.Autobiography. [27 April 2005]
I was born 1980 in Florida, with my fraternal twin Phil, who was born earlier by 3 minutes. My dad and mom, both from Taiwan, are analytical chemists by training. In a 16-year period, we moved from Florida to Virginia to Maryland to Florida to Florida and to California.
After graduating from University High School in Irvine, Phil and I attended the University of California at Berkeley. In May 2002, Phil graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric, and I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. After 21 years, Phil and I finally separated; Phil went on to study law in the University of California at Hastings, and I went on to study pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I was the dependent brother, so the separation really sucked. Despite being an occasional dork, Phil is the best brother anyone can ask for.
In summary, here's my autobiography in 13 words: I'm blessed, and I thank God for all he's given me.
Computers
Technology is great, isn't it? My first silicon-based love was the IBM Personal Computer XT, short for eXtended Technology, or PC/XT. The gal featured 640 kilobytes of random access memory, 64 megabytes of read-only memory, and graphics technology called color graphics adapter (CGA), showcasing four primary colors: white, black, magenta, and teal. I used only two programs with the MS-DOS based XT: Novell's WordPerfect 3.1 and Broderbund's classic Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Zooming to present day, here is my current setup in Madison, WI:
These two machines replaced my old Katmai PIII desktop. Here are the specs:
Acer Aspire 2012WLMi 15.4" Laptop (bought from Newegg November 2004)
1.5 GHz Pentium Mobile Banias Processor
Intel i825GME/PM Motherboard
512 MB PC2700 Nanya RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, 64 MB Video
60 GB Toshiba MK6025GAS @ 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Matshiya UJ-820S DVD-RAM
Realtek AC97 Audio
Windows XP Professional
Desktop (I assembled this rig January 2005)
Viewsonic VX900 19" LCD
Altec Lansing ACS48 2.1 Speakers
Antec Solution SLK3700AMB Case with 350W Power Supply
Athlon 64 3000+ Newcastle 754 Processor
Chaintech VNF3-250 nForce3 ATX Motherboard
2 x 512 MB PC3200 Corsair RAM
Rosewill Radeon 9600, 256 MB 128-bit (fanless) AGP Video
120 GB Seagate Barracuda @ 7200 RPM, 8 MB Cache Hard Drive
NEC ND-3520A DVD-RW
Lite-On SOHD DVD-ROM
Chaintech AV-710 Audio
Windows XP Professional
I admit I'm not a hardcore tech junkie, but I love tinkering with and optimizing computers. If you have computer problems, give me a hollar anytime. I get my daily dose of silicon drool at newegg.com and anandtech.com.
Anime
What's so great about technology? Productivity? Self-enrichment? For a well-disciplined person, sure. For me, the former two are important, but entertainment takes the cake. With the advent of torrents, these days you can download anything, and I mean anything. For example, japanese animated cartoons, or anime, are perhaps one of the most downloaded genre of entertainment presently. I'm no otaku, but I'll share with you some must-see anime. For those who're really interested, I'll post a few really uber torrent sites towards the end of this section.
My philosophy on anime is as follows. A good anime must feature three key attributes: (a) good animation, (b) good music, and (c) good storyline. A great anime must feature three additional attributes: (d) drool-inducing food, (e) wicked fighting scenes, and (f) adolescent-boy-dream-things (ABDT, for short). ABDT's include very well drawn mechs, cars, and perhaps most important, girls. Before you get mad at me, I'm just trying to be objective! *wide grin*
That said, my top 5 anime of all time include:
1. Rurouni Kenshin
2. Cowboy Bebop
3. Naruto
4. Berserk
5. Slayers
Instead of spending time describing each one, I'll just talk about Naruto, the only anime listed that is currently running. Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto is quite possibly the most successful anime ever. For starters, Naruto's fan base is a torrent juggernaut. If you don't believe me, check out dattebayo's torrent tracker site. In a period of just over 1 day since its inception, the 132nd subbed episode of Naruto has been downloaded 116532 times with a corresponding data transfer of 19 terrabytes. TV Tokyo is reaping some major benefits here with the parallel advent of torrent technology. By the way, the 132nd episode is a damn good one.
But enough about technology. Naruto features a fantasy world of kid ninjas striving to be their best, each kid with his own story of tragedy, hope, and drive. I know what you're thinking. "Ninja kids? Gimme a break, lol!" Here's a classic webpage about ninjas: realultimatepower.net.
Seriously though, give this series a chance. Naruto is a blond haired, ramen-loving orphan of the hidden leaf village of Konoha who had a demon sealed in his body when he was an infant. The powerful, evil, demon fox, Kyuubi (which literally translates to nine-tails), threatened Konoha, and as a last resort, the 4th Hokage (Hokage = supreme ninja leader) sacrificed his life to seal away the demon to save the village. There was a catch though; the sealing jutsu (jutsu = ninja technique) required a human container. Naruto happened to be that container, and thus far, the 4th's choice has gone unexplained.
You'd think Naruto would be hailed as a hero, given that he was instrumental in Konoha's salvation. But as Naruto grew from infancy to adolescence, Konoha denizens became fearful of Naruto, and distanced themselves from him. You'd think Naruto would be pretty pissed off, but it turns out that he's a pretty well-meaninged kid. Though he's a class clown in Konoha's ninja academy, through the friendship of Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Jiraiya-sensei, and his teammates Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto realizes his ambition to one day become Konoha's Hokage, to protect his people. On top of that, the sealed Kyuubi grants Naruto power felicitously whenever Naruto gets into trouble. Awe, snap! Naruto is definitely my most favorite character in this series.
