Peter X. Tang's Blog

Autonomy and College

2010-08-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

This will be my last blog post, as I simply don't have time to write these anymore. I may write posts on special occasions (birthday, New Year's, etc.).

I believe that autonomy is the most important thing that people need. The right to autonomy must come before all other rights. Wiktionary defines autonomy as "The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision."

History shows us the importance of autonomy. The American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution. All three were revolutions to extend autonomy to the common man. The Americans revolted for independence to obtain autonomy from Britain, and the French and Russians revolted to obtain autonomy from the aristocracy. As we can see, many revolutions were fought for the purpose of obtaining autonomy for the common people.

The desire for autonomy doesn't stop at governmental reform. Autonomy can extend into every part of one's life. The books one reads, the food one eats, the music one listens to. The sources of information influence the autonomy of people. What one knows changes one's capacity to act.

Most obviously, the social restrictions on people heavily restrict autonomy. One clear example is the feminist movement, which shouldn't need explaining. Another great example is autonomy in school. In elementary school, there is no freedom in the classes you take, no freedom in the food you eat. Middle school resolves both problems, but still deprives the student of some rights. Autonomy increases again when moving into high school, since the inclusion of clubs, availability of different levels of classes, and freedom of action during breaks greatly increases the available opportunities and decreases restrictions for students.

The last stage of college brings about a much higher level of autonomy. This freedom doesn't only emerge from the academic freedoms of learning anything one wishes or scheduling classes to one's pleasure. The largest freedom arises from a lack of regulation on spending time. During grade school, parents are there to regulate and monitor time usage. In college, one does anything one wishes without worrying about immediate repercussions from a higher authority. While this lack of regulation seems to be counterproductive, it isn't. The concept of a laissez-faire economy is built on this principle. This talk on what motivates us also makes a similar argument.

I can speak from personal experience that the freedom college gives only helps. I've been playing harder, but only because I'm working harder. The resources available and the college environment really motivates one to work. Everyone spends hours to finish work. Because there is nothing pressing me to work, I am less likely to rebel against working and put off work. The professors and classmates are all wonderful people. The people in college are generally around the same intellectual value, thus reducing both competition and conversations with the sole purpose of clarification instead of development. Autonomy greatly empowers the individual.

College is amazing. I can't wait.

Review—Assassin’s Creed II

2010-04-15T23:11:00.001-07:00

I just beat Assassin's Creed II yesterday, after hours of gameplay. Needless to say, it was one of the best games I've ever played. Unfortunately I picked it up about 5 months too late, but this loss was easily made up by how good the game was.

If you played the first Assassin's Creed and loved it, you'll enjoy this one even more. If you played the first Assassin's Creed and hated it, then you'll probably find most of your complaints fixed by the second one. In comparison to its sequel, the first game looks more like a demonstration of the engine's graphical capabilities than a full game with a complex story. There's many reasons why Assassin's Creed II is a spectacular game, but only a few reasons why it doesn't quite reach perfection.

The Story 10/10

There is actually a story now, believe it or not. Instead of running from city to city repeating the same investigative tasks to kill people who behave similarly, each memory sequence is different and presents you different tasks. For example, while in one sequence you take various actions to protect the peace of Florence ranging from city-wide battles to manhunts, the next may have you assassinating many small targets at every turn, with each requiring a different approach. You may spend time listening to conversations, or rescue potentials allies, or even flying around Venice in your best friend Leonardo da Vinci's contraptions. You watch Ezio Auditore da Firenze's growth and maturation from a rash teen to a mature man as you relive his memories. Ezio is a character you may find irritating or easily likable at first, but by the end, you find that he's really got his act down and may be a better person at times than you, the player. It's a really engaging experience to see how the environment and other characters change as time passes as well—the game spans about twenty three years. Unfortunately, there is a large jump in time at the end of the game, due to "corrupted memories," which in reality are parts of the game that were left out and released later as purchasable downloadable content. There is little that actually gets in the way of the superb story that Assassin's Creed II possesses.

The Graphics 9/10

The graphics may not have changed much from Assassin's Creed, but they're still amazing and have in fact improved in appearance and stability, staying at a constant fps most of the time. One of the things that helps give the graphics a more realistic look is the variety of colour in the environments. Compared to the mundane greys of the first game, the second game sports nearly every colour known to man. The environments help to making a convincing world as well. Every city has a distinct and memorable style to it—the bustling orange glow of Florence, the greys of San Gimignano and the lush green fields of the surrounding Florence, the depressing desaturated city of Forli and region of Romagna, the blue and green and lively Venice, and the royal colours of Rome. You will never confuse a city for another, unlike in the first Assassin's Creed, in which every city looked the same. Landmarks are remarkably accurate and more enjoyable than their 3D Google Earth counterparts. Draw distances are astounding, evidenced by the viewpoints with which players of the prequel will find familiar. My only gripe with the graphics are the occasional geometry and texture pop-ins, which may made me wince. The usage of anti-aliasing in the PS3 version, which I played, made the game much more enjoyable without jaggy edges, which is something the Xbox 360 version is forced to deal with. Animations are as smooth as ever, making it a convincingly real game as long as you don't pay too close attention to detail.

The Combat 10/10

The combat in Assassin's Creed II returns to the same old turn-based real time battles. Enemies take turns swinging at you, and the quick and efficient counterkills from Assassin's Creed make a return in the second game of the series. Combat is made more interesting by the inclusion of different types of enemies—the easily skewered soldiers, the noticeably harder guard captains, the resilient Brutes, the quick Agiles, and spear-wielding Seekers. You may find yourself switching between your four primary weapons—Dual Hidden Blades, which can be used independent of countering in combat, Swords and Hammers as primary damage output and countering, Daggers for their speed, and your Fists as attacks that are hard to dodge and to disarm enemies. New assassination moves, such as showy Air Assassinations, poison, ledge assassinations, and your trusty hidden gun give you an option to approach every assassination differently. If you aren't in a fighting mood, smoke bombs provide an easy getaway. Armor plays a role as well, providing defense and health bonuses. Health now does not completely regenerate, forcing you to visit a doctor or drink medicine to stay on your feet. The combat is fun and exciting in Assassin's Creed II despite the poor AI.

Gameplay 10/10

With so many additions to the game, there are bound to be some that are poor. The notoriety system can be neglected, as posters which alert the town of you are on every building and can be torn off easily. Their placement is poorly thought out, such as on the sides of buildings, where neither the populace nor the archers on rooftop can see them. The economy is challenging and significant in the early stages of the game, but as soon as you get your villa up and running, the taxes bring in an endless supply of money but nothing to buy. Both elements possess great potential, which leaves players hopeful for more in the next game in the series. Free running and the parkour are as fun and fast as ever. There are more structures placed to aid you in your exploration of the roofs and walls of the city, and advanced climbing techniques leave certain areas untouchable until later, giving you good reason to revisit. The controls can hinder travel though, as movement assist can throw you off buildings to your death. This is rare though, and doesn't impact gameplay very much. The inclusion of NPC groups allow you to distract guards in various ways, move around unnoticed, or fight off enemies with hired help. Properly utilized, these groups can greatly aid the experience and provide entertainment as you watch the mischievous thieves rob guards or watch courtesans seduce guards. The game is very replayable, with interesting sidequests that make you race across the city, perform contract assassinations, or beat up cheating boyfriends and husbands. There are 100 feathers across Italy, which provide rewards upon collecting 50 or 100 of them. 20 glyphs implanted into buildings unlock puzzles which in turn unlock videos that hint at a deeper conspiracy than expected. The gameplay is enriched with a lot more depth but is easier to use than in the first Assassin's Creed.

The Verdict:

Assassin's Creed is simply an amazing game. Small flaws here and there do little to subtract from one of 2009's best releases. Filled with new ideas that mostly work well, Assassin's Creed II is a must-buy (or at least a must-try) for all gamers. Achievement nuts have lots to do with the plethora of smaller quests, while others who blow through the story will not be left unsatisfied by the game. An astounding and unforgettable game, Assassin's Creed II is one of the greatest achievements in the decade despite some overlookable flaws.

9.8/10

Images from Google Image Search. A copy of this game was not provided by the publisher for review purposes. Game was played on a Playstation 3 system.

Back of a Chipotle gift card

2010-03-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

"Believe it or not, this card is made from corn plastic, an abundant, renewable resource. While it does help to reduce the demand for petroleum based plastics, it is still not edible. So please refrain from eating the card. But you can use the card to eat, obviously, at Chipotle.

Treat your Chipotle gift card like cash. Cash that may only be used for making purchases at Chipotle restaurants – you can try and use it someplace else, but it won't be accepted, and you'll probably be mocked. It cannot be redeemed for cash or applied as payment to any account unless required by law. Chipotle is not responsible for unauthorized use of this card – namely someone other than the rightful owner using it to score a burrito. Except in certain circumstances, the value on this card will not be replaced if the card is lost, stolen or destroyed. Use of this card, constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions."

an interesting thought

2010-03-15T00:15:00.001-07:00

The person you'll fall in love with and marry in the future is alive right now, living, breathing, crying, laughing, enjoying life, fighting hard times, doing all the things that you do.

