Jasmine and Will Wedding

An old friend, Jasmine who I've met back in 2000 got married in Taichung with a real estate agent Will
My first professional photography day, although I'm not the main photographer, I've shot 17GB of Raw photos which is roughly 1100 photos..

Trustworthy!?!

From Joe do therefore Joe thinks

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site launched in May 2003 mainly used for professional networking.

My current boss found me on Linkedin, and added me to his network saying "Since you are a person I trust" in the invitation, I was shocked, because I've listed 3 of my present jobs and resume on it. He knows I was doing other stuff other than my full time job as a bioinformatics engineer but since I am such a proactive worker. I can always finished my tasks on time and ahead of schedule. My boss have no problem with me doing other stuff. I'm sort of think that he actually encourage me to do so. Where can you find a better boss than him?

Things Never Buy NEW

1. Pets
2. Console Games
3. Office Furniture
4. Sports Goods
5. CD and DVDs
6. Cars
7. Toys
8. Jewelry

Cagic II

What I've learned from Tom, Tom is a sophisticated guy, he is way more sensitive about a lot of things than a lot of American, I've ever met.
Tom is also a good photographer maybe that explains why he is sensitive to his surroundings.

1. Tom started his own company because he wants a break from Corporate America therefore he became a Life Style Entrepreneur working for himself.
2. Don't burn bridges, because of Tom's networking skills he got very many co-workers from AOL comes back and hire him for jobs, so having good networking is definitely important!
3. User interface is very important..
4. Tom wishes that he didn't worry money too much when he was young, because he could have traveled a lot of places and had a lot of fun in the college.

Interview with FalconStor Taiwan (APEC HQ)

When I first got the email from Falcon, I didn't really know who they are, until one day I was looking at their company website, and notice IBM bought the company and they do a lot of business with IBM, immediately I get on 104 to apply for the job again (they invited me to go for interview, but I didn't answer their call or reply their invitation)

background on FalconStor, they are the Forbes Magazine 5th out of 25 fastest growing company in U.S. which is like hugely sucessful and they sell storage software and hardware..

so my job description is talking to all the pissed off customers, I meant the technical support for all of Asia and off hours in North America.. it sounds like a tough job and it's very stressful...

so in the interview process, the manager came in and talking to me.. oh boy isn't she hot? and tall? she on her high heels is probably 182cm..
she was chatting with me asked me to talk about myself in Chinese, then all of sudden she wanted me say exactly what I was saying in English..
lol it's like a piece of cake..
so we starting to have English conversation about me and the job..
It went well, I sort of enlightened her with the "Cloud Computing", that I was surprised she didn't know what I was saying..
Anything it went well, 2 days later I got the offer which is 30% more than what I was making, but I rejected them..
because I got a lot better offers coming in..

瓊文婚禮

What I've remember of her still stays at potlucks in forest hall and professor Don's place. It's her wedding date... her fiance is a PHD student major in Material at University of Florida, and they are going back to FL 2 weeks afterward, I think 瓊文 is going to be very 幸福

Interview at Yahoo! Kimo

At first, Yahoo Kimo called me and made an appointment on Wednesday June 18th at 1900, but the human resource guy was sick and did not tell anyone that i was coming, so they missed me for that appointment, so the next day i emailed and called the HR guy and we have an appointment on Friday the 20th.

This time I took the Taiwan High Speed Railway and MRT to Taipei for the interview, because I was just sick of driving. It was quite fast and convenient.

So I call the manager's cell phone and went directly into the meeting room and then he starts to ask me questions, but I thought there were suppose to be some tests I need to take, but anyway....

So he starts to ask me some random questions about my resume, programming, and anti-spam questions, he had me draw some diagram explaining what's DomainKeys, SPF, Python Scripts, and trouble shooting techniques I will do when I encounter troubles in linux administration. Shell Scripting, Hash Tables, Sorting etc..
I think I did well and honest. Stuff other than Hash table and sorting I could not answer, but I do heard of them.. Well It was quite a brain storming, because I felt brain dead afterward...

Firefox 3 Released

As of now Firefox 3 has been downloaded 7569070, and it hasn't been out for more than 24 hours yet.

