Job Offer is gone

July 22, 2005 at 4:49 pm (胡思乱想 (Liberal Thinking))

At that moment on the phone, I knew, the job offer is gone, when I told them I can’t start in mid August. I am technically jobless again and still keep looking and waiting. It also makes me feel good though, saying bye-bye to the chicken-rib offer can force me to focus on the next one — no matter better or worse. 
Like searching for my solemate, will keep looking until I am sure I find the One.

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Salary Negotiation-2

July 18, 2005 at 6:11 am (胡思乱想 (Liberal Thinking))

Finished my first counter-offer letter today. I asked $12,000 more for salary…..

I still recalled I just accepted what’s offered for my first job in China. And salary negotiation was something that’s never heard of then, there.

Kinda of interesting. If I succeed, that’s a Honda Civic’s difference per year!

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Salary Negotiation

July 17, 2005 at 4:10 pm (Good Web Stuff)

Excellent for salary negotiaiton.

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Photography-How to clean CCD sensor of your D-SLR

July 13, 2005 at 4:14 pm (Hobbies)

上了D70有好几个月了,自从入了一个50标头后.切换镜头就成了家常便饭.自然而然的,CCD上的灰尘也多了起来.第一次自己清洗的时候,紧张的手都在发抖.一回生二回熟,清洗的次数多了,规律也摸索出来了.现在,我就把我的清洗方法告诉大家.这套方法在D70上完全没问题,但也只供参考而已,希望大家动手时候胆大细心,每个环节认真检查.

　　一、准备工作.

　　工具:吹气球1只,镜头纸若干。 分析纯以上纯度的酒精一瓶,小型手电筒一只(或者可用脖子能任意角度拧动的小台灯一只代替),普通医用棉签一包,干燥箱一只(可以用可扎紧的塑料袋以及刚拆开的旺旺雪米饼里面的干燥剂代替)

　　拍灰尘照片:

　　把光圈拧到最小,例如f22,开成mf模式,焦距拧到无穷,然后打开闪光(ttl模式),对着白墙或白纸(充满整个画面)拍一张.这样,就可以得到完整的灰尘图.记住一些大的颗粒的位置.同时要记着,图片和ccd的关系是颠倒的,别忘了物理课学的"物在2倍焦距外,呈一缩小倒立实象"

　　二、动手操作.

　　创造简单的无尘室:

　　把上面提到的所有工具以及相机(请安装刚冲好电的新电池)都装进干燥箱(或者用塑料袋包住),放进浴室(带淋浴的卫生间就行).

　　然后洗澡!没错,没打错字,就是"浴室"和"洗澡".各位也表以为我比较迷信,要沐浴更衣之类.这只是为了创造一简单的无尘环境.这也是我这个清洗方法的最关键的步骤.

　　要知道,平时我们所呆的起居室等地方,灰尘千千万.平时我们看不见,但是强的光束,例如阳光下,我们就可以看见非常多的灰尘在那里飞扬,在这种环境下清洗ccd,是不可能洗干净的.就象用脏水洗衣服一样.挥一下手,衣服上的灰尘就飞起来,挠一下头,头发里的灰尘也飞出来,这种环境下,怎么可能把ccd洗干净呢?

　　在开放环境下哪里灰尘比较稀少呢?海面,湿地,或者南极(显然我们都去不了),还有一个,就是刚洗完澡的浴室.回归正题.简单淋浴冲洗一下,冲一下头,用拧干的毛巾擦好身体(别用干毛巾,会产生灰尘),5分钟就行.

　　然后就可以动手了.不穿衣服?对,不要穿.要知道,卫生间里的灰尘刚被水气过滤掉,怎么能产生新的灰尘呢?