But at the same time, at this moment you don't exist to that person and that person doesn't exit to you. You two have no idea of who the other is, and even if both of you do, it is nearly impossible to know about the relationship that will bloom in the future.

All the details, the who, the where, the why, the when, the how—all of this is unknown to both of you.

It's quite a comforting thought:

No matter what you're like,

No matter what kind of grades you got,

No matter what sins you've committed,

No matter what you enjoy and hate,

No matter what you've done,

Someone will love you regardless of your faults and fears.

And the qualities of that person won't be that important—when you love someone, that person will become the most precious, most beautiful/handsome/attractive, most wonderful person that you've met and that you'll meet.

On a side note, I wonder if she's thought of me in a similar manner.

(Thanks to Elliot Kang for helping figure out how to put thoughts in coherent, English words. I still probably wasn't able to convey what I felt and thought despite his efforts to help me. I wish you, the reader, the best of luck in getting my message.)

Where I exist elsewhere

2010-02-23T22:38:00.001-08:00

http://www.twitter.com/pxtang

http://www.facebook.com/pxtang

http://pxtang.deviantart.com

http://www.youtube.com/pxtang

http://www.formspring.me/pxtang

http://pxtang.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/pxtang

I think that's all. I will be updating this as I proliferate myself more across the internet.

Equality, what a joke.

2010-01-28T23:14:00.001-08:00

People who speak out against presumably giving others "equality" are not given an equal voice.

So next time you tell someone they need to treat others as equal, give that someone an equal chance to speak for themselves and give them an equal chance to exercise their views. Forcing your views on others isn't in any way equal to them, is it? You'd only be giving someone equality by robbing another person's equality. Now tell me how that is equal.

2009?

2010-01-01T23:09:00.001-08:00

Look, I'm bored so I'll reflect on 2009 as well.

MONTH-BY-MONTH

January
This month started off not too well. I finally (and somewhat painfully) ended a crush that I had that I kept dragging along and didn't want to admit would amount to nothing. I ended it with a bang, going to my first MUN conference and having a total blast.

February
This month passed by quietly for the most part. I had a lot of fun at the Berkeley debate tournament, which I didn't perform too well at, but gained a lot of knowledge and experience. This month marked the beginning of my blogging.

March
This month went by with one memorable event. The Blue Pearl jazz dance at Lynbrook was very fun, and I would not have gone if one of my friends didn't tell me that couples tickets were cheaper and that another of her friend wanted to be Asian. It was really an amazing experience. I'm not entirely sure what made it so, but it was very enjoyable and I would go again anytime.

April
What happened April? I guess this month was quiet and sleepy, because I can't recall any events that stick out. I think I also started prepping for the Math II SAT II as well.

May
Have I ever told you that I love May? It's the month that my birthday is. It's also the month with near perfect weather, because it's not too hot yet it's warm enough to comfortably parade around in a T-shirt and shorts without any risk of catching any sort of cold. The first half of the month didn't go so well at first, with tensions with one friend and events that would set in motion a tragic loss in the next month. It took a turn for the better later when my birthday swung around, as I got gifts from Wesley Kuang, Athena Hu, and Tiffany Chang, and all their gifts were amazing. Unfortunately Angela Wong was sick that day, so I was unable to receive her blessings. This month was also the month that I output my two
poems, both of which were well-received by friends and family and the random people my mom showed the poems to. Did I mention that I started my streak of 800 scores on SAT IIs this month?

June
Didn't start out well. The first week, I was panicking over the Chemistry SAT II, as I was scoring low on my practice tests. Two days before the test, I was able to pull my score up and got my second 800. I went to watch Up after the SATs with several friends. It's a movie I'd recommend watching if you haven't already. Finals were a breeze, and I was able to hold As in all my classes with minimal to zero studying. The summer started out losing a friend that I would have preferred to keep. I also started summer college classes the moment break started, but the arrival of my new laptop helped relieve the stress.

July
Balancing two college courses at a time was tiring, but only psychologically. There was actually very little work I had to do. Most of this month passed by boringly, until I had an amazing
week that changed the whole month. I'm not going to bother explaining that week, because those links should do the job.

August
I started this month out being depressed for no good reason at all, which was really stupid. I was fully back to normal the days right before school started, unfortunately. School started off surprisingly easy for me. I also got Angela's yummy cookies that were supposed to be my birthday present.

September
I don't think much happened here. This is like April, minus the SAT studying. I seriously can't remember. I'm sure something big has happened for April and September, but I just can't remember what. I'll add it in if I remember.

October
Homecoming week was terrible for me. The tests that were on that week (plus my philosophy final at West Valley College) made it seem like an actual midterm week. The skits of homecoming helped to relieve the stress, and I got by the week performing well. The homecoming dance was really fun, with me and Glen Takahashi, Ji Ahn, Roger Chen, and William Chiu having a blast on the dance floor. I also started to prep for the Physics SAT II much too late, but…

November
…despite never having gotten an 800 on a practice test, I scored an 800 on the real thing. I spent most of this month preparing for the December SAT I, and taking a lot of time out as I only started to prep that month. Thanksgiving was really fun, and I had a lot of thanks to give. At the end of the month, I got into a fight with a friend as a result of my own blindness and selfishness, and that fight wouldn't be resolved for nearly three weeks.

December
This month's highlight was really everything that happened the moment the bell rang for finals. I got cupcakes from Jennifer Soong, had pizza at Cicero's with too many people to name, and played at Glen's house afterwards. The next day, Friday, I got my shiny new PS3 and sat there gaming for 7 hours total and attended a YAC social which was very fun (as is most of YAC's events). I made up with the friend that I quarreled with, and spent the rest of my break playing games, reading interesting material, and enjoying freedom from school. I also watched James Cameron's Avatar, which was SIMPLY AMAZING EVERYONE GO WATCH IT IN 3D NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. I also reflected on the decade that had passed, and stayed up into the New Year/Decade with Athena, making it the third year we've done so.

ALL IN ALL, 2009 was fun and a better year than 2008. I always evaluate things in general better than in details. 2009 was a year in which I matured more and developed what I had, and made mistakes but learned from them. I hope 2010 will be even better, but it'll be hard with the pressure of school and school and school. Finally, I'd like to give special thanks to some of my friends for this year (in no order at all) and making it awesome:

Angela Wong Glen Takahashi Kevin Xie Athena Hu Wesley Kuang Ji Ahn Ruicong Yan Karthik Viswanathan Tiffany Chang Jeffrey Fan Aditya Majumdar and other people that I'll forget because I always forget someone/something important.

end of a decade

2009-12-31T21:09:00.001-08:00

Most people reflect on the year that has passed at the end of the year, but this year I'll reflect on the decade that as passed. Some paragraphs may not interest you, so skip those and keep reading.

EDIT: I've added more since I first wrote this because I forgot some things while rushing to output this before the New Decade. The things that are added will be added to the end of paragraphs.

There is One that I owe everything to. God has given me everything, and I cannot claim to have made any rewards without him. Despite all the times I've forsaken Him, He always forgives me and always loves me. I'm thankful of everything He's given me, whether or not it appeared to be a blessing at first sight. If it weren't for Him, this decade wouldn't be bright at all.

My parents have also given me so much over these ten years. They've been patient with me and have given me what I need. Even though at times I'm extremely unreasonable, they still choose to help me and be patient. I am truly very lucky to have parents that love me so much, and that have stayed with me for the past ten years. Thank you so much for your love and support, and I hope you'll continue to give them to me for the rest of our lives regardless of what I do.

I started this decade in the first grade of elementary school, and ten years later, I'm a junior in high school. So much time has passed, so many events have taken place, so many memories have been made.

I don't remember much from elementary school, but there are several things that stand out.

First, I met Carl Shan. He's been a great friend, and has done things that are more than what a friend would do. He's been a mentor, a role model, a big brother. So many things in life I would never have discovered if it weren't for him. One of the largest things he's done is boost my self-confidence. Apart from directly encouraging me to do things (some of which didn't give beneficial results), he got me into Speech and Debate. The stories he told about Speech and Debate when I was still in eighth grade captivated me and convinced me to join. Speech and Debate helped to change my personality and I grew more outgoing and confident in a lot of things I did, not just in speaking. Carl's jokes and stories never grow old, and I'm really glad to have met him.

The next thing I got from elementary school was the two visits to China. The first was in third grade, the second in fifth grade. I was born in the People's "Republic" of China, but came over at the age of three, so my memory of China before I went back for a visit was nearly nonexistent. The first trip was supposed to be a trip that only my father was going on, but I begged him to let me skip school and follow him. And so I did. It was very fun, visiting the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Army, and my parents' hometown. It was very much worth the work I had to make up. The second trip was with my family, and lasted much longer. There was a longer stay in my parents' hometown, during the event referred to here took place. It was a very fun experience and I'll never forget it.

I also had tons of bunnies. Sorta. My first two bunnies had baby bunnies twice. Really cute.

