Another year

Wow.

Another year has gone by.

Another year older.

This year is again different. It is my first birthday on another different path.

Another crossroad

At another crossroad in life.

Do I try to push on, knowing that this path may not be suitable for me?

Or do I make a turn now, to walk another unknown path?

Decision-making in uncertainty

Having been in the navy for so many years, I have become very used to making decisions in uncertainty. Being used to drawing my own conclusions from whatever (sparse) information that I may have, assessing the situation based on that understanding, and choosing a course of action that best applies to the uncertain situation.

But as a researcher in Japan, it is kind of like the total opposite. Everything must be based on known facts. Saying anything that is not 100% certain is taking a risk, and should only be spoken if that risk is actually known (quantifiable). This risk-aversion seems to be a cultural thing, I guess. So it will take a bit of taking used to, since I am very used to drawing my own conclusions based on whatever little data I may have.

Let's see how I can make the best out of both worlds.

Your Name 君の名は

The latest movie by Shinkai Makoto, "Your Name" (original Japanese title 君の名は。) is a touching story about two teenagers who switched bodies in their dreams, living each other's lives. The movie has breathtaking scenes of nature and cityscapes, painstakingly detailing places in Japan such as Tokyo station and Shinjuku.

And the story has its own twists and turns that will leave you holding your breath, waiting to see the outcome.

Most of all, it will leave you touched.

And with an important message.
We are all searching for something, but we don't know what it is. But we will know it when we see it.

Have you found what you are looking for?

Linux on Windows 10

It's here!

Now, Windows users can finally run Linux on their computers, without having to dual-boot their systems.

Linux users have Wine to run Windows within Linux, but the other way round did not exist, until now.

As someone who has been using Linux (on and off, sometimes exclusively, sometimes dual-booting with Windows), I must say I am really excited about this new feature. I don't think this will replace a standalone, full Linux install, but it does help when one has to work mainly in Windows, but once in a while pop into Linux to do some work.

Read the announcement by Microsoft here:
Bash on Ubuntu on Windows

And here is how to get Linux running in GUI mode:
How to run GUI Ubuntu Linux in Windows 10

A year

A year since moving to Japan...

Why is it called a "software library"?

I have been picking up programming again as part of work, and making use of a lot of software libraries. Compared to the good old days, there are a lot more libraries now. Back in the good old days, if you needed to do something, chances are you have to come up with the code yourself. Now, a search on Google should likely give you the name of a library that does what you need.

That got me thinking... why is it called a "library" in the first place?

This is something I found.
What's the origin of using the term "library" for software?

If the term "library" really came from back in 1951... then I think it is most likely because back then, programs were probably stored on punch cards. So frequently used subroutines are probably stored and catalogued like books in a library to make them easy to find. So in a way, just like you go to a library to borrow a book, you go to a software library to borrow a subroutine.

Well, another way to look at it, from my own personal (twisted and unofficial) point of view, is that back in the good old days, when the Internet is limited to research institutes and universities and military establishments, people share commonly used subroutines/functions by writing books. Programmers then go to libraries (the physical ones with books) to search for books with subroutines/functions, borrow these books, and use the code in there.

So one goes to a library to borrow books on programming which comes with code inside that can be reused.

And so code that can be reused is thus known as a "library".

And that's my own (unofficial, and probably untrue) view on the origin of the term "library" for software.

;)

Professionalism, knowing your work, and the 80% mark

My new workplace has set me thinking quite a bit about one's attitude towards work.

The baseline is always about "working smart and not just working hard." I guess being in Japan, the land of workaholics, everyone seems to be working hard. Long hours are common amongst my colleagues, and working late into the night (and sometimes, overnight) seems to be the badge of honour everyone is looking at getting. Yet it seems that a lot of time is spent on discussing without conclusion. With a culture used to avoiding conflict, I guess that can be expected. But this leads to a lot of time talking, and a lot more time trying to figure out what the conclusion is and how to move forward. More on that later.

