steve kwan user experience designer

And the Oscar goes to...

(Feb. 27th, 2005 - 1:00PM)

Ray is going to clean up this year. I haven't seen Ray, but I'm sure it will be the big winner on account of Ray Charles passing away recently.

I know that's a really morbid and blunt way of looking at the awards, but that's how they work. Remember a few years ago when Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day, even though he was up against Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind? That was "Black Year." And this year is going to be "Ray Charles Year."

Don't get me wrong: I'm sure that Ray is a great movie, and it probably does deserve to win best picture. If half of what I've heard about it is true, then it's completely deserving of the praise it's receiving. But even so, this whole business about passing away and then being honored immediately afterwards seems so Hollywood.

I suppose I should see the movie.

And what's the deal with Paul Giamatti not being nominated for Best Actor for Sideways? Not that he has a chance against Jamie Foxx, but they could have at least nominated him - especially since they nominated his Sideways co-star, Thomas Haden Church. On an aside, how did Thomas Haden Church wind up getting nominated? How do you go from being in Wings and George of the Jungle 2 to being nominated for an Academy Award?

In any event, I'll probably be watching the awards at 5:30PM PST tonight. If anybody is interested in talking Oscars with me, just pop onto MSN - you know where to find me.

And by the way, I'm sick. Wesley gave me his cold (what a jerk). I've been absolutely miserable today.

I'm really sick of hyperlinking text, so I think I'll go back to goofing off.

24

(Feb. 26th, 2005 - 11:37PM)

24 is a great show. There's pretty much no other way to describe it. It's addicting. It's exciting. And Kiefer is so cool.

I'm trying to rent the season one DVDs from Blockbuster, but so are others. I'm waiting for disc five to be returned so I can rent it. I want to know what happens to Kiefer and the Presidential candidate!

Apparently there's been a bit of controversy around the new series of 24, because the terrorists are Arabs. Because it would be horrible if anyone were to remotely imply that Arabs are terrorists.

Not to sound insensitive, but why is everybody so horribly offended by reality? I'm not implying that all Arabs are terrorists (although Shereen's website certainly doesn't do much to help that perception), but some certainly are. Then again, so are some Caucasians. Terrorism crosses racial boundaries. So don't get worked up just because some terrorists on a television show are Arabic.

Paul Giamatti is hosting SNL, so I'm going to watch that now. I'm waiting for Sarah to get here so we can watch it together.

Benefits

(Feb. 26th, 2005 - 1:51PM)

Merv set us up with a great benefits package at work. I'm pretty happy!

Assault on the SeaBus

(Feb. 25th, 2005 - 11:29AM)

So I witnessed an assault on the SeaBus this morning. Actually, I didn't "witness" it, but I was on the SeaBus at the time.

An interesting way to start the morning. Amazing how touchy some people get. I've been taking the SkyTrain for years, but never witnessed a fight on it, and that's where all the troublemakers are supposed to be. But yet, on the SeaBus - a ferry that goes to North Vancouver, a nice area of BC - one dude decides to turn another dude into hamburger meat.

Jim (that's my rat's name) is still on the loose. Sarah is bringing her cat over to my house for the weekend in the hopes that it will kill Jim.

The rat came back

(Feb.23rd, 2005 - 10:31PM)

I thought it was a goner, but it just wouldn't stay away...

It looks like Mr. Rat has resumed tenancy in my house. Or maybe it's another rat. I don't know. I haven't seen it.

I've put the poison out in the open, and maybe I'll pick up some more.

In the meantime, if anybody wants to help me evict this rat bastard, please tell me.

Thank you, come again

(Feb. 22nd, 2005 - 11:36PM)

I've been developing tutorials (which we call Guided Tours) at work, and I've noticed one odd convention that we seem to use: each tutorial ends with "Thank You, Come Again."

Now don't get me wrong - I've got nothing against the Kwik-E-Mart - but this seems like an odd way to conclude a software tutorial. The line of thought is that users will come to the tutorial again, and so we should thank them and tell them to come again. But all the same...the word end should suffice, shouldn't it?

Six month review

(Feb. 20th, 2005 - 10:42PM)

I've requested a six-month review at work, because I have a lot to say.

