Monday, September 14, 2009

LaTeX Handwriting Recognition

So anyone who's ever coded in LaTex knows how many different symbols there are and how hard it is to remember which symbol you want or memorize the info on it.

So Philipp Kühl and Daniel Kirsch developed this cool website where you draw your symbol in a box and they analyze it and give you the info about the symbol you're looking for. From the little testing I've done it works fairly well, and they even have a section on assisting with training the software and such.

Here's a link. Hope it works well for you.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Catching Fire, A Really Fun Read

So Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins arrived finally on Thursday finally, and I was really excited to read it.  Trust me I wasn't disappointed.  While some complained that Collins spent too much time recapping stuff from The Hunger Games, I thought the recapping was just right.  I hadn't reread the first novel since the first time I read it back in April, and I really could use some little reminders of who all the characters were.

While I'm sure (as my mom made sure to emphasizes), I did not get the full effect of the novel having read it in under 5 hours (with time for dinner), I honestly really enjoyed it.  Catching Fire took off right where The Hunger Games ended and continued the story well.  Collins jam packed quite a lot into the novel, and I really wished she had spent more time on the actual competition this year, as I felt like it was a bit to short.  Don't get me wrong, the game was of fine length, I just felt like the writing was too short and not built out as well as I would have liked.

I'm not great at writing a bunch, but I guess I should give a small description of what the topic is about.  If you haven't read the first novel and want to, read only one more paragraph...

So in this world, Panem, there is the Capitol and 12 small, poorer districts.  In order to remind them of an ancient revolt, each year the 12 districts must send 1 boy and 1 girl to compete to their death (in a semi-battle royale style) to their death.  They are prepared and couched by previous winners and participate in the competition, known as The Hunger Games, and the celebrations surrounding it.

(This is where you should stop reading if you have any interest in reading The Hunger Games)

In the 74th year, in District 12 (the poorest district which specializes in coal mining) sported two competitors: Katniss and Peeta.  They were pegged by Peeta and their mentor Haymitch as the star-crossed lovers, knowing one of them will have to die.  Anyways, long story short, Katniss beats the system and they both survive.  In this book they must make the rounds as tradition requires to visit the other districts and the Capitol.  They await to train this year's competitors from District 12 for year's competitions.

Unfortunately, President Snow plagues Katniss with a task: help quell the growing dissent or suffer the loss of her family and loved ones.  To make matters worse, every 25 years, Capitol holds a grand version of the Games, and boy does President Snow have some crazy tricks up his sleeve.

Hope you enjoy the book!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

A Fun Watch: Bart Got a Room


So a while back (as in within the last two to three weeks), I saw a preview for this movie: Bart Got a Room.  It looked kind of funny and quirky, sort of reminded me of Keeping Up with the Steins (which was also pretty fun).  I didn't expect this movie to be amazing, and honestly, it wasn't, but I still really enjoyed it.  There was decent acting, and lots of great lines and situations.

I think that's why I liked this movie so much.  The quirky, off-beat humor was probably what I loved about this movie.  I really enjoyed watching it; although somethings were predictable (ie the hooker), I didn't expect the movie to go exactly as it did (which is a GREAT thing for me since I've found movies to be pretty predictable as of late).

I liked this movie.  I don't know how much I would want to watch it again, since I'm not one to usually rewatch movies (except (500) Days of Summer which I will definitely watch again multiple times).

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Surveillance 24/7 Totally Sucked ...

So I was looking for something fun to watch on Netflix online and happened upon this movie.  It seemed fairly interesting / too hot guys making out definitely seemed like a fun idea.  Boy was I wrong.

From the very beginning the movie was really weird.  You re-watched the same clips a bunch of times in the beginning on different screens and heard the same explanations nearly identical over and over.  I was like okay, this is pretty trippy but i'll keep watching.  I wasn't engaged or interested at all though.

I was basically waiting for the cute guys.  They met up within the first like 10 minutes or whatever, and it was hot.  Then that was over and the following began. This was where I started getting bored.  I was watching the movie while talking to friends only because I wanted to see where this was going, but I really wasn't too interested.

