My roommate brought up an interesting point, one that I've wrestled with a few times, "Why doesn't China just use an alphabet, like pinyin, to write everything." This idea has been tinkered around with since the Song and maybe before (site).
Having Chinese keep it's clumsy characters as it's mode of writing is like English keeping its clumsy mode of spelling. If people are gunning for efficiency why are we using English. The spelling is not phonetic, stresses are sporadic, plurals of nouns can be irregular and in general the grammar is very difficult. The spelling is still the same because the last time English went through a spelling reform was when Webster simplified English for a dictionary for America. Not having another spelling reform for American English to replace diphthongs and vowels that make the same sound seems irrational.
Maybe it is just easier to keep using the characters along with pinyin for a pronunciation guide. Sort of like what Japan has, except they use full blown alphabets and use those letters to help them pronounce the more complicated kangi. I know that learning many characters and a pronunciation guide is very clumsy, and maybe there will be a day when the Chinese government (whether PRC or somebody else) lets a full blown alphabet be the exclusive medium of writing for the Chinese language (perhaps when almost everybody in China knows Mandarin). As of now there are two systems, characters and a guide. It might seem backwards to do this, but there are two possible outcomes. 1) The pinyin takes over as the medium of writing after this two system thing has been in use for a long time, or 2) There will always be a two system policy and the use of pinyin/any Romanization system truly was to make the Chinese writing system available to the masses and to allow Chinese to be used in the modern world.
I have to admit Chinese characters are the spelling system is a broken system. The way things are spelled is easily forgotten and a spell checker isn't available. The phonetic parts are hit or miss. And they are keeping the common people from telling their stories (site). And from what I've been reading it makes sense that people spend more time learning characters and could be devoting their time to something else worth studying. After all language is a medium right? I do support the continued use of characters because...
The use of a Romanization system would require the reader and writer to think about their words.
Sometimes I wonder what would it be like if ancient China made the leap from characters to the use of an alphabet. What kinds of scientific innovations, works of literature and amount of power over the world China might have had if they made that leap. It might have been the workings of a handful of people, the educated, the nobility, that might have kept the status quo of characters instead of using an alphabet. Allowing only the well to do to write, and leaving the peasants the way they were. The Chinese did have contact with peoples that used alphabets, the Central Asian Turks, the Indians, SE Asians (based off of Indian scripts). Korea eventually created an alphabet, along with the Japanese. And the Japanese have many homophones, like the Chinese language.
So the answer to the initial question my roommate posed is, it is doable but would people want to. People don't always act in the theoretical "least action", most efficient, etc. way. We're human, and theory is often times way different from real life, especially when dealing with human behavior. Things like love, preservation of culture, preservation of the weak, why do we act in such ways? Shouldn't the weak die off, cultures will fade, and love is a whole other bucket of worms. For some reason some people say no. And I guess that's how it is for now of the Chinese writing system, and for non-Roman basted alphabets too. There is a history behind it. There are cultural connections. And until the day comes when the people of China decide it's ok, it is time to stop the two systems we have now and choose one, which will invariably be the alphabet system. The same can be said about non-Roman based alphabets, why keep them? If we all switch to the same alphabet it should be easier to learn a new language. But again, culture, pride, being human and acting irrational don't allow us to do that. And in my mind that is mostly a good thing. We need difference in our world, not difference that breeds hate and contempt towards other cultures, but color and different views of our world and of other humans.
This doesn't mean we all have to learn all the languages of the world to communicate, we need a lingua franca that can span the globe, something that has not been done fully yet. English right now seems to be the language of science and business. Having road signs in China and Malaysia have English is a sign of that language as being the lingua franca. But again, it is a language with complicated rules, so it has a steep learning curve (depending on your native tongue it can be steeper or flatter). So isn't it in our best interest as a world to learn... Esperanto as the lingua franca. Boy would Brandon (the roommate) be happy at that comment. Nope. Because we have to adopt the language of the super power, the dominating country's tongue. In the real world this makes total sense. Now days though, are we looking for super powers or just getting along with each other to create a better world? This is the part where you vomit from this picture of a perfect world. Hopefully many people have learned their lessons from colonialism, racism, and learned to respect each other as humans.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Driving thoughts
On saturday when I was driving up I-5 to Berkeley I had random thoughts in my head.
- When asked to think outside the box, thoughts are generated inside of another box.
