I already tweeted about this, but I couldn’t help writing a blog post also.

As most of you know, I read Reddit on a regular basis. Last month, I came across this thread where a Redditor made a custom theme for Reddit. A lot of us suggested that someone should turn the original photoshop mockup into real CSS that could be turned into script. A few people took a crack at it. but one person really nailed it.

Below is what the front page looks like without the script. It isn’t exactly aesthetically appealing.

Here is the front page with the custom script enabled.

This is what one of the subreddits looks like before the script.

And after.

As you can see, with the script enabled, Reddit doesn’t look like a relic from the 90′s anymore. One downside to the new look is that fewer articles fit on the page. I can live with that though.

If you are interested in the script, click here. I found it works great in Firefox with Grease Monkey and Chrome.

Around a month ago, I won an MSI Wind U160 netbook on MSI’s Facebook page. I didn’t have much use for a netbook. Therefore, I listed it on eBay as Buy It Now Or Best Offer. After two weeks of being on eBay, no one had bought it and the best offer I received was around 40% of MSRP. I realized that the netbook is probably worth more than that to me and decided  to keep it.

Ever since the release of the First Asus Eee PC that started the netbook craze, I have always wanted a netbook. I think it is because I liked the idea of an inexpensive, ultra-portable laptop that is just powerful enough to perform day to day tasks.  The Wind U160 fits the bill. It has a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N450 “Pinetrail” processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 250GB of HD and the usual netbook fare like 10″ LED backlit display, Bluetooth, 802.11N, etc. It also came with a large 6 cell battery that protrudes from the back and props it up when set on a desk. This battery is supposed to give this netbook 14 hours of life on one charge. I only got 9 hours while browsing the internet and 6 to 7 while browsing and watching videos.

The form factor is pretty nice. It isn’t too small like the 7inch netbooks, but it is still small enough to be considered ultra-portable. Here it is sitting on my 4 year old MacBook Pro.

This netbook arrived with two partitions and Windows 7 Started pre-installed on one of them. Since, I knew that I probably wouldn’t be using Windows, I resized the partitions and installed Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Netbook Edition which is the latest LTS release. The installation process was relatively painless. Then, when I booted up, I couldn’t get the wireless to work. After some googling, I found out that 10.04 didn’t come with wireless drivers for the chipset found in my netbook. I had to add a 3rd party repository and download the drivers. I used Lucid Lynx for a week, but found it a little too clunky for my uses.

I downloaded the newly released 1.0 version of Jolicloud, the Ubuntu Jaunty based netbook OS and installed it over Lucid Lynx. immediately, I noticed that Jolicloud started up much quicker and has a slicker interface. As the name suggests, Jolicloud takes advantage of cloud based applications. The whole front end is built on HTML 5 and is very fast. Here is what the home screen looks like after start up and login.

All the applications are presented in an iOS-esque page system with large, beautiful icons. Some of the apps are native Ubuntu apps like Gimp.

Most are webapps. They are basically browser windows with toolbars absent. The Reddit “app” is below. As you can see, it is just the normal desktop version of the Reddit site.

Adding apps is as easy as it is on the iPhone. After clicking the large “+ Add” button on the top left, you are presented with a list of apps that is easy to sort and search through. When you want to install an app, you just click the add button and the OS takes care of the rest. When you go back to the home screen, the newly installed application will be there waiting for you.

The 250GB of storage and 10 inch screen make this a great portable video machine. I have been watching 720p episodes of Firefly and Gundam 00 on it.  As you can see, Gundam looks pretty good at the netbook’s native resolution of 1024×600.

There are a few complaints I have. First, for some reason USB drives did not automatically mount. I had to remedy the problem by editing the file system table. Also all utilities and built in apps are hidden away. I didn’t really care because I usually launch terminal by pressing atl+f1 and launch other apps through terminal. It was only when Caroline called asking me where terminal went (she had the beta version when terminal was easy to find) that I noticed that this may be a problem. For some reason, I cannot find any way to add any of these built in applications to the home screen. That is why you see the folder icon on my menu bar. It is a shortcut to the folder full of built in applications.

Other than these minor problems, the netbook experience has been much better than expected. I was expecting to be constantly frustrated by its small form factor and weak power. It isn’t going to replace my MacBook as my daily use computer anytime soon, but it will probably be my travel computer from now on.

I just finished reading The 4-Hour Work Week. It is by far the best book I have read this year and possible the best I have read in the past few years.