By 30 minutes, I stopped paying attention.  At 50 minutes I closed the Netflix Watch Instantly viewer.

I don't recommend anyone watch this film for anything other than the hot guys.  If you're watching for them, close the movie after the morning after scene.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I-See-You, Do you?

So one evening during VMworld I watched this quirky movie called I-See-You.com; although the description sounded completely moronic, I decided to watch it, and was REALLY surprised by how funny it was.  The premise: Lydia (the mother), played by Rosanna Arquette, loses all of her family's money on the stock market.  Her husband Harvey (Beau Bridges) flips out and throws her computer in the pool as he realizes the family's entire life is ruined.

But their son Colby, played by Mathew Botuchis (who's extremely quite by the way), and his girlfriend Randi (Shiri Appleby) hatch a crazy plan to make them money: film the family 24/7 and play it online so they can make money.  The plan is an instant success; the only problem is no one in the family (including his sister Audrey, played by Baelyn Neff) has any idea they're on camera.

This movie is hilarious as you see how crazy the family is, how they react to their fifteen minutes of fame, and how they try to re-spice their success once their show starts to plummet.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Stack Master for iPhone Review



So I was lucky enough to get a promo code from zinc Roe, Inc.'s twitter to test out one of their newest iPhone games, Stack Master, over the weekend.  Obviously I've been playing it non-stop all weekend, and truthfully I've been loving it.


The game has a pretty simple premise:
You have crazy mind-control powers, and you can balance objects in the air.  Your goal is to stack as many objects on top of your platter without having them fall.  The catch, you lose your mental power over time, and you gotta keep the stacks balanced too.  Just to make things worse, they have a spiral-thingy that makes you lose your powers even faster, and a crazy huge black cat that's meant to distract you like crazy.

I really enjoyed the game, and found that it was fairly reasonable since you could get to around 8 or 9 objects within your first few tries.  It was a challenge, though possible (as you can see from my awesome high score!).  I personally am not one to just sit around and play video games or games on my iPhone on a regular basis since I am not obsessed with them, and I'm not really too good at them (this is part of why I'm shocked at how I'm so high in the world standings and don't really believe it).


Pretty much all video games I play on my phone fall into two categories.  1) Commute games: games that I can play on the train or bus and do not need extreme precision/balance.  This includes 1to30, Flood-It!, Hangman, etc.  2) Waiting Games: games that are fun and don't take too long to play since I often have to end them really quickly or suddenly.  This includes BikeOrDie, Labyrinth, MazeFinger, Archers, etc.  Stack Master definitely falls into the "Waiting Games" category although that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I just sadly cannot play it while on transit.
This isn't a bad thing, it's really important to have good games to play while you're waiting for your really late or irresponsible friends.

I just had two complaints.  A lot of the control buttons (such as the ones on the leader board) were two small for my fingers.  Also, in the beginning there were a ton of energy boosters (many more than I needed), but I found that at a certain point my problem was just that the replenishers just didn't come often enough, no matter how high my stack was, and I constantly died at around the same time-point which was fairly annoying.

I've attached my high score just to prove I was number two in the world!!!

My analysis:  totally buy this game, it's a bunch of fun, and I would recommend everyone buy it!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Font Fiasco

So Ikea recently pulled the unthinkable: they changed their font.  Now seriously, how big of a deal could it be when a company changes their font.  Clearly, it could be a really big deal.  Ikea has always used a custom version of Futura for their type-face.  The font has become a key part of the Ikea brand, fitting in flawlessly with the economical but modern design the company boasts in their furniture.

Unfortunately though, having a custom typeface can be extremely expensive, especially with regards to multiple languages and such.  Ikea made the logical cost-cutting choice: change to a major font in order to lower the company costs.  Unfortunately though, everyone has an opinion, and in this case, most people didn't like ikea's decision.

