Literature: 2019 Business Books

Transitions: Making Sense Of Life's Changes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZY23TS?ref=dbs_p2d_P_R_popup_yes_pony_T1

Whether you choose it or it is thrust upon you, change brings both opportunities and turmoil. Since Transitions was first published, this supportive guide has helped hundreds of thousands of readers cope with these issues by providing an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful roadmap of the transition process. With the understanding born of both personal and professional experience, William Bridges takes readers step by step through the three stages of any transition: The Ending, The Neutral Zone, and, eventually, The New Beginning. Bridges explains how each stage can be understood and embraced, leading to meaningful and productive movement into a hopeful future. With a new introduction highlighting how the advice in the book continues to apply and is perhaps even more relevant today, and a new chapter devoted to change in the workplace, Transitions will remain the essential guide for coping with the one constant in life: change.

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

https://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416626167&sr=1-1&keywords=give+%26+take+by+adam+grant

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In Give and Take, Adam Grant, an award-winning researcher and Wharton’s highest-rated professor, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. Praised by social scientists, business theorists, and corporate leaders, Give and Take opens up an approach to work, interactions, and productivity that is nothing short of revolutionary.

Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

https://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Winning-Streaks-Losing-Begin/dp/1400052912

Is success simply a matter of money and talent? Or is there another reason why some people and organizations always land on their feet, while others, equally talented, stumble again and again?

There’s a fundamental principle at work–confidence–that makes the difference between winning and losing in any competition, be it a high school basketball game or a high-stakes business situation. In Confidence, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter shows why organizations of all types may be brimming with talent but not be winners. Based on her extraordinary investigation of success and failure in companies such as Continental Airlines and Verizon and sports teams such as the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as the arenas of education, health care, and politics, Kanter explores a new theory and practice of success and provides people in leadership positions with a prescriptive program for maintaining a winning streak or turning around a downward spiral.

Packed with brilliant, practical ideas, Confidence provides fresh thinking about success in all facets of life—from the factors that can make or break corporations and governments to the keys for successful relationships in the workplace or at home.



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Literature: Retribution of Tears

Retribution of Tears

First Published: 25 MAY 2011 / Last Edited: 12 DEC 2019

Her soulful violet eyes blurred with tears as she stood on the edge of the seawall and gazed outwards at the turbulent waves below. Cupped in her two small hands were the broken jagged shards of a crystal ball. In the next second, with her mind already set, she knew that everything would change. She imagined herself plunging into the dark turquoise sea below her, forever erasing all traces of the broken shards of her and her memories. Yet, even in what she thought would be most likely the last moments of her life, she secretly longed for someone to save her.

As swift as a silent arrow, a memory flashed by in her mind of her inhumanity a moment ago. She hesitantly shifted her gaze from the waves to the shards in her hand one last time. Scarcely several dozen heartbeats ago, these shards piercing into her soft flesh didn’t exist. Her former lover was alive and well. He looked too well, she had thought. At this very spot, she had accused him of betraying her trust.

He had mocked her and said that she deserved it for believing him. He said that he has slept with other women all during the relationship. His barbed words jabbed relentlessly into her fragile heart and he did not appear to care. She realized that he had thought she was the type of girl who lacked a sense of self-worth who could be easily deceived into falling “in love” with a charming guy. In truth, she feared being in love with anyone since she feared what would happen.

She had fallen into his trap of lies so easily and revealed to him everything about her. She thought that opening her heart would lead to a buildup of further trust but it had the opposite effect. Before she opened up, anyone could see that between the two of them, she had more potential – writing incessantly and publishing her works in well-known journals. On his side, since he quit school, he has worked at a coffee shop as a barista for the last year and didn’t have the faintest inkling of where he was going in life. He seemed fine with his situation and she wasn’t going to push him to change.

After she revealed her secret to him though, he started to distance himself from her. He didn’t reveal his heart and she could only guess that perhaps he thought she was delusional and insane. She had told him to never make her cry since looking at her eyes when she was crying could transform him into glass. He had laughed at it and became quiet when she kept insisting that it was true. She thought that meant he believed her but now she knew that wasn’t the case.

His schedule suddenly seemed busier. They saw each other infrequently and he cancelled on several dates. The final straw was seeing him kiss a girl in front of his apartment. This was the unlucky encounter from trying to surprise him with a visit. The two didn’t noticed her and she had hurriedly departed before they saw her. Later, she called him to ask him who that girl was.

