| I'm Ernesto5 and I'm pissed. |
[Mar. 21st, 2008|02:11 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  angry | ] |
I'm pissed that Kaba Modern didn't make it to the top 2 for America's Best Dance Crew.
I don't care if Kaba Modern were Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Mexican, or Irish. I want the best, most diligent, most hardworking, most innovative crew to win. Meanwhile, I watch Status Quo stumble after mistake after mistake each week and they get a pass.
Thus,
a) I will never watch MTV again.
b) I will support anyone who's also outraged about this and who would do something about this.
Kaba Modern, may you rock forever (and book future gigs that are 10x better than Randy Jackson's America's Rigged Dance Off). |
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| Disheartened as a college graduate. |
[Mar. 6th, 2008|10:57 pm] |
I'm very disheartened over recent campus violence. Her murder is an outrage - I hope they find and hang the persons responsible.
UNC-Chapel Hill student murdered.
UNC-Chapel Hill student murdered
Live 5 News
Police are trying to find the person who killed the student body president for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Investigators found Eve Carson lying dead on a street near campus early Wednesday morning.
Police say they don't have any suspects, and they believe the killing was random.
Police are now looking for the victim's SUV, which they say was stolen during the murder.
© 2008 WCSC, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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| Blast from the past i.e. this is NOT me NOW. |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|04:04 am] |
I was digging up some past computer files and found a scan of a drawing I did. I used to blow alot of time making birthday cards for Asian girls I had a crush on. It usually left me holding the short end. I had felt cheated and increasingly miserable at my results for effort put in. But this reminded me of how much of an artist I used to be:
Here are some photos of my past life:
I've changed so much, so much for the better, that when I saw these faces again, they looked foreign to me. Exotic. And I cannot say that I am friends with any of them, nor could I stop and wish them well on the street if I were given this chance.
I'm happy with the friends and experiences I have now and look forward to the future to helping them. But I only have ill will and distrust for the others. |
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| January 21, 2008 - The wholesale destruction of the world economy. |
[Jan. 21st, 2008|08:37 pm] |
Relative to the 5.8 billion non-Americans in the Rest Of the World, January 21, 2008 wasn't about Martin Luther King Jr. Day - but the beginning of the wholesale destruction of the global financial markets.
I was startled by this headline, Monday morning: Bank of China Drops After BNP Forecasts $4.8 Billion Writedown
This is significant:
-it completely defeats the "decoupling" of the US from ROW thesis
-China also faces capital deflation risk
Thus, we are seeing an unwinding/deleveraging of hedge fund investments into emerging markets, Asia, and Europe as the banks tighten credit. The banks themselves are in a dire situation to recapitalize.
Commodities aren't working.
I think it would now be prudent to expect job layoffs and corporate defaults to rise.
Be careful out there. |
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| Guiding principle for Goal 2. |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|09:34 pm] |
From http://devolab.cse.msu.edu/projects/
Meta-EC: Configuring Evolutionary Computation via Evolutionary Computation
One of the major promises of evolutionary computation (EC) is having computers solve difficult problems with minimal human intervention. In reality, however, getting EC to provide solutions to problems requires an extreme amount of arcane knowledge about how to choose a satisfactory setup of evolutionary parameters among the enormous number of possible configurations. This is due to the fact that what constitutes a good EC setup -- which genetic operators to use and with what frequency -- changes from problem to problem such that a poor configuration will fail to yield a valuable result. Given that EC itself is good at finding satisfactory solutions amongst large multi-dimensional search spaces, it makes sense to try to find good EC setups using EC. We explore the viability of this strategy, which we call "meta-EC" and preliminarily results indicate that it is a good means of automating the process of selecting parameter settings for EC. If successful, meta-EC research could help EC deliver its original promise.
Researchers: Clune, Goings, Goodman and Punch
Contact: jclune@msu.edu |
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| July 2007 - America's "Jin1 Rong2 Feng1 Bo2", or America's "Gam Yung Fung Bou" |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|04:34 pm] |
NOTE: I am writing this hastily because I haven't had time to flesh out thoroughly and structure formally an essay; thus, these arguments and opinions are subject to change over time.
