Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Big Day

It was certainly the most harrowing experience of my life. All the more terrifying considering we hope to go through it again at some point.

We called the doctor's office around 5:30am; Vicki was in a bit of pain but her water had not broken and her contractions were not very consistent. The doctor on-call told us, in a way which clearly indicated he was not quite awake, to wait until the contractions became more consistent. We both tried to get some rest again. I was much more successful, unsurprisingly.

At 9ish Vicki woke me up to tell me the contractions were becoming unbearable. We called the office again, and this time our doctor was on duty. He told us to come in.

We got to the hospital around 9:30am. Turns out Vicki was at 8cm already. A bit flustered, I scrambled to tell her family and wondered if they would be able to get here in time.

Vicki was fully dilated pretty soon, but we tried a few things to get the baby to turn around before trying to push. Eventually they had Vicki start pushing at 1pm. She started off making good progress, but after about two hours or so, things got stuck somewhat. The nurse started telling Vicki to rest every other contraction, and I was getting increasingly anxious watching the baby's heart-rate drop during every push. All the while the possibility of resorting to a C-section loomed, something none of us wanted.


At the three-hour mark we decided to try suction. The room bustled as preparations were made; scrubs were donned, and the doctor put Vicki into stirrups which were of course too big for her. The plastic suction grip was attached, some violent maneuvers ensued, and baby Warren was out, a full mane of hair adorning his impressive torpedo of a head. Born face-up with the cord around his neck, he looked exhausted; his cries were so feeble as the pediatrician whisked him to the warming bed. I cried too, watching him there, both of us so helpless.

The first week had its share of anxieties too. Warren wasn't sleeping well the first few nights, and I was afraid I might go crazy, anticipating the next three weeks of the same. Turns out Vicki's milk took a while to come in, and the little guy managed to drop to 5.1 lbs by that Friday. We started him on formula at that point, which eased his fussiness a lot at night and he soon returned to his birth weight. Tomorrow we find out the progress he has made since then.

Life, as Vicki and I have known it up to this point, appears to have been changed forever...

Monday, May 26, 2014

Warren Tran Shih

Born May 26, 2014, 3:57pm
5 pounds, 11 ounces; 19 inches




Sunday, September 30, 2012

Daly Tripper

It's been a few weeks now in our new city! We took advantage of the weekend and made a trip to Golden Gate Park.

While we waited for the Muni at the Daly City BART, an elderly Asian lady tried talking to us, but we couldn't understand her. Finally she pointed to something behind us.  Turns out we were waiting at the wrong stop; she must have noticed we were waiting for the 28-bus after seeing us rush to catch the one that just left.  I was impressed that she put in the effort to let us know!

We ate and picked up some random necessities at different shops.  We even dropped by an estate sale along the way.  It turned out to be a really nice, sunny day, which was a huge contrast for me, being cooped up in gloomy, foggy Daly City all week.  Here's a picture of us waiting for the bus again, enjoying our first (quite cheap) "self-serve boba" milk tea:
Public transportation gluttons

Friday, October 14, 2011

Hitched

photo:  Alan Harris

Wow.  It really happened!  I put in my share of time and effort, but really Vicki gets all the credit.  Somehow we managed to pull it off in these past three months.

I'd like to give a very heartfelt thanks to everyone who went out of their way to attend.  If it wasn't the most complicated ceremony/reception arrangement possible, it must have been close to it.  It meant so much to us to be able to see all of your faces.  Friends and family came from as far north as Seattle, as far south as Texas, as far west as Taiwan, and as far east as France.  As much as Vicki and I dislike being the center of attention, we are so moved by the love and support you all have shown us.

And as if coming out all that way wasn't enough, everyone gave us so much!  Thank you all for your kind generosity.

It would be impossible to adequately thank everyone who helped make this happen.  We definitely could not have done it without the help of: Vicki's mom, aunts and uncles; her sisters Karen, Mimi, and Betty; and her bridesmaids Joanne and Ann.  A special thanks to groomsmen Ben and Joel (and their wives, Claire and Joanne) for throwing me a blast of a party and as well as staying so on top of things throughout the entire marathon of a day.