Consumers have come to respect Ikea for its breathtaking designs, and low prices.  Consumers have grown to love the upstairs show-rooms, the huge maze of products downstairs, and Ikea's store as a whole.  The decision to pick price over quality and design has always plagued Ikea, and lately they have been making the wrong decision more often than not.  The problem is not only that Ikea chose to change their font, it's the font they chose to switch to.

Verdana is a font designed by Microsoft specifically for the internet.  With the large large spacing between words and lines, it is much easier to read at a small size on a monitor.  The draw back to these successes though is that it really isn't too pretty of a font.  In fact, at large sizes (such as catalog titles, product labels, and Billboards, it looks completely horrendous.  This is what consumers are pissed about.  Ikea sold out big time.  They chose a hideous font (though some say Microsoft may have bribed them), and for a company that claims to have great design, they definitely flunked out on this one.

UPDATE:

I forgot to mention that there's a petition with over 5000 signatures already.  You should all go sign it ASAP!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

We Don't Care If You Can't Handle It ...

So for a very long time (pretty much from the very beginning), people have constantly been getting pissed at AT&T for the terrible connectivity and service on their network with the iPhone.  There are simply too many holes in their service, and times when in major metropolitan areas (SF, Chicago, NYC), you simply cannot get a 3G or EDGE connection.  This is normally, try to imagine how terrible it gets when there's a major event or celebration (I personally experienced this at pride this summer and at VMworld this year).

So essentially, support for the iPhone on AT&T's network has been terrible.  In fact, between going to Israel and coming back, my service has gotten even worse: I now have practically no service in my room in places where I had service before on my old Sony Ericsson phone and on my iPhone.  So obviously this really sucks for me.  If I didn't have Google Voice, I just wouldn't be able to talk to like anyone.  So after a really long time of people being pissed off at AT&T, AT&T decided to respond.  Watch the video and then I'll respond.




My response is quite simple ... I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!  I pay $30 per month extra as an iPhone user for the 3G connectivity and other services (visual voicemail, iPhone OS updates, etc).  I expect to receive the services I pay for, and I don't really care for any explanations over why I can't receive them.  Obviously there are hiccups in services (such as Netflix's hiccup with Watch Instantly).  But they did their users right, and everyone who tried to watch a movie during the time with no service got 2% back.

AT&T made a decision to take on so many iPhone users, and it's really not my problem that they can't handle all the users.  Basically, I think this explanation is complete PR bullshit.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Not Always Right, Always Funny Though

So my friend Tim pulled through again and introduced me to a hilarious site called Not Always Right when I should have been heading to bed Wednesday night (though I guess actually Thursday morning).  The site is essentially conversations that are hilarious where one side is clearly mistake (generally the customer out of stupidity or simply being a total dumbass).

There isn't really much more to say since the site pretty much speaks for itself.  I just thought I would say that "Every (Bad) Crowd Has A Silver Lining" is definitely my favorite one so far.

So forward this on and enjoy it while you can.  My friend Sylvia and I strongly believe it will disappear into the realm of old news once it becomes too popular like Texts From Last Night and fmylife.com; I just hope that time won't come too quickly since it's really quite a fun site at the moment.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Who Robs an Apple Store With a Security Guard Inside?

Well apparently five people form New Jersey did. As explained on MacRumors, five people managed to Rob an Apple Store in Sagemore, NJ. In 31 seconds they managed to steal 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod touches. Seems pretty reasonable right, they smash the window with a rock and steal the crap.

But get this, there was a security guard inside. Apparently this store was already robbed, so they had a security guard inside during the night to guard the store from being robbed again. Clearly the investment was a worthy cause since it worked oh so well. Any-whose, they played the video online and they're trying to get info from anyone who knows anything.
I just thought this was fairly interesting so I figured you might wanna hear about it ...

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Aardvark: Get All Your Questions Answered Live

So my friend Tim introduced me to this great new service called Aardvark that I've been using for a while now, and it's been really cool.

