Downloaded Microsoft Money 2004 and tested it out. Much worse than Yodlee as far as online link to all my accounts are concerned. Yodlee is free so there's no way I am going to pay a dime for Microsoft Money after the downloaded version expires in 60 days.

Frequency Privileges

80m: 3675-3725 kHz: CW only
40m: 7100-7150 kHz: CW only
15m: 21.1-21.2 MHz: CW only
10m: 28.1-28.3 MHz: CW, RTTY and data, 28.3-28.5 MHz: CW and SSB phone.

My comcast pipe today is 1826Kbps downlink and 226Kbps uplink. No static IP either. Maybe I should switch to SBC DSL even though the downlink pipe will be thinner, I at least can run my own server?

Got an email from a friend whom I have known since at least fifth grade in Vietnam. What a pleasant suprise! His son is already two and his business is expanding. I am so glad for him.

www.hotspots-locations.com
www.wififreespot.com

16 I call to God;
GOD will help me.
17 At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh
deep sighs--he hears, he rescues.
18 My life is well and whole, secure
in the middle of danger
Even while thousands
are lined up against me.

Psalm 55:16-18 MSG

BachLien and ThongNhat's wedding went well today.

2God sticks his head out of heaven.
He looks around.
He's looking for someone not stupid--
one man, even, God--expectant,
just one God--ready woman.


3He comes up empty. A string
of zeros. Useless, unshepherded
Sheep, taking turns pretending
to be Shepherd.
The ninety and nine
follow the one.

Psalm 53:2-3 MSG

Almost a week with my braces on. The orthodontist said I have to wear it for 18 months, which amounts to 72 weeks. I guess I have 71 weeks to go.

The 6.5 degree quake hit central California so my friends in LA and SF should be OK.

According to pcpitstop.com, my Comcast pipe on a very good day peak out at: 281Kbps uplink and 2528Kbps downlink.

Stopped by Richardson public library and got the book "Now you're talking! All you need to get your first ham radio license" by Larry D. Wolfgang WR1B, Jim Kearman KR1S and Joel P. Kleinman N1BKE after Randall Dunning told me about it.

Though I have been warned, I didn't think it would be that bad but I couldn't be anymore wrong. The braces really pull your teeth and now the whole jaw is aching, couldn't chew at all. Spaghetti is so good.

Computational Geometry by Mark de Berg, Marc van Kreveld and Mark Overmars: http://www.cs.uu.nl/geobook

Ordered the Samsung ML-2151 today. Should arrive in 7 to 10 days. Even after sale tax and shipping, it is still cheaper at samsclub.com than all the others on Pricewatch, Pricescan, Circuitcity, Bestbuy, Frys ....

I didn't watch and hit my head against the mailbox at church today, lacerated my scalp over 3 inches and had to be stapled to close the wound. I agreed to get it done without the local anesthesia. It hurted really bad only when the doctor staple it in. Let's pray and hope there will be no infection.

WordNet released version 2.0. So far I haven't really seen the added benefits.

The soldiers of the 4th infantry division captured Saddam Hussein today, great news for the stability of the new free Irag.

My limit order got executed and I sold my shares of Tyco (TYC) this week when it hit $25. Don't know what to buy now. The stocks will only go up tomorrow, after the good news in Iraq today.

GOD made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.

