Sunday, December 4, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
"C" You
Here is my shamelessly plagiaristic attempt to pay tribute to a computing technological visionary who recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. And I am NOT talking Steve Jobs.
Dennis Ritchie, a true pioneer in modern computing, was found dead on Oct 12th in his New Jersey home at the age of 70. The exact date of death cannot be identified since Mr. Ritchie chose to live alone despite being in declining health in recent years due to prostate cancer. For most of the general public, his name is as alien as Martian. However, anyone self-respecting software developer will tell you that Mr. Ritchie’s contribution to the industry is as monolithic as Steve Jobs’, if not more.
As the chief designer of the C programming language in the late 60s, Dennis Ritchie brought to the world a more sophisticated tool to program a computer for hitherto computer software had been written primarily in assembly language or even machine code, a very low level and cryptic instruction set that are both labour-intensive to write and difficult to decipher. The C programming language, on the other hand, provides a (relatively) closer to human-language syntax and allows programmer to shift the focus from execution level to a more paradigm aspect of a design. The quantum leap of computing advancement the C language brought is comparable to the evolvement of written language from spoken dialog in the linguistic term, and it also paved the way for the more complicated programming languages that we use today.
Together with Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie also co-invented UNIX, the first computer operating system that won widespread acceptance. Today we are so used to having a platform like Windows or MacOS to run our software applications that we might not realize what a monumental concept an operating system was. Flashback forty years ago when dinosaur like mainframe was lauded as the most cutting-edge programmable machine, software programs were installed and run via punch cards since the machine was virtually devoid of an interface between end user and its system resource. Such cumbersome maneuver restricted the device to mainly engineers. The introduction of this intermediate layer between the machine and the user’s program made computer much more user-friendly. And because the UNIX Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson built was essentially free, it was easily obtainable and enhanced, indirectly led to the democratizing of computer from primarily corporate and government use to indispensible household appliance.
In all honesty, I can only be considered as a pseudo(哎呀)-techie at best. I reached the legal age for marriage before I first used a computer and my embarrassing discovery that there exists more than one language you can use to program a computer is material made for stand-up comedy. Naturally my experience with C was and is not smooth sailing (remember those dreadful pointer de-referencing?) and every software developer has horror stories to spare about UNIX’s segmentation fault and core dump. While these tools might seem primitive by today’s standard, you have to realize that they played a crucial role in the evolving of what we have taken for granted in computer technologies today. When you put them in this perspective you can’t help but marvel the ingenuity of their creators and what a vision they have.
While being greatly mourned within the industry, Dennis Ritchie’s passing was barely mentioned in the mainstream media and the public remains oblivious to his contribution to their lives. Given that UNIX is the very operating system Mac OS X inherited from and eventually went into various handheld gadgets Apple Inc. sold, the irony is not lost in the tech community when Steve Jobs' passing has been greeted with outpours of tributes but Dennis Ritchie’s is by and large ignored.
I am not born yesterday to not realize that in our society it is the kind of marketing geniuses like Steve Jobs who are celebrated over the nameless inventors like Dennis Ritchie, and I have no intention to discredit Steve Jobs’ achievement either, the world needs both kinds of people. However, as someone who makes a living (or should I say ‘steals’ a living) on the legacy Dennis Ritchie has left behind, I feel obligated to let the uninformed be aware that the lofty pedestal Steve Jobs has been put on, rests in no small part on the shoulder of Mr. Ritchie’s twin towers of invention
Thursday, October 13, 2011
感覺完美九十天
Actually it was only 89 days to be exact but who is counting? For these I have my sister and brother-in-law to thank, a summer of truly perfect memory that would last a lifetime
Momentarily I have toyed with the idea of a quick trip to Hong Kong to see Sandy Lam in concert but, no offense, watching 林憶蓮 MMXI won't even come close to this and I don't want to miss one minute of it.
An angel sent from above
Do you know that when a cranky baby keeps pulling his ear it is likely because he is teething?
