A funny variation of Uno with custom rules - requires the H2O Uno deck. Notes for myself so I don't forget.
1. If you have the same exact card as what got discarded, you can cut in at any time to play it.
2. If someone cuts in on you, you have to pick up the entire discard pile.
3. If you play a zero, you get to switch hands with someone - you give up your win if it's your last card.
4. If someone plays a plus card, you can play another plus card to avoid the penalty and pass the total to the next person.  If the next person also has a plus card, you can keep forwarding this until the last person doesn't who doesn't have one and has to pick up the total sum of all the plus cards.
5. Plus card with splash (H2O) makes everyone draw and cannot be forwarded/blocked.

Recipe for the best smoothie (originally from Earthbar).  Serves 2 16 oz cups; half the amounts for 1 serving.
- 1 frozen Sambazon Acai bar (pure and unsweetened)
- 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries (aka billberry).
- 2 bananas
- 2 teaspoons of unfiltered flax oil (lignans for anti-cancer).
- 2 tablespoons...[More]

Personal tennis notes for myself.  I am ambidextrous and play tennis with both hands (or two rackets), so I've had to come to my own conclusions on a lot of things.  I also trained initially under a coach who basically had me hit every shot with an extreme western(?) grip for top spin, even on serves both hands (which results in inside-out slice serve, I think - not sure what it's called), so most advice I get has often not been helpful (especially things like suggesting *not* to use such an extreme grip).  My grip is actually rotated to the point it is actually a continental grip, except I hit with the outside face instead which is the complete opposite and forces you to over-rotate to meet the ball and creates the kick in top-spin.  The hand motion without a racket looks like I am hitting the ball with the back of my hand instead of the palm.  I went through some phases in my life post-college where I was repeatedly told I was holding the racket wrong...[More]

For those curious what it's like seeing with retinal occlusion... (aka RVO, RAO, CRVO, etc)

The first time your eye goes out, everything is white.  This happened for my left eye in the spring of 2012.



Sometimes...[More]

Just my thoughts and notes on where to go in each city, what's worth seeing and doing, what I enjoy in each city anyway.  Not so much a guide as much as a set of bookmarks for myself.  For a more anecdotal sense of what the three major coastal US cities are like, check out NYC vs SF vs LA.

General tip: Amazon.com login works in other countries too (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, etc). You'll be able to order and deliver locally rather than ship internationally if ordered from Amazon.com

United States

Chicago...[More]

The gist of how I basically play poker:
1. Play like a moron who always bets.
2. Play like a moron who always folds.
3. Only bet when you have something.
4. Bet whenever you think they think you think you might have something.
5. Never bet.  Only call or raise when someone bets into you and you have something.
6. Restart at a random step.

As you can probably guess, my hand usually doesn't matter to my decision.  And when playing in real life, I often don't look at my hand at all.

What matters more is what you think they have and whether they behave consistently.  If they make bets that are consistent with one hand for a while but suddenly make a bet that is inconsistent to that, they are probably lying.

Below is a list of trends, technologies, and other developments that perk my interest and I'm keeping tabs on.  I'm mainly interested in things that are truly novel or cutting edge, not the next big app nonsense.

2021
- Anti-aging through blood contents (geroscience). Example: Alkahest

2019...[More]

A short summary of the skills I've accumulated throughout my life, almost all of which are self-taught (school only confused me and made up names for things I was already doing <_< ).  Much thanks for the support from online gaming communities I was active with in 2003-2007 back when the internet was much smaller.  I have been programming and making games since I was 12, creating short films and composing music since I was 14, and trading stocks since I was 18.  My latest projects and activities can be found at my creations page.

Technology and Multimedia
• Programming: HTML/CSS, PHP, (My)SQL, Java(Script), AS3, C++/#, Hadoop, Ruby, Python
• Video/Photo: After Effects, Premiere, Encore, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator.
   - Post,...[More]

My lists here will be quite sparse compared to other people's.  I generally put a lot more weight into what I consider a "favorite" before adding, so there are works and inspirational figures I probably like but aren't here simply because they didn't leave a strong enough impact.

