Monday, July 11, 2005
Friday, July 08, 2005
King's Cross St. Pancras
Exactly one month ago, at the same morning rush hour, I was in this station on my way to Leicester... and it is the location having the largest number of people killed in this attack. (Is that a warning that I should not go? ...)
Last year I was in Paris and two months after I left, the roof of a terminal of Charles de Gaulle airport collapsed... For people's lives, perhaps I should not go to anywhere else...
Last year I was in Paris and two months after I left, the roof of a terminal of Charles de Gaulle airport collapsed... For people's lives, perhaps I should not go to anywhere else...
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Saturday, July 02, 2005
新的特首
So we finally have our 新的特首. And could all those people on TV stop keep on saying the word 的 when talking about this 新的特首 ? Yeah I know they interpret the law again to say this is a 新的特首 , not 新任特首 ... but can't you just skip the 的 ? Isn't 新特首 fine? Or 新嘅特首 is also fine, right?
Monday, June 20, 2005
Anyone still want to do algorithms?
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Every country needs CS faculty...
I better take back my words around two weeks before. I hope what I heard is not true: well, a visiting/guest is finally moving to T... anyway, not a country I'd like to go. (You don't have the European Champions League Final at the same country every year, do you?) But it seems he has some connections over there before.
What makes me more worried is with his "background", the "shine" he got is still not enough to allow him to stay here (?). As for his ability, on one hand he has been PC member for some conferences; on the other hand you can know how "good" his teaching is by googling...
What makes me more worried is with his "background", the "shine" he got is still not enough to allow him to stay here (?). As for his ability, on one hand he has been PC member for some conferences; on the other hand you can know how "good" his teaching is by googling...
Saturday, June 11, 2005
UK trip day 4
This is supposed to be a free travel day, but actually not much is done. First, a 3-hour train from Liverpool back to London occupies the whole morning. Before going to the airport, I have only around 2 - 3 hours in London. I only go around Westminster, the Big Ben, and the London eye. This is a Saturday and there is a lot of people everywhere. I could have gone to a bit more places, but the admin people of the underground decided to close two lines on weekends, which are exactly those that passes through some tourist attractions. Another line is having "severe delay".
I end up travelling along almost the same path returning to the starting point. Then I reach the airport only to know that the flight is delayed by an hour...
I end up travelling along almost the same path returning to the starting point. Then I reach the airport only to know that the flight is delayed by an hour...
Friday, June 10, 2005
UK trip day 3
In the morning I took a 2-hour train to Liverpool. It needed a change, and the first train was small and crowded, but the second train was fine. When I arrived, Prudence was already waiting me at the train station. She took me to have the famous "fish and chips" as lunch. According to what she said, that is a better one around there and I find it acceptable, too!
We walked up to the campus. Her office is situated in the same floor as some radioactive laboratories. And the building has a real lot of doors - every now and then you open a door and get into a very small closed area with three other doors at the three other sides...
And the talk itself. There are exactly five people including Prudence in the audience. That's good, as I didn't have even a bit of preparation for it. And one of them made the important observation that the "motivation" of the research has absolutely nothing to do with the scheduling problem being studied!
After the talk we walk around the city, in particular going to the Liverpool football club souvenir shop. And it is exactly on this day that the UEFA announced that Liverpool can defend their European Champion title. See I bring good luck here, shouldn't they give me some free souvenirs?
We walked up to the campus. Her office is situated in the same floor as some radioactive laboratories. And the building has a real lot of doors - every now and then you open a door and get into a very small closed area with three other doors at the three other sides...
And the talk itself. There are exactly five people including Prudence in the audience. That's good, as I didn't have even a bit of preparation for it. And one of them made the important observation that the "motivation" of the research has absolutely nothing to do with the scheduling problem being studied!
After the talk we walk around the city, in particular going to the Liverpool football club souvenir shop. And it is exactly on this day that the UEFA announced that Liverpool can defend their European Champion title. See I bring good luck here, shouldn't they give me some free souvenirs?
Thursday, June 09, 2005
UK trip day 2
This is the day of formal interview. In the morning it is the talk. There are a total of 4 candidates, and they do it in alphabetical order of surnames. Still, having a surname starting F, I'm the third one to give the talk.
The talk itself is not too bad; at least this is what I think. They do it in a lecture theatre, which is not something I expected. Around 10 - 20 people there. They ask quite a number of questions, some of which I'm not entirely clear as to their relevance, like "where do you do this research"...
They take us to lunch in a staff restaurant. As usual, I don't speak in lunch...
In the afternoon there is a formal interview. Interview panel 有五個人：chair 的是個比美國國防部長拉姆斯菲爾德面口稍為好一點的 pro-vice-chancellor. 一個是 CS dept head, 另一個也是 CS faculty staff, 一早見過的。還有貌似聯合國秘書長安南的 law department professor, 與及貌似愛恩斯坦的一位 structural biologist. 至於 interview 的慘況就不要提了... 正當我 nervous 得答非所問，張口結舌之際，我眼尾望到阿秘書小姐係到向我扮鬼臉... 之後似乎答得好左dd...
