2007

Thought I’d take a few moment to reflect back on the year 2007.

There has been ups and downs like my grandma passing away and staying in a really crappy apartment for 8 months but I’ve accomplished two things. One was getting the job transfer from DC to CA to work as a webmaster for Google. Definitely one of my proud moments in life. Second one was paying all the debts I have including the car, credit cards, and student loan. I’m 100% debt-free. From now on, I’m not gonna put myself in a debt. I’m going to pay any new/used car in full and plan to buy a used road bike from Craigslist and use it to commute to work. Except for the possible mortgage loan in the future, of course.

Last year, I mentioned that my goal is to blog everyday . While it didn’t quite happen like that, I’ve made a lot of progress with my blog and been finding topics that serve both myself and you. I’m definitely going to blog even more this next year and bring useful, interesting information to us.

In 2008, I’m gonna try to focus more on getting things done. It’s been a big weakness of mine and I want to work out more often and consistently and be in a better shape. Maybe I’ll compete in a triathlon later on. I want to do a lot of snowboarding this season. Another goal is to go out more, meet new different people and build my resources.

With that said, 2008 is going to be a great year!

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Everyone in Jodee Mundy’s family is deaf – except for her

Known as a child of deaf family (CODA), Jodee shared her experience as the only hearing in her family.

from Guardian Unlimited interview:

Jodee Mundy is the only person in her immediate family who can hear. Her mother and father are both deaf. Her two elder brothers, Shane and Gavin, are deaf. So too are her two sisters-in-law (one of who comes from a family with three generations of deafness) and her her two nieces and nephew (one other nephew, Oskar, can hear). Cast the net wider and Jodee’s family includes a deaf aunt, uncle, two great-great-aunts and a succession of deaf cats.

“The fact that most people think talking is the only way to communicate is so narrow-minded because hearing people are the ones who can’t communicate when they are on a bus and there is someone outside waving goodbye. They are the ones who can’t communicate under water if they are scuba diving. They are the ones that can’t communicate across the street or in a loud nightclub. It’s deaf people who can. I wish people would see the richness and the wealth of the deaf world.”

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Students find sign language skills useful

Cool. :-)

MONTVILLE, Conn.—American Sign Language is, by some estimations, the third-most spoken language in the United States. And students in Montville High School’s ASL classes have found multiple opportunities to use their skills.

The Board of Education formally approved the ASL program at Montville High in 2004. Now about 70 students take three levels of ASL there, including six students who either are deaf or hard of hearing.

The ASL 4 students also have conducted a mock trial in sign language, learned holiday-related signs and studied the signs of other countries. Last year, Bell said, students created an “ideal room” for someone who is deaf.

The cultural aspects of the deaf community extend beyond theater or art. People who are deaf or hard of hearing, for example, have more in-depth conversations about each other when meeting for the first time, Perkins said.

“You could walk away from the person knowing their history without knowing their first name,” Perkins said.

But the deaf culture has no food specific to it. So when the world language department had its ethnic food night, Bell said, the ASL students found themselves in a bind for a cultural dish.

But they found a way to take part in the event.

“We made finger foods,” Bell said.

Google Christmas Doodle 2007

In case anyone missed this year’s doodle:

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Merry Christmas!

and happy holidays to those who doesn’t celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

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Broadcast networks, newspapers, music labels struggle while Internet rises

Read this article and you’ll see why Google is gonna be #1 media company, with YouTube, news aggregator, reader, and ofc the best search engine underneath. With this, if you have an online business and you want your product/service to be on the top of the search engines, consult with professionals like WebDesign499 to ensure the growth of your business.

Facing increased competition from cable and new forms of entertainment on the Internet, the broadcast networks have seen their hold on the American psyche slipping. This trend continued in 2007, when after a fairly promising upfront early in the year, the networks failed to produce the hits they needed to re-establish themselves. As of December, the networks’ prime-time ratings in the key 18- to 49-year-old age category were all down: at NBC by 11%, at CBS by 10% and at ABC by 5%.

Newspapers also struggled mightily in 2007, in ways that hinted at underlying problems in the business. The New York Times canceled its Times Select online tool because not enough viewers were willing to pay for content.

Winter Solstice

Cool and pretty.

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Happy Festivus

Festivus is a holiday celebrated on the 23rd of December each year. It was instituted by a Queens, New York man named Frank Costanza as an alternative to the overly commercialized traditional holidays of December.

No wonders everyone was saying Happy Festivus. I was like WTF? since when it’s become a buzzword?

PORCELAIN ESPRESSO CUP SET

This is cool, made me want to buy even though I know nothing about making espresso.

$35

“I only have to outrun you.”

Ha, thought this was funny and clever too.

Two buddies are out hiking and they come across a bear. One of the guys takes off his backpack and gets ready to run. His buddy says, “It’s no use. You can’t outrun a bear.” The other guy responds, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you.”

Ashleigh Kedge, born deaf, scores 49 out of 50 in study exam

BANKSIA Secondary College student Ashleigh Kedge is one of her school’s greatest success stories. And that was before she found out yesterday she had earned a study score of 49 out of 50 for one of her subjects.

Ashleigh’s feats are especially remarkable because she was born deaf.

Her dedication has taken her to the top of the state in VCE Auslan (sign language).

Ashleigh, who taught herself to lip read and speak as a child, said she was shocked by her study score of 49 in Auslan.

Wow.

Washoe, the first non-human to learn sign language, died on Oct. 30th, 2007

Saw this from friendsofwashoe.org that Washoe, the first non-human to learn sign language, has died.

Washoe was the first non-human animal to acquire a human language and her adopted son Loulis is the first to acquire a human language from another chimpanzee.

Her name sign is formed with the fingers of a “W” hand flicking the ear on the same side. She was named for Washoe county Nevada where she lived with Drs. Allen and Beatrix Gardner until age five.

Washoe was adopted on June 21, 1966. She was cross-fostered; that is, she was raised in the Gardners’ home as if she were a deaf human child.

She was 42 years old, a long life for a female chimpanzee. Most females in captivity live an average of 33.5 years.

I’ve always known that chimpanzees were capable of learning sign language but never thought about who was the first non-human to learn sign language. This sounds like something that should go into Guinness’ World Records.

Google adds YouTube and Products results in the sidebar

As usual, I was surfing and saw this page showing YouTube and Products results in the sidebar above the sponsored ad. Talking about Youtube, we all know that people earn a lot through the popularity of video and I think buying youtube views really does work

I cropped up the images so you can see the difference.

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So, Google is combining videos, images, news, and products into the search . That said, Click here because it’s a universal search and the one with the fastest engine. I’m convinced that there is no other search engine that can output results as fast as Google does. It’s like you are in a Millenium Falcon (the fastest spacecraft in Star Wars) zooming through the universe.

Who is Ryan Germick?

He’s the guy in the orange shirt and know what? he happens to be my co-worker as a graphic illustrator. I can’t believe the video clip he made has been viewed 6,903,499 times and even more that his desk is right across from mine. His work is awesome.

The street view of my favorite building, the John Hancock Center.


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Twitter as a Conversation Ecosystem.

Ha, I love how he phrases Twitter as a conversation ecosystem. Graphics are ass-kicking that I have to put them on here.

Everyone should use Twitter.

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