Nurbugring

I can safety say now Nurburgring is my favourite race this season. Rain does bring out the best of every team as they are pushed on edge to squeeze out performance in adverse circumstances. What a pity for Hamilton though, crash on saturday, puncture again on sunday, wrong tyre choice/gamble, and still finishes just outside points. you have to give kudos to this guy. he never say die. keep engine running when he spins out (that's another pity) lapped by Massa and have to give way to blue flag situation. he IS going to win this championship this year at the style he's going for it for sure. just do it.

how to be a better programmer (from whirlpool)

Looking back at the developers I have worked with over the years, and trying to work out what made them good (or bad) developers, my advice would be along the following lines (in no particular order):

Become proficient in using the debugger. Some people say that if you are a good coder you will never have to use a debugger... nonsense! You will inevitably be asked to track down problems in your own (or other people's) code. Learn how to set and use conditional breakpoints.

Be comfortable with threading, and learn how (and when) to synchronize access to data between threads.

Read other developers' code/join an open source project. Reading and maintaining someone else's code is an excellent way of seeing how different developers approach different problems.
Learn how to use version control (along with branching and merging). Understand why you should use version control.

Admitting you do not understand something is NOT a sin. Don't try to bluff and pretend that you know about Topic X to someone who actually does know... they will see through it for sure and, from that point on, most of what you say will be taken with a grain of salt.

Have a rudimentary knowledge of one layer of technology below the one you are working on (eg. java - know a bit about the JVM and bytecodes; C/C++ - know a bit of assembly, etc.)
Read slashdot/whirlpool/etc - and no, I am not joking! :-) You will invariably find articles/comments that are very interesting (both personally and professionally). They may be research papers on the latest JVM garbage collection techniques; it might just be a comment that explains how to uninstall a difficult device driver; or it might be an advisory about the latest security vulnerability in a product that you use. It is all just accumulated knowledge that you can store for a rainy day when you get bitten by the very same problem.

Feel free to specialise in a particular language/platform, but don't be a bigot. Every language/platform has its positives and negatives - read articles that describe the differences. It is extremely unlikely that you will be using the same language for your whole career... having an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each will only help you in your career development.

With regard to learning new languages, pick a (small-ish) project that you can build in your spare time and develop it using your new language. There is no substitute (in my opinion) for doing actual development in your new language. It doesn't really matter if you never finish it... it is the process of learning the new way of thinking that matters (I have dozens of half-finished projects where I tried a new language/library/framework/etc... ­ he he he!) Join the forums for that language and ask questions.

Don't take shortcuts when coding. Think about error handling. Before you write a comment saying "This should never happen", ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, could it happen?
If you find yourself spending hours/days trying to solve a tough problem, talk with another developer about it. The very act of having to distill it down so you can describe the problem to someone else will often result in you finding the solution. Even if it doesn't, they will probably have some suggestions of their own.
Don't write like a l33t h4X0R. Well, maybe t

hat is just a pet peeve of mine :-), however I still think it is worth mentioning. Good grammar and spelling are not something to be embarrassed about.

成功源于成功习惯-wangrongchao的博客

成功是一种习惯，失败也是一种习惯。你的习惯无法改变，但可以用好的习惯来替代。成功很简单，只要简单的事情重复做，养成习惯，如此而已。以下是成功者十三个价值连城的习惯，我们称之为"百万习惯"。 习惯一：成功者清楚地了解他做每一件事情的目的。 成功者虽重视事情的结果，但更重视事情的目的，而目的的清楚则有助于他达到结果并且享受过程；

习惯二：成功者下决定迅速果断，之后若要改变决定，则慎思熟虑。 一般人经常在下决定时优柔寡断，决定之后却有轻易更改；成功者之所以能迅速下决定，因为他十分清楚自己的价值层级和信念，了解事情的轻重缓急，因此能有系统的处理；

习惯三：成功者具有极佳的倾听能力。 倾听并非是去听对方说的话，而是去听对方话中的意思。倾听的技巧包括： 一、倾听时不打断对方的谈话； 二、把对方的话听完； 三、即使不需要记录，你都可以听出来对方的意思；

习惯四：成功者设定"当日计划"。 成功者在前一天晚上或一早就会把当天要处理的事情全部列出来，并依照重要性分配时间。他管理事情而非管理时间。

习惯五：写日记。 写日记的法则： 一、保持弹性，重表达思想，而不用太多严格规则； 二、持续； 三、用来设计你的生命价值和中心思想； 四、记录每件事情的差异化； 五、记录特殊时刻及事件； 六、解决问题； 七、学习问更好的问题； 八、在日记上写下自己的宣言； 九、把每日写下的东西在月底复习； 十、深刻自己的记忆和经验。

习惯七：勤于练习基本动作。

习惯八：运用自我暗示的力量。 自我暗示就是把目标用强烈语气不断念出声音，告诉自己，让潜意识无法分辨真假，因此相信它。 习惯九：运用冥想的技巧。 当你不断想象自己达成目标是情景，潜意识会引导身体作出那些效果。

习惯十：保持体力或创造更多精力。

习惯十一：成功者人生的目的通常超越自我，立志为大多数人贡献自己的力量。 为使命而非为金钱工作。

习惯十二：成功者有系统。 成功者都有一套方法来整理思想、行为，因此能不断实践在自己身上，并且教导别人。

习惯十三：成功者找方法，失败者找理由。 成功者愿意做失败者不愿意做的事情。 如果你能不断采取以上做法，进而养成习惯的话，这些习惯对你可能不只是百万元的价值，更可能带给你金钱和心中的富有

Addiction

kids let's talk about addition in this especially chilling queensland winter morning (3 bloody degrees!).