Psalm 18:20 MSG

American football was made popular by teams representing colleges and universities. These teams dominated the game for most of the first 100 years of football in the United States. Even today, despite greatly increased interest in professional football, intercollegiate contests—played by some 640 team—are attended by more than 35 million spectators each year. Many college stadiums hold more than 50,000 spectators; one stadium, at the University of Michigan, holds more than 100,000. Many of the major universities are now grouped in conferences, such as the Big Ten (northern midwest), the Big Eight (midwest), the Pacific Ten (western states), the Southeastern Conference, and the Ivy League (northeast). The birth date of football in the United States is generally regarded by football historians as November 6, 1869, when teams from Rutgers and Princeton universities met in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for the first intercollegiate football game. In the early games, each team used 25 players at a time. By 1873 the number was reduced to 20 players, in 1876 to 15 players, and in 1880 to 11 players, where it has remained. In the 1900s, college football became one of the country's most popular sports spectacles. Ranked among the greatest United States sports heroes of the 20th century are such student athletes as Jim Thorpe of Carlisle Institute; George Gipp of the University of Notre Dame; Red Grange of the University of Illinois; Tom Harmon of the University of Michigan; Doak Walker of Southern Methodist University; Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard, the “Touchdown Twins” of Army (the U.S. Military Academy); Joe Namath of the University of Alabama; and O. J. Simpson of the University of Southern California.

The first professional football game in the United States took place in 1895 in the town of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between a team representing Latrobe and a team from Jeannette, Pennsylvania. In the following ten years many professional teams were formed, including the Duquesnes of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Olympics of McKeesport, Pennsylvania; the Bulldogs of Canton, Ohio; and the team of Massillon, Ohio. Among noted college players who took up the professional game during its early years were Willie Heston (formerly at the University of Michigan), Jim Thorpe (Carlisle Institute), Knute Rockne (University of Notre Dame), and Fritz Pollard (Brown University). The professional game attracted only limited public support during its first 30 years. The first league of professional football teams was the American Professional Football Association, formed in 1920. The admission fee was $100 per team. The teams pledged not to use any student player who still had collegiate eligibility left, as the good will of the colleges was believed to be essential to survival. The teams also agreed not to tamper with each other's players. Jim Thorpe, a player-coach for one of the teams, became president of the league during its first year. The American Professional Football Association gave way in 1922 to the National Football League (NFL). Red Grange, the famous halfback from the University of Illinois, provided a tremendous stimulus for the league when he joined the Chicago Bears in 1925 and toured the United States that year and the next. His exciting play drew large crowds. Thereafter, professional football attracted larger numbers of first-rate college players, and the increased patronage made the league economically viable. Strategically, the early NFL game was hardly distinguishable from college football at that time. There was no attempt to break away from collegiate playbooks or rule books. For 13 years the NFL followed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Rules Committee recommendations. In the league's early years, players considered the low-paying NFL a part-time job and held other jobs during the day. Thus, while college coaches could drill their players daily for hours, professional football coaches arranged practices in the evenings, sometimes only three or four times a week.

Orphans get parents,
the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
the rule of the gang lords is ended.

Psalm 10:18 MSG

Played tennis for about 2.5 hours today after church. It was good but now my right forearm is stiff.

Expecting my 7200 RPM with 8Mb cache 120Gb western digital hard drive to be delivered the day after tomorrow, then I can use my 20Gb to install Redhat 9 because the 6Gb is not enough for a full install of Linux anymore. That way I don't have to touch my 40Gb and can keep it running Windows XP.

Let's wait and see how long before this thing goes below $100

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By chance saw part of a HongKong movie at Hoang's house today while waiting for people to come by and vote if they want in the VPS Dallas chapter election. The movie's quality has improved a lot thanks to the DVD.

The church celebrated Thanksgiving today. We got some new people: a couple families.

Not until now that I notice that the flood in Noah's time wasn't only from the rain: Genesis 7:11 MSG: "It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open."

Up until Noah's time, everyone was a vegetarian? Genesis 9:4-5 MSG: "All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. Except for meat with its lifeblood still in it--don't eat that."

A US Navy ship was in Saigon yesterday, the first in 28 years.

Ran 1.5mi today without any pain in my feet, thank God! I have two weeks to ram up and prepare for the qualifiers.

Submitted the AI project today. Did the Computational Biology presentation yesterday. Submitted and got approval for vacation request for December 8th and 9th. The mission trip to South Korean is cancelled. Quynh volunteered her house for December 13th combined Bible study. Diana's step-father passed away. Cliff is back on the project at work. Had another conference call with Xue-Jie last night. Faxed in the application for an individual investment certificate with the CMA Development Fund. Bought some new tennis balls after Sunday's playing and realizing that a lot of my balls were flat. Got the invitation for BachLien's wedding on December 27th.