- Life is too short to take seriously (this is a lesson that took years of anger and pain to finally accept)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Erhu
This blog will once again have a new segment called the "How to play the erhu better." It will show clips of me "playing" the erhu. And by playing, so far I mean make noises. Hopefully I can look back on these videos and see improvement in my playing.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The bond between bike and body
I finally rode my bike to Sacramento the weekend before finals week. Overall the trip was ok. The land from Davis to Sac is pretty flat and the scenery was very central valley but I did get something out of my hour and a half trip. It was when I hit the causeway (a long straight stretch of road that parallels the 80 to Sac), with those cars flying past me at sixty to the right, some empty land to the left, the wind blowing in my face, the sun heating my skin, and I was riding, just me and my bike and it clicked that we were one. A man and machine combined into a 'manchine'. Peddling felt as natural as walking; it was as if the pedals were an extension of my feet, and the handle bars an extension of my arms.
The point is somehow just being on my bike and riding it for this trip allowed us to bond. Now when I get on my bike it's not me using a machine of metal and gears, or some tool that takes me from point a to wherever I want. Instead it's freedom. It lets me go wild riding wherever I want. There is this freedom in riding that I have not found with driving a car.
The point is somehow just being on my bike and riding it for this trip allowed us to bond. Now when I get on my bike it's not me using a machine of metal and gears, or some tool that takes me from point a to wherever I want. Instead it's freedom. It lets me go wild riding wherever I want. There is this freedom in riding that I have not found with driving a car.
Play nice PRC
I think that China wouldn't have this problem with Tibet if it would respect the people and their culture. Economically the PRC has given them a railroad and opened up a bunch of stores. But money can't buy everything. The PRC doesn't let the Tibetans own pictures of the Dalai Lama, there was an influx of Han Chinese into the area, threatening the Tibetan majority. They do not share the same rights, as limited as they are, of the people in the mainland. I think that all the PRC needs to do is let the Tibetans have greater autonomy, just like the Dalai Lama says he wants. Let them speak their Tibetan while forcing them to learn Mandarin. Let the Dalai Lama back in, and instead of ruling by fear rule by respect for the PRC.
My same sentiments go out to the Shanghainese. Let them speak their own language and let them have at least one TV and radio station, because there number of Shanghainese that know Shanghainese is shrinking. And I bet this takeover is exactly what the Tibetans fear, to be Sinicized.
I don't wish for independence for Tibet because 1) their economy would be nill and right now they have China to take care of them and 2) it would never happen. China would not give up that a land with natural resources, especially as big as Tibet.
My same sentiments go out to the Shanghainese. Let them speak their own language and let them have at least one TV and radio station, because there number of Shanghainese that know Shanghainese is shrinking. And I bet this takeover is exactly what the Tibetans fear, to be Sinicized.
I don't wish for independence for Tibet because 1) their economy would be nill and right now they have China to take care of them and 2) it would never happen. China would not give up that a land with natural resources, especially as big as Tibet.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Something new with finals
It's finals week and for some reason I'm thinking about this blog. Maybe it's to avoid studying. I am going to take a new approach to this whole blog idea. I want to write more personal entries. My simple brain's thinkings and philosophies, thoughts on books I've read, etc. There will always be postings of random stuff I find on the internet, things I've cooked and we can't forget the stupid, mold/boredom induced things me and my roommates talk about. But less of the internet and stupid conversations will be posted... unless that's what you three readers like.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
And now for the news
Big trouble in Tibet - The Tibetans have marked their 49th anniversary (and suspiciously the year Beijing is holding the Olympics) of a failed uprising against the PRC with protests and an uprising in Tibet. China has a lot to lose in the eyes of the international community if they decide to use force again to crush this rebellion. They are hosting the summer 2008 Olympics and people are calling foul because of the PRC's utter disregard for human rights and the environment. It's understandable that they want to be a world power but it seems like the way the government is running things they are just keeping a lid on a pressure cooker and one day it will burst. There should be reforms in the way the PRC treats its citizens because it cannot sustain a booming economy while fighting off potential uprisings from the other oppressed groups such as the Uighur and the poor people in the rural countryside who the communist government was set up in the first place to help.
Weed can help children with ADD. I stumbled upon this video where this professor talked about how marijuana is an alternative to helping those with ADD. Weed is good stuff, but I don't think it's a good idea to give to children, even older ones. Weed isn't addictive lets get that out of the way, but it does mess with your memory and ability to do certain tasks... like doing homework!