I am fortunate to work for a great company with cool co-workers, but I really think the company needs to shift direction if they want to become competitive again.

My employer, Eloquent Systems Inc., used to be a contender in the library software industry, but they've lost a lot of market share and I want to get them back on track. I know some tricks to help establish a company's reputation as a good software vendor, which had great results with my old employer. But so far, my boss has been very resistant to change.

I think my boss' line of thought is that he's been doing this job for three decades, so he must be doing everything right. He says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But what makes him think it isn't broke? The company is nowhere near as influential as it was several years ago, so something must be wrong. I want to take action to correct the problems we're having, but so far my actions have been frowned upon.

I'll bring this up at my review, which I'm not looking forward to, and see how what I have to say is received.

Met my new tenant, and she seems cool.

(Feb. 19th, 2005 - 8:25PM)

She's an artist with a wide collection of toys and posters. She's got a PlayStation 2. A PS2! This is definitely going to work out!

She has a sword. What is with my roommates and swords? James has a few. My house reminds me of Kill Bill.

I'm watching Zoe Busiek: Wild Card. What is with these stupid lame shows? Can't they just show CSI 24/7 so there's always something on television? Preferably CSI: Miami; that show is awesome. Horatio is so hot. Does that make me sound gay?

My ACM magazines have finally started arriving. Not bad, considering I subscribed two months ago.

I saw Constantine with Sarah last night. A pretty good flick overall, but Keanu just cannot act. Yet, he keeps finding his way into neat movies where he plays the lead. I suppose as long as the rest of the movie is good, I can forgive Keanu.

I bought those Apple in-ear headphones because I figured they'd mask sound out on the Skytrain and at the gym better than the ones I have now. I got them because Future Shop didn't carry the Sony in-hear headphones. And yes, I know I'm always ragging on Apple, but please shut up.

The headphones aren't bad, but they don't stay in the ear very well. I suspect that the Sony ones are probably better; maybe I'll take back the Apple ones and go with Sony ones.

Tenantitis

(Feb. 19th, 2005 - 1:57PM)

Some girl is moving into my basement today. I should fix up my house, as it's a disaster area. Working on it.

Also attacking this homework assignment from my interface course, which I've realized isn't that bad - but it's far from great.

Something to ponder

(Feb. 18th, 2005 - 10:22AM)

Why don't cab drivers wear seatbelts?

Hmm

(Feb. 17th, 2005 - 7:56PM)

My server was down, and I had to get my roommate to reboot it. My site was down.

Watching 24 on DVD.

Bizarre book of the day

(Feb. 16th, 2005 - 12:41PM)

Courtesy of the BC Ministry of the Attorney General.

Valentine's Day

(Feb. 15th, 2005 - 11:06PM)

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

I took Sarah out to Ramie's (a Greek restaurant) in Burnaby, then went home to watch 24. Romantic?

Tomorrow is my six month anniversary at Eloquent. I'm looking forward to some recognition.

Things to worry about at the gym

(Feb. 13th, 2005 - 10:38PM)

Fitness World offers co-ed day on Sunday. This is the only day of the week when both men and women can use the swimming pool. A word of advice to ladies going to Fitness World: unless you have a good reason, don't use the pool at Fitness World on co-ed day. Let's just say that co-ed day seems to be hunting season for a certain type of man.

Also, I had an interesting experience there. I unlocked my locker, and imagine my surprise when I found someone else's stuff in it! At first I wondered if my things had been stolen or if I'd somehow put my lock on the wrong locker. Then I looked around and found another locker with a lock just like mine. I opened it up, and sure enough, my stuff was there.

It appears that my lock uses the same key as another lock. And both locks are of the same make: the "SOLID BRASS PADLOCK" make purchased at SuperStore. It would appear that some of them can be unlocked by keys from other locks. Perhaps they all use the same lock. Who knows? Either way, I would think twice before purchasing the "SOLID BRASS PADLOCK" brand (which should be a warning sign by itself) from SuperStore.

Things I've learned from playing Hitman

(Feb. 12th, 2005 - 12:00PM)

I've been playing Hitman 2 and Hitman Contracts a lot these days, and I find some of the game's logic hilarious.

Video game logic is usually pretty entertaining, and the Hitman games I've played so far are no exception. It's funny because the Hitman games strives to be realistic, yet there are many oddities in the game that aren't very realistic at all.