You can take me out of Japan but you can’t take the samurai out of me
有得玩水就最開心
I can swim too, I just need a little *push*
感覺多麼完美 都只因有著你
Momentarily I have toyed with the idea of a quick trip to Hong Kong to see Sandy Lam in concert but, no offense, watching 林憶蓮 MMXI won't even come close to this and I don't want to miss one minute of it.
An angel sent from above
Do you know that when a cranky baby keeps pulling his ear it is likely because he is teething?
You can take me out of Japan but you can’t take the samurai out of me
有得玩水就最開心
I can swim too, I just need a little *push*
感覺多麼完美 都只因有著你
Friday, September 23, 2011
Meet Priscilla Chan
Not THAT Priscilla Chan
For 老餅 like me who grew up in Hong Kong during the 80s, there is no better way to pass your time by Googling the once superstars from yesteryears' Pearl of Orient. With the ongoing of Sandy Lam's concert, it is only logical for me to dig up the latest scoop on her one-time classmate/nemesis 陳慧嫻. I was expecting images of 傻女
or that lamp shade hat 
from 秋色 to pop up on my laptop but instead what showed up is none other than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg along with some Asian girl. 陳慧嫻 might have seen better days but you would have thought she would still be the most famous Priscilla Chan out there.
Well but no but no. Turn out I am obviously a little behind in the dating gossips of Internet moguls. Hot in the news earlier this year was that online networking revolutionist Mark Zuckerberg had come clean with his relationship status when he flipped his own Facebook page to "In a Relationship" with a certain Priscilla Chan whom he has been seeing ever since they were students in Harvard. That shouldn't be of any interest to me if not for one minor detail - I happen to know someone named Priscilla Chan who went to Harvard during the early 2000s.
In truth, to say I know Mr. Zuckerberg's girlfriend (and rumoured fiancée) is a little stretching; we were more like acquaintances through the same part-time job we both had in late 2002 only and I don't expect she would even remember me at all. In fact, not until I saw the hometown and high school in her Facebook page was I certain that she is the person I once worked with.
When I was laid off from my software development job one month after Sept 11, 2001, as the story goes, I went into an extended period of unemployment. On the advice from career specialists, I took up a part-time job in a local office supply retailer, not so much for financial reason but just to keep my spirit up. It is the kind of work mostly for high school students looking for some extra spending money. Although it isn’t something I am keen on repeating again, I still believe it was the right move at the time.
So for the first time in over a decade, I had high school kids as my co-workers and the best part of it was most of them assumed I was their age when I was actually at least twelve years their senior. Among them was a high school senior working at the register named Priscilla Chan, whose name was naturally the first thing that caught my attention. I had once asked her and she freely admitted that she was aware there was a famous singer in Hong Kong who shared the same name but she was quick to point out that she was born a tad too early to be named after 陳慧嫻. Later on I found out she went to the same local high school where I spent one year in before heading to college. So she updated me that Mr. Harrington, the History teacher who had lobbied to take me out of ESL (English as Second Language) into his class, has since retired.
Priscilla lists Cantonese as one of the three languages she speaks in her Facebook page but in the six months or so we worked together I had never heard her speak Cantonese. However, in the couple occasions where a few Cantonese-speaking customers were visiting the store, I could tell she can comprehend their conversation since she figured out what they are looking for. So it could be just that she wasn’t comfortable enough to talk to native Cantonese speakers, just like how I feel about speaking English socially sometimes. Besides, Priscilla was genuinely an amiable person - one thing I remember the most is she always gave another girl in the store a ride home after work. For a long time I just assume they are close buddies from school. Turned out they were from different schools and only got to know each other through work. For those who have never live in North America, you may not realize how huge a favor it is for high school kids to be able to count on someone for a ride when most of them don’t own a car.