Middle school. One of the most relaxed times of my life. Sixth grade wasn't that great, as I was young and naïve. I got horrible grades and didn't know what I was doing. In seventh grade, things turned around. My dad offered to let me build my own computer if I got straight-As for 2^nd quarter (remember? We had quarters back in Miller). I got straight-As 2^nd quarter. That was my initiation into computers and video games, both of which I still love. I also met another of my good friends, Elliot Kang, in seventh grade. He's one of the friends that I tell things I don't tell others to, and an intellectual conversational buddy. It was also seventh grade that I started to have teachers I liked. Mr. Walters and Ms. Ameen are two teachers I'll never forget. Eighth grade was harder, but was filled with fun trips to Disneyland with the Miller Advanced Band and to Yosemite (which I will never forget).
Add: The summer before eighth grade was when I got into Guild Wars. A game which I devoted hundreds of hours to (literally), it gave me more than just simple enjoyment from gaming. Several months in, I found via an unofficial Guild Wars forum the guild Blade and Roses [BaR]. It was a community that I truly enjoyed and that felt not like a group of strangers playing together but more like a fellowship (like in Lord of the Rings or something).Through it, I met Anthony Hita, the guild leader at the time, who I've befriended and been able to rely on for questions and more.

High school. I can probably mark off every in detail because they're more recent, and so I will. The year will include the summer before it as well.

Freshman year. The summer of freshman year, I got closer to the girl who would become my first girlfriend, and got a wooden katana and a pair of metal throwing stars from Kelvin Chiang and Jessica Tou, respectively, at freshman orientation. One of the most important things that happened though was that I met Angela Wong. Freshman year was the year when ignorance truly was bliss. I had no worries, and all I had to care about were my family, friends, and the girl I had loved. It really was a happy and carefree year. I lost her shortly after the school year ended, but since then, I've found other things and people.

Sophomore year. Sophomore year was a year of development for me. Due to the breakup, I was able to come a lot closer to Angela, and would continue to do so, even to this day. When sophomore year started, I found myself meeting a lot more people and becoming better friends with old ones. Finding so many people I could befriend was truly an amazing feeling for me. This was also the year that I got my two lovely cats who I adore very much <3. It marked the beginning of MUN for me and the end of debate, the latter of which was not an easy decision for me to make. I started to develop a lot of the passions that would later appear in my junior year, and probably more that will arise in the future.
Add: The summer before sophomore year, I was introduced to San Jose's Youth Advisory Council. At first, it was "just another activity" to me. As time passed though, it became more and more important to me, and the people I've met in it were all really cool. It's changed the way I view the world, because of the things we've done in YAC and the changes we've made. It has been and still is an invaluable experience. The youth commissioner, Kavya Shankar, has also shown me a lot and given guidance as well.

Junior year. It's only been one semester, but I can say that so far it's been tough and unforgiving. I've been able to get through it with the help of my friends and family, and I can say that everything that's happened so far is not unexpected. I'm only expecting it'll get harder, but I've been warned and I'm better prepared than first semester.
Add: I've also learned that running a club is fairly tough, considering the time I put into Model United Nations now that I'm an officer. It's all very much worth it though, as helping run the club is fun and rewarding.

Add: Finally, I'd like to attribute my successes in the past decade to several people. These people are the most important people that have impacted me in the past ten years, and without them, my life would be drastically different, to a degree that would be unimaginable. I'd like to thank God, my mom and dad, my sister and brother, my grandma and grandpa, Carl Shan, and Angela Wong. All of you mean so much to me, and I thank you for continuing to help me and support me in all that you've done.

Every year passes by bearing gifts, blessings, and lessons. Every year also passes by leaving behind sorrows, curses, and pain. What we decide to do with the experiences we go through is what sets us apart from each other. I've picked up much from this past decade, and I can only hope what I picked up were the right things to pick up.

Regardless of everything that's happened, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a Happy New Decade!

rain/bliss

2009-12-19T22:37:00.001-08:00

I hate the rain. I especially hate heavy rain.

Now, it's not that I have something against rain itself. I don't mind having to get an umbrella, I don't mind the extra water, I don't mind the grey skies.

What I do mind is the overflow of nostalgia.

But even then it's not the feeling of nostalgia or the nostalgia itself I hate. It's what the nostalgia makes me realize that I hate.

What is it that I long to return to when I hear the heavy tapping of rain?

Turn the clock back to the summer of 2004. I was visiting China with my family, but my dad had not arrived yet because he had limited vacation days, so he only joined us for the second half of the stay in China. The day he got to where the rest of my family and I were, the rain was pouring down in waves, sometimes heavy, sometimes lighter. The sound of the rain tapping furiously at the rooftops has stayed in mind ever since. It's not that specific scene that I dread, either.

It's the fact that I was so free back then. There was so little I had to concern myself with. There were no SATs, no grades, and no college. I didn't have to feel as if every second had to be used properly. Gaming was a sweet enjoyment, not a trade-off I had to make for studying or working. There were so little responsibilities, so little troubles. I didn't have to concern with anything outside of my family and friends. The state of the world didn't matter, caring for the environment wasn't an issue, thinking ahead wasn't needed.

People say that ignorance is bliss. When knowledge is obtained, it's not only beneficial knowledge that is obtained. Troubling knowledge is also acquired. Knowledge that only possesses a negative effect is also acquired. Knowing is a double-edged sword. While it may bring happiness and satisfaction, it also layers on awareness of many things that don't serve to benefit when they are brought to light.

During the times of our lives that require the most preparation, ignorance seems to be a very appealing alternative. Even though we criticize dystopias where the people live under a lie, their lives appear much simpler and happier. Living under an illusion doesn't always seem so bad.

Thanks giving

2009-11-26T14:07:00.001-08:00

It's finally thanksgiving. I have a lot of thanks to give this past year. I'll start counting the thanks I have to give starting from Thanksgiving of last year to Thanksgiving of this year, although for some people there will be things that are outside this time range. I'll tag people on the facebook version of this blogpost once facebook imports it over.

The first thanks that I must give are to God. I'll never understand the breadth of Your love, but I still thank You for loving me and giving me everything that I have. You are amazing and I cannot fathom why You love me despite my faults, but I thank You for everything You've done and everything You will do.

The next thanks are for my family. Thank you, mom and dad, for all the things you two have done for me. Thank you for sacrificing so much time and money to help me, and thank you for putting up with me when I decide to do illogical stuff. You two are the best parents ever, and I consider myself very very lucky to have you two. I'll give you two separate letters on your birthdays :]

Thank you, grandma and grandpa, for watching over my siblings and me at home. Thanks for all the food you've made, and thanks for staying here in America with us, even though most of your family is in China.

Thank you, Joy and Jonathan, my little siblings, for all the fun you've brought to my life. Thanks for all the help you've given me, whether you wanted to help me or not. Thanks for always being there.

The last thanks are for my friends. There are a lot of thanks to give here, so I'll split it into guys and girls, and specifics for certain categories. Names will be in no particular order.

Thanks to all my guy friends. You guys are the ones who I do stuff with and play with and talk with most of the time. Thanks for all the laughs and awesome times.

Thanks to Carl Shan for the guidance you've given me on almost everything. Thanks for all the stuff you've showed me and given to me and for the fun over the past ten years.

Thanks to Kevin Xie for doing almost everything with me, even stuff that you don't always want to do, and thanks for the random stuff you do that makes me laugh.

Thanks to Wesley Kuang for walking home with me all the time and being someone that I can also call along to anything.

Thanks to Ji Ahn for filling my life with laughs from your jokes, and the other stuff you've done to make me amused.

Thanks to Jason Jia for the amusement during Law last year as well as Chinese school and Pre-Calc and Calc.

Thanks to Karthik Viswanathan for all that time during brunch and lunch and 2^nd and 3^rd period and tutorial. Talking to you never gets old.

Thanks to Jeffrey Fan for brunch and lunch and lit. My life would be pretty boring without you. I don't know what I'd do.

Thanks to Ruicong Yan for all the fun times we had and our conversations. It's a pity what happened to us, but let's hope that we can get over our differences.

Thanks to Christopher Mehlhoff for your jokes which always make me laugh, and for the fun in drafting class and making drafting class something I look forward to daily.

Thanks to Glen Takahashi for the fun during chem class, the games at your house, the talks, the jokes, the random outbursts of randomness that only we understand.

Thanks to Patrick Lin for being the tech support I can go to most of the time, and thanks for all the Doctor Who discussions.

Thanks to Elliot Kang for all the rides and conversations we've had that most other people probably wouldn't understand.

Thanks to Calvin Ou for filling drafting class and history last year with loads of fun and laughs. Thanks for the talk we've had about games and iTouches and especially hair.

Thanks to William Chiu for being a good friend and someone that I can talk to for a lot of stuff.

Thanks to Michael Fang for the talks about games and computers and the other fun stuff we've had.

Thanks to Alvin Chang for the randomness as well, and for keeping me company during drafting last year.

Thanks to Gene Burinsky for all the fun and help you've given and the rides home. Thanks especially for showing me San Jose YAC and how great it can be.

