Tarotoast’s Stuff

由於嬌小可愛的 Nano 給妹妹拿去當 MP3+USB Drive 用了, 正好有個正當的理由來買新的 Podcast Player: Video Ipod (60G). UCSD 果然是好學校, Apple 都乖乖的給學生們 discount, 價錢比 costco 的低很多呢.

由第一次接觸 Podcasting 到現在過了多久? 大約半年多吧. 這種 independent production 的產品也逐漸步入商業化, 畢竟有些熱門的節目收視/聽率可是比電視還高. 我的 60GB 的 iPod 已經快丟滿了, 雖然說音樂還是佔的比較多, 但是 Podcast 加起來也有 2x GB. 隨著 Video iPod 的普遍, Video Podcast 的數目也跟著上升. 這種方便帶著走的廣播/電視節目實在很方便: 第一你不受時間地點限制觀賞/收聽, 第二往路上的選擇實在很多(到爆炸的情形), 第三則是所有節目通通都是免費的.

以下介紹幾個自己有在看也覺得很有趣的 Podcast:

Humor

• Ask A Ninja
• French Maid TV
• Sex Survey: Dr Cockney
• Strong Bad Emails & More!
• The Daily Nut

Technology

• Ask an Astronomer Videos
• Cardiovascular Multimedia Information Network
• commandN
• Cranky Geeks
• Diggnation
• dl.tv
• FLOSS Weekly
• Futures in Biotech
• Hak.5
• Inside the Net
• MacBreak
• MAKE Magazine
• Security Now!
• this WEEK in TECH

News

• ABC World News Tonight
• CNN In Case You Missed It
• CNN Now in the News

Miscellaneous

• JapanesePod101.com
• Learn Excel from MrExcel Video Podcast
• NBA Playoffs Video Podcast
• Shalom in the Home Video Podcast: Shmuley's Life Lessons
• The 1UP Show
• VH1 Best Week Ever

以上所有應該都可以直接由 iTunes Music Store 裡面直接搜尋然後訂閱, 沒錯, 通通都是英文. 為啥沒有中文節目呢 :| 反正短期內看起來是不會有的, 至少在 iTunes 正式進攻台灣市場前, podcast 在台灣就還是不會普遍. 不普遍 => 沒人聽 => 沒人做 => 沒競爭 => 沒優質節目 => 沒人聽 => 無線循環. 好悲哀阿 Orz~

除了忙學校以外, 也接了第一個付錢的 Case, 看來 CMS 這種東西果然方便往商業方向推廣阿. Joomla 1.5 的 nightly 雖然還是有一些小問題, 但是使用起來的感覺真的是讚. 當然最大得感謝 Jason 給我這個機會來做這個 project.

明天就是 Final's Week 了, 想一想這個 Blog 幾乎下半學期都沒有在更新, 到底是為什麼呢? 或許與之前跟 kingston 討論的結果有關係吧.

這跟 Final 好像沒有什麼關係. 那來講講 Final 好了. 禮拜一透早 (8AM) 考 Genetics. 這科不知道為什麼對我就是很簡單. 明明就讀的比別人少, 為什麼分數就是比別人高? 我很好奇為什麼, 搞懂的話每科都可以這樣了. 例拜三又是透早 (8AM) 考 Metabolics, 這科就一點也不簡單了 orz. 除了要把所有的 pathway 背下來外, 用到的種種 enzyme 名字形狀也都要知道, 更別說那 20 個 common amino acid 了. 至於禮拜五透早 (8AM, 真其邁阿) 的生物, 反正就背吧.. 這種不用頭腦的科目我最不行了 orz. 

This is what I used to believe:

(via: http://freda.auyeung.net/5senses/taste.htm)

Apparently, what I learned in elementary school is WRONG!!!!

There are five senses of taste that your brain can interpret:

1. Sweet: sugars
2. Sourness: acids involving H+ ions
3. Saltiness: primarily Na+
4. Bitter: alkaloids
5. Umami: glutamate

Umami? According to Wikipedia:

The four well-known receptors detect sweet, salt, sour, and bitter, although the receptors for sweet and bitter have not been conclusively identified. A fifth receptor, for a sensation called umami, was first theorised in 1908 and its existence confirmed in 2000 (see [1]). The umami receptor detects the amino acid glutamate, a flavor commonly found in meat, and in artificial flavourings such as monosodium glutamate.

In very easy to understand way of explaining, it's the tastiness that MSG brings.

Further Readings:

• The Sense of Taste
• Basic Taste
• The lecture note last quarter

還要拼一個禮拜… orz 來個全 A 的學期吧… orz

Bioengineering: Bioinformatics is a joint major by Departments of Bioengineering, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Computer Science and Engineering and the Devision of Biology. Taken directly from Department of Bioengineering:

Bioinformatics is the study of the flow of information (genetics, metabolic and regulatory) in living systems to provide an integrated understanding of the systems properties of cells and organisms. The explosion in biological data spawned by the genome projects and related developments in biology has created entirely new fields and industries, and a need for bioengineers who are familiar with molecular biology, systems engineering analysis and mathematical and computer sciences.

So all sounds good but you-never-know factors. For example, how many more years do I have to stay in UCSD as an undergraduate? Will I be over unit? Giving up MD? Anyway… It seems like I still got a long way to go.