After the interview I go back to the city centre... and like many other places in Europe, shops close at exactly 5 pm. At 6 pm or so I'm buying food from a KFC which, well, is only semi-operating... Along the way I also heard some Cantonese for the first time here...
The talk itself is not too bad; at least this is what I think. They do it in a lecture theatre, which is not something I expected. Around 10 - 20 people there. They ask quite a number of questions, some of which I'm not entirely clear as to their relevance, like "where do you do this research"...
They take us to lunch in a staff restaurant. As usual, I don't speak in lunch...
In the afternoon there is a formal interview. Interview panel 有五個人：chair 的是個比美國國防部長拉姆斯菲爾德面口稍為好一點的 pro-vice-chancellor. 一個是 CS dept head, 另一個也是 CS faculty staff, 一早見過的。還有貌似聯合國秘書長安南的 law department professor, 與及貌似愛恩斯坦的一位 structural biologist. 至於 interview 的慘況就不要提了... 正當我 nervous 得答非所問，張口結舌之際，我眼尾望到阿秘書小姐係到向我扮鬼臉... 之後似乎答得好左dd...
After the interview I go back to the city centre... and like many other places in Europe, shops close at exactly 5 pm. At 6 pm or so I'm buying food from a KFC which, well, is only semi-operating... Along the way I also heard some Cantonese for the first time here...
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
UK trip day 1
[So I've finally come back from UK. I have very limited internet access over there and hence not blogging; but to make it more clear what's going on, let's pretend I'm writing this every day during the trip... (12/6/05)]
I arrive London early in the morning. Since I'm not the one to pay, an expensive airline is chosen. But expensive is not always the same as good: the flight is the coldest I have ever taken, one of the toilet is closed for repair, my screen is basically not functioning, etc.
Anyway, after that I took the underground and then a 75-minute train to Leicester. I had a short walk around the city centre for a while, before going to the university in the afternoon to visit the faculty "informally". It's really sunny over there and I feel it even hotter than Hong Kong...
As reported in this page there are lots of Indians there. Not much Chinese in the city, but quite some Chinese students in the campus, although the campus is within walking distance to the city centre. The first four Chinese characters that I see in the city is 專業剪髮 ...
I meet with four faculty staff and a PhD student, all in the Algorithms and Complexity group. Perhaps the most important observation is that one of them has a wife from mainland China, another has a Taiwanese wife, yet another has some connections with Chinese that I don't remember...
I arrive London early in the morning. Since I'm not the one to pay, an expensive airline is chosen. But expensive is not always the same as good: the flight is the coldest I have ever taken, one of the toilet is closed for repair, my screen is basically not functioning, etc.
Anyway, after that I took the underground and then a 75-minute train to Leicester. I had a short walk around the city centre for a while, before going to the university in the afternoon to visit the faculty "informally". It's really sunny over there and I feel it even hotter than Hong Kong...
As reported in this page there are lots of Indians there. Not much Chinese in the city, but quite some Chinese students in the campus, although the campus is within walking distance to the city centre. The first four Chinese characters that I see in the city is 專業剪髮 ...
I meet with four faculty staff and a PhD student, all in the Algorithms and Complexity group. Perhaps the most important observation is that one of them has a wife from mainland China, another has a Taiwanese wife, yet another has some connections with Chinese that I don't remember...
Friday, June 03, 2005
free trip (2)
For several years I've been trying to hide myself from the truth. Now that a free trip is really put in front of me, I'm finally forced to think seriously about the cruel reality of the world. Am I really prepared to go away??? Why can't I be like some people who seem to hang around as visiting or guests forever?
Anyway. I'll be going here first, and afterwards have a visit to Prudence.
Anyway. I'll be going here first, and afterwards have a visit to Prudence.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Sir X X memorial scholarship
Today I phoned the Sir X X memorial fund council dealing with some trouble of a scholarship I got many years ago. At the end when I finally mentioned my name, she said she has "a bit of impression" about my name. Gee... how could that happen??
BTW, I still keep a booklet issued by them listing all the scholarship recipients of that year. Apart from some funny names, there are actually two of my girl students / classmates in HKU. They were still in high school by then; and they probably don't remember this anyway.
BTW, I still keep a booklet issued by them listing all the scholarship recipients of that year. Apart from some funny names, there are actually two of my girl students / classmates in HKU. They were still in high school by then; and they probably don't remember this anyway.
Monday, May 30, 2005
pyfung @ FMO
I suppose there is someone called P. Y. Fung in the FMO (Facilities and Management Office) in CityU; I'm constantly receiving emails asking this pyfung to reserve a car park [slot], close [lock] the door of a certain room, or send a security guard to somewhere...
