Recently in miscellaneous Category

A friend of mine pointed out to me that a lot of comments people leave on this here site have a difficult time posting. The truth of the matter is that I get a ton of spam that inundates the site, so its really hard to catch the legitimate ones... I made a few changes and am allowing only authenticated commenters to leave notes on my entries. So now, you'll have to get a TypeKey account and login if you wanna comment; don't worry, it's a painless process!

My apologies to all those who have tried to leave comments! I hope to hear from more of you again soon!

i recall some years back a photoblog entry that my bro wrote entitled "on tonal range." i never really read it, not that i would understand it anyway since his english skill is about a bazillion points higher than mine... but curiosity got the best of me as i was futzing around in photoshop, and figured out how to get the most out of my photos.

i am, by no means, a photographer, and will never claim to be. but i am particular about how things look, and so i make somewhat of an effort to fix something if something can be fixed. its a shame that among the millions and millions of digital cameras that are out there, only a very few percentage of them actually get the most out of the photos they snap. forget composition, and forget even content. but just a minor effort in changing contrast, tonal range, or saturation to give more depth to a photo.



take the image above for example. it was taken with a simple point and shoot, but the original image looks dry and washed out. a simple change using the 'curves' tool in photoshop makes the photo look richer and, well... better. just becareful not to wash out details at the extremes... in this case, the details of the clouds are lost because the range on the lighter tones were cut short. hey, i'm still learning too!

if you're a regular here at philsblog.com, you would have noticed today that my blog has gone green! (very southern-californiaesque in colour palette, eh?) and gotten a little wider. 150 pixels wider to be exact! enjoy the extra leg room, and just be glad i kept it at less than 1024 pixels for all you out there with monitors less than 17 inches! aren't i nice??

the 2007 honda civic coupe

vroom vroom!

photo by Minae Kim

today was get-my-garden-on day! with the help of my friend arjun, i expanded the garden to be twice the length of the previous garden, so it's now at about 10 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 18" deep. below are the photos:


i potted zucchini, tomatoes, cilantro, and chives plants. i also added some marigolds for color.

here's the full picture of the actual garden

on the right is a 3 x 3 patch of romaine lettuce. on the right i put down a tomato and zucchini plant to see how well they'll grow directly in the ground.

an ominous view from our house on new year's day

so i decided that i'd spend this christmas as far away as possible from civilization (but within the borders of north carolina). so i'll be heading w/minae for four days at a cabin in a secluded area right at the base of the smoky mountain national park. i can't wait to turn off my cell phone, unplug myself from the internets(TM), and get back to (or rather, into, for the first time) nature.


the cabin that we'll be staying at... pretty!

"The much-anticipated top-secret 10th-anniversary Elmo, code-named "T.M.X. Elmo" is finally here - and it's the hysterically laughing, belly-clutching, floor-thumping Elmo.

Fisher-Price, a division of No. 1 toymaker Mattel (Charts), unveiled the new T.M.X. Elmo to the world Tuesday. Elmo fans could face a shortage of the new T.M.X. Elmo over the holidays. (Price:$39.99) T.M.X. is already popping up on eBay." - CNN


"T.M.X." stands for 2 things - "Tickle Me extreme" or "Tickle Me 10," representing the toy's 10-year milestone.

i signed off a contract on friday for a new townhouse in the heart of the research triangle park! yup, it's official -- i'm gonna be a homeowner! it's pretty exciting, and makes sense fiscally despite the housing bubble, so all is good. here are some pics of the townhouses (although mine won't be ready until february...)

mine is gonna look like the one the middle that has a porch..

here's the interior of the kitchen on the model home.

Fall 1997

CHM 23 - Advanced General Chemistry
EGR 53 - Computational Methods in Engineering
MTH 103 - Intermediate Calculus
UWC 5 - Workshop in Rhetoric
MUS 91 - Violin
MUS 106 - Chamber Music

Spring 1998

ENG 116 - Scientific Writing
MTH 111 - Applied Math Analysis I
MUS 55 - Intro to Music Theory
PHY 51 - Physics I
MUS 91 - Violin
MUS 106 - Chamber Music

Summer 1998
CHM 151 - Organic Chemistry I

Fall 1998

BME 83 - Intro to Biomaterials
ECE 61 - Intro to Electronic Circuits
MUS 125 - Masterworks of Music
PHY 52 - Physics II

Spring 1999

BIO 118 - Genetics/Cell Biology
CHM 152 - Organic Chemistry II
ECE 64 - Linear System Theory
STA 113 - Probability and Statistics

