Backup and Sync! DropBox

Its holiday time and you got a lot of really funny, embarrassing, and precious photos. You need someplace to put them and you want them in several places all at once. Not only that, you want to share them with other people so they can see them too. You could use facebook to put them up but the photos aren't as high quality as you want them. Not only that, you want to backup other types of files and sync them across several computers.

What you really want to use is something like DropBox. Personally, I haven't used dropbox much but I haven't had any problem with them either. They do a great job of making sure all my files are on each of my computers and they're all the same. Being in a small dorm room, I can't backup my files on my desktop since its back at home. I don't exactly trust my laptop hard drive a whole lot. With dropbox though, I can just tell it to sync such and such folder and it'll upload the files onto their servers and push them onto my desktop at home (assuming my parents don't turn it off). That way, even if my laptop dies (heaven forbid), I'm safe from losing lots of sacred files.

There is one thing that holds a lot of people back from stuff like this though.... complications. Nobody really wants to have to actively tell the program, "okay, now do this, do that..." Just so you know, you don't need to do this: dropbox works in the background so you don't have to. You just have to make sure you hit the save button in your document and to make sure you let dropbox handle that folder.

My Dream Camera: Canon Powershot SX1is

I think everyone has something he or she really wants for Christmas but would feel really bad if someone bought it for me. That is the way I feel with this certain camera. I know its overly priced (i think so anyway) for what it does but it is such a dreamy camera. I'm not going to go into all the specifications and the cool stuff it can do since most of you will simply skip the paragraph or leave the blog entirely. I'll just leave a link to Canon's site for the camera:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=18301

Fall Colors... Winter Coming

Thanksgiving & Food

Food Coma is like a double edged-sword. You feel absolutely awful before but then wake up feeling so good. I would end the post here but I feel obligated to write a little more today since I'm feeling extremely unproductive after the food and sleep marathon. By the way, good job discovery channel for showing a mythbusters marathon the day of thanksgiving, not sarcasm, very awesome.

So since its the day after thanksgiving, I've had a lot of though about what I'm thankful for. Rather than inundate the readers with things like, I'm thankful for my family and friends and God's grace and other very common (BUT STILL IMPORTANT) things, I think I'll just say some of the weird things that I'm thankful for.

First off, I'm thankful for Google. Thinking about how useful they've been for me and thinking of a time if there was no Google, you'd realize how dull things are. Second, I'm thankful for music. I can't tell you how many times my mood has changed (usually for the better) because of music. Its probably the only thing that makes me more tolerable to other people. Then, there's the not so obvious pocky sticks. They're like the best thing to eat, talk about, engorge yourself with, and share.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Everyone!

Bite Size 4

It's never a good thing when I have so many Bite Sizes in a row....
Yet another tip for everyone! Don't Procrastinate! This is something that everyone knows not to do but does it anyway just because... There really is no reason to procrastinate. It isn't to prove that you can rush an assignment (because it always fails) and it isn't to join some part of a social group (because social normality says procrastination is stupid). Procrastination is like starcraft or WoW or maybe even gunbound! Addictive and Corrosive! Yet we all still fall prey to it...

Bite Size 3

I haven't had much time to write this week at all. Papers, midterms, social implications of living in a dorm all take a lot of time away from "me" things.
Just thought I would give some advice... Always have a backup. Not just for life, for everything. Two people just had their laptops die on them.... scary... and sad. Don't be unprepared.

I'll think of something better for the next few weeks. Apologies for these mundane posts.

Bite Size 2

What makes more sense at a coffee shop?
1. get a table then order your coffee?
2. Order your coffee then get a table?

Pride Rock

"Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I now a man in Christ who fourteen years ago - whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows- such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man - whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows - was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me - to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

- 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Why the long passage? Because it speaks deep and strong words. This is one of Paul's many letters to the Corinthians that is a praise and yet a rebuke at the same time. To give a little background, Paul is trying to fight against other prophets who are saying that they are better than him just because they had experienced awesome things. Paul is in a pinch in that he could just as easily boast but knows that it would draw the attention in the wrong way. What do I mean? I mean that if he boasted, people would follow him instead of who he represents. Let me repeat that. People might follow Paul instead of who he actually represents.

