steve kwan user experience designer

Settle down

(September 30th, 2005 - 11:20PM)

My website has its first troll. What a milestone. I suppose I should be ecstatic that I have enough of a fanbase to support a troll, but my current mindset is not one of happiness.

I deleted the hurtful postings. I also deleted all of the responses. While I am flattered that my friends would come to my defense, the last thing I want to talk about on this website is my relationship issues. It's not because I'm not open about these things, but because I respect the other party involved. By all means, if you want to know about my problems, just ask. If you want to berate me, go ahead. But have the decency to ask me personally. Don't post your uneducated thoughts on a public forum.

Please exercise discretion when posting on my site. Any future offensive messages will be deleted.

Saw Nine Inch Nails live

(September 29th, 2005 - 10:09PM)

See NIN.
See NIN rock.
Rock, NIN, rock.

Currently listening to: Nine Inch Nails - Love Is Not Enough

Broke up with Sarah

(September 25th, 2005 - 10:14AM)

I don't really want to talk about it on here, but suffice it to say that it was painful. I'd never broken up with a girl I'd been seeing for three years. It feels a lot like having your stomach ripped out.

Stuck

(September 23rd, 2005 - 4:00PM)

Should I be blogging at work? Probably not, but there's not much else for me to do at the moment.

I have a lot of work that needs to get done. I have to implement a major new module. Unfortunately, I can't begin until the next version of the software is released. I can't release the next version of the software until I get a chance to make a change on one of our servers. I can't make a change on the server until I can upgrade it. I can't upgrade it until I can reboot it. And I can't reboot it until my boss finishes using it - which has taken most of the day.

Bathroom humour

(September 19th, 2005 - 9:56PM)

So I went to the bathroom at work today. I know, not the most interesting way to begin a story, but bear with me.

In the office where I work, there are several businesses on the same floor. The bathrooms are in a common area and are shared with the other businesses. Both the men's and women's bathrooms are one-person only, so if there's someone else in there you have to wait. A key is required to get into the bathrooms.

I grabbed our office bathroom key (a blue floppy disk with a key attached to it) and headed out into the common area. I noticed that there was a key already in the lock, which is usually a sign that someone's already in the bathroom. However, the bathroom door said "vacant" on it, so I wasn't sure.

I walked up to the door and knocked. From the inside of the one-person bathroom, I heard a man yell, "Come in!"

Thanks buddy, but if it's all the same to you, I'll just wait outside.

Psychology homework

(September 19th, 2005 - 10:12AM)

"8. Provide a brief description of a dream or dream fragment. You can use one of your own dreams or a dream experienced by a friend or family member. How would a psychoanalytic theorist explain this dream? How would the same dream be explained in terms of the activation-synthesis theory of dreams?" (10 marks)

You're going to think I'm being a smartass here, but I really did have this dream.

I dreamed I was a professional wrestler. For some reason, I would beat up another professional wrestler until he was unconscious, then carry him to downtown Waterfront in Vancouver. I'd take off his clothes, leave him unconscious and naked on the sidewalk, and run away giggling.

I don't think this dream is easy to interpret, but it's a lot more interesting than the typical ones. Again, let me emphasize that I'm not making this up.

A psychoanalyst would probably have a field day with this one. Psychoanalysts say dreams are veiled interpretations of conscious desires which are too disturbing to be though of directly; the brain will disguise these desires so the dreamer will not be disturbed. I assume that a psychoanalyst would explain this dream as repressed homosexual or violent urges.

An explanation using the activation-synthesis theory might be more likely: the dream is complete nonsense caused by neurons firing in the brain during REM sleep. Perhaps during sleep, neurons were firing in the part of my brain responsible for watching professional wrestling on television - I have no idea which part of my brain this is, so I apologize for not being able to name it - and the activity in this part of the brain created the content in the dream.

Electronic Arts is ridiculously evil

(September 15th, 2005 - 11:38PM)

Uh oh. Blinking text. You know I mean business.

