Peter Petrelli's scar II

I am disappointed at tonight's episode. It's not as exicting, and too much verbal explanations, like Nathan (Sylar)'s recap of what happened in the last five years to Suresh; gosh, he knew and lived through it! Where are all the visual story telling I've been enjoying and looking forward to!!! It's starting to suck, too ambitious, a bit predictable and too made up (Parkman the FBI chief? The Haitian working for the government??) I mean, I don't know man.

The future Hiro speaks English and wears contact lenses

Still look forward to finding out how Peter got his scar though, not from Sylar's beam apparently, more like a left handed katana slash (Hiro is right handed?), but how could it have not regenerated??

The idiocy of energy efficient appliance rebate

Today I got in the mail a rebate book from PG&E, the local utility company - money back for purchasing energy efficient appliances, such as room air conditioners. According to the data provided on the coupon, an energy star room air conditioner can save up to $18/yr or up to 57 lbs of CO₂ per year. That sounds very good. And consider I live in an area where summer day can rise over 100^oF, and that a central air conditioner in an average house can easily run you $150-$200 extra in the utility bill, so that's, based on the calculation above, at least 475lbs of CO₂ per year that I have not contributed by not having an air conditioner, sweating year over year! Now where is my rebate?! I am upset! That while I am not producing greenhouse gas, I am penalized (where do you think the funds come from?). Just like tax breaks for mortgage payments - the haves nowadays take out a mortgage because of the write off, even when they have the money to buy out the property outright, and invest elsewhere to make more money, leaving the havenots who can't afford a house to make up the budget gap.

Disgusting, what else can I say.

So much for saving the earth, my utility company is providing a $50 incentive for me to buy an air conditioner that I don't have that is not contributing to global warming.

Idol gives back night

I don't know what the heck happened tonight, I only watched half of it. But it is becoming clear that it's gonna be between Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks. Chris has the look and Jordin has the talent.

Boy, ain't I gonna embarrass myself by admitting that I actually like seeing Sanjaya

I wish Chris Sligh and Gina Glocksen could be voted back on the show. And gosh, what's with Rascal Flatts' performance, mixer malfunction??

Peter Petrelli's scar

Remember Peter Petrelli met the future Hiro in the New York subway? Hiro mentioned that he almost didn't recognize Peter without his scar. Is that the scar he gets from Sylar's beam?

Milo Ventimiglia plays Peter Petrelli in NBC's Heroes

I've been am looking forward to tomorrow's show for... well, since the last show. I like The King of Queens, and I've been following 24; I know Global in Canada shows Heroes on Sunday night, but I refuse to read the recap people put on the web. Boy, so many to watch, so few VCRs...

Farewell to my ancient 14"

Last month I finally broke down and bought an LCD monitor (that'd be another blog post). For more than 8 years since I got my Viewsonic 17" CRT monitor, my mother has been nagging constantly about me keeping my old KFC 14" super VGA in the garage. It's boxed up and tucked away at a quiet corner but still she couldn't stand knowing its presence psychologically. Yesterday was company eWaste recycle day, it's finally time to throw it out.

My ancient 14" KFC in the living room. With .25 dot pitch it wasn't bad in its time.

I got the monitor as a bundle with a PC. I can't say this is a good monitor cause it broke twice and cost me a fortune to fix. Nonetheless it has accompanied me through college. So many cold lonely nights I had spent programming away under the dim illumination from a brown task light clipped onto my brown folding table where that monitor was set. It was tough, those quiet late nights would seem to last forever, yet in an ironic twisted way so sweet and memorable. While figuring out how to implement a radix sort in parallel or make that tail recursion a for loop, sometimes I'd indulge myself with an entire 12oz bag of Lay's (KC Masterpiece BBQ), or put on a Star Trek TNG rerun on my 13" Samsung (it was enough to just listen to the conversations, I've seen them all); other times I'd just stare at the screen saver in search for inspiration, in vain of course. It is strange that my memories of college years are of computer peripherals instead of beer and parties; guess that's what makes me the person I am today.

eWaste collection took place at the parking lot close the building where I used to work at. I needed to fill out a form - California recycle regulations I suspect - then pull up to next to some pallets where a guy with work gloves picked it up from my trunk.


He quickly shied away when the camera came out of its case; in contrast, the rest of the crew ran up and posed for me.

Compared to the rest, my monitor looks so tiny.

I am not sure what will happen to my monitor, but it felt like a happy ending.

Cho Seung-Hui's plays

Shooter in the Virginia Tech shootings had purportedly written two plays that involve scenes of violence that would have served as a warning sign to the incident. The professor of the writing class allegedly was so concerned she actually referred the plays to school authorities. The plays were posted on AOL and I finally got a chance to read it. I am not a professional but I am not convinced that this is a display of violent inclination and personal issues.

It is not violent: The most "violent" scenes in the plays involve a boy throwing darts at his step father's picture wishing him dead, and three students cursing their teacher. But let us be real, consider the author was a college senior and given the gruesome scenes shown in the media these days, this is relatively mild - it doesn't compare to screen plays like Saw (2004).

It is not venting: The incoherent excessive name calling was interpreted as the manifestation of the shooter's state of mind, but that kind of behavior was also inline with the adolescent nature of the characters. The lack of such conduct in the adult characters (the casino guard, the parents, etc) seemed to show that the cursing was just part of the story. I doubt the idea was to express hatred through his writings, because he certainly could not have gotten any satisfaction out of it - John did not actually kill his stepfather, the three kids did not really watch their teachers bleed to death, like they wished so. In fact the three kids were con'ed out of millions by Mr. Brownhill.

