I have been very busy the past few days as I traveled to New York to pick my sister Alisa from JFK airport. I am now helping her settle down in my humble abode as she will be staying with me for the next 2 months.

Last night, I hung out with Hanri, Fanny, Denise, and Dave (my sister was napping from travel exhaustion). We had a pretty interesting conversation, in which I said that Darth Vader has to be most evil name in existence. The names: Count Dracula, Frankenstein, Freddie Kruger, and Jason Friday the 13th, pale in comparison to the vile name of Darth Vader. But goofy talk about Star Wars and Darth Vader became serious as we engaged in highly intellectual-stimulating talks on social issues and woes. I raised the question that kids are become more unhealthy and obese because of the sedentary lifestyle associated with computers, games consoles, and the Internet. But Dave mentioned that the health problems in today's kids go beyond just having a sedentary lifestyle. Gone are the carefree childhood days of our fathers and forefathers. Kids no longer play on the streets or roam around the nearby woods. Even minor leagues that kids participate in these days are highly organized. Dave concluded that in addition to the sedentary lifestyle associated with computers, the competitiveness and low daily activities contribute to the unhealthy lifestyle of today's kids. Nonetheless, it was the first great summer night to be hanging out with friends drinking and grilling.

I better stop blogging for now and start reading my first assignment for System Engineering, one of the classes that I will be taking in the summer.

6/5/2005 7:08:58 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [17]

Personal

I finally got it. I had an epiphany on my sense and purpose of being at MIT while doing track workouts with the MIT Triathlon Club earlier today. It's really simple, my purpose of being at MIT is to humble and immerse myself in the environment to bring out the best in me. I realized while running on the tracks that I could have had an easier workout by running by myself at my own pace. Instead, I chose to push myself by running with the club and doing a series of alternating sprints and runs. A tougher workout? Sure, but it pushes me to excel my running abilities.

Reflecting back, I now realize that I have been pushing myself since I started at MIT. Despite my mediocre writing skills and busy schedule, I started blogging on this blog site through the encouragement of fellow SDM bloggers like Yoav and Matti. I am still no Shakespeare but I think the blogging experience is starting to pay off. Overall, I see my writing slowly but surely improving. Furthermore, I am more aware of the writing style of others and the literature that I read. I may not articulate as well as some of my classmates but it is true that I do better when I am mentally challenged by people smarter than me.

The point I am trying to make is that MIT is an amazing place that stimulates students’ personal qualities and intellectual abilities and encourages them to act on their energy and enthusiasm. I believe that by embracing on the opportunities that are available and immersing myself in such environment would not only bring out the best of me but to further enhance my personal growth during my limited time at the institution.

6/2/2005 12:17:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [11]

Personal

How to append two extra blank columns to a CSV file?

awk '{print $0",,"}' data.csv

6/1/2005 1:50:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [9]

Computers

At the moment, my legs and arms are feeling like jelly. I am simply too exhausted from my first swim workout with the MIT Triathlon Club. I was intimidated by the MIT triathletes’ swimming prowess. Not only were they able to cover twice the distance that I did, they also swam effortlessly past me a couple of times. Considering that I only started swimming seriously 2 months ago, I shouldn't get too discouraged with today's workout. Maybe swimming with the MIT triathletes was a bad idea at this point in my young swimming career. Nonetheless, the swimming workout tonight highlighted some areas that I need to improve. I hope to work on those weaknesses and perhaps sign up for a more advanced swimming lesson in the summer. Maybe I will do better in tomorrow's running workout with the club. I am always better in running.

5/31/2005 10:56:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [16]

Sports

Finally the weather is conducive enough (or I just don't friggin' care anymore) to play tennis and grill for the very first time this year. For my first grilled food this year, I grilled some chorizos, which I bought from Whole Foods supermarket but I somehow managed to screw it up by overcooking them. This is unacceptable for iron chef.

5/30/2005 10:40:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [15]

Personal

I found a really cool music site that allows me to build a profile of my musical taste and share it with the public. Check out my discerning taste for good music.

5/30/2005 1:24:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [16]

Music

I made some minor changes to my blog:

1. Added RSS and ATOM feeds. If you are like me who uses Firefox, you can click on the orange RSS icon on the bottom left of Firefox to subscribe to my blog feed.
2. Added a new link "Find out what I'm listening to" under "About Me" heading.
3. Made some changes in "Steal These Buttons" section.

5/30/2005 1:14:08 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [13]

Blog

Like the last 6 consecutive weekends, it rained today. At least, the sun was breaking through the clouds most of the day today. To take advantage of the momentary lapse of nice and sunny weather, I called Cenkhan (Jake) to go for a 6 mile run along the Charles River. As much as I love running, I have to confess that running is a boring activity especially without any company. That is why it's always good to run with someone. After the run, we visited the Graduate Barbeque event at Ashdown House briefly.