My interests are pretty wide ranging and hard to bucket, probably from the diversity of works I was exposed to having spent most of my childhood online, in books, and in movies/games.  I read pretty much everything I could get my hands on as early as 3rd grade, though it's toned down a bit now. I probably read too much in elementary, going through as much as a hundred novels a year and ending up with 5.0 diopters of nearsightedness by 7th grade (though I've trained myself to never need glasses outside of reading, even in skiing or tennis).  For music, I started off more in games, world/ethnic, and (Goa)(Psy)Trance/Techno/DnB before starting to listen to film and...[More]

3 cans (18oz) of red bean paste.
2 cans (14oz) of condensed milk.
Equal water to all cans used.

Mix and stir until boiling.
Freeze for popsicles or serve as drink.

        My first shot at anything even close to programming started with Age of Empires III in Random Map Scripting of November 2005.   I didn't try any other languages until around summer of 2006, when, out of boredom from being one-handed due to a broken right wrist, I taught myself web design and programming (including coding this website from scratch).   Since then, I've learned much more programming and continue to do so.

        What do I use to program? No fancy programs here (you otherwise aren't writing your own code and technically NOT programming!)... I only use Notepad2; it is basically the Notepad included on all Windows computer, with highlighting to make code easier to read.   Very nice when you are editing files with over 5000 lines of code :p Many thanks to Elpea and Matei for recommending it to me.

Currently I'm fluent in:

• Age of Empires III
  
  • Random Map Scripting (XS)
    
    • (XS) Random Map Scripting, 2005-2006
    • XS Trigger Injection, 2006
    • XS Knowledge Base Querying, January 2007
...

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        Got an interview a while ago by Riot at AOE3Files. Was a lot longer than I thought it would be.   Basically they were interviewing me for designing for Age of Empires III.

Here it is for those interested: AOE3Files Interviews pftq

        Never had an interview before...

It's broken... not fractured, not dislocated, broken. Both bones. My right hand... the one I use to write with...April 25 2006: BeforeApril 25 2006: AfterWhat Happened???April 25 2006          This is probably one of the most random things that happened in my life. I was playing basketball at school at around 11:45AM. I was running in one direction and one of my friends was running the other way. Trying to run behind him to other other side, I didn't see his shoe out until I almost tripped over it and it was too close to my feet; by trying not to trip over it, I slipped. There was no way at all I thought it was much of a fall at all, so I just put my right hand out to stop myself but I was going forward a little too fast. My hand was originally palm down and flat toward the ground. It folded backwards until my palm was facing upwards, and I landed on hand and wrist, going forward the whole time. Basically I landed on the back of my hand/wrist while it was palm up from the ground.
...[More]

         Several of my friends from Zoo Admin introduced me to this interesting card game a few years back. It was the first card game I learned that actually had more to do with skill than luck (aka Poker, 21, Deuces... generally luck). You can actually have real strategies set and many ways to play. It's pretty hard to explain, but many people who learned it from me said it was similar to Rummy. I haven't played Rummy before so I wouldn't know. A good tutorial can be found at Yahoo. It's a pretty neat game, though a bit complicated at first. I suggest trying it out at some point if you ever find yourself without something to do.

         This is arguably the game I was most good at growing up (I was 12 when I learned to play).  I was largely undefeated when playing 1v1.  Tournaments were plenty online at the time, and I won most tournaments I entered (I don't actually remember losing any, but just in case lol).  At the time, I didn't realize most people online I was playing against were probably much older, so it's still a bit jarring for me now realizing there is hardly anyone in my own age group who plays.  

         I don't really play it much anymore, but more because of how few people still play. When I do play, it's usually on Yahoo Games.  Feel free to leave a comment or an email with your Yahoo ID, what room to meet  in, and the time and day if you want a match against me.

    ...[More]