Friends - 朋友們

Cool links

Clip from a great program in Taiwan (全民大悶鍋)which parodies many current news stories. This one is a clip related to President Chen Shui-Bian's son, Zhao Jie-Min who is accused of insider trading. The imitation of the Pres. is classic. Many more at YouTube if you search for 全民大悶鍋.

Link to another blogger living in Taiwan, with whom I share similar viewpoints with.

Friends' sites:

• M's site
• N's site
• Z's site

Rantings

General
This goes for anyone with a laptop using it in a public place. Typing loudly is really annoying to those around you. We know that those of you with comp sci backgrounds can type really, really fast. You don't need to pound the keyboard to get this point across. I'm sure you're doing some important programming (*ahem*, IMing) at Starbucks.

Media
The media in Taiwan is hardcore, in that nothing gets past them. The littlest scoop gets blown up to huge proportions because there's not that much worth reporting. And, all ~8 24-7 news stations report the same stories. The issue I have is with professional ethics... or lack thereof. The media is given access to murder scenes, hospital ERs, accident scenes, etc. For instance, today, 9/25, 3 children in Taichung got hacked (it's the term used when the assailant uses a large knife of some sort) tonight, the media was right inside the hospital filming the poor kids, all bloodied up and all, on their stretchers. Or, how bout last week when the cameramen just kept filming when the anti-Chen woman tried to drive her Red car out of the mob...and people smashed up all her windows and prevented her from leaving.


Traffic
Besides having excessive pollution, buses and scooters in Taiwan are hazardous to your health for other reasons... namely, driving recklessly.

If you want to stay alive in Taiwan, do yourself a favor and:

• Don't stand too close to the curb while waiting for the bus, because the bus might hit you with the very-long side-view mirror. I always cringe when I see the old folks standing on the edge of the curb, or even step out in the street to wave down the bus. (That brings me to another point; buses in Taiwan don't stop unless you can wave them down. It takes quite some effort to stop them sometimes. For instance, the other day I was waiting by the bus stop at night, and the bus driver didn't see me until the lsat minute. So he reluctantly changed 3 lanes over and stopped....about 3 bus lengths past the bus stop. Then, as I jogged over to the bus, the driver gassed it a bit just to make me hustle more. What a jerk!)
• Hold on to something in the bus, because drivers don't know that the brake can be used in different intervals, and not just slamming on them. Choose a space in the middle of the bus, so you reduce your chance of flying through the windshield.
• When getting off the bus, be sure to jump/step off swiftly. Any delay may cause you to be caught under the bus, as drivers like to get a headstart and begin rolling before you de-bus.
  
• Be aware that traffic rules and general logic do not apply to scooter riders. Look both ways on a one-way street, and while on any sidewalk, because they will come in any direction and at any speed to find parking.
• Don't try to cross the street when it's about to turn "walk", as many vehicles (especially buses and heavy industrial ones) like to gas it right when its about to turn red for them.

Sidewalks

• Taiwan's sidewalks are an eyesore to the city, as each storefront has rebuilt their piece of the sidewalk to their own likings. This has resulted in extremely varied sidewalk heights, colors, and materials. Further, the method of sidewalk building is just to add layers on top, instead of replacing, which results in extremely thick sidewalks (some are 2 ft. above ground level). This is a consistent theme across the island. It's easy to trip while walking, as the height differences often reach 6 inches, and it's an immediate fall-off or increase in height. I can't imagine what a wheelchaired person does.

Personal hygiene/behavior
(Before I begin, I just want to make it known that these comments apply to mainly the high-school age males of Taiwan.)

• Please start using deodorant
• Please do not pick your nose in public
• Please do not continuously scratch your head
• Please do not do the above and then smell your fingertips
• Please don't clip your nails in public (this applies to older women). Note that this occurs regularly at Starbucks.
• Please do not pass gas multiple times with no shame in an enclosed area, like the library
• Please do not take cell phone calls during a movie
• Please do not call "foul" during a basketball game when I barely touched you
• Please do not call "foul" while on defense on behalf of me, since you barely touched me
  

Taiwan + Miscellaneous links

Taiwan

• AmCham Taiwan (American Chamber of Commerce)
• Books on the cheap
• Bus maps (~$0.60/ride, no xfers b/w buses or subways)
• Convert Celsius to Farenheit: Tf = (9/5)*Tc+32; Tc = temperature in degrees Celsius, Tf = temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
• Covert Farenheit to Celsius: Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32); Tc = temperature in degrees Celsius
• Income Tax Guide for foreigners
• General information for foreigners, by the Taiwan government
• Jobs: Taiwan Talent: HiRecruit, 104, 1111
• KISS FM radio
• Real estate agencies: Sinyi and New Asia
• Street directions
• Taiwan Sugar
• Visa info: (Attempt to) Extend tourist visa in Taiwan, Get Taiwan visa in Hong Kong, LA, and NY.

