TheSandiway

A lesson with Crystal Huang: structural reform

2012-01-31T17:48:00.001-08:00

This is the first of a long series of posts about improving my table tennis. This is not about beautiful technique. There are plenty of videos on youtube for that. It's about my struggle and probably quixotic quest for better technique. More precisely, it's about structural reform. In other words, engineering out already-learned but ultimately flawed and limited strokes. Undo, then redo. The goal is to override muscle memory and replace with better programming.

Structural reform is a term I hear a lot nowadays: especially, with respect to the current eurozone crisis. Old habits die hard but countries have to change their ways. Growth, if possible, is the preferred way out. If not, austerity to shrink the economy is the only option left. Seems like it's either grow or wither away and lose maybe decades.

The same seems to be true in table tennis. We have a few tenths of a second (usually around 1/3 of a second) to react to the incoming ball and do something about it. Therefore, a lot is dependent on muscle memory. Human muscle memory is reliable and responses can be deployed almost without conscious thought. This is all and good given proper training and conditioning.

Unfortunately, some amateurs such as myself, without someone to nip flaws in the bud so to speak, spent years hitting balls incorrectly. This not only looks bad but also limits performance. After improving muscle memory through repetition, the amateur improves until he/she plateaus, unable to break through to the next level no matter how often they practice.

The next logical step then is to employ a professional coach who can highlight weaknesses and point the student in the right direction. A good coach can both demonstrate proper technique and explain why and how to execute the proper stroke. Unfortunately, the amateur has spent considerable time "grooving" his strokes and that subconscious muscle memory that enabled him/her to respond in 1/3 second is now a huge barrier to change. Reprogramming muscle memory is incredibly difficult.

The amateur then rues not employing a proper coach from the first day he/she picked up a paddle. Short of being reborn and learning proper technique under close supervision as a child, the amateur faces a long and frustratingly difficult road in overcoming his initial self-learning or natural programming. Watching videos of world champions with beautiful technique doesn't really help. The gap is too large. Even seeing what seems like humanly possible proper technique up close and live, subtleties escape the observer and attempted replication results in just a pale and unreliable facsimile of what he/she just saw.

The amateur may be missing crucial knowledge. But even possessing the correct knowledge doesn't seem to help as much as he/she thought. Low level programming seems unavailable or strangely elusive to conscious thought processes.

On this beautifully sunny past weekend in Los Angeles, I decided to spend 15 hours indoors at the LATTA to take lessons with Crystal Huang, a professional who went to the Beijing Olympics on the USA national team. Retired from competition, she is a coach. (I've blogged about the club before here.)

I decided to get more serious about structural reform, so I recorded a lot of video over a weekend. Just merely taping a coaching session doesn't really do much. So I started editing the videos into clips to remind myself of what to do (as well as what to not do). It became a labor intensive process because I found myself adding captioning as an aid to understanding. So I thought I might as well share. Perhaps some of these may be of use to others, spark a change or two, or at the very least make the reader feel thankful their game doesn't include my huge set of flaws.

Next time, we'll look at how Crystal tries to point out and correct my many flaws. This time, I'd like to show how even the warm-up (before the lesson truly begins) can be very revealing.

This first video is of my forehand block. Crystal is gently topspinning (or looping) the ball to my forehand. The rate is almost exactly 1 ball per second. I know precisely which quadrant the balls will fall in. In fact, I only have to worry about blocking that ball diagonally back to her forehand (she is a lefty). I block the ball back 33 times consecutively in the following clip but, as you can see, I still manage to screw things up.

Link: here

The fundamental problem is I'm not constantly moving to track the ball. I'm reacting too late (ball is about to arrive), and having to move off-balance and attempt to correct and rebalance in record time. By block #34, I've lost track of my center of gravity and clearly it looks rather ugly.

Slow motion of block #15 is rather revealing and will make the problem clear. See captions in the clip below.

Link: here

Tellingly, because I had to lunge I was unable to block the ball back to her forehand corner. Instead, notice the ball went to the middle of the table. You may not have noticed that she smoothly moved across and still looped the ball to my corner so I could continue.

Here's what went wrong.


(a)	(b)	(c)

In (a), the ball is looped. I haven't yet noticed the ball will end up out of reach. (I should have observed the angle of the paddle and reacted by shuffling to the right. In fact, it's critical I do so.)

In (b), 0.26 seconds later, the ball is landing on my side. Too late, I realize it's out of reach. I've wasted 0.26 seconds without moving my feet.

In another 1/10th of a second, I lunge with my arm as the ball arrives. Although I get to the ball and return it, it's just a mere band-aid. Actually, the situation is quite dire.

As a result of the lunge, I'm way off balance as shown in (c). Instead of sensibly moving sideways to the right earlier, now I've created an unnecessarily enormous backlog of work for the next 0.6 seconds.

I have to land away from the table, regain balance, push off again and hop back towards the centerline, rebalance myself and hope I get there before the ball arrives again. Despite the leisurely 1 second interval between balls, I barely got back in time.

And of course, my mistake is actually deadly in practice. Had the drill been not just to my forehand, the ball could have been looped to my backhand corner. In that case, there is no way in hell I could have gotten back in time of course.

A keen observer will notice there are other systemic problems that I haven't mentioned. For example, notice I automatically drop my arm after each block. This is another very bad habit that will cost valuable tenths of a second.

Hong Kong wishes

2012-01-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

There is a certain beauty and a romantic feel to Hong Kong, especially in the relative cool of winter. I can't be sure I'd ever want to live there, but a visit can be simply sublime.

Tonight and every night
Let's go walking down this empty street
Let's walk in the cool evening night
Wrong or right, be at my side
The downtown lights...

I need a good walk after dinner; this is from an uncrowded Avenue of the Stars (星光大道) around 10:45pm. I was very lucky indeed; I had just seconds to compose this as one of the few (fake) junks still in existence came into view and made a brief stop.

(Handheld pictures at night can be tough to nail. You need a fast lens (here, wide-open at f/1.7) and as slow a shutter speed as you dare: a potentially blurry 1/30s was used here. Fortunately, the Olympus E-P1 has in-body sensor stabilization. Still, this exposure required a speed of 3200 ISO! No EV compensation. My EP-1 is truly marginal at high ISO. Hmm, a good excuse to get that new world-class Olympus OM-D.)

Not being much of a tourist, my ideal day in Hong Kong would revolve around guilt-free food and exercise. The idea being to pay one's dues before taking in a calorifically significant repetition, for example, of this:

Add in some shark fin soup beforehand, and ahem, you see the need to walk it off a bit before I can fit in that relaxing drink, maybe at the nearby and classy Intercontinental Hotel Lobby Lounge (Link: here)?

Or for a view from on high and a different ambiance, maybe the inside/outside Cocky Bar up on the 18th floor at The One? (Link: here.)

Of course, to ensure that one should be feeling absolutely guilt-free about the after-dinner Mojito, I'd suggest sweating a bit for a few hours before dinner: for example, I'm partial to exercise of the kind shown here. Your mileage may vary.

Win a few, lose a few, don't play too hard and make some friends. And, before that, if I manage to catch up on a few hours of work on the laptop in the early afternoon, then Life with a capital L is good (at least for today).

Unfortunately, there is a different kind of price to be paid for those sublime evenings.

The problem with travel across time zones is jet lag. I wake up early. There's nothing I can do about that.

Since I'm up early, I might as well take out the iPod and running shoes that I've brought along.

Hit the hotel gym for a light 30 minute workout before first light, as the city is still sleeping. If I time this right, by the time I finish, dawn's light has transformed my view of the cityscape from 45 floors up.

It's 7:30am and I'm 450 kcal to the good already.

A cooldown swim in the deliciously deserted 20m long roof-top heated pool. I can concentrate on my technique as I swim slow lazy laps:

I skip the whirlpool for the (Japanese-style serious) 43C water temperature of the indoor spa:

It's not onsen (温泉) water with mineral content, but as my leg muscles warm back up, I feel them slowly unwind. I may also use the steam room. In the USA, they may use peppermint in a plastic spray bottle, in Hong Kong it's Cassia bark bundles on the heater in the steam room. (Therapeudic effects are claimed. Balances ying and yang. Restores energy, improves the digestive system and eyesight. Or so it says. I'm sold. It feels good.)

(Nearly perfection, much classier than what I'm used to normally, I do wish they had laundry service for my running gear while I swam and unwound in the spa.)

By the time I shower, it has been an indulgent two hours since I got up. But hey, the silver lining with jet lag is that time is on my side in the mornings. With additional good timing, I'm ready for dim sum breakfast as soon as a decent restaurant opens.

I love to be first in a nearly empty restaurant. You see, near emptiness and tranquility is at a premium in Hong Kong. Congee (粥) accompanied by deep-fried, and slightly salted breadstick (油條), aka colloquially as 油炸鬼 (oil-fried devil), really hits the spot after the run.

Plus my favorite char-siu steamed rice flour rolls (豬腸粉) beautifully presented, and I'm good to go (back to sleep).

It's okay. It's only 9am, even if I nap, I've accomplished something today even if I'm feeling deliciously decadent.

Ping Pong in Hong Kong

2012-01-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've never played ping pong in Hong Kong before: basically because I don't know anyone there. Instead, I've always gone into Shenzhen next door to play and get coaching as documented elsewhere in this blog.

(I know there are private clubs and municipal gyms for those who can book tables in advance, but I'm not plugged into the Hong Kong table table community.)

Well, all that changed this winter. Through networking, I managed to visit facilities at two universities in Hong Kong. In future, I'll definitely be playing at these locations whenever I get the chance.

City University

As the name suggests, this is in the "city" so to speak. Easily reached by MTR train (East Rail line) or subway (Kwun Tong line, 觀塘綫), Kowloon Tong (九龍塘) station, I played here twice.

My contact and generous host was Prof. Leon Zhao, head of MIS at CityU (pictured here on the left). Incidentally, I have met Leon previously in a professional capacity as we served together on a Ph.D exam committee, though I never knew he was a ping pong player. It's a small, small world, isn't it?

You need a guest pass and someone affiliated with CityU (in my case, Leon) to get into their sports centre. Cost is HK$20. There is a dedicated room for ping pong and nice new-looking tables.

They have a club and CityU team. Plus a semi-professional coach, Eddie Wei, standing to the right of me below:

(From left to right: Ye Liu (Ph.D student), Yikshing Yeung (CityU TT team member), me, Eddie Wei (coach), Haibin Yang (Professor), Wansan Lee (high school student who trains there, seems like 2500 level player) and Enyu Zhuang (Ph.D student).)

I had a lot of fun playing there playing with as many people as possible. Very cool bunch of guys.

Chinese University of Hong Kong

I also had the opportunity to play at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. With a large uncrowded campus up on a hill, this is not in the city by any means. It has a MTR train (not subway) station, simply called University (大學), on the East Rail Line.

So it's not surprising they have a larger gym with very high ceilings and good lighting. 6 tables.

Very spacious by Hong Kong standards, it's a nice facility with room to back up and lob a bit.

I played a bunch of professors but this guy pictured below is the staff champion. He's a PE instructor at the university. I tried hard but he beat me 3-0 convincingly.

You need to be affiliated with the university to play here. My contact and host here was Jimmy Lee, professor of computer science.

Like me, he is a computer science professor. We both play ping pong and train to run marathons. I even own the same exact ping pong shirt he is wearing. Obviously, a great guy with the right set of hobbies! :)

Kawaguchi (川口) Ping Pong

2011-12-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

About an hour's train ride north of the center of Tokyo is 川口市 (Kawaguchi-shi) in 埼玉 (Saitama) prefecture. My long-time ping pong friend Hideya lives there.

Usually we play in nearby Warabi (蕨) municipal gym, but this time he took me to a small, private club in 川口 (Kawaguchi). It's a very spartan club indeed: we're talking no heat, no air-conditioning, basic floor and walls. It's in the middle of winter, so Tokyo is freezing. The thermometer read 6.8C inside as we arrived. Cold indeed.

The club is in two levels. Here is the upper floor where we played:

Here is the lower (and warmer) floor:

After playing for three hours, we only managed to warm the place up 0.4C to 7.2C!

The density of life

2011-12-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

It's hard to visualize and appreciate the density of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area.

You've got an urbanized area of more than 35 million people and a local economy of more than 1.9 trillion dollars, making it basically equivalent in population and economic power to California. But if you visualize the size of California compared to that of Tokyo, you can begin to appreciate the density of life here.

I took this view looking north from the 23rd floor of the Excel hotel above 渋谷駅 (Shibuya station) across 代々木公園 (Yoyogi park) towards the high-rise area of 新宿 (Shinjuku).

[Panorama made with Olympus E-P1 using my new Olympus Digital Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 lens. Its wide angle renders quite a different perspective from a regular length lens.]
Link: full panorama can be downloaded here.

As you can see in the photo, Tokyo's air is remarkably clear for such a large and dense area. In winter, if facing west, you can easily see 富士山 (Mt. Fuji), which is about 100km away.
(Compare it with the Bladerunner-like perpetual haze of Shenzhen, Hong Kong or Guangzhou, all of which are smaller metropolitan areas.)

The area seen can be roughly marked as follows:

Here is the same area marked on the metropolitan Tokyo area:

On the lower right corner of the panorama, you should be able to spot the famous and much photographed ハチ公 (Hachiko) crossing at Shibuya station.

I took the opportunity to make a photo of the crossing from the same vantage point as the panorama on this quiet winter day.
This time I used my new Digital Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 lens, which is equivalent to a mild telephoto:

(Parameters: taken with 1/250s shutter speed and f/2.8 aperture at ISO 200.)

築地寿司清

2011-12-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es
(Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are.)
Physiologie du gout, Mediation IV, Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

築地寿司清 Tsukiji Sushi Say is a sushi restaurant chain originating in 築地 (Tsukiji), the famous Tokyo fish market area.

My introduction to 寿司清 (Sushi Say) came maybe fifteen years ago when I visited for consulting work on a Japanese university grant. I'm forever grateful to the American professor (living in Japan) who took me to the 本店 (honten: the main location) in 築地 (Tsukiji).

Needless to say, since then, I've been going whenever I get the chance.

You can find branches of 寿司清 (Sushi Say) like this one around Tokyo (and elsewhere).

Next to the entrance here is a window display.

A reasonably priced option, you can simply pick and enjoy one of the sets, in which case you could either sit at a table or at the counter. For example, ¥2,900 gets you the biggest set on display. I believe you can even get something for around ¥1,500.

[A technical note: All food pictures here are taken with my Olympus E-P1 with the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. The full aperture opening of f/1.7 is needed to achieve good background defocusing or subject isolation. I am also fortunate its bokeh is quite decent. It is much more compact than the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4.]

However, the food is considerably better if you go a la carte, in which case you should sit at the counter and order piece by piece from the sushi chef directly. (However, like with ATT international roaming, it's not always easy to predict the final price...)

(Not everything you want may be available that day. For example, I tried to order hamachi (yellowtail) without success this time.)

Okay, hang on, here we go!

Some clam, hirame (fluke) and tai (red snapper):

Bonito and chuo toro (medium fatty tuna) up next.

Some kind of clam and ikura (salmon roe):

Awabi (abalone):

Squid:

Kazunoko (crunchy herring roe):

Negi toro (chopped fatty tuna with scallion) and uni (sea urchin):

The, finish off with a traditional Japanese dessert and maccha at nearby Toraya (とらや) café:

Ai ya ya... it's all so good.

(Hmm, I can't believe it has been nearly three years since I've been to this café. See previous blog post here. I think my compositional skills have improved a little bit since then. )

MacOSX Lion

2011-12-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Come out of things unsaid
Shoot an apple off my head and a
Trouble that can't be named
A tiger's waiting to be tamed

Only now, right at the end of the semester, have I dared to upgrade to the latest operating system (Lion) for my Macbook.

One reason is that it basically takes an entire day or two. And if everything is working fine, why disturb what ain't broken?

And as a university professor, I'm always working on slides, talks and papers. My life seems to revolve around show-and-tell, from teaching to academic conferences. Plus as a software developer, I hate instability. So downtime is not acceptable until the very last class is done.

Nevertheless, our high-tech world moves forward rapidly, and we must keep up if we are to enjoy new software functionality. Plus as older systems are deprecated, security and other bug fixes won't be available.

However, as any experienced professional knows, upgrades sometimes have unforeseen consequences. And some old software won't run anymore (here; anything that requires Rosetta). And upgrading those rarely used packages, e.g. Adobe Illustrator, sometimes will cost major bucks.

So I'm never an early adopter. I wait at least a minor revision or two until the cost/benefit ratio decidedly tilts in my favor. I'll let others be the guinea pigs. Being slightly behind the curve also means I can Google any minor issues I run into during the upgrade, and chances are, someone has documented and had a chance to work around them.

Even then, I commit only one laptop at a time to the upgrade, so I can punt the entire process without downtime.

MacOSX 10.7, aka Lion, literally takes gigabytes. Then there are gigabytes of incremental updates that Software Update will download after the initial install. Plus the Xcode software development environment.

Let us not do things by halves. I may hesitate and wait and see, but once I'm committed, I'll jump in with both feet. So I might as well go all in and upgrade all the applications as well. It makes sense to install the very latest versions of Apple's iLife and iWork software suites since they probably take advantage of any new functionality provided by Lion. And I'll upgrade to Microsoft Office 2011 also while I'm at it.
(Fortunately, due to site licensing arrangements, those packages I've mentioned above are freely downloadable for me.)

We still need a large and fat pipe to the internet. So I did this from my office. I achieved an impressive 1Mbyte/second download rate (equivalent to about 10Mb/s) when simultaneously downloading MacOSX Lion, iWork, iLife and Office 2011:

Even at this (sustained) speed, it still took hours. There's 8Gbytes of software to be downloaded before installation can begin. Those without fast broadband must have the patience of Job.

And although, we are downloading each package at around 250 KBytes/s, even when it's down to a single package, the download speed doesn't scale linearly. So it makes sense to download everything simultaneously. For example, at one package left to go, I'm only up to 440KBytes/s, see below:

Here is a graph of the bandwidth I experienced during the download orgy:

I also decided to purchase and install Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. This is professional grade software and normally goes for $1000.

