Over the past month, various developments explained the deaths of many pets throughout the nation. We first narrowed down to tainted pet food; but when we delved deeper, it turned out that it was the wheat gluten at fault because it contains melamine, something used to fake the presence of protein [1]. These poisoned goods continue to stream in [2].

As seen in my Lenovo ET960, this shoddiness extends to things like computer hardware (via the “It compiles… ship it” mentality) and in safety-critical things [3]. At this rate, I doubt whether China deserves to be considered America’s trade partner, let alone an “economic leader.” I am angry at the people who would make such a bad name for us Chinese people, and I fear the day that I may be labeled as a dishonest person on the basis of my nationality. The only reason why I can sleep at night is because I know that my fear is unlikely to happen. Instead, I see people beginning to boycott goods originating from China altogether. Yes, now is a great time to be an American and to buy American goods.

Sources:
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/business/worldbusiness/30food.html?ex=1335585600&en=dd852b2af8137ac7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
[2] http://consumerist.com/consumer/the-end-is-nigh/chinese-poison-train-declared-unstoppable-next-stop-you-262006.php
[3] http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=30671

I know the delay was a bit much, but I recently received news that someone created a map resembling Clements High School in a first-person shooter. For this, he was removed and placed into alternative school and now unable to graduate with his friends. OK… so they found a hammer in his room, but is a hammer solely designed to hurt people? I think not. Do video games cause people to become violent? Check my previous post — Cho didn’t play video games.

I remember the days when I blissfully followed every rule in the book. Those days ended during my senior year of high school as I realized how phony my surroundings were: I was in a club of hypocrites (SADD — all the officers except for me made “destructive decisions”), my year with Student Council was a waste of time (sure, the trips were fun, but did we make any changes to the school? Don’t even answer that.), the teachers had to teach to some vegetative test called the TAKS, and innovation is a taboo.

Source: http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/2847/chinese-community-rallies-behind-student-removed-from-clements-over-pc-game-map

By the way, I hear that prom tickets are $85 over there if you buy early. What’s the prom favor? A diamond-studded ring for your date? Oh, wait! I remember now… Student Council doesn’t do jack! On the other hand, I went to a ball last weekend. It was only $25 per person and featured a local orchestra!

Although my life here in college is difficult, I really could not be happier. I truly feel the opportunity to touch lives and to challenge the status quo.

Because I needed time to myself to rest and do some work, I told my OA friends that I could either go to the committee co-chair’s party or the camping trip. I opted for the party because it would be a new experience for me. Well… I got what I asked for.

Upon arrival, I had some punch. That was a big mistake because that was the obvious thing that people would spike with alcohol at parties. I proceeded to have a jello shot because the host said that it has no alcohol. That was also a mistake. Fortunately, there was no effect because I remained sober enough to learn my lesson and to escort my friend (who had a bit more than I did) home.

Time to bump all my OA friends’ trust bars down a bit…

It feels like I have not updated the site in the longest time. In only the span of the three weeks I have been back at my dorm, I went through many events:

• The Edison Lecture Series: Renewable Energy
• A talk with the professor who gave me the failing grade
• OA Retreat

The Edison Lecture Series: Renewable Energy
The Edison Lecture Series is an outreach event put on by the University of Texas Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department. It was also the reason why I went back to the dorm so early — to help the solar car team with our lecture and car display. Our lecture was a smashing hit — not only did the chairman of the ECE department ask us to do an abbreviated version for every one of the subsequent lectures, but we received a generous $6,500 donation!

A talk with the professor who gave me the failing grade
One day, I saw the professor leave. The first thing he did was to talk about how bad he felt having to give the grade that I received because I clearly busted my rear for him. He even tried to work the numbers a bit, but to no avail. I then had the opportunity to tell him that all is well and I understand what a hard decision he had to make. As much as I love the “favorites” game when it’s in my favor, it is simply unethical. Besides, it is human to not succeed on the first try every now and then. Take my OA job for example. I did not make it the first time around because I need “one more year.” As much as I did not like it, I am now in the post as an orientation advisor and will make myself worth their while. I will do the same thing for Professor Andrews.