To satisfy my craving for pho, I had dinner with Fanny at Pho Pasteur at Harvard Square. One problem I have with pho is the excessive MSG that they add to the broth soup. As I write this blog, I am still reeling from my overdose of MSG. I am friggin' thirsty now.

5/28/2005 11:30:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [10]

Personal

It is now official, I have just signed up for the Salem City Triathlon on August 7th. I will attempt to cover 0.5 miles of swimming, 13 miles of biking, and 3 miles of running. It is time for me to start toning up those major muscle groups for swimming, biking, and running.

5/26/2005 10:13:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [15]

Sports

I organized a basketball game at the Z-center earlier today. Once again, it was the usual suspects, like Yoav and Kevin, who showed up. I am beginning to feel that my SDM classmates are just too lethargic to do anything outside of class. Nonetheless, we had a few good rounds of pick-up basketballs with other students at the courts.

5/26/2005 9:58:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [15]

Sports

While swimming at the Z center last Monday, I discovered that swimming pool in the Z center is now configured as a 50m pool in the summer. The staff moved the movable boom that usually divides the pool into several more 25m lanes.

Swimming in a 50m pool presents its own challenges. In particular, one needs to settle into rhythmic yet relaxed strokes in the 50m pool than one does with the 25m pool. Unlike last Monday when I was all out-of-sync, I settled into my strokes earlier today and was able to swim for 900m. I did cheat by putting on a pair of fins in my last 4 laps. However, I have to confess that I love the fins. Swimming with fins is not only effortless but also quite exhilarating because you go really fast with them.

5/25/2005 10:50:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [13]

Sports

This is really sad. Boston has been hit by days of continuous downpour and unseasonably cold weather. The weather is so bad that a cloudy day with occasional drizzle is now considered a nice day. In addition, the weatherman said yesterday's highest temperature is the coldest high temperature on record for May 24th.

5/25/2005 9:55:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [13]

Rants

I am going to take this opportunity to reflect back on my first semester at MIT now that the spring semester is officially over. Without further ado, here is my verdict for the classes listed in descending order of preference:

1. ESD.762 - System Optimization
   This is without a doubt my favorite class last semester. The topic is not only interesting but also fun. Who would have thought that using Excel and Crystal Ball to build mathematical models and crunching out numbers were actually fun. Moreover, the cross-disciplinary aspect of System Optimization make this class useful in real-life applications. As for the professor, what else can I say about Prof. Simchi-Levi? He is simply an engaging and insightful lecturer. Unfortunately, this course is the abridged version of System Optimization, which is designed specifically for the SDM program. I wish that they had given us the 9 or even 12-unit version of this class. Nonetheless, this is still a great class.
2. 15.840 - Innovations in the Marketplace
   This course is the SDM’s version of Marketing 101, in which we focused on the product design and development aspects of the marketing. 2 professors, Prof. von Hippel and Prof. Dan Ariely, jointly taught this class. However, it was the guest lecturer that I liked most about this class. In fact, I rank Ken Morse’s talk on High-Tech Sales and Entrepreneurship to be the best talk of last semester.
3. 15.981 - Technology Strategy
   I am really ambivalent to this class and it has been a love-and-hate relationship. Strategy as a subject is something that I enjoy studying. It has provided me the frameworks and challenged my thought process on businesses. The only problem that I have with this class is delivery. I can see the benefits of case studies and the discussions that followed, but I reject the professor’s intention of keep the scope of the discussions strictly within the frameworks that we learned from class. I also object the absence of clear explanations on some of the principles in this class. Without infringing on the class discussion, I think the majority of the class can benefit tremendously from a short lecture at each session to clear some of the ambiguities that have often plagued the student’s write-ups.
4. ESD.72 - Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis
   Unlike the majority of my class who hated this class, I actually like this class even though I will probably end up with a grade of "B" for this class. The problem sets may be long and time-consuming but I still think I learned something from the class.
5. 15.980/ESD.936 - Product Design and Development
   This course started on a high note but ended on a low note. Lectures from the second half of the course were boring and have no value-added. The saving grace to this class was the semester-long team project, which, through a great team effort, my team was able to complete with rave remarks from the faculty. I had experienced teams from hell in the past (work, undergrad, grad, personal, etc), but having gone through a pleasant experience of working with the project team for this class, my faith in teamwork has finally been restored.
6. ESD.922 - SDM Thesis Seminar
   This is a seminar where SDM students discover possible thesis topics and advisors by listening to guest professors speaking about their research. There was a good mix of good and bad lectures from this seminar. My 2 favorite guest speakers were Prof. Tom Allen and Prof. Michael Cusumano.

For fellow SDM students, what are your favorite classes?

5/23/2005 6:36:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [14]

School