I think we all look up to 'idols' cleverly euphamized to 'role models'. This can actually be very healthy in terms of becoming a certain character but I think it can be dangerous when that role model takes up a more solid image that what that role model is meant to represent. For me, a role model would be someone who would represent God. Yet, because that role model is a more solid and tangible person (redundant, i know), we may tend to look at that person more than God. Case in point, glory goes to God, not some person who represents God. Put in another way, we are not disciples of "pastor x" but disciples of Christ.

Notice how Paul talks about how he boasts of his weaknesses. To us, pride is such a precious thing. Yet, as a Christian, I'm supposed to be humble before God and not be prideful of my own actions knowing full well that I could not have done it without God's grace. But, it is still so hard, when someone denies your faith, calls it trash, or even refuses to hear your argument, to not feel hurt in some way. Paul says he is content with these persecutions. God says that I will persecuted. Here is where I must continue to persevere to change that hurt to praise and prayer.

Special Thanks to May

Bite Size 1

For Comparative Literature, I've been reading Swann's Way by Marcel Proust which is part of a series called In Search of Lost Time. An interesting quote I found was:

“And as each hour struck, it would seem to me that a few moments only had passed since the hour before; the latest would inscribe itself close to its predecessor on the sky’s surface, and I was unable to believe that sixty minutes could have been squeezed into the tiny arc of blue which was comprised between their two golden figures. Sometimes it would even happen that this precocious hour would sound two strokes more than the last; there must then have been an hour which I had not heard strike; something that had taken place had not taken place for me;"

Chew on this: Perhaps time isn't really a dimension itself but rather something that our mind had created to string memories together. Without memories, would time exist?

Talk, Talk, Talk it out with TokBox

So I had some time to kill (not really, more like procrastinating) and I wanted to see if I could get in touch with a bunch of my old high school buddies. There was always one problem that just persisted, though. We weren't able to get everyone on a webcam which sucks because there's just no fun typing stuff into a computer and hoping it shows up on the other side. It is way better to see people face to face so you can make fun of their environment and so forth.

Anyway, at first, we tried oovoo but the trial ran out and we couldn't do the three way video chat anymore. lame. Skype never supported anything of the sort and AIM is only one way. Then comes along TokBox. A marvelling achievement in social connectivity. Okay, an overglorification, but it was like a savior. You could probably get up to six people on the same chat (with video) and be able to hold a real conversation. I wonder why companies don't use this instead of big expensive flights to a overly-priced hotel.

The first time using it, however, was less than spectacular. I was more like... what does this do... oops.... shouldn't have done that. The interface is easy enough except there's so much going on, its hard to comprehend. If you're not used to the ajax stuff, you'll be so lost within the interface. If you're someone new to the internet, you're screwed. Anyway, the tokbox itself is actually jam packed with awesomeness despite these little details.

The best thing about it is that you can pull people off different instant messaging clients. I use digsby instead of aim because it combines my gtalk, msn, yahoo, aim, and icq all into one buddy list. tokbox can do the same (but you have to be in a browser). The power behind all this is staggering and I bet you could probably pull video chats off different people across mulitple clients. That means, people in taiwan could be talking to you, in america, and then call someone else in germany!

Birds of a Feather

Just so I can state the obvious, today is Friday and every Friday, I go to Friday Night Fellowship with Harvest Berkeley (check them out, they're really great people). Tonight we focused on Hebrews 10:24-25 :

"and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking ourown assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."

In case you can't speak bible too well, it is basically saying that we should love another in our groups and fellowships and to spur each other on in love and in action. We should be getting to know one another and how we can help them in their daily live.

Doesn't this seem like an easy passage to follow? A big thing for me is application. HOW do we go about spurring one another on. I think today's speaker brought a good point in pointing out that this passage doesn't provide anything like a checklist or 'to-do' list for anybody to follow. Instead it just says to do these things as though it were inherent in our lives. You can see how these subtle yet simple abstract ideas become a problem when translated into an action.

So here's my take: You get to know someone first. I doubt you can generalize an entire group into a single personality (even if they're twins and live and breathe together). If you can just get to know how someone is doing you can formulate a plan to help. In the process, you yourself can share and you get something back. If you think about it this way, the passage isn't just saying that you have to get others to help, it also implies that you probably need or want help as well.

Generalizing this even further, I think it doesn't even have to apply to just biblical believers. This idea isn't for the general purpose of salvation but rather of society (and thus salvation). Don't get me wrong, just doing this isn't going to get you saved and for those of you who don't care about God or Jesus, you could care less then. But just think about this, you can do this even in your own groups. Don't go against this ideal just to be rebellious to some religious repulsion. This idea, I think, could do "community" in general a lot of good.

