Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Old PCs die a terrible death, lonely and forlorn. In the Windows world you need to upgrade your physical PC hardware every 3-4 years as well as buy the newest operating system, wasting money and stressing your budget. As an IT professional I not only do not buy into this propaganda, but rail against it. When the Windows operating systems on old PCs do not receive any upgrades, the PC slows down, often heavily laden with fat, bloated software. Ubuntu, a Linux OS version, and Xubuntu, it’s lighter version, may be the answer to unlocking the innate functionality of your old PC.

Some interview questions are simply very puzzling to me. They beg the question “Why do they ask them”, and what is there to be gained. Interviews are stressful events, and to ask a candidate seemingly idiotic questions that prove seeming little about their innate talents can be worse than pointless. These questions may show that the interviewing company treats their employees irresponsibly.

A case in point the question above: What is the next in the sequence SSS SCC C SC? This IT interview question is said to be from Google Corp. You can google for the answer, as I did. I found the solution here.

Call it part of my personality, but I like to be thorough. I also like to have proof of some statement, even if proof is difficult or impossible to come by. When scientific double blind studies are not possible, I don’t mind having a sliding scale of proof where a little proof is better than no proof at all. I dislike old wive’s tales and relish when Mythbusters does their show. A case in fact is my reliance on Google as a search engine. Of course all my knowledgeable friends rely on Google as much as I do, and it’s the best search engine that I’ve used, but it’s far from perfect. Today I wondered if Yahoo’s search engine, the one I used to use long ago, had improved enough to rival Google. The skinny is that Google still is the best for my research, but don’t write off Yahoo either.

There’s a pesky grey and white cat at the end of on my driveway. Who it belongs to I know not. It seems to be waiting for the garbage truck, or a taxi. The photo was taken in early spring, because our tulips are in bloom and our apricot tree is showing off their lovely white flowers. It’s about noon time. The image quality of the newly released (to Toronto) Google Street View is pretty amazing, and though I am not sure of its usefulness, it sure is interesting.

I like Google, I really do. It’s my primary search engine. I like their university roots and what they’ve done. There’s no question they have shaped and nurtured the internet in a way no other search engine has done. Searches come back lickety split and Google Scholar is awesome. Their photos and news section are tops.

I can input both English and Chinese (Mandarin, 简体字) on my computer. Mostly I type English, and every so often I do Chinese. Sometimes I like to torture myself by going to Mainland China and Singapore websites to read Chinese. It’s not often but a little searing pain between the ears helps you appreciate what you have. A reasonable memory for Chinese words. And English.