twelve ball puzzle...

"there are twelve balls of identical appearance. all but one have exactly the same mass. the odd ball is either slightly lighter or slightly heavier than the rest. by using a two-sided balance at most three times, work out a set of procedures to determine which of the twelve balls is the odd ball and whether it is lighter or heavier than the rest."

this is a brain teaser that my dad told me about quite a few years ago when i was still in uni back in auckland. one of my favourites among the many from him. apparently, there is more than one solution out there. the number 3 is key to the one that i worked out.

the apartment...

the interior design for the new apartment is now going into the final review and revision stage. the ownership of the apartment has already been officially handed over (got the papers and all) and i hope to have enough details of the interior design settled in the next few weeks so as to allow the actual contruction on the interior to get under way sometime in april.

it's a rather compact two bedroom apartment that we are talking about here and so there isn't too much space to play with. since space is quite limited, making effective use of it is a top priority when it comes to the layout of the apartment. the latest blueprint from the interior designer does a very good job on that and i think we'll go with it as much as possible and not make too many big changes. the main thing on the agenda now is the styling of the interior. you know, the stuff that guy thom from queer eye does on tv. i've got a rough concept in mind but am still trying to flip through some more books and magazines on interior design to get a few more ideas on things like the colour scheme, ceiling lighting, flooring, and furniture. i'm sure that the interior designer already has a pretty good vision of his own on all these things and i'll be in frequent discussion with him to come up with something that everyone is happy with.

oh, and i've been thinking if i should get a japanese high-tech toilet that warms your buttocks when you sit on it and cleans you from underneath with a water-squirting smile-inducing nozzle when you are done? hmmm...

photos...

no blog is complete without some photos i guess. however, it turns out that blogger does not provide online photo albums as part of its services unfortunately. anyways, i've got a flickr account and the link to it is on the right. it's currently empty but i'll try and add some photos to it soon.

better living through more money?

a short while ago, the mayor of taipei was saying that he supports the plan to build a couple of pedestrian-only grand boulevards in an effort to make taipei move even closer to becoming a truly international metropolitan city. well, perhaps he meant it with all good intentions and the plan would help further modernize the image of the city, bring in more tourists, and benefit the local economy, but, imho, in order to improve the city as a whole, the emphasis should not be focused merely on this sort of things. while it is all good trying to raise the international status and boost the local economy of the city, it is equally important to make the city a "feel-good" place to live in. keeping that balance right and moving ahead with growth in the economy while looking after the other aspects such as environmental and social sustainability issues at the same time would be a more healthy way of progressing.

personally, i really do appreciate the many developments that have been infused into the city of taipei in the past decade or two and the improvement in certain areas is very evident. and maybe i'm being too naive and things may not be as simple as this, but here are a few things that i'd love to see more attention get paid to by whoever is waving the magic wand.
* clean up the rivers (even if one can't fish there, at least it's hygienically safe enough to jump in)
* clean up the streets (more public rubbish bins, please)
* get rid of the smog (where is my blue sky?)
* tidy up the traffic (somehow...)
* even out the roads (no more wrc-ready tracks for my buses)

in a broader sense, it wouldn't hurt to take care of the following as well.
* raise the environmental awareness in the public conscience
* inject some sense of social and moral responsibility into the media
* inject some sense of social and moral responsibility into the politicians

just some of my whiny gripes and wishful thinking. no big deal.

the beginning...

okay. it seems like everybody is doing this blog thing and has been doing it for quite some time already. i just thought that i might as well join the flock and start jotting down my two cents worth. things happen and pass. thoughts come and go. thirty years of living have whizzed by just like that. this blog, provided that i keep at maintaining it from time to time and don't slack off too much, just might be able to capture some of those bits and pieces in life that mean something and make life that much more flavourful.

this is getting kind of corny. so yeah, anyways, watch this space...