Snippets from Steve Jobs Biography

To celebrate my achievement of completing 20% of Steve Jobs Biography (... in 3 months), here are the few A B C D snippets that I found well written and interesting:

Page 113 – (Abandoned) Jobs and Brennan were both twenty-three when Jobs abandoned his daughter. The same age that Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali had been when they had Jobs (and then put him for adoption)

Page 148 – (Big Picture) One day Jobs came into the cubicle of Larry Kenyon, an engineer who was working on the Macintosh operating system, and complained that it was taking too long to boot up. Kenyon started to explain, but Jobs cut him off. “If it could save a person’s life, would you find a way to shave ten seconds off the boot time?” he asked. Kenyon allowed that he probably would. Jobs went to whiteboard and showed that if there were five million people using the Mac, and it took ten seconds extra to turn it on every day, that added up to three hundred million or so hours per year that people would save, which was equivalent of at least one hundred lifetimes saved per year. Larry was suitably impressed, and a few weeks later he came back and it booted up twenty-eight seconds faster.

Page 159 – (Craftmanship) A great carpenter isn’t going to use lousy wood for the back of a cabinet, even though nobody’s going to see it. When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful peace of wood on the back. Same philosophy is applied to Apple’s in making sure that even the aspects that will remain hidden are done beautifully.

Page 158 – (Design in California) Hartmut Esslinger, a German designer, won the contest for design language for Apple product. Even though he was German, Esslinger proposed that there should be a “born-in America gene for Apple’s DNA” that would produce a “California global” look, inspired by “Hollywood and music, a bit of rebellion, and natural sex appeal.” Jobs offered Esslinger a contract on the condition that he move to California. Esslinger’s firm opened in Palo Alto in mid-1983 with a $1.2 million annual contract to work for apple, and from then on every Apple product has included the proud declaration “Designed in California”

I hope I won't get into any legal issue because of this ^^;

Now going to the next 20%!
ED

Photoshop: Timestamp your Digital Photos before Printing

If you’re old enough, you will know that old pictures (I mean, roll-film pictures) normally come with timestamp at the bottom right corner.

Well, timestamp within the picture is no longer a common thing in the world of Digital Photography. I welcomed the change. For me, having a permanent timestamp in a picture is like having a hardcoding in your program – it just makes things harder to edit / reuse.

Yet, apparently, the timestamp thingy is a BIG thing for mum and dad T_T I have been printing our holiday pictures for couple of years now… and they always gave the same comments “They are nice… but… where is the TIMESTAMP??”. This year, I remember and decide to timestamp my photos before sending them for printing.

One brainless way to timestamp is to right click on you photo, look at its metadata to find the date creation, open the paint program, add the date, save it back, and send it for printing. It sounds ok for one pic. But for 240 pictures? I don’t even want to imagine it.

I went to web to find some easy way to do it. To my surprise, there are not many well-defined methods! (Or my search power has degenerated?) I was kind of hoping that “Automator” would be able to do it, but apparently…. Not without some plugin and shell scripting.

Luckily, Photoshop didn’t disappoint me. Javascript + Action + Automate solve my 240 pictures issues within 5 minutes :D Credit goes to Retouch Pro Forum, member Csuebele!

For convenience sake (and my future reference), let me paste the Javascript here:

target = app.photoshop

var oldPref = app.preferences.rulerUnits
app.preferences.rulerUnits = Units.PIXELS;

var docRef = activeDocument
var dw = docRef.width
var dh = docRef.height

//Change the last numbers to adjust where text is placed.--------------------------
var inW = dw * .98
var inH = dh * .98
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

var dateString = ''
var timeDate = ''

for (var i = 0; i <docRef.info.exif.length; i++)
    {
        dateString = docRef.info.exif[i].toString()
    
        if (dateString.substring(0,18) == 'Date Time Original') 
        {
            timeDate = dateString.substring(27,29) + '-' + dateString.substring(24,26) + '-' + dateString.substring(19,23) + '  ' + dateString.substring(30,35)
        }
    }

            var artLayerRef = docRef.artLayers.add()
            artLayerRef.kind = LayerKind.TEXT
            var textItemRef = artLayerRef.textItem
            textItemRef.position = [inW,inH]
            //else {textItemRef.position = [2240,3100]}
            textItemRef.justification = Justification.RIGHT
            textItemRef.size = 40
            textItemRef.contents = timeDate
            artLayerRef.name = 'file date'