Asians in America tend to have the reputation to be the model students who all excel academically and aspire to be doctors or scientists. Priscilla certainly did not disappoint these expectations. With her potential it was only natural for her to be ambitious when it came to her college choices. She has confessed to be feeling guilty about applying close to ten universities at the time because it would cost quite a fortune (the application fee for most colleges is about US$ 70 these days). Having been in the same position before I divulged to Priscilla one of the best kept secrets in Boston - you are allowed to have up to four college application waivers per lifetime, made available to you by The Education Resources Institute (TERI) in the Johnson Building of Boston Public Library. Considering where she eventually went (and whom she had met there) maybe I could claim some credits here myself.
That of course is all jest, Priscilla is gifted enough to reach the top without anyone's help, much less mine. In fact, if I am not mistaken she enrolled at Harvard through Early Decision, meaning application for most schools was still open when she was accepted. Chances are she might never need to use the waivers at all.
When the news that she got admitted to Harvard broke a mild buzz of excitement was brought to the otherwise uneventful life in the store. In April 2003, after being out of a full time job for almost a year and a half, I finally landed a real job and back in the high tech. industry. Promptly I quitted my part-time job and I think Priscilla did the same a month before me, probably to get ready for a new life after high school. In the following couple years I occasionally wonder if I would bump into her whenever I pass by Harvard campus on my way to the library but it never happened. As the time passed she kind of faded from my memory, until now. Ever since her relationship with Mark Zuckerberg had become public she had been hounded by photographers and the media but information on her is rather sketchy. Some said she is currently in medical school but other said she is a grade school science teacher. Regardless, I am sure Priscilla will shine in whatever career pursuit she is undertaking. Let’s hope a bright and challenging future lie ahead for her, both personally and with Mr. Zuckerberg.
For 老餅 like me who grew up in Hong Kong during the 80s, there is no better way to pass your time by Googling the once superstars from yesteryears' Pearl of Orient. With the ongoing of Sandy Lam's concert, it is only logical for me to dig up the latest scoop on her one-time classmate/nemesis 陳慧嫻. I was expecting images of 傻女
or that lamp shade hat 
from 秋色 to pop up on my laptop but instead what showed up is none other than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg along with some Asian girl. 陳慧嫻 might have seen better days but you would have thought she would still be the most famous Priscilla Chan out there.
Well but no but no. Turn out I am obviously a little behind in the dating gossips of Internet moguls. Hot in the news earlier this year was that online networking revolutionist Mark Zuckerberg had come clean with his relationship status when he flipped his own Facebook page to "In a Relationship" with a certain Priscilla Chan whom he has been seeing ever since they were students in Harvard. That shouldn't be of any interest to me if not for one minor detail - I happen to know someone named Priscilla Chan who went to Harvard during the early 2000s.
In truth, to say I know Mr. Zuckerberg's girlfriend (and rumoured fiancée) is a little stretching; we were more like acquaintances through the same part-time job we both had in late 2002 only and I don't expect she would even remember me at all. In fact, not until I saw the hometown and high school in her Facebook page was I certain that she is the person I once worked with.
When I was laid off from my software development job one month after Sept 11, 2001, as the story goes, I went into an extended period of unemployment. On the advice from career specialists, I took up a part-time job in a local office supply retailer, not so much for financial reason but just to keep my spirit up. It is the kind of work mostly for high school students looking for some extra spending money. Although it isn’t something I am keen on repeating again, I still believe it was the right move at the time.
So for the first time in over a decade, I had high school kids as my co-workers and the best part of it was most of them assumed I was their age when I was actually at least twelve years their senior. Among them was a high school senior working at the register named Priscilla Chan, whose name was naturally the first thing that caught my attention. I had once asked her and she freely admitted that she was aware there was a famous singer in Hong Kong who shared the same name but she was quick to point out that she was born a tad too early to be named after 陳慧嫻. Later on I found out she went to the same local high school where I spent one year in before heading to college. So she updated me that Mr. Harrington, the History teacher who had lobbied to take me out of ESL (English as Second Language) into his class, has since retired.
