A little bit of both, maybe.
Sadistic or cute?
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: cars, interesting, observation, pictures
03
May
2010
0
Night Safari entertainment
laelene Post in video blog，Tags: entertainment, night safari, singapore, travel tales, videos
02
May
2010
Outside the Night Safari in Singapore, you can find these guys and gals performing as the night darkens and you get ready to peek into the night lives of animals.
balancing on poles from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
traditional dancing from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
fire dance from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Unsubscribe
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: behavior
01
May
2010
For some reason, now that I’m working, I’m never in the mood to check my personal email. So, to make things easier on me, I’ve started to unsubscribe to all the things that used to clutter up my inbox, like invitations to take online surveys (which I just ignore anyway). There are also a bunch of newsletters and offers that I never look at, so I’ve gotten rid of those. I think because I’m making a real income now, spending time making a few cents at a time just doesn’t matter as much anymore. I’d rather focus my time on resting for work and being fully alert for it. Back when I was a student, time meant less to me than it does now. Sleep was also not a priority! Now, both of those are.
Within a week or two, I should only get a handful of messages a day, versus the dozens I’ve had to sift through. Maybe that will make me want to check my personal mail more often, since the quality emails that I actually want to read aren’t hidden amongst a pile of junk that I never had the heart to get rid of. Well, now I am more than happy to clear out that part of my life. Isn’t there some saying about a clean desk is a clean mind? I’m sure a clean inbox is too. And maybe, just maybe, that “Unread Messages” count will dip below 1000 and eventually find itself no more than two digits long. That would make me a happy camper. 🙂
Puzzle rental
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: idea, opinion
29
April
2010
I wonder if there’s a market for puzzle rentals. I think we should be able to rent them out and return them after we’ve solved them, much like borrowing books from the library or getting movies from Netflix. That way we get the satisfaction of solving more of them without the associated price tag of purchasing them. In trying to find such a thing, I came across RentAPuzzle, which does just that, but forces a time limit on solving the puzzle and costs a pretty penny. I’d like a more economical way of playing around with puzzles – one that lets me do so in my leisure the way Netflix lets you enjoy a movie for as long as you want before you swap it in for the next one.
Based off that site, it doesn’t seem to be a hugely popular thing (or perhaps it’s just because people are like me and prefer not to have a 2-month restriction). Might also be that people who spend a lot of time putting a puzzle together never want to take it apart again. Though it’s kind of cool to have around as a keepsake, if I wanted to put a puzzle together to seal it with glue and put up, I would have just gotten a painting instead. Certainly I would take plenty of pictures to remember it by, but I’d rather have another one to work on and challenge me (and without dropping hundreds of dollars on those crazy huge ones).
So cute!
Or maybe I could just get these eco-friendly ones, which are super cute. The paper is embedded with seeds (see more on seed paper here) so you can finish the puzzle, then plant the pieces! Now there’s a dual use. As the paper biodegrades, it becomes fertilizers for the little seedlings sprouting. Pretty nifty, but then nobody else gets to enjoy that puzzle. I still think the best solution is a huge warehouse of them where people can choose the ones they want to work on and exchange them for the next one when they’re ready. That way everybody gets to do more with fewer puzzles being created, which means less material and energy used. I’m all about saving the environment in every little area possible.
Crescent moon
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: nature, pictures
28
April
2010
It’s really grainy and difficult to get a good shot at night, but I think these turned out decent. 🙂 (Click on images to enlarge.)
Patented genes
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: 60 minutes, opinion
27
April
2010
I watched a 60 Minutes video on companies that own patents to certain genes, in particular the “breast cancer genes” – the ones that are closely tied with whether or not a woman is more or less likely to develop breast cancer. Is it wrong for companies to be able to “own” genes? I definitely think so. My understanding is that patents are to protect ideas and inventions, of which neither can be laid claim to in this case. However, I do think they can patent the processes in which they discovered these genes (if, of course, they actually came up with these methods and didn’t use someone else’s). After all, what right do they have to own something within our very bodies?