I ran again on the treadmill Friday and my feet weren't hurting at all, thank God!

We played tennis yesterday after church, then touch football and had a wonderful dinner at o/b Son's house.

What a comfort!

2Then I saw another Angel rising from where the sun rose, carrying the seal of the Living God. He thundered to the Four Angels assigned the task of hurting earth and sea, 3"Don't hurt the earth! Don't hurt the sea! Don't so much as hurt a tree until I've sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!"

Revelation 7:2-3 MSG

Sin starts with the mind:

"They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, and their mind prepares deception." Job 15:35
"Behold, he travails with wickedness, and he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood." Psalm 7:14
"They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity." Isaiah 59:4

We started with the new Sunday school book today, studying Genesis.

Went to Doug and Sue's new house for a party and also transported a 55" TV from The Colony to Arlington without any incident.

It's time to get to the shooting range for practice but cannot seem to find anytime. Just got one week extension for the AI project but there is still a lot of work to do.

I really like "The painted house" by John Grisham, the world view of a 7-year old boy, especially scriptural knowledge being taught to him as a Baptist.

Looking at both the Kahr .40 S&W PM4043A, M4043A and 9mm PM9094. Overall length of only 5.35" compare to the 7.1" of the Sig P229 .40 S&W. The MSRP is around $800 a piece though, sigh!

Got my 2003 .NET CDs. I hate the software activation but well, what can I do?

Starting "The painted house" by John Grisham, sounds pretty interesting, Arkansas in the early 1950s.

Got the camera today. Like it pretty much.

Making good progress with the project at work.

UTD Thomson Fund has no ticket for November 14th but only 15th or 16th at the Dallas Symphony :(

Tried to get the 2003 .NET today but the distributor have moved. Checked their website and found the new location. Will try again tomorrow.

Put in 256MB of memory into my laptop, basically maxed out the amount of memory that the board will support.

Bought the Canon S50 last week when it dropped below my $400 target, $399 to be exact with no sale tax and free shipping, and they shipped today. So I should have it by Sunday.

Went out for team building activities with Tuck's team last Friday. We had lunch and then for $20, we had 3 hours of unlimited go-cart, mini-golf and laser tag all you can play, in any combination you want. We did go-cart, then mini-golf and laser tag, then go-cart again and then laser tag. It was a real good workout. Good for relieving stress also.

Things are going not too bad at work today. I can't even remember C++ class syntax after so long but I was able to find the Deitel book and have my Java talking to my C++ pretty smoothly using JNI.

Checked Pricewatch.com and the Canon S50 is still selling at $419 :(

A new project is thrown to me at work: tough life. I am glad I know Christ, otherwise, all these pressure from work, school, church ... are going to get to me.

Still watching Pricewatch.com and wait for the Canon S400 or the Canon S50 to fall below $300 and $400 respectively. I want CompactFlash.

The bank statement is telling me that our church has $150 more in our checking account than it is in my book. Sitting here for 10 minutes already and still can't figure out why? Usually it doesn't take me that long. Time to pray some more and come back and try again.

Start filling out the application for the short term mission trip this year. If accepted, it will be the first time traveling out of the country in 10 years for me.

Jeremiah 31:36 MSG

"If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces, fell into chaos before me"--GOD's Decree-- "Then and only then might Israel fall apart and disappear as a nation before me."

Turned code for the Computational Biology project. Now I have to worry about the preparing the presentation and also get some results to present. Put in multithreading into the program and will see if I can get the results I need. The single threaded version has been running for four days on a Sun E450 server with 1GB physical memory and still provides me no answer so far, it keeps running and running ....

Thank God for strong Christian like Lieutenant General William "Jerry" Boykin, the newly promoted deputy undersecretary of state of defence for intelligence, a 13-year member of US Delta Force.