That was a week ago though it felt like a lifetime. They had agreed to meet at this spot today. A year ago this was the place of their first date. She came thinking that he wanted to meet her here to apologize and ask for her forgiveness. Instead, he came to mock her openly. She had tried to not cry but the tears still pooled out. Once they did, she couldn’t stop herself and could only watch helplessly as his body turned into glass. Her retribution of tears was swift and deadly. He could barely shout before he was completely gone. The shore wind was strong and blew his glass form over the seawall where it shattered against the rocks below. The only remnant was his eyes that flew like tiny pearls from his head to land miraculously in her open hands.

She steadied herself for an end to this life. He was a cheater but she was a killer. Now seemed like the perfect poetic end. She took out a mirror and gazed at her reflection held within, the last visages in her vision herself at her worst. There was barely a moment of regret before she toppled over, the second glass statue to fall into the waves that day.

Literature: Books on Utopia

Utopia?

This Perfect Day
https://www.amazon.com/This-Perfect-Day-Ira-Levin/dp/160598129X

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/139390.This_Perfect_Day

Considered one of the great dystopian novels―alongside Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World―Ira Levin's frightening glimpse into the future continues to fascinate readers even forty years after publication.

The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society. Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called “The Family.“ The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they can never realize their potential as human beings, but will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. even the basic facts of nature are subject to the UniComp's will―men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night.

With a vision as frightening as any in the history of the science fiction genre, This Perfect Day is one of Ira Levin`s most haunting novels.

[Craigslist] Dream Post for Third Book

Just posted this on Craigslist today:

https://houston.craigslist.org/crg/d/houston-dream-material-for-new-book/7014097426.html

My name is Shen and I am working on my third book which is focused on dreams planned to be published in early 2020. I am currently collecting dreams (either dreams at night or life aspirations) from people around me. I would like to talk to you at a cafe and learn about what you have experienced or wish to experience.

If you're interested, please reach me via this email indicating your availability on the weekend. Saturdays work best for me but I can accommodate Friday evenings. Also note that though the postal code is put down as 77004 I have other locations in mind.

[Astronomy] Superhabitable Worlds

Introduction

And when it comes to Earth, life has thrived, finding its way into every possible ecological niche, adapting itself through evolution to handle bitter cold, intense heat, the intense pressures at the bottom of the oceans, even cities, living right next to human beings. But could Earth be better? Could there be planets which are super habitable?

In a 2016 paper called Superhabitable Worlds accepted by the journal Astrobiology, two physics professors, Rene Heller and John Armstrong, run through the conditions that might make the most habitable possible planet. They propose that stars with less mass than the Sun, classified as K stars, are probably the best candidates for diversity since they’re long-lived and relatively stable. A K-type star will have a lifetime of 20-70 billion years without those pesky red dwarf megaflares.

You would want other planets in the star system, capable of redirecting asteroids and comets with their gravity to deliver water and other chemicals needed for life. Thanks for that, Jupiter.
And ideally, you want multiple habitable planets in the same system, capable of sending life back and forth. A process known as panspermia.

Planet Simulator Tool

Just for giggles and fun, NASA actually has an online software called ROCKE-3D general circulation model (GCM) which can study different points in the history of our own planet and other Solar System terrestrial planets, as well as exoplanets. Check it out!

https://data.giss.nasa.gov/rocke3d/maps/

Craigslist Roundup 1: Interesting Ads

Some interesting ads I found on Craigslist recently. Figured I'll start a series with these funniness. Here goes.

[Media] Useful Firefox Plugins

As an avid user of Firefox, there are many plugins which are absolutely essential to upgrade your browsing experience. Here are a few I always use.

FireShot
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot

This is my favorite plugin to make web page screenshots which can be saved as images or pdfs with links!

uBlock Origin
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin

Nowadays, ads are everywhere which unfortunately includes YouTube and other popular video streaming sites. To avoid them ever showing up, I use this efficient blocker. It runs so smoothly I never notice it's even there.

DownThemAll!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/downthemall/

This is the downloader for links on a page. Download images, pdfs, links, etc. all in one easily customizable plugin.

Image Picka
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-picka

I use this app if I specifically want to just download images on a page. Not nearly as functionality heavy or customizable as DownThemAll! but it's perfect for downloading pictures.

In My Pocket
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/in-my-pocket

For those of us using Pocket to bookmark and store interesting articles, the old official plugin no longer works with the latest version of Firefox. Have no fear for a guy by the name of Pierre-Adrien Buisson created an unofficial version which is just fine. With one click, save any article you want to Pocket for later perusal.