My roommate was fired today from Electronic Arts Vancouver. His contract probably forbids him from publicly slandering EA for their conduct, but I am not bound by any such arrangement, so here we go.

My roommate - let's call him Steve, just because that's my name - had been working as a game tester at EA for just under six months. Despite the fact that Steve's pay was dangerously close to minimum wage, he liked his job and worked hard. Those who've heard the rumors and read the blogs about EA "corporate culture" surely know that they're a little rough on their employees. The following story is no exception.

Steve had been working his ass off on a new project. After six months, Steve was supposed to get a review and possibly a raise. He'd been working really hard on this latest project because he really wanted to impress management. So you can imagine his suprise when after the project was complete, over half of his team got the axe. They were no longer needed. It seems that after a major project, EA thinks it's appropriate to do a little staff housecleaning. You EA employees might want to think about this the next time you're asked to work an 80 hour week.

How's that for a reward? You complete a project and you get fired. If this is how EA always handles their personnel, I'm surprised they keep staff long enough to stay in business. But it gets better.

Steve was laid off two weeks before he qualified for Employment Insurance. If EA had kept him on for an extra two weeks, he would have been able to get some money to keep him going while he looks for a new job. But since it was so important to EA that they lay him off right away, he's got no source of income. This was completely without warning. In fact, EA was giving Steve quite the opposite idea; as previously stated, Steve was expecting a raise, not his final paycheque. It completely blindsided him.

Steve was given a box and escorted off the premises; if he comes back in the next six months, the police will be called. Ironic that EA is treating Steve like a criminal; after all, it was EA that sucked Steve dry and unceremoniously shat him out.

So how does EA get away with this? After all, this isn't an isolated incident; many other people are exploited by EA daily. I encourange everyone to boycott EA products, and more importantly, share your stories. Publish them online. Tell them to anyone who will listen.

Things to do before I die

(September 9th, 2005 - 11:49PM)

When I was younger, my primary ambitions were to graduate from BCIT and get a job as a software engineer. Done and done. So now what?

I've decided to compile a list of things I want to do with my life. See below.

Get born
Graduate from BCIT
Get employed as a software engineer
Beat Richard at Minesweeper Flags
Buy a home
Finish a degree
Get married
Have kids
Kick kids out of the house
Retire
Travel the world.

Three things that, as a software engineer, piss me off

(September 8th, 2005 - 9:07PM)

1. Hardware.
   I hate hardware. I only deal with the internals of a computer if I absolutely have to. Some people find it really interesting to rip apart a machine. I don't. My head is already filled with enough useless knowledge thanks to computer games. The last thing I need in there is more useless knowledge about PCI slots. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't deal with hardware because "I have people for that."
   
   
2. The Linux "operating system," if you can call it an operating system.
   Linux is great if you're taking up hobbies. If you're actually trying to accomplish anything, it's a waste of time. Linux is like Communism, and in a way other than being free: it's great in theory, but falls apart in practice.
   
   
3. People who think that 1337 programming skills are all you need to be good at your job.
   Seriously, people: learn to act like living human beings. There are better role models than The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy. It's not the nerdy activities that are the problem. I admit I've rolled many a 20-sided die in my day. It's the attitude. Learn to be civil and work with others.

#3

(September 7th, 2005 - 6:22PM)

#3: Matthew Good - Avalanche

This should make "ashelteredtown" happy. While simultaneously making Richard and everyone else mad.

All of the songs in my top ten are personal favorites, but none of those mentioned up until now have emotional significance to me. The top three, on the other hand, are different.

Matthew Good gets a lot of flak. A lot of people seem to think of him as a pompous, preachy dork, and judge his music accordingly. I've never met Matthew so I don't know what he's really like, but if his music and the news are any indication then the allegations of his arrogance are probably true.