Firefox has been my primary Application of Choice, and why firefox is so great, You can Google it :>
Why I like it? Gosh! the Addon Capabilities is just Amazing, I think one day firefox will Act as a Operating System on it's own, Flash Plays, Video, Music and All kinds of Fun Graphics Stuff
Ajax is Application, that do all the Java Capable
Tab Browsing, GreaseMonkey, StumbleUpOn, Quick TransLation, Adblock Plus, CustomizeGoogle, Video Download Helper, DownThemAll, FastDail, IE Tab, WebDeveloper, FireBug, ForecastFox,

Jhongli Night Cyclists

Although there are already a group of night cyclist in Jhongli riding around 7:30pm on Tuesday and Thursdays, but it's too early at Night sometimes, I am just not able to join them.. plus they are already a very close group of people, new comers are hard to get closed to them unless you are a girl.
so when someone was gathering another group of Night Rider near the McDonald at 10:00pm I was very excited to join them..
It's our first night out..

580 EX II

佳明was the guy who pushed me into the DSLR $$$$$$ Black Hole
He was kind enough to lend me his "Flash" for 秀子's Wedding

朝馨.秀子.Wedding

秀子is my one and only High School friend that I still in touch with...
When I first met her in Taiwan was right after my interview with Phalanx...
We met at Fridays, and she then told me that she is getting married.
I offered to take pictures for her at her wedding.

Rent Estate

Our House Parking, Elevator, and 1st Floor Front Door Rent to a Air Conditioner Warehouse For A Very Cheap Price 70,000 a Month. I Am Not Very Happy About It, Because It Affect Our Company's Work Flow

My First Wedding Photography

建良后儀婚禮

Heavy Raining Traffic Pile Ups!

Monday and Heavy Rain just Don't Mix!
Today on the way to work I saw a 3 cars traffic pile up.

On the way home I saw another 3...

and a very nice Audi Q7 SUV on the Trailer, Some rich people just think that they got a SUV and they can drive anyway the wanted in the rain, but they forgot that they suck at "DRIVING".

Cagic

What Have I Learned From Bill?
1. Vizio Case Study
2. Ability to See How Apple Success, AOL's Recipe for Success in the Early 2000 and Late 90s = Simplicity
3. Functionality Doesn't Mean Everything, User Interface & Design is Everything
4. Walt Mossberg's Influence in Technology
5. Never Tell Engineers That They Are Speedy and Doing a Good Job
6. See What's Out There, Don't Just Work & Work
7. Work For a Consulting Company While in Business School
8. Work For a Big Name Company At Least For Once To See The Level Of Detail People Do.
9. I'll Work 24/7 For My Own Company

Quan-Yin Beach

Sucks to Be Him

I commute everyday to work from Jhongli -> Hsin-Chu Science Park. Usually it takes me about 35 minutes with traffic included, but of course there are exceptions!!
Like Rainy Days, Cars Generally Goes Slow on Highways..

And another one is Car Crashes or Accidents
Such as This

Dinner at Duck Shui

12 things i learned by 42 that i wish i knew at 22

good thing I'm still at 26 XD

12 things i learned by 42 that i wish i knew at 22

Posted by Ron

January 30, 2008

My, how time flies. Seems just like yesterday that I was a 12 year old kid, going for long bike rides in Sherwood Forrest, the subdivision just around the corner from where I lived. Playing with William, Edward, and my little brother, climbing in the tree house, looking forward to Brent coming over to visit. Those were all good times and my only dread was finding out that we were having liver for supper.

By the time I was 22, I knew who I wanted to marry, was in the process of quitting college, going into debt, and thought that I would be a millionaire by the time I was 30 because I was so smart. Hey, it might take me until 35, but that was the top end. In reality, I was quite ignorant.

If I could go back in time, here are a few items I would tell my 22 year old self.

1. Stay in school. Don’t quit. Sure you’re bored now, but wait until you’re in a dead end job that you can’t stand but you’re afraid to lose. Getting finished with your degree will open up many more opportunities than you realize. I always wanted to go to law school, but without that sheepskin, I didn’t have a chance of even being considered. The lesson learned here is finish what you start by throwing yourself into it fully. Treat your college experience as if it were a job. Arrive on time, do your homework, study, and treat your learning process as if you were at a real job.