OA Retreat
Here is a question for you: What is an easy way to form close bonds among cohorts who barely know each other? Why, you can take them somewhere and stick them all in one cabin or two and do a few activities together! In only 24 hours, we felt as if we knew each other for months! We had fun with activities that talk about social justice, find our leadership personalities, and other fun teambuilders. I found out that my color is “gold,” which means traits such as

• Strives for a sense of security
• Tends to be left-brained and analytical
• Duty, Loyalty, Useful, Responsible
• Helpful and trustworthy
• Loves to plan

I was somewhat surprised to not see the “rebel” side of me come into play — there are times when I would question the status quo.

Pictures of my OA experience: http://gallery.cyeungrun.com/oa2007

When I was working with the Solar Vehicles Team one day, we had an accident: The top part of our body, which makes up practically 2/3 of the car’s value, tipped off our array stand and fell. While everyone else was too shocked to speak, an alumni’s first words were, “What did we learn today?” Every failure surely comes with a lesson to learn; and my recent failure in EE 313 (Linear Systems and Signals) clearly teaches that there are some things that I cannot succeed at on the first go-around. I really do not have to go far to find good examples: Rarely did I pass those EE 316 readiness tests on the first try. Furthermore, I did not make it to the orientation advisor position because I need one more year.

Next year, I plan to be more assertive, more confident, and more enduring.

Do you remember the person who put all her pictures in a Word document file in order to save space? Here’s another iteration of me having some fun at her expense:

Friend: OMG OMG OMG
Me: What’s the matter?
Friend: i just got a warning on my comp that said “your computer is working too hard…..”
Me: wtf?!
Friend: ya i was watching this video clip online and it said something like your comp is having to work too hard to watch this video!?!??!?!
Me: What program was this?
Friend: cant remember
Me: Where is this video clip from?
Friend: tmz
Friend: omg and now my comp is making these breathing sounds kinda…. they come and go
Me: tmz?
Me: I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen next
Friend: what!??!!?!?!
Me: Your computer will then grow teeth and bite you in your sleep! >D
Me: Just kidding!
Friend: OMG lol
Friend: it kinda sounds like a fan or something…

When I arrived at Kinsolving today, there was a guy and a girl standing outside with signs that says “FREE HUG”. Lots of people took them up on the offer. I got them in a group hug. It was a pleasure to see sights like these because I think what this world needs is love.

On several occasions, after logging into Facebook, I was presented with some unusual popups. Where do they come from? What is it trying to do?

Section 1: My Arguments At-A-Glance
I suspect an ad on Facebook may be spreading a virus because of these events (in chronological order):

1. When I log in, I get a dialog box saying “Sorry, your browser is not WIN32 compatible.” This occurs on one specific ad. (Show me)
2. The system would work a bit harder than usual. It was found that the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) has started.
3. A pop-up would attempt to open. That was blocked by Firefox’s pop-up blocker. Additionally, I was prompted to save a .wmf file. I saved it for further inspection.(Show me)
4. Overriding the pop-up blocker would result in a pop-up. Upon inspection of the source, it opens another window.
5. Upon inspection of the new window, it tries to run a Java program. I inspected the source of that page and also downloaded the .jar file it tried to run.
6. I took the two files to Kaspersky and avast!. They both confirmed the existence of a virus in both the files.

Section 2: Confirmations
Over the course of the weekend, an article came up on Digg about the same thing happening on MySpace (reference).

Section 3: Conclusion
Because of the random displaying of advertisements, it is fairly unlikely to obtain these two computer viruses. The following actions will further decrease a user’s chances of obtaining these viruses:

• Keeping Windows updated with the latest security patches. The WMF exploit was discovered in December and patched around February.
• Having a pop-up blocker. Internet Explorer has one built in, but having Google Toolbar is a good extra layer of protection.
• Using an alternative browser such as Mozilla Firefox.
• Using Sun Microsystem’s Java Virtual Machine to run Java code instead of Microsoft’s Java Virtual Machine.
• Using a non-Windows operating system.

Next week is definitely going to be bad: FOUR midterms!

• Monday: Government
• Tuesday: Introduction to Programming
• Wednesday: Advanced Calculs for Applications I
• Thursday: Circuit Theory

That does not include any “Digital Logic Design” tests I will be taking. Please send your prayers to me and those who are in the same situation, and I will be doing the same thing.

What if all the solutions to life’s problems can be found in the back of a textbook? Sure, things would be boring, but imagine the hilarity that would ensue if the problem faced is an even-numbered one. Surely, God would put the answers to the trivial questions in the back. The rest is up to you.