The university edition goes for $200. I'm using it more and more, so I think I can justify spending the money.

After a few more rounds of updates, we achieved fixpoint and I'm done.

Do I notice many changes to the operating system? Not really. Some user interface elements are different, when I hit F3, I see Spaces has been redone (see below).

Other changes, e.g. the scrolling direction and squared-off buttons, seems rather gratuitous.

Actually, I'm much more excited with the useful enhancements to application software. For example, Powerpoint has a neat new Presenter mode for talks. It also has a broadcast function now. And the full version of Photoshop does HDR (High Dynamic Range) images and also has content-aware fill/replace. Can't wait to try those out.

I notice the upgrade has nuked some of the license keys for other packages I own, e.g. AutoPano Pro, which now won't start. Fortunately, I have all keys saved in a special mail folder. And I notice I might as well grab the latest version of that application.

After 2 days of upgrading, am I up-to-date? Unfortunately, not. I notice Apple wants me to transition off MobileMe onto iCloud soon. But that requires iOS 5, and for various technical reasons, I'm not yet ready to upgrade to that on my iPhone.

Doha: CMU Qatar

2011-12-11T14:12:00.001-08:00

After the social robotics conference in Amsterdam (see here), I spent a week at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Qatar.

I last blogged about CMU Qatar back in 2009 when I took a bunch of spherical panorama pictures (see here). This time I also brought my equipment but unfortunately had no time to take more of those special images. In particular, I had hoped to get a 360° shot of the following open seating area inside the building:

Unfortunately, this time half the space was set up with regular chairs instead of those awesome cushions. Maybe next time.

The building itself is quite opulent and certainly impressive, more reminiscent of an investment bank than a university. It has huge atrium-like open spaces that I find too big to be friendly. Designed to awe, I find it lacks human scale.

(I think of grand entrances on Arrakis designed to reduce the human to a mere mote, as described by Frank Herbert in perhaps the book God Emperor of Dune. It has been really many years since that read that series. Who has time these days to read a few thousand pages?)

My favorite room was the faculty lounge, not only because of the espresso machines but also because it has a nice friendly yet contemporary feel with proper wood floors instead of the echo of polished hard marble, artfully concealed indirect lighting and absolutely wonderful proportions. I'd love to have a house with a central living area like this. Dream on.

(Actually, if you look at houses like this one in California, you could make it work.)

Despite the luxury of having uniformed waiter service at my office, I often preferred to make the trek down to the faculty lounge myself.

The infrastructure is important, but in the end it's the personal touch that matters. My hosts made me feel supremely welcome.

For example, one of my sponsors drove me from the hotel to the university each morning until he got sick. After that, I rode in on the QIA Hummer H2:

I even met a ping pong enthusiast from Brazil, Prof. Marcelo Castier, a chemical engineer from Texas A&M University. An extremely busy man, but he managed to find one hour to hit a few balls with me at the brand-new student center the day before I left Doha.

They have three KillerSpin tables there:

Unfortunately, the polished floor is extremely slippery, the pool tables get in the way, and one is blinded by glare from the wall of windows from one end. But hey, these seem to be the only available ping pong tables.

Custom-welded furniture at a coffee shop

2011-12-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

I do a lot of work after hours and weekends at a local coffee shop.

I grab a nicely decorated cappuccino (or three). Plug in my earphones to block out the music and distraction. And concentrate hard. The hours pass. I barely look up. Before I know it, it's closing time.

I'm not sure why but for certain kinds of non-creative work, somehow I am significantly more productive at a coffee shop than at home or in my office, where I'm more easily distracted. Instead, I get things done.

By far my favorite coffee shop for this purpose is the Cartel Coffee Lab. Not only is the cappuccino pretty good, but it has great custom-designed furniture that feels just right for working. Made of steel and wood.

This is my favorite location in the entire place. (Unfortunately, it's usually taken and there are only two of them.)

It looks like a simple one-piece desk and bench seat. And it is. But the proportions of this setup (despite the bare metal) just feels like it was designed for laptop use. It also has a footrest bar. In other words, ergonomically speaking, it hits all the right spots for me. Despite its non-adjustability, it simply feels right.

In fact, sometimes I've been able to sit at this desk for 6 to 8 hours without lower back, shoulder or neck trouble. Makes me want to learn how to weld up my own furniture.

A picture of the counter from my vantage point. (Notice the custom-welded iPad-based register.) So much cooler than a generic Starbucks:

Finally, a picture of the outside. I believe they're going to be moving soon to larger premises (a sign of success).

It matters where you sit (part 2)

2011-12-05T11:36:00.001-08:00

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
Fatal attraction is holding me fast,
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Back in October, I said it matters where you sit on a plane with respect to noise (see here).

Bombardier makes a regional jet, the CRJ700, with twin engines at the rear. So, more precisely, it matters where you sit in relation to the engines.

If you're someone who can sleep on a flight, it probably doesn't matter.

However, I was desperately jetlagged on the way back from Qatar (a brutal 10 hour timezone difference), tired but wired, utterly unable to sleep, and even listening to that mellow Pink Floyd album A Momentary Lapse of Reason (from which those lyrics above are drawn) couldn't help me, I took the opportunity to pace the narrow aisle with Etymotics' free iPhone App, which has a sound pressure meter. I took samples every two seats (which must have drawn strange glances from my fellow passengers) and in the only toilet at the back. Here are the results:

There is a large 20dB difference in sound pressure level depending on where you sit. The noise right at the back is seriously deafening, plus I notice the last row of seats are right up against the wall and do not recline. Do not take row 17.

Apple iPod Nano 6g v1.2 (Part 2)

2011-11-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

Back in early October, I gave a favorable report on using the internal accelerometer on the Apple iPod Nano 6g (when updated to v1.2), see here. I decided to test it again on the treadmill.

This morning, I was too fatigued to do the Al Corniche run I did two days ago (see here). (I was suffering perhaps too much from a skin allergy condition that has recently flared up again.)

As a result, I decided to simply run with the iPod Nano on the treadmill in cool air-conditioned comfort at the Mövenpick Towers hotel (see left) for about 30 minutes. The gym there does have a spectacular view of the Gulf from the 25th floor. Better than feeling sorry for myself and doing absolutely nothing I suppose.

But instead of setting a steady, fixed pace (like last time), I varied the treadmill speed up and down. In fact, I ran for the first 10 minutes at 12.5 km/hr (7.8 mph). Then bumped up the speed to 13.5 km/hr (8.4 mph) for 5 minutes, and dropped it to 10.0 km/hr (6.2 mph) for 5 minutes to recover. Finally, back to 12.5 km/hr for the reminder of the run.

So what would one expect the device to report? Well, one would expect something like the red line shown below (possibly shifted slightly vertically, modulo speed calibration of the treadmill).

I can report that the blue data points seem to track the red line fairly well. Though it's not clear there is much difference in the data recorded between the 12.5 km/hr and 13.5 km/hr sections...

(Note: I downloaded the raw data points and directly plotted it in Excel myself. For those interested, you can find them in the directory /Volumes/iPod Nano Name/iPod_Control/Device/Trainer/Workouts/Empeds/nikeinternal/synched when mounted on a Mac. )

~~This ridiculously heavy-handed smoothing is potentially a huge problem that renders the device useless under non steady state conditions.~~

(Ignore what I said above. In a previous edition of this post, I said the iPod Nano smoothed away the speed changes. Mea culpa. I screwed up. There was a mistake in my Excel formula.)

From my treadmill speed settings, I should get an average pace of 7'54" min/mile, assuming the treadmill was calibrated perfectly. The internal accelerometer gave me a 7'25" min/mile average or about 6.5% off the treadmill settings.

Doha Al Corniche Run

2011-11-29T05:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a very rough last few days indeed. Unable to sleep much at all, I worked through most of the night tired and irritated until dawn.

At 6am, still unable to sleep I ventured outside in frustration to run the Corniche in Doha. Might as well run myself into the ground.

I went in to work bleary-eyed after that as well.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.

As the lyrics so passionately articulate, it's the despair and desperation of time wasted and having nothing to show for it at all.

I have to also remark at this point that I can't believe the last time I posted about Doha was about two years ago (see England-Brazil Soccer Match).

So this morning at 6am, I did the Al Corniche run weary-eyed and not expecting much at all. I know my body will crash and collapse sooner or later. Sometimes I feel the sooner I get this to happen the better.

My route went from the Four Seasons Hotel (opposite the Mövenpick Towers, a Swiss chain, where I am staying) to the Pearl and back. Checking my records, I had originally filed the run with MapMyRun exactly 2 years and 10 days ago.

(I normally run all the way up to the edge of I.M. Pei's achingly beautiful Islamic Museum of Art, see here, but the side entrance was blocked by Doha's omnipresent and endless construction.)

See the route below:

I split the run into two halves. On the outbound leg I ran to the Pearl. Then took a short break to drink my water bottle and glance at the high-rise area where I had started my run and ran back along the curve of the Corniche.

Into the elevator, I went up to the jacuzzi at the hotel fitness center.

But being so tired, I wasn't in the mood to enjoy the brightness of the scenery from the 26th floor.

I downloaded my run statistics from my iPod Nano to the Nike+ website:

The run data wasn't that bad. At least I burned about 875 kcal in a bit over 7 miles (or nearly 12km). Still, I was incredibly tired and irritable. And decided not to review the details.

After breakfast, I relented and plotted both legs of the run in Excel. Here you go:

As the red line clearly reveals, yes, I was a wuss on that return leg.

My mind wanders randomly when I'm exhausted. But because I run with music on my iPod Nano, another set of lyrics came to mind:

They say a restless body can hide a peaceful soul
A voyager and a settler, they both have a distant goal
If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside
Well, it really doesn't matter as long as I can tell myself
I've always tried

International Conference on Social Robotics: Amsterdam

2011-11-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

I attended ICSR (International Conference on Social Robotics) 2011. Just a short, two day trip. It was held at the University of Amsterdam. I attended as an invited speaker at a panel discussion.

It was the 3rd international conference on this topic but my first time to see many presentations on human robot interaction. And of course, the robots themselves:

The conference sessions lasted all day starting in the morning. However, in the evening, we were able to go out, relax and experience the ambience of this very compact and walkable city: see bicycles, canals, and those narrow canal houses with richly ornamented facades. Preservation seems to be a priority here: as a result, I feel a real sense of history everywhere.

Let's try a little local beer. Let's see what they have on tap. Hmm, the Manke Monnik Tripel brewed by Amsterdamsche Stoombierbrouwerij De Bekeerde Suster looks interesting.

There very much seems to be a pub culture here.

Live jazz. This small place was packed. Standing room only.

Cheers to you!

A last picture, I feel I'm the happy monk:

It's onto Doha, Qatar next, another world away...

Live Champions League at 37.000 ft

2011-11-23T14:05:00.000-08:00

I don't get to watch live football (soccer) very often. I don't watch or have TV (satellite or cable).

In fact, last time was back in April when I saw Barcelona play Real Madrid in the Champions League (see Messi Magic).

But today I was on a flight that had DirecTV (satellite). Usually, I'm not on a plane that shows free live TV on its entertainment network. But I happened to tune into Fox Sports and they were showing AC Milan play Barcelona - the best club team in the world - live in the Champions League. What a treat!

I also noticed that Barcelona were sporting Qatar Foundation sponsorship on their shirts, see above photo of the shirt of a Barca player congratulating Lionel Messi on his penalty goal (which he had to re-take and which he got booked for). Coincidentally, this is the same outfit that is sponsoring my trip. (See here.)

I felt guilty I wasn't working but it was an entertaining and gripping match. Some great goals, especially from Xavi, Prince-Boateng and Ibrahimovic. I watched the live game until the plane landed in Newark Liberty. I didn't catch the end, but at minute 85, Barcelona was still leading the Italian side 3-2. I assumed they won. They certainly dominated possession.

The only thing better than this for in-flight entertainment would be free internet access on board.

5 miles

2011-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Today was a revelation. My plodding solo 10 miler on Saturday seems to have paid off (see here). Like in cycling, there is a lot to be said for simply "doing the miles." Today, I felt a distinct difference in terms of running economy and form. With a new-found clarity and focus.

A single run does not a generalization make. So what sort of evidence can I bring to the table to support my speculative conclusions?

First, I can point to the fact on the two Thursdays previously, I'd suffered mightly, and fell far behind the other runners right from the start. (See blog posts bemoaning the fact Another 3 miles and Just 3 miles.) On this 5 miler I managed to more or less stay with the 2nd group nearly the whole way, only getting truly gapped at the end. Case in point, the photograph on the left would not have been possible last two Thursdays: other runners would have disappeared and gone home by the time I arrived.

One could think that was because the pace was slower for the 5 miler than the 3 miler. But I was also significantly faster this time, clocking in at 39'03" for a 7'31" min/mile pace with much less distress than the previous two Thursdays, where I recorded a maxed out 7'44" and 7'38", respectively. As further evidence of better running economy, I had enough in the tank to finish strongly, as the split times and the overall graph from my iPod Nano below shows:

Today was also the first day with my new colorful Newton Distancia shoes: my previous shoes being the Newton Sir Isaac model. The Distancia is lighter than the Sir Isaacs. However, with respect to my new-found running form: I have to point out: nah, it ain't the shoes!

Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin,
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win!
(Frances Anne Kemble)

Watermelon and Tenergy

2011-11-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

If it's watermelon slices and Tenergy rubber, it must be Open House at my Ping Pong Palace (aka my house), see here. Taken with the Olympus E-P1:

As my friends played at the table, I went outside to enjoy the cool late autumn air, and a great sunset.

Unfortunately, it's a shame I used my iPhone 4 to take the sunset photo instead of having my Olympus E-P1 at the ready. The picture of course is way worse than what is possible with my E-P1. The problem being that one has to capture the moment with whatever tools one has at hand. A few minutes later, when I went inside to grab my Olympus, the sunset had already deepened almost into darkness.

My only saving grace was that I had the presence of mind to activate the iPhone 4's HDR mode. Without a tripod, inevitably blurriness is introduced. It came out okay at web resolution. But it cannot stand enlargement or viewing on larger screens.

However, it's still immeasurably superior tothe non-HDR, i.e. regular iPhone 4 mode. See below:

Blow-out in the highlights, noise and lack of gradation at the lower end irretrievably mar the snapshot.

Navigation Foibles

2011-11-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

I love the GPS Navigation system in my car. It's a rather expensive option, the value of which remains somewhat debatable, but on the positive side, it has a large and bright display placed at the proper distance for ease of focusing, is fully integrated into the audio and phone system, and arguably has improved safety, saved me eyestrain (compared to my iPhone's screen), time and gasoline.

Having said all that, there are some system foibles that I find maddening. On the minus side, unlike software for the iPhone, these OEM systems are not designed to be upgradable (apart from map updates).

One feature I find amazingly irritating is that it seems to have no rhyme or reason when it comes to displaying upcoming streets. For example, here it display the names of the upcoming cross streets both minor and major (thick blue line) perfectly.

The photo clearly shows I'm on N Alvernon Way, cross street is E Fairmount St and I'm coming up on E Bellevue St and E Speedway Blvd. It even (helpfully) displays the blue-lined cross street (E Speedway Blvd) twice, once on either side of the intersection!

Yet, somewhat mysteriously, sometimes it stubbornly refuses to reveal the name of a major (blue-lined) cross street, never mind the minor ones.

Here, I'm on E Grant Rd at the same map magnification level (700ft) as before. However, no clue about the identity of the major cross road is given. You'd think that'll be more important information than those parallel distant streets like E Lee St. Go figure.

The worst part of this of quirk is that I know it will have this annoying quirk for the rest of the lifetime of the car. I have emailed the manufacturer about it. However, despite the fact that this particular navigation system is connected, i.e. has a cellular interface (e.g. they can push destinations to you, or you can push e-destinations from the iPhone or computer to the car), they don't push out updates to application software like computer companies.

Update: I did get an email response almost immediately (10 minutes!) from a real person at the manufacturer, see below. I was pleasantly surprised by that.

We appreciate your loyalty to our brand, and thank you for providing us with your comments about the navigation system in your vehicle, and the cross-street display function. We apologize this feature has not met your expectations. We design our vehicles with our customer ownership experience in mind and it is through correspondence such as yours that we are able to continually improve our products. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your thoughts and to provide us with your view. Please be assured that your feedback has been documented at our National Headquarters for future model design consideration.

Parking Safety Specialist

2011-11-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

I spotted this guy at at the multi-story parking garage that I use. If you enlarge the photo, you'll see but he has a rather nice-sounding job title: Parking Safety Specialist. Never noticed that before...

These guys have the thankless job of writing tickets when we don't follow the arrows inside the garage, fail to display the appropriate sticker in the windshield, or encroach on an adjacent space.

Since he seems to be a state of repose, I guess he is not lying in wait hoping to catch someone doing a left turn at the top of the ramp inside the garage. Rather, I can only suppose he must have had a tough day.

10 miles

2011-11-19T23:43:00.000-08:00

I needed a long run. So Saturday morning, I ran along the Rillito River for 82 mins and a total of 10.34 miles, as indicated by my iPod Nano.

I started from Craycroft Rd on an out-and-back route along the northern Rillito River Park route. It's a fairly flat paved route with foot bridges and underpasses being the only elevation changes. On reaching the Campbell Rd bridge, I turned around.

Although I took one water bottle along in a fanny pack, I had to stop another two times for water. Fortunately, the route has several possible water stops at the various parks along the way.

I started out at around 7'47" (min/mile) pace - not truly sustainable at my current fitness level - and gradually lost speed, running the last segment at a sedentary 8'04" pace. Overall, I averaged just over 12 km/hr (7.5 mph) or for a 7'57" (min/mile) pace.

I'm fairly satisfied with my first long run of the season but I know I need more long runs to acclimatize my legs to the pounding. Pace-wise, I have to let my body pick it's comfort zone. If I push too hard, I won't be able to recover quickly and that'd be counterproductive training-wise.