The book is written by successful writer, world record holding tango dancer, angel investor, chinese kick boxer and expert language learner Timothy Ferriss. He is famous for deconstructing his goals and accomplishing them in record time.

The book basically helps readers find an autonomous source of income and spend the majority of their time on things they actually want to do. This is built around his four step process: DEAL (Definition, Elimination,Automation, and Liberation).

Everyone should read this book. It is the kind of book that can kindle a complete shift in thinking.

He also did a pretty inspirational talk called “Smash fear, learn anything” at 2008s EG Conference that is worth watching:

I got some new shoes over the weekend! I know they look like toe socks. They feel a bit like socks, but they are actually shoes. They are Vibram Five Fingers. The specific model I got is the Classic.

These shoes are part of a movement of barefoot athletes. Here is their argument: If we were given great feet and are meant to walk around barefoot, then why do we wear shoes with padded soles and raised heals?

Shoes were originally made to protect the feet from things on the ground that could hurt us. Thousands of years later, we have shoes that now alter the way our feet grow, change our posture and sometimes cause permanent damage. It just doesn’t make sense. I liken it to buying a Car but equipping it with the wrong tires. Wrong tires on a car could very well lead to a crash down the road.

Vibram solves this problem by giving customers the barefoot experience while still protecting the foot. Their shoes are very thin with no padding whatsoever. Each toe is separated from the others. They say that this design strengthens many of the muscles, ligaments, etc. in the foot that have become weak due to shoe wearing and scientific studies agree. The separated toes also reduce foot odor and prevent athlete’s foot.

After a few days of wearing them 4-6 hours a day, I’d say that these are the most comfortable shoes that I have every tried. My last 3 pairs of shoes have been Onitsuka Tiger Ultimate 81 (which is also extremely comfortable). I first got them because they have very thin padding and flexible soles. This results in a sock-like feel. The Vibrams take sock-like to another level. The allow the ability to feel details in the terrain that I am walking over.

I’ll use the Vibrams daily around the city and campus, but I am still going to wear the Onitsuka Tigers when I need more stylish shoes. If I can’t bear the winter cold, I might purchase some Injinji performance toe socks that are known to go well with Vibrams.

If you can find a pair in your size, then get the immediately. I say this because there seems to be a shortage due to the ten fold increase in sales since last year. This means that most stores only have huge sizes like mens 13,14, etc.

“There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s forgery.”

-Sir John Hargrave

When I was looking on Amazon for some new books to read, I came across Prank the Monkey. Not only did it have five star reviews, the Kindle version is only $2.99. I hadn’t read many funny books in a while. So, I bought it.

The book is written by Sir John Hargrave (No he was never knighted. He actually changed his name to Sir John Hargrave. The book has more on that). He is the owner of Zug.com, a site dedicated to pranks.

Let me tell you. This is probably the funniest book I have read in years. The book chronicles many pranks that the author performs. The pranks are extremely creative and actually pretty high level. Some of them made national or international news.

Not only are the pranks extremely hilarious, the writing itself is unbelievably witty. While reading the book, I was writing down my favorite quotes that I would put in this post. I soon realized that the list of funny quotes is way too long. If you want some light easy reading and are willing to part with a mere $3, then you have no reason not to read this book.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and holidays. I certainly did.

After receiving some great presents, I started thinking. What would have been my dream wish list? So, I decided to compile this list of stuff that I could only dream of receiving for Christmas (or for my birthday in march *hint* *hint*).

First up is the Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera and Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens. The Leica M9 is Leica’s first full frame digital rangefinder and arguably the best small-ish camera in the world. Coupled with the Noctilux, this thing is a bokeh monster. If I could pick any setup for street photography, this would be it. Unfortunately, a setup of this caliber does not come cheap. The camera costs $6,995 and the lens costs $9,995 for a grand total of $16,990. I could buy a decent small car with much money.

Next up is a watch. It’s not just any watch. It is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss with stainless steel construction, green sapphire glass and internal components that are resistant to magnetic fields. The first time I saw this watch, I knew I had to get one. The utilitarian case and strap and the orange lightning bolt second hand make it a symbol of precision engineering and design. Plus, since it is a Rolex, I know that it would be a very reliable watch. Unfortunately, like the Leica, this kind of quality comes at a price. It sells for $6,750.