first can anyone tell me what is an addiction? yes tommy? yes addict to chocolate is one kind of addiction, anyone else? Maggie? well done! gambling is another huge addition problem facing the society today. but wot really drive addiction and forces people in droves to such locations as casino, poker parlour, local RSL clubs? it's called the inner urge.

let's analyse inner urge in detail here: an inner urge is an intrinsic desire or sometimes uncontrollable emotion to do something. that's right kids, uncontrollable. let's say you are addicted to something as harmless as your RSS reader to get that very precious daily dose of news that have no bearing on your life besids fill your brain with wot's happening elsewhere in this world. you've just discovered the goodness of RSS and realized you never have to troll your favourite folder every day to see whether your friends' (or foe's) blogs have been updated. wot do you do? you are EXCITED of course! aren't we excited kids? now what we do? yes we come back again and again and again to check whether anything's new in our RSS reader and that becomes an? INNER URGE! yes the addiction is born. partially it's due to the new-ness of the whole RSS experience, partially it's due to the pressure from work being boring and all, we seek easier alternatives in our brain unconsciously. you can say it's kind of a self-protection mechanism so our brains won't burn out, but in many if not most cases, it's detrimental to our daily productivity, just like when i'm here talking to you kids while i should be working....

anyway, now we understand that inner urge grow out of seeking for easier alternatives and wot makes it stick though? is it the fun? maybe, is it the challenge? likely. but wot's common for something that's addictive? it's BAD.

so how to combat addiction? rehab you say? how did u get that by the way you are only 5... did u have a television addiction?? we combat addiction by mental power kids. we have a schedule and tell ourselves how important it is to finish on time and realise the consequences and we hence stick to our schedule in fear or consequences. that's right, clearly write down and layout consequences for your action and addiction and stick to schedule! let's fight it!

Confidence booster

• Start a victory file. Fill a box or scrapbook with evidence of your accomplishments — touching cards from friends, a great performance review from your boss, the receipt from the first piece of serious jewelry you bought for yourself, a picture from your toddler, a photo from the finish line of that half-marathon you powered through. These odds and ends will help remind you that you're loved and respected — and will give you a boost when you're feeling down. "Think of this collection as something you can turn to whenever you need to immediately feel better about yourself," says Dr. Flowers.
• 
  Brainwash yourself. "Whenever I'm feeling bad," says Lifetime community member Lovebeing, "I try to have an inner dialogue with myself to improve my self-esteem." It's true, says Flowers: Self-talk does affect how you feel. If you're in the habit of saying nasty things to yourself ("Why did I finish off that pint of ice cream? I'm such a fat pig!"), replace those negative statements with words of encouragement that ring true for you. You might say: "I'm strong and capable" or "I can succeed in this project; I've done it before and I'll do it again."
  
• Set challenging but doable goals. Create a daily to-do list and a list stating a few longer-term goals. Make sure your lists include some tasks that are easily accomplished (say, cleaning out the linen closet) and others that require a bit of risk-taking (for instance, asking your boss for new responsibilities — or better yet, a raise). "You can't grow without taking risks," says Dee Shepherd-Look, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at California State–Northridge, who runs self-esteem workshops. "When you reach outside your comfort zone to meet someone new or attain a goal, that experience becomes incorporated into things you don't think twice about doing." As a result, your confidence expands.
• 
  Spend time with nurturing people.Find supportive, positive people to hang out with, says Dr. Shepherd-Look. And while you're at it, dump those toxic friends of yours. "Nurturing people walk in and make the room light up and they'll make you feel good about yourself," she explains. "Toxic people are critical and judgmental — they're like the energy vampires of the universe."
  
• Fake it. If you act as if you like yourself — by looking people in the eye, standing tall and proud, and presenting yourself as a winner — eventually you'll believe it (and so will everyone else). "The trick is to mentally rehearse being confident until it becomes an actuality," says Flowers.
  
• Take responsibility for your actions. Keep this formula in mind: E + R = O. Translation: What happens in your environment (E), coupled with your response (R), determines the outcome (O) of the situation. "There are some things you can't change in life, but you are always responsible for how you respond," says Shepherd-Look. And once you begin to appreciate how big an impact you can have on what happens in life, you'll feel more powerful.

Moviejournal: stomp the yard

first and foremost: blacks enrich our lives. once again: black enrich our lives. lets all sing together: blacks enrich our lives. Now, with that entrenched in your psyche, we can start to talk about films live stomp the yard which isn't great in its own right, but reflect aspects of our popular culture that is constatnly being pushed forward by blacks. their exuberance, their strength, their sense of rythm, and love of music have never ceased to amaze me. while stomp the yard follows a mediocre story line evey by early 80's standards, it's an entertaining film nonetheless. it won't win any oscars, but hey that's not the point. as far as dance films go, it's decent. maybe not as good as 8 miles, though.

Moviejournal: Ratatouille

Rarely do i watch a film twice, even more rare is the film that make me watch twice the camshot version. Thankfully, Ratatouille is just such a film. Making me watch the camshot version twice speak volumnes about how good the story is, it's warm, funny and full of heart, the most unexpected combination of rat and courmet food. The beauty of the film presents itself in its vivid portray of how the best food is made: daring, brave, and courageous chefs bringing out the best in themselves. Pixar has indeed done it again in flying colour and brilliance, animations such as over the hedge and hunting season pales in comparison to its standard of quality. I was a huge fan of pixar, now i guess i'm even more in love with them. The marriage with disney has not tainted their creativity in a bad way, only to nourish more detail and quality into their productions. absolutely sweet. i'll be eagerly awaiting for its DVD release. i might even watch it again in cinemas.