I felt slight twinges in my shins. To be on the safe side, I'll pick up a new pair of running shoes tomorrow.

Another 3 miles

2011-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

One week ago I reported I ran 3 miles and suffered horribly (see here). Things can't get worse can they?

Well, Thursday I did another 3 miler. And somehow, I did do worse. Not only everyone was outta sight, but as the downwards spikes in the graph below show, I had the ignominy of having to stop several times to catch my breath.

The route was a tiny bit longer, though I thought actually the slightly cooler conditions were better this time than last.

I really should try to get in a long, steady run this weekend at my own pace.

Into the sunset

2011-11-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

Heading west on Interstate 10 towards Los Angeles, California and the ocean, a spectacular Arizona sunset.

As the sky darkens further into twilight, colors become more intense. Nearing exit 19 (Parker/Yuma).

At nearly 80 mph, a faster and steadier hand than mine is needed to capture available light moments without blurriness when low shutter speeds are needed. The built-in Olympus E-P1 image stabilizer helps. Taken at f/1.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 200

This is what exit 19 looks like in daytime click here

How far would you drive for food?

Or for the smell of the ocean and an overcast, foggy sunset?

Stupid happy

2011-11-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

I sat on my ZeroRH+ Angelfish (RH579) cycling glasses after I left them on my car seat during lunch today. One lens popped out (that's not supposed to happen) and there was a stress fracture in the lens near where they attach to the frame. I bit my tongue, didn't say a word but I was rather upset with myself at first.

Frustratingly, I couldn't get the lens back in immediately when I was in the car. Nor could I jam them in, the plastic wouldn't bend. Plus there is a spring-loaded metal pin that must be pushed back. Since they were so bloody expensive and had sentimental value, I was very persistent with fixing them. I spent an hour fiddling and struggling with them back at the office. Finally with the aid of a paper clip and a pair of small needle-nose pliers I managed to get them reattached properly. And I was stupid happy.

They are rather special. As you can see, the lenses only attach at one point and are super flexible and soft for safety reasons. They won't cut into your face as easily, and that minimizes gouging if you crash on the bike. I guess that flexibility also enabled them to survive me sitting on them without breaking.

As for the sentimentality that drove my perseverance, I bought them at a well-known sports store in Shibuya, Tokyo the day before a rainy Tokyo marathon. ZeroRH+ or ゼロ・アールエイチプラス is a high-quality Italian brand for technical sports gear for cycling and skiing. I remember dawdling over the cost for a while, rueing the fact I tend to lose things like this and that I'd left my inexpensive mail-order-brand Performance sunglasses at home. In the end, I managed to convince myself I needed them at dawn the next day and laid down the plastic.

This model (06) has 16～46% photochromic lenses. (Some models are 25～85%.) Excellent for both near dawn when one is assembling for the race and still later on when things brighten up considerably. I found the vision is very, very good indeed. Cost was around ¥24,000 (now $300), much higher than I'm used to paying for nearly disposable items. It's made in Italy and I guess that's the price one has to pay.

But I've managed to hang on to them for a few years. I ended up liking the lens quality so much I use them every day for driving. And they haven't scratched up like other cycling glasses I've owned. The soft lens case they come with helps for that.

Just 3 miles

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

I ran just 3 miles around the campus this evening. And suffered horribly. As the students disappeared into the distance ahead of me, I immediately rued my training neglect.

(Last time I posted about running outdoors it was September 2nd. See A Sunset Run.)

As the graph above from my iPod Nano shows, I only managed to last 4 mins at 14 km/hr (8.5 mph) before slowing down to run at my own pace (a bit under 13 km/hr, or just below 8 mph). Have to say this is a pretty good loop around campus.

I could say I am 10lbs heavier than optimal and lack training miles. But the fact is, I'm old and my legs just can't implement what my brain wills it to do anymore. I'm fundamentally slower and need to take my time. As I completed the loop around campus, I was simply happy my lungs and legs held out for the distance. Average pace 7'38" per mile. To my surprise, my iPod congratulated me on a new benchmark 7'22" mile. Ya take what ya can get.

High-end in-ear monitors: JH Audio JH16 Pro

2011-11-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to my brand-new pair of in-ear monitors for a couple of weeks now. They're the JH16 Pros I ordered at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest show.

They're extremely pricey and are custom-molded for my ears (done open-mouthed right at the show). In partial mitigation, they are complex, having 8 drivers for each ear, and the sound quality (especially the bass) simply blow the custom-molded Etymotics but bass-light Hf3s that I had before out of the water.

You really don't feel you're missing anything with such tiny devices. It's as good as the best full-sized headphones. It's significantly better than my car audio system. I don't feel like listening to the Etymotics anymore. The difference is night-and-day and readily apparent from the first moments. I simply enjoy my music more with the JH16 Pros.

(Note: believe it or not, they're not quite top-of-the-line for JH Audio. There is a brand-new fancier version of the JH16 Pro with an external box containing a DSP crossover and amplifier for maybe $600 more. It's called the JH-3A. But it's not as portable obviously.)

I bought it for use on trips: long flights and all that, so sound isolation is also important to me: hence, the custom ear-molds. I am listening to music (Apple lossless) out of my iPhone 4.

I'm told the sound can be further improved by bypassing the iPhone's inexpensive internal DAC (Digital to Analog converter) and headphone amplifier for an outboard solution: in other words, using the iPhone as a digital transport only and outsourcing digital-to-analog conversion and amplification to a (presumably, higher-quality) external box or boxes.

Two solutions exist at the moment to take the digital output from an iDevice: the Fostex HP-P1 which contains a 32 bit DAC and a headphone amplifier in one box, or the Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo DAC converter feeding another box such as the ALO Continental vacuum tube-based headphone amplifier.

The cost to the wallet is another $750-$1200 depending on the solution, plus you sacrifice portability since you need to carry along one or two other boxes along with my iPhone that also need to be battery powered and charged. The upside is that you get the last 10% of sound quality out of the JH16 Pros.

Maybe I'll go the outboard DAC and separate amplifier solution at a later date, but right now I'm amazed at and very happy with the great sound quality I'm getting from such a tiny speaker system.

New and old Tenergy

2011-10-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Sometimes deterioration over time is subtle. For example, you age a little bit each day, those around you don't notice. But for others who haven't seen you for years, the difference can be quite shocking.

A few days ago, I put on a new sheet of rubber on my table tennis paddle. I felt it was time: the older sheet was 5 months old, and perhaps it was just me, but I felt it had lost a bit too much of its spring and surface friction characteristics (for generating spin). In short, it was limiting my play.

(I practice two or three times a week for about 2 hour at a time to maintain my game. Plus take coaching lessons and play in a round robin once about every two months in an attempt to improve it. You can do the math but I probably have about 150 hours on the old sheet.)

So I glued on a brand new sheet of Tenergy 05. Boy, oh boy oh boy... watta a difference!

Having gotten used to the slow deterioration of the surface of the rubber, the new sheet felt like a rocket. In fact, it felt so uncomfortably fast I think it was hindering rather than helping my game. I was swinging hesistantly, didn't feel I had good control and forever adjusting my stroke on the fly. Can't I have a sheet of half-worn Tenergy instead?

(I even entertained thoughts of getting a slower blade than my fancy high-tech marvel, the Butterfly Innerforce ZLC: layers of ZL fiber/carbon for speed/power sandwiched by wonderfully soft feeling wood for good touch.)

At $75 (retail) a sheet, or $150 per blade (since I glued on two sheets, one for backhand, one for forehand), you'll understand why I tend to use it until way past its lifetime. Unfortunately, that's a really bad idea because of the effects on stroke mechanics.

Can you tell the difference just by looking at the surfaces? (Ignore the frayed edges.)

As I said, the difference in playing characteristics is readily apparent and huge. Or to paraphrase Dr. McCoy immortal catchphrase, "It's dead, Jim."

A couple of close up shots, can you see which is old, worn and tired, and which is new?

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

2011-10-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I attended the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, an exhibition for audio or hi-fi geeks in Denver CO.

I'm not a hi-fi geek by any means. First of all, I'm slightly deaf in my right ear since childhood. And the last time I bought speakers was when I was 17 years old. That's well over a quarter-century ago.

I still own my teenage years speakers (Celestion SL6s). They work fine, but I thought I should think about getting a new pair.

Plus, I'd just gotten a pair of Etymotics earphones with custom molds for my ears (see earlier post here).

At the end of that post, I said: "Anyway, this is my introduction to the world of custom-fit earphones. One can spend $1000+ on higher quality ear canal phones."

Well, on that note I ventured over to the JH Audio booth. Jerry Harvey introduced himself. So I listened to their top-of-the-line earphones. I A-B'ed the (universal fit) JH16 Pro earphones back-to-back against my custom-fit Etymotics that I had with me. I used the iPod section of my iPhone for source.

And damn... the JH16 Pros were obviously way better right from the start. In particular, they have real bass. They were offering $100 off as a show special and custom molding done right there for free.

These guys make it all way too easy. I was sold.

So I'm looking forward to my custom-molded JH16 Pros (right ear in transparent red, and left in transparent black); they should arrive in about a week.

Note that they take open mouth ear molds: hence, the picture of me biting on a polystyrene peanut. I understand they fit tighter that way because of the way the jaw moves. Hmm, I'd just spent $100 getting custom ear molds for my Etymotics, and the audiologist there didn't make open-mouth ear impressions for me.

I borrowed the JH16 Pros I was trying out and went over to the Ray Samuels Audio booth to listen to their battery-powered portable headphone amp, called the The Shadow. It would fit between the iPhone line-out and the earphones. Hmm, I'm afraid I'm going to be needing that as well. (Good job there was no show special, otherwise I might have ordered one on the spot.)

I also listened to Stax SR-009 full size headphones driven by Woo Audio amplification. Electrostatics. It sounded fantastic. The total price was about $10,000. Man, for a headphone system? Arrgh.

I wandered around the other exhibits in a bit of a daze for the rest of the day until the 4pm closing time: remember, I'm actually looking for something to replace my current speakers.

There was way too much to see (actually, listen to) in one day. Plus my ears get fatigued after a while. Unfortunately, the only two I really liked were the Wilson Sashas (at $30,000) and the Sonus Faber Amati (at $36,500). The Vandersteen 7s were $50,000. I heard them in two different rooms but found them a bit too forward, maybe it was the music being played in each case. Still John Lee Hooker sounded great. The Sony SS-AR1 ($27,000) were great with Joni Mitchell, and I'm not a fan of hers. I guess I could live with the Orion 4.0s; $14,000 but less if you build them from a kit yourself.

If you thought $1100 (JH16 Pro) was expensive for iPod earbud replacements, well it appears great speakers are totally unaffordable. Oh well.

Of course, then you need honking big amplifiers as well. The whole nine yards. And it starts to look like this:

Totally ridiculous. Who buys this stuff? I give up on the idea of replacing my speakers with something way better.

Hopping back in the Hyundai Elantra from Enterprise, costing only $18.21 for one day's rental, my thoughts returned to normality. Also, having turned down the optional GPS, I navigated back to Denver International Airport (DIA) using my iPhone wedged next to the speedometer:

Arriving back at the airport, I happened by the New Belgium Hub in Terminal 2.

I immediately recognized it of course, having passed through Denver during my trip to Mons, Belgium earlier this year.
(See my post here).

This time though, time was on my side, so I had a few sips of beer while watching the sunset over DIA.

Not bad, not bad at all.

It matters where you sit

2011-10-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

It matters where you sit on a plane.

I got a chance to try my custom in-ear Etymotics phones on a flight recently. (See my earphones here).

I was on a CRJ700. Etymotics has a free iPhone App that allows you to hear and talk to people via the iPhone mic without having to wriggle the earphones out of your ears. Obviously, your earphones have to be plugged into the iPhone for this to work.

The App also has a nifty sound pressure level (SPL) meter. Being a nerd, I measured the noise during the flight at three locations inside the aircraft.

#1 was my seat (row 5) in Economy Plus.

#2 was most of the way down the aisle:

And #3 was next to the bathroom at the back, next to where the engines on the CRJ700 are.

Only in America

2011-10-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

Some things deserve the title: Only in America.

Here we have a Japanese restaurant (run by Koreans) serving sushi and fortune cookies (from Los Angeles).

Culturally, we have an interesting mash-up here.

The fortune cookie, of course, is a truly modern American phenomenon (invented either by Japanese or Chinese immigrants: unfortunately, history is unclear on this topic). It's strongly associated with getting the check at Chinese restaurants (not Japanese, nor Korean). So I had a brief moment of cultural disconnect. Yes, even in America.

(BTW, you don't get fortune cookies at the end of your meal in Tokyo, Hong Kong or mainland China. And if you did, in terms of restaurants, you probably chose rather poorly.)

Custom-fit Etymotic Research earphones

2011-10-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

[Updated twice.]
Like many travelers on today's increasingly jam-packed flights, I like to block out external sounds.

You know what I'm referring to: engine noise, babies crying, people snoring, apologies from the captain about delays, duty free announcements etc.. In other words, stuff we don't need to hear.

One can use earplugs to sleep but I'd also like to listen to music from my iPod/iPhone without the constant buzz of the engines in the background.

I like Etymotic Research's ear canal phones because they seal well (noise-isolating) and are tiny. They also sound pretty decent.

Those so popular Bose active noise cancelation headphones require power and are too big and bulky for me. In fact, my Etymotics are so tiny, unfortunately I keep losing them.

I know: it's terrible. I've bought four pairs so far. Still got three of the boxes... only one missing is my top-of-the-line ER-4 box. There doesn't seem to be much difference (to me) between the various models sound quality-wise. They all seem a bit lightweight on the bass to me. Perhaps I never get to listen to them long enough before I lose them on trips.

The latest one I purchased are the hf3 earphones in metallic blue, which are also iPhone-compatible. (They have a microphone, volume buttons, and a center pause/play button as well that doubles as a track advance/backwards button if you can remember how many clicks you need.)

Being passive isolation earphones, in order to get a good seal, the standard earpieces require you to push them in quite far. Otherwise there is really very little bass indeed and the noise isolation doesn't work. The tradeoff therefore is one of comfort versus deep penetration.

This time around, I decided to go to an local audiologist and try custom earpiece molds since Etymotic Research has a custom-fit program. The cost is an extra $100 and a two week wait (for Etymotic Research to make the custom silicone earpieces). The benefit hopefully is better comfort and isolation. With a quietened background, this means I can play the music softer even in noisy environments. And perhaps preserve my hearing a bit longer.

Update #1: I really wasn't sure how tight they should feel. So I visited the audiologist again and she kindly immediately offered to re-do the molds for free and ask for rush delivery. (Apparently, there is a 30 day guarantee.) So in about a week or so I'll have a second pair of silicone earpieces, and I'll be able to see which ones are the most comfortable yet seal the best. I'll report back.

You need to have a mold of the inside of your ears made. The pink material looks like this:

and it comes in a pack like this:

Those white foam bits with string go in first and prevent the pink stuff from reaching your eardrum.

Injected into my ears, they take about 3 minutes to set. I know it's not the final material, but incidentally, the pink stuff happens to be a wonderful isolator. I have no clue what the audiologist is saying to me. I can't hear anything at all.

These molds are sent to Etymotic Research. And two weeks later you get the silicone versions in the mail. (You don't need to send the earphones as well to Etymotic Research.)

When the silicone pieces arrive, you can simply pop off the standard plugs and press the phones into the silicone comme ça:

This close-up shows how far the tiny phone extends into the silicone earpiece.

Here's how they fit into my ears (blue is left, red is right):

Once you wriggle those "worms" into your ear canal, the isolation is very good indeed. And the sound quality seems a bit improved. To my uneducated ears, the midrange and treble are pretty sweet. Unfortunately, I'm still not impressed with the bass. Perhaps those tiny drivers are just too small to get the weight and thump I expect from good bass. So I don't think these count as audiophile-level earphones. (They're about $160 at Best Buy.)

Because of the noise isolation, you literally are blocked off from the outside world. Rather than taking them out each time you need to hear someone, there is even a free iPhone App that allows you to pipe in the outside world when needed to your splendid isolation.

Anyway, this is my introduction to the world of custom-fit earphones. One can spend $1000+ on higher quality ear canal phones. I think I'm getting there with the number of Etymotic Research devices I've purchased so far.

Update #2

As I mentioned above, I revisited the audiologist to get new mold made. The first time around, I had some trouble wriggling the right side in. It felt too big and uncomfortably-sized after a while. And exactly a week after that, I got the new molds in. There is not much difference between the new and old left ear molds, but the new right mold was much better. It finally felt very comfortable. The difference in shape and size is clear from the picture below:

Also in my ears, the new set snuggle in a little better and results in a cleaner-looking appearance:

Unfortunately the sound remains the same. Sweet treble and midrange. No bass even compared to my car's audio system.

Apple iPod Nano 6g v1.2

2011-10-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

The other day Apple introduced an update to the iPod Nano 6g that I use for running with the Nike+ receiver and shoe transmitter.

The update included the opportunity to dispense with the white Nike+ dongle that hangs off the 30-pin port (shown here on the left). In fact, it permits for the first time the use of its internal accelerometer to record run pace and mileage instead of relying on the separate shoe sensor.

This is quite exciting because...

There is only one 30-pin port, and the iPod Nano lacks integrated bluetooth. So if that port was freed up, one could use a small bluetooth dongle and pair the Nano with bluetooth earphones. Yes, in other words, ditch that pesky cord that is always bouncing around and interfering with arm motion while running.

Also, I wondered whether the Nano accelerometer would be less accurate than the accelerometer built into the shoe sensor: reasoning being that footfalls should be more accurate than torso movement: the Nano being clipped to one's clothing.

So I eagerly downloaded v1.2 of the system software for the Nano and installed it via iTunes. Things went smoothly and one good piece of news is that stored data was preserved: in other words, it didn't wipe out my pre-existing records of workouts on the Nano. So far, so good. Let's see if the internal accelerometer does as good a job as the Nike+ foot sensor.