Priscilla lists Cantonese as one of the three languages she speaks in her Facebook page but in the six months or so we worked together I had never heard her speak Cantonese. However, in the couple occasions where a few Cantonese-speaking customers were visiting the store, I could tell she can comprehend their conversation since she figured out what they are looking for. So it could be just that she wasn’t comfortable enough to talk to native Cantonese speakers, just like how I feel about speaking English socially sometimes. Besides, Priscilla was genuinely an amiable person - one thing I remember the most is she always gave another girl in the store a ride home after work. For a long time I just assume they are close buddies from school. Turned out they were from different schools and only got to know each other through work. For those who have never live in North America, you may not realize how huge a favor it is for high school kids to be able to count on someone for a ride when most of them don’t own a car.
Asians in America tend to have the reputation to be the model students who all excel academically and aspire to be doctors or scientists. Priscilla certainly did not disappoint these expectations. With her potential it was only natural for her to be ambitious when it came to her college choices. She has confessed to be feeling guilty about applying close to ten universities at the time because it would cost quite a fortune (the application fee for most colleges is about US$ 70 these days). Having been in the same position before I divulged to Priscilla one of the best kept secrets in Boston - you are allowed to have up to four college application waivers per lifetime, made available to you by The Education Resources Institute (TERI) in the Johnson Building of Boston Public Library. Considering where she eventually went (and whom she had met there) maybe I could claim some credits here myself.
That of course is all jest, Priscilla is gifted enough to reach the top without anyone's help, much less mine. In fact, if I am not mistaken she enrolled at Harvard through Early Decision, meaning application for most schools was still open when she was accepted. Chances are she might never need to use the waivers at all.When the news that she got admitted to Harvard broke a mild buzz of excitement was brought to the otherwise uneventful life in the store. In April 2003, after being out of a full time job for almost a year and a half, I finally landed a real job and back in the high tech. industry. Promptly I quitted my part-time job and I think Priscilla did the same a month before me, probably to get ready for a new life after high school. In the following couple years I occasionally wonder if I would bump into her whenever I pass by Harvard campus on my way to the library but it never happened. As the time passed she kind of faded from my memory, until now. Ever since her relationship with Mark Zuckerberg had become public she had been hounded by photographers and the media but information on her is rather sketchy. Some said she is currently in medical school but other said she is a grade school science teacher. Regardless, I am sure Priscilla will shine in whatever career pursuit she is undertaking. Let’s hope a bright and challenging future lie ahead for her, both personally and with Mr. Zuckerberg.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
地震
There is a first for everything I supposed but it only felt like a rocking boat, thankfully
Monday, May 23, 2011
Heard from the Street
I can't take credit for these but it is just too brilliant not to share out
"It has been a really tough weekend," Camping said Sunday, after emerging from his Alameda, California home for the first time to talk to a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm looking for answers ... But now I have nothing else to say"
89-year-old Harold Camping's admission that he's "flabbergasted" the world didn't end last weekendOh cheer up Harold. We all make mistakes. Its not the end of the world
Sunday, May 8, 2011
星光伴我心之中西合壁
One of my somewhat embarrassing-to-admit interests is old black & white movies. I can never pass the opportunity if I happened to glance an old movie playing on TV when I was flipping through channels. That even included old-fashioned 粵語殘片, much to the annoyance of the people I live with since most of them would sneer at their corniness. Admittedly many 粵語殘片 are dated story and tilted acting galore, some actually are, however, in reasonably high quality (particularly those by 中聯) if only you give it a chance and judge it based on its own context. Naturally it caught my attention when net acquaintance Chris introduce the 粵語殘片 actress 麗兒 in his blog 子貓物語~~附庸風雅
麗兒 (Marianne Quon) is, of course, a ground-breaking Chinese actress in both Hollywood and Chinese movie history. However, what really took me a ride down the memory lane are the two actors in the audience in the above clip:
For those who are novice to 粵語殘片, the one on the left is 鄭惠森, one of his more famous (recurring) roles is 凌雲階 in 關德興’s 黃飛鴻 series. The one on the right is an actor named 馮應湘. His name was more obscure today because he was primarily a character actor and passed away in the mid 50s already. However, seeing 馮應湘 in the clip above has reminded me one of the most unusual 粵語殘片 I had once watched by chance when I was a kid years ago. 馮應湘 was often cast as ne’er-do-well or playboys but in this particular case not only did he play a hero, he actually played a superhero. I only remember bits and pieces of the movie but the part I remember is something like this:
It was an ensemble movie and 馮應湘 was just one of the many cast members who have super power but his is the one I remember the most. I have never come across this movie again and often I wonder if that actually happened at all. If this movie really did exist, it must be one of the first ever superhero movies in Hong Kong.