Thanks to Jonathan Zhang, Mihir Deo, and Gerald Fong for all the work we've done together in MUN and the odd yet hilarious conversations we've had during our officer meetings.

Thanks to all of my female friends. There's things I only tell to you, and you always offer another insight for me. Thanks for the conversations and the music.

Thanks to Athena Hu for the teasing that we've thrown back and forth. You're really the only person I do this with, and that amount of fun is unique to you.

Thanks to Karen Chew for all the interesting conversations we've had that I have with no other person. Thanks for the music.

Thanks to Rebecca Zhang for making me really happy for that duration last year, even if it was short. Thanks for everything else you've done for me as well.

Thanks to Tiffany Chang for the cake on my birthday and the Asian music and the help on Japanese over the summer.

Thanks to Jennifer Soong for the fun we've had in history last year and drafting this year.

Thanks to Winnie Tsai for the dances and for the physical equivalent of the abuse that Athena deals to me, which is fun and something I miss now that you're not at Lynbrook.

Thanks to Angela Wong for everything. Thanks for being there, thanks for showing me the world of music, thanks for showing me art, thanks for what you've done for me. Expect more thanks delivered in another way later.

Thanks to Grace Wu and Jenny Wen for our amusing talks over the summer and the rides to and from Physics.

Thanks to Christine Chang for being there during Japanese over the summer so it wasn't dull and boring.

Thanks to Kavya Shankar for leading YAC and giving me an opportunity to represent the youth of the city and for the fun in YAC.

Thanks to Betsy Tsai for leading MUN and showing me how much fun it can be, as well as for the work we've done and the fun we've had in MUN.

Thanks to everyone for all the fun and the support and the help and just everything that you guys have done for me. I very likely have forgotten to include people that I need to thank. If you're not on here, that doesn't mean I don't have something that I thank you for. Again, thanks everyone for everything in my life, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

.

2009-11-18T23:10:00.001-08:00

When we help ourselves by helping others, do we help others to help ourselves or are we just happening to help ourselves by helping others?

true.love.is.

2009-11-14T23:03:00.001-08:00

Love is Patient

Love will always wait. Love will never rush for things to happen, and love understands that things will take time. Love won't be impatient and end itself without giving time for things to unfold.

Love is Kind

Love always stretches out a helping hand and a comforting hand. Love notices when people need it, and is kind to those who receive it. Love doesn't hurt those that receive it.

Love does not Envy

Love knows what it has and what it doesn't have. Love won't try to seek what it doesn't have from the hands of others, and love will respect the possessions of others.

Love does not Boast

Love does not try to make itself look good or draw attention to itself purposefully. Love will not count its accomplishments or its gifts to make a point.

Love is not Proud

Love does not find significance in itself. Love is not overconfident in what it can do and knows what it can't do. Love doesn't try to think too highly of itself.

Love is not Rude

Love knows to give respect. Respect not only for the loved, but also for others. Love finds everyone as equals and will not turn down or shun anyone.

Love is not Selfish

Love doesn't act for its own gains. Love does things for others' sakes and not for itself. Love thinks of others ahead of itself, and will help others at the cost of itself.

Love is not Easily Angered

Love tolerates and does not have a bad temper. It'll hold its ground and continue loving even if petty comments or harsh words are said against it.

Love keeps no records of Wrongs

Love always forgives and forgets about wrongs committed against it. Love doesn't need to and finds no need to remember wrongs committed.

Love does not Delight in Evil, but Rejoices in the Truth

Love is righteous. It won't be pleased when evil is committed, and enjoys the truth. It does things only if it is morally correct, and will not violate rules to get there.

Love always Protects

Love looks out for the loved. The shield of love will never be lifted, and it will ward off all harms and evils and suffer in place of others.

Love always Trusts

Love will never question motives or actions. Love knows that actions taken for it are also in love and in good faith. Love never doubts and always believes in the truth.

Love always Hopes

Love wishes for the best. It does not give up on what it loves, and will continue seeking the best regardless of the situation or conditions.

Love always Endures

Love will last through any event and through all time. Love is the only thing that can be guaranteed to last forever, until the very end.

Love never Fails

Love will always provide. It will always achieve its goals and always be there when it's needed regardless of the time and place. Love will always succeed and overcome any and all trials. Love will keep its traits no matter what the situation is, and will always stay as Love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Soundtrack of my summer (09)

2009-11-08T20:53:00.001-08:00

Run Don't Walk – Hey Monday

Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn – Hellogoodbye

I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

your personality

2009-11-05T19:27:00.001-08:00

We sometimes do horoscopes and personality tests for fun to see how accurate they are. Oftentimes, most of these tests appear to be very accurate. There are cases that we outright reject the results of a certain personality assessment, but these only occur when most of it is very wrong.

There are two main reasons as to why we view such tests to return accurate results. The first reason is that the results are very general. They often read, "You have faced many challenges in life, but are still holding through". We may think that that result is very accurate, but when we stop to think, we realize that almost everyone has had challenges in life. Most people who are bothering to do such a quiz or look up horoscopes are probably holding together pretty well, so it should be no wonder that such a claim would be true.

Second, we make them come true. If something reads, "You are surrounded by hardships, but with the help of your friends, you easily overcome these." Upon reading this, we will instinctively search our memory banks for such instances that cause the statement to come true. This means that the only time a personality assessment is wrong is when there are very few or no memories of an event that support the assessment.

School…

2009-11-02T21:17:00.001-08:00

…takes up so much time.

blink of an eye

2009-10-19T22:18:00.001-07:00

He was only five and a half.

His mother was in her forties when he was born.

He was the only son.

He went to an afterschool program.

He got out of the daycare's car that picked him up one day.

He ran out in front of that same car.

He didn't see the driver start up the car.

He didn't know the driver didn't see him.

He didn't know the car was moving.

He was probably aware of what happened next only briefly.

He was on the floor the next moment.

He had been run over by the car that sent him there.

He didn't know the police closed off a part of De Anza and another street.

He didn't know how much he had bled.

He was only five and a half.

His mother was in her forties when he was born.

He was the only son.

He died not long after.

Rest in peace.

San Jose, CA

Taiwan: Why America Cares

2009-09-29T19:40:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: This is a theory that I thought would be interesting and could provide an explanation for US/Taiwan relations. The validity of this is highly disputable, and the claims I make below may not represent my true feelings on the conflict between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. This was not written with the intention of offending anyone.

America has been supporting Taiwan and its democratic government for several decades. America originally took this stance when many nations were overturning their old systems of government and moving to newer forms. At the time, America wanted to spread democracy as much as possible and prevent nations from adopting the evil of communism. The democratic system that was first set up in China had the backing of the US, and was given support against the Communist Party that ended up controlling China. World War II and the Cold War could be considered wars against ideologies: first against the Nazis and the militarist Japanese, then against their Soviet allies from World War II (the USSR was also threatened by the Nazis during WWII, so the alliance was primarily due to having a common enemy). America threw its weight behind Taiwan, South Vietnam, and South Korea during the Cold War, and had its democratic NATO allies join the US in its efforts.

Now, the fight for democracy in those regions is all but gone. China has emerged as a world superpower, the communist North Vietnam won the Vietnam War, and North and South Korea are at a stalemate. The purpose of supporting South Korea is clear, because North Korea still poses a threat to South Korea. Why, then, is Taiwan still of interest to the US of A?

The feud between the ownership of Taiwan has largely settled down. China is no longer shelling the island nation, and has no clear plans that it seeks to invade or attack. It is unlikely that using Taiwan is a viable means of changing the form of government in China, because of China's international standing and position. Taiwan has other uses, though. It's a check on the powers of China. Taiwan, because it is not officially recognized as a separate country in the UN or by some other nations, can freely criticize China without any serious repercussions. China also rivals the US's economy and military, and is gaining more and more power in the world constantly. Taiwan is form of check that the US can use without China condemning the US for its actions. If China suddenly falls out of power someday, it is unlikely that the US will have as much a use for Taiwan as it does now.

Identity of Philosophy

2009-09-28T20:54:00.001-07:00

Philosophy questions and offers explanations of events. Many of the things philosophy covers are basic things that humans take for granted, such as:

Existence—How do we know that we exist, and how do we know other things exist?

Morality—Why do we say certain things are good while others are bad? Why is it that most people share these values?

Freedom—What truly is freedom? What constitutes a free act?

Life—What defines it? Why should life be kept?

Philosophy's answers to these questions over the past few thousand years have mainly been descriptive, and not prescriptive. What that means is philosophy only gives descriptions of the world and says what the world is, but does not prescribe actions to take or what the world needs to become.

One of the problems that exists and that prevents philosophy from getting to a point at which it can recommend actions is the debate over what the world is. Hundreds of different views have appeared, and none of them have gained acceptance for extremely long periods of time. One idea that is popular for several decades is easily overturned by the next great idea by a young philosopher, but even then, his or her philosophy could be destroyed in a matter of years because of certain logical fallacies.

