1min's Blog

Whenever I return home, I always get struck by a incredible sense of laziness. For some reason, sitting in my room just suppresses any sort of productivity that I try to muster up. It's a bit frustrating. And I've also noticed that my mental health seems to diminish when I am not productive. I get stuck in a depressive spiral downwards when I am not doing anything useful, but I cannot do anything useful in my room. Twilight zone of the internet. Then I try to fill this empty feeling inside myself with useless things on the internet. Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook, etc. Combined with the mouse gestures program I have installed on my computer, procrastinating has never been faster or more easily done. I check the same webpages constantly throughout the day, devouring any new piece of information that I come across. This is why websites like Reddit or StumbleUpon are so addictive, they are a constant stream of distracting and counter-productive information. I have devised...

Huzzah! It's winter break! Like many semesters before, this semester was also very hectic and eventful. Many things happened in my life and hopefully I've become a better person through it all. Anyways, I'm back at home and trying really hard not to fall into the lazy trap that is my room. (And maybe Reddit). I made a daily checklist of things I have to do so hopefully it'll be easier to get things done. For example, writing a blog post is on that list, although the last time I tried to write a blog post a day was a complete and utter failure. But we'll see. I have a few ideas cooking in my mind that I'd love to try out over the next coming weeks. But for now, I've completed my task of writing a post. I'll see you later! On a side note, I really want to try doing more animations or sprucing my site up a bit design-wise. It's getting a bit boring.

 A few weeks ago, I participated in a Microsoft raffle at my school and won an Arc Mouse . Before this mouse, I always used a Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse  I bought with my laptop over two years ago. Here’s my review of the Arc Mouse. The Microsoft Arc Mouse. Name: Microsoft Arc Wireless Mouse What: A surprisingly comfortable wireless mouse which folds for ultimate portability. Why: You need a mouse with your computer and you are on the go a lot. Folded view. The key selling point of this mouse is that it folds up, reducing the size of the mouse by effectively 50%. The portability is definitely a huge plus because you don't want to be carrying a giant mouse everywhere. But the Arc Mouse fits snugly in any pocket. It runs off two AAA batteries and uses a small USB transceiver to wirelessly communicate with the computer. Conveniently, there’s a groove where the USB attachment fits in magnetically. Magnetic groove, side button, and battery cov...

Last year, around this time (or earlier, I don't exactly recall) I was struggling with my life. New surroundings, tough academic pressures, extracurricular responsibilities, internship hunting, all added to create a rather stressful environment. I was also a part of the Brown University Debating Union. Every few weeks, I would go to a tournament for the weekend and debate with other teams from different universities. Most of these tournaments were held in Boston since there are many universities there. My friend from high school, Carol, also went to Boston University and I figured that we'd meet up since it had been a while since I saw her last. We made plans to meet up after my last debate round. What is stress? When I saw her, she gave me a hug because, well, that's what friends do. It wasn't a special hug in any way. It lasted the same amount and probably had all the same intentions behind it. But I felt so empowered by that simple gesture. The instant she hu...

I've had so many occasions where I had a big paper due or a midterm in a few days time. In my mind, among the billion other things I'm thinking of, I begin to gauge my understanding of the subject material. Am I prepared? How long would it take if I were to start it now? Is it going to be annoying to do? Yet, without fail, I always seem to overestimate my ability to work, and severely underestimate the amount of work necessary. It goes something like this: Brain: Hey, Wonmin. You have a paper due next Monday. Wonmin: Ya, brain. I know. But I've written papers for this class before and it only took like three hours. Don't worry man. Brain: But this one is different, it's based on research, not previous readings. Wonmin: Ya, but it's still only 1000 words. Calm down brain, we got this. Brain: If you're sure... Lather, rinse, repeat. Of course, the paper doesn't go as planned and I stay up way past my suggested bedtime. Hours dwindle, I procrast...

Yesterday, I received an incredibly friendly email from an anonymous person who claimed to have read my blog and "loved it." Of course, because my blog is public and anybody can comment anonymously, I was a bit skeptical of this email. Yet, seeing as how this was the first ever "fan mail" I've ever received, I read the email. It wasn't fan mail, but it was an email from a person who works for a website called " Jooble ." Interested by his genuineness and heartfelt compliments of my blog, I took a quick glance at the website. Here's what he had to say about Jooble: Jooble operates in 45+ countries, so if you would like to find a job in other locations you may try to search jobs in: Argentina , Australia , Austria , Belgium , Belarus , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China Colombia , Czech Republic , Denmark , Spain , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Hong Kong , Hungary , Italy , India , Indonesia , Ireland , Japan , Kazakhstan , Mexi...