Now that my memory of the movie was triggered once again, I set out to locate the movie but even though 馮應湘 died at the relatively young age of 46, he has made a staggering two hundred something movies in his short life and most of them have details missing to say the least. It will need some detective work to find the match, if at all. Fortunately with its unusual storyline, I managed find a movie named 亂世英雄 (A Hero of Troubled Times) in 中國影視資料館 with the following synopsis and list of cast, characters:
The plot sounds like a page you ripped off from an episode of the 70s comic book superhero series Super Friends 萬能勇士:
萬能勇士
Remember that American TV program, featuring 正義堂 (The Justice League of America), 雙子少俠 (Super Twins)...? In fact, it is not hard to detect the American influence on 亂世英雄 from the photo still of the movie in 中國影視資料館:
Here we have the hypnotist wearing a sultan outfit that recalls the sorcerers in many old Hollywood fantasy movies like The Thief of Bagdad, an American cowboy and even a blackface, a distinctive (not to mention extremely racist and politically incorrect) piece of Americana.
The only other info I can find on 亂世英雄 is this photo still I came across on a discussion board on Hong Kong nostalgia, featuring "離魂秘客金萬成" (played by 鄭君綿) on the left and "迷魂賊章大朋" (played by 姚萍) on the right:
Even people of my generation would recognize 鄭君綿 since he had acted on TV from time to time until he passed away in 1994. He was famous for impersonating Elvis Presley during his 粵語殘片 days and he was nicknamed “東方貓王”. According to 中國影視資料館, 亂世英雄 was released in 1950, when Elvis had yet to put out a record. Looking at the above photo still, I can’t help but wondering if 鄭君綿 was channeling the famous Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.
鄭君綿 vs. Salvador Dalí's self portrait
Even though I haven’t found any clip of 亂世英雄, I can’t tell you how excited I was to be able to locate the name of a movie that had lived in my memory for so long. For I have never met anyone who has recollection of such an odd 粵語殘片, even from people of my parents’ generation. Once and for all I proved that I didn’t dream the whole movie up. Next time I am in Hong Kong I definitely will try my luck with 亂世英雄 at Hong Kong Film Archive. In the meanwhile it would be more than welcome to hear from anyone who knows anything about the movie or how to get hold of it.
麗兒 (Marianne Quon) is, of course, a ground-breaking Chinese actress in both Hollywood and Chinese movie history. However, what really took me a ride down the memory lane are the two actors in the audience in the above clip:
For those who are novice to 粵語殘片, the one on the left is 鄭惠森, one of his more famous (recurring) roles is 凌雲階 in 關德興’s 黃飛鴻 series. The one on the right is an actor named 馮應湘. His name was more obscure today because he was primarily a character actor and passed away in the mid 50s already. However, seeing 馮應湘 in the clip above has reminded me one of the most unusual 粵語殘片 I had once watched by chance when I was a kid years ago. 馮應湘 was often cast as ne’er-do-well or playboys but in this particular case not only did he play a hero, he actually played a superhero. I only remember bits and pieces of the movie but the part I remember is something like this:
There was a guy who took refuge in 馮應湘‘s house because he was on the run from some kind of (righteous) mission. Unbeknown to this man, 馮應湘 happened to have a jacket that can turn him invisible. As a result, they decide to join force together to carry out the mission...