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
free trip
While my boss is not (yet) successful in kicking me over the Pacific Ocean, I am accidentally kicking myself the other way round, across the Asia and mainland Europe to an island. While a free trip is fine, it would be a huge trouble of thinking whether to accept it if they give me an offer. But their ad is the first one that I've ever seen that asks for people doing online algorithms...
Yesterday I have dinner with some LG101 colleagues. They discovered a "rule" that theory group PhD graduates will go overseas if get married, and will stay in Hong Kong if remain single. There are exceptions to this on one side, but not the other side. Now I'm worrying...
Yesterday I have dinner with some LG101 colleagues. They discovered a "rule" that theory group PhD graduates will go overseas if get married, and will stay in Hong Kong if remain single. There are exceptions to this on one side, but not the other side. Now I'm worrying...
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
蜈蚣
I'm typing this post while inhaling pesticide...
The CS general office is under renovation and caused our office to have no electricity for the long weekend. When I come back today, I am told that they discovered there is a 蜈蚣 in our office, and pesticide is therefore applied to this room last night. As you can expect, this room is now full of the smell of pesticide...
Ar yeah, this office is shared with five other people, all from mainland. Back in HKU I also remember seeing a lot of "interesting" creatures in Haking Wong building. Hmm...
The CS general office is under renovation and caused our office to have no electricity for the long weekend. When I come back today, I am told that they discovered there is a 蜈蚣 in our office, and pesticide is therefore applied to this room last night. As you can expect, this room is now full of the smell of pesticide...
Ar yeah, this office is shared with five other people, all from mainland. Back in HKU I also remember seeing a lot of "interesting" creatures in Haking Wong building. Hmm...
Monday, May 16, 2005
Saturday, May 07, 2005
so these are Hong Kong students
The HKCEE English exam this year included an article from a forum about comics, as a kind-of proofreading question. And our HK students, after the frustration of the exam, have too much idle time and dig out that article from the web, and then fxck the original author of the article. Oh well. This incident clearly demonstrates the English level of our students:
(1) An article as simple as this can be considered "very difficult" by the students.
(2) From their fxcking and other responses in the forum you can know not only their reading ability but also writing. Next year the HKCEE can simply use these responses as proofreading questions.
(3) So the difficulty of the exam declined that much after 10 years or so. Perhaps they should look at the exam papers of my time. (btw, when can they stop calling it "pass paper"?)
After lots of fxcking, people then complain the HKEAA of "stealing" the paper and infringing copyright. Guys, does that make any difference to your marks, even if it is true?
Next they go on to complain "it is not the author's fault, but the HKEAA" of (i) choosing a passage from a Dutch; (ii) choosing an informal passage; and (iii) the style of the questions changed. Well, if you can't handle informal passages I don't think you can handle articles from the Times magazine or the like, you'll only "die faster". And actually if I were the HKEAA I will change the style of the questions every year to make sure you learn the basics of the language and not "tips" from "tuition kings". Good job, HKEAA!
(1) An article as simple as this can be considered "very difficult" by the students.
(2) From their fxcking and other responses in the forum you can know not only their reading ability but also writing. Next year the HKCEE can simply use these responses as proofreading questions.
(3) So the difficulty of the exam declined that much after 10 years or so. Perhaps they should look at the exam papers of my time. (btw, when can they stop calling it "pass paper"?)
After lots of fxcking, people then complain the HKEAA of "stealing" the paper and infringing copyright. Guys, does that make any difference to your marks, even if it is true?
Next they go on to complain "it is not the author's fault, but the HKEAA" of (i) choosing a passage from a Dutch; (ii) choosing an informal passage; and (iii) the style of the questions changed. Well, if you can't handle informal passages I don't think you can handle articles from the Times magazine or the like, you'll only "die faster". And actually if I were the HKEAA I will change the style of the questions every year to make sure you learn the basics of the language and not "tips" from "tuition kings". Good job, HKEAA!
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
第2904次釋法
[本報訊] 由於愛國乃最大道理，其他所有道理都要讓路，因此人大第2904次釋法決定：東隧必須加價，市民亦必須繼續使用，以讓國家企業賺大錢，從而間接資助國家買更多飛機大炮，反對者即屬違法。
Monday, April 25, 2005
鬼打鬼
究竟係賣x 粉嘅惡D定係阿爺惡D呢:
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/050421/12/1bs2i.html
又係時侯睇下所有專欄總動員嘅盛況，例如:
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/news/20050424/20050424015627_0001_3.html
被迫害妄想症又發作了，不過今次唔敢話係阿爺迫害啦掛...
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/050421/12/1bs2i.html
又係時侯睇下所有專欄總動員嘅盛況，例如:
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/news/20050424/20050424015627_0001_3.html
被迫害妄想症又發作了，不過今次唔敢話係阿爺迫害啦掛...
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