The new version of Ubuntu Hardy Heron will not support the SPARC architecture... and nobody cares because I'm sure almost everybody who reads this blog will not have heard what a SPARC cpu is.
Another China update, they have stealth bombers. Yep they have advanced fighter jets and a bomber capable of reaching and attacking the U.S., because everybody loves to blow up their wallet. I mean watch the video for yourself, it practically screams out death to China's enemies.
Weed can help children with ADD. I stumbled upon this video where this professor talked about how marijuana is an alternative to helping those with ADD. Weed is good stuff, but I don't think it's a good idea to give to children, even older ones. Weed isn't addictive lets get that out of the way, but it does mess with your memory and ability to do certain tasks... like doing homework!
The new version of Ubuntu Hardy Heron will not support the SPARC architecture... and nobody cares because I'm sure almost everybody who reads this blog will not have heard what a SPARC cpu is.
Another China update, they have stealth bombers. Yep they have advanced fighter jets and a bomber capable of reaching and attacking the U.S., because everybody loves to blow up their wallet. I mean watch the video for yourself, it practically screams out death to China's enemies.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The face of Jesus?
Popular Mechanics
This article is from a 2002 Pop Mech. article. It might be old stuff but I just recently stumbled upon it and found it interesting. It shows how scientists applied modern day forensic and computer techniques, and some artistic liberties, to try and recreate the face of what Jesus might have looked like. I'm not going to take it as this is exactly or even close to what he looked could have looked like. Although it would make sense for someone from that region to look like a Middle Eastern person, unlike the pictures we see today of him having white skin, tall, and sporting brown hair. Now I don't know much about Jesus, and whether he is the Son of God is debatable, or whether he had some mutation which made him look like a European, or maybe this God (if it was a virgin birth) wanted his son to have European features. I don't know either, believe what you will.
This article is from a 2002 Pop Mech. article. It might be old stuff but I just recently stumbled upon it and found it interesting. It shows how scientists applied modern day forensic and computer techniques, and some artistic liberties, to try and recreate the face of what Jesus might have looked like. I'm not going to take it as this is exactly or even close to what he looked could have looked like. Although it would make sense for someone from that region to look like a Middle Eastern person, unlike the pictures we see today of him having white skin, tall, and sporting brown hair. Now I don't know much about Jesus, and whether he is the Son of God is debatable, or whether he had some mutation which made him look like a European, or maybe this God (if it was a virgin birth) wanted his son to have European features. I don't know either, believe what you will.
George Gao erhu
This is a video I found on youtube. It's George Gao, a world renowned erhu player with Bowfire, which I also think is bad ass. The sound is not in sync with the video.
Monday, March 10, 2008
炸醬麵 (zhàjiàng miàn)
Ok, so I was reading about Korean Jajangmyeon and it had a link to the Chinese zhàjiàng miàn. I've never seen this before but the ingredients were simple enough and there didn't seem to be a lot of prep time, so I went and made some for dinner. The Wikipedia site on zhajiangmian explains what ingredients should be in there. For mine I improvised a little and this is what I did.
Ingredients:
First cut the cucumbers into very thin sticks. Move those aside. Mince the garlic, smash the black beans and cut the onions into small pieces. Now grind the pork. I didn't have two cleavers so I couldn't grind the pork the old fashion way. Nor do we have a blender, so I chopped the pork into very small cubes. Now the cooking part.
Put enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When it is hot put the garlic and mashed black beans into the oil and let it simmer like 10 seconds. Add the onions and cook until you feel like. The longer you cook the sweeter, so it's up to you. Or you could add in the pork and onions at the same time. The pork will cook quickly, but the onions will be more raw. Add the hoisin sauce. Add some salt to taste. Pour the sauce onto the noodles and put the cucumbers on top. The color of the sauce should look something like the picture in the Wiki article.
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- vegetable oil for pan frying
- pork, not that much is needed, I probably used a piece as big as my palm
- fermented black beans
- hoisin sauce
- thick wheat noodles, I used wheat spaghetti for mine because I didn't have anything else. It didn't go with the sauce.
- cucumber
- garlic
First cut the cucumbers into very thin sticks. Move those aside. Mince the garlic, smash the black beans and cut the onions into small pieces. Now grind the pork. I didn't have two cleavers so I couldn't grind the pork the old fashion way. Nor do we have a blender, so I chopped the pork into very small cubes. Now the cooking part.