To do the experiment, I ran on a treadmill for exactly 12 minutes at 7.5 mph (8:00 min/mile pace), once with the internal sensor and once with the dongle inserted.

The new version of the iPod Nano user guide recommends "Clip iPod nano to your waistband for better accuracy." So I obeyed and did the experiment so configured.

(Note: I began the timer when the treadmill was at 3.0 mph (walking pace), and held the increase-speed button until it hit 7.5 mph. Total time spent including the ramp up in speed was 12 minutes. Assuming the treadmill is accurate, the total distance should be just under 1.5 miles.)

Here are the results:

Neither sensor was calibrated beforehand. I was pleasantly surprised how close they were to each other. (The one on the left is the run recorded by the internal sensor.)

(Seems within the margin for error I've experienced with repeats using the Nike+ foot sensor. Also both sensors were slightly optimistic. Even without calibration, assuming the treadmill is correct, it is within single digit percentage points of reality.)

I was disappointed though that when I synced the iPod Nano using iTunes, it only uploaded the Nike+ foot sensor session to the Nike+ website. So it could only display one of the graphs.

I went into the Nano while it was mounted as a drive on my Mac. And extracted the raw data.

(See how to do that in my 2007 blog post here.)

It is mildly interesting that using the internal sensor records only distance (in km) every 10 seconds. But using the Nike+ foot sensor it recorded both speed and distance data every 10 seconds.

I plotted and overlaid the distance data (converted to speed) on top of one another in Excel:

As you can see the data are pretty comparable.

Hmm, now the dongle has been deemed unnecessary, I guess I could go wireless. I see the preferred set-up is to pair that tiny i10s bluetooth dongle for the iPod port with a pair of those Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 earphones. My birthday is coming up. So I think I will reward myself...

Update: December 1st 2011: I have new and serious doubts about the usefulness of the built-in accelerometer based on a treadmill run. See Apple iPod Nano 6g v1.2 (Part 2).

symposium sushi

2011-10-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

This blog has been zig-zagging a bit recently.

Deviating from the usual fitness blog, first it was home improvement with wifi thermostats and ice makers with filtered water, now we seem to be beginning a minor food streak with this second post in a row.
(See last post here.)

Saturday, I was at ASU (Arizona State University) for an all-day symposium. As usual, after the event, a bunch of the presenters and organizers went out for a bite to eat and socialize a bit near Mill Avenue in Tempe. I'd have dearly loved to have joined them of course.

But I reckon I'd earned myself some sushi after my talk. So I made my excuses and left as we were about to enter a restaurant. Of course, I'd thoroughly enjoyed the academic presentations at the symposium, but it was either these wonderful people or my dinner reservation.

I feel terrible about it but I'd been thinking of this neat place that I haven't been to for a while. So much so that I had quietly sneaked out during a break and called to make a reservation to be sure I'd get a spot - you know, Saturday night and all that.

A bit rude and anti-social? Guilty as charged. But look at the evidence below: can you resist?

On the left, sauteed eryngii mushrooms (special, not on the regular menu). On the right, aji (spanish mackerel), mirugai (giant clam, geoduck) chuo toro (medium fatty tuna), uni (sea urchin) and hamachi (yellowtail). So good, so good...

As I ate, I think back to the last time I was here. It has been a while.

The power of food

2011-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

A testament to the power of food or perhaps, suggestion. Today, at lunch I had a little piece of Ono on rice, pineapple salsa. It was just the humble lunch special. Moist and juicy, not overcooked.

But I felt I wished it was December already and I was in Hawaii. Sunny skies. Hawaiian fish on the menu. Hawaiian shirt. Lazy afternoons. Out on a boat scuba diving in the early mornings... oh, I wish, I wish, I wish...

the taste of ice

2011-09-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

Cold and frozen are not necessarily bad adjectives. In other words, they should not always conjure up negative or unwelcome memories. It's just a matter of perspective.

For example, in the Sonoran desert, the simple pleasure of having ice cubes always available to go in your freezer cannot be discounted in the relentless heat of summer.

It's more than simply a cold drink, after all one can simply pull a cold one from the fridge; there is tactile pleasure in the taste of ice. Provided, of course, that the ice tastes good.

A more extreme example: the Four Seasons hotel spa in Doha, Qatar, has a room that's basically a walk-in freezer. I've never seen or experienced anything like it.

You can walk in nearly naked and it feels wonderful for about 5 (to 10) minutes. And then it's not fun anymore.

I know I'm digressing but the point is: even being frozen is welcome sometimes, at least for a little while.

My house has a GE Profile refrigerator from the last owner. It's hardly the Doha Four Seasons, but still, despite GE's boast that the Profile line "offer the best in contemporary design matched with the latest kitchen technologies," it contained no icemaker. And in the desert heat? Go figure.

So it's perhaps a bit strange it's taken me so long to finish this tiny home improvement project. Still, I got it done. Maybe I have more spare time now. (Or I'm desperately trying to avoid some important work project.) On the bright side, perhaps I'm on a roll after that kick-ass wifi thermostat project (see here).

So I ordered and installed the optional GE ice maker specifically designed for my sleek but icemaker-less GE fridge.

A little inconvenient perhaps, you have to disassemble and remove the freezer door to get room to mount the unit. It goes into the top left side of the bottom freezer compartment.

You also need to run a 1/4" water line from the supply line in the wall behind the fridge to supply the electronic icemaker inside the freezer compartment. There is a special hole in the back of the freezer that it pokes through.

Thus equipped, the icemaker painstakingly mints orange segment shaped and sized slices of ice a few at a time. And it drops them into a tray inside the freezer.

Like a tuna boat that goes fishing, you'll want the freshest ice that's at the top layer of the tray. Especially the ones with the still wet sheen.

Older ice are significantly less fresh tasting: over time they absorb any odors from other items in the freezer compartment.

Moreover, the ice segments actually get smaller as well over time since ice dries out.

Unfortunately, this slow and expensive icemaker doesn't come with a water filter. I had to get this separately.

I can hear the clatter every so often when I'm in the kitchen when the icemaker decides to dump a batch of new, virgin ice segments. It's perhaps a little annoying but at the same time the falling ice informs me that I have fresh ~~tuna~~, sorry, ice ready to go.
(Of course it also has a sensor that tells it when to stop minting ice.)

This is a GXRTDR GE SmartWater Inline Filter Cartridge.

To be clear, it's not a water purifier like the ones you'd use for camping in the wilderness: the water must be potable to begin with. It's not designed to render water sources like streams into drinkable water.

But it's supposed to remove 70% of chlorine, 99.5% of particulates (class V), sediment and rust. (Flouride is not affected.)

It's nothing fancy (read: inexpensive) but it's supposed to improve the taste of the ice as the packaging states (important!). It also lasts for six months.

Since there is no provision for mounting the filter inside or on the fridge. I drilled a hole for a snap-in bracket next to the supply line tap. Seems better than velcroing the filter to the backside of the fridge at any rate.

They stock this at Home Depot and the installation is clearly designed for hamfisted homeowners like me. In other words, it's trivial.

You snip the 1/4" plastic water line, plug one end into the top of the filter and the other end into the bottom.

It uses a simple but ingenious capture-mechanism that grabs the plastic hose, and automatically and securely makes it watertight (at reasonable pressures).

(You don't want to install an icemaker or filter and have the headache of water leaks.)

It has the unfortunate side-effect of making my slow icemaker work even slower. I guess that's to be expected. After all, my Brita water filter jug drips the water slowly too.

Still, well then, how does it feel to have good, fresh-tasting ice?

Well, to be honest, like some things in life, I kinda regret having waited so long. Summer is just about over. You see, it's already the week after Labor day now, and it's cooling down here.

Maybe, we'll have an Indian summer. Maybe I'll make a few fresh fruit smoothies just for the fun of it. And perhaps there's next year.

You're the best mistake I ever made

2011-09-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to take one step beyond my comfortable 10K treadmill runs at 7.0 mph, see my post failure is the chance to do better next time just over a week ago.

I've been trying to get the legs (actually, my neuromuscular system) used to running at 7.5 mph: the idea is to hold that speed for 10 minutes at a time, recover, and repeat for a total of 5 times and about 11 km.

[On the left hand side are graphs of my last 3 treadmill interval workouts. From top to bottom, tonight, 9 and 11 days ago.]

Tonight I couldn't find my heart rate (HR) monitor chest transmitter when I arrived at the gym.

I wash the chest strap after each use. The transmitter clips into the strap and I store it separately. Unfortunately, I must have made a mistake last time. I couldn't find it anywhere.

That really bummed me out because (A) I've been carefully monitoring the HR to prevent myself from going too far into the red zone, and (B) I'm out $70 for a new Polar Wearlink+ chest strap transmitter that's specially designed to work both with my iPod Nano 6g and the treadmill (yes, the transmitter is special because it transmits on two different frequencies at the same time).

So I was unable to record or monitor HR in real time during the interval workout. In other words, I had to run essentially uninstrumented.

Well, to my surprise I had a breakthrough workout.

For the first time this semester, I managed to complete all 5 intervals at 7.5 mph. I have no idea what my max heart rate was though. Still, a big improvement over the last two treadmill workouts (9 and 11 days ago) where I only managed to complete 3 and 4 out of the 5, as the graphs on the left show.

Given physiological responses, it's highly unlikely I made large gains in aerobic capacity over 11 days. So what gives? Well...

Distilled down to the bare essentials, we're just a pair of lungs and legs for the purposes of this experiment. In a short workout, either one could be the limiter.
If your legs tire, you will fail to complete due to what feels like heavy lactic acid build-up. Put another way, the legs lack strength and endurance, and will buckle first.
Or it could be the lungs, e.g. you start hyperventilating instead of breathing hard and steadily. Then the workout fails because your lungs couldn't get enough air in time.
This time, I had good body control from neuromuscular adaptation. I was well balanced center-of-gravity-wise. Instead of getting ragged as I tired, I held good form the whole way through.
And my legs had the power, strength and endurance to soak up the lactic acid build-up. I haven't felt that for a while.
Furthermore, I had good breathing form. Yes, my HR was probably in the low 170s, so I was breathing hard just beyond my current aerobic threshold. But I visualized well and managed to hold off from desperate, ragged gasping for air.

So in summary, it was a bit of everything including mind over matter. And not knowing my HR helped.

As I was doing my well-earned 240 kcal cooldown on the spin bike afterwards (after all, I had burnt 813 kcal on the treadmill), I was listening to Joanna Wang's "Start from here" album. In particular, "You're the best mistake I ever made" was playing. And I realized, maybe losing the $70 transmitter was not so bad after all. Perhaps it was even timely. You see, I needed to break through. And seeing my HR displayed on the treadmill in real time might have held me back. As Joanna coos:

Fall apart or hold on tight
Wrong or right
I'll always say
You're the best mistake I ever made

What next now?

Well, obviously I need to be able to repeat this a few times. But looking forwards, there are two ways to proceed. Either bump up the interval speed again, i.e. try to achieve 5 times 10 minutes at 8.0 mph. Or concatenate the blocks into one 10K block at 7.5 mph. That'd be another minor miracle.

Brave new world of wifi thermostats

2011-09-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I was looking around for a wireless thermostat for my house that I could access and set via the internet.

I was looking for the ability to save energy and remotely set the temperature to cool down the house while I am at the office just a couple of hours before I know I will be home.

Back then this stuff was not so easily available. Some required running an ethernet cable. Others required interfacing via some home control box. And they were expensive.

Now the technology has truly arrived at the mass market level. You can get wifi thermostats at Home Depot - which is where I picked up this one re-branded by 3M. Cost is $99.88 plus tax. Not a big premium over non-wifi enabled touch screen thermostats.

This one has a touch-sensitive screen plus the crucial ability to accept a separate wifi radio module.
(Actually it can accept up to two modules. Other than wifi, I guess there is at least a ZigBee home control module available separately.)

There's nothing wrong with my boring, old thermostat. It works reliably but there is no remote control capability.

You actually have to get up and go to the panel to set it or look at the temperature. On the new one, I'll be able to set things using my laptop or iPhone from anywhere in the house or the world for that matter.

In order to replace it, we have to figure out the existing wiring.

Let's pop the cover and take a look shall we? There are many possible wiring configurations depending on factors such as gas/electric heat, heat pump, single or dual stage or other options.

We need to figure out what wires are connected to the old one and what wires we need for the new thermostat.

A close up of the old thermostat with the wires coming in from the wall into the terminal block in the center reveals that I have a fairly standard heat/cool 4-wire single transformer HVAC setup.

In other words, RH/RC are jumpered together and there is a red wire into RC. A white wire into W, yellow into Y and green into G. Perfectly color-coded.

Unfortunately, my old thermostat is AA battery-powered only. The new thermostat requires 24V power via a C wire, which doesn't exist in my configuration.

According to the installation guide, you can separately buy and install a transformer to give you power but my friend Yuxiang Lin gave me an excellent piece of advice. He said that 24V is probably available at the furnace end of the wiring. And that I could connect this up using one of the spare wires. Wouldn't have to buy and install that pesky separate transformer mentioned in the installation guide.

Removing the old thermostat, I decide to prepare the (unused) orange wire shown here for the C wire.

My furnace sits in the garage. I decided it was a good time to change the HEPA filter too.

Removing the front panel, I see there is a large circuit board.
(Note, of course, needless to say we must switch off power to the A/C and furnace first before we remove the cover.)

Looking more closely, the white cable contains the other end of the wires that started at the thermostat inside the house.

Connected up in a row at the top left of the board are the white (W), green (G), red (R) and yellow (Y) wires.

Crucially, there is a terminal labeled C. Mercifully, a red wire connects there from another cable. So we have 24V power from somewhere!

We can also spot an orange wire peeking out. That is the same unused orange wire that I prepared at the other end. All we have to do is share this orange wire at the C terminal.

(I confess I screwed this part up initially. I connected yet another unused orange wire, which was the wrong one. Yuxiang Lin pointed out my mistake.)

So we've solved the missing but necessary C wire problem.

Back to the inside of the house, we can connect up the C (orange), W (white), Y (yellow), RH (red) and G (green) wires to the new thermostat as shown.

There are also two switches at the top left. Normal (NORM) or heat pump (HP). And gas (GAS) or electric (ELEC) heat. For my house, the settings are NORM and GAS.

The thermostat also requires 3 AA batteries (as backup perhaps?).
Anyway, we slot in the wifi module, reconnect the power to the furnace and A/C, and the thermostat boots up and works normally, even displaying a radio beacon.

However, it is not yet the all-singing and all-dancing remote wifi-accessible thermostat that it will be shortly.

To do that, we have to set it up on our home wireless network.

This involves two parts. Part one, we connect directly to the device via wifi (using a browser). Initially, it's its own ad-hoc network found at 192.168.10.1. We just tell it the WPA2 password to join the home wireless network. Once done, it get a regular DHCP address on the home network just like a laptop would.
(To discover that assigned address, I had to connect to my router. This was before I had downloaded the iPhone app. The information is also available there.)
I guess one day this step could be done using the control panel itself. But currently, you need to aim your browser at the device first.

Part two involves registering for a Filtrete Remote Access Thermostat account. It's free.
(Initially I screwed up slightly here. I inadvertantly selected Eastern Standard Time and found the thermostat was 3 hours ahead of me. Easy to fix.)

It also asks for a PIN number which is displayed in lieu of the time when the thermostat boots up.

Using a browser on my laptop pointing to www.radiothermostat.com, once I'm logged in, I can view and set the thermostat by clicking on the picture of the thermostat. I can do this at home if I'm too lazy to get up and walk to the actual thermostat - like when I'm lying in bed.

Better yet, I can do this from work. Better still, I can check the thermostat and current temperature of the house when I am away traveling as long as I have an internet connection. No more uncomfortable nagging feeling as I board my flight wondering whether I've forgotten to switch off the A/C.

And best of all, I don't even need a laptop. I can see and control my thermostat from the iPhone.

So I also downloaded the free Wi-Fi enabled Radio Thermostat iPhone app (see here).

When I signed in, the app automatically downloaded the latest firmware for the thermostat and rebooted it remotely.
(I'm not sure if the web browser interface can do this. Have to check.)

Some other screens from the iPhone app:

As you can see, you can control everything from Modes (Off, Heat, Cool, Auto) to Fan (Off/Auto) to overriding temperatures for the current time period (Morning/Day/Evening/Night). (The exact duration of each time period can be defined via the browser or control panel directly.)

You can set a temperature and override for all time periods (Hold) until the hold is canceled. There is also a Home/Away button. (See first iPhone screenshot above.)

Moreover, I understand Radio Thermostat of America released an API that's well documented. I guess I should download that. However, since the iPhone app is so good, I haven't tinkered with writing code to control it without having to go through their server.

You can set up the 7 day + holiday programs via a web browser or from the control panel directly. However, this seems to be the only function not available from the iPhone app.

When I login using a browser and select Manage Devices, it shows my thermostat as model CT50 version 1.09. (See bottom picture below.) However, that's not the firmware version. The iPhone app shows that as 1.04.71. (See 2nd last picture from the bottom.) And there is an Update Firmware button that one can push if necessary.

In this brave new world of internet-enabled thermostats, I believe I can save energy without having to plan and stick to a preprogrammed 7 day timer (which I never program). This suits my lifestyle.

For example, I can pre-cool the house to an appropriate level if someone calls and wants to come to practice table tennis at my house. Or I can leave the thermostat at a higher temperature if I decide to hang out and work until closing time at that cool coffee shop near the campus. Awesome.

A sunset run

2011-09-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today, we move to a new phase of my run training for this season. I did my first outdoor run today at 6pm. That's the time the university recreational running club meets on a daily basis.

So far I've only been running indoors on a treadmill: the simple reason being that even at 6pm it's still 37C (100F) outside at the moment.

6pm has its advantages though. The sun sets as the run proceeds. And this Friday's run is special: the club has decided to do one of my favorite runs on campus, namely the Parking Garages Run at the university. The idea is conceptually simple and beautiful in its implementation.