And a heartfelt apology to all those we couldn't invite.  Hopefully we will get to see all of you in the near future.

Thanks again, everyone!

P.S. I also deeply apologize for the band at the reception.  Yikes.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

CloudDiff Chrome Extension


CloudDiff - Compare versions of your Dropbox or pCloud text files in-browser or using your configured diff tool.

Updates


2021-06-28 update (version 1.0.2.28) - Handle Dropbox failure earlier.  Button to clear Dropbox token.


I've written CloudDiff, a Chrome extension which allows you to compare different versions of text files you have on Dropbox or pCloud.  It can perform the diff in-browser, or trigger a diff tool you have installed on your local machine already, which you must configure.
  1. On the Dropbox website, browse to the "Version history" page of any text file.
  2. On the pCloud website, browse to the "Revisions" page of any text file.
  3. A "Diff" column has been added where you can select which two versions to compare.
  4. To trigger your already-installed diff tool, click the "Diff" button.
    1. If a diff tool is not yet configured, the Options page opens where you can specify one. If you don't have one installed already, one option is KDiff3. The setting is accessible from Tools > Extensions > CloudDiff > Options.
    2. An additional executable must be installed, CloudDiff Helper, in order to trigger your diff tool.  Follow the instructions to install.
    3. If configured correctly, your diff tool should open.
    4. To perform the diff in-browser, click the "Inline" button.
This should run on Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Note that the combined file-size limit in any comparison is 4GB.  Please let me know if any issues come up.

Get CloudDiff.

Privacy Policy


Release History


2020-06-01 update (version 1.0.2.27) - Upgrade to jQuery 3.5.1, CodeMirror 5.54.0.  Handle OAuth token expiration.  Fix pCloud caching behavior.

2020-05-08 update (version 1.0.2.26) - (never approved) Use Dropbox API to circumvent CORB issue; use the chrome.storage API to store OAuth access token.

2018-02-01 update (version 1.0.2.25) - Rename to "CloudDiff" (formerly "DropboxDiff") with a new Chrome Web Store extension ID -- be sure to update to latest CloudDiff HelperpCloud support.  Switch from jsdifflib to CodeMirror for inline diff.

2017-04-18 update (version 1.0.2.23) - Update to match latest Dropbox format change.

2017-03-13 update (versions 1.0.2.21-22) - Bug fix for diffing non-text files, and files larger than 4K; please get latest "CloudDiff Helper".

2017-01-26 update (version 1.0.2.20) - Implement "Ignore exit status" option.

2017-01-24 update (versions 1.0.2.17-19) - Updated installation instructions for Mac/Linux; bug fixes.

2017-01-21 update (version 1.0.2.16) - Support "Load older versions".


...

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Blame it on the Tron

I watched old school Tron the other night. So much awesome kitch in that movie, I couldn't stop grinning during the whole thing.

Some things I noticed, since last time I watched it, a few decades ago:

The "Watseka" street sign sounded really familiar. Lo and behold:


View Larger Map

I live within 10 miles of Flynn's! We'll have to pay homage some time. Here's the wider shot.

I don't think they used the same spot for Tron: Legacy, though.

I also don't remember this blatant Easter egg:

They even sampled the Pac-Man sound effects. I remember Pac-Man being such an incredible craze at the time (we sang the "Pac-Man Fever" song in school once, badly), but somehow I never caught it here.

The Messianic overtones of the movie were pretty interesting too — Flynn being the User/god, come to inhabit the world of programs in order to save them. I certainly didn't pick that up as an 8-year old. Then again, it's only these days that I spend any time wondering whether our reality is just a computer simulation.

Here's a bit of dialogue I liked quite a bit.  Flynn has just revealed to Tron that he is actually a User, and not just a program, like the rest of them.
Tron: "If you are a User, then everything you've done has been according to a plan, right?
Flynn: "You wish! You guys know what it's like; you just keep doing what it looks like you're supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems."
Tron: "That's the way it is with programs, yes..."
Flynn: "I hate to disappoint you pal, but most of the time that's the way it is for Users, too."
Tron: "Stranger and stranger."
Wise words.