Put enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When it is hot put the garlic and mashed black beans into the oil and let it simmer like 10 seconds. Add the onions and cook until you feel like. The longer you cook the sweeter, so it's up to you. Or you could add in the pork and onions at the same time. The pork will cook quickly, but the onions will be more raw. Add the hoisin sauce. Add some salt to taste. Pour the sauce onto the noodles and put the cucumbers on top. The color of the sauce should look something like the picture in the Wiki article.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Solutions
Solutions, it's a beautiful word. Homework can be hard hard and having something to guide you or to check if you're on the right path can make life easier. We've all been there, strapped for time, swamped with homework and work and you're stuck on this one assignment. I have lots of trouble with homework and resort to going on Google for help, and sometimes they don't have anything close to what I'm looking for. And by they I mean other people's websites, not you Google you're the best, please don't take my blog down. Anyway here is my proposed solution. I'm going to post up PDF files of homework and midterms from any given quarter so anybody can download and reference them. This includes files already in PDF form. Solutions not originally electronic but instead are posted in glass cages will be included, too. So, if you know anybody with electronic solutions, hand written solutions, etc. PLEASE shoot me an email or email them to me so we can make a grand database to help the future. Thank you.
Also you may have noticed there are advertisements on this site now. I am not selling out or whatever you want to call it, I figure since they are offering a potential way to make money I would be a fool not to take the offer.
Also you may have noticed there are advertisements on this site now. I am not selling out or whatever you want to call it, I figure since they are offering a potential way to make money I would be a fool not to take the offer.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
One more entry to top off the day
I thought I was finished posting stuff for the day, but this will be the last one for the time being. This one is simple enough, a rundown of downloads I found very useful during my long hours at the workbench. I've also included a few programs that seemed useful that are on my hard drive but have yet to try. This list is very OS X centric.
OS X
Not software but still awesome
OS X
- Anki flashcard program
- chmox to open .chm files
- Xcode IDE
- soundflowerbed
- audacity (also on linux, windows)
- USB overdrive X allows you to map extra mouse buttons
- Milkyway shows a preview of your file you highlight (PDF, images)
- iScreenshot take screenshots or shots of sections of your screen
- Comical comic book reader that I find somewhat unstable
- AppDelete to fully delete your applications
- Kompozer WYSIWYG to create webpages
- Unrarx to unzip rar files
- SQL editor haven't tried yet
- Eclise IDE (fortran, c++ etc)
- GParted GNU disk partitioner, I used it to repartition my OS X partition
- Netbeans haven't tried it yet but a friend recommends it
Not software but still awesome
- http://www.openstickers.com GNU printable sticker book, if you're into that kind of stuff
- Adblock plus surprisingly good ad blocker
- foxytunes control panel, music title, volume control on your browser
- Chatzilla IRC client
Random pics just 'cuz
rEFIt boot menu. Yesterday I installed Ubuntu on my Macbook, successful repartition of my drive and installation of the OS. Time to do some hardcore productivity work on it now, Oh Yeah!(sarcasm)
Tilt your head 90 degrees because I forgot to rotate this guy. I though it was cool.
My new desk shelf holding my speakers. I build it using some nails and wood glue. The wood came from dumpster diving. I have some pics of the process of building this thing, which will be in its own section.
Tilt your head 90 degrees because I forgot to rotate this guy. I though it was cool.
My new desk shelf holding my speakers. I build it using some nails and wood glue. The wood came from dumpster diving. I have some pics of the process of building this thing, which will be in its own section.
Brain Diarrhea
New update for the sake of updating for you reading pleasure. Since I haven't had time to post anything edifying on bikes (although one on my latest obsession fixies, yeah go look it up, will be posted someday), and I'm too lazy to post up pictures of the shelf I made about three weeks ago all you will get is a new segment called "Brain Diarrhea", which probably won't come back again ever.
Godzilla vs. Davis - Yeah, awesome, as Peter Griffin would say
Davis should have taller buildings - I mean look, if you want to have housing close to school you can't build out you've got to build up. This could increase the amount of people using bicycles for transportation and cut down on the number of Unitrans buses needed. Plus there is a housing scarcity in Davis. With the influx of what seem to be progressively larger number of freshman, instead of moving people farther out and encroaching on land that should be left alone the people of Davis should consider building up. Then again this is coming from guys that think about Godzilla destroying Davis.