We run from multistorey parking garage to multistorey parking garage at sunset. These are dotted around the university. At each garage, we run up and down the stairs and across the rooftops. And if one is not in too heavy an oxygen debt to notice, one can catch a good view of the sunset and its colors at each location.

Here is a "bird's eye view" of the loop. Starting from the university Rec Center, we trace a clockwise route around the main campus visiting the 6th St garage, then Tyndall and the Main Gate garages, cut across campus and tunnel under Speedway to do Park Ave and Highland garages, then tunnel back under Speedway and finish with the 2nd and Cherry St garages. Oh, plus down and up the ILC (Integrated Learning Center) steps which - strictly speaking - is not a garage, and actually descends underground. Total distance is about 2.7 miles but that doesn't include running up and down the stairs at each garage twice. My iPod nano reports 400 kcal and and an optimistic total of 3.7 miles in just under 35 minutes.

Running in 100 degree heat is quite a challenge, not to mention the motivation of trying not to get totally left behind by the running club students. As a result, my max heart rate (HR) hit 170 bpm by the end. I must admit I felt quite out of shape. Still, it's a great run and as beautiful as one can get on this large and crowded campus.

failure is the chance to do better next time

2011-08-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

My fortune cookie this weekend said failure is the chance to do better next time.

As with life, so with sports. To reach out beyond what we are accustomed to, we have to (at least, gingerly) explore the discomfort zone.

Recently, I've been having problems getting my body to accept something beyond that 10K run at 7.0 mph, which I know I can repeat fairly comfortably (see Natural Training).

So I tried pushing things a bit last week.

However, running at 8.0 mph only got me 6 minutes before entering the red (anaerobic) zone (On the edge).

So I tried again on Saturday, this time at 7.5 mph.

As you can see, I basically tried to run in blocks of 10 minutes at 7.5 mph (1.33 miles) to keep the heart rate (HR) from entering the red zone. Then walk for 5 minutes inbetween to allow the HR to drop.

How do we evaluate this? Well, a measure of fitness that's commonly employed is to see how fast the HR drops during recovery (the faster it drops the fitter you are). What happened was this:

At the end of the first block, my HR was 164 bpm. It dropped nearly 60 bpm to 106 bpm during the recovery. An encouraging sign.
2nd block, I started to run into trouble. My HR hit 170 bpm by the end of the 10 minutes. This is in the anaerobic zone for me. The HR dropped 55 bpm to 115 bpm during the 2nd recovery zone.
3rd block, I knew I was done. After 8 mins @ 7.5 mph, I was already back up at 170 bpm. So I shut it down.

My body's wimpy response to the 0.5 mph (1 km/hr) increase was kinda disappointing. Total fail.

I tried to do these 10 minute blocks as a natural interval workout, hoping to get my 10K in. Five 10 minute blocks would have gotten me nearly 11 km. Unfortunately, I stopped just shy of 3 blocks.

As any cyclist who has trained using a powermeter knows, time spent in the red zone is always costly. You have a fixed and limited number of minutes in that zone for your body. Every minute spent there will cost you aerobically in the end. And distance running is all about aerobic capacity.

So I knew every minute I spent at 170 bpm (rather than at 160 bpm) would hit me hard on the next block to come. And as I hit 170 bpm just 7-8 minutes into the 3rd 10 minute block, to paraphrase my friend Barry Dattel, there's no way, no how I could have completed the 5 blocks I had planned.

I have my excuses ready of course: it was a busy first week. I taught 4 times. Many meetings. And prepared and gave a colloquium talk as well. So by Friday I was all in the red, so to speak. Plus my body is not yet in marathon shape. Blah, blah, blah... but ultimately unconvincing.

After the frustration with the treadmill, I completely over-compensated and took it out on the spinning bike. This was workout #8 below:

I spun 615 kcal in 43 minutes (rate of about 860 kcal/hr). Average HR on the bike was 142 bpm, significantly higher than my normal relaxed time on the bike. In addition to the 467 kcal from the treadmill, the total kcal was nearly 1100 kcal. Yes, the workload was a bit high for a short workout. (1500 kcal would be a medium workout in my book.) But hey, it was a Saturday.

Taking a step back, the fortune cookie's optimistic interpretation of events, namely failure is the chance to do better next time provides perspective. We should see opportunity in every failure. There's a silver lining in every cloud and all that.

Case in point, this week an aftermarket part was not working properly anymore in my car.

Monday morning, I dropped my car off at the place that originally installed the offending part, but I had nobody to give me a ride to work.

I brought out my race bike, which has scarcely turned a wheel in anger since PacTour Elite Southern Transcontinental - and that was back in 2007, nearly 4 years ago (see Day 17).

And I rode the five miles or so to work in 100F heat. To my surprise, I felt fine. Arriving at the office, I smiled and thought: hmm, maybe I am not doing so bad after all. 106F for the afternoon trip back. But hey, round trip, it'll be ten miles. Good preparation for tonight's tilt at the treadmill.

Epilogue

As I promised, I tried again today after work.

Monday's results are obviously significantly better than Saturday's. Instead of three 10 minute blocks at 7.5 mph, I got nearly four 10 minute blocks in at 7.5 mph. (And getting in the target 5th can't be far away.) As a result I burned 615 kcal on the treadmill instead of 467 kcal on Saturday. Plus another 321 kcal on the spin bike afterwards gave me a satisfactory Monday total of 936 kcal. I call that a good start to the week.

Obviously, there are no scientifically valid improvements in aerobic capacity that are realizable in only 3 days.

The red line is the heart rate.

As the graph shows, I reached 165 bpm at the end of the first block. It dropped to 110 bpm (55 bpm delta) on recovery.
2nd block, I reached 170 bpm, dropping to 119 bpm (51 bpm recovery delta).
3rd block, I reached 172 bpm, dropping to 125 bpm (47 bpm recovery delta).
4th block, I hit 172 bpm by minute 7, so I shut it down at minute 8. If I had persevered, the recovery would have been worse again.

These HR numbers are much as the same as on Saturday. There is no training effect possible so quickly.

So why was I able to last longer 2nd time around? Well, immediate gains are the result of neuromuscular adaption to running at 7.5 vs 7.0 mph. Basically, the muscles in the legs first get used to firing at an increased rate.
(Incidentally, same thing is true for weight room workouts. Initial gains cannot be from muscle size adaptation.)

The other effect is learning to survive at the higher heart rate (HR). Back when I used to train on the bicycle, I called it "learning to live in the 170s", i.e. getting used to the HR staying in the 170s bpm range for an extended amount of time. Of course, as aerobic improvement accrues, the sustained HR will drop for any fixed speed.

on the edge

2011-08-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

On the edge of beginning a new semester (tomorrow I begin teaching), today is a last chance to get a triple workout in.

I ran on the treadmill, hopped onto the Spin bike, and finished with a 2 hour table tennis training session all in one evening after work. I'd probably be lucky to get a single short workout in every other day once things are in full swing around here.

On my previous blog entry (natural training), I mentioned that now that I can knock out a 10K run comfortably, it was time to bump up the speed and see how far that can take me.

It was time to put my money where my mouth is.

I began with a 10 minute warm-up, basically walking at 3.0 mph to get the circulation going but including a 2 min 7.0 mph rev up of my cardio engine.

Then I bumped the speed up to 8.0 mph on the treadmill (1.0 mph more than I've been running at recently). The Nike+ download reported an average pace of 7'13" min/mile but as you can see I didn't quite manage to complete mile one.

Adding in a 5 minute cooldown, with the warm-up that's a 20 minute workout. Very short, but since I went anaerobic, it's not wise to push it.

The HR graph tells the real story.

The average HR was 154 bpm (a fairly low number, I sustained an average of 161 bpm on the comfortable 10K workout) but this is totally misleading.

By minute 6, my HR had busted through my comfort zone. As you can see, I hit 169 bpm and the pace felt unsustainable. In the discomfort zone, I probably could have pushed it for a bit longer, but since I'm following the natural training method, I shut it down.
(The idea is that without forcing myself to follow a formula, I should be able to naturally adapt and delay the onset of unsustainability significantly by simply repeating this 8.0 mph workout once a week.)

However, since I only burned 99 kcal in 6 minutes, it was onto the spin bike. So I tapped out an extra 458 kcal in just over half an hour under the video guidance of the ultra-cool video dude with hair gel who never seems to sweat during the ride:

After that, I managed a good 2 hour table tennis training session. And the luxury of this third workout of the evening was only made possible because I shut down the 8.0 mph treadmill workout before I managed to tire out and trash my legs. As Dave Edmunds sings (see YouTube):

Midnight, I'm a-waiting on the 1205
Hoping it'll take me just a little farther down the line
Moonlight, you're just a heartache in disguise
Won't you keep my heart from breaking
If it's only for a very short time
...

Like that orange Nittaku training ball in the first picture (which incidentally came to a rest of its own accord in that position), I'm living on the edge hoping it'll take me just a little farther down the line...

natural training

2011-08-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Usually, I train with some goal and set intermediate goals along the way. For example, in running, one simply increases mileage a little each week. That way, the body is given time to adapt and injuries are less likely. Then at the end of a few months, run that goal event: usually a marathon. Magazine training plans are usually like that.

However, one doesn't necessarily need to be a slave to a pre-planned training regime. While it is true one must continually push a bit in order not to stagnate, one could also let it happen naturally, i.e let your body set the ramp factor.

For example, consider the above graph. I do a short workout twice a week at the gym (Mondays and Thursdays) immediately after work. I try to keep the total workout to a modest 1000-1200 kcal. Any more than that, it's not a short workout because I may not be fresh the next day.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Weekend
short run #1	ping pong	ping pong	short run #2	rest	long

(Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I need to hop around the table for ping pong, so my legs can't be heavy or trashed. Actually, I could do a heavy workout on Thursday since Friday is my rest day.)

Anyway, here's the theory: you run as much as you feel you can comfortably do twice a week. The difference is this: under my old training regime, I'd finish the planned distance no matter what: I'd use a bit of mental willpower and gut it out if necessary. Sounds a bit old-fashioned. With this new scheme, I do the same total workout (in terms of kcal) so I don't need to feel guilty I'm slacking off.

I simply just move the workout to the spinning bike (to burn off the remaining required kcal) as soon as I feel I'm having to utilize willpower to stay on the treadmill. (And since I used to be a serious ultra-distance cyclist, the spin bike portion takes zero willpower and is always easy to complete - after all, I'm mostly sitting down.)

"The treadmills: the blue zone"

"The spinning bikes: the red zone"

So the blue bits on the graph are from my treadmill, and the red zones are from the spin bike. Together, the kcal stack up as shown on the y-axis. For example, you can see I only ran for 310 kcal (for 20 minutes) for the first workout on the graph, but then topped it up with 420 kcal on the spin bike. By session #7 (last Thursday) I burnt 740 kcal on the treadmill (I ran a bit over 10 km), and I only did 310 kcal on the spin bike: total just over 1000 kcal. Since I am getting progressively fitter on the run, so it takes up a progressively larger slice of the workout. The key is that the ramp up is dictated by how I feel rather than sticking to some formula.

So in 7 sessions, I'm up from lasting 20 minutes comfortably on the treadmill to over 50 minutes (at the same speed). All well and good, but how do you know when to get off that treadmill? Obviously, it's easy to decide if you are running flat out. You get off because you can't hold the pace anymore. But what if you are running at an easier pace? Well, I use my heart rate (HR) and perceived exertion (RPE) to decide.

As documented in a previous entry (see iPod Nano 6G), I use an iPod Nano with the Nike+ kit. Not only do I get to listen to my specially-prepared run music playlist, it also records the pace and my heart rate. For example, here's session #7 (from last Thursday).

As you can see, it reports an (effective) flat line for the pace as expected since I set the treadmill to an easy 7.0 mph and never touch the controls during the workout. (Small variations are probably due to momentary changes in stride as I grab some water or due to limitations of the Nike+ transmitter.) The HR graph is more interesting though:

As you can see, my HR ramps up fast and then settles down, averaging 161 beats per minute (bpm). This is an aerobically sustainable level for me. There is some tilt upwards to the graph (as I slowly dehydrate and retain body heat). I think I end up around the 164 bpm level.

I could have kept it going but I had completed the target 10K (6.2 miles).

In addition, my left ankle was dripping with blood (see left) from chafing. My running was so relaxed muscle-wise, occasionally the right heel would scrape the left ankle. I have to control that right heel movement a bit more in future. But it's good my center of gravity was tightly localized.

If my HR keeps rising, it will eventually move into the anaerobic zone (unsustainable). So we can use a HR limit (e.g. 165 bpm) plus RPE (e.g. "damn, I feel terrible!") to decide when to stop. Otherwise, I'd push myself deep into the red zone - which would be a pyrrhic victory of sorts. In other words, unworthwhile and actually counterproductive since I won't be able to recover fresh for the next day.

A quick word on the spinning bikes. I really like the latest generation.

The spinning bikes are a pleasure to use. These newest ones have a large touch screen. I can follow the very cool (recorded) video of the guy. If he gets out of the saddle, I follow his lead. If he jumps, I jump. I subconsciously follow his pedaling cadence. And at the end, when he stretches, I just follow him. The electronics provide a suggested HR zone. However, since it's a spinning bike, I get to set the resistance knob.

Here is an example of a workout. I rode for 42 minutes and burnt off 530 kcal. I spun at an average cadence of 91 (no mashing). And my average HR is 130 bpm - much lower than on the run, an indicator that it was an easy 530 kcal for me.

Now that I've gotten up to my 10K the comfortable way, what's next? After all, as I mentioned at the beginning, one must continually push a bit in order not to stagnate.

Since I do this workout twice a week, the key then is to bifurcate my efforts.

For workout one, I can bump the speed up to 7.5 mph or 8.0 mph and start from 20 minutes again (or until my HR goes in the red zone) to build speed.
And I can simply run for longer for workout two. For example, back in May before I lost my fitness, I tapped out a 1 hour 45 minute run at 7.0 mph (see A half marathon). Alternatively, it's better to do the longer run outside (as soon as it dips below 95-100F in the afternoons in Tucson).

Curiously enough, I was not particularly happy with that half marathon run back then. At this point, I'd be ecstatic to be able to nail that down. It's all relative... :)

bad sneakers, do it again

2011-08-16T17:33:00.001-07:00

Imagine, if you will, my car smoothly eating up the miles in the desert on I-10. I'm on my way home from Los Angeles.

A mere press of the window lift away, it's over 110F (43C) but inside, it's deliciously cool and quiet. As the sun reddens behind me, I settle into the cooled seat which will be my home for the next six and a half hours. Relax, connect up the iPhone, in seconds I'm down in the world of Steely Dan's sophisticated mix of jazz and melancholy.

As the doubtlessly well-informed reader that you are, you already know I'm listening to them from the title of this blog entry. I reflect on what has been a good visit.

Five names that I can hardly stand to hear
Including yours and mine, and one more chimp who isn't here
...

That's how the song Bad Sneakers begins. For a moment, I think back to New Jersey days. Those Butterfly 808 table tennis shoes pictured above look brand new but are over 12 years old. Having languished in a dark box for all that time, they are essentially new, unused after I ordered them back in the late 1990s.

I figured it's about time these "sneakers" emerged into the light again. Since I've restarted table tennis, I've stuck to my marathon running shoes for cushioning and comfort. I've been re-purposing my Newton Sir Isaac neutral guidance trainer (see picture at the bottom of my prior entry A Half Marathon). You may be surprised to know these Butterflys (538g) are heavier (and offer less protection) than my Newton neutral racers (500g).

(Out of all the sports I dabble in, my bicycle racing shoes are by far the lightest, at around 320g. Yup, one Butterfly shoe is nearly two bicycle shoes.)

But, as the saying goes, it's very much horses for courses. Those Butterfly shoes have a very low heel (to protect the ankle) and (by design) a natural rubber sole that balances the ability to slide and make small adjustments with grip. With respect to cushioning (to protect against fatigue), let's just say they work best with a professional (cushioned) floor that the best clubs have.

As long as we're talking numbers here, have you ever wondered why cars report the outside temperature but never the inside?

As you can see, the automatic climate control is set for 74F (23C) but the actual temperature at head level is 32.3C (90F) with 12% humidity (it's the desert).
(Notice the fan is barely running. In other words, the car thinks it has reached the correct temperature.)

Back to the coolness of Steely Dan (and Do it again):

You go back, Jack
Do it again
Wheels turning round and round
You go back, Jack
Do it again
...

There are no quick fixes in table tennis (or life for that matter). Old habits are ingrained into muscle memory and die hard. Once we recognize our technical problems, it takes considerable work (i.e. time), dedication (i.e. make time) and a certain kind of optimistic stubbornness (it will come, it will work out, give it time). Those who promise quick and easy fixes are mere charlatans.

When you know she's no high climber
Then you find your only friend
...

I'm not completely sure what some of the songs mean, but people have said this breakout tune of theirs is about addiction, second chances and the inevitability of fate. I muse, hmm, this is my 2nd time around at table tennis. You could say it's an addiction. But I'm not sure what fate has to do with it...

Perhaps then my occasional weekend trips to Los Angeles are about a leap of faith.

Dedication: I have to drive 13 hours round trip.
I prefer it to flying because of convenience. Flying basically involves nearly 5 hours each way counting time spent getting to the airport, parking, going through security, waiting around, renting a car etc., only actually saving 3 or 4 hours round trip. So far, unless I have been driving all night, I have been able to arrive alert and relaxed enough to take a lesson after a short break.
Work: to maintain quality, a lesson lasts only 90 minutes.
Why? Well, multiball is physically demanding. I go through three shirts (sweat saturated), two bottles of water, a Gatorade and a towel in just 90 minutes. Willing the body to continuously move, move, move to get to a position and hold balance, stop momentarily and get the shot off. It's not about mindless or brute force strength. The coaching is intense: every improperly played ball (never mind the missed ones) gets reviewed and highlighted. Nothing is missed. Correct form is everything. Struggling with yourself on a conscious level is also mentally taxing (not to mention, frustrating, at times).
Optimistic stubbornness: that's a few sessions per weekend maybe once every other month or three. (That's pretty far from the ideal of training 3 or 4 mornings a week.) It's a legitimate question to ask whether anything can be learnt and retained in such short bursts. Without constant feedback and application, one tends to revert back to old habits.