If you ask me how the 2007 and current subprime credit crisis in the United States started, I would say it started with China selling US Treasuries back in April. Any slow down or deceleration of the buying of US Treasuries (i.e. our debt), causes downward pressure on America's credit - an outright sale spelt disaster.
I will venture to say, as a thesis, that the significance of the 10 year anniversary of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis 金融風暴 ("Jin Rong Feng Bo" or "Gam Yung Fung Bou, (Cantonese)") was not lost on Asians (in Asia) and the Chinese, both Mainland and Hong Kong, in particular. To them (ref: Sun Zi Bing Fa), the crisis was precipitated by a coordinated number of Western (US and UK) bankers and investors whom brought the Asian "Tiger" economies (Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore) to a halt, devastated Asian economic confidence, and strained China's economic growth. It was a complete bitch slap to China, having occurred right after the July 1st Hong Kong handover.
I think in July 2007, it was China's turn to serve US an Asian Financial Crisis.
I do not blame China for doing so. I refuse to call it unfair, or unjust, or cheating, or conniving. Over the past decade, China has worked extremely hard, insanely hard, at their economic growth and technological development. It's exemplified by their top students whom I went to school with - they don't pull all-nighters - they pull all TWO-nighters.
China has been patient and patiently waiting. They've patiently tolerated every setback and affront the US has handed them until this year, from courting Taiwan's separatist elements and the Dalai Lama, to sitting President Hu Jintao on the White House lawn for lunch, only, to the 2001 Hainan aircraft accident. You can only piss a guy off so many times.
On the other hand, I've seen the ugliness of the excesses of the United States. I had seen too many young and naive Americans feel they were and deserved to be rich millionaires from flipping condos, flipping McMansions, and moving this paper into that paper, i.e. mortgage financing. In no time in the history of the Republic could someone buy a house with no money down. With interest-only mortgage financing.
And from such a real estate bubble, I saw a gaudy explosion in the purchase of Hummers, SUVs with the 20 inch rims that make the vehicle utterly energy inefficient, plastic surgery, indoor swimming pools, and endless housing developments that could not last. This way of life could not last. It was rewarding excessively the wrong people for the wrong behavior. When the value of hard work and new ideas takes second-place to condo-flipping and being first, America has a problem.
So I don't place any blame on China for springing this Gam Yung Fung Bou on America. Their play was good and they caught America in a weak position.
But I play for the American team. I am first an American - I don't shy away from that fact.
The political economy of the United States is bad; there is no getting around this for the next few years. We have about 200 billion US dollars of writedowns for Wall Street to go. We have not yet addressed tort reform and excess litigation and class-action lawsuits (i.e. too many lawyers) which harm America's competitiveness. Housing is in a deflationary spiral (i.e. buying a house now is like buying a car now - once you buy a house, it goes down in value). We have an increasingly protectionist and tax-friendly, Democratic Congress. We have slowing corporate profits for great American companies domestically (go hear a Johnson Controls, Caterpiller, United Technologies conference call). The US Dollar is no longer the defacto reserve currency of the world - it is a joke. We are a drag on the world's economy, when the Rest Of the World (ROW) is growing rapidly and experiencing positive change and new opportunities, and optimism daily.
My fear is that America is being left behind in the world.
But I will not underestimate the strength of individual enterprise and individual risk-taking of Americans. Time and time again, Americans have faced crisis and come out stronger.
We will clean up our act. We need a major bank who recklessly pushed mortgage-backed paper to fail. We need this entire industry of mortgage lenders and home builders to be wiped out. We need the realtors, mortgage brokers, condo-flippers, and housing developers to be wiped out. And then we could rebuild.
I believe we will come out more hard-working and more innovative and creative out of this crisis than before. The macroeconomic picture for the US is not good for the next few years, but I will not bet against the microeconomic picture - the individual American will discover new technologies, and create new businesses and new jobs just as we've done before.
And then in less than 10 years, it will be our turn again to turn the tables on the Chinese. Because we will have worked hard (and harder) and learned from our lessons to deserve it.