It will probably be impossible to describe the workings of the world and of the human mind, because of the limitations of language and logic. The majority of people also are not able to fully comprehend the logic and processing that is required for philosophy, which is a great pity, because if everyone worked together, even some of the greatest obstacles to a near-utopic society could be overcome.

And yes, if you were wondering, this was philosophy on philosophy.

The Story Behind “miss you”

2009-09-28T19:19:00.001-07:00

Some people have informed me that they thought the poem "miss you" (underneath this post) was spawned from a relationship I had earlier. Just to clarify things, that possibility had never crossed my mind until it was brought up to me.

This was the original backstory that I was thinking of:

A young couple had only been married two months before the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. Over the next month, many civilians were being recruited to fight for the war. After three to four weeks of discussion, the husband finally decided to go to the war. He had not been willing to go at first, because he did not want to leave behind his wife, who he had recently wed. It was a hard decision for the two, and the wife understood the sense of duty that her husband bore, which was unsurprising due to the amount of propaganda spread at the time. A little over two years into the war, in 1944, is when this poem takes place. The strong, young love that the couple shared was still there, a remarkable feat despite only having a few letters exchanged every year as their only form of communication. The wife had bore a son, but decided to hide her pregnancy and the child's birth from the father in order to allow him to keep a steady mind and focus on the task at hand.

While that amount of info could hardly be gathered from the poem, it was an idea that I planned to possibly expand on. I also intended to revise the poem at a later date to better show the feelings that the wife would have had.

miss you

2009-09-27T23:22:00.001-07:00

Miss You

How many days has it been,
How many sleepless nights?
The days seem so cold,
My thoughts so empty.

Because without you, life isn't the same.
Without you, my heart falls apart.
I miss you, I miss your smile
I miss you, I miss the way that you talk
I miss you, I miss the sound of your voice
I miss the touch of your skin when we'd embrace.

The roads I walk lead to nowhere,
The food I eat brings no strength.
Nothing's the same anymore,
Nothing has colour anymore.

So when will you return?
These hopes refuse to pass,
calling out your name again and again,
screaming,

Without you, life isn't the same.
Without you, my heart falls apart.
I miss you, I miss your smile
I miss you, I miss the way that you talk
I miss you, I miss the sound of your voice
I miss the touch of your skin when we'd embrace.

The times that we shared,
The memories that we birthed,
I'll hold in my heart forevermore.
I'll be waiting and waiting for a glimpse of your face.

So until you return,
These hopes will continue to pray,
whispering your soothing name again and again,
singing,

Without you, life isn't the same.
Without you, my heart falls apart.
I miss you, I miss your smile
I miss you, I miss the way that you talk
I miss you, I miss the sound of your voice
I miss the touch of your skin when we'd embrace.

I'll be waiting forever and ever, waiting for you to come back to me.
I'll be waiting forever and ever, waiting for you to come back to love me.

----------------------------------------

Wrote this, and this time it's not based on anything in my life at all.

Was too lazy to go back and correct it, maybe another day.

brighter

2009-09-16T23:10:00.001-07:00

I know that life's not easy
If it were, how could we say
That we've grown and matured?
Yet sometimes all we can do is pray

I don't know why some hills are steeper
But I do know that climbing together
Will always be easier and faster.
There's only loss in looking back forever

Life wasn't made for singles
It was made for people to live
Holding hands, supporting the other,
And it is aid that we will give

Sometimes we're withdrawn
But we have to rise and move on
There's no point in crying in corners,
No point in being the lonely crouton

Some things pass from our lives
And to us other things come
If we only watch the past sail away,
Our eyes, from crying, will be numb

So take my hand, I'll pick you up
You comfort me, I'll carry you
You cry for me, I'll bleed for you

Let's cast this dark pain behind
And go together to the brighter side

google image search

-----------

First poem that I took some time out at the end to revise, and it has a different speaker/audience from before.

Descartes on God

2009-09-11T16:52:00.001-07:00

Rene Descartes, a philosopher and prominent mathematician (he formed the Cartesian coordinate system, named after himself), had a proof about why God exists. The proof is interesting (Taken from Does the Center Hold?, fourth edition, Donald Palmer):

1. A being that doubts is an imperfect being (because a perfect being would have full knowledge, hence no room for doubt).
2. I doubt; therefore I am an imperfect being.
3. Yet I could know that I am imperfect only by having the concept of perfection; therefore I do have the concept of perfection.
4. I could not have received the concept of perfection from something imperfect; therefore my concept was not derived from myself.
5. Therefore my concept of perfection was derived from something that is in fact perfect.
6. Only God is in fact perfect, so I derived my concept of perfection from Him, and therefore He exists.

He continues elsewhere to prove why the physical world must exist:

"[God] has given me no faculty to recognize that this is the case, but on the other hand, a very great inclination to believe … that [my ideas of the corporeal world] are conveyed to me by corporeal objects, [so] I do not see how He could be defended from the accusation of deceit if these ideas were produced by causes other than corporeal objects. Hence we must allow that corporeal things exist."

In other words, because God exists and God cannot lie, our observations of real objects that God has given us have to be observations of objects that actually exist, or else God is telling us that something exists when it does not.

Flock

2009-09-05T23:10:00.001-07:00

I was bored today, and decided to try out the Flock web browser, which is based off the Firefox engine. Flock calls itself a "social browser", and I believe that it does this job pretty well, better than any plugin for Firefox can.

Look and Feel 4/5
Flock's default theme is fairly simple yet attractive. The buttons feel very nice and the whole browser seems streamlined. However, the "sidebar tab", which toggles what can be shown in the sidebar, feels very congested, because it is. It has 10 buttons across the width of a tab (same size as a default Firefox tab), but it does seem convenient after reading what they do. However, the sidebar toggles will scare away some users for sure, while others won't even want to touch it.
The facebook and Twitter sidebars are beautifully coloured like the actual websites are. Flock also features a spelling corrector just like Firefox does.
Flock feels like a light browser which has a large number of features under its wing. It feels more like a social networking program rather than a browser, which is what I want, since all my heavy browsing is in Firefox.

Functionality and Options 4.5/5
Flock's options window is nearly identical to Firefox's, which is a warm welcome because that means I won't have to wade through unfamiliar territory, and increases my chance of using both browsers. However, Flock just doesn't seem fit for normal web browsing because of the heavy social networking integration.
The default homepage (URL is about:myworld, which is humourous) is intuitive. It has a section for RSS feeds, media streams (which displays media that is "followed" by using the media streams button on certain websites [e.g. facebook profile pages]). It also sports a facebook notification box, so I don't have to sit on the facebook homepage to wait for updates. It also streams in facebook and Twitter statuses constantly via the sidebar and homepage.
It has good blog support -- I'm currently typing up this blogpost inside of Flock. It supports many blog sites, and I'm assuimng will give you the option to choose which blog you're posting too (I only have this one). It also saves drafts of blogposts for you, allowing you to keep your work stored for another day.
It also features email integration, allowing new emails alerts to appear without having you install another addon for that purpose. You can also easily email any link with a click of a button from the last email you logged into from Flock.

Technicalities 5/5
Flock started up in less than 3 seconds for me, rivalling Chrome's startup times. It should be noted, however, that that was only my second or third startup. Upon starting up, it quickly updates the various streams that are set. Loading media streams on facebook is also very fast and makes life easy. Loading pages is just like Firefox--the speed is determined by your internet speed, which means "very fast" for most people. Flock is designed for the non-geeky users, and for users who are sorta geeky, that means that Flock is supereasy to use.

Overall 4.5/5
Flock was designed as a social web browser, and easily achieves this. Setting up the social networks is especially easy, as all that is required is logging in at the sites themselves. Flock is easy to learn, but lacks slightly in the web browser department, which most people won't mind. Especially nowadays with faster computers, running Flock alongside Firefox won't hurt at all. I recommend Flock to everyone even if it's only to test it out. I intended to only test it, and now I've decided to use it for quite a bit of time.

There once was a time…

2009-09-04T21:36:00.001-07:00

There Once Was a Time
By Peter Tang

There once was a time

When I knew not your name

When I knew not your face

When I knew not your existence

I can only think that

You came to my life too late

Those years I spent alone

Are years forever lost

But none of the past matters

Because you're here for me now

Because you're all of my life now

Because you're the only one now

I can't imagine

The breadth of your acts for me

The height of your love for me

The pain of your sacrifice for me

The meaning of my life

Is getting to know you

Is being with you

Is loving you

Here

Is where

I want to be

Because I'm here with you

Week 1 of school…

2009-08-28T23:37:00.001-07:00

So, boys and girls, the first week of school is now over.

The school year seems to hold some promise. I like all of my teachers this year, and I think I'll have some fun, but it will also be a lot of work. Here's my opinion of my teachers:

2^nd period, AP Calculus B/C with Mrs. Korsunsky. She doesn't let us take notes, which is just plain weird. I get most of it quickly though, but other people aren't like that, so that'll cause some problems. I expect people to drop soon. The class is quite boring now because we're only reviewing stuff and I'm prone to zoning out, but that should also change soon. Quite a bit of homework, which will only increase.