At this point, I can report that I am finally starting to see glimpses of the promised land. As I mentioned earlier, give it time, it will come. My body is beginning to react and move differently. Because how you move and maintain balance is everything, it affects all aspects of the game. Tension has been transferred from the shoulders into the forearm. Suddenly I go from looping two or three balls to twenty or thirty in a row. They're not all perfectly minted, mind you. But now and then I feel my center of gravity doing the right thing. And it's definitely not the shoes :)

Fundamental change is possible, and on my long drive through the desert, that thought makes me happy.

For match practice, I also play in LATTA's Saturday afternoon's advanced league. Typically, I take a lesson in the morning at 10:30am. Then break for lunch at noon.

(There is a cheap chinese eatery nearly directly across the road. They also serve protein shakes not on the menu.)

Back to the club at 2pm, it's a round robin group format. You play 5 or 6 matches. Because it's such a large club with several leagues, the level on Saturday afternoon is good, all are hardened and experienced players. Competition is ferocious. No match is easy. As I can easily see myself losing every match, I'm amazed sometimes I even manage to win any. After the round robin phase comes the single elimination phase. It all finishes around 7pm.

For example, last Saturday I played a total of 32 games (including 10 straight with a guy who wanted to learn my style and me, his). By this point, I've put in close to 7 hours. I'm tired and ready to book myself a long massage. Despite some lingering fatigue, the underlying fitness is there. I know I can recover in time for tomorrow morning's 90 minute three shirter.

On Sunday morning, I'm a bit stiff but after warming up, it's time to see if recalcitrant muscle memory can be bent a bit more until it yields. After the lesson, it's noon time and I've made special arrangements to play my 1600 nemesis, Zhu Min Ming (see earlier LATTA entry). I've never even managed to take a single game off her but she is kind enough to offer her number and say practice with me. Her consistency and control game is way ahead of mine and her long pips backhand isn't easy to handle. However, this time there is a titanic struggle with long rallies. No matter how many loops I bang in, she always has an answer. But somehow this time is different. I finally manage to prevail and come out 3-1 ahead.

I'm carrying my fortune cookie from last Sunday.

It's an epochal moment. I know I have passed some test.

(I have a sneaking suspicion she makes sure she is perennially underrated. She is almost at 1900 now and needs to start discounting again.)

At lunch, she calls me and says someone is waiting to play you.

It's like something out of an Indiana Jones movie or kungfu novel. It seems Zhu Min Ming has passed me onto challenge number 2. His name is Duc Loi, and he is over 60. Plays every day. Can chop away from the table. Can stay at the table and work you over with placement. His speciality is attacking with the long pips. He is rated over 2200. I am warned even 2400 players lose to him first time around. Of course, I lose 0-3. Like Zhu Min Ming before, he offers me his card and says call me to play when you are in town. I know he is a benchmark. 過三關 and all that. It's definitely like something out of a movie.

Appendix

One of the advantages of Los Angeles is that it is a big city with large ethnic populations. Population density makes for convenience. You can find everything within a 3 mile radius. The Monterey Park/San Gabriel "ghetto" is one such enclave. And local competition ensure low prices and high quality. It almost fully mitigates against the traffic, lack of green, open space and poor air quality that characterizes the area.

There are 3 table tennis clubs run by high level professionals within a mile or so of each other. I've never been to the others. The LATTA is the largest.

I have also established a routine here. I know where to go for what. I typically book the same hotel or another one. I trade off convenience against an oasis of green and quiet perched up on a hill. Either way, it's just five or ten minutes more.

Saturday morning, I go for dim sum before my 10:30am lesson.

Always at the same place (海寶潮粵海鮮酒家), they're open early. No queuing up. And more importantly, they always have my lotus seed paste buns (蓮蓉包) correctly configured with egg yolk. (I'm very particular about that.) And it's pretty good but not expensive. (Okay, whaddya expect, it's no match for 稻香.) Still, no reason to go anywhere else.

I always go to the same massage place (快樂按摩) straight from the club. I choose them because they have a shower so I can clean up first. $25/hr plus tip is the going rate around here.

I know where to go for cheap food. I have a favorite noodle place, a decent thai place. Even the $12.95 sushi place is unpretentious and the taste is fine. Back in town, they'd make a big deal about it. Here, it's just another place. (Okay, it's not Sushi Say (寿司清) Tsukiji main branch (築地本店) in Tokyo, but this is frickin' Southern California, whaddya expect?)

And for the observant, yes, that sign shows $9.99 for one hour foot massage. Amazing isn't it?

A tip of the iceberg

2011-08-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

This blog has always been about the non-work component of my life: e.g. marathon running, cycling or working out in general. Some topics are obviously terribly geeky and of limited general interest, e.g. table tennis or spherical panorama photography.

Recently, I've been mainly working and working out. On the work side, one of the things I sometimes do is write computer programs that implement (mainly scientific) theories that I'm interested in. In particular, I'm interested in theories of grammar. Note that I keep mentioning this word "interesting" again. I suppose I'm kinda lucky in that in some sense there is a component of my work that would also be a hobby of mine. The programming side does not necessarily stem from practicality: I simply enjoy making these theories become tangible. I am a professional computer programmer. But I like to think it's my hobby as well.

As with hobbies, let me quote Alan Parsons Project 's Limelight and say "maybe the prize is small," but the time and effort that goes into parts of a programming project is sometimes ridiculously disproportionate.

To illustrate this point, let's take a simple example. I'm currently rewriting a program maybe for the 4th or 5th time in its lifetime. I've gone from hosting the program initially on a Symbolics 3650 Lisp machine (with microcode assist for Prolog), then a Sun Sparc workstation, then Apple's Powerbook (PPC), and finally to a Macbook (Intel). (I apologize in advance for the super-geekiness in this post. In an attempt to not lose the plot, I've put the most dire and geekiest parts in separate paragraphs with small fonts.)

As an aside, the Symbolics machine (see here) provided a programming environment that is truly unequaled. How can you match a system that provided seamless full source clickability from your application, through the windowing and underlying operating system, all written in Lisp? Or a keyboard that provided Hyper, Super and Meta as well as a Control key?

The core of my program implementing the theory I was interested in hasn't changed very much apart from porting considerations. It's mostly written in Prolog, a logic programming language that is way past its heyday, plus bits in raw C for efficiency. (Remember, computers used to be so much slower.)

Over the years, I've had to port over various flavors and wrestle with differing foreign language interfaces, from Quintus (commercial), to SICS's Sicstus (semi-commercial, restrictions on runtime environments) finally to University of Amsterdam's SWI (freeware). Freeware at last! These days, I've also taken out the C bits for portability. As anyone can tell you, dynamic library linking is simply no fun when OS libraries are patched and released all the time.

The part of the program that has changed greatly has been the user interface component. Unfortunately, it has been completely rewritten from scratch a number of times. That came with the lack of standardization. The latest rewrite, the subject of this blog post, uses the Tcl/Tk toolkit with native Aqua Mac OS X support. Here is a sample of what it looks like now:

I'm a design minimalist at heart when it comes to user interfaces (as well as other things). I believe user interface complexity can be overwhelming; it's best hidden from view and enabled only when necessary to the task. Note that there is only one button visible ("clear trees"). In the relatively austere-looking window above, there are additional menus and detailed information hidden from view that can be displayed by clicking on or passing the mouse through relevant display objects. In this blog post, I'll concentrate on programming the behavior of a single detail, the blue sideways tab near the top-right of the window.

Tcl stands for Tool Control Language, a simple interpreted programming language. Tk is a graphical user interface toolkit that can be used with Tcl. In contrast to native toolkits from Microsoft or Apple, Tcl/Tk is multi-platform and well supported natively. Moreover, due to its interpreted nature, you don't need to recompile or relink your application each time you make changes. There are other viable choices, e.g. Java and Swing from Sun Microsystems (before it was bought out by Oracle), but Tcl/Tk has that spare minimalist look to its programs that appeals to me.

Initially, the user interface was written in Lisp, effortlessly borrowing the tree layout and mouse clickability facilities that came with the Symbolics programming environment to render syntax trees. Then it was onto the X Window System on Unix. Remember X11R3 and X11R4? The C-based XView libraries plus Slingshot extensions was supported by Sun Microsystems and implemented the OpenLook interface guidelines. X11 for Mac OS X allowed recompiled executables to run on the Mac. However, generational changes in the X11 libraries as Mac OS X morphed over the years resulted in niggling lost functionality in the best case and random core dumps in the worst. Moreover, it didn't mesh well with the arguably slicker native Mac OS X graphical user interface.

A menu of commands (useful mostly when starting up or quitting) is hidden under that blue tab.

As a design minimalist, I don't want those commands unnecessarily cluttering up the user interface or inconsistently taking up valuable screen real estate.

But if you mouse over that tab, the tab extends out a little to the left, and the command menu pops up as shown here.

However, when the program is first launched, this design minimalism results in a seriously over-sparse window. See below.

It's not terribly clear how to proceed or what to press. So, as a helpful hint, I thought it'd useful to automatically pop that menu up at launch, as if the tab had been manually "moused over", and the user can see he/she should select something intrinsically useful from the menu like "load defaults", which in turn will lead to more relevant interface components materializing.

It's not really necessary to explain in detail how this programming is accomplished. (See below.) It's the idea behind it that matters; in other words, that hinting at startup might be helpful and appreciated by the user.

The way to elegantly pop up the menu without writing much additional code is simply to simulate moving the pointer over the blue tab. User interface code is event-driven. Therefore, we write code that "binds" or associate actions with specified user interface events.

For example, if the pointer moves over the blue tab, a logical <Enter> event is generated. If we have previously associated the menu with <Enter> for that tab, the menu will pop up reactively to moving the mouse (or finger on the trackpad) to the right location. So at startup, we pretend that the user has moused over that tab simply by posting <Enter> blue tab to the event queue and letting the user interface code do its work.

For those curious, here's what it looks like in Tcl/Tk:

1. label .f.msg.tab -image tab_blue -width 23 -height 32
2. bind .f.msg.tab {popup_tab %X %Y}

Line 1 says .f.msg.tab is a label displaying the blue tab, and line 2 says we've bound popup_tab to an <Enter> blue tab event. In our startup code, we post the event virtually by simply saying:

event generate .f.msg.tab -x 10 -y 10

(x and y are the screen coordinates.)

We would have nothing further to say except that, unexpectedly, the obvious code doesn't work. In particular, not only the menu doesn't automagically pop up, worse still, it generates an incomprehensible and untraceable error as shown below:

$ wish interface.tcl
popup_tab 622 87
bgerror failed to handle background error.
Original error:
Error in bgerror: wrong # args: should be "text id"
^C

(Here, wish is the name of the program that interprets Tcl programs. And interface.tcl is the file that contains the source code that implements the graphical user interface shown earlier.)

Never mind about the aesthetics, programs that bomb out aren't acceptably user-friendly. Like the tipping point of an avalanche, this error generates a cascading fury of activity by the programmer that only ends when the dust has settled and a new equilibrium has been reached. Well, for the programmer the choice is simply to give up now or concentrate furiously - lest you lose that train of thought - and doggedly follow the chain of inquiry to its logical conclusion and eventual solution, at which point 10pm has somehow morphed into 4am or 5am accompanied by blurry eyes and stiff, aching shoulders.

(And that's of course if you're fortunate. If you're not, you're out one night's sleep and the problem still stands.)

I'd like to think it's not necessarily obsessive compulsive behavior, rather it's the nature of the beast that forces these debilitating all-night debugging sessions. Having been completely immersed in the details of chasing the bug down for hours, a lot of short-term memory has been committed to the task at hand. You can't just simply pull the plug or switch off in the middle of it all; it's remarkable how many of those details committed to short-term memory will vanish in the dark of the night. Next morning, you could be faced with the overhead of considerable detective work to retrace and piece together again the current half-analyzed state of the puzzle. You could try to write down everything you've done so far before going to bed (to explain things to tomorrow's you), but it's far easier just to get on with it and burn that midnight oil.

The hunt for an explanation and a solution

So how do we track this one down? Well, for a start we have to be reasonably sure we haven't made a mistake in the code. We first confirm, that without the virtual event, the menu does pop up reliably. From the Tk toolkit's perspective, it's desirable that there should be no semantic distinction between a simulated and an actual event.

This example I've chosen is not as trivial as one might expect. The ability to post virtual events as if they were truly real is an important and valuable feature for user interface toolkits. For example, this would allow demos to be easily built. And seeing is understanding sometimes. The program could automatically show the user how to perform certain actions.

Understanding the behavior

The first clue to the puzzling behavior comes when I instruct the program to delay posting the virtual event by a few seconds, and I click to bring the program's window to the foreground before the event is posted. Ee bah gum, the menu pops up without the error message! Unfortunately, I can't really always ask the user to foreground the window quickly at startup before the virtual event posts; if he/she could grok that, they probably wouldn't need or necessarily appreciate the menu hint in the first place. Saying this is a feature not a bug would also be a serious cop-out. We are better than that (I hope)!

Going to the documentation

The next step is to look at the Tk documentation for generating virtual events:

The last line provides the clue we need to gain traction in our inquiry. It states "Certain events, such as key events, require that the window has focus to receive the event properly." Of course, this doesn't match the error message we received: Error in bgerror: wrong # args: should be "text id". And "receiving the event properly" is kinda wishy-washy and not properly defined. Plus a mouse or pointer event isn't really the same thing as pressing a key on the keyboard. But an experienced programmer will smell blood immediately.

The reason why this is a good clue because the program works when we delay the virtual event and click first to foreground the window, thereby giving it focus.

Going to the comp.lang.tcl.mac mailing list

Okay, we need to be able to write code that forces focus to be assigned to our program window as soon as the process is started. If we can do this before the virtual event is posted, we'll have no error message. Unfortunately, despite perusing the Tk documentation frantically, there appears to be no way to force Mac OS X to do this. Do we give up? No, of course not. A good programmer instinctively knows someone out there must have encountered and bitched about this problem. It'll just require some efficient and judicious application of the right search terms to ferret out the discussion. Let's go to the web then.

In the dark days before graphical user interfaces, Safari browsers and the World Web Web, there was Usenet. People could post questions and issues to a hierarchy of newgroups, the contents of which would be asynchronously transmitted on the Arpanet from host to host. Given the limits of storage back then, a typical hosts would retain a few weeks or months of these sometimes valuable discussions. Nowadays of course, Google is your friend, and all these discussions have achieved immortality, being permanently stored and publically available to all and sundry.

comp.lang (computer languages) is a sub-node in this hierarchy, and comp.lang.tcl is a subgroup that deals specifically with the Tcl language. And comp.lang.tcl.mac is a subgroup that deals with Tcl on the Mac platform.

Our instincts are correct. Someone named Steven back in 2009 asked the following relevant question on comp.lang.tcl.mac:

And someone gave an authoritative and informative reply:

The informative reply requires a bit of decoding though. tclCarbonProcesses extensions and a teapot?

The first thing a good programmer would do would be to check if these extensions might already be available on his computer. After all, Mac OS X already occupies several gigabytes on his hard drive. Unfortunately, as the following dialog shows, it isn't.

$ wish
% package require tclCarbonProcesses
can't find package tclCarbonProcesses
% package names
ttk::theme::classic http tcl::tommath tcltest ttk::theme::default Ttk ttk::theme::aqua msgcat Tcl ttk::theme::clam platform tile Tk ttk::theme::alt

Not to worry, we'll just have to download and install this tclCarbonProcesses extension package.

tclCarbonProcesses extensions and a teapot

This is where things start to get a bit hairy. I didn't have luck with the repository teapot.activestate.com. However, there is a wikipage for tclCarbonProcesses.

But the web link provided is broken. But the file tclCarbonProcesses.tcl seems to be all there. So we have the source. And it's written in Tcl.

But wait a moment, this is no ordinary Tcl program. tclCarbonProcesses appears to be a Critcl wrapper for Mac OS X Process Manager services. So we need critcl first. And of course, it's not installed on our computer. And what in heaven's name is critcl anyway?

A critcl wrapper

More googling:

Critcl, which tclCarbonProcesses.tcl requires, is an acronym for Compiled Runtime in Tcl. Very cute. It allows C code to be inline embedded in Tcl. I have a vague uneasiness on many fronts about this, but having come this far, let's press on.

Let me briefly explain the source of my unease. The reason why I'm using the Tcl/Tk toolkit is to achieve platform independence. And I've also tried to eliminate linking in specific C code for portability reasons as well. tclCarbonProcesses.tcl is both platform-specific (Mac OS X) and apparently embeds C code. Moreover it appears a bit kludgy and might not be supported or work in future editions of Mac OS X.

Furthermore, it appears from the critcl manpage that critcl is supplied as a Starkit. And we need something called Tclkit in turn to install and run it.

Tclkit

Are you still with me here gentle reader? To recap, I need to download and install Tclkit because critcl needs it. And I need to install critcl because tclCarbonProcesses.tcl needs it. And I need the tclCarbonProcesses package because it allows me to set focus for my program window. And I need to set focus because Tcl needs it to support virtual events without raising a bgerror.

At this point, even a brave and intrepid programmer might think it's prudent to reassess the situation. After all, experience tells him there could easily be trouble getting any of Tclkit, critcl and tclCarbonProcesses to install and work properly. And none of them can be skipped or omitted: all of them are required in order to get the programmatic focus he so desires.

(The programmer has also started referring to himself in the third person, rather than the first. It's okay. He is feeling somewhat detached from the real world by this time.)

Moreover, the programmer ruefully rubs his chin and notes that even if all of the packages are installed and working properly, and his program manages to grab focus via a command, the error might still be there. After all, who is to say there is no difference between focus achieved manually (via a mouse click) or programmatically? This is not some utopian environment in which events, real or imaginary, get to live harmoniously together. It's the real world of imperfect computer programming languages and flakey windowing systems. In other words, there is no guarantee the fix will work anyway.