Preservation of Culture - I think that a culture should be a cherished object, one that is irreplaceable and in all likelihood can never be recreated. Culture is something honed and refined over many generations. Things like distinct food, garb, music, and philosophy, etc. are part of what makes a culture. They serve as points of reference, like how people compare high food to French cuisine. They are different perspectives to living, like how to treat your elders or how people view each other. In the United States there are cultures inside of the American culture. From my friend's stories of his relatives in Wisconsin or the South he always says they are very polite and respectful people. While in California we say what the fuck? It's interesting as the modern age progresses and we see a smaller world how will cultures well established or small semi-isolated will be affected.
Even today small cultures are dying. For example, in China the rush for money has left people deciding between their local village culture (language, etc.) which leaves them in poverty, or going to the big city and teaching their children Mandarin exclusively and forgetting the past. Which is what many people are doing. Maybe I am wrong and that culture is something forgettable and I just can't see this because I'm not in the real world yet. Maybe it's more appropriate for children of one culture born into another to just assimilate and forget the past, because it is hard to have both in this modern world. (A more fleshed out writing will be done.... Someday)
Quarter system should be ultra killed - The system moves so god damn fast that it's hard for the material from one quarter soak in and become second nature, ready for use in another quarter. Now maybe if you were some genius or just studied every second of the day then fine this won't apply to you. All I know is that instructors are rushed to cram everything into the 10? weeks we have, sometimes skipping material because there wasn't enough time. It's like a mad dash every quarter to cram a book or four into our heads. Maybe I shouldn't go to the school, or I'm not studying enough (Bullshiiit!), hell I wouldn't mind taking less classes if that meant I would remember/ understand the material I learned better.
Learning a language is cool shit in my book. I have great respect for people that do take the time and energy to learn.
Giant U shaped electromagnet destroying Japan - Don't think about, just move on
Computer Jesus - the comic, look for issues of this brilliant work of art in summer 2008. Only available on my blog and bikiblog (probably)
That about does it. Time to go back to doing homework like I should have been doing, story of every college student's life right?
Godzilla vs. Davis - Yeah, awesome, as Peter Griffin would say
Davis should have taller buildings - I mean look, if you want to have housing close to school you can't build out you've got to build up. This could increase the amount of people using bicycles for transportation and cut down on the number of Unitrans buses needed. Plus there is a housing scarcity in Davis. With the influx of what seem to be progressively larger number of freshman, instead of moving people farther out and encroaching on land that should be left alone the people of Davis should consider building up. Then again this is coming from guys that think about Godzilla destroying Davis.
Preservation of Culture - I think that a culture should be a cherished object, one that is irreplaceable and in all likelihood can never be recreated. Culture is something honed and refined over many generations. Things like distinct food, garb, music, and philosophy, etc. are part of what makes a culture. They serve as points of reference, like how people compare high food to French cuisine. They are different perspectives to living, like how to treat your elders or how people view each other. In the United States there are cultures inside of the American culture. From my friend's stories of his relatives in Wisconsin or the South he always says they are very polite and respectful people. While in California we say what the fuck? It's interesting as the modern age progresses and we see a smaller world how will cultures well established or small semi-isolated will be affected.
Even today small cultures are dying. For example, in China the rush for money has left people deciding between their local village culture (language, etc.) which leaves them in poverty, or going to the big city and teaching their children Mandarin exclusively and forgetting the past. Which is what many people are doing. Maybe I am wrong and that culture is something forgettable and I just can't see this because I'm not in the real world yet. Maybe it's more appropriate for children of one culture born into another to just assimilate and forget the past, because it is hard to have both in this modern world. (A more fleshed out writing will be done.... Someday)
Quarter system should be ultra killed - The system moves so god damn fast that it's hard for the material from one quarter soak in and become second nature, ready for use in another quarter. Now maybe if you were some genius or just studied every second of the day then fine this won't apply to you. All I know is that instructors are rushed to cram everything into the 10? weeks we have, sometimes skipping material because there wasn't enough time. It's like a mad dash every quarter to cram a book or four into our heads. Maybe I shouldn't go to the school, or I'm not studying enough (Bullshiiit!), hell I wouldn't mind taking less classes if that meant I would remember/ understand the material I learned better.
Learning a language is cool shit in my book. I have great respect for people that do take the time and energy to learn.
Giant U shaped electromagnet destroying Japan - Don't think about, just move on
Computer Jesus - the comic, look for issues of this brilliant work of art in summer 2008. Only available on my blog and bikiblog (probably)
That about does it. Time to go back to doing homework like I should have been doing, story of every college student's life right?
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