Thank God for outspoken Christian like the DeSoto woman who after being beaten, robbed, tied and stuffed in the trunk of her own Cadillac by armed men, released the lock of the trunk, jumped out while the car was being driven at about 50mph, survived and said that the only reason she's still alive is by the grace of God, not because of luck or any other reason. She's 64 but doesn't look at day over 40.

Had fun Sunday with the birthday party for Cuc, Hung and Van's daughter turning 2.

Done with the midterm for AI today. Project for Computational Biology is due Thursday.

Paid for a whole year of car insurance with my Amazon Visa and got an Amazon gift certificate. Bought the "Computers and Intractibility: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness" by Michael Garey with it.

The Election Guideline for VPS Dallas must be done October 20th, next Monday :(

Got all the pictures from camp uploaded: http://64.106.243.90/~ninh/2003YouthCamp/Album/index.html. First time tried JAlbum, a freeware that takes a bunch of pictures and create an HMTL formatted album. Great little piece of software.

Filed the precinct chair application for a place on the Republican primary ballot next year with Dallas County Republican Party today. It's better to take care of things early.

Returned the request form for our annual alliance youth retreat next year.

Got a lot of things accomplished today, praise the LORD!

Learn of a new game, Nine Men Morris. It's more or less a generalized version, much harder game, of Tic-Tac-Toe:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/pesullivan/merrelles/English.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NineManMorris/

Exactly ten years ago this day, at 8:07 in the morning, an airplane took off from Tan Son Nhat airport in Saigon and that's how my journey to the United States of America began. I landed at DFW International airport at 20:30 on the same day, after a long stop in Taipei, Taiwan.

Our annual camp went well this year. I worked half as hard as last year: the key is to learn to trust God and His working in people to share tasks with me. We did not get lost at all for two and a half hour driving to camp, even at night.

Short term mission trip: http://www.mislinks.org/practical/shterm.htm

I have had not too good experience with secured encripted email provided by the free version of hushmail.com but ziplip.com seems to be much better.

Running across this cool website: http://www.webelements.com while searching for the van der Waals radius of various atoms.

Tried to beat my own record on the stationary bike but unsuccessful.

Should be attending these lecture series if I find time: http://www.utdallas.edu/research/cusms/lectureseries.htm

The first Asian American, Thomas Jefferson Lee of San Antonio, in 1964 became the first Chinese Texan from Bexar County elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

The second Asian American, Martha Wong of Houston, in 2002 became the first Chinese American woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

Martha is a Republican but I don't have any info on Thomas.

Interesting excerpt from the Federalist 03-38 Digest:

Topographical nomenclature is on the verge of a great new era, as the New Hampshire state legislature prepares to name one of the tallest peaks in the White Mountain Range in honor of President Ronald Reagan. Mount Reagan, standing at 5,553 feet, will stand alongside the peak named for President George Washington, and joins the others named in the state's prestigious Presidential Range -- Presidents Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe, Pierce and Eisenhower. In naming the peak for Mr. Reagan prior to his death, New Hampshire is violating a federal law which mandates that a president must be deceased for a minimum of five years before a mountain can be named in his honor. (We at The Federalist were just wondering where within the Constitution is the language that grants mountain-naming authority to the central government.) The state legislature voted to simply "ignore" the federal law, however, and we're certain President Reagan would be pleased with New Hampshire's pro-federalist stand.

Making good progress on my Approximation of Voronoi Diagram project for Computational Biology. Does the grid cell has to be at least as large as the largest among the given particles/atoms.

12 GOD's Message came to me: 13 "Son of man, when a country sins against me by living faithlessly and I reach out and destroy its food supply by bringing on a famine, wiping out humans and animals alike, 14 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job--the Big Three--were alive at the time, it wouldn't do the population any good. Their righteousness would only save their own lives." Decree of GOD, the Master.