It was an ensemble movie and 馮應湘 was just one of the many cast members who have super power but his is the one I remember the most. I have never come across this movie again and often I wonder if that actually happened at all. If this movie really did exist, it must be one of the first ever superhero movies in Hong Kong.
Now that my memory of the movie was triggered once again, I set out to locate the movie but even though 馮應湘 died at the relatively young age of 46, he has made a staggering two hundred something movies in his short life and most of them have details missing to say the least. It will need some detective work to find the match, if at all. Fortunately with its unusual storyline, I managed find a movie named 亂世英雄 (A Hero of Troubled Times) in 中國影視資料館 with the following synopsis and list of cast, characters:
新任市長章大朋的真正身份是大盜'迷魂賊', 其妻梅玲則是'野女郎'. 二人軟禁了前市長馬頌潮, 企圖迫他道出國家藏金的所在, 但頌潮一直不肯就範. 由政府首都派來的監察員金萬成正對大朋的舉動有所懷疑, 遂展開追查, 並聯同'女黑俠'呂秀雲施計營救馬市長. 秀雲以歌女身份混入大朋的迷宮, 與萬成裡應外合. 此際梅玲發現了她的勁敵'玉面霸王'史劍青及其妻雪蝶尋至, 便擬先下手為強, 除掉雪蝶. 劍青在逃命期間結識了'隱形博士'戴鐵龍, 二人決定合力除害, 對付大朋夫婦. 各路英雄用不同方法混進迷宮, 皆被識破, 最後萬成巧施催眠術, 加上隱形博士的隱形衣, 終告打敗迷魂賊夫婦, 成功救出頌潮復職, 社會回復太平.
羅品超 .... 玉面霸王史劍青
郭秀珍 .... 野女郎梅玲
姚萍 .... 迷魂賊章大朋
徐人心 .... 女黑俠呂秀雲
鄭君綿 .... 離魂秘客金萬成
馬小玲 .... 周雪蝶
譚子駒 .... 陸隊長
冼江 .... 特務長
馮應湘 .... 隱形博士戴鐵龍
藍菲 .... 馬頌潮
林華 .... 獄卒
佩佩 .... 蕙絲
The plot sounds like a page you ripped off from an episode of the 70s comic book superhero series Super Friends 萬能勇士:
Remember that American TV program, featuring 正義堂 (The Justice League of America), 雙子少俠 (Super Twins)...? In fact, it is not hard to detect the American influence on 亂世英雄 from the photo still of the movie in 中國影視資料館:
Here we have the hypnotist wearing a sultan outfit that recalls the sorcerers in many old Hollywood fantasy movies like The Thief of Bagdad, an American cowboy and even a blackface, a distinctive (not to mention extremely racist and politically incorrect) piece of Americana.
The only other info I can find on 亂世英雄 is this photo still I came across on a discussion board on Hong Kong nostalgia, featuring "離魂秘客金萬成" (played by 鄭君綿) on the left and "迷魂賊章大朋" (played by 姚萍) on the right:
Even people of my generation would recognize 鄭君綿 since he had acted on TV from time to time until he passed away in 1994. He was famous for impersonating Elvis Presley during his 粵語殘片 days and he was nicknamed “東方貓王”. According to 中國影視資料館, 亂世英雄 was released in 1950, when Elvis had yet to put out a record. Looking at the above photo still, I can’t help but wondering if 鄭君綿 was channeling the famous Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.
Even though I haven’t found any clip of 亂世英雄, I can’t tell you how excited I was to be able to locate the name of a movie that had lived in my memory for so long. For I have never met anyone who has recollection of such an odd 粵語殘片, even from people of my parents’ generation. Once and for all I proved that I didn’t dream the whole movie up. Next time I am in Hong Kong I definitely will try my luck with 亂世英雄 at Hong Kong Film Archive. In the meanwhile it would be more than welcome to hear from anyone who knows anything about the movie or how to get hold of it.
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