Category Archives: Peek into my mind

Ears on the Walls

Posted on February 14, 2015 by sinyaw

Back when cell phones were novel, it is a common treachery for eavesdroppers to park near a highway and listen to all those people talking while driving. Soon, the new generation of cell phones scramble all transmissions. Fast forward a … Continue reading →

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Uber Controversy

Posted on January 19, 2015 by sinyaw

Had a lively debate over Uber’s legitimacy the other day. There are two primary points against Uber: Uber evades taxes. The government collects fees and taxes, excessively in some cities, from the taxi industry. These costs are generally transferred to … Continue reading →

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Empire of the Pig

Posted on December 25, 2014 by sinyaw

The Economist’s December issue has a startling article on the economy of pig, particularly about its consumption in China: Chinese now eat half of the pork in the world. During my recent trip to Chengdu, we got stuck on the … Continue reading →

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Leave for the memories

Posted on December 12, 2014 by sinyaw

A couple of hundred young engineers met me in 2005 in Beijing. The expectations were high: they needed to grow up fast to take on intense and difficult software development projects, working for leadership positins that were 16 hours away … Continue reading →

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台灣罵

Posted on December 7, 2014 by sinyaw

打開台灣電視，所謂新聞節目，就是一小時的罵！罵得狠，罵的絕，就有人稱快。於是各台分邊，輪流開罵。選舉後，馬英九成了過街老鼠，所有人罵的最佳標的。慘哪！ 台灣有複雜的中國情結。老蔣時代，培育了對立仇恨，美麗島造就了獨立的激情。以前他們是＂水深火熱中的大陸同胞＂。今天是我們一步步的被邊緣化，眼看就要被經濟統一了。台灣像是小時候的模範生，長大了發現吊尾巴的留級生混的比自己好一萬倍。見面時太太尷尬，無法面對。兩千萬人中一半＂寧死不屈＂不為五斗米折腰，另一半想他們是白癡。 台灣還有許多可愛的地方：精緻的文化，禮貌的百姓，溫曛的服務，一流的高等教育。錢是跟人的，戰略地位，也是人做出來的。台灣的罩門是分歧：南北，藍綠，世代，府院，獨統，窮富，官商。其實分歧是人的本性，舉世皆然，只要協商而不對立，不同的意見是正向的。 協商的基礎是信任。下次碰到個＂對方＂，別開罵，想想他們的觀點，有商量的餘地嗎？罵只是一時之快，只有破壞性。再罵，這島就沒了！

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Detox from Laptop Addiction

Posted on November 12, 2014 by sinyaw

I relish the offline time on the plane (to an extent). I would write programs, clear out my inbox, do presentations, or compose my thoughts into words. The epiphany is that those are transient works. Things really get “done” when … Continue reading →

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Double Defections

Posted on October 19, 2014 by sinyaw

After decades, I abandoned FireFox and submitted to IE. Yes, Microsoft finally won. On my Windows 7 with various desktop protection things installed, FireFox stopped working. I Googled and found many users experienced the same. The only fix seems to … Continue reading →

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Occupy (Hong Kong) Downtown

Posted on October 7, 2014 by sinyaw

Sigh… Last year, Taiwan’s college students occupied the congress and demanded things. I think they achieved success. I did not follow up. This year, Hong Kong kids are doing the same, occupying the most active commercial district of Hong Kong. … Continue reading →

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The Big Drought

Posted on September 28, 2014 by sinyaw

The great drought of California is a surprisingly easy problem to solve. Price! Since the drought, the price of water for farmers went up 10 times to over $1000 per acre-foot (that’s one foot deep of water to cover an … Continue reading →

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Wearables

Posted on September 21, 2014 by sinyaw

Apple eclipsed Intel on the opening day of IDF (Intel Developer Forum), announcing iPhone6, AppleWatch, and Apple’s mobile payment. Intel’s nerdy executives, this year, boasted Core™ M CPU. Most in the audience cannot hide the boredom. We knew that fancier … Continue reading →

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