Moved!

I've moved to kevinchiu.org

Wordpress

I'm trying out Wordpress. You can check out the WP version of this blog at kevinchiu.org/blog.

I'm trying out Safari right now. The only things I miss from Firefox are Adblock and Del.icio.us.

Another thing that bothers me is that I haven't figured out a good shortcut to go to the search box. Safari uses Command-Option-F, an 3-key, 1-handed chord. In Firefox it was simply Command-K. For now, I'm using Command-L to go to the Address Bar and then Tab to go to the search box.

Ok, now I'm missing being able to search for and click on links using foreward-slash search.

Mahjong

I won a game of Mahjong last night after some kind person taught me how to play. It was luck - I started with a nearly complete hand and kept on drawing the exact pieces I needed.

Is Choice an Illusion?

iPhone Hacking

I got pretty far on installing the toolchain, but then it botched up some of my programming homework.

I'm moving my coursework to a virtual machine.

The Future of Sun

Looks bright.

I think they might become a cross-platform platform provider. "Run on Sun, Run Everywhere!"

They've already started with Java 6 supporting user-definable languages.

How to Edit LaTeX with TextMate

Installing LaTeX

The TextMate website lists two ways to install LaTeX. If you have MacPorts installed, then you simply need to run sudo port install tetex. If you don't have MacPorts installed, I would highly suggest installing it, since the alternative officially sanctioned way of getting LaTeX, through i-Installer, is no longer actively maintained.

Installing TextMate

TextMate is one of the most highly regarded editors on the Mac OS X platform. It was popularized by DHH of Ruby on Rails fame and has spawned several copy cats, such as E, a TextMate clone for Windows. You can pick up a copy of TextMate at Macromates. Once you have TextMate installed, enable Cutting-Edge updates by going to TextMate > Preferences > Software Update > Watch For: > Cutting-Edge.

Installing Skim

Skim is the spiritual successor to PDFView. It has many noteworthy features, including, but not limited to note-taking and annotation features, highlighting, and TextMate / pdfsync integration. Once you have Skim installed, activate Skim > Preferences > Sync > Check for file changes. TextMate should already be entered as the default editor.

Configuring the new LaTeX bundle

To configure the new LaTeX bundle in TextMate, go to Bundles > LaTeX > Preferences ... and set your viewer to Skim. Now you should be all set to write LaTeX documents in TextMate!

You're not going to believe this.

I've been hired into a really cool research project involving development for mobile platforms.

The basic premise goes something like this. The university buys me an 8GB iPhone and I get to hack it...

Did I mention this goes towards fufilling my master's degree?

Awesome.

Stephen Colbert's Emmy Spot

Parking Garage Zen

New York

I'll be arriving in New York on the 13th. So much for avoiding air pollution.

Keyboard

Just ordered one of these. I'll post a review once it arrives.

haircut

I got a haircut on Friday.

It's horribly conservative. I want my Einstein fro back.

Mac Woes

The LCD backlight on my Woz-autographed Macbook Pro finally petered out. T_T

What is the iPhone?

It's a phone, an iPod, and an internet device.

But there's one more thing.

It's a robust grid of mobile wireless base stations, providing internet connectivity wherever iPhone users are found.

Is this a setup for the wireless-enabled iPod?

iPhone hacking

Todo:
Enable GPS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E911

Domo-kun

Where can I buy a giant Domo-kun?

Sunrise near Beijing

Photo by Jenny Yuen.

mmm not so good

Sunrise in Beijing (from Michael Kanellos, CNet).