Fall 1999

BME 110 - Intro to Biomechanics
BME 163 - BME Electrical Measurements I
MTH 114 - Applied Math Analysis II
PSY 119 - Abnormal Psychology

Spring 2000

BME 164 - BME Electrical Measurements II
BME 191 - Independent Study in BME
BME 110 - Intermediate Biomechanics
PSY 97 - Developmental Psychology

Fall 2000

BME 101 - Electrobiology
BME 191 - Independent Study in BME
BME 205 - Microprocessor and Digital Instrumentation
BME 264 - Medical Instrument Design

Spring 2001

ECE 62 - Intro to Electronic Devices
ECE 152 - Computer Architecture
ECE 151 - Intro to Switch Theory
ECE 170 - Electromagnetic Fields

should be over, right?? wrong!!!

Fall 2001

ECE 216 - Devices for Integrated Circuits
ECE 261 - Full Custom VLSI Design
ME 226 - Intermediate Fluid Mechanics

Spring 2002

ECE 218 - Integrated Circuits Fabrication
ECE 226 - Optopelectronic Devices
ME 227 - Advanced Fluid Mechanics

Fall 2002

ECE 252 - Advanced Digital Computer Architecture
STA 213 - Intro to Statistical Methods

Spring 2003

BGT 206 - Genomic Technologies
ECE 259 - Parallel Computer Architecture

Fall 2003

KOR 01 - Introductory Korean I

Spring 2004

KOR 02 - Introductory Korean II

Fall 2004

KOR 63 - Intermediate Korean I

Spring 2005

ECE 211 - Intro to Quantum Mechanics
ECE 219 - Advanced Digital Integrated Circuits

last january, i wrote an entry on how to build a ceiling. well, in about 4 months, i'm gonna have to a build a wall to convert minae's future one-bedroom apartment into two (rooms) by closing off the living room, as shown below:

this way, two people can live with pretty good privacy, especially since the bathroom is connected to the original bedroom. as far as the construction of the walls, i thought i'd sketch out my plans here before it slips my mind, and it'll go a little something like this:


metal brackets will support four 2x4" wooden beams that will stretch from one wall to the other (2 for the ceiling, 2 for the floor). this will create railings to slip in a series of more 2x4" beams that will act as support for nailing the drywall. some modifications will have to be done, of course, to create an entrance, cuz we don't wanna close off the entire room without a way to get in and out. i foresee the ingredients for this recipe for each wall being something like:

material:
qty 4 - 16' long 2x4" wooden beams
qty 8 - 8' long 2x4" wooden beams
256 sq ft - drywall
24 metal brackets

tools:
nail gun
drill
level
tape measure

oh, and btw... adobe illustrator is great!

If you wanna get rid of the advertisement banner in MSN Messenger 7, download this. You can also do things like remove the msn logo, the my space button, the msn search bar, and tweak about 25 other options...

it was actually it's 10 times for this one since 2004, and 3 times in 2003, but who's countin'...

this is one of my favorite opening scenes to a movie. watching this everytime puts me in a rare mood that's difficult to describe; i suppose it's one that's both euphoric and serene, and a bit nostalgic at the same time. and for some reason, i'm left wanting to thank someone, just because.

the first time i saw this allowed me to let go whatever remained of a growing distemper seeded inside me. i can only assume the reason for that was because of who i was with. i didn't know her well, not in the way i know her now, but i was thankful just the same: for what i had been through, for what she had been through, and just because.

i must admit it's difficult sometimes -- she being there, my being here. things of this significance always are, especially when nothing can be taken for granted. but i know if we can make it to the last time i'm one of those people waiting at the airport on her final trip back home, everything will be just fine...

i took this picture sometime in september outside my apartment with my digicam... pretty nice, huh? this was at a pretty high angle, as anything below that was pretty much washed out by light pollution. it's my dream to move to montana and get a better view. or maybe wyoming, as i researched that state in the fifth grade for a class project. it even came with a rap song with a synthesizer beat!

high, high on dunkin' donuts, nyc

so my new car ended up being none of the below :p it's a 2005 acura tsx, 6-speed manual transmission with gps navigation... i've now entered the arena of luxury sports sedan, and i'm absolutely lovin' it! while the outside is nothing to rave about, the inside is absolute heaven, complete with dual zone heating/cooling, heated seats, voice recognition, gps, xm radio, 8 speaker bose sound system, and awesome blue mood lighting...

the exterior is alright, nothing too special though, but..

... the inside just kicks ass :) (i got the option mp3/windows media player which is installed underneath the regular 6-cd changer ^^