For those of you who are confused, the Hitman series of games allow you to play as a contract killer. The game encourages stealthy assassinations, but there's usually the option to shoot anybody you don't like.

So, here are some things I've "learned" from playing the Hitman games.

• Whenever you need to kill somebody, there is a convenient bottle of rat poison somewhere nearby.
  
  
• The key to sneaking into almost any facility is to knock someone out and put on their clothes.
  
  
• Every guard - even a hotel guard - packs heat.
  
  
• Nobody can hear a gun with a silencer on it.
  
  
• If you walk towards someone, they'll hear your footsteps and notice you. If you sort of hunch over and move a bit slower, they can't hear you at all.
  
  
• If you run, people will sometimes immediately open fire at you.
  
  
• Hitmen are only recruited to kill evil people.
  
  
• Bald men with barcodes tattooed on their necks are not suspicious.

Pointless post

(Feb. 10th, 2005 - 8:48PM)

I'm only updating this website so people will like me.

Fixed some typos in my previous post

(February 9th, 2005 - 11:14PM)

...

Lessons learned in the field

(February 7th, 2005 - 11:39PM)

Below is my attempt to disseminate some of the most valuable lessons I've learned to younger (ha!) engineers in the field. All of the following suggestions are based off of first-hand experience. Or second-hand. Or maybe I'm making it up.

• It doesn't matter if it's a joke, an observation, a fact or a slip of the tongue: never call your boss or client fat.
  
  
• Drinking on the job is not that big a deal, as long as your boss doesn't know about it.
  
  
• If you want sympathy from your employer, try collapsing from exhaustion in the office.
  
  
• If you call in for a sick day, it really doesn't matter what reason you give. You can just make up an ailment and they'll give you the day off. I once told my boss I had Avian Flu.
  
  
• Always pretend you're stupid. And if you really are stupid, pretend you're pretending.
  
  
• Convince your boss that MSN is a productivity tool.
  
  
• Be wary of people whose jobs can be easily automated by a small program you could write.
  
  
• Avoid communicating by phone when you can communicate by e-mail or MSN.
  
  
• Read articles in computer periodicals and quote them to fellow engineers. They'll think you're a genius.
  
  
• Listen to music while programming.

Underwear Gnomes

(February 7th, 2005 - 11:15AM)

My favorite clothes keep going missing.

It's normal to lose a sock or two in the wash, but I've lost shirts and pants in the past few days. I seriously doubt Mr. Rat or Mr. Skunk (who, by the way, I have named Herbert) have been able to eat a pair of jeans, so I'm really having trouble concocting an explanation for where these articles of clothing are going.

I have come to the only conclusion a logical, rational person could come to given the circumstances: late at night, underwear gnomes come out of hiding and steal my clothes.

We seem to have the skunk scent under control. Oh, Herbert.

"Every year, another promise is made. A pint of beer, raised towards a better day." -Edwin

Partay

(February 5th, 2005 - 12:06AM)

Sarah and I just returned from a housewarming party for Kenny, who I haven't seen in a while. He has a nice new place and I hope to spend a lot of time partying there in the future!

In order to rid myself of skunk scent, I've been spraying an air freshener in the house like a crazed germophobe. In order to do the same, James has been lighting candles and incense like a hippy.

I've been Skunk'd

(February 4th, 2005 - 12:45PM)

So I've noticed a funky smell in the house for the past few days, but I assumed maybe it was just Mr. Rat decomposing in the ventilation somewhere. But last night, the smell was absolutely unbearable. So bad, in fact, that James (my roommate) thought it was a propane leak.

We called Terasen's emergency line. Their guy showed up and informed us that it was actually a skunk. Not surprising since they'd been hanging around my lawn for a bit.

Apparently, Mr. Terasen figures that Mr. Skunk sprayed his stuff into our furnace's air intake. In other words, he stunk up the whole house. It was absolutely unbearable.

SKUNKS!

(February 2nd, 2005 - 12:07AM)

I know it's Groundhog Day - not Skunk Day - but I came home to find Pepé Le Pew and his girlfriend on my lawn.

I'm starting to feel like George of the Jungle. I have found a place to move to and will be living there in March.