Ezekiel 14:12-14 MSG

Forbes publishes its 400 richest for 2003: http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/17/rich400land.html

Here are the first 25:

Rank Name Worth ($) Age Residence Source
1 Gates, William Henry III 46.0 billion 47    Seattle , WA    Microsoft
2 Buffett, Warren Edward 36.0 billion 73    Omaha , NE    Berkshire Hathaway
3 Allen, Paul Gardner 22.0 billion 50    Mercer Island , WA    Microsoft, investments
4 Walton, Alice L 20.5 billion 54    Fort Worth , TX    Wal-Mart
4 Walton, Helen R 20.5 billion 84    Bentonville , AR    Wal-Mart
4 Walton, Jim C 20.5 billion 55    Bentonville , AR    Wal-Mart
4 Walton, John T 20.5 billion 57    Bentonville , AR    Wal-Mart
4 Walton, S Robson 20.5 billion 59    Bentonville , AR    Wal-Mart
9 Ellison, Lawrence Joseph 18.0 billion 59    Redwood Shores , CA    Oracle
10 Dell, Michael 13.0 billion 38    Round Rock , TX    Dell
11 Ballmer, Steven Anthony 12.2 billion 47    Redmond , WA    Microsoft
12 Anthony, Barbara Cox 11.0 billion 80    Honolulu , HI    Cox Communications
12 Chambers, Anne Cox 11.0 billion 83    Atlanta , GA    Cox Communications
14 Kluge, John Werner 10.5 billion 89    Palm Beach , FL    Metromedia
15 Mars, Forrest Edward Jr 10.4 billion 72    McLean , VA    Mars, Inc.
15 Mars, Jacqueline 10.4 billion 64    Bedminster , NJ    Mars, Inc.
15 Mars, John Franklyn 10.4 billion 67    Arlington , VA    Mars, Inc.
18 Johnson, Abigail 9.8 billion 41    Boston , MA    mutual funds
19 Redstone, Sumner M 9.7 billion 80    Beverly Hills , CA    Viacom
20 Ergen, Charles 8.9 billion 50    Denver , CO    EchoStar
21 Newhouse, Donald Edward 7.7 billion 73    Somerset County , NJ    publishing
21 Newhouse, Samuel Irving Jr 7.7 billion 75    New York , NY    publishing
23 Pritzker, Robert Alan 7.6 billion 77    Chicago , IL    hotels, investments
23 Pritzker, Thomas J 7.6 billion 54    Chicago , IL    hotels, investments
25 Johnson, Samuel Curtis 7.4 billion 75    Racine , WI    S.C. Johnson & Son

Saw on Drudge Report yesterday that there is rumor of a plan to assassinate president Bush by the rebels when he will visit the Philippines this coming October 8th. What a great loss it would be but it's a great comfort to know that God is in control of everything that happens.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), wrote in 1799: "I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of our present federal Constitution, according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the states, that in which it was advocated by its friends, and not that which its enemies apprehended, who therefore became its enemies." And while serving as the third president of the United States, wrote in 1801: "The Constitution on which our Union rests, shall be administered by me according to the safe and honest meaning contemplated by the plain understanding of the people of the United States at the time of its adoption--a meaning to be found in the explanations of those who advocated, not those who opposed it, and who opposed it merely lest the construction should be applied which they denounced as possible."
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1020.htm

In his farewell address published in Philadelphia's "American Daily Advertiser" September 19, 1796, George Washington (1732-1799) wrote: "The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists til changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government."
http://www.liberty1.org/farewell.htm

If you look at the way the majority of our federal judges issue rulings nowadays, it seems as though they are reading the Constitution through the complicated understanding of a federal judge according to the manipulated sense in which it is interpreted at the time of its adulteration. It seems that the Constitution is changed by an implicit and presumed wish of the majority of the people as perceived by a particular federal judge.