So it's up to us Americans, not Congress, not the Federal Government, not the Federal Reserve, to help save America, because America does need saving now. But I am still optimistic about America. Honestly, I like living in Europe much, much more; I like the European lifestyle over the American lifestyle. But I am cutting short my stay because I still believe in making it big in America and being my best for this country.
We're still the country that makes dreams possible, and I still believe in America.
And afterwards, I'll go back to shopping in Milano and hanging out in Praha. USA! |
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| I LOVE Python! |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|04:32 pm] |
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Fuck learning to program in C/C++. I love me some Python. Interpreter/Compiler combo rules. |
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| The Big Bang Theory on CBS |
[Oct. 28th, 2007|07:53 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  stressed | ] |
Having graduated from the referenced and alluded to university and with the same major as the two main characters, at first I thought I was going to puke watching "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS. Then by the end of the pilot and the second episode, the Fuzzy Boots Corollary, it grew on me. The romantic tension between Leonard and Penny is endearing. I know some Techers who had Sheldon's biting sarcasm and that's endearing in a mutually intellectually sparring friendship.
Once I accepted the show as an exaggerated hyperbole and cariacature or cartoon of undergrads at that Institute in Pasadena, then the show became enjoyable. Funny. Sheldon's actor has fantastic comedic timing. And the not likely but not impossible situation of a kind, generous, hot blonde bombshell and four nerds becoming friends, and the possibilities between Leonard and Penny, especially how charming Leonard was, for a moment, at the dinner table with the olive and glass, leave it funny and heartening.
With that, I'll go back to running my own life. Because I am way cooler.
I read some of the comments replying to this post and I'm appalled at the comments of some "When I was a grad. student," or "when I was an undergrad." I am against using homework solutions or learning from them, especially once you're at the grad. school level. I want to work out my own solutions and have a solid foundation. I'm not going to "sly" my way into grad. school. I question too how someone could say he doesn't do well with homework and exams, measured by grades and scores, but excels at research and is better that way.
I want it all, even if it's the harder road to take. |
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| 2040 Prediction: Return of Taiwan to China |
[Oct. 15th, 2007|05:08 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Cam'ron Get 'Em Daddy Remix | ] |
With today's announcement by Hu Jintao of China's willingness to hold "negotiations with any political party in Taiwan", I could see Taiwan return to China by 2040.
This is a political breakthrough. Previously, unwillingness to negotiate with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, was an impasse. Willingness to hold government-to-government talks with even the DPP, whom are ferocious critics of the Chinese Communists, signals very forward thinking by Hu Jintao. The previous generation of leaders headed by Jiang Zemin, were somewhat boneheaded and stubborn concerning Taiwan.
This development is also a sign of how the "One-China-Two-Governments" principle may work out in the future, with Hu stretching and liberally interpreting this principle to its furthest boundaries. Domestic Taiwan politics could remain completely out of the hands of the Central Government, even if it elects politicians unfavorable to Beijing.
It also decreases the probability of World War III in the Pacific; which is a good thing, because if WWIII ever broke out, Asian economies could go to zero.
I'm calling for 2040. With the rate of exponential change in our increasingly globalizing world, this will probably happen before 2020.
P.S. At the rate China is accumulating foreign reserves, I wouldn't be surprised if China just outright buy Taiwan back, just like how the U.S. bought Manhatten island, the Louisiana Purchase, or the Alaskan purchase. But the big surprise or breakthrough is that Hu took off the table any language of China using force against a Taiwan secession, again, signaling very forward thinking. |
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| This is bullshit. |
[Oct. 5th, 2007|01:11 am] |
This is bullshit. I'm against the Jena six case in favor of prosecution. The defendant was beaten unconscious and near the point of death. How'd you think the parents of the defendant feels?
Where the hell is O'Reilly to put his bullying and stern sense to use.