                
            
            
                
app.preferences.rulerUnits = oldPref

Step by Step:
1. Save the above as timestamp.jsx
2. Start your Photoshop. Open one of the pic you want to timestamp
3. Create an action (Windows: Actions: Create New Set: Create New Action)
4. Press the record button to start recording
5. Go to File > Scripts > Browse > timestamp.jsx
6. Optional: Do further enhancement to the timestamp to make it readable. For me, I add white stroke 7. Press the stop button
8. Go to File > Automate
9. Select the folder of pictures you want to timestamp, then select the action you just recorded.
10. I’m done!! :D

Now all I have to do is to save my pics to thumb drive and show them off to my parents next week. Fufufu. I’m actually thankful to them. It has been a while since I tried to automate anything. This has helped me to realize that even though I haven’t been doing programming for the last 4 years, I’m still a lazy geek, deep within.

ED

Time for a new skin?

I was so tempted to change my current blog skin to this one below:


Rainbow Garden

Awesome design, awesome color, plus I have never use green in my template before... So why not?

I can do zero personalization. I will be using this like million other users on the net...

Here come the ego and I have to stick to my current theme until I feel creative enough to do a new one... haha...

This mark the end of my 3 days blog template hunting... I'm constantly amazed with the creativity of the designers... inspiring :)

Not yet,
ED

Shooting Star

It was a sunny Sunday. I was working in office listening to "No Matter What", chatting about Boyzone. Suddenly, my friend gave me a text saying that Stephen Gately, one of the two main vocalists in Boyzone, has passed away.

The mix of sadness and shock surrounded me, but especially, I felt spooky! What is the chance that I am listening to the 90s hits and talking about them and one of them died...?

After the spooky feeling is gone, I recalled how Stephen Gately used to be the only name I remembered from the boyband. I like his voice. I bought his single album and loved every song there. My favourite song from the band is... surprisingly, not from the band's greatest hits. It's his single. In one of the Disney OST for Hercules: Shooting Star.

No one seems to think too much of me here
And they're glad to tell it to my face
And they're right I'm not supposed to be here
I'm completely out of place

Somehow there has got to be a reason
Evening as I try to think it through
There's a bolt from the blue...

And I see a shooting star
Set apart from all the rest
While the other stars are standing still
He's on a quest...

... I love every single line of the song. It just fits so much to the movie :) The song used to accompany me during my exam time... and I still remember how I called the local radio station for half an hour only to request for this song. My first and last radio call OK!

So... Thanks for leaving me with a great memory :) May you rest in peace, Stephen Gately.
ED

My (Future) Gadgets

I have decided on what I’m going to have for the next few years!

Mobile Phone: Nokia E66

Reasons:
- GPS!
- Phone contract has expired
- Most importantly: current phone is begging for retirement

Digital Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

Reasons:
- Wide angle!
- Amazing Settings- 10.1 Mega Pixels
- Most importantly: tested and recommended by credible photographer :p

Note Book: Apple MacBook Pro 17-Inch

Reasons:
- Do you have a reason not to?
- Where elegance meets performance
- Most importantly: It looks cool! XP (although most people say it looks geeky on gal ^^;)

They are ordered according to the difficulty to get (in term of the $$$) hahaha.. I'll just keep the list to three first.

Now... let's work hard to earn and get them all T_T
ED

Code Geass – Lelouch of The Rebellion (2)

Now that the series has ended, I can say that it was one of the best anime I have ever watched. The ending was not only unexpected, it was beautiful. It changes my whole perception about Lelouch, and I think I love the character more than ever before :p


Lelouuuucchhhh~ You're so cooollll

Kudos need to be given to the graphic designer as well, who knows well of when and where to show the characters as bold or soft or even mellow. After finished with the series, I went to look for the illustration artbook (Code Geass - Illustration Rebels), and totally fell in love with the cover page.