But it's getting late in this almost poker-like game where the stakes keep getting raised. He realizes there are far too many single points of failure in this scenario. But he is in too deep to back out. He has wasted hours already. Fully committed, it's all or nothing.

He finds there are two version of the binary executable tclkit for darwin (Mac OS X) floating around on the internet. He optimistically installs version 2.

$ ls tcl*
tclkit-darwin-univ-aqua 2 tclkit-darwin-univ-aqua.gz

$ mv tclkit-darwin-univ-aqua\ 2 tclkit
$ chmod +x tclkit
$ mv tclkit ~/bin

$ which tclkit
/Users/sandiway/bin/tclkit

Next, he find there are two versions of critcl, critcl.kit.sh and critcl2.kit.sh. He downloads both and tests critcl2.

$ sh critcl2.kit.sh -test
exec = /Users/sandiway/bin/tclkit
prog = /Users/sandiway/Downloads/critcl2.kit.sh

As the above test indicates, critcl2 seems to pass a simple self-test. So he tries to process tclCarbonProcesses.tcl using critcl2:

$ sh critcl2.kit.sh tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
critcl2.kit error: No compiler found

It throws up an error message saying "No compiler found". This is strange. Since critcl allows C code to be inline embedded in Tcl, it must be the C compiler that it can't find. And the C compiler of choice is gcc.

C Compiler gcc

The programmer is starting to question his own sanity at this point. Shurely shome mishtake? He knows he has used gcc on this machine before. How come it's no longer there?

He investigates this rather dubious situation using those two powerful Unix commands which and locate.

$ which gcc
$ locate gcc

WARNING: The locate database (/var/db/locate.database) does not exist.
To create the database, run the following command:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist

Please be aware that the database can take some time to generate; once
the database has been created, this message will no longer appear.

The command which turns up nothing so it's not in his executable path. locate is particularly unhelpful, claiming the hard drive needs to be indexed for it first to find things. The programmer demurs since he has a half-full 640GB hard drive in his laptop, and that would take a very long time indeed to index.

He finally sorta locates it in /Developer/usr/bin. And runs a simple check using the "-v" flag. Despite the verbiage reported below, he is not fooled by the self-test. In fact, he is genuinely and deeply troubled. He knows for a fact that he has installed Apple's Xcode and used gcc before. Why then has it stopped working?

$ /Developer/usr/bin/gcc -v
Using built-in specs.
Target: i686-apple-darwin10
Configured with: /var/tmp/gcc/gcc-5666.3~6/src/configure --disable-checking --enable-werror --prefix=/usr --mandir=/share/man --enable-languages=c,objc,c++,obj-c++ --program-transform-name=/^[cg][^.-]*$/s/$/-4.2/ --with-slibdir=/usr/lib --build=i686-apple-darwin10 --program-prefix=i686-apple-darwin10- --host=x86_64-apple-darwin10 --target=i686-apple-darwin10 --with-gxx-include-dir=/include/c++/4.2.1
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5666) (dot 3)

Again, he goes to the web. Yes! Someone has bitched about this exact problem.

Yes, just like the poor sod with the handle Lolmaniac, this programmer used to run Mac OS X 10.5 - codenamed Leopard - on this laptop. And like Lolmaniac, he had upgraded to 10.6 - aka Snow Leopard. So he needs now, in the middle of the night, to dig out his Snow Leopard installation dvd.

Snow Leopard

By the grace of some tremendous and most merciful deity, although he now longer can remember whether or what he had for dinner tonight, he remembers where he put his original Apple Snow Leopard disk.

Triumphantly, he inserts the dvd in his laptop drive, and half an hour and a few hundred megabytes later, Xcode for Snow Leopard, and therefore, gcc now live again on his computer. He notes with a disproportionate amount of satisfaction and glee that the which command now finds gcc on the most righteous path, i.e. in its anointed and proper location, the hallowed /usr/bin.

$ which gcc
/usr/bin/gcc

Update: well, the hit wasn't really just several hundred megabytes. Fact-checking the next day using du, I see that /Developer is 2.0 gigabytes large, though I confess to being unclear whether earlier versions remain or are included in that total...

$ du -s -h /Developer
2.0G /Developer

Plus of course, next day, Xcode wanted to download a 650MB update to all that..

Back to critcl

After that ~~several hundred megabyte~~ gigabyte sacrifice, the programmer returns to trying to run critcl on the tclCarbonProcesses package. The build fails and it crashes with an almightly thump of error messages.

$ sh critcl2.kit.sh -pkg tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
Target: universal-macosx
Source: tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
Tue Aug 09 02:59:51 MST 2011 - /Users/sandiway/Downloads/tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
gcc -c -arch i386 -arch ppc -isysroot $SDKROOT -mmacosx-version-min=$osxmin -DUSE_THREAD_ALLOC=1
-D_REENTRANT=1 -D_THREAD_SAFE=1 -DHAVE_PTHREAD_ATTR_SETSTACKSIZE=1 -DHAVE_READDIR_R=1
-DTCL_THREADS=1 -DUSE_TCL_STUBS -I/Users/sandiway/.critcl/universal-macosx -o /Users/sandiway/.critcl/universal-
macosx/v20_f082abebe39115d7e5eb1db8a2e0a5c9_pic.o /Users/sandiway/.critcl/universal-
macosx/v20_f082abebe39115d7e5eb1db8a2e0a5c9.c -O2 -DNDEBUG
cc1: error: missing argument to "-mmacosx-version-min="
cc1: error: missing argument to "-mmacosx-version-min="
lipo: can't figure out the architecture type of: /var/folders/G+/G+85fomYEnS8Eu68w9O4JU+++TI/-Tmp-//ccUVY2kt.out
ERROR while compiling code in /Users/sandiway/Downloads/tclCarbonProcesses.tcl:
child process exited abnormally

critcl build failed (/Users/sandiway/Downloads/tclCarbonProcesses.tcl)
Files left in /Users/sandiway/.critcl/universal-macosx

Normally, this single point of failure would end his efforts here tonight, but remember he downloaded two versions of critcl. He abandons critcl2, and fires up critcl version 1. Mercifully, it completes without emitting a single error message.

sh critcl.kit.sh -pkg tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
Source: tclCarbonProcesses.tcl
Library: tclCarbonProcesses.dylib
Package: /Users/sandiway/Downloads/lib/tclCarbonProcesses

As the above dialog indicates, he finally now has a dynamic link library called tclCarbonProcesses.dylib. This is pretty good news. He needs to test it though. But first, where should he put this library so the Tcl interpreter (wish) can automatically find and load it?

Diving through unfamiliar parts of the Tcl documentation, he finally locates the piece of information he is looking for in pkg_mkIndex, a Tcl command which he has never needed to invoke, and hopefully, never will.

The pkg_mkIndex documentation tells him there are four steps he must follow in order to make the Tcl command package require (that loads in optional packages) operate smoothly. But he is vastly experienced and not so easily sidetracked by wanton instructions (or so he believes). He finds the critical clue in the documentation of step 3:

It teases him like something terrible out of that bad Dan Brown novel "The DaVinci Code". In other words, it doesn't exactly tell him what he is looking for, but it tells him he can find out by inspecting the value of the Tcl variable $tcl_pkgPath:

$ wish
% puts $tcl_pkgPath
/System/Library/Frameworks/Tcl.framework/Versions/8.5/Resources/Scripts ~/Library/Tcl /Library/Tcl /System/Library/Tcl /System/Library/Tcl/8.5 ~/Library/Frameworks /Library/Frameworks /System/Library/Frameworks

Looking through the list of directories, and not wishing to customize any more than absolutely necessary, he settles for putting tclCarbonProcesses under ~/Library/Tcl:

$ pwd
/Users/sandiway/Downloads
$ cd lib/
$ ls
tclCarbonProcesses
$ mv tclCarbonProcesses/ ~/Library/Tcl/

And so it came to pass, the Tcl interpreter (wish) loaded tclCarbonProcesses when requested to do so, and it also managed to front the interpreter and assign it focus.

(You see, in the picture above the commands were entered using the Terminal window. Normally, the window you are interacting with, e.g. typing, will have focus. But notice that only the (blank) Wish window has colored decorations in the header. Those non-grayed decorations signals that it has focus.)

Hinting

The programmer decides to insert the setFrontProcess code into his graphical user interface program. The moment he has striven for through the long night has finally arrived. He fires up the program and it returns the same original stupid error message.

Undeterred, much like repeatedly wacking a misbehaving tv set that is on the fritz, he fires up the application again. And it works. And has continued to work ever since.

Now, gentle reader if you have made it so far, you must be wondering if it was all worth the trouble. Technically speaking, depending on how the application might be deployed - maybe not, but it affirmed this programmer that he still got what it takes. You see, during regular semester time, he plays professor and would never have a block of undistracted time large enough to tackle such a task.

西來寺

2011-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today, I visited Hsi Lai temple (西來寺), a Chinese-style Buddhist temple set on a hillside in Los Angeles.
(Official website is here.)

From the parking lot, up the steps flanked by stone lions to the Bodhisattva hall.

Photographs depict reality. However, a photographer knows that different lenses render reality differently. For example, to make straight lines appear straight, we sometimes sacrifice other aspects. There is not a one single lens that creates the best balance between foreground and background, detail vs. bokeh, flat vs. round. We need to choose a tool appropriate for what we what to emphasize or preserve.

For example, here is an exaggerated perspective shot of the Bodhisattva hall. Straight lines are straight at all costs. Perhaps then, a snail's eye view from the bottom of the stairs?

Stepping through Bodhisattva hall and on inside the main courtyard, there is much to see and contemplate.

For example, we can take advantage of selective focus and admire a mere detail:

Or step back to take in the layout of the main courtyard:

The same objects viewed from below.

or above:

How do you remember the ceramic lion and the stairs? From above or below? Which is foreground and which is background? Or do we need both pictures to appreciate the combination?

Selective focus nearly in silhouette mode:

Previous picture was of the handle of the brazier depicted on the right:

Is the detail better than the complete or whole object?
Does the head on the left need a body?

Not to be overly complicated, but I submit that a montage of orthogonal straight lines and details helps us better remember the main pagoda:

But is more always better? Is the following image one of order or disorder?

[This is called The Assembly at Vulture Peak (The Eighteen Arhats). 靈山勝會. Yes, I know there are only 14 visible in this picture.]

Does it project manageable or overwhelming complexity?

Before I lose sight of the purpose of my visit, one last try to refocus on the task at hand. I make a donation, light a single incense stick and pray.

Returning to the parking lot, I see that the window of my car is like a polished mirror in the strong California sunshine. My thoughts turn to the frivolous.

(As an aside, this shot requires manual override. The camera insists on autofocusing on the specks of dirt on my car window (up-close) and blurring the (faraway) gate. Manual focus was necessary.)

I wonder about things we take for granted. Such as, why do we accept and barely notice the inconvenience of images reversed in a mirror but not in a camera? (See that writing on the gate is reversed. But are you even conscious that your face is reversed in the mirror each morning?) Did you know the image on the camera sensor is actually formed upside down and back to front? And that the firmware remaps all the pixels inside the camera?

Unfortunately, I think the purpose of my visit is ruined. I'm left with more questions than I had at the beginning. I'm saying taking pictures and thinking about taking pictures are remarkable distractions.

Actually. no photography is allowed inside the buildings. Perhaps no photography or cellphones should be allowed anywhere in the temple complex.

So you see I need to go again tomorrow. And leave the camera in the car. My heart is not calm enough. I need a mind clear of petty distractions.

Hsi Lai temple is dazzling and its elaborate ornamentation presents a mighty challenge and trap to those with overly busy minds such as myself. Can we see past the distractions and achieve peace and simple contemplation of the soul? Only tomorrow may tell.

Postscript: I visited the temple again on Monday afternoon as promised. It was nearly empty, in contrast to the crowds and noise of Sunday. (It may not be apparent that it was quite crowded on Sunday on the basis of my pictures above.) However, absent of noise, the temple presents a very different personality, and is very relaxing to visit. I spent a most pleasant hour there in tune with my thoughts.

Bicycle pornography

2011-07-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today, on the request of an old friend, I dropped by a local bike shop to "check out" a saddle he was interested in.

The location (separate from the regular bike shop) doesn't look like much, and the only clue to its purpose is that Mini I that I saw parked outside, but inside it's probably one of the top places in the United States for high-end bicycle equipment, aka bike porn.

This is what my friend was interested in. A POP saddle made of carbon fiber weighing just 60.4g:

Price was a very reasonable (to me) $300.

Now, if you think $300 is not unreasonable for an uncomfortable-looking unpadded bicycle seat, you're probably a bike weenie like me who knows that the price and weight of these things scale inversely.
In the interests of full disclosure, I used to ride this 145g (and another even lighter 99g) Selle Italia Flite carbon fiber saddle shown below (until both of them cracked under my own weight).

(I had even completed a 600 km brevet in 24 hours on it and remember declaring afterwards that it the most comfortable saddle I'd ever ridden because it was smooth and didn't snag on bicycle shorts or cause chafing.)

But that was a decade ago. And time has moved on. Saddles are lighter and more flexible. (And my butt has forced me to move onto 150g padded saddles.)

Bicycles are also a lot lighter and more expensive than they were a decade ago. I was told the bike below costs $24,000.

Might look like it's nothing but this is a state-of-the-art modern bicycle. The aficionado will recognize it's something special as soon as they pick it up with one hand.

Crumpton custom carbon-fiber frame. Custom glued-up carbon stem and bars (not bolted). Trick THM Scapula carbon fork with front brake hidden inside the fork legs (see that brake cable sneaking into the right fork blade). THM rear carbon brake. Shimano Dura Ace Di2 (electronic) shifting (see the battery pack peeking out from under the bottom bracket). Low profile tubular wheels. (Old school) Aerolite pedals. It has a carbon saddle as well (not visible in above picture). Probably takes at least a year to source, order and build everything from scratch. It weighs about 10lbs and probably isn't a noodle. I tried squeezing the frame tubes and they didn't seem fragile like an aluminum soda can. (A decade ago, that kind of weight was utterly unattainable.)
(I was told the bike behind it with ENVE clincher wheels weighs 12lbs. Also unattainable a decade ago.)

There you go. A brief glimpse of bike porn, and illegal for use in the Tour de France (way too light).

San Diego Memories

2011-07-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

In the Southwestern United States, needless to say, distances are large. For example, although Arizona and California are neighboring states, sometimes you have to drive all day to reach the nearest major city. Case in point, San Diego at 410 miles away (via interstates 10 and 8) is considered to be "fairly local" to Tucson in the sense people don't think too much about hopping in a car and spending a weekend there. (San Francisco and Northern California, however, are not within sensible driving range.)

Or one could also hop on a bicycle to really appreciate the true vastness of this country...

However, up until a couple of months ago, I'd never done the so-called "local" 6 hour drive from Tucson.

Of course, one reason to escape Arizona is that San Diego has a coastline and thus an ideal temperate climate. Despite the stark beauty of the Sonoran desert and its sometimes dramatic mountains, San Diego can be quite a relief from the harshness of the desert in summer. Here is a view of the city of San Diego from Coronado island on a cloudy day in May.

I took this picture (click the picture itself to enlarge) because I saw those cyclists enjoying the view and a chat on a Sunday ride. That idyllic image resonated strongly with me. In particular, it triggered memories of the previous time I was in San Diego and one of the main reasons why I began blogging.

Back in the summer of 2007, I joined the Pac Tour Elite Transcontinental Tour, which crossed the United States from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean in 17 days. I remember symbolically dipping my bicycle into the sea at Mission Bay, San Diego, marking the start of an epic journey. Back then, on the bike, I rode through the heat of the California and Arizona deserts from San Diego through Tucson AZ and onto Tybee Island, Georgia, nearly 3000 miles away.

Come 2011, during my cushy ride in a fully air-conditioned car with cooled seats, drink holders and snacks to hand, an impeccably smooth ride and nearly total environmental isolation from the sometimes 115F temperatures outside, I had a few quiet thoughts back to that summer of 2007.

Rueful of my lack of fitness as the years have passed, I noted I had ridden almost the same route (paralleling Interstate-8) on my bicycle from San Diego to Tucson (see the yellow Garmin GPS tracklog of my ride above), happily suffered the desert heat and climbs, probably because I didn't know how hard it was going to be. In fact, I think I might have actually ridden my bicycle on Interstate-8 itself for portions of that trip. Yep, I think I have gone more than slightly soft in my old age.

(You can see in the GPS tracklog below that the southwestern states are considerably larger than those in the southeast.)

2007 was a highly intense, emotional and private journey for me, my dad had passed away shortly beforehand. Short of miles, I rode myself into shape on that transcontinental. I stubbornly wouldn't give up on making the time cuts each day. In the end I was lucky and stubborn enough to make the Atlantic ocean under my own steam (so to speak) and qualify for RAAM.
(You can read my daily reports on my journey in earlier 2007 entries on this blog. Day 0 is here.)

My friend Jim Montgomery (pictured below) also generously helped me both at the beginning of that ride and picked me up at the finish when I could ride no more and didn't want to see a bike for a very long time.

(Taken a couple of days after my epic bike ride in a favorite Maryland seafood restaurant, you can also see the effects of 17 days of sun damage on me.)

Let me take this opportunity to briefly talk about my friend Jim. I should note here that Jim recently passed away in 2010 in sad circumstances. (He had a terrible last few years when he should have been enjoying his well-earned retirement and blue chip investments. (Jim introduced me to the Motley Fool.) With heart and liver problems, head injuries - sustained brain damage from a bicycle accident that precipitated a cascade of physical and mental health issues, it hardly seems that providence is a fair mistress.) But as I remember him from the early days at the White Clay Bicycle Club of Delaware to his trips out West in later years to visit me, Jim was a true Southern gentleman and always eager to help those he knew. I am proud that he called me friend. Rest in peace, Jim.

Okay, I've digressed quite far enough from the initial picture of those cyclists in this entry, but as I said earlier, despite few and far between visits, San Diego triggers many memories and deep emotions for me.