3^rd period, AP US History with Mr. Howden. I love this teacher. He's cool and funny and honest. Well, honest that he'll bias stuff. But of course, who doesn't have biases? There is almost zero work right now, which bugs me, because I'm expecting a lot of work from this class. There's several people I'm not too pleased with in my class, but there's people I click really well with, so that's ok.

4^th period, AP Chemistry with Dr. Rocklin. He's a cool teacher, but a different cool from Howden. I like him, and there's quite a bit of classmates that I don't know in this class, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them.

5^th period, American Literature/Writing with Mr. Richmond. Another cool and amusing teacher, and another type of cool. How many different cools are there? Anyways, I don't like the majourity of my class, but if the teacher keeps talking the whole time, then I'm fine.

6^th period, Architectural Drafting with Mr. Mosher. This class is more like Drafting Level 2. I get to lord over first years and tell them what to do. This class will be easy like last year, and be relaxing.

I'll be doing Philosophy online at West Valley College starting 8/31, and ending sometime in October. In January, I'll be starting physics-based calculus at West Valley as well. What a harsh and grueling year.

10 weeks and a year

2009-08-22T17:55:00.001-07:00

Again, if you're reading this on Facebook, it'd be nice if you could go to http://thepeterblogg.blogspot.com and read it there for statistical purposes.

There'll be three sections to this post.

The past ten weeks called Summer Vacation was filled with happiness and sorrow, just like life as a whole. There were fun times, good memories, and great achievements. There were also dull moments, reoccurring annoyances, and draining tasks. My friends really were the highlight of this summer, and made the summer really enjoyable. Thanks to all of you for making it what it is.

I may not have done much as terms of quantity, but I feel that this summer was one that I'll remember for a while. I've learned things that will probably prove to be extremely useful, and when added with last summer, I could probably say that I matured a lot more in terms of understanding life.

This summer, I had some extraordinary moments, but I also had bad ones. Weighed as a whole, the good parts shine above the rest. I do wish some things were different, especially with AP work, but I feel somewhat prepared to tackle what's coming next.

It's been 15 to 16 years since most of the Class of 2011 entered this world, and we've experienced wonderful things. We've travelled places, seen sights, had fun. We've made friends, celebrated birthdays, and made memories. Not everything has been fun and games, unfortunately. We've had our fights, we've shed our tears, and we've suffered our wounds. All in all though, most of us would say that on average, life isn't too bad.

Another year is coming though, a year that we've come to dread ever since we entered high school. Junior year.

We've heard many rumours about junior year, and nearly all of them are bad. APs, SATs, and other work will drag us down and deprive us of time to do anything else. Some of us are prepared to take on junior year, some of us aren't, and some of us think we are. But if we look at our lives so far and look at this year, it's just another year. Even if this year is the "most important" year, it's only going to be 1/70^th to 1/80^th of our lives. Junior year may determine the college we go to and the jobs we have, but life doesn't just amount to that.

We can't just see life as revolving around one year. In fact, what will happen for the rest of our lives was determined when we took our first breath. Our actions before shaped what we are now, and the people we met and the things we did all change that. Pressuring and stressing oneself this year is unreasonable. Society does place a lot of pressure on education, but does that mean we have to pressure ourselves just as much? While a certain degree of pressure is necessary to discipline ourselves and push ourselves forward, too much pressure will be counterproductive.

Compared to other years though, we do need to work harder. We do need to spend more time on school. We do need to sacrifice some of the sweet things in life. But that shouldn't mean we need to panic. Working towards achieving a difficult goal by no means requires unnecessary burdens, which hinder progress. Junior year is going to be hard to all of us, but we need to look on it with determination and not dread. The past decade and a half seemed to have flown by our eyes in retrospect, so what's one more year going to be when we look back at our lives in the future?

I'm not looking forward to junior year that much. There's going to be a lot of work and a lot of pain, but there'll also be a good experience in store that will probably change how I make decisions in the future. I don't know what this change will be, but I'm willing to go through junior year and challenge myself. I'll be looking forward to 5 classes at school, but I will most likely be taking more classes outside at colleges.

Finishing junior year won't be something I look forward to either. After junior year, there is senior year and college applications, college and graduate school, then a job and raising a family. Life is only going to get harder and harder, so I'm going to try to appreciate what I have as much as possible. Sometimes it might be hard to appreciate what there is, and sometimes the good things are far from outweighing the bad, but there be always something after that will be better.

To everyone:

Good luck with this upcoming year, and may we obtain only the best for ourselves.

Going Green and (RED)

2009-08-12T15:13:00.001-07:00

If you're reading this on Facebook, it'd be nice if you could go to http://thepeterblogg.blogspot.com and read it there for statistical purposes.

I've had this theory for a while now. A lot of effort has been put in by many NPOs and NGOs and other groups to help the world "go green"—in other words, to allow the Earth to last longer. The colour green is used because the Earth is, well, green.

However, I feel like some companies are going green, but not environmentalist green, but dollar bill green. While some of their products will save energy or use recycled materials, these are also more expensive. Green labeling only serves as another level of marketing for many companies.

Another example is PRODUCT (RED). This is label that companies are allowed to place on their products given that they pay a licensing fee and a portion of profits from (RED) products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. This also drives profits for the companies. Even if the companies were to lose profits on PRODUCT (RED) products, then they would still get publicity.

I'm not condemning companies for selfish actions, though. These are only natural. For profit-oriented businesses, if these endeavors make them money, then they'll do it. However, when looking at going green and other charity-based initiatives, there is still a benefit. The earth is getting helped, and people are getting saved. It's a win/win situation for the people getting helped and the middleman. The consumers? If you feel good about buying and supporting those companies, then you also win.

This week…

2009-07-26T20:40:00.001-07:00

I forgot to do regular two-week reports. Now that I've stopped, I think it'll be too hard to restart it, because I'll have forgotten a lot of things that happened unfortunately.

This past week was pretty awesome. It opened with my Japanese midterm, which I got a score that I'm pretty happy with, and a talk with a friend that showed me how words I thought might have let that friend down instead lifted that friend up higher than she was for the past two months.

Tuesday was when I actually got my midterm back. We then played this celebrity guessing game in Japanese and everyone failed, so it was pretty funny. I got Pope Benedict IV, an 82-year old man living in Rome. Most people didn't even know who their "celebrities" were. It was also when I first started playing Blockles/Drawmything.

Wednesday was my last day of physics and my last 8 hour day (roughly). The potluck was only okay, because most people brought dessert… the teacher bought pizza though, and I got first dibs because my lab group placed first for a lab activity. It was also when I wrote that blogpost and that poem. That was a happy day.

Thursday I tried to sleep in, since I had no Physics in the morning. But, some Mexican workers were using a jackhammer so I woke up at 8 AM. So much for being lazy. That night was "amusing", but I'm not going to go further on why it was so amusing.

Friday I played plenty of games and watched plenty of The Office. It was a fun and hilarious day, which was a nice respite from grueling classes and homework.

Saturday I got some work done, although not as much as I hoped I would. I finished the Office season 5 and finally watched Fantastic 4. That night, I made a phone call I will treasure forever…

Sunday I couldn't go to church, because my parents and brother were out camping. I didn't feel that great today for some reason, with my left ribs hurting and later feeling really tired and sick. However, after attempting to (and succeeding in) cheering up my friend, I found that I was feeling better as well. I ate a sandwich. It was a really good sandwich. Now I'm waiting to see if anything else fun and awesome happens.

It takes two to be happy

2009-07-23T00:16:00.001-07:00

We often go along life taking things for granted. Even the things that are most dear to us we don't know how to appreciate properly. It'll probably be impossible to know exactly how much things are worth to us while we have them, because we only start to evaluate things in their entirety when we lose them. Have you ever met someone who would be able to tell you everything about a friend while the friend is alive? There are things that you just don't see as unique until they pass away.

The purpose here isn't to talk about passing away or anything related. I'm probably straying from the topic here.

Life isn't meant to be lived alone. Just as at least two bodies are required to produce a third quantity in physics, at least two people are required to produce any kind of emotion. It's impossible to feel emotion solely by yourself—everything you see around you shows signs of another person, even if you're not aware of it. Besides, what fun would there be if you did everything alone?

Counting your blessings and your friendships is one of the best things you can do in life and come to terms with things. While sometimes not everything may seem bright, there'll always be friends there to show you what you've been missing out on while you were shedding tears. All of our relationships with others is about changing how they think and influencing. You are the sum of your parts; your parts are made of the people you meet.

In order to make the most of what you have, you have to appreciate and celebrate everything that has been given to you—your friends, your family, your achievements. These are the most important of all. All of these can help you moving through life.

Sometimes you don't even know that you've helped someone for the better. However, these things can really have your friendship shine through anything else that's going on if both of you appreciate what the other person has done for you, intentional or not intentional. The happiness you can get out of your friendships can last for days, and over this time you'll be surprised that you never knew something so great existed.

And now, for a poem and a short thank you letter.

Precious

It seems like yesterday that we met,
That we didn't meet sooner is something that I fret.
Why we met so late I'll never know,
But for now I never want to let you go.