So, overall, 5 stars out of 5. Thanks so much for accompanying me every week. You have been the only thing I feel thankful for when knowing that the day is Monday. Now I totally have no motivation for Monday anymore… T_T

Anybody have anime suggestion? :p

Waiting for CLAMP’s Code Geass Artbook on 6 December,
ED

Thousand Splendid Suns

Finally finish the "Thousand Splendid Suns", another novel from Khaled Hosseini, the author of Kite Runner. My brainless comment? I felt exactly the same "background" between the first and second novel, the author simply wrote based from his view... too narrow IMHO. both of the novel is about Afghan, and both talk about running to other country such as US, which is sort of his own experiences.


Thousand Splendid Suns

I prefer Kite Runner, as it gave much more unexpected twists... with all its foreshadow events.. it adds the cool factor to that novel... whereas for the second novel.. I hardly feel anything. Too monotonous? Or maybe I take waayy too long too finish it? (almost 3 weeks) Or maybe because I always read it only when I'm sleepy? hahaha... I don't know. Maybe if I read this first before Kite Runner, I will feel that this is better.

Alright, so much about the novel... so much about Khaled Hosseini...

Takashor! =D
ED

In exam period (again)…

But guess what, it felt so different from the typical exam period. No, not because of the new canteen in NTU, although the new fish ball stall did affect my daily eating habit. Hahaha..

I passed through my first exam on Wednesday. It was ADMT. I have the text book with me, but I don’t even bother to finish my lecture notes! For this exam, I only read through the review slides, which is less than 200… and didn’t felt guilty at all when I didn’t manage to memorize those slides. The day before exam, I slept soundly and set my alarm to 7.45am. It didn’t even cross my mind to wake up earlier to revise! O.o Have I lost my mind?

The lack of preparation was indeed fatal. For the first 30 minutes of exam, I was reading and skipping through exam paper, didn’t manage to find something that I am comfortable in doing. I used much more correction pen than what I ever did before. I didn’t manage to answer the question… even though it was in review slides! The worst thing is… I didn’t feel bad about it. After the exam, we went to the Palette and chatted over a plate of fish n chips.


Fish and Chips @ Palette - $4.5

What can be worse than a person who lost his sense of responsibility?

Back from the exam, I spent the rest of my day urging CAO to give me a proof of IA (since my IA certificate is not out yet =.=). At night, I chatted with friends and watch Code Geass before falling to sleep. Gosh, Code Geass is definitely the best anime I ever watch so far. No kidding.

The next day, when I was browsing through, I bumped into the promotion from SIA: Singapore – Shanghai for $668! This is what I have been looking for!! Finally, I spent the rest of my day confirming and booking the ticket. Shanghai, I’m comiiinnnggg~

Friday and Saturday… I didn’t do anything more than rewriting my tutorial to a more readable format.


Ayam Penyet @ Muslim Stall - $3.00 -- Recommended~

Today is Sunday… And here I’m blogging, after finished watching Vantage Point (a super recommended movie ^^). The next exam is coming on Tuesday, and I really haven’t flipped through the lecture notes yet. Can anybody tell me what happen to my mood? :S I’m not saturated… But I’m not studying like how I used to… why why why?

Btw, these 2 days, I had been listening a lot to "Seasons of Love" (fall in love at the first listen from here) The more I listen to the song, the more I can feel the meaning... hahaha....

525,600 minutes. How do you measure a year in a life? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? Measure it in love.

I just realized that a year only have less than one million minutes. A year is so short!

