[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!

[IT] Display Chinese in Command Prompt

Recently, I wanted to read some Chinese document in the Command Prompt. Unfortunately, I could not display Chinese characters by default. I learned a handy technique to do it:

chcp 936

In the Windows shell, the "code page" determines how bytes are converted to characters on the screen. Using the CHCP command changes the shell's code page. Please note that before the CHCP command can be used, the nlsfunc must be loaded and country.sys must be loaded into the config.sys.

Automation
To remove the need to do this every time, you can create a simple batch file to change the code to whatever you wish. Here, it's changed to 65001 which is Unicode. This will not be able to display East Asian characters but you will be able to type other characters.

@ECHO OFF
REM change CHCP to UTF-8
CHCP 65001
CLS

You can save this in the folder C:\Windows\System32 as a bat file such as switch.bat.

Then, create a shortcut to cmd.exe on Desktop and change the shortcut's properties to C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k switch

Now whenever you need to type in a different script, you can use this shorcut.

Why Start This Blog Again

This blog has not been updated in a while but I'm starting it up again, primarily since I need an online place to organize my thoughts and the knowledge I seem to be constantly collecting. Also, it provides an avenue for me to express my random musings to the greater public (assuming that people actually read this of course). I figure it's worth a few extra minutes a day typing things up. A lot of good blogs that people actually want to read start that way. If you notice, I have put up links on the top bar as well to cover some of the other activities I do. Hopefully, they'll be of interest as well.

What does this blog entail? A mishmash of everything really which doesn't fit on my other arenas of interest -- science and technology blog or space. Check it out at your leisure. Finding topics may be difficult due to the poor labeling scheme so feel free to inform me and I can update it.

Also, this place presents a helpful pseudo-bookmark for me to find interesting topics such as:



C++ Style Guide
https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html

Dijkstra's algorithm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra%27s_algorithm

Some interesting programming tools include:

C++ Coding Standards Part 0: Automated Code Analysis
https://gist.github.com/lefticus/10191322

[Poetry] World and I

World and I

I won’t lie.

I have big dreams!

I want to move the world!

I won’t lie.

I let the world push me

In this world, we made way more babies than adults

Sometimes, I feel like I’m growing smaller not bigger

There’s no doubt I’m like a child scared of being alone

I seek solace in the world knowing that people and things do not know who I am

Perhaps they seek solace too in whatever fashion they can find

So who is using who?

Artificial noises are seductive to my ears and I’m lured by worldly Sirens

My ears blister and burn while I leave truth for lies

Counterproductive and life-shortening, I shrink

The days of life dance by day by day – one of so many I think or rather one of so few

Ask me if I’m looking for self-growth and I will tell you that I most certainly am

Ask me if I’m growing and I may tell you that I do not know

But that may be a lie for I know I often recede

Golden time most frivolously frittered with motionless words motionless emotions

The words I say ring hollow to my own ears even while they may inspire others

My shifting moods give me thoughts where I cannot help but think that I may be a lie

Outside, maybe I still shine but within, my fire heart is submerged under the cold water of fear

My soul is as deep as the ocean I think but lost like Atlantis under the waves

I cannot help but feel that I’m sometimes drowning

This frigid silence within may have eclipsed the totality of my sun

I am a student of my own heart and I know what I feel:

I want a white slate to redraw who I am and not just to wait out the grey of every day

[Poetry] Summer Shower

Summer Shower

Subdued light reflects hazily from glass

Rain passing in sheets on asphalt streets

Down these red-green torrential arteries

Hard metal canisters of soft bodies coasting by

Warm rainbow sewers clogged with leaves

A summer shower for the city and me