Thought I had to get a new scanner (or go to school and use the high end one in the multimedia lab) to scan my pictures taken with my US Congressman Pete Sessions and his wife Anita Sessions, the state representative Martha Wong at the Asian-American Citizens Council 3rd annual banquet last Saturday but glad to find out that I do not have to. The photographer apparently used a digital camera.

Did my normal 13 miles on stationary bike in 36:20 today, first time in almost three weeks.

It sucks that the proposed constitutional amendment #11 passed last Saturday. It authorizes state to allow sale of wine even in dry area, overrides the preference of local citizens and voters. Well, it's not happening out of God's will.

"The Levites who walked off and left me, along with everyone else--all Israel--who took up with all the no-god idols, will pay for everything they did wrong. From now on they'll do only the menial work in the Sanctuary: guard the gates and help out with the Temple chores--and also kill the sacrificial animals for the people and serve them. Because they acted as priests to the no-god idols and made my people Israel stumble and fall, I've taken an oath to punish them. Decree of GOD, the Master. Yes, they'll pay for what they've done. They're fired from the priesthood. No longer will they come into my presence and take care of my holy things. No more access to The Holy Place! They'll have to live with what they've done, carry the shame of their vile and obscene lives. From now on, their job is to sweep up and run errands. That's it.

"But the Levitical priests who descend from Zadok, who faithfully took care of my Sanctuary when everyone else went off and left me, are going to come into my presence and serve me. They are going to carry out the priestly work of offering the solemn sacrifices of worship. Decree of GOD, the Master. They're the only ones permitted to enter my Sanctuary. They're the only ones to approach my table and serve me, accompanying me in my work.


"When they enter the gate complex of the inside courtyard, they are to dress in linen. No woolens are to be worn while serving at the gate complex of the inside courtyard or inside the Temple itself. They're to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes--nothing that makes them sweat. When they go out into the outside courtyard where the people gather, they must first change out of the clothes they have been serving in, leaving them in the sacred rooms where they change to their everyday clothes, so that they don't trivialize their holy work by the way they dress

Ezekiel 44:10-19 MSG

Two weeks after my mini surgery, I recovered enough to start my cardio workout again today. Did only 7 miles on the stationary bike.

Started "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, sounds interesting. It is my first piece ever of Ayn Rand's work.

We announced to the public today on one of the three Vietnamese radio stations here in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex that the city of Garland has adopted the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag (three red stripes on a golden-yellow field) solution to represent the community of Americans of Vietnamese descent. Great recognition for the community and great work by Tom and Jennifer Nguyen.

The proposed tax hike by Republican governor Riley of Alabama was defeated by the voters, halelujah! You are a Republican, you suppose to cut tax, not raising it, duh. Cut spending. Every company knows if you can't increase your sale then you have to cut cost, what's so hard about that?

Even though it is somewhat predictable, I still like "The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham. I always like his work.

What kind of pain and suffering was inflicted on David by his enemies that he cried out to the Lord:

May they be blotted out of the book of life,
And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

Psalm 69:28 NASB

I was shopping for a stock to buy and run across SG&A and had no idea what it was. I am not an accounting major so what did I do? Google gave me this: Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Income statement item which combines salaries, commissions, and travel expenses for executives and salespeople, advertising costs, and payroll expenses.

"I was taught to respect everyone for the simple reason that we're all God's children. I was taught, in the words of Martin Luther King, to judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. And I was taught that character is simply doing what's right when nobody's looking." --Julius Caesar (J.C.) Watts

I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Thy word

Psalm 119:101 NASB

I picked Voronoi Region Approximation to do as a project for the Computational Biology class yesterday. Now I just have to do it but I was so lazy the whole day today. Didn't get much accomplished except updating my webpage: consolidating different pages. When I needed to do somethings, I always found something else to do instead, urgh!

Finally I finished reading the analyses of all the 22 proposed Constitutional amendments and made up my mind last night and went to vote early this morning.