Talking about year, I want to give my best birthday wishes to:
Albert, Arianto, and Nancy
for their bday on
19th, 20th, and 21st April respectively :)

Measure your life in love~
Erlin.D

Advance Algorithm Jokes

When surfing Kichi blog, I found the funny joke related to algorithm. I decided to collect some that I have read before. If you're SCE students, you're bounded to understand the meaning :p


Path Searching


NP-Complete Problem


Travelling Salesman Problem

For more jokes, go to xkcd =)

Slacking Mode ON :s,
Erlin.D

The Color of Love

I was lonely...
I needed someone to see me through

I was at the end of my rope...
I needed someone to cut me loose

And then an angel out of the blue
Gave me the sense that i might make it through
And somehow I survived with no rhyme or reason
And now I know I'll make it through the miracle of you

I know the color of love
And it lives inside of you

I know the color of truth
It's in the image of you

If it comes from the heart
Then you know that it's true
It will color your soul like a rainbow

And the color of love... is in you...


Boyz II Men - The Color of Love

I love this song since high school, but this is the first time I pay extra attention to the lyric. (I seem to pay extra attention to a lot of things now.. you know, when the other thing you should actually be focusing on is your stack of assignment T_T)

I particularly love the first one and half minute of the lyric... Have been repeating it over and over again... Gosh, I don’t know why I like 90's songs so much... they seemed to show appreciation towards life, much more than the current hits song. Where are all those poetic and romantic singers now? T_T

... And the color of love, is in you...
Erlin.D

Teardrops On My Guitar

Friends who are familiar with me will know for sure that this entry can't be about me crying... I don't know how to play any kind of music, hence from where will the guitar pop out from? haha..

This is about a song from Taylor Swift. I listened to it when I blogwalking several weeks ago.. but no matter how I crack my head, I just can't remember whose blog it was ^^; Anyone knows? (Update: I found it! It's from Zelda's post. hahaha.. *finally, after 4 hours of excessive blog searching*)

Presenting: Taylor Swift - Teardrops On My Guitar



My reaction to the song:
First minute: OK, not bad
Second minute: Wow! She is pretty!
Third minute: *Searching lyric*
Finally: Listen to more than 3 times in a row
Afterwards: Search for the song again after few weeks.

Nice? =) I like the lyric. Just so melodic, seriously.
Erlin.D

David Pogue

Upon researching for BCC, I bumped into a link in Yahoo Finance about Best Tech Ideas of 2007. It was a 4-minute-video... but it comes in a playlist, with related videos continued to be played afterwards.

I don't know if I was just too bored or what.. but I can't take my eyes off from the shows for almost half hour! Meaning I watched almost 6 videos in one row. (a record for an impatient person like me) haha.. Let me introduce you to the enchanting video speaker: David Pogue. Most of his shows can also be seen at The Newyork Times

(This blog entry serve as a reminder incase I forget his name next year ^^)

Back to work,
Erlin.D

Code Geass : Lelouch of the Rebellion

There are 3 animes I watched this year: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (CLAMP), fumofu (just for filler :p), and Code Geass (viva CLAMP!)

Code Geass has a great story line.. a good example of how conflict can happen.. and when u can’t simply tell who is right or wrong. Each character has their own believe, their own innocence, as well as their own sins… Quite assembling human.. right?

After watching the anime, I think I know which character I am. I’m more to Suzaku type, a type of person who just follow the trend. Britannian or Japan, the important thing is how to survive. I know my own limitation, hence I won’t bother wasting energy trying to change back the world, like what Lelouch did. But anyway, usually it’s a Lelouch type of people that will be able to make big difference and get recognized.. (like in this anime, Lelouch is the main character, not Suzaku :p)


Code Geass: Lelouch and Suzaku

In short, the anime is worth watching.. Yet I wonder if it’s actually shonen.. they got the characteristic of shonen: robots, tactic, pretty girls. I dont mind about the preety girls part (;P) but I am a bit confused on what actually happening in the wars O.o I never really exposed to tactic world. Hahaha.. The end of the season 1, is as expected, full of question mark T_T I’m really looking forward to season 2.. oh dear CLAMP.. can’t u focus on 1 project instead of keep everything on hold? T_T When will TRC season III out as well? Hahaha…

Going to watch TRC OVA now~
Erlin.D

Backstreet Boys - Inconsolable

Presenting… The first music video I embedded =D =D =D Update: *and banned*

...
...
...