It's also true that he's a genius. Regardless of whether or not you like Matthew Good as a person, it's hard to deny that his music is amazing. It has a unique, poetic sound that you're unlikely to find elsewhere.

If you listen to Canadian rock stations, you might hear any number of Matthew Good songs. Avalanche is not one of them. It was never released as a single. That being said, of all his songs I like it the most. In addition to being my definitive Grouse Grind song ("one foot in front of the other"), this song makes me think of being young and happy. It reminds me that being human isn't such a bad thing after all.

That being said, as with most Matthew Good songs I have no clue what he's actually talking about. This song could be about nothing more than an avalanche, and I wouldn't know any better. But it still means something to me.

Matthew Good's greatest hits album, In A Coma, comes out on September 20th.

The top ten so far:

1. ???
2. ???
3. Matthew Good - Avalanche
4. Def Leppard - When Love and Hate Collide
5. U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
6. The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues
7. Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of Love
8. Dave Matthews Band & Paul Oakenfold - When the World Ends
9. Massive Attack - Angel
10. Stereophonics - Mr. Writer

Wesley is right

(September 6th, 2005 - 8:40PM)

Wesley mentioned today that Kanye West is proof that poetry is alive and well in the twenty-first century.

A lot of older folk don't like rap music, but what is rap music if not poetry? It's like spoken word to a beat. If rap were written - and more to the point, if rap weren't spoken by black people - a lot of people who don't like rap might appreciate the art behind it.

Funny how the medium can make the difference.

Again, credit to Wesley for the insight.

Currently listening to: Kanye West featuring Adam Levine - Heard 'em Say

Grouse Grind in 58 minutes

(September 4th, 2005 - 5:41PM)

A pretty good time. My goal is to get under 50.

Review: Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times

(September 2nd, 2005 - 7:51PM)

(3.5 / 5 stars)

According to the Our Lady Peace website, it took 1165 days to make Healthy in Paranoid Times. The album put a tremendous strain on Raine Maida and the guys, but the end result is probably their best work to date.

When Our Lady Peace (OLP) debuted in 1994 with Naveed, they were a unique Canadian band with what I'd call a bluegrass rock sound. Their sound has changed over the years, and with the release of their 2002 album Gravity, they went pop rock. This transformation seems to correlate to the hiring of Bob Rock as producer. They keep the new, more polished sound in Healthy in Paranoid Times, and it works really well. The songs are mostly radio friendly, but still distinctly OLP...as if anyone could forget Raine Maida's voice!

The first single, Where Are You, didn't appeal to me much at first because it's kind of bland. But after listening to it a few times, I started to like it. I found other songs on the album such as Wipe That Smile Off Your Face, Love and Trust, and World on a String to be far more interesting.

Our Lady Peace has taken an interest in improving conditions in Africa, which is reflected in the album. The album ends with a song called Al Genina (Leave the Light On), which is a sappy ode that's just too cheesy to take seriously. Other than that, most of the songs on the album are good, or at the worst, tolerable.

Old school fans of OLP might not like this album because of the new sound. That being said, it's definitely worth purchasing. If you're new to OLP, I feel that this album is their best to date and should be the first you buy.

Buy Healthy in Paranoid Times

Bizarre dream

(September 2nd, 2005 - 6:59PM)

I dreamed I was WWE wrestler The Big Show. For some reason, I would beat up former WWE wrestler Billy Gunn until he was unconscious, then carry him to downtown Waterfront in Vancouver - which for some reason looked a lot like Vice City. I'd take off his clothes, leave him unconscious and naked on the sidewalk, and run away giggling.

PS: I'm normal.

Currently listening to: Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times (album)

Psychobabble

(September 1st, 2005 - 11:33PM)

psy·cho·bab·ble
    Language characterized by the often inaccurate use of jargon from psychiatry and psychotherapy
(From Dictionary.com)

For my Psychology correspondence course, I am required to "locate and critically examine an example of what you consider to be psychobabble." In other words, find a quack and talk about why he's a quack. I chose Tom Cruise's rant about how psychology is a pseudoscience. The draft of my discussion is below.

