...

Useful Firefox extensions

There are quite a few Firefox extensions which are extremely useful. Here are a few I use:

Title	Description
Xinha WYSIWYG editor	Provides a WYSIWYG editor to create HTML in any input field. This is useful when editing a wiki or blog which supports HTML but does not provide a WYSIWYG editor. Or even in the case of Blogger which does provide an WYSIWYG view but does not provide table functions, you can use Xinha to create tables.
Internet Explorer Link	If you need to view specific web pages in Internet Explorer, this extension will provide a right-click context menu to open the link in Internet Explorer. The alternative is to copy the link, open Internet Explorer, and then paste the link in the address field.
Firefox Keyword	Not a Firefox extension, but I use this function of Firefox a lot. If you right-click on an input field, you can define a keyword for that field. Then in the address field, you can type the keyword name plus the data you would like to put in the input field which corresponds to that field. As an example, I can create a keyword "google" for the Google search input field. Then if I type "google search-term" in the address field, it will automatically behave as if I had gone to http://www.google.com and entered the search term in the input field and pressed Enter.

By the way, in case of using Xinha for creating tables for my blog, I have my Blogger setting to automatically assume a line break for each new line, and Xinha tries to make the HTML look nice in tables, but Blogger interprets the nice formatting as extra line breaks, so after creating the table, I've had to delete all the excess line breaks.

Let there be light!

We recently bought the Sentina Smart Rechargeable LED light. It serves as both a nightlight and a flashlight, and both have auto-settings. For the nightlight, the auto setting will automatically turn the nightlight on when it gets dark. For the flashnight, the auto setting will automatically turn the flashlight part of the light on upon motion detection. It seems to work perfectly in our bedroom so that the light automatically turns on when we have to make a trip in the middle of the night to the bathroom. It is also supposed to automatically turn on in case the power goes out. I have not tried thi function yet, but perhaps it is the same as the auto nightlight function.

Give me my MP3 player, part 2

Since I bought Kyoko an MP3 player, I thought it would be nice if she could play it in the car. Of course there are car stereos now which have a connection available for your MP3 player, but a new car stereo can be a little pricey... But for $34.99, I can get a FM modulator which will play it over FM frequency so it can be heard on the car radio. The one I thought was the best was VR3 VFM8, which I found on SkyMall. It also has the capability that you can plug in USB flash drive to play mp3 files on the flash memory. Therefore the FM modulator itself also has play buttons. One advantage of this unit over its previous version is this unit can be songs in random order.

Update: On February 25, we finally got a chance to try it out... A little bit disappointing, mainly because we had to crank the radio about 3x higher plus put the volume on the mp3 higher to get it a fairly audible level. Perhaps most FM transmitters/modulators are like this. I mean, it would be a bit of a bummer if you're driving down the road and then you're listening to someone else's mp3 files, too. Also since you are not supposed to start the car within it plugged into the 12v outlet, then it's a bit of an inconvenience at times. I would be interested to see if the volume is any better when using a flash drive, but I don't have one off hand. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Anyway, it is still useful for long trips.

Do I look like I need a job?

An interesting thing happened on my way back to Dallas from Ft. Lauderdale.

While at the airport, I thought I would get something to drink from the restaurant/cafeteria. I got a bottle of coke and went to the cashier. Someone else went to the counter about the same instance to buy some coffee. She looked at me and asked me if I was going to Chicago. I told her that I am from Illinois but I am going to Dallas. Then she either asked "Would you like a job?" or "Are you looking for a job?" I think it was the former rather than the latter, but I don't remember exactly. And then she added "We're hiring." I am not really looking for a job, but it's always good to have opportunities available. Anyway, I gave her my number, and she said she would call. (She hasn't yet.) But I don't even know what kind of job it is for... Perhaps she works for a clown agency and they are looking for clowns...? Actually, she dressed very sharply. In fact, she reminded me of Eva Mendes. Maybe it was Eva Mendes and they are looking for new actors! I heard short actors are needed! That is, they are in short supply... Or was that in short demand? Too bad Eva is not as cute as Kyokorin, though!

And speaking of brushes with celebrities... On the flight back from Zurich to Dallas on December 22, I was fortunate enough to be able to get an upgrade to business class. On the flight, I didn't talk much to the guy next to me on the flight, but when we were landing, then we started to talk a little bit. He asked me if I got a look at the guy two rows up... He said that he thought he looked like Jack Nicholson. Since we were landing, I couldn't get up from my seat, but when we arrived at the gate, the guy was wearing black and wearing a black knit cap. He turned around when he got up from his seat and I must say, he looked a bit like Jack Nicholson. He looked a bit older, but on the other hand, don't we all... Anyway, when we deplaned, he was able to get off the plane before me, but while walking to immigration, I took the stairs up which is actually faster than the escalators when you take two steps at a time, so I was able to get near the front of the crowd which deplaned. However, I saw no sign of our Jack look-a-like. When we got to immigration, I did not see any sign of him. And in baggage claim as well, I did not see him. I then ran into the guy who was next to me on the plane, and he said he noticed they wheeled him off in a wheelchair. On the plane, he did not look like a guy who would need a wheelchair. Anyway, seems pretty suspicious to me. If only I had my camera with me... See! I need a new phone which has a camera on it. (Well, actually I already do, but I need a better one!)

Latest technology in chopsticks

Just so that you do not miss out, here is the latest technology in chopsticks!
However, since it is known that some Americans really like to pour on the soy sauce when eating sushi, a modified version is coming out with a 300 ml (approximately 12 ounces) reservoir at the end.

I don't know about you, but I just love the idea of taking out something which has been in my hair and eating with it... And then putting it back in my hair.

Spurled Kyoko's bookmarks

As mentioned previously, using bookmarks stored on the Internet, also known as social bookmarks, provides the following advantages:

• Gives you access to your bookmarks from any computer.
• Allows you to store new bookmarks from any computer.
• Allow you to tag your bookmarks, making it easier to find them.
  
• Allows you to see bookmarks of other people who have similar interests. Perhaps they have found some sites which you would find interesting as well.

Although there are some problems (ie, bugs) with Spurl, with its sidebar and flexibility in categorization, it seems to be the best choice (although I do have problems with it from within the IBM network in Vienna). Anyhow, before getting Kyoko to use Spurl, it would be ideal to move her current bookmarks to Spurl first. However, when trying to upload her bookmarks to Spurl, it did not recognize the fact that the characters in the bookmarks were Japanese characters and then it ended up being garbage. I tried upload to del.icio.us but with roughly the same result. However, with Spurl, it just completely ignored the text or after importing the garbage text from del.icio.us, replaced the text with "BADSTRING". At least in del.icio.us, it still kept the string in tact, even though it did not know how to display the string. Therefore, when I changed the encoding to Shift_JIS, it was able to display Japanese. I was then able to copy the text, edit the bookmark, and paste the text. This time, when pasting, Windows/Internet Explorer knew to paste the Unicode version of the text., and voila, I had Japanese text. I had to do this manually for all her bookmarks, but it is better than retyping! Then I imported these bookmarks into Spurl, and Spurl was able to preserve the Japanese characters.