I sound so IT noob =.=

Backstreet Boys - Inconsolable

Update: * This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Zomba Label Group* T_T

Although I didn’t remember each personnel’s name (I never did for any band), I’m a big fans of Backstreet Boys. Their “All I Have to Give” will always be in the top list of my all-time-favorites. Special thanks to Winson for the latest mp3 and Ari for the premiere avi. This has been the song I listen most in this month =D

Anyway.. from the clip, they did look old now =.=.. but who cares.. their voices are still awesome! Looking forward for the album in October! =D =D

All I ever want, it comes right down to you, to you~
Erlin.D

Liar Game

I eventually finished Liar Game episode 11.. Thanks Winson for the updated news about subtitle.. =D The movie ended with Akimaya’s smile. The more I watch Akimaya, the more I felt that I saw the face before.. I scanned through my photos collections.. and tadaa.. I found the photo of my friends who look like him! Hoho..

So this is Mr. Akiyama...


and this is my friend... Jason Ooi, MAE. the number 3 from left... similar ma? XD


MB 103 Team - Group Photo... Miss you all guys...

Not going to watch any other drama in short time,
Erlin.D

5 All-Time-Favo Lyrics

Yesterday was really great! Had so much fun.. so tired that (almost) all of us slept listening to our mp3 on our way back at MRT.. haha.. I wasn’t really fall asleep.. as the mp3 lyrics was simply too sweet to be missed.. ^^; Here, suddenly, I wanted to list the top 5 wonderful voices in my ears:

Glory of Love (Peter Catera)
“You keep me standing tall

You help me through it all

I'm always strong when youre beside me

I have always needed you

I could never make it alone...

I am a man who will fight for your honor

Ill be the hero youve been dreaming of

We'll live forever

Knowing together that we

Did it all for the glory of love..."

(2) Beautiful Soul (Jesse McCartney)
“I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you, and your beautiful soul..."

(3) I`ll Be There (Boyzone)
“…I promise you...

I'll be there

When there's no-one else to turn to

I'll be there

When you need someone to hold you

I'll be there

When the dark of night surrounds you

...I'll be there...”

(4) As Long As You Love Me (Backstreet Boys)
"As long as you're here with me...
I don't care who you are
Where you're from
Don't care what you did
As long as you love me..."

(5) I'm Gonna Be Around lyrics (MLTR)

"I'm gonna love you til the end
I'm gonna be your very true friend
I wanna share your ups and downs
I'm gonna be around..."

The combination of the lyrics and tunes are truly excellent ^^

Set off to Bedok now,
Erlin.D

Glory of Love

These few days, an old song kept sticking in my head. Glory of Love. I got it when I was streaming to Ari’s MP3 collections. It really brings back my childhood memory. No no.. not because I have fallen in love at that very young age… (^^;) But my sister used to play the song, when I was around 4 or 5. The cassette (yes, still cassette that time) is titled “20 Love Songs”. I wonder if it is still there.. I love that cassette very much. It has all the greatest love song ever.. “Lady Rain” and “How deep is your love” is also from there. The “Glory of Love” I heard was sung by Peter Catera, but this one is sung by North. No much different in singing style (compared as I watched the video from YouTube.. haha..). I got information that it is the OST of Karate Kid.. heem.. must be a great movie? I really like the lyrics.. Especially the chorus:

You keep me standing tall
You help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone...

I am a man who would fight for your honor
I'll be the hero you're dreaming of
We'll live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love...