Our story isn't all fun and games,
We've both laid on each other our blames.
I hate the times we would fight,
But now things are much more bright.

Your worth to me I know not,
Except that you're the friend for a long time I had sought.
After trying times and lingering laughter,
All I know is you're all I'm after.

Now I look back and now I think,
Many happy memories to you I can link.
I'd stay with you forever readily,
For now I think of you as family.

Thank you for being with me whenever I needed you, thank you for telling me I was wrong, thank you for the happiness you've brought. Thank you for your cookies, thank you for your hugs, thank you for the sound of your laughter. Thank you for your jokes, thank you for your teasing, thank you for showing me the beauty in music. Thank you for accepting me as I am, thank you for enduring with me, and most of all, thank you for everything. I've never known someone as wonderful as you.

2 week report I

2009-06-27T13:17:00.001-07:00

2 weeks into summer, so here's a 2 week report. I plan to do this every two weeks.

Summer started for me after the 10 minute lit/writ final. After that, we chilled in class and played games, chatted, signed yearbooks. PE was quite boring for the most part. We played a bit of basketball, I signed (the only yearbook I signed my signature in) Angela's yearbook, sat still for a while, turned my locks in, then went off. I went to subway for lunch (where all the Asians ate subway and one white friend ate dumplings) then went to Glen's house for 3, 4 hours and played games. The next day was Thursday. Thursday blew through quickly. It was yearbook signing and talking, then Cicero's for lunch. After I got home, I plopped down and played Wii for the majority of the day. I slept over at Kevin Xie's house, and played some Starcraft, some more Wii.

Fast forward to Sunday. After church, we went to Fry's/Staples to look for a laptop for me. As Staples did not stock them and Fry's was a hundred dollars more, we decided to order online. I fired up my computer and went to logicbuy.com, where I found a discount on the laptop I was looking at. After customizing it, I sent in the order for the laptop, which cost $1,100 $660 with a free $70 printer. The next day, summer classes started. The Introduction to Physics class (conceptual) was quite interesting, with a funny teacher. I made a friend as a result of a small in-class activity, and now I do all the labs with him and two other Lynbrook people. Physics class is quite fun and interesting, although it is very long at times and the homework is easy but numerous. Every Thursday I'm relieved, as there's no more class for three days.

On Monday, my laptop shipped here. As a result, I've barely been playing Wii and instead been playing games on my laptop that wouldn't run on my desktop. My laptop's fan is a bit noisy at times, but the specs are nice and I can be running as many programs as I want without having to worry about lag.

Thursday, I found another 800 on my chem SAT II.

Friday, I found one of my deviantart pieces had been featured. Even though it's not that big of a feature, it's still pretty exciting for me as I only have less than 10 pieces of work, all of which aren't that great, in my opinion.

I went to watch Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen at noon, and ate lunch with a couple of friends. The movie was pretty good and exciting, blending in action, humour, and suspense very well even when all three occurred in the short span of five minutes. Some of us went to Yogurtland later, where I had my first real froyo. It was a really fun day for me.

Overall, these two weeks have been pretty good. I had a lot of fun, and thanks to all the people who helped create it. :]

summer’s in

2009-06-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

She's finally here. I've been waiting for her through all the school year, and she's finally back. It's been a year since I last saw her.

I love Summer. Even though at times she can get too hot, it's better than the coldness of Winter. Summer also means that there's no school, which is awesome. Even though I can't enjoy being around her as much this time since I have classes, Summer's Summer. I'll always enjoy it when she's here no matter what I have to do.

I slept over at Kevin's last night, and we stayed up playing Brawl :D. This morning we tried Starcraft, but it got too laggy and we just stopped. After I got home, and spent my time with Summer with Kiss. It's quite an interesting novel, and I finished it over the past two days. I love Ted Dekker's books. They're always so complex and awesome.

This is the first day that Summer's here, and I hope this year I'll get more done while she's here.

school’s out

2009-06-10T20:34:00.001-07:00

I'm done with finals. Which I didn't really study for, so it's all cool.

I'm actually sorta sad that school's out. I'm not gonna be seeing a lot of my friends (gotta make plans to hang out with a lot of people this summer), but hopefully that will change. I don't know what this summer will bring.

Summer is always pretty relaxed. I get really lazy over the summer, then as it reaches August, I panic and try to do everything I wanted to do. This especially sucks if I have games that I haven't played and movies I haven't watched. I want to change that this year, but who knows? We all say we'll do stuff on time, but we never get there.

YAC goes on during the summer. I'm happy, cuz it's a really fun club.

Well, I should go find something to do or pack for sleeping over. :]

another saturday

2009-06-06T22:58:00.001-07:00

I love Saturdays.

I took my SAT Chem this morning, which wasn't too bad. I think I can get 790/800? Hopefully.

After that I went home and had Elliot come over. We played a round of Mario Kart, then went to watch Up.

I could post a review of Up but I don't feel like it.

After Up we grabbed lunch at the Cupertino Square food court. I got an "angry whopper" and we made fun of BK's apple fries.

When I got home I played some old classic games (Raiden II, Little Fighter 2) with Wesley before he left after an hour or so. Victor came over after that, and we played brawl for another hour. He also brought Call of Duty: World at War, which I proceeded to play for the rest of the afternoon and up til now, occasionally giving up my seat for my siblings to play.

I had Häagen-Dazs ice cream :D It was really really good <3

Today was a pretty good day. I talk to a lot of friends, did a lot of stuff. Wasn't bad. I'm pretty content with my day. :]

neighbors

2009-06-03T19:42:00.001-07:00

So my neighbors are selling their house that they've been renting out for the past few years. $769k if anyone's wondering :]

I realized something when I saw that their house was put on sale.

I don't really talk to my neighbors. I talk to them about 2-3 times a year, if you count my parents talking to them as me talking to them.

I don't really know my neighbors very well. I'm not even sure how many kids they have and how old the kids are.

Americans have regarded neighbors as a separate category of contacts. Neighbors are friends that you make quickly and you trust enough to drop your kids off, or that you trust enough to be dropped off at. However, in these times, it seems like we (or maybe just I) don't have as much contact with our neighbors as much as movies or TV shows portray neighbors. Maybe it's just the area we live in; maybe it's just me and my neighbors.

What I do

2009-05-30T22:39:00.001-07:00

Now it's the perspective of the other side from the first poem.

----------------------

What I do

by Peter Tang

When I fall, you pick me up.

When I cry, you wipe my tears.

When I hurt, you heal my wounds.

When I am lost, you seek me out.

When I forget, you remind me.

When I leave, you're always forgiving.

When I break a promise, you're always forgiving.

When I scream at you, you're always forgiving.

When I flee from you, you're always forgiving.

Thankfully that's not all I have to say.

You're always loving no matter what I do.

You're always loving no matter what I say.

You're always loving no matter where I am.

You're always loving even if the world comes crashing down.

You're so amazing

You're so beautiful

You're so loving

You're so great

You're so incredible

I wonder how you could exist.

I wonder how you could love someone like me.

I wonder how you can forgive all my trespasses.

I wonder how you can give up so much for me.

I wonder why you love me.

But I love you because you loved me first,

And your love would move the mountains,

Your love would make the skies pour out.

There is nothing I can do but love you in return.

But even then, it could never compare to your love.

I love you.

----------------------

And that's done. I wrote this later at night, with a more tired mind, but I wanted to put these words in.

What you do

2009-05-29T21:26:00.001-07:00

A poem in someone else's point of view. Written by me.

----------------------

What you do

by Peter Tang

When you smile, I smile.

When you cry, I cry.

When you wait, I wait.

When you panic, I panic.

When you're angry, I'm angry.

When you're sad, I'm sad.

When you're happy, I'm happy.

When you're excited, I'm excited.

When you're busy, I'll be waiting.

When you're returning, I'll be preparing.

When you're leaving, I'll be praying.

When you're away, I'll be reminiscing.

I wish that was all I had to say.

Sometimes you leave and love others.

Sometimes you leave and forget about me.

Sometimes you leave and break your promises.

Sometimes you leave and seem to deny me.

Sometimes you leave and you break my heart.

I could make you love me and me alone.

I could make you love me and me forever.

I could make you love me and me unconditionally.

I could make you love me and me with all your heart.

But it's not love if you don't choose to love me.

Even though it breaks my heart in pieces,

I'll always shelter you.

I'll always forgive you.

I'll always help you.

I'll always provide for you.

And never forget, my beloved,

That I will always, always love you with all of my heart.

----------------------

And I'm done.

:)

2009-05-21T16:03:00.001-07:00

So far, today was a really good day.

I wake up at 6:20 because of the unnerving cold (or was it the cold nervousness?), and I decide to check my Math SAT II score on my iPod Touch (which conveniently is next to my pillow as it functions as an alarm).

I open Safari (the web browser), go to collegeboard.com, click on the "Students" section, login…

Bam.

800. I was so happy. My birthday, and the first thing I see is an 800 on an SAT II. Being very happy, I proceeded to lie in bed and play 5 minutes of games before I got up to shower and go to school.