It could not have been a sign: I think the plays have been played out of proportion. These writings alone could not have indicated anything. I think it is hind sight talking.

The incident is a true tragedy though. The families, the teaching staff and the students, including the shooter, they are all victims. Innocent people have lost their lives or love ones; the shooter must have some unbearable problems that drove him to such doing. I feel bad for all of them.

Replace iPod mini battery, without the blemishes

People who know me know that I hang on to the oldest gadgets in the world. Take for example, I still haven't moved on with my almost 3 year old iPod mini. Mine is a blue and my mother got a golden one, which was due for a battery change, which became my Saturday project.

I thought it would take me the whole day; I didn't want to ruin the nice anodized metallic case, which seemingly was impossible from all the instructions I got from the web. But I did get away with minimal damages, and this is my first time, so I am confident that when it is my blue mini's turn (which I plan on holding on to like a life saver in a ship wreck), there won't be a scratch. I thought I share my technique a little, but this is meant only to supplement complete instructions you've googled from the web.

I thought I should start from the bottom, that's my trial ground. My strategy was to wedge something into the side of the connector and pry the plastic piece out - bad idea - I ended up breaking a small piece off.



The correct way is to wedge in something flat between metal and the white plastic. Before going in, I put in a piece of tape to protect the casing. (I regret not putting in a few more layers.) Many batteries come with a flat head screw driver - don't use that - a box cutter works much better. And do at the center of the back side. Once the blade is in, push it towards the plastic and then angle it - try to avoid contact between the blade and the metal case of the iPod, that can scratch it - and push the plastic upwards.



The white plastic is soft and will bend. Once your cutter's blade is clear from the metal, try to push the rest of the plastic up with a screw driver while holding the plastic up with the box cutter (another pair of hands works the best here). Many web sites tell you the plastic is glued on "by a small amount of glue", that's not true. As you can see, almost the entire surface is covered in glue; plus the plastic is actually clipped onto some spring metal inside with a few hooks.



The top piece is basically the same, remember to take advantage of the hole inside by going in center back side. Once you got that out, unscrew the two small screws, pop the spring metal piece and disconnect the click wheel connector at the bottom and slide the unit out face down. Remember to do it in a clean environment to avoid dust sticking on the display. Once the new battery is in, you need to wiggle the unit a little before it will snug back in. Be careful not to let the case accidentally sheer off the wires.



To sum up:

• squeeze tapes in the gap and wrap them back out for protection
• use a box cutter, not a screw driver
• do it center back side, avoid contact between the blade and the casing
  
• do it in a clean environment
• you be better off grounding yourself the whole time too
  

Kitty down the block

Spring is in the air, and I finally get to take some pictures of elusive Fuffy (no L). Alright, I admit, I don't know her name; she's (I don't even know if she's a she) big but I didn't see a collar, so I naturally claimed naming right.

She was napping beside the common rest area when I got home; alerted as I approached initially, recessed eventually into the bushes when I got too close.



Those half closed sleepy blue eyes told me she was less threatened than afraid of being stepped on accidentally.


Sorry to have woken you. Sweet mouse chasing tree climbing and fish bowl fishing dreams.

Sad to see The King of Queens go

I am sad to find out that this is the last season of The King of Queens. It's been great and I have always loved it.

Producer and star Kevin James is a truly hilarious comic; and the stellar cast including Leah Remini and Jerry Stiller is equally side splitting. I especially like the nerdy blue collar character potraited by Patton Oswalt - can't ask for a better actor for that role.



One complain is that the show has slipped into the same husband/wife "cheating" on each other routine in recent years (I guess that happens after 200 episodes!); and facing a formidable Monday line up such as The Prison Break, Heroes and 24, CBS has no choice but to move it back to Wednesday, or to let it go. Interesting enough, it almost seems like there wasn't many new episodes during the production of Hitch (2005). The same has happened during Chuck and Larry (2007). I wonder if that speaks of Kevin James inability to work in multiple projects at the same time, or his uncompromising work ethics for quality. I suspect it's the latter.

Sad to see idol Gina Glocksen go

OK, I didn't watch Tuesday and I am not really sad, but I thought she'd go further. She has the voice and the skills. Her previous performances were flawless in my opinion. Being a tad oversized might have been her down fall; it is a popularity contest after all.

And I think people should really cut Sanjaya some slack. Yup, he can't sing (as well as others), but he dares. He goes the yards. He is a performer (too bad, the ego comes with it). Ultimately he'll be out, but while it lasts he is entertaining.

Going through the list trying to decide who should be next, I realize it has got to be this guy called Blake Lewis. Mainly because it was a "who is this guy?" moment when I saw his name - I didn't even know he is in the show until just now.

The Prestige (2006)

I just saw The Prestige (2006) on DVD last night - what a masterfully crafted film. Two budding magicians at the turn of the century London had a fall out due to a fatal accident, tried to get back at each other through sabotage. A series of seemingly endless twits led to a surprise ending. Magic tricks were used throughout both as narrative and symbolic tools. And best of all, the secrets behind all the tricks were revealed and explained satisfyingly.

To fans who fancy Batman vs Wolverine, this is not it, but they won't be disappointed by Jackman and Bale's solid performance. David Bowie's appearance will likely be followed by one of the "what-the" remarks for whatever reasons. Director Christopher Nolan skillfully intertwined three time lines of an otherwise already suspenseful plot to produce an unparalleled onion peeling experience. The promise to "keep you guessing" in the commericals is true.

David Bowie plays Tesla in The Prestige

I wasn't as impressed by Batman Begins (2005) but my brother had urged me countless times to check out Memento (2000); after this film, I guess I will do that.