Article:
DRUDGE REPORT FRI JUNE 24, 2005 10:51:08 ET
CRUISE 'WAR OF WORLDS' INTERVIEW TURNS INTO SHOWDOWN ON PSYCHIATRY, SCIENTOLOGY
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3tc.htm

When I saw this discussion topic, I knew what article I wanted to post on: Tom Cruise’s rant about how psychology is a pseudoscience.

This is a pretty famous televised discussion that Tom Cruise had while promoting War of the Worlds. You can read the transcript I reference above. Among other things, he states that psychology is a pseudoscience and that there’s no such thing as a chemical imbalance.

Someone here is definitely spouting psychobabble. The question is this: is Tom Cruise completely off his rocker, or is he right about psychology?

I have to say that I went into this course a believer in psychology, but the textbook has shaken my opinion of the science. Those who’ve read it (all of us, I’d hope) probably noticed that one of the first things the book does is attempt to discredit any competing theory, such as astrology. I have to say that I found this a little odd. I’m very sceptical of any idea that begins its manifesto with, “First of all, every competing idea you’ve heard is totally false. Because we said so.” That sounds suspiciously like something a suicide bomber would say. Not that I think it’s fair to compare Sigmund Freud to Osama bin Laden, but you see my point.

Can phenomena like astrology be explained by science? No, of course not - but that doesn’t immediately discredit the idea. After all, the reason scientists don’t believe in astrology is because science can’t explain it. Astrology only looks ridiculous if you consider it from a scientific perspective. If you open your mind to other explanations of the world, it suddenly seems no stranger than psychology.

Another thing that irritates me about the text: the authors go to great lengths to discredit what they call pseudoscience, but when the topic of religion arises they hastily back off. The text reads, “Of course, critical thinking cannot provide answers to all of life’s quandaries. Some questions, such as whether there is a God and what the nature of God might be, are ultimately matters of faith.” (Wade et. al, p.12)

That’s bull. With the same argument they used against astrology, the authors could have very easily attacked religion as well. After all, their argument was:
A) Any ideology that does not fit into our scientific model is wrong.
B) Astrology does not fit into our scientific model.
C) Therefore, astrology is wrong.

That argument style could have very well attacked religion, but the authors decided to attribute religion to matters of faith. I’d assume they did this because astrology isn’t controversial. It’s really easy to pick on astrology because nobody gets worked up about it, but when you start picking on religion you could wind up in the middle of a national controversy. If the authors really believe that psychology is the true answer to questions of the mind, I wholeheartedly support their endeavours. However, they should at least have the courage to apply their “other ideas are pseudoscience” manifesto to all competing ideas – especially sensitive ones.

Now, was Tom Cruise psychobabbling? It sure looks that way. I have to admit that my knowledge of Scientology is a bit lacking (by that, I mean I haven’t read Battlefield Earth), but from what I know it doesn’t seem like a good source of information. And even if it were, I don’t think the star of Risky Business is a good mouthpiece. Unless he’s been working on his doctorate in between films, Tom Cruise is as smart as he thinks.

But my point isn’t that Tom is wrong. Any late night talk show host could do a far better job proving that than I. Actually, I think Jerry Maguire is onto something: as scientific as it may be, psychology probably doesn’t have all the answers. But it thinks it does. In that respect, I think that psychology - or at least, our psychology textbook - is guilty of a little psychobabble.

As far out as some older ideas may seem today, it’s important to keep in mind that “discredited” theories such as astrology are thousands of years old, whereas psychology is only a few hundred. And in its short history, psychology has been disproved many times; the textbook even states that most of Sigmund Freud’s ideas were wrong. (Wade et. al, p.18) Although there is a lot to be gained from psychology, we should keep in mind that all science is at best an educated guess at the inner workings of things we don’t understand, and guesses can be wrong.