Ryu2.mind

As E3 comes along, work is striking again with a vengeance, which explains the relative absence of posts thus far.  My employer has begun to pay for catered dinners via Sherpa's at the office, which can only mean bad news for the waistline.

Anyhow, since I'm at work anyhow, I throw this out to you all, especially my fellow software industry folks: What do you do when you come across misspelled English words by local co-workers, especially those used in identifier names in source code? 

I certainly am not complaining about my fellow team members who are truly China's cream of the crop, hailing from places like Tsinghua and Shanghai Jiaotong (equivalent in stature to say, Caltech or MIT in the US).  For the most part, they do a great job in the code they produce.  Rather, to me, it's one of those infrequent but annoying things that I come across, compounded by the fact that when I extend someone else's code, I'm tempted to type in the "correct" name for a variable and then I wonder why it doesn't build -- or when I search documentation and can't find a class that I'm looking for, until I realize that they've "creatively" spelled it another way.

Keep in mind that unlike, say, writing something for school or for mass media to be read by others, what we programmers "write" is so-called "source code" which will never be seen by the end user; rather it's all turned into zeroes and ones, so we don't have the concept of "editors".

Would it be "arrogant" if I corrected their misspellings?  Or should I live with these little annoyances?

There seem to be two schools amongst my fellow programmers in previous jobs -- where does everyone stand?  Even in the US, with software development increasingly global and multicultural, this happens as well.

Still I have to commend the Chinese software engineers for the fact that at least they at least attempt to use English and do a usually good job at it.  Don't even get me started on the code we get from France and Montreal...mon dieu!  =P

From ShanghaiRon:

four jobs i have had in my life:
1. 3-D Graphics Engineer
2. Student consultant to NASA
3. Video game tester
4. Wedding photographer

four movies i would watch over and over:
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Ghost in the Shell
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. The Incredibles

four places i have lived:
1. Shanghai, China
2. San Francisco Bay Area (truly, the only other place I've lived)

[If you want to stretch it....]

3. Jinan, Shandong province, China (six weeks for a summer program)
4. Cambridge, MA (eight weeks for yet another summer program)

four tv shows i love to watch:

[I don't really watch TV.  But the following have been known to play on my screen at some point.]
1. The Simpsons
2. 24
3. Survivor
4. BBC News

four places i have been on vacation:
1. China
2. Korea (both)
3. Mongolia (Outer, not Inner)
4. Japan

four websites i visit often:
1. Slashdot.org
2. Gamasutra.com
3. DPReview.com
4. SiliconValley.com

four of my favorite foods:
1. Good sushi or sashimi
2. Sichuan food
3. Gelato ice cream (from the Double Rainbow store along Castro in Mountain View)
4. Hawker stuff in Singapore

four places i would rather be right now:
1. Anywhere I've never been to
2. GrX Sunnyvale
3. Akihabara or Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
4. Insadong-gil, Seoul

four people i tag to do this:
1. falanke
2. Gleefully
3. glenNice
4. sojink

And all you stalkers who read but never comment... you know who are are... =P

Inspired by kitw, I've decided to share some of my favorite cheap eats in my current home for the time being.  Hopefully, all you other folks in the 'hai will chime in as well and get something going...

Of course, cheap is "relative" here.  If you only think in Western prices, then you can include most places outside 5 star hotels, the Bund or Xintiandi.  But even by local Chinese standards, where there are all manner of hole in the wall places and street vendors that will fill you up for a few kuai, there are still some that stand out from the rest.

So, without further ado, five places that I think are really great for the money.

[For non China-residents, to get some perspective on the prices, 8 RMB =~ 1 USD.]

1. Lanzhou Muslim noodle place - a bunch of locations around town. 
A full and hearty dish of noodles, lamb, sauce for 4 RMB.  The menu is pretty extensive too, mostly within the 5 RMB bracket.  It's run by a family, and watching them pull the and stretch noodles is a treat in and of itself.