"Silent honor" by Danielle Steel describes what Americans of Japanese descent of any degree had to go through in the 1940s. Maybe those horrific stories explain somewhat the distrust Americans of Asian descent in general have toward the government and their tendency to keep a lot of hard cash? Looking through their eyes, maybe US government savings bonds, stocks and CDs or even real estates ... aren't all that wise of an investment because they weren't even allowed to have bank accounts! Human emotions and all of its extreme frenzies, only God knows and for me, I can only trust God for He alone knows best.

Some interesting blogs:

http://www.publicinterest.blogspot.com/
http://nataliesolent.blogspot.com/
http://ism.politicos.ws/MT/
http://conservativecommentary.blogspot.com/

and the oldest around: http://www.pepysdiary.com/

What a joy to hear the US athletes praising God for their wins at the 2003 World Track and Field Champion in Paris.

I just had to do it again; and again, I am a Visual Mathematician.


Congratulations, Ky!
Your IQ score is 129

This number is the result of a formula based on how many questions you answered correctly on Emode's Ultimate IQ test. Your IQ score is scientifically accurate; to read more about the science behind our IQ test, click here.

During the test, you answered four different types of questions — mathematical, visual-spatial, linguistic and logical. We analyzed how you did on each of those questions which reveals how your brain uniquely works.

We also compared your answers with others who have taken the test, and according to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician.

This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

First time I had intravenous (IV) sedation. My hand was sprayed with some really cold liquid, must be compressed air, then a needle was inserted and the sedative was pumped into my vein with a syringe. I was out within three seconds after feeling something warm was surging through my right hand vein. The whole surgical procedure was done in half an hour and I woke up feeling as fresh as from a good sleep. It's amazing!

Java 1.5 will introduce a whole bunch of new technologies: http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/community/chat/JavaLive/2003/jl0729.html. I did not see anything that would have me excitedly jumping up and down though.

Borland JBuilder 9.0 FREE Personal version is much improved compare to version 7, especially the Solaris version as far as speed is concerned. Also downloaded the new CIA World Factbook yesterday.

Just started listening to "Silent Honor" by Danielle Steel and found it rather interesting: Japanese culture and people in the 1920s.

Still reading "The last Tsar: The life and death of Nicholas II" by Edvard Radzinsky, a little unusual the way it is written, sudden and regular switch between the author, the eyewitnesses and the Tsar's diary.

Just to keep things in perspective, while we mourn for all lives that have been lost and pray for God's comfort for their families, the casuality to date are 281 US MILITARY personnels, 50 UK MILITARY personnels, 1 Danish MILITARY personnel, and 1 Spanish MILITARY personnel in support of operations in Iraq compare to 2,792 CIVILIANS were killed in the twin towers on one day, September 11, 2001.

Check this out for more information: http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danbury.html

Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists
The Draft and Recently Discovered Text
To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and, in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State. Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect,

[Jefferson first wrote: "confining myself therefore to the duties of my station, which are merely temporal, be assured that your religious rights shall never be infringed by any act of mine and that." These lines he crossed out and then wrote: "concurring with"; having crossed out these two words, he wrote: "Adhering to this great act of national legislation in behalf of the rights of conscience"; next he crossed out these words and wrote: "Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience I shall see with friendly dispositions the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced that he has no natural rights in opposition to his social duties."]

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & the Danbury Baptist [your religious] association assurances of my high respect & esteem.

Th Jefferson
Jan. 1. 1802.

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpost.html

Remember, this is NOT part of the US Constitution!

Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists
Jan. 1. 1802

The Final Letter, as Sent

To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.

Th Jefferson
Jan. 1. 1802.


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From the Historic Documents archive published online by The Federalist at http://federalist.com.

Let's say I don't know any better, that the case is about public display of the ten commandments instead of state rights vs. federal government. So if the Supreme Court rules that public display of the ten commendments is effectively the establishment of a national religion (which I don't see how because all mainline Protestant, Judaism and Islam faith revere them, which one is it that is being established?) then they have to remove the ten commendments that are edged in stone above their heads (the justices) in the court room where they hear cases. If Congress step in and withhold all funding for that purpose (the same way they withhold funding for any federal marshall to enforce the federal district court's decision in Alabama), what will the justices do?

