My Dad

I want to thank everyone for the out pour of kind words and expressions of condolence. It was an unexpected and saddening event but the family is holding up good with the support of the many friends and family members.

A lot has been said about my dad in the past few weeks (by ways of different media from many different people), most related to his dedication to his profession, his creativity and drive for perfection complimented by his special gift in doing what he did, the contributions he had made to the field and his willingness to mentor budding coworkers; all in all, his amazing charisma and astonishing ability to mingle with just about anybody, brightening their lives with humorous and inspiring words.

But there is another side of my dad that I want to share with you.

The truth is, my dad was a down to earth person, not unlike any regular couch purging family man who habitually drums his oversized belly while snacking and TV’ing after dinner (you know). Fond of food, he demanded varieties and volume on the dinning table, (poor mom had her hands full!) and always preferred extra company around the table, no occasion needed.

But what's unique was his ability to create sweet memories. When I was little he worked Sunday and had Friday off, which he would spend with me. He insisted on shampooing me first (the reasoning still escapes me, I guess he just enjoyed it) after I got back from school and had finished lunch, and then laid me down next to him on my parents bed for a peace afternoon nap.

Our days spent at the beach in the summer were memorable as well. He would carry me on his shoulder when the family ventured into the water and as the waves came roaring (or so it seemed) he would lift me up clear of the splash. In his hands I was always safe from any "devastation".

Dad joked with us kids like friends when we grew older. The 3 minute work day joke ("Dad, you only work 3 minutes a day.") you might have read in the newspaper is true. But I'll let you into a secret, it actually took him years to come up with a come back! (It’s a 10 hour work day, only that I reserve the best 3 for show!) He would also from time to time challenge us with analytical questions of current affairs at the dinning table; we failed miserably most of the time but we learned in the process. That's his version of bringing work home I guess.

Dad had managed to surround himself with friends who have great respect for him, because he was a generous and compassionate person filled with a sense of justice and fearless of authority and danger. I've witnessed it myself on many occasions. Last year at a restaurant in Singapore, an old frail man bussing tables was bullied by a local (whose complain was "he made too much noise"). Indignant at the situation, my dad furiously slammed his palm on the table, stood up and defended the old man by scaring off the bully with loud and unforgiving words. Mom and I panicked and tried frantically to calm him down. I told him not to make a scene, but deep inside, I was so proud of him; I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

People feel funny that I never bragged about my relationship with this celebrity in town. (“I didn’t know you’re his son.” came up a number of times after the news broke.) The truth is, it didn't matter to me he was an idol of many who absolutely adored him, or an innovative pioneer in sports news reporting, knowledgeable, humorous or what not. I love my dad dearly because he was a dedicated father who loved me and provided me with everything I needed, and more. I have great respect for him because he was a just person who never hesitated to stand up for the meek. I am proud of him because he was a moral and honest person who taught me right from wrong with his words and actions; and because of that I can be proud of myself.

But then of course there are regrets on my part. At the night before his passage, a seemingly unending stream of friends filed through the ICU checkpoint, and that was supposedly just the inner circle. We knew he was popular but were quite surprised he was that popular. Having lived apart from my parents for a while, it was only until after reading the many comments on the blog when I realized my dad's addiction to McCafe. All of a sudden every little detail about him became so much more savorable, especially when we were flipping through old albums. I wish I had spent more time with him, more phone calls or emails perhaps.

And that reminded me of my brother's grievance: "Why would such a good person be taken from us so soon." Death is a necessary part of the life cycle on this earth. Losing our love ones is an inevitable eventuality we all know about but so often choose to deny. Everyday we choose to focus on ourselves and brush everything else off for "later". Departure of a love one, though crippling, may very well be God's benevolent reminder of our own mortality; the necessity to not take anything for granted but treasure every second we have with the people around us.

Thanks for your kind words

I am grateful for the out pour of kind words and thoughts from all of you. The family is holding up good. Thank you so much.

Picture of a clock

The mood at the Plano, Texas train station that winter morning was bleak. The dim sun hid behind murky clouds and the bare madrone branches were still in the chilling bleeze. I was on a green cast iron bench minding my own business when the old frail man in a cow-boy hat next to me dropped his cell phone on the floor and collapsed in tears.

"You okay?" I rushed over to hold him.

"My son, he was here earlier this morning, I should have been here..." he did not make much sense in his choking voice.

"I'm sure he'll come by again, you want me to call him for you or something?" I offered, while slowly I helped him up and sat him down on the bench.

"Thank you," he shoke his head, still sobbing, "no, he died last week..." As weird as that sounded, I kept quiet, but he noticed the confusion on my face and tried to explain, "This is my son's phone...." but then went on to mumble a few more things that I couldn't make out.

"This picture, in the phone, I kept the phone next to my bed last night. His spirit took the picture..." he muttered as he cowered and broke down in tears uncontrollably again.

Meanwhile the station manager walked up to us. I tried to explain the situation but she already knew - turned out this old man was the station chief, she told me that he was there waiting for his son's girl friend coming home on the next train. The girlfriend didn't know, he was going to break the bad news.

She sat down, picked the phone up and told me to hang on to it while she consoled the chief. I looked at the phone and saw a picture of the station clock, it showed today's date at 1am. If the phone was by his bed side last night, this picture must have been taken last year I thought.

But this is a brand new station completed the past summer, there was no last year.