2. Rendezvous Cafe - Xujiahui by Metro City; Jingan Temple; maybe others too
For homesick Americans, it's the best bang for the buck/RMB when it comes to burgers. Where else can you get a full meal for under 40 RMB?  It's quite a step up quality-wise from Mickey D's or Burger King, and yet, a much better value than the overrated Malone's.

3. Dumpling place - Changle Lu and Wulumuqi Lu
Hearty portions and pretty good stuff, like a basket's worth of xiaolongbao for 6 RMB.  This place near my office is packed during lunch for good reason.

4. McDonald's
Most of McD's I don't consider a good value (although it's less than the USA)... except the self serve cones (圆筒冰其林).  2 RMB... fills you up and gets you going on a hot summer day like nothing else.  The taste and texture is much better than the equivalent in the states.

5. Wujiang Lu - the whole street, near Shimen Yi Lu subway station
A quaint little street full of ethnic food vendors, stalls, and small places; sample stuff from all over China.

(I just happen to have a bevy of friends from the USA and Asiaconverging on Shanghai next week, so this might actually be useful inthe very near future too! =) )

SCC will holding a concert in Shanghai on May 20th!  He's done a few performances in Beijing at BICF and appeared on TV before, but this will be his first ever debut in Shanghai and his first actual concert in China for the public at large.  Who's up for this?

Notable is the fact that it, to the best of my knowledge, publically shows for the first time EVER live gameplay footage of the project I'm working on, Splinter Cell 4 on the Xbox 360 (we have yet to release any sort of trailer ourselves).

It's definitely exciting to see the buzz building, and a reward for all the long hours and late nighters that are an inevitable part of this industry...

Granted, I don't believe that we should live in a bubble and isolate ourselves from anything that might be tied to anything we don't agree with -- otherwise, that would be allowing legalism to take a hold of us, and there wouldn't be much to live for in life.  But still, food (in more ways than one) for thought on how businesses are often tied to more than meets the eye...

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I recently learned that the term for this day in Chinese is 鞭佃准, shou nan jie-- literally, day of suffering tragedy.  Personally, I think itconveys the reason for this particular day's significance in noambiguous terms compared to the term "Good Friday" in English -- where the word'good' indicates none of what He went through, especially for those unfamiliarwith the purpose behind His earthly life.

On the other hand, the English termdoes convey the fact that it was all ultimately part of the greatest act ofredemptive good for man.

Perhaps such double-sided linguistic identity itself symbolizes the fundamental duality of my faith and those of many of my friends: His suffering for our sins and giving us salvation in exchange.

No matter what you call it in your own tongue, may we always remember the suffering borne by Him for the good of us that took place on this day...

One of my closest friends and brothers here in Shanghai, chieworld, will be bidding us a fond farewell rather soon as he starts a new adventure in Hong Kong. 

I met him over Chinese New Year a few days after I set foot in Shanghai, and he was my first new guy friend that I really bonded with here.  Since then, over many a meal of sushi or Element Fresh, through adventures in Shanghai to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, we've talked about everything from women to games, and he's showed me around, given me many a lift, told me the ins and outs of life here, and all around provided a encouragement and sounding board during those times when I needed it the most.

Farewell, J, this city will miss you, and life won't be the same.

I've said quite a few goodbyes in this transient city, but his departure has driven home this lesson for me much more clearer than anyone else... that people come and go here -- often by surprise it seems, and while networking, relationships, and guanxi is almost a second form of currency in this society, ultimately, there is one Relationship that we ought to be clinging on the most.  graceyc probably said it best... fellowship in this city and country is like manna; it has to be enjoyed day by day and it can't be hoarded for the future or be viewed more importantly than the Creator who gave it to us.

Time to polish up on my French...

How will everything change once I come back?  Who'll be here, who'll be gone?  Such is life in this wild and crazy adventure...