So I'm walking to school, and I enter the parking lot and I'm walking in. I see someone in front of me who seemed familiar. Not sure. The height matched, the hair, the bag? Maybe it was her. Then I see her name on the back of her tennis (?) sweatshirt. I call out her name, and she proceeds to give me the cake/brownie (not sure what to call it?) that she baked for me. Pics later :D

1^st period math, quite boring. I do some math hw.

2^nd period world litwrit, boring. We had a dull sub.

3^rd period law, okay. We lost the trial since we didn't find a certain law in time, but we had the best presentation compared to the defense :]

Brunch. I'm given a knit pink pear with a face. Really cool and cute ^_^.

However, she decides to torture me and put it on my backpack where I can't reach it, but her friend helps me get it. Pics of that later as well.

4^th period drafting, boring as usual. I do nothing.

5^th period PE, we do tennis. Nothing much.

Lunch—MUN officer meeting, then eat.

6^th period history, Wesley gives me an 8 GB USB flash drive. I needed a flash drive since I lost my old one. Exciting :D. I eat some of the food that was given to me, and it was delicious. -w-

7^th period chem. A quick review sheet, and talking with friends.

Home—I prepare for the facebook "happy birthday" messages, and I post this. I'll be taking pictures of the cake + pear, and facebooking them.

UPDATE: Pics are on facebook.

BAKED GOODS

2009-05-12T21:51:00.001-07:00

BAKED GOODS ARE AWESOME PEOPLE

THIS IS PETER'S AWESOME BOOK OF BAKED GOODS

No, seriously, what do I write -___-

Those that you love hurt you the most

2009-05-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Edit I wrote a lot of this in anger, and on my iPod Touch, so some may not make sense, and a lot of this doesn't hold true with what I actually believe. This is still here for archival purposes.

Sometimes in life we do things because we want to be corrected. We
seek someone to tell us we're wrong, to show us what to do.
The problem is we trust humans too much. The people that you love and
would give a portion of your life for are never the people you believe
them to be. When you're just looking for them to give something you
expect them to give, they don't give it. Instead, they turn a harsh
tongue at you and take away more.
People are impatient and act irrationally under emotion, but this is
why we seek others when we feel desolate. We want them to make us
rational. We want them to show us what to do. But what happens when
they become irrational as well?
That's the end. Even if you truly loved the person, would sacrifice so
much for them, they're only human. They'll never be able to give you
what you seek, even if you felt they were your refuge.
Yet there's no regret that should take place when this happens. We
should learn from our mistakes and learn never to rely on others so
much, and that ourselves and God are the only ones worth confiding in.
But even so, what day is it when your closest, most trusted companion
shows you a face of hatred?
What day is it when your love results in a wound to your heart?
What day is it when your sacrifices are your undoing?
Your only answer can be, "It is everyday."

the nethernet

2009-05-03T22:29:00.001-07:00

I found a pretty cool internet game. I thought it would be pretty lame, being an internet game, but it's pretty cool, and requires no time commitment.

The URL is: http://thenethernet.com/join/exsling

You get points for just browsing the web, and you only need to register and install a plugin. Occasionally your webpage may shake from being hit by a mine, but this is relatively rare due to the expansive internet. You can also discover a lot of new websites, as users will create "missions" which are just a set of redirects. You can easily find new and very useful websites.

Users will also create missions as tutorials—modding a PSP, for example, or converting YouTube videos.

It's a pretty cool game and doesn't require you to spend any extra time—give it a try.

Facebook at school

2009-05-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Mobile Blogging

2009-04-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

> I found out how to blog by sending emails today. Which is pretty
> cool. Now I can be lazy and not have to start Firefox :D
>
>

Saturdays

2009-03-21T22:47:00.001-07:00

Two of the Saturdays so far in March have been pretty good for me.

They're also the only two Saturdays that I remember.

March 7^th

I took a practice SAT which was boring. However, once I got home, my dad gave me a BB gun, which was pretty cool. Not an airsoft, which is hand-powered, but a BB gun which uses CO₂ cartridges to fire the steel BBs. Afterwards was Lynbrook's Blue Pearl jazz dance, which was very fun for me. I won't get into details, partially because I've forgotten some.

March 21^st

I woke up at 7. On a Saturday. I was supposed to go to a series of workshops over at San Francisco which started at 9 AM, meaning I would have to leave at 8 AM. However, I saw that the registration had ended March 5^th, and I had registered on about March 18^th, so I assumed that I wasn't able to go. Truth be told, I didn't really want to go anyways. No one else I knew was going. Finally, at 9 o'clock, my mom persuaded me to go, and if I couldn't go, then I would just wander around San Francisco with my dad. A nice respite after schoolwork and SAT preparations. I went, and they said that I could go even without having registered on time. Bummer, I thought. I couldn't just disobey my parents though, so I decided to sit in until 5 or 6 PM and listen. The first workshop, which was Branding and Marketing, was almost over when I went in, so it was pretty dull for me. The second workshop didn't appeal to me, but it was better than anything else. Although learning about Online Advocacy and Fundraising does help. The lunch break was next, and I sat with some random people, two of which were going to school at Stanford. I quickly realized that I was one of the few high schoolers there. We then got a presentation from the founder of Snapfish, a photo sharing site that was founded in 1999, and now makes $250 million a year in revenue. He told us some tips about entrepreneur-ing, which will be useful. The next session, which was on Career Succession, was present by the CEO of Do Something, the organization that sponsored the event. She was a really cool person, and even if I didn't get anything from it, I was happy with it. It was really informative and clear though. The last workshop, which was Communications Technology, was more of a lecture on how Facebook can be used to outreach for different organizations. All of the people there were in high school or college, and a large portion was from nearby Stanford University. Almost everyone started non-profit organizations to try to achieve something. Everyone there was so high achieving.

Anyways, there was a speed pitching activity afterwards, which was fun. What we did was give a 2 minute speech about our organization to an adult, and they would give us pointers on what to improve, for example, "cut the statistics" or "give examples of what you've done". It was really fun, although tiring. There was a raffle drawing at the end for a 16 GB iPod Touch, and my number was 64.

The number drawn was sixty four.

Plus two.

Making it 66.

Which sucked.

Afterwards, my dad and I took pictures at the Golden Gate Bridge, which was quite fun and I got some really nice pictures of me taken. We went to eat with Shaolin monks that were visiting the US, which wasn't that great because monks can't eat meat.

All in all, the Saturdays in March have been alright, but I haven't done any homework on Saturdays, which is bad, because all of it gets piled on Sunday, and I die by then.

The end!

Illegal Signs

2009-03-01T18:09:00.001-08:00

First, if you're reading this on facebook, I encourage you to head over to here to make comments on the original blog post(s).

Yesterday I went to help clean up illegal signs across a certain area of San Jose. It was quite a fun experience, and there was excellent free pizza at the end.

There were actually a lot of illegal signs all cross San Jose. The entire group was able to remove 40 signs from one advertiser, and a lot more were found.

Most people don't know what illegal signs are. They are not signs that promote illegal activity; rather, they are signs that are illegally placed.

What, then, is an illegal placement?

It is placing a sign anywhere on city property without the city's granted permission. These include, but are not limited to: garage sale signs, yard sale signs, estate sale signs, lost pet signs, for rent signs, etc.

Any of those signs are able to be cited. The reason we removed illegal signs is so that the city can cite and fine signs that pop up later, since there are no more illegal signs (if everyone did their job).

Each citation may result in a $100 fine, and one chiropractor was fined $30,000 for his signs. So if you're looking to have a garage sale, know that your signs are illegal.

This action by the city is, however, absurd. Especially due to the recession, removing these signs with no warning hurts businesses and people who are trying to sell off their old items. We were not instructed to leave notes behind informing people that their signs were removed, so now everyone thinks their signs were stolen.

So don't put up illegal signs, everyone, unless you're willing to pay $100 per sign removed.

the Creation of new

2009-02-19T00:10:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the :Peter blogg.

This is a new blog that I, Peter Tang, have decided to start. The focus of the blog will be about, of course, me. Don't read that as a self-centred act, however. The blog will reflect ideas that I have, which consists of a wide range, so labeling the focus of the blog as "me" is the only way I could fit all the possible topics under one category.

If you're curious about the name:
:Peter is supposed to be spelled with the colon. That way my name is merged with the ":P" emoticon. Over the course of time, however, it may change to ";Peter" since ";P" is also an emoticon. The decision to change will be arbitrarily made, so don't ask me later on "Why did you change the name of your blog".
"blogg" is entirely thought of by me, since peterblog.blogspot.com was taken, so I decided to add a "g" at the end of peterblog. However, peterblogg.blogspot.com was also taken, so I threw in the word "the."

On the note of formatting:
I staunchly refuse to use colourful or hard to read (highlight to read) formatting because it is too colourful and hard to read. The only formatting I will ever use is the keyboard, larger
font sizes, bold, or italics. I will stick to using the Trebuchet font unless I want something to stand out. I intend on using a simple while background for ease of use.

This will be written on Microsoft Word's blog editor :]

Again, welcome to my blog, and make yourself at home.