Also, I'm tuning out to mainstream news - this is just what's wrong with the US still mired in a 1960s-1970s liberal guilt mentality. |
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| Venezuela! |
[Aug. 27th, 2007|05:40 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Omarion - Entourage | ] |
Has anyone had any experience with visiting, touring, or living in Venezuela? I'm reading a Wall Street Journal article about Venezuela and I'm piqued. I wanna visit next year. |
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| Breaking news: Fed cuts the Discount rate; News at 11 |
[Aug. 18th, 2007|04:56 am] |
I want to write and elaborate more, but I haven't (or don't want to) the time to type in my thoughts, as talking about them gets my point across faster. However, I just want to say, that the Fed, last morning, averted a major financial crisis by cutting the discount rate.
Otherwise, we would have been down on the DOW at 500 pts., if not 1000. And it would've been irrecoverable.
And who are the heroes in all of this? Ben Bernanke, Larry Kudlow, Jim Cramer. They saved Christmas, oh yes they did. |
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| Italia, Milano and Genova Part 1 |
[Aug. 1st, 2007|07:30 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Leann Rimes "How Do I Live" | ] |
One word to describe Italia:
Dolce.
Panna Cotta at a Pizzeria via Margheria |
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| Italy was absolutely wonderful, but let me talk about the American credit crisis. |
[Aug. 1st, 2007|08:20 am] |
On a beach in Genoa, near Quattro Mille, I was sitting there and thought about how Barry Diller couldn't get credit to buy Expedia. Barry Diller couldn't get credit? Now, I'm the most optimistic person on the United States, but there I was ready to write the obituary for the US economy.
The whole time in Italy, I decided not to even read a newspaper or go on the Internet at all for the duration of the trip. Coincidentally, the crisis unfolded.
I'm looking at a credit crisis for the United States and for banks who were involved with lending to or buying bonds involving US home mortgages.
I think we're looking at 50-100% defaults on all mortgages made in the last 2 years.
My take away is this: US Treasuries are going to have to compete in a larger space of government (govn.) bonds from foreign buyers.
The rest of the world (ROW) is fed up with the US politically, especially China.
The American consumer is no longer the market to sell to: 10 years ago, the US used 30% of the world's copper, China 10% - now it's reverse. If the US economy sunk, ROW won't care and ROW will continue growing. That's why I'm betting international.
It's the home/condo/real estate flippers in the past 3 years who have put themselves and us in this mess. Who'd want to loan the US money now with a population facing 50% mortgage defaults for the last 2 years?
If you bought a home this past 2 years, just sell. Just sell before you take a minus 10-20% drop in the price of your home, while you're stuck with the same mortgage.
The sad thing is is that this time, if the US fails, ROW is not going to give a shit or even shed a tear. |
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| Cesky Krumlov 2007! |
[Jul. 24th, 2007|06:30 am] |
I went to the International Music Festival in Cesky Krumlov this past weekend (July 20). It was well worth it, both the town and opening night concert - I just love Carmena Burana and their performance of the piece.
A recap in photos:
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| Smarter consumer - I want to remember this article: |
[Jul. 17th, 2007|12:47 pm] |
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/103216/The-Cheapest-Days-to-Buy-Certain-Items
The Cheapest Days to Buy Certain Items
by Kelli B. Grant
Friday, July 13, 2007provided bySmartMoney.com
Another day, another deal.
Thanks to online coupons, price-comparison search engines and reward memberships, savvy shoppers can pay less than full price on any day that ends in "y." But depending on what you're planning to buy, some days of the week may yield better bargains than others.
We talked to the experts, and narrowed down the best days of the week to buy certain items.
Airplane Tickets
When to Buy: Wednesday morning.
Why: "Most airfare sales are thrown out there on the weekend," says travel expert Peter Greenberg, a.k.a. The Travel Detective. Other airlines then jump into the game, discounting their own fares and prompting further changes by the first airline. The fares reach their lowest prices late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
More from SmartMoney.com:
• Deals Abound for New AC Systems
• The Best Credit Cards for Summer Travel
• When to Reserve What
Books
When to Buy: Thursday.
Why: Price compare between major chains Borders and Barnes & Noble. The former releases its weekly sales and coupons on every Thursday; the latter, every Tuesday.
Cars
When to Buy: Monday.