Could he be telling the truth or was that just some kind of mental break down? It became more disturbing the more I thought about it. The picture was taken before the clock was operational? Photoshop? I produced a number of scnenarios in my head, but none made sense. The man's son died, I couldn't imagine him playing a prank on that.

"Mr. Cohen? Is everything okay?" A young girl showed up with a trolley tote meanwhile. She took a glance at the cell phone in my hands, obviosuly recognized to whom it belonged, looked up to me for a second and turned away without a word.

"Where's Pete? I'm sorry, I took an earlier train and arrived last night. I didn't want to wake him so I sent him an SMS. Anyway, you okay?" She knelt in front of the chief inquiring.

"SMS." I thought to myself. "She must have taken that clock picture last night wandering around the station and sent it to his boyfriend's phone, there's no paranormal." How silly. But I still feel bad for the old man.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Author of more than 100 books, science fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke was the first to come up with the notion of communication satellites. One of his most famous works, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was written simulataneously as a novel and a screenplay that bore the same name. The revered 1968 film (directed by Stanley Kubrick) had inspired millions and attracted a cult following. Knighted in 1998, he had lived in Sri Lanka since 1956.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was 90 years old.

Twenty-five? That's it?

According to Propel, its competitor's product contains 125 calories, you need

• 492 sit-ups, or
  
• power walk 2640 steps, or
  
• 995 jumps

to burn that off. Porpel, has only 25 calories.

"Twenty five? That's it?" the woman says at the end?

What an idiot. Does she even know she plays an idiot in the commercial?

Cause that's 1/5 of what Propel's competitor has, you'll need

• 99 sit-ups, or
• power walk 528 steps, or
• 199 jumps

to burn that off. And by the time you're done with those, you'll probably have poured down another bottle. You willing to do that?

Obama turban picture, foul!

Take a causal look at the supporter base of Obama - a mostly younger and more progressive crowd. If there are people who won't be swayed by a picture of someone in a traditional costume, they'd be the Obama crowd; and the Clinton camp knows that.

So what on earth? Does anybody really believe that the Clinton camp is stupid enough to use that as an attack?? The motive behind the Drudge Report is quite questionable. I smell foul.

Retrieving encryption key from memory

Researchers from Princeton University have developed a technique to defeat disk encryption (vaults) on hard disks - by retriving the encryption keys from memory. The idea is, an attacker, after gaining physical access of the hardware, can pull the RAM out and scan it for encryption keys.

While I am impressed by them being able to figure out where in memory is that supposedly random encryption key, retrieving data from RAM doesn't sound like a break through to me. They talk about freezing the memory chip so as to slow down data decay... well, how about sustaining it by powering it up with an external power source instead. Besides, they claim that the data will disappear after 10 minutes after power down - that doesn't sound like a lot of time between me forgetting my laptop and the attacker picking it up, running over to a hidden room, pry open the casing, grab the can of compressed air, pull the chip, somehow get to another computer that has the memory scanning software.

The most suprising part is, they couldn't get themselves a female narrator (notice they've resorted to a computer voice). What a bunch of nerds. I wonder if their lab is in the basement.

Password Safe for Windows Mobile

I've come across alot of people who claim their PDAs/cell phones hold their entire lives - all their contacts, schedules, etc. I don't have alot of contacts and I don't have any schedule to keep but some years ago I did experiment with carrying everything on my USB key chain (and later my iPod Shuffle) - music, contacts, and passwords. For passwords, I used Password Safe, originally developed at Counterpane, Bruce "All Mighty" Schneier's company (later acquired by BP I believe). When it comes to storing passwords, I like to put my trusts in people who really know how to hide secrets. I have my password data file as well as Password Safe installer in the USB key.

It didn't really work too well, the carrying around business that is, mainly because the USB key (and the iPod Shuffle) is too bulky to carry around all the time. A wallet, keys and occasionally a watch, that's it for me; that is, until I started carrying a cell phone around.

My car pool buddy Eddie swears he would never want to carry a computer phone with him but at the risk of sounding too geeky, I love it. With a pair of ear phones plugged in I carry not only music and contacts but videos and podcasts (that get me through those lonely time, be it on the can or what not) and books too (PDFs with too many graphics don't work too well, but text only stuff are great) in the phone. Tai Chi tutorial video is next.

That still leaves passwords. My phone can transfer via infra red and blue tooth but most desktops don't have those; and I am not about to carry a USB cord with me all the time. So I started scrambling for something that not only stores passwords but also let me view them on my phone.

At first, KeePass looked very promising. There is a PocketPC version and a Windows version. But I am very used to Password Safe and don't know want to switch because I don't know how well it will perform. Besides, it doesn't import from Password Safe very well.

Later I found out there is a Password Safe for PocketPC on SourceForge. It didn't show before because it was based off version 1.9 (an older version). I loaded it up, fired up Embedded Visual C++ and got it compiled and running. I simply exported my current password data file as 1.x format and loaded it on the phone, everything just worked beautifully.



A password protection program is something you don't want to just download and run (if you can help it). You want to be able to examine the source code and make sure there isn't anything funky in there, and compile it yourself. I am thankful that Microsoft made Embedded Visual C++ a free download and folks who worked on Password Safe made the source available.

I am also sorry for people who use those fruity (metaphorically) phones that they can't compile and load their own programs (okay, latest news is that a certain fruity phone will finally have its SDK published, we'll see). I wonder if they have the equivalent of KeyChain on the iPhone.