I have a camera and a watch, but I still need a car. That is where the Lexus LFA comes in. Lexus has been working on this car for the last 10 years and it shows. No detail was overlooked and there were no compromises made. Lexus purchased one of only two circular looms in the world. They use it to weave a perfect carbon fiber A pillar. Top Gear even seemed to like it, and they typically hate Lexuses. Obviously, like the other items on the list, this is not cheap either. Pricing starts at $350,000 for each of the 150 that will be sold in North America.

And that’s it. It is a short list, but an expensive one. $373,740 for the lot. I don’t have that kind of money, but we can all dream right?

It is finals time already! Here are some videos I watch to increase morale and get ready for exams.

Here’s my list of the best movies of 2009 so far. They are not all necessarily from 2009, but are still pretty recent.

Genre: Crime Thriller
Language: Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin

“Shijuku Incident” depicts the struggle that ensues when illegal Chinese immigrants become tangled with the Yakuza in Japan. It is a Jackie Chan movie, but it isn’t typical. So, you aren’t going to find his trademark stunts and Kung fu. What you will find is enough fighting, emotion and suspense to make this movie an instant classic. If you love action, suspense or crime, then it is guaranteed you won’t be disappointed with “Shinjuku Incident”. I personally loved this movie because the chinese dialog was slow and simple enough for me to understand without subtitles. ^^

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Language: French

I discovered this movie in New Delhi on an international movie channel. Here’s the basic story: Jean, a waiter at a posh hotel pretends to be a millionaire in order to seduce Irène (played by Audrey Tautou of “Amélie” and “The Da Vinci Code” fame). What he doesn’t know is that she actually makes a living by getting seducing rich men and getting them to support her. What follows is both funny and romantic in a way only the French seem to be able to achieve. I highly recommend it for a date or even just an ordinary Friday night.

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Language: Korean

“Hello Schoolgirl” follows two unlikely couples and their developing romances, but steers clear of the tear-jerking drama that Korean films are so well known for. The story, the cinematography and music blend harmoniously. It is definitely the most bright, lighthearted movie I have ever seen. Watch this movie and see why I was left feeling unusually relaxed and happy after watching it.

This post is going to be just a mishmash of random stuff. Hopefully I can get back to normal posting later this week.

First off, Allkpop.com has an internet radio station now. You can check it our here. They haven’t yet played a good song that isn’t already in my iTunes library. So we’ll have to see if it is worth bookmarking, but it is good music nevertheless.

Ever since it was released back in January, The Race for a New Game Machine has been on my queue of books to read. I finally bought it on my Kindle to beat the boredom while driving down to Austin with my family.  I think it might be the first DRMed media that I have purchased and if you ask me, it is well worth it. The book is a first hand account of an IBM engineer that managed a team producing the Cell Processor for the PS3 and also the processor for the XBox 360. I didn’t realize the amount of politics and drama that goes on behind closed doors at big chip design firms like IBM. This book is well worth reading if you are into technology or management.

I picked up Options in the bargain bin at a bookstore in Austin. It was a steal at $5 new. The book was written by Daniel Lyons AKA Fake Steve Jobs. Lyons used to write a blog called the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs from 2006 to 2008. If you aren’t familiar, here is the wikipedia article. The book is basically a parody of Steve Jobs in 1st person view. I don’t know how it is since I haven’t read it yet. So, I won’t recommend it to anyone yet. But even if it does suck, at least it has a cool shiny cover!

Now here is the cool part of the post. I said earlier that I went to Austin with my family. Well, before coming back to Plano last night, we sat under the Congress bridge to watch the famous bridge bats come out to feed. If you haven’t heard of them you can read about them here, here and here. Basically, millions of bats from mexico live under the congress bridge in Austin for the summer. Every night at sundown, all the bats come out as a group to feed on all the pesky bugs and critters outside. It is a truly spectacular sight. Naturally, I brought my 30D along to take some pictures.

Here is my family (with my sister pretending that she is some celebrity that can’t be photographed or something).

The crowd wasn’t too bad while there was still light. Down on the path in front of the grass, there were some jugglers and people selling I <bat>  Austin shirts.

This dog stood like this for a good 10 minutes. He didn’t seem to concerned that there was a 4 foot drop to his right and a 3 story drop to his left.

By the time it was getting dark, the grass and the bridge were filling up with spectators.

Here you can see the bats as blurs across the sky. The were really fast and for some reason seemed to only come as a steady stream from one small section of the bridge.

Here are two pictures I took from on the bridge. I really wish I had my 430EX external flash with me. The built-in flash only lets me sync to 1/250th of a second and those bats were a little too fast for that.

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