Academics

• Berkeley Law (Boalt) and Goldman School of Public Policy
• National Taiwan University (台大) and its School of Medicine
• Tufts Alumni and Alumni Admissions Program (Look: Tufts is listed in "25 New Ivies" by Newsweek). If you're an alum, please go register.
• University of Pennsylvania
• USC Marshall Alumni

Moving

• Autolog: Cheap cross-continental car shipments
• Lucky Moving: Quality and value-priced for US Domestic and Taiwan moves

Finance + Technology links

Finance

• BusinessWeek, BW Funds, and BW Stocks
• CNBC/MSN Money
• Yahoo Finance, Google Finance

Technology

• Acer's Stan Shih shares (If you can't read Chinese, try Altavista's Babelfish or Google's translate)
• Industry: Digitimes, DisplaySearch, iSuppli, and Anandtech
• US tech deals: Bensbargains and Ebates

Stories

(email me with missing stories)

• Conwell was visited by TUPD, and S's car was described as "mysterious car" in an incident at Jackson Gym?
• G and AHo were really scared b/c I left them parked in my car in Chinatown near what used to be the red-light district
• G's good-bye party at Conwell, where he got a super-sized eggroll filled with "lat".
• Gyuhama in Boston. 20+ people, a greedy restauranteur, a credit card swiper, Cantonese cursewords at their finest, a misunderstood middle finger, the Club, the heated exchange, and the late-comer K, jumping into the fray while drunk.
• K got drunk and I had to smack his head with Doraemon
• K flooded Conwell's bathroom
• K, S and I got pulled over by Boston PD b/c of a broken license plate light, and got questioned as to our gang affiliation. After examining his license, K was told to "go back to Weston". Notable: Our friends in the car in front stopped and got out to see why we got pulled over - G was running over, and the cop was close to pulling his gun, and told him to, "stop where you are".
• KSA & TEMS
• Nicole's, Europa (Where Paul Pierce was stabbed)
• Porter Square-Cafe Mami's Tokyo Hamburg Steak w/ an Egg, Green Tea Milkshake
• Smoking Mild 7's yielded the letter of someone who liked you
• Someone at Conwell backed into the neighbor's car (while it was in their driveway), and then peeled out
• The Polks Video - missing...last seen at C's in Boston

LA Story:
In LA, I was driving just North of the the 210 on local streets, going east away from Pasadena. At one point, the 2 lane road became 1, after a stop sign. I was in the right lane at the stop sign, and sped up to pass the car in the left lane, as the road changed to one lane. ABout 5-10 minutes later, the car behind me (I assume it was the same one I passed earlier, but am not sure) began to tailgate me. Further, it began to weave left and right behind me, across both sides of traffic. This definitely got me worrying. I could clearly see the 2 men in my rear view... both Hispanic, both wearing white wife-beaters, both sporting shaved heads. I knew I had passed the wrong guys. At the next stop sign, I pulled to a stop, as did they. However, about 5 seconds after, they rammed my car from a stopped position, creating a large bang sound. Looking back, they were smiling... I knew this was no accident. Heart pounding, I made like they do in the movies, and peeled out, turning right and headed for the nearest gas station. I saw that they sped in a different direction, past the stop sign. I reported it to the police by telephone and that was the end of that. Lesson learned - watch who you pass while driving!

What products I'm using

Technology

• Email: GMail has better searching than Yahoo!, but still prefer folders over "labeling". Still really irked at how you need an extra click to get to your Yahoo! inbox after logging in; also, logout screen requires clicking back to mail page to login again, vs. being able to login directly (I have multiple accounts).
• Hardware:
  IBM: Thinkpad T40. Now Lenovo, but was IBM when purchased. It's been more reliable than past Thinkpads (no freezing during hibernation), but now in it's 3rd year, overheating to the extent that I can't place on my legs for more than a minute.
  Microsoft wireless mouse (earlier version of this): cheap, easy, and reliable
• Messaging:
  AIM: Only use it b/c many of my friends exclusively use it. I prefer ICQ and MSN. Really a basic-user's IM product.
  ICQ: Used to exclusively use this, but most friends are on AIM or MSN now. Rarely use it, but still think it's the best IM product out there. Simplest, best feature was offline messaging, kind of like a vmail box.
  MSN: Signed up b/c most friends and coworkers use it.
  Google Chat: not many friends use this, basic functionality
  Google Talk: really basic functionality, only unique feature being that you can opt-in to be watched by Google's recently-launched Music Trends. This is where they aggregate users' currently-played music and publish a "Top 40" of sorts.
• Software:
  Google bar: Does what it's supposed to; searches and blocks pop-ups.
  Skype: Good quality PC-PC (free) consistently poor quality PC-phone (costs $). Compatibility issues with Mac.
• Web
  LinkedIn: Professional community. Large network of users; easy to find potential networking contacts, but haven't had much luck with referrals (the basis of the business)