　　清洗CCD:

　　取若干棉签,在酒精中浸润.打开反光板和快门,拧下镜头,就可以看见ccd了.下面又是一关键步骤.口含小电筒,脸朝上.左手举起相机,ccd朝下.这是为了不让空气中的灰尘重新附上ccd.因为灰尘始终是往下落的.也可以用前面提到的台灯代替,把台灯脖子拧到朝上照明就可.不过我认为电筒最好,因为台灯不聚光,操作过程中反而晃眼.在电筒照耀下,ccd上的灰尘一览无余.下面就可以用棉签擦了.遇到顽固的,可以多擦几次,直到擦掉为止.擦完后别吹,让它自然风干(1-2秒就干的).记着,不能创造任何向上气流.用吹气球和镜头纸处理镜头,然后装上机器.再拍一张灰尘图,如果有遗漏的地方,按照这个步骤再进行.

　　最后,把所有物品装进干燥箱(把浴室中的湿气吸干),或者用含干燥剂的塑料袋包住.如果外面是大太阳晴天,这一步可以免掉,出去外拍一圈晒晒太阳就行(别忘记穿衣服哦^_^).

　　我有压缩气罐,和楼主的方法相比,哪个更好呢?

　　两者实现的原理相似.都是创造一个无尘环境(吹出来的压缩空气是没有灰尘的).但侧重不同,一个是吹,一个是擦.理论上,擦能弄掉一些吹不掉的顽固颗粒.

　　2、普通医用棉签不是很容易掉棉絮吗?能自己做一个棉签用吗?

　　放心,一旦被酒精润湿后,在擦ccd时基本不会掉棉絮下来(我擦到现在还从没掉过呢),因为ccd是很光滑的,不会钩下棉絮.不过,d70的内腔四周都是黑色的毛茸茸的东西(估计是吸灰和防眩光的),这玩意儿很容易把棉絮钩下来,所以注意不要碰到.药店里的棉签都是机器做的,棉花在上面缠绕的非常紧实.所以它比自己做的棉签更不容易掉棉絮下来.

　　3、一定要分析纯以上的酒精吗?

　　酒精的纯度有以下分类:工业纯,化学纯,分析纯,高级纯,光谱纯.我在学校做论文那会儿,每天都要减压蒸馏酒精,工业纯和化学纯的酒精蒸下来,总有一些白花花的悬浊液.而分析纯和高级纯蒸干都不会有东西留下.要是用了纯度不高的酒精,那些白花花的东西就留在你的ccd上喽.价格么,每500毫升,大约分析纯8元,高级纯12元,光谱纯30-50元都有.

　　4、医用酒精代替行吗?不建议用医用酒精.第一,医用酒精一般都是70%或75%酒精,含水,风干慢,特别是在水气足的浴室里.第二,医用酒精追求的是没有甲醇,而并不是不含杂质.好多医用酒精蒸馏干后烧瓶底总是白花花的.

　　5、我洗完澡浴室里伸手不见五指,怎么擦呢?

　　洗澡时水温表那么高啊!如果实在喜欢洗成蒸汽浴,那就放张凳子,洗完后坐着等能见度提高再说.

　　6、能见度多高算可以操作?

　　最好等到浴室能见度和平时一样.水温别太高,温水就成,这是一捷径.

　　7、楼主介绍的姿势实在学不来,一会脖子就酸了.

　　那休息一会继续操作.ccd始终要朝下.所以希望严格按照口含手电脸朝天的姿势进行.

　　8、酒精会不会把ccd擦坏?

　　不会.第一,纯酒精不导电,所以即使流到电路板上,也不会短路.第二,d70的ccd前的镀膜是不溶于酒精的.我擦到现在都没擦出问题过.

　　9、操作环境湿度大,会不会容易长霉菌?

　　请放心,整个操作就几分钟,弄完后就装进干燥箱吸湿了.另外,擦ccd用的是酒精,灭菌全靠它呢^_^.

　　10、风干速度快吗?空气中湿气大不会影响风干吗?

　　相当快,1-2秒就干.因为我们用的是纯酒精.空气中确实含水量大,但是含酒精量为0!所以风干和平时速度是一样快的.如果非要说点道道出来:空气中水蒸气的分压和酒精蒸汽的分压相互独立.