I just saw  The Social Network . And before I say anything else, I want to say that it was a great movie and I thoroughly enjoyed watching every drama-filled moment of it. With that said, the movie made me feel so  insignificant . Which, I guess, I am in the grand scope of things. With what, billions of people living on this Earth now, how different can I be? Statistically speaking, how different is my genetic code and makeup that makes me so special from the average Joe sitting next to me? I don't know the answer to that question and, quite frankly, I am very confused right now. So I decided to blog to collect my thoughts, as that usually helps.

Click me for full resolution! On a side note, this picture was taken in Long Island City, right across from the east side of Manhattan. On a side side note, I took this photo with my Droid Incredible , using this app.

I recently came across a new Google Chrome extension and though to myself, "Hey this is a perfect opportunity to start that new review section on my blog I've always wanted to do!" So here it is. Name: Hover Zoom What: Creates a zoomed version of thumbnails or links over your mouse on various websites. Why:  Because you don't want to waste time clicking image links. So basically with this extension, you never have to click another thumbnail or link to see the full-sized image! It's perfect for Facebook, Google+, or Reddit. I've always opted to create a new tab for each picture that I wanted to see in detail, but with this extension, you can save the trouble of creating and closing a new tab by just hovering over it! Cons:  There are a few small things that irk me so far with this extension, however. Many times my mouse just happens to stop at a thumbnail that I don't want to view and the full sized image scares me as it jumps up. (Especially if...

This is a story about two best friends. They were the grow up like brothers kind of best friends. The chase girls together kind. The never rat the other out kind. The always true to each other thick and thin kind. You know what I mean. They were inseparable. One was named Adam, the other Bill. Adam was an artist. He loved all forms of art--film, paint, photo, everything. If it was created or captured, chances are, he's seen it. He kept a journal of his thoughts and mostly kept to himself--and, of course, Bill. He was what you might call a shy guy. Following his passions, he went to art school and graduated with an excellent education and a renewed passion for his art. Bill was a business man. He loved money, making deals, and shaking hands. If it was profitable or had even the slimmest chance of making money, chances are, he's done it. He rarely stays still and is constantly out and about. At the local bar, the club, restaurant, wherever the new hot spot was. He was what yo...

Hello. On a side note, go to this site to make your own QR code.

I know there are tons of articles about how Google+ is the new Facebook and how Facebook is the new Myspace. I know that there are many things innovative (and lacking) about Google's newest foray into the social world. But I am not going to reiterate what many analysts have already said. I just want to add one comment or observation that I just thought of. For as long as I can remember, I've always bragged about the number of Facebook friends I had. Whether it was the 500th milestone, or the 600th, or the 700th, I would be really proud of my expanding network. However, many of my friends did not share the same view. Wonmin: "Hey! Check out how many Facebook friends I have!" Friend: "So what? They're just Facebook friends..." Wonmin: "So?" Friend: "So, they're not really  your friends!" And that's the problem with Facebook. There seems to be a negative connotation attached to being just Facebook friends . Why or how ...

So I've done a bit of coding for my internship here at caseable . We use Google Docs over here to do all our stuff, so I was working on the Google spreadsheet when I decided that I wanted to try my hand at coding. I wanted to take the URL from one data column, the site name from another data column, and create a new column with the combined hyperlink. I knew that I could always just refer to the two data cells and hide the columns, but being the perfectionist that I am, I didn't want to "hide" anything. But I didn't know how to get the data from one cell to another without referring! So I did some research and two hours of trial and error afterwards, I finally was able to write the above code. The second function took some of the stuff I learned from the first and creates comments on the first column using the data from a different column. This way, I was able to delete the unnecessary column and free a lot of space from the whole spreadsheet. I...

On a side note, why do people hate it when people like their own things? I like my status, so I press the button! It's there for a reason.

With my recent post , I noticed that I don't cater to any of the countries I am personally interested in. So I am going to consciously try to post things that relate to China, Japan, and Korea. I figured a good way to start was to do a quick Google search.