I am used to working in a work environment which values professionalism, and knowing your area of work well (because people can get injured, if not killed, if otherwise), and having to pick up knowledge in double quick time. So I can't help but be a bit disturbed that my new colleagues, who have been on the job much longer than me, do not know their work as well as I thought they should. Not having written a program for more than 10 years, it was a steep learning curve having to pick up R and Python in weeks (actually, days). But now, I have reached a level where I can comfortably program in Python (I use R only rarely when I need to visualize data). And a level where I look at the code my colleagues came up with in the past, and seriously wonder what kind of thinking was behind the code (because of the inefficiency... I was taught that programs should not be just able to do the work, they should be written in an easy-to-understand manner yet perform efficiently.)

Okay, back to the working hard part. I do think my colleagues work too hard. They are so caught up in work, they don't have time to plan, and it seems that they are always trying to catch up. It becomes a vicious cycle since not enough planning means the work is not done as efficiently as it could be, leading to less time for the next job, which means no planning again and this just continues.

I shall always remember what one of my ex-bosses told me. One should always work at 80%. There is no such thing as working 120%. 100% is the max, and working at 100% is not sustainable. And working at 100% also means there is no spare capacity left to handle any contingencies/emergencies that may crop up. That 80% pace is a sustainable pace that allows one enough spare capacity to surge to 100% as and when needed.

Well, I guess my new job is a good place for me to learn about the working culture in Japan. It has helped me tremendously in improving my skills for searching up and learning new stuff, and as a revision for my programming skills. Let's see what other insights I can gain as I continue down this road.

Historical day: President Obama visits Hiroshima

Today is a historical day.

President Obama visits Hiroshima.

He is the first serving President of the United States of America to visit Hiroshima ever since the first atomic bomb was dropped there.

Hopefully we are moving towards a world where we can be rid of such fearful weapons.

Another step forward in life.

In life, there will always be changes. I just hope this change is for the better.

Round two cleared.

It was actually quite a good round, talking about what I have been doing and what I have wanted to do. Let's see if I do get a chance to do what I want to do.

Round three coming up.

Round two

Round two of interview coming up in less than two weeks.

I wonder if this is a place where they can accept me as who I am. Especially since it is a research agency, and I am probably the least academically-qualified applicant (no masters or PhD). But I am looking forward to being able to continue research in this field which I once dabbled in. Probably got to brush the dust off my programming skills, though.

Half a year

It's been half a year since I moved to Japan. Most of the time was spent adjusting to a new living environment. Now that half a year is over, it is time to think about how to live, beyond adjusting.

The search continues.

Welcoming the Year of the Monkey

Happy Lunar New Year! It is once again the Year of the Monkey. Hope it will be a good year ahead!

The search for myself

I have more or less adjusted to life in Japan. So the next step is, what do I want to do from here?

I have been doing full-time translation (as a freelancer) for quite a while now. It pays enough to sustain a living, but is that what I really want to do? No doubt I learn a lot on the job, reading widely (yes, translation forces you to read widely so that you can translate accurately) and gaining a lot of knowledge even as I get paid. And I can see myself contributing to society, by allowing more people to read and gain information that they would otherwise not have access to (due to language barriers).

I know I definitely will continue to study up on Japanese labour and administrative laws, as I want to be able to help foreigners in Japan with legal issues. Probably volunteer some time at some NPOs once I get my certifications. But that will be some time in the future; I need to study first, and pass the exams towards the second half of this year.

Do I continue to be a freelancer, contributing in small ways to society, while enjoying the rest of the time doing what I want? Or do I aim for something bigger, to better contribute to society, at the expense of losing some personal time?

Deep down, am "I" more important, or is "society" more important?

With 18 years of serving in the military, I think deep down, my values place society before self.

The question is, what can I do beyond translating to benefit society? I really want to go into research, to find new knowledge that can benefit society. But what field? Maybe I can find something that merges computer simulations with social science, the two fields that most interest me.

And so, the search for myself begins.