[Poetry] New book out! Requiem: The Space Between Words

My new book called Requiem: The Space Between Words is now available on Amazon.

The second book of poetry is a collection of poems covering inner space and outer space written by Shen Ge in the years from 2015 to 2019.

Words That Sound Badass

 

Semantic Segmentation

Image segmentation is a computer vision task in which we label specific regions of an image according to what's being shown.

https://www.jeremyjordan.me/semantic-segmentation/

https://hackernoon.com/semantic-segmentation-datasets-for-autonomous-driving-1182ebd2aff0

Regression Testing

Regression Testing is defined as a type of software testing to confirm that a recent program or code change has not adversely affected existing features. Regression Testing is nothing but a full or partial selection of already executed test cases which are re-executed to ensure existing functionalities work fine.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) 

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application–layer protocol defined by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) in RFC1157 for exchanging management information between network devices. It is a part of Transmission Control Protocol⁄Internet Protocol (TCP⁄IP) protocol suite.

Michel Thomas Method

Michel Thomas was a language teacher with a specific approach to teaching. Thomas proposed that there is no such thing as "a student with learning difficulties, only teachers with teaching difficulties." The method presents the target language by interleaving new with old material, teaching generalization from language principles, contextual diversity, and learning self-correction in an environment that attempts to be stress-free, as the teacher is responsible for learning, not the student.

https://www.michelthomas.com

[Poetry] Photos Batch 1

Visual Poetry

Learning Japanese

I have been recently teaching myself Japanese. So far, it has been a slow journey. There are several common methods of learning a language. For me, I have taken the approach of these:

1. Reading books
2. Writing
3. Watching Youtube
4. Watching anime
5. Watching TV series

Yes, there is clearly a lot of watching. Since I don't know any Japanese personally, the way to improve oral understanding is through watching. Several people I know have learned a language from just watching TV shows in that respective language. Now, there has to be an intentional effort though. For instance, I have watched Japanese anime for years and have barely learned a lick. This is because I barely paid attention to what the characters said; I was purely focused on the entertainment and the English subtitles.

Here are a few sites where one can watch anime or jdramas:

https://www.viki.com/
https://www.crunchyroll.com/

[Money] Passive Income Sources

This is not an original article by me but I found it highly useful:
https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/passive-income-ideas/

There are some other sites which are more specifically focused:

eBooks
https://bullshit.ist/how-i-make-400-a-month-in-passive-income-by-self-publishing-68fa948edff5

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/make-money-selling-ebooks-online-4122181

[Media] How to Embed Videos

Guide to Embed Videos

Locate the video you would like to include and copy the embed code. For Youtube videos, this code is found within the "share" menu. For the video above, it looks like this:

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AqZA77eABRI" width="560"></iframe>

Youtube also has an option to share without having to type this code. First, click on the Share button which is right below the video. Then, when the box appears, click on the Embed button. A code box should appear to the right side. Select the code, copy and then paste it to whatever webpage you wish to embed the video.

What about non-Youtube sites?

[Story] Bug Priest

Originally written on July 7, 2015, this story was updated on July 24, 2019.

Bug Priest

Bob sat up in the hospital bed. He had just woken up yesterday and didn't plan to sleep his life away. His head still hurt like hell but at least he could feel the pain now. From what the doctor told him, he was in a coma for about a few days after the accident and couldn't feel anything.

Looking around the room, he saw that he was by himself. It looked like an ordinary boring hospital room. There was a pile of fresh flowers and some get-well cards on the table next to his bed. He was too tired to read any of them and frankly he didn't care to since most of them contained the same platitudes. It's funny how people who don’t care to talk to you for years suddenly feel an urge to check up on you when something bad happens to you.

Bob shook his head. Now's no time to get riled up, he thought. He tried to remember what caused him to be in this state but he still couldn't remember. All he remembered was taking a walk near his house late one night and the next thing he knew he was here. He was told that a neighbor of his found him collapsed unconscious by the side of the road. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital where he was in no better state until yesterday.

The police told him it probably wasn't a robbery. There wasn't anything taken from him. His wallet, phone, and money were all there. The hospital did a battery of tests on him but so far uncovered that he was just perfectly healthy. Apparently, he has just mysteriously collapsed and just as mysteriously woken up a day later.