So the basic premise is that you often have questions that you want answered. Generally, I turn online first and search there. For my specific questions, I'll sometimes find answers under Yahoo! Answers. But what happens when I don't find the answer quickly? I'll often keep looking through the search results and get blogs and forums about stuff related to what I need to know, or such. Traditionally, if I couldn't find my answer, I would need to make an account on the forums and post my questions there, hoping to get an answer. But that could often take forever, or simply be unreasonable and such.

So this is where Aardvark comes in: when you don't find your answer online quickly by googling, you ask Aardvark the question. Now Aardvark isn't some crazy smart AI, it is simply a service that connects people who have questions with people who have answers. I've found so far that it works REALLY well. In fact, I haven't had any question that hasn't received a good answer (and believe me, I've asked some very difficult questions).

When you sign up you choose the topics you believe you know about, and Aardvark will forward you questions about those topics later on. Aardvark will even tag the topics on the questions you ask. Usually the auto-tagging works pretty well, but occasionally it fails miserably (it's fairly entertaining when it does). Aardvark is pretty reasonable about the amount of questions you get asked (you can set how many you want), and theyre generally legitimate questions. They even have an option to type "google" if the questions was stupid and could be answered by simply searching Google for the answer (like when someone asks when does movie ______ release on DVD). Aardvark even goes one step further and provides the user with a link to those results.

Generally it's important not to ask stupid questions (I've gotten a few) because it really pisses people off and doesn't make them want to help you. Most of the stupid questions I've gotten were of people "testing" the service. I found the answers to their questions as the first or second option on Google, and it was an annoying waste of time. If you're going to ask a question to "test" the service, at least ask a question that isn't on the first page of results when you Google the topic or whatever.

Aardvark is also integrated very well with IM, email, facebook, and twitter. The most convenient thing about the service is that it operates mostly through IM: you ask your questions, get answers, and help people out through GChat, AIM, MSN Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger, so you don't need to have a website open or download any special software. You can also ask questions by direct messaging Aardvark on twitter. It also goes further by allowing you to easily invite friends from your emails and Facebook to Aardvark, and when someone from one of the services joins Aardvark, you have a place where it tells you and suggest you add them to your network of friends. They're also beta testing an iPhone app, and you can ask questions via email. I'm waiting to be able to ask questions via SMS, since that will be the most convenient ever.

Aardvark generally forwards you questions from your network: your friends, friends of friends, groups you belong to, and location. Since the service is starting up, they're really promoting that you invite your friends and such to Aardvark. They claim that when you have 10 friends join, you'll get a free T-Shirt (they claim they will contact you). So far I've had 13 people accept personal invitations (22 people in my direct network), and I have not had anyone try to contact me (it's been at least a month or two).
Any-whose, whenever you have questions you can't answer, turn to Aardvark, you'll be surprised by how well it works.

If you need the link again, it's here: http://vark.com/s/A0re

So I just realized I posted this twice by accident. Sorry.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Lies & Alibis ... Fun and Quirky

So I watched this fun movie a while back called Lies and Alibis, also known as The Alibi (though netflix doesn't have it by that name). It was quite a lot of fun.

So anyways I found it last night when I got home from VMworld and was looking for a film to watch on netflix online. I watched the first 15 minutes and remembered how funny and quirky it really is. The premise is the following: A guy develops a service that helps men and women with their infidelity. It allows them to cheat on their spouse and will help maintain the illusions their clients create.

The owner of the company, Ray (Steve Coogan) has a simple rule: he does not cover crime, or revenge. In the opening scenes he hires a new employee, Lola (Rebecca Romijn) Who is extremely creative, quick on her feet and insightful. It seems the two will be extremely succesful, and Coogan is hopeful he will be able to hand off his first, and only remaining personal client to Romijn. His client has just one little request: to take care of his son's alibi personally before the son's wedding. Reluctantly, Ray agrees.

The only problem is, the son kills his mistress, and suddenly Coogan is framed for murder.

This is a great and fun film, and I hope you enjoy it.
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