Distance

The internet connection has blurred the actual distance between people.
That's the slogan that all the social media sites have been carrying.

Yet, the reality of how the distance truly does not matter anymore now just hit me hard!

My download of 2.6 GB of something from a country far far away took only 4 mins...
while copying it from my computer hard disk to my usb flash drive apparently took me twice that time!

Surreal x_X

The power of data mining

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all

Need china ip?

If, say, the chance has it that somehow you happen to stumble upon some program in China that blocks IP from other countries. And you are just desperate to access it. Fear not, there's something to do that.

Here's the tool : Flashwind.
The site is entirely in chinese, but a little help from Google translator will do you good!
In fact it's pretty reliable that you can get away with google translator's version of the registration page help.

So, do register first as instructed in the register help page.
Then download the application.
The next step: using the tool.

It is pretty disheartening as it's all in chinese.
They have the tutorial on how to use it on the site, but the translation version of it isn't very understandable (at least for me x_x).

Googling on the tutorial of using flashwind doesn't give me any result either.

So here goes a simple tutorial in English on how to use flashwind:

After clicking on the executable file of the application you'll get the login page below:

Fill in your username and password that you registered on the site. Press the left button.

Next you will encounter this question below.
God knows what that means xP
but press the right button.
I tried the left button and then both flashwind and my computer complained about my User Account Control setting.



Next, you'll see that the program is working and loading its next page.


You'll meet this page. You can customize the program, and choose different number in the drop down list (my print screen shows the number 0461)
No need to do anything, just press the button I circled.


If you're lucky, and you see something like what the arrow pointed at in the bottom of the page, it means it's working.
You can try accessing the program that previously blocked your IP now.

If you don't see it, and instead you see "somechinesecharacters0461somechinesecharacters!!" it means the number that you used isn't working or something. Try changing it randomly.

Once you get it working to access something, the right hand tables will show you the list of other numbers sorted by its latency. You can remember which number works best and use it next time.

Last, if you're done, press this right button I circled to end it.


Done :D

Wash your hands!

I happened to watch the movie Contagion in the inflight entertainment during my ultra long flight to Indonesia last time.
And, boy, has it changed me.

The movie itself... is pretty "meh" to quote J's opinion on it :D

But one thing sticks to me the most, it gives me a new found paranoia on germs x_x
Despite the "meh" factor, the movie provides a pretty realistic illustration on what might happen when an outbreak of an epidemic virus really do occur.
If there's anything we can learn from the movie :

- Always wash your hands after contacts with anything... that you deemed worth-washing-hands-for!
I've always been pretty clean and careful with contacts to probable-germ-transferring-objects. I always carefully avoid to touch the public door handle as much as possible. For toilet doors I tried as much to handle it only with tissues in hands, for example. But in addition, I made it a case now to always wash my hands with soaps first after any trip outside then reaching campus / home.

- Don't touch your face too much!
I don't consider myself having the habit of touching my face. However, after watching the movie, I now realized I do unconsciously touch my face from time to time! Now I consciously try to minimize this contact as much as possible.

You should too.

A selfish, twisted love

If you love me that much, then don't let me outlive you.
Live healthy, live long.
longer than me.
So I won't have to suffer from losing you...

-thoughts on Valentine's day-

White chocolate is a lie!

I went to sleep last night drooling on the thought that I'd make gorgeous chocolate muffin with white chocolate chunks on it for breakfast this morning.
Imagining the rich dark brown goodness with pretty white dots here and there ....
A fashionable yummy treat, Yummmm!

The thought comforted me and made me wished it would be morning soon!

Well... the dream lasted until the muffins were out of the oven.

The warm uniformly brown muffins with wisps of their heat lingering in the air...
wait, what? brown? JUST brown? not polka dot brown??! >_<

and I learnt the bitter truth...

No such thing as white dotted choc muffins could exist!

Apparently since the white chocolate consists mostly of chocolate butter, and not the solid part of the chocolate, it can't survive the baking process T_T

There goes my fantasy of enjoying my muffin with the gooey white chocolate chunks that melts in my mouth >_<

The cupcakes came out mostly plain chocolate, as the white chocolate chunks melted into oblivion.
In the case that the chunk was big enough, you'd be able to witness the sad remnants of it. Tiny morsels of white chocolate, stranded on moist pockets created by themselves before they melt.

Well... that's a lesson about what is white chocolate learnt the hard way...

The main reason to-do list is created:

Because scratching off things from your to do list just feels sooo goood!