No where in the US Constitution is the expressed phrase of separation of church and state is found. The only thing that is not allowed by the establishment clause of the first amendment to the US Constitution is for Congress to pass a law saying that the USA national religion is Episcopal or Baptist or whatever. The letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury baptist church is to assure them of this.

With Alabama chief justice Roy Moore, the issue of state rights vs. federal government once again became a hot issue. It will be interesting to watch how the Supreme Court rule. I also wonder about the constitutionality of president Lincoln's power in the whole episode of the Civil War because each individual state is sovereign and only voluntarily bounded by the Constitution. Don't have time now but definitely will read more about in during the winter break.

I had to create new login on java.sun.com today because someone else had already had my screenname when Sun combined all these different Sun sites, argh.

Chief Bolton of Dallas Police Department was fired today and they said his chance of being ever in law enforcement again is unlikely! I hate being fired from high profile job like that.

Found an interesting site while searching for more information about Voronoi Diagram: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/.

I read yesterday that some young 26 year-old woman in Alabama put her 18-month old daughter into the oven and set it to broil, so unthinkable! The world is coming to an end and Christ is coming soon.

An interesting interview of Lisa Beamer: http://www.womenoffaith.com/features/september.asp.

I should find and read "Introduction to Christian Apologetics" and "Christian Apologetics" by Cornelius Van Til one of these days.

I flew for an hour last month (June 26th, 2003 to be exact) in a Cessna 172SP for only $49 including the fee for the instructor (offer on www.beapilot.com, I flew with www.henleys-aircraft.com) and a helicopter (www.flysummit.com) is going to cost $125/hour, isn't that silly? Maybe when school is done for this semester, I will find out more and take a chopper up and see how it feels compare to a single engine Cessna.

Summer was over and school started yesterday. I discovered that I believe in weak Artificial Intelligence (AI), that AI can never really be intelligent but only simulating intelligence, based on the Chinese room argument, a formal objection to Turing test for AI.

I also learned about TRIZ over lunch conversation with a friend. "TIPS" is the acronym for "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving," and "TRIZ" is the acronym for the same phrase in Russian. TRIZ was developed by Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues in the former USSR starting in 1946, and is now being developed and practiced throughout the world.

An improvement of sort but today, I did 14.15 miles in only 39:19 on a stationary bike at school, which works out to about (39*60+19)/14.15=166.713 seconds/mile.

Starting "The purpose driven life" by Rick Warran. Quite interesting about reading only one chapter per day and no more. Instead, the author recommends the readers to spend time to ponder and contemplate about that one chapter that they read each day.

I have read that average IQ is about 100, corresponding to about 13% usage of brain's neurons. Albert Einstein is said to have IQ above 160 and used about 21% of his brain's neurons. 100/13=7.69; 7.69*21=161.54; sounds about right so I guess I am using about 126/7.69=16.38% of my brain's neurons, that's less than a quarter of my brain's neurons is put to use. But, by God's grace, whatever percentage, let's hope it's used for His glory and for the good of mankind. We do not want Adolf Hitler to use even a quarter of his brain's neurons, do we?

The Original IQ Test

Congratulations, Ky!
Your IQ score is 126

This number is the result of a formula based on how many questions you answered correctly on Emode's Ultimate IQ test. Your IQ score is scientifically accurate.

During the test, you answered four different types of questions — mathematical, visual-spatial, linguistic and logical. We analyzed how you did on each of those questions which reveals how your brain uniquely works.

We also compared your answers with others who have taken the test, and according to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician.

This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

Got to read up on the 22 proposed constitutional amendments coming up for a vote on September 13th here in Texas. Early voting from August 28th through September 8th for voters in Dallas county.

Just got it configured the way I wanted.