Getting Photos

I've never taken a photography class and I've never really understood color too well. Knowing that, some might say I'm just an amateur which I totally agree with. I know a couple of friends now who are, what I consider, masters of photography, or at least they seem so to me. If you asked me what I like to take pictures of, I'd say candids. why? they're just so much more real. As you noticed from the two previous picture, they've been exaggerated in such ways as to seem not real. And, in a way, I don't consider them to be.

Candids are great. But you have to be really sneaky. Things like hiding in bushes, taking pictures from weird angles, and maybe even using a zoom lens makes you seem like a stalker. Perhaps even a pervert if you get caught taking pictures of a certain gender. Despite all this, candids are lovely in that they capture a truer essense (that sounds so philosophical and abstract). I should actually say, candids is just an excuse for me to say that I'm too lazy to compose a scenic or meaningful shot so that they come out crappy anyway.

But seriously, I rarely ever see any good candid photography. There are hardly any tutorials on how to take good candid shots too. Yet, they are usually the best shots when it comes to slideshows and presentations. Not to mention candids are usually the photos that people least want up so its the most fun to put up!

Study Time

If you ever get to college or are in college or have been to college, you know how fun, distracting, and useful study groups are. A bunch of guys (and girls (maybe (if you have a social life))) get together and, for the most part, try to study together for some upcoming midterm. Yet, at the same time, you have "friendship dynamics" going on that are distracting that by the end, you feel you might have done better by just studying alone. Let me say this one thing: study groups are great but are most effective when everyone is working on different things.

Does this sound contradictory? Maybe, so it would seem but let me explain thoroughly what I mean. When everyone is working together on the same subject, you either want to lag behind to wait for the slower people to catch up (which is the best case scenario, it means you're smart) or you are rushing, trying to catch up (bad). I don't find this to be the best work environment and I really don't like having to work a pace other than my own (yes, I'm self-centered). With people working on all different subjects, you aren't pressured at what pace you're working at. Rather, you're pressured just to do some type of work. You feel that you have to get something done or you would just be setting a bad example. Work with the peer pressure to get your own work done.

There is one problem though, if you study with a group that you have awesome "dynamics" with, you might just end up goofing off and seriously wasting time. The moral now is, pick your study groups effectively and wisely. Don't look for people who are just distracting. Being a freshman now, working with seniors is pretty good unless they decide to goof off too.

Tuesday's Lunch Out

Every tuesday I go out with one of my floormates and go to some random restaurant in berkeley to test it out. Today, we went to this Indian/Muslim restaurant called Tandoori and it was actually pretty decent. Let me explain something first, though. Food and particularly restaurants close to the Berkeley campus is pretty bad and by that I mean, on par with what i make. Most of it tastes the same regardless of what cuisine it is. Having said that, this Indian place had one particularly different menu item which was, again, pretty decent.

Sorry I don't have a picture this time around but I promise one the next time (if I remember).

If you ever do go south down telegraph and find a restaurant called tandoori, try to get the sheekh kebab (sp?). Its mostly lamb with some seasoning in eat that is oven-roasted into a sausage type thing. Add on the lemon and cut onions, it is very tasty. I can't exaggerate how good it is just because it really wasn't that good looking back on it. If I seem a little contradictory here, its okay, all food in Berkeley is way too subjective to rate on how it tastes.

I'll think of some better stuff to write about later, but for now, I think I'll stick some menial news...

Midway Through…

Its already halfway through my first semester in college and I’m just starting to blog.  I kept telling myself I’d keep starting a blog and post stuff, but never seemed to have time. If anyone had said to me, “college is a breeze, don’t worry about it,” they obviously never went to Berkeley.  Being here, I now feel that college is way harder than anything I’ve experienced so far.  Classes are more boring and even harder.  There are more distractions everywhere.  On top of that, you have to make decisions for your future. 

Personally, I don’t feel I’ve adjusted as well or as quickly as I would have liked.  You go from being at the top of your class to the idiot next door. Seriously.  Everyone here is damn smart (or maybe just the people I hang around with).  It is almost demeaning.  That isn’t to say that they’re jerks, no.  They’re all really tight and cool people that just happen to be “demi-gods.” (as we call them on our floor).  I know its probably not good to think this way but you kind of can’t help it.