Definitely one of the best love songs I have ever heard ;)

Huaaa, late for lectuuureee,
Erlin.D

'Cause you're there for me too

Woow.. I eventually made it to the end!! the whole 10 seasons of Friends! From my first year until now in the gate of third year! hahaha.. Is this an achievement? Well.. Yes for me :P.. Oh.. I feel like i will miss them.. And the opening song.. which i always get ride of.. thus i always heard only the "Cause you're there for me too..." before the scene begin.. hahaha.. (not important at all..) Thanx to my sister for introducing me to such a great comedy :D

There are lot of things i learnt from it, actually. They might hide it in comedy.. but it's what a real life is, afterall. I especially felt it in the last episode.. When Chandler and Monica are moving... Rachel wants to go to Paris... etc etc.. I was like Joey asking... why everything should change?? don't we feel so happy together? But still, the only constant in life is change... In this state, it just feels so right :) I enjoy watching the movie.. but still.. it comes to the end at last.. hahaha... Nice job, Friends ^^ Any other movies to keep me engaged for the next two years? :P

Btw.. I was expecting a much shocking finale episode.. I thought i would see Rachel in wedding gown again.. but it wasn't.. or at least.. i thought Ross was going to porpose her romantically.. may be like the one he planned before.. at the museum or whatever... but there wasn't.. ^^;... doeng... just if i can remember the one who tell me that the finale episode is very romantic.. ><.. would argue with him/her.. haha... So.. this saturday has been so-so to me.. I didn't have the willing to start Ureca yet.. really. From 3 people i need to contact for Welcome Carnival show, i only managed to confirm with one. Another one said that he would call me back later, because he needed to prepare for national day.. and for Latin Dance.. sigh.. i can't even get the contact number ><.. where should i found it? send email yesterday but still got no reply until now.. desperate...

Later in the afternoon.. Inche was online. Asked me to check if there are 23 stuff she had. I counted 3 times and only got 22 ^^;.. when we were panicking, suddenly i realized that i forgot to count the CPU.. fuuiiih.. well done then ^_^ She said that she might get back here on 30 July. Looking forward for her! Ok.. for now.. looking forward for the dinner!!

Weekend!
Erlin.D

I'm The World Greatest - R.Kelly

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey I made It
I'm the world's greatest
I'm that little bit of hope
When my back's against the ropes
I can feel it
I'm the world's greatest

Quiiteeee a nice sooong~!! 3 thumbs up! hehe.. Ok, may be the lyric isn't quite suitable for me (siiigh), but.. reallly, the melody is excellent ^^.. lalala.. It wasn't a new song, but still... hmm.. Some news related, according to s.o as the pirater, the song is meant for Muhammad Ali. :O.. Ooh.. really? Then part of it must meant for my roomate? haha.. jokin2, Che.

Whatever it might meant, it is one of world's greatest song!

Ganbattee mode,
Erlin.D

Da Vinci Code: accomplished!

Yeep.. woke at 8 today… It is Monday again… time, again, flies.. hehe.. as usual, I ate breakfast, and then went to the shop to help my father. =).. today is a bit busy.. I help until around 4 (with lunch break, for sure. :P) then my mother shifted with me.. back to home, take bath, then read the Dan Brown: The Davinci Code.. The day before, I have read ¾ of the book, and now.. I’m really absorbed in the book, and eventually finished it in three hours! K huahaha.. (well, ehem2.. for sure, I have skipped some of the strange vocab, to curious to stop and find the meaning on dictionary.. ^//^).. After all, The book is really good.. gave a lot of knowledge.. ^^.. thanks Albert for lending it to me. =D..

Finished with the book, I prepared the dinner. Dad n Mum are coming home on time, right before it is raining. ^-^.. Today’s rain is heavy enough. Dad said that the weather forecaster announced it will be 10 days simultaneously raining at Sumut.. heem.. hopefully no flood occurred.. ><

Daddy was planned insisted of buying me Durian after dinner (yep, it is its harvest time already ^^’’), thanks to the heavy rain that eventually cancelled daddy’s plan.. haha.. I didn’t really like durian.. :P..

Oic oic.. later at night, I got a phone call from my relatives, asked whether I want to join them to medan tmrw afternoon.. after negotiating (cieleee) with my father, I decided to go to medan tomorrow.. soo.. again blogger, see you again in next few days =D

Blurp,
Erlin.D