This legal terminology wouldn’t really matter too much if it didn’t have the real-life implications it does. Women who want to get tested for the breast cancer gene can only do so through Myriad, the company with those patents. They can’t even get a second or third opinion! Oh, and let’s not forget that having the monopoly on testing means they set the price – which is estimated to be ten times what it could be if they had competition. Nobody else is allowed to test for or even look at this gene without approval. Now that’s just ridiculous. How are we supposed to be able to come up with solutions to battle breast cancer at the cellular level if you can’t even look at the genes involved?! A restriction like that halts research that would save so many lives. After all, the more people working towards a common goal, the better chances of breakthroughs.
Their argument is that the genes are something different when isolated – but can you create them yourself? NO. Hence, I think they have no right to claim ownership of it. As far as I know, every single patented thing up until now has been something conceived of from the human mind or created by humans artificially. And if that’s not the case, it should be. After all, everything in nature was nothing created by us, and should not be owned by any of us.
River fun
laelene Post in video blog，Tags: amusing, experiences, fun, interesting, nature, thailand, travel, travel tales, videos
26
April
2010
Taking a tour outside Bangkok and it’s time for lunch on the river, literally!
floating restaurant from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Then we zoomed upriver to the bamboo rafts awaiting us.
motor boating up the river from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
This looked like a fun party!
floating river party from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
And a peaceful ride back down to our floating restaurant/hotel.
bamboo rafting from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Festival of Books
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, festival of books, friends, ipad, los angeles, panda, prizes, ucla
25
April
2010
It’s that time of year again! This weekend was the LA Times Festival of Books and I went with some friends. This year they had a mobile scavenger hunt with the prize of an iPad. Panda and I decided to participate and we invited our friend, Houdini, to join in. Saturday, Houdini and I spent a good 4-5 hours running around the UCLA campus answering clues to the hunt. I unfortunately took a hit when I got a question wrong, but that allowed Houdini to get a perfect score on the hunt… let’s just hope he gets enough bonus points for pictures to outdo the competition! That’d be awesome, considering it’s his first time to the fair!
The focus this year really centered around the scavenger hunt, which was really a nice way to check out most parts of the event. From the poetry corner to the kids’ stuff to the cooking stage to the news booths, we saw a lot! It was also nice to get out on such a beautiful weekend rather than lazing around all day like I usually would. I do need to get (and stay) more active and though my back hurt and my legs were aching after the first day, it felt good to be outside moving around. I also ran into some random people, which is always fun.
I found that this year I didn’t really have an interest in checking out the booths like I have in previous years. Perhaps it is because there were so many people there that anything I might have wanted to do would have taken up a lot of time standing in line. Plus, I wasn’t out to buy anything, so none of those booths interested me, and I’ve never been one for book signings or readings or cooking shows. It’s nice to just hang out and enjoy the atmosphere and catch bits of performances as I pass.
It has found a nice home over the fireplace.
Oh, and then today we got word that Houdini won the iPad from a raffle we entered on Saturday! Pretty awesome, especially considering we were really donating money to help homeless people when we bought those tickets. I remember seeing it was a 32 gig one, which is better than the one the LA Times has up for grabs from the scavenger hunt! That one seems out of our reach though. And as Panda and I were going through completing the hunt for him today, we were able to snag a really nice poster and a button, which was great for him since he has empty walls to fill and collects buttons. 🙂 All in all a great weekend, no? If only I could have won that iPad so I could feel better about the iPod Touches that I no longer own… 😛
Welcome to my office
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: pictures, work
24
April
2010
I work at a really cool place. There aren’t many of us, so a lot of the furniture seems to get neglected, but hey, at least we’re ready for guests!
The desk that nobody sits in.
The leather chair that hardly gets used.
I've only ever used this as a prop for my plants so they could get sunlight.
This coffeemaker isn't used nearly as much as it should be - instead, the guys find themselves going over to Starbucks multiple times a day.
I can't quite figure out what the walls are made of - sometimes it is opaque, sometimes it is translucent. Here you can see the stairs behind the wall that my desk faces.
I love that the chairs are a bunch of bungees - it's great for my fiddling hands to play with!
Note that my neighbor used to be a dog (see his bed and toys?), but he got relocated when we got ourselves a new guy to go there.
We've got a bunch of TVs scattered around so people can enjoy the music videos/sports competitions/movies that are played throughout the day.
And that's my desk! Got a phone, laptop, second screen, external keyboard and mouse, lamp, photo, and even a mini water cooler!
Other gem to note: the random machine at the end of the entryway, which gets used for only seconds at a time. There’s also weights and a bench in another section (not pictured).