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About Job Interview

July 11, 2005 at 5:04 pm (Bible of Life)

It’s suprising today Dr. Culp offered me a mock interview after our meeting. He has been in the industry for over 20 years with glorious success.
Here are some exerpts I got:
1: Tackle the interviewer’s mind
   Why do they want to hire you? They want you to solve their problems, not create problems; they want to find someone to help them; If he is a manager, he wants someone to push him up along the ladder!
2: About the company itself
   Research the company, what the company does, more importantly, what’s their problem! And think hard on how you can solve their problems with your knowledge!
3: Answering questions
   (a) Be specific, use realistic examples, be applicable. For example, to answer "What’s your favorite course?", you can say, "my favorite course is linear programming, the type of problems that can be solved with linear programming can be……., which is very useful for the company’s need….."
   (b) Always be positive. Remember the standard question of "How do you think of your previous boss?". the standard answer is to never say anything negative about him/her. But what if you are asked: "Which is the course you don’t like most?" Same! Start from negative then turn around and show you tackled it successfully! The answer could be: "The couse that gave me most trouble is Financial Management II, I skipped its prerequsite and jumped directly onto this course, only to realize it was too much for me to handle since I lacked many basic knowldeges introduced in the prerequsite. I wanted to give up and some point of time BUT soon decided I was going to hang on and beat it. I borrowed reference book from library and read it, asked classmates for help and went to see professor…. (basically how exactly I beat it)….. and finally I got an "A"………" Sell yourself through "negative experience" huh?
 
Some random thoughts….
Dr. Culp is a professor at Arch. If I could met him earlier! He is such a helpful person, and the very first one that I can truthfully say he is a "mentor"……

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First Job Offer

July 8, 2005 at 7:42 pm (胡思乱想 (Liberal Thinking))

Many things happened this year byond my expectation.
I had prepared a rough job hunting and therefore I started early, real early. But I didn’t expect I can get the first offer, so early. A company in California, is waiving at me.
Suddenly I realized, for so many years I have been cursing Texas as a red neck state, only to find out in fact I am already a Texan, who doesn’t want to leave the State. The company in CA made an pretty decent monetary offer according to Texa standard, but the living expense and housing price blew away the job deal totally. Oh, yeah, there are so many reasons to stay in Texas: easier life, way cheaper house……. I am suprised I am such a realistic guy now.
Probably I am going to let this offer go away. And I won’t regret if I cannot get a job as good. During our lives, we are all gamblers to some sense, we must prepare to lose if we want to win.
 

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我真的聪明吗？

July 1, 2005 at 6:21 am (胡思乱想 (Liberal Thinking))

今天联航面试的时候和 Enterprise Optimization Group 的总经理谈到了job security 的问题。他的观点就是“as long as you are smart enough and know your stuff, you never need to worry about it.”他又补充道，“From the talk, you are smart and should have no problem.”

我真的聪明吗？

聪明是一个形容词，几乎每一个形容词都是描述相对概念的。这不仅包含对人的相对，而且包含对概念的相对。一个智商 170 的人相对于智商 190 的人还是一个笨蛋；类似的，有人在动手方面比别人强然而可能在动脑方面又比较弱。在 Enterprise Optimization Group 里有一半的人都有哲学博士学位，我想我在这批人当中应该算不了聪明。

美国人似乎特别在意聪明这个词，甚至将 PhD 等同于聪明。真的是这样吗？A&M 毕业的博士中有多少白痴？比尔盖茨却连本科学位也没有。但是我想他们有一点还是对的，那就是聪明基本是先天的，你改变不了。

和聪明相关的另一个概念是智慧。它确主要是后天因素的结晶。当然，没有一定的智商，智慧也无从谈起；但是，智慧还受其他因素的影响，例如客观环境和客观信息。在现代社会里，无论你是在民主社会还是专职社会，我们都不同程度得被洗了脑。因此我们人类真可怜，没有什么人能够做到真正的智慧。如果你相信上帝，就把智慧归给他吧。

对于我感触最深的是：和一群智慧，聪明的人一起，才是最有价值的，让自己增高的唯一办法是站在巨人的肩膀上。

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