Just Wei

Last night was the first night that my son slept through the night, e.g., mid-night to 8 AM!!!!

Finally, some quality sleep for Wen & Wei.

A guy running a red light without even realizing what he just did.

What was he busy with? Checking out a girl that was crossing the street.

While I try to look at the funny side of bad things as they happen, this is just plain SAD.

Ugly side of the human nature, just to be exact. 

I have been the treasurer for the condominium I lived in for a while. And from what I have heard and seen during the meetings (lots of them), I realize not everyone on the planet is nice. I am just amazed what people would say/do to fulfill their own agenda. 

For example, people from two other buildings wanted us to join them in using one contractor for all the snow removal and lawn care services, so that we can all get a better deal (saving $). It sounds good at first, but in the cost sharing scheme they brought to the table, our building is asked to pay 60% of the total cost, even though the size of our lawn and parking lot is no where close to that percentage. The 60% comes from the number of units in our building over the total number of units in all three buildings. I have NO idea how they come up with the scheme, and why they think that is fair. I am just hoping that they innocently think that is fair because they are not so bright, not because of their greed or selfishness. All in all, the board members from the other two buildings are asking our building to pay for their lawn care and snow removal. It is funny, but it is sad. They want to talked us into this because they think we are stupid, and they think we will thank them for ripping us off. Ha. 

And, apparently, individual(s) from the other two buidlings hooked up with one owner in our building, pointing out that our buildings could still save some money even if we go along with the 60% scheme. First of all, we don’t know if we are going to save any money, since the quote from the contractor does not include some services that were included in our last year’s bill. And secondly, it is not about the cost, it is about fairness. I am more than willing to pay more if I don’t think what has been present to me is not fair. 

And now, within the building, there are conflicts as well. People that are better-off finacially want to get a property management compnay to take care of the building. The funny thing is, they haven’t really done anything for the building, and now they want to pay someone to do the work we have been doing. We must be doing an awaful job then. In any case, they will be presenting their findings in the next meeting, let’s see how that goes. 

Again, I don’t get this type of experience (dealing with people) from school, so it is definite a good experience, not pleasant, but much needed.

In general, there are two kinds of content, the code and the document. Managing documents is easier since they don’t often “branch” or “merge”. After you create a file for some report/paper, it is likely that you will be working on the same file till the end. The only challenge here is when you want to work on a different computer (i.e., a home computer), moving files back & forth can be troublesome, and often time you can make the mistake of overwriting the new files with the old files and undo all the changes you have made. 

Office Groove 2007 can help, but you do need to install it on all you computers. The idea here is simple, you create a workspace in Groove that acts much like a virtual folder, plus any time you make a change to the files in the workspace, Grooves distributes the updated documents to all the computers automatically. It works pretty well if the file is a word or powerpoint document (single file), but I haven’t figure out a   for multiple files (latex, m-files). 

Code is a total different story. 

To be continued.

i just finished my last course this term, and hopefully, that is the last one in my whole life time. I was afraid to check my grade at first because I don’t think I did well on the project and the final exam. But what do you know, another A+. Gosh, eight A+ for the eight courses taken as a graduate student, was I really that good?

I have been working on my own research right after the final exam. At first, I was writing up a report on the performance of the improved PAD that I just implemented.  And then I realized I don’t even have a document that formally describes the improved PAD. And as I was writing that, I decided to put the original PAD in as well for the sake of comparison. I dig up the code, only to find out the mex file does not work anymore because of the newer version of MATLAB. So I spent a whole morning to fix it. You won’t believe how much trouble a “uint8″ casting can cost. Anyway, as I was doing all those, I suddenly see the need for source control. I still haven’t found the perfect solution yet. But right now, I am trying to use Visual SourceSafe and Office Groove 2007 to get everything organized. So yeah, busy, busy.

Wei Shang : I was given a service ticket # and I was told twice that I will be getting a call from HP within 24 to 48 hours. But it has been two weeks since my initital contact, and there is not a single call. I would like an status update, please
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with Agner S .]
Agner S : Welcome to HP Total Care. My name is Agner. Please give me a few moments while I review your problem description details.
Wei Shang : Sure, thanks.
Agner S : Thank you for the service ticket number.
Agner S : Please give me 5 minutes let me check the status.
Agner S : I have checked the details and see that a service needs to be setup for the computer.
Wei Shang : So why haven’t I received any calls? Am I doing something wrong here? The other two agents seems pretty sure that the call comes in pretty quickly.
Agner S : I apologize for all the inconvenience caused to you.
Agner S : I have checked the details and see that the computer is out of warranty.
Agner S : In order to go ahead and setup a service for the computer, you will be charged for the service.
Wei Shang : OK. Gosh…I thought I convince the last agent that the computer is within the warranty.
Wei Shang : This model of PC S3120N, has defective motherboard, and HP has extended the warranty for all the owners of this PC.
Wei Shang : please check this page.
Wei Shang : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01514044&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=ca&lang=en&product=3440605
Agner S : May I have the serial number of the computer please?
Wei Shang : The S/N is MX472700X5
Wei Shang : The model # is GC665AAR#ABA
Agner S : Thank you for the information.
Agner S : I will go ahead and setup a service for the computer.
Wei Shang : Please do. Thank you. Does that mean I can skip the phone call part?
Agner S : Yes, we can skip the phone call.
Wei Shang : Thank you very much!
Agner S : In order for me to set up a service request I will need to verify your warranty. Please provide the following information:
Agner S : Shipping Information:

* Name:
* Organization:
* Mailing Address (No P.O. Boxes):
* Apartment/Building/Mailstop:
* City: * State/Providence:
* Zip/Postal Code:
* Country:
* Phone Number (including area code):
* email address:

Agner S : Thank you.
Agner S : Product Information:

* Product Model Number (ex: C1234A):
* Product Serial Number (ex: US12345678):
* Product Purchase Date:

Wei Shang : Model # GC665AAR#ABA
Wei Shang : S/N: MX472700X5
Wei Shang : for the purchase date, do I give you the date which the transaction happened, or the date I received the PC?
Agner S : The date when you purchased the computer.
Wei Shang : Dec 12th, 2007
Agner S : Thank you for the information.
Wei Shang : You are welcome.
Agner S : I have registered the product and see that its a refurbished computer.
Agner S : I would also like to inform you that it is out of warranty.
Agner S : Inorder to setup a service for the computer, you will be charged for it.
Agner S : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01514044&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=ca&lang=en&product=3440605
Agner S : Please click on the above link to open the webpage.
Wei Shang : Yes, it is. We are still within the 90 + 1 year period? Aren’t we?
Wei Shang : the Hardware Limited Warranty is 90 days .
Wei Shang : plus the one year HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement
Agner S : Since our database is showing out of warranty, we will not be able to setup a service for the computer without charging for the service.
Agner S : I would like to inform you that warranty of refurbised computer is valid for only 90 days from the date of purchase.
Agner S : Since you purchased the computer on 12th Dec 2007, it is out of the refurbished warranty period.
Wei Shang : Yes, I agree with you that the refurbished warranty period has run out. But the HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement kicked in after that and it runs out on March 12, 2009.
Wei Shang : Computers experiencing either or both of these symptoms, attributable to the computer’s motherboard, are eligible for this HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement. This program provides for a motherboard replacement at no charge for 12 months from the date your one-year Hardware Limited Warranty expires or until December 31, 2009, whichever is sooner.

Agner S : Please open the link and it is clearly mentioned that “NOTE: For refurbished computers, the Hardware Limited Warranty may be less than one year.”
Agner S : We will not be able to setup a service for the computer free of cost.
Wei Shang : We are talking about two warranty here.
Agner S : May I know from where did you purchased the 2 years warranty on the computer?
Wei Shang : No. I didn’t purchase the any warranty for the computer.
Wei Shang : HP offers the “HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement” because HP knows S3120N has a defective motherboard.
Wei Shang : The one year HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement kicked in after the Hardware Limited Warranty expires.
Agner S : I do understand that we provide motherboard replacement, but for refurbished it is clearly mentioned in notes that ” the Hardware Limited Warranty may be less than one year”.
Agner S : So we will not be able to service the computer free of cost.
Wei Shang : You are missing the point, the hardware limited warranty is not the Limited Warranty Service Enhancement.
Wei Shang : They are two seperate warranty programs, and Limited Warranty Service Enhancement kicks in after hardware limited warranty .
Wei Shang : so for a non-refurb. pc, it has two year warranty, one year from the hardware limited warranty, and another year from Limited Warranty Service Enhancement.
Agner S : Wei, the hardware warranty for refurbished computers is for 90 days from date of purchase and the Limited Warranty Service Enhancement is less than one year.
Wei Shang : For refurbished computers, the Hardware Limited Warranty may be less than one year
Wei Shang : it said the Hardware Limited Warranty is less than a year. not the Limited Warranty Service Enhancement. please take a mininute and read the first paragraph of that page.
Agner S : For refurbished computer, Hardware Limited Warranty is 90 days and Limited Warranty Service Enhancement less than 1 year.
Agner S : I would like to inform you that since the computer is out of warranty, we will not be able to setup a service for the computer, free of cost.
Wei Shang : OK… Let’s do this step by step.. Do you agree what we are talking about two different warranty programs here?
Agner S : Yes.
Wei Shang : Do we agree that the hardware limited warranty, which is often standard warranty for all electronics, is 90 days in my case, since I have the refurb. pc?
Agner S : Yes, correct.
Wei Shang : Do we agree that HP offers the Limited Warranty Service Enhancement for S3120N, and this warranty program, which lasts one year, kicks in after the hardware limited warranty runs out?
Agner S : Please be online with me, while I setup a service and give you the details.
Agner S : Please confirm the zip code of the city.
Wei Shang : Sorry, I don’t know what zip code is in Canada, my area code is 506, and my postal code is E3A0L7.
Agner S : Thank you for the information.
Agner S : Please be online with me.
Agner S : Thank you for being online. I apologize for the delay.
Wei Shang : No problem.
Agner S : We are having some tool issue to setup a service for the computer.
Agner S : I would request you to contact us after 1 hour and provide the session id: and service ticket:, so that we can go ahead and setup a service for the computer.
Wei Shang : so is the warranty issue cleary explained in the ticket? I just don’t want to go through the same thing again.
Agner S : Yes, all you have to do, is provide us with the session id and the service ticket number.
Agner S : The next technician will have the access to the chat session that you had.
Wei Shang : OK. Great. Thank you very much for your help.
Agner S : I apologize for this inconvenience caused to you.
Agner S : Is there any other technical issue I can help you with today?
Wei Shang : No, there is all, I will be back after one hour..Thanks again.
Agner S : You are welcome.
It was nice chatting with you and helping you over the chat session. I really appreciate your patience for working with me.

Agner S : Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at:

http://www.hp.com/support/chat

Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
You may receive an e-mail survey regarding your chat support experience. We would appreciate your feedback.
For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at:

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I went to a class today, and the Prof. was telling the class he just marked the worst midterm ever. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be funny if some students bring up the ‘recession card’ and say, “Prof. it is because we are in a recession.”