The Naruto storyline can be partitioned into several parts, which I'll do summarily (slight spoiler warning):
1. Naruto becomes Genin and the formation of team seven.
2. Team seven vs. Zabuza and Haku.
3. Sasuke masters Kakashi's Chidori.
4. Chuunin examination.
5. Naruto vs. Gaara.
6. Sarutobi vs. Orochimaru.
7. Akatsuki vs. Naruto vs. Sasuke.
8. Naruto masters Jiraiya's Rasengan.
9. Tsunade and Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru.
10. Tsunade installed as 5th Hokage.
11. Sasuke vs. Orochimaru.
12. Team Shikamaru vs. Hidden Sound Five.
13. Naruto vs. Sasuke.
Episode 132 is the culmination of the Naruto vs. Sasuke saga. Just for kicks, here's a colored manga (comic version) page of Naruto's Rasengan vs. Sasuke's Chidori.
Aside from dattebayo's torrent tracker site, the Naruto manga series is in part hosted here. For your Naruto needs, the narutofan forums and narutofan are good places to start. Globally speaking, HongFire is the best anime torrent site.
Games
The internet has redefined the computer gaming world through the advent of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG's). In fact, the origin of this webpage, as you'll be able to see from my blogger archives, involves a gaming community I established in the summer of 1999. Inspired by Origin's Ultima series, I dubbed my gaming community, Avatars of Lost Light, and I go into greater detail about the name in Wen's Corner beta transmission.
One of the greatest skills I acquired from managing a gaming community is writing, believe it or not. I have many fond memories of my gaming community, and I share those memories with you through the Wen's Corner and Meeting Minutes sections of the website. Though I left the game in the summer of 2003, the community still exists under a very competent leadership core headed by Chris aka Braxis Prague. Their webpage is located at aoll.org.
Aside from Asheron's Call, which is the game I founded the AoLL for, I've dabbled in a myriad of computer and console games. I list here Joe's ground-breaking gaming experiences in semi-chronological order (Man, I'm such a geek lol. Love me for who I am, baby!):
1. SSI's Eye of the Beholder.
2. 8-bit Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers.
3. 8-bit Nintendo's Zelda.
4. 8-bit Nintendo's River City Ransom.
5. 8-bit Nintendo's Super Dodge Ball.
6. 8-bit Nintendo's Final Fantasy I.
7. 8-bit Nintendo's Dragon Warrior.
8. 8-bit Nintendo's Ultima: Exodus.
9. Microprose's Civilization.
10. Origin's Wing Commander series.
11. 16-bit Nintendo's Final Fantasy series.
12. Origin's Ultima series.
13. Blizzard's Diablo series.
14. Blizzard's Starcraft.
15. Microprose's Master of Orion series.
16. 3DO's Heroes of Might and Magic series.
17. Turbine's Asheron's Call.
18. Nexus's Shattered Galaxy.
19. Atari's Neverwinter Nights.
The list isn't exhaustive, but these games forged the uber-geek in me. I don't game much anymore, but looking back, these games freaking rocked. In Berkeley, sure I remember some carbonyl chemistry, but what I really remember is gaming with my buddy Stephen late-night in Starcraft. Our strategy was flawless for 2v2 BGH. I would go 7 pool drone recon followed quickly by a 6 ling rush. Stephen would follow up with his 5 zealot reinforcement. If that failed, he would econ up for the shuttle/reaver combo to destroy enemy econ, while I econed up for fast muties or mass hydras. The best thing was, we were in the same room so our communication was pristine lol. "Steve, 'toss at twelve o'clock! 1 minute till ling rush!" Good times, good times.
.Aspirations. [28 April 2005]
Ugh, I'm the first to admit that I prefer light-hearted discussions. I'm the last person to be super-serious. If any of my pharmacy friends are reading this, you're all probably nodding your heads in assent lol. But here goes nothing.
I'm a very privileged individual. Sure, I've had my share of tribulations, but who hasn't? My family is so supportive in all I do, and the Almighty has given me so many opportunities for self-enrichment. If you ask any of my old friends, they'll tell you how innately lucky I am. Here's an example.
Phil and I studied at Stone Mills Elementary in Maryland while my father worked at the FDA. In our last year at Stone Mills, Phil and I took "achievement tests" that were designed to designate which "tract" (e.g. college prep < advanced < gifted) we would take in middle school. Soon after the tests, I found out that I scored below average in everything but Math, while my brother excelled in all subjects. As a result, I was assigned to the lowest tier in middle school, but my brother was to take the gifted tract.
That summer, however, my father left the FDA to join IVAX Corp. in Florida. When we arrived at our new school, Pioneer Middle School, the guidance counsellor took a look at my brother's achievement scores and assumed that my skill level was about the same since we were twins. We were both assigned to the accelerated tract, and since then, we haven't looked back. Our academic environment challenged us, and through that experience, our brains became nice and wrinkly. Had my family stayed in Maryland, chances are, my brain would be even smoother than it is now. The prospect of that is best embodied by Neo's trademark in The Matrix, "Whoa."
Why did I share that story? First, I thank Phil for constantly raising the bar for me. Second, I realize my weakness as a laid-back, easy-going individual. Heck, if it were left entirely up to me, I would live a simple life featuring no challenges. But I've evolved. I now understand that life isn't meant to be simple, and that challenges can be just as rewarding as status quo. That doesn't mean I'm going to be the next Evel Knievel living life on the edge. But at least, now I realize that life's greatest pleasures can come from facing challenges with valor and optimism.
Knowing all this doesn't make me immune to failure, but that actually works out for the best. As long as I can learn from my mistakes, or at least be conscious in doing so, I've ultimately succeeded.
Alright, enough with the sappiness. Concerning my personal goals and aspirations as I currently understand them, I'll list them here:
6. Be a scientist.
5. Contribute to the bettering of public health.
4. Find my soul mate.
3. Have a happy family.
2. Protect my family.
1. Be a man.