2. Money doesn’t spoil, it keeps. Start investing early. How much stuff do you have to show for the money you made in high school and college? If I had invested half of what I made during those years in a plain old, broad based mutual fund, I would have well over $192,000 with no other investments made since then. I’m still kicking myself. Invest early.

3. Don’t buy the first house you look at. Buy the cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood. No, I didn’t actually do this, but it was close. We were so excited to be approved for a loan, having just come out of Consumer Credit Counseling Services that we jumped at the first house we found that met our minimum requirements. I still love that house today, but I wish we had gotten a better inspection, had looked into building, or had found a way to buy a house that was closer to work and school. The lesson learned, don’t be desperate with a large purchase.

4. Establish the habit of living within a budget. Could anything be more important to insure you are living below your means? I tried on several occasions but I was never as faithful to this ideal as I should have been. Today, I make a salary high enough that a budget is a “yeah, we really ought to do that” kind of thing. My goal is to get that done. If I could do it over I would get myself in this habit at the earliest possible age. The lesson learned: budgeting is a freeing process, not a limiting one. If I had lived on a budget, I could have circumvented many painful events.

5. Learn how to negotiate a better deal on everything. Having read several books on negotiation just a little too late, I’ve recognized how I was duped by many people, mostly used car sales people. I wrote a review on Secrets of Power Negotiating that you can read here. Learning these skills would have saved me thousands. The lesson learned: prepare by educating yourself and always be willing to walk away.

6. Keep your medical insurance in force at all times. Several years ago, I quit one job and took another that didn’t offer medical insurance until you had been there for 90 days. You guessed it, my wife had to have emergency surgery at 89 days. True story. 89 days. Do you think the insurance company cared? I’ll let you guess. Thankfully, we were at St. Vincent’s Hospital and they had mercy on us. The business manager told me (after looking over my financial situation) that someone paid our bill. I still get choked up thinking about it all these years later. It took us years to pay off the doctor and anesthesia bills, though. If I had just kept my coverage in effect for a little while longer. The obvious lesson: keep that insurance in effect. It is cheaper than the medical bills.

7. It’s quality of time at work, but quantity of time at home that matters. Your boss really doesn’t care whether you have a family or not. Trust me. Unless you work for family members who DO understand that you need to pick the kids up early, or that you DO need to spend some time with your spouse, you are just a replaceable cog in the machine. When people are trying to grow a business, your need for personal time is secondary, so is the quality of your marital and family relationships. Just remember that when you’re old, sitting in a chair at the nursing home with a blanket on your lap and eating mush, you won’t regret that you didn’t get to spend more time at the office. The lesson learned: family will be there after the job is long gone. Value and treasure them.

8. Don’t listen to those who think there is a shortcut to wealth. NEW FLASH: there is no shortcut. Might as well get that out of your 22 year old head right now. Wealth is created when you provide something interesting, unique and valuable to people who demand it. Until then, you will be trading hours for dollars and you’ll always think you’re underpaid. “Find a need and fill it” is the old mantra and it is still quoted because it’s true. In today’s world it should read “Create a need that only you can fill.” Then you’ll be on your way to wealth. The lesson learned: figure out where there are unmet needs and figure out a way to fill those needs.

8a. Stay far, far away from any Multi Level Marketing “business” that requires you to sponsor new distributors. They are all scams. You are not “CEO of your own distribution network”–you are a commission-based salesperson relying on the liquidation of your social capital (i.e. alienating your friends and family) to make any money at all…and 99.5% of people in MLM’s lose money, as has been shown again and again in numerous studies. The only profit you can ever make is by turning what would be called “customers” into “distributors” and then taking the money from the 99.995% that lose money in the organization and giving it to the 0.005% at the top (the people who started the whole “business” in the first place). Stay away!