Why: "Car dealers live for the weekend, which is when they make most of their sales," says Phil Reed, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. "On Mondays, the low foot traffic makes it seem like the weekend will never come." That dealer desperation, paired with fewer consumers on the lot, give you more negotiating power.
Clothing
When to Buy: Thursday evening.
Why: That's the day when stores stock their shelves for the weekend, and when many retailers — including Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Express — start their weekend promotions, says Kathryn Finney, author of "How to Be a Budget Fashionista." You'll find great prices and the best selection. "It's an effort to get people to shop in the middle of the week," she says.
Department-Store Wares
When to Buy: Saturday evening.
Why: Department stores have a lot to mark down for their Sunday circulars, so they frequently start the process on Saturday evenings before store closing, says Finney. "They're preparing for the big rush," she says. Bonus: Even if the markdowns haven't been made, many employees will honor the sale price if you ask. Print out the circular preview from the store's web site, and bring it with you when you head to the mall.
Dinner Out
When to Buy: Tuesday.
Why: Most restaurants do not receive food deliveries over the weekend. "Sunday is the garbage-can day of the week," says Kate Krader, senior editor at Food & Wine magazine. "No doubt, they're cleaning out their fridges. Tuesdays, they're starting fresh." Dining out on that day offers the best odds you'll get a meal worth paying for, no matter your price point, she says.
Entertainment
When to Buy: Wednesday.
Why: Plenty of movie theaters, amusement parks and museums offer extra discounts to consumers who visit midweek. Six Flags theme parks offer a $12 discount to AAA members — three times its usual discount of $4. AMC Theatres offers members in its free AMC Movie Watcher reward program a free small popcorn on Wednesdays. (This summer, it's also the day select theaters offer free Summer Movie Camp screenings.)
Gas
When to Buy: Thursday, before 10 a.m.
Why: The price of oil isn't the only factor influencing costs at your local pump. Consumer usage plays a role, too — and weekend demand is high, says Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, a price-monitoring site. Prices usually swing upward on Thursdays as travelers fuel up to head out the following day. By hitting the pump before 10 a.m. (when many station owners change their prices), you'll beat the rush and the price jump.
Groceries
When to Buy: Sunday — or Tuesday.
Why: Maximize savings by combining store sales, which run from Wednesday to Tuesday, with the latest round of coupons from your Sunday paper, says Mary Hunt, publisher of Debt-Proof Living, a money-saving newsletter. "It's a smart idea to wait until you have those in hand to match up with the week's sale items," she says.
To snag savings on items you don't need just yet, shop on Tuesday, advises Hunt. Chances are, the store will have run out of the sale items. "That means you can pick up rain checks, which allow you to buy those items later when you need them, and at the sale price," she says.
Hotel Rooms
When to Buy: Sunday.
Why: There are two kinds of hotel managers, and the kind that won't give you a discount on your room rate has Sundays off, says Greenberg. Call the hotel directly, and ask to speak with the manager on duty or the director of sales. These employees are open to negotiation, he says. They'd rather have a booked room at a discounted rate than an empty room. (The rest of the week, your call would get you a so-called revenue manager, who monitors profits — and is rarely willing to lower rates.)
Copyrighted, SmartMoney.com. All Rights Reserved. |
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| Aluminum companies, my thoughts |
[Jul. 5th, 2007|05:56 pm] |
I think that next Monday, we may see a major deal done by Aluminum China Corporation, possibly a buyout of a North American aluminum company.
The buyout of Peru Copper by Aluminum China Corp. will turn out, in retrospect, to be very lucrative and prescient move. I say that because of the tremendous Asian automobile manufacturing growth, and the associated high demand for copper wiring. Toyota recently reported over 70% sales growth in Mainland China.
Alcoa, I think, will report a very good number next Monday as well.
The consolidation in aluminum companies worldwide has been truly remarkable. |
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| Prayer to a Christian God |
[Jun. 30th, 2007|04:59 pm] |
Dear God,
Please stay out of the way in my life. Thanks in advance.
Say hi to Satan and Jesus for me too. Bye. -ernesto5 |
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