[Story] Farmer Brown and the Cow

via GIPHY

Farmer Brown and the Cow

Farmer Brown woke up feeling mighty fine. It was a bright sunny day outside. The cows were mooing, chickens were crowing, and the birds were chirping. There isn't a day better than hearing nature's calls, he thought as he got up from his simple wooden bed. He didn't brush his teeth or comb his hair since milking the cows gotta be more important than personal hygiene.

The eggs and bacon on the table were still warm when he got to the small table. Guess his wife thought of him this morning before she left for town with her friends to do the kind of shopping that only females like. Might as well eat the food or else they be going back to the chicken and pigs as their feed, he thought. Farmer Brown chewed his food deliberately and slowly. It'll be nice to have a glass of milk but there ain't any milk around until he goes and milks the cows.

That's right. He gotta milk the cows. He gobbled up the rest of his food and walked the twenty steps or so to the outdoor pens where the cows were kept. They seemed awfully quiet today though they knew what was gonna happen. Farmer Brown thought it a bit strange but thought nothing more of it.

After he milked the cows, he fetched his shotgun. There were still a few cows left but those are the old fat ones that's eating up more grass than making milk. They gotta go and maybe their bodies can fetch at least a fair price for their meat. His gun was just itching to do the trick.

The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The cows weren't going to go anywhere and neither would he. Farmer Brown decided he's just gonna sit down and appreciate the fine scenery for a bit to catch his breath. He found some shade under an oak tree near the biggest fat cow. He put his head down and breathed deep to regain his breathe. He looked up a minute later and saw the big cow. She was the first to go. Her name was Bessie and she used to be a prize milk cow. Now she's just a lazy old bum who doesn't make any milk but instead spends a lot of her time eating grass and fooling around with the younger cows doing things only cows would do.

[Space] Apollo 11 Video

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours 39 minutes later on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before lifting off to rejoin Columbia in lunar orbit.

[Story] Romance at the Bagel Shop

First wrote this story back in ~2008 as a joke. This has never been posted before so whatever you see is the original drafted back when I was an undergraduate. Not intended as the rating of R but you decide.

Romance at the Bagel Shop

           

            It was like any other Saturday when Sharon walked into the bagel shop. She had the job for a few weeks now and work as always was quite boring. She got along well enough with her coworkers but she found them almost as dull as the taste of the bagel she ate every Saturday morning. There was little expectation from her that folding fermented edibles for most of the day would be exciting but at least she had thought that she could pass her time by chatting with some of her coworkers. She was wrong. Since she couldn’t strike a decent conversation with them, she stuck with her personality and made witty remarks. But this didn’t help either for every joke she made convinced them more that this girl was weird and should be avoided.

            Most of the day passed like the dreary norm. Customers came and went without a care for the boredom of the employees. Though she has been there only a few weeks, she had realized by the third time that the customers thought the workers at the bakery as dry as the food themselves. Sharon got more attention than most but they were mostly from pubescent teenagers or overweight college kids. A few times she saw scrawny nerdy college kids glancing at her. They were generally too shy to look at her directly. Once she had been stared at for a full ten minutes or so by a fat bald guy that must have been the age of her father sitting by the window slowly chewing his sandwich. That was the most attention she had ever gotten at the bagel shop and it was also the creepiest thing that she had ever experienced in her life. Luckily for her, he was not a regular.

She was only too glad that the day was over. Since the manager was out today, she had to close shop. Suddenly, there was the clinging of bells as she heard the door open.

            “We’re closed for business,” said Sharon without looking up as she wiped the last table.

            “Can’t you take one last customer?” she heard a pleasant sound drift over to her. It sounded like chimes tinkling from an ocean breeze in midsummer. It was melodious and contained a certain feminine quality. Yet, it was definitely not feminine.

[Space] Interview with Adriano Autino (Space Renaissance International)

[Poetry] Addiction

This viscous, self-perpetuating cycle of prescribed self-abuse,

bleeding from perpetual defeat, I hardly stood a chance to reclaim myself,

when tossed about in the spiraled tempest casting fragmented delightful illusions.

Now, my mind overwhelmed while my shaking hands still unskilled,

I find myself grasping unfamiliar tools – those that can be my anchor.

Hard to dispel these cravings, wandering off within a maze of my own making.

This gloomy fog of darkened thoughts suffocates in the mist of stark isolation,

And other triggers quick to draw me back into depression and addiction.

Resolve and the toolmaker, come guide me and lead me away from this unholy affliction!