9. Make sure your spouse’s values line up with your own. This one step can single handedly determine your level of happiness more than just about any other. Scary isn’t it? If everything seems so right, yet he or she thinks credit should be used at will (and you don’t) or thinks that home schooled kids are strange (and you want your children to be home schooled), you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. Work these things out before you say “I do.” They say love is grand . . . and divorce is 50 grand. The lesson learned: talk to your spouse or potential spouse about what is important to you and the values you think should be taught to your children, even if you don’t plan on having children.

10. Learn how to network. Learn to stay in touch with old friends from high school and college. Learn the skill of asking for help without seeming to be asking for help. Watch how others network. Remember it’s not what you know, it’s not even who you know, it’s how you USE what you know and who you know. One step further, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows YOU. Get in the practice of networking without expecting anything in return. Make sure you don’t come across as a brown nosing leech who is always trying to get an angle, but stay in touch with people. You never know who you may be able to help. The lesson learned: stay in touch and make sure you come across as helpful rather than helpless.

11. Never accept a job just because the pay is higher. Life is more than money. There’s a reason they’re offering you more. Yes it may be that you’re the most qualified. It may be that you have the most experience and the most education. It may be that no one can stand to work for that particular department head and a high salary is the only way to fill the position. Always ask where the person who last held the position is working now. Ask to speak with them, but always do it away from the office. People will give you more information outside of the office than inside. Inside the office, they’re committing treason, outside, hey - they’re just chatting with a friend. The lesson learned: Get the full scoop before jumping out of a frying pan into the fire.

12. Trust, but verify. You can’t believe everything you hear, read, or were taught as a kid. You should always check references, ask probing questions, search out answers, and find ways to learn more about what you’re being told. This is a catch all but it is important. The world is full of schemers who are just waiting to take you for a ride. Don’t become cynical, but verify everything you can. The lesson learned: make sure you know who it is you’re dealing with and what their motives may be.

Learn who you are and what motivates you. Learn what motivates your spouse and children. Learn what motivates your friends. Learn what motivates your co-workers, your boss, and your boss’s boss. Never stop learning, never stop growing. By the time you reach 42, kid, you’ll be a millionaire!

What would you tell yourself if you could go back twenty years?

$$$$

Sometimes When I have good Information, I just want to share it. Then Some People Go: "That's Rich People's Stuff"".
Disappointment raised, I don't know if it's my perception to people, that I am rich? because I am a SEMI-ABC? I've been in the States for 9 Years?

Here is the scenario
One of them is going over sea, so I tried to suggest him to get a DSLR, because I saw this guy's photography and he is going to the same place he does.
http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=248&t=595469
When I saw his photography, I said to myself as a world traveler, I wish I would've got into DSLR earlier..
so my suggestion to him is to spend around 40,000NT to get the CANON 450D kit with 18-55 IS and 55-250 Lens

but he just turned me down like that's rich man's stuff, didn't even want to hear what I have to say..

Scenario 2
I recommended on getting a PDA phone which is so convenient, it's almost like having a personal PC, and I've showed them how great it works and all the functionalities then they go: he is rich let's no talk to him, he is beyond our level.

Scenario 3
Someone is buying a bicycle, so I share my experiences about Bicycles, then recommend to spend more than 10,00 0 NT on their bike, because it's for leisure and fitness. well same thing happens.. RICH GUY you are!.
SHIT! he makes more money than me and I wasn't even trying to show off, I just wanna share information I know..
It turns out he bought a bike that cost 17,000NT.
Scenario 4
my thinkpad? the cheapest computer you can get at the Computer Trade Show in Taiwan. It comes with magnesium Body, IBM Keyboard, 2GB ram, 3 Year warranty, Dual Cores, for 25,000 NT. They go: let's ride the scooter over it see if the magnesium laptop will break.. and said wow that's rich man's stuff =="

and what do they use?
a Apple Mac Powerbook 70,000 NT?, and a BenQ Laptop that's more expensive than my thinkpad.

I know they like to joke about me being a rich kid, but stuff I buy all comes out from my Own Pocket. and maintaining a 10,000NT Monthly Saving...

Going To Work

It Sucks! to be almost late to work and then Found Out Someone Drained all your Gas Over the Weekend, and didn't "PUMP IT BACKUP"


And it's Raining, I made it to work around 9:50am :X Damn Traffics

..::Hana Flower::..