Zooming in on that pier, despite the unfavorably cloudy conditions, this picture of a man and his dog on a pedaling kayak is one of my all-time favorites bike-related pictures:

If you revisit the first picture in this blog entry, you'll see that also I marked out a tall building in the distance on the right, the Bayside Hilton. On a sunny day (more recent visit), this is the glorious view from that hotel.

(Coronado island is the strip of land in the distance. The convention center is to the right.)

Unfortunately, I never got around to running along the bayfront, which can be interpreted both as a good sign or bad I suppose - after all, weekend trips are supposed to be relaxing, but in recompense I did manage to significantly improve my freestyle technique using the embarrassingly strange-looking Finis swim snorkel (mounted rather wonkily, so it appears) at the hotel pool:

Just a few miles up the road are La Jolla and its cliffs. A total change of scenery from downtown San Diego or Coronado island. (Unfortunately, I didn't get as far as Del Mar this time, a very nice town that I enjoyed on a previous visit.) I visited the glider club perched on the rugged cliff tops there, and found parascenders in action.

Betraying my lack of knowledge of the area, I also ventured down a path in a gap between the cliffs.

(BTW, top right, that is an (inadvertantly captured) helicopter, not a defect in the image sensor of my Olympus E-P1.)

Here is the view of the surprisingly steep-looking cliffs from the beach below.

Apparently that beach is infamous. San Diego is full of surprises.

A half marathon

2011-05-17T18:03:00.001-07:00

I've been having a serious bit of trouble sleeping recently. I go to sleep at a decent hour but I wake up too early. And have trouble getting back to sleep. Maybe there are other factors involved, but being fairly desperate about the sleep issue, I decided to exhaust myself completely.

Being fit enough to run a marathon at any time was one of my baseline goals I've mentioned in a recent entry (see here). The training program for that was basically to run a couple of 10Ks a week, and occasionally substitute in a half marathon.

So I put my money where my mouth is. I went and tapped out a half marathon on the treadmill in the gym.

An hour before the run, I went and bought a new pair of Newton running shoes to replace the tired and worn existing pair that I have. Even on the treadmill, there is a lot of pounding to 13.2 miles (21.1 km). So I figured I could do with fresh shoes. They didn't have my size in stock, so I bought a lower end shoe in the right size. It's the Sir Isaac neutral guidance trainer. There is a psychologically significant difference in weight (247g vs. 316g for each shoe) between this and their race shoe.

(See picture of me checking my download in the changing room after the run towards the end of this entry to see the shoe.)

I usually run using my iPod 6g Nano with music and the Nike+ attachment to record the mileage. (See details in a previous blog entry here.) It has a special half marathon mode. Bit like the marathon mode, it counts up the miles completed until halfway, and then counts down the miles remaining in the second half.

The special mode gives a small psychological boost and provides a little extra motivation to complete the workout. Stopping the workout would mean aborting the electronic countdown. And that's not cool. Hang in there baby!

Here are the stats from the screen.

Yes, that an hour forty-five on the treadmill for nearly 1500 kcal burned. I also use the special Polar Wearlink HR strap to enable the 6g Nano to record my heart rate (HR).

For graphing, I used the basic technique described here (enable disk mode and drill down) to extract the raw data and plot it in Excel.

Step 1: Access raw XML data

<extendedDataList>
  <extendedData dataType="distance" intervalType="time" intervalUnit="s" intervalValue="10">
    ..comma-delimited list of distance values in km..
  </extendedData>
  <extendedData dataType="speed" intervalType="time" intervalUnit="s" intervalValue="10">
    ..comma-delimited list of speed values in km/hr..
  </extendedData>
  <extendedData dataType="heartRate" intervalType="time" intervalUnit="s" intervalValue="10">
    ..comma-delimited list of HR values in bpm..
  </extendedData>
</extendedDataList>

With the Polar Wearlink+ HR monitor active, HR is also recorded simultaneously with footpod data: in fact, the current values for three pieces of data - distance, speed and heart rate - are recorded by the 6g Nano every 10 seconds and stored in the xml file.

Step 2: Import data into Excel

Step 3: Scatter plot

Only real difference from the results shown in that earlier post is that I've used a scatter plot with HR and speed on different vertical axes (primary and secondary).

As you can see my HR steadily increased the whole way, despite sipping water every five minutes. I ended up downing two bottles of water (1 liter) and one gatorade (20 oz).

For those of you who are familiar with my blog, you can probably tell I err a bit towards the analytical side. I love instrumentation.

There is a discrepancy between the treadmill and the sensor I feel compelled to point out. In particular, speed-wise, I believe the Nike+ sensor gave me more credit than I deserved. I only set the treadmill speed to a rather wimpy 7.0 mph. But it gave me 12 km/hr credit. So either the treadmill is pessimistic or the Nike+ sensor is optimistic. As I said, I believe it's the latter case.

Well, I'm happy I managed to stay on the treadmill that long to complete the half marathon workout. But, as they say, the sixty-four thousand dollar question is: did I sleep well that night? Unfortunately, the answer was no.

Oh well, I guess I should trusted the treadmill not the sensor and run that extra kilometer more...

Shenzhen Ping Pong: LATTA

2011-05-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Travel by itself can be cathartic, bringing about a genuine realignment in perspective.

I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream...

One of the things that can make us better and more accomplished human beings is a sense of passion, and an accompanying desire to succeed. As with life and perhaps so with athletic goals.

It can start with a simple dream, a realizable goal and the determination to make it happen. On one hand, having a concrete goal allow us to set milestones along the way and measure out progress. On the other hand, despite the application of plenty of sweat and fitness, goals can remain tantalizingly out of reach and lead to pent-up feelings of frustration when things aren't working out right.

With respect to catharsis, it has been said that it is the human soul that is purged of its excessive passions. Experiencing these moments could be a good thing.

It's a good seven hour drive from Tucson to the Los Angeles Table Tennis Association (LATTA), a straight shot on Interstate 10 heading west all the way out to the Pacific ocean. I took the opportunity to use up a furlough day. Loaded the car up with a couple of boxes of water and gatorade. Throw in my gym bag and an extra bag full of ping pong clothing. I'm gonna focus on eat, sleep and play ping pong, nothing else I need to bring along. Plug the iPod into the car stereo. Turn up the volume. Set the cruise control and satnav. Relax. Seven hours each way is a lot of time for the brain to unwind and reorganize.

The LATTA is the largest table tennis club in LA with professional coaches. Like many marginal sports, at first glance, the facility is nothing much to look at. One could easily pass by and not notice it. Simple signage leads to a warehouse facility.

Hmm, I guess I can do better than that. Here is a photo at sunset when people are actually present at the club.

Inside, we have high ceilings, quality table tennis tables, barriered areas, and a professional (red) rubber floor.

I have to say the lighting is not quite as good as it might be, perhaps I'm spoiled at my ping pong palace with indirect lighting. Also, most courts there are not individually barriered. But the last point/feature about the floor is important to me. Playing on concrete is simply really tough on joints. And concrete and other surfaces (even wood) can be slippery unless kept very clean. But putting aside facilities, the single most important fact is simply there are lots of good players who frequent the club. And that's why I'm here.

Catharsis

Anyway back to the theme of this blog entry, this rather unassuming but friendly and generous lady is Zhu Min Ming, originally from Guangzhou. She told me she is rated around 1600. She beat me 2-0 first day I arrived. I figured perhaps I was a little tired after a seven hour drive plus taking two hours of coaching.

Well, by last day, when I thought I was pretty grooved in, although I had my moments, she beat me 2-0 again deservedly.

And when she told me I was playing 1700 level, maybe at most 1800, it was definitely a cathartic moment. To learn to win one has first to learn to handle one's weaknesses. To learn to handle one's weaknesses one first has to learn how to lose.

( I'm sure I'll eventually get used to her close-to-the-table game with smooth rubber on one side and semi-long pips on the other.)

Equipment

I also got the opportunity to meet Hideo (from Orange County) in person. He came on Saturday to play the Round Robin at LATTA.

Hideo frequents the same online ping pong forum as me and was kind enough to mail me one of his modified paddles to test last month. (See below.)

Despite its compact appearance, the grip is similar to my thumbgrip-modified SuperCPen in feel (see here). However, due to the wood used in the construction of the handle, it's significantly heavier and slower than my modified SuperCPen.

Coaching

And now to the main purpose of my LATTA sojourn, although one can theoretically get coaching from any professional, I've always wanted to get coaching from a top-level penholder who understands the reverse penhold backhand.

Crystal Huang (rated 2460), who runs the LATTA, is a former member of the US Table Tennis team; in fact, she represented the USA at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Since she is an expert penholder, I've been taking lessons on the penhold style from her.

Given I'm in the progress of overhauling my game completely (from my previous one-sided traditional penhold technique), I'm kinda retooling from scratch, and therefore need to learn to lose not just all the old bad habits, but need to learn to lose by bravely adopting the weaker but theoretically better strokes in matches - at the cost of losing matches I could have won using unfortunately well grooved-in but theoretically inferior strokes. In other words, accept short-term total humiliation with the prospect (possibly unrealized and unguaranteed) of better things to come. I admit this has been hard. That is why creating the necessary conditions for catharsis is required in order to break that logjam. Thank you Zhu Min Ming!

As the beginning of this post states, I'm just a dreamer and you are just a dream... Forever dreaming only if I could work out how to move, stay balanced and hit a decent forehand... Well, dreaming is free but lessons are not. Onto the videos...

Video Clips

[Seems strange, I lost my earlier edits to this post.]

As I've mentioned in earlier posts on the topic, my forehand is one of those strokes I've had fundamental problems with but have always wanted to fix. On the one hand, my forehand loop is powerful (for my level) and wins me many points. On the other hand, it needs to be abandoned totally and radically restructured if I am to make any progress. The following warm-up with Crystal Huang illustrates many of the problems I have with the stroke.

Link here

More sample video clips to follow...

Messi Magic

2011-04-27T14:51:00.001-07:00

A different kind of blog entry today. If you'll indulge me a few moments of your time, I'd like to tell you something about myself and my origins in a roundabout way.

The setting below is No Anchovies, a place I've never eaten at (and have no intention of ever doing so). Today I happened to pass by between lunch and a haircut. I'm standing just outside totally transfixed. (This picture was taken from my vantage point using my iPhone.)

The event is the Champions League semi-final, 1st leg. A monumental game between two powerhouses and storied rivals, Barcelona (Barca) and Real Madrid.

You see, I used to be a huge football fan, more colloquially termed footie fan.

Since I was born and raised in England, as with most of the world, I use the word "football" to mean association football, the most popular game on the planet, not the local north american game. In the United States to avoid confusion, it is called soccer, an abbreviation of the word association, which serves to distinguish the so-called "beautiful game" of skill from gladiatorial american football.

The spiritual home of football is England, indeed the modern rules of the game were codified there in the 1850s, and Wembley stadium in London is arguably its cathedral. Of course, England is not really very good at football anymore. And actually games involving kicking a ball around date several thousand of years back to China.

Anyway, even outside No Anchovies, nearly 6000 miles distant from the stadium in Cataluña (Spain), with the match poised at 0-0 at the beginning of the 2nd half, it was clear the atmosphere was absolutely electric and the tension palpable. It brought sweet childhood memories back to me.

Returning to the Champions League match, the match was ill-tempered and the antics theatrical. I was riveted to the spot. I sensed I was about to witness history being made. Although it was 0-0, I felt something had to give, something had to break. And, lo and behold! - the white shirts of Real Madrid cracked first under extreme pressure, getting a player sent off. Now it was 10 against 11. Then the stage was set for the Argentine Lionel Messi, a footballing genius, to conjure up two moments of sheer beauty to sink Real Madrid and propel Barcelona forwards. He fashioned two goals from quite unlikely circumstances, thereby all but confirming the oft-held proposition that he is simply the best player in the most popular game in the world.

The winning team over the two legs gets to go to Wembley, England for the final, probably to face Manchester United, another storied team in the history of the modern game.

Manchester United is a team I'm rather familiar with since I happen to have been born and raised in Manchester, England. Due to circumstances beyond my control (to which I'll presently return), I am a (suffering) lifelong Manchester City fan. This is a team that has barely squeaked by, and has lived in the shadow of the many glories of its more illustrious neighbor in the city of Manchester. (In other words, Man City haven't been able to win a damn thing for many a decade. Not only that, they have barely avoided relegation to lower divisions more times than I care to remember.) Its supporters are a pretty sad bunch too. Not only is the team unsuccessful, as it turns out Man City supporters are pretty unsuccessful themselves as well. The average Man City fan has a substantially lower salary, a more beat-up car and lives in a much more humble home than supporters of other major football clubs in England.

It's not my fault though. When I was a mere schoolboy, I had this rather tall, handsome (Chinese) uncle in Manchester who drove a Triumph Stag and dated some (Scottish) blonde whom he eventually married. His only fault as far as I could tell was that he was a Manchester City fan. And coincidentally, in the late sixties and early seventies, it was a time of relative glory for Man City with iconic players like Francis Lee - who had a thundering penalty kick, defensive stalwarts like Mike Doyle and Mike Summerbee - an unorthodox dribbler and winger. Plus a larger-than-life manager called Malcolm Allison (who incidentally passed away recently) who began as Joe Mercer's assistant. These names won't mean anything to you, but in those heady days, they even managed to win an FA Cup. Though I feel compelled to point out, even at that stage (and this hurts) they weren't anything really compared to that other team, Man United.

My uncle took me every fortnight (two weeks: since teams play weekends home and away) to Man City games in his Triumph Stag - a rather flash Italian-designed sports car built by British Leyland. (I know, an unreliable convertible in rainy northern England, WTF?) Still, he always got good seats for me at the Maine Road stadium. Life was pretty good for an impressionable and innocent young lad. I was given a Man City scarf, and as fate would have it, I was completely indoctrinated and irretrievably hooked for life - sadly of course, to the wrong team in town. (Bastard.) Still, I've been a faithful Man City supporter since then through thick and thin. (Quite a lot of thick and thin actually, after the inexplicable decision to sell Frannie Lee to Derby County, the team went down the tubes and as far as I know never won anything again.) As any true football fan would know, loyalty is paramount, you stick by your team and the cards you are dealt. Switching allegiance to that other team, especially one as successful as Manchester United, smacks of fair weather fanship and just won't do.

Let me apologize at this juncture for being so long-winded, but there is a conclusion to this seemingly digressing story. The influence of my uncle extended more than merely condemning me to supporting a losing sports team for life. My uncle also unwittingly caused me to be named Sandiway. My father explained to me that my uncle had the same Chinese name as me. And that that name is transliterated into English as "David". A completely unacceptable state of affairs according to my dad.

My father said couldn't do anything about the Chinese name but he could do something about my English name. So he picked Sandiway. So where did Sandiway come from? See the excerpt from my birth certificate. It says Maternity Hospital, Sandiway Road. There you have it.

(Lest you think my dad had a penchant for unusual names, he named my sisters Jane and Grace, and my brother Ashton.)

P.S. Seems like my prediction of a Barcelona vs. Man United final at Wembley was correct. One week later, in the 2nd leg, Barca and Real drew 1-1, so Barca go through 3-1 on aggregate. In the other half, Man United beat Schalke 4-1, and 6-1 on aggregate. Barcelona are clear favorites of course, but still I'd love to be able to find a decent venue to watch the final live on May 28th.

Shenzhen Ping Pong: SuperCPen S

2011-04-27T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is the final installment of my series on experimenting with the SuperCPen concept.

Due to some morphological and possibly stroke-related issues with the SuperCPen handle width (56mm), I recently had a Butterfly Innerforce ZLC penhold blade re-converted into SuperCPen size S (44mm wide). The blade weighs 78g (without rubber).

I can report that the SuperCPen size S seems to fit my hand much better than the regular SuperCPen handle. Unlike the full width version, I can hold it comfortably for an extended amount of time. This could be because my hand is smaller than what the regular SuperCPen was designed for.

For relevant prior discussion, see previous blog post here

Anyhow, let's go to the video!

Link: here
(Thanks to Jeff Duan, practice partner.)

Compare the strokes above to the video clip in the prior post using the thumbgrip-modified SuperCPen (see link here. Can you detect a difference in the strokes?

Observations

Generally, I seem to cope better with the SuperCPen S than the full SuperCPen. However, I have noticed two tendencies which doesn't seem to forebode well:

I get index finger creep, i.e. my index finger seems to want to move up the handle as I play. This puts undue pressure on the first joint of the finger and causes some pain.
When I cock my wrist back for the reverse backhand, my wrist feels strained and occasionally it hurts when I execute the wrist flick.

None of these symptoms occur with the thumbgrip-modified SuperCPen that I have been using. It could be simply that I'm fighting the blade in the sense I want to adjust how I hold the handle rather than adjusting my stroke to suit how I hold the handle. I may need to go slow on the SuperCPen S if I am to avoid an overuse injury.

Shenzhen Ping Pong: Modified SuperCPen

2011-04-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to try innovative ideas. Recently, I have been experimenting with a SuperCPen handle for the penhold grip. As the picture shows, the handle is extremely wide (60mm).

Unfortunately, for various reasons I've been unable to get to "grips" - so to speak - with the SuperCPen grip (at least so far).

(See blog entry here for the details.)

With respect to the SuperCPen experiment, I had two paddles, a Butterfly Amultart and an Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, converted to the original 60mm wide grip. (I sent the Innerforce back a second time to be converted into SuperCPen S(small).)

I decide to reshape one of these, the Butterfly Amultart SuperCPen, back to a regular Chinese penhold handle but with a built-in or integral thumbgrip. As shown in the picture on the right, I accomplished this by removing part of the wide SuperCPen handle to accommodate the thumb. As the scale indicates, one welcome side effect is that the reshaped paddle is actually much lighter than the original handle because, despite appearances, the modified SuperCPen handle is actually lighter than the stock penhold handle.

I had initially tinkered with the idea of adding a thumbgrip for Chinese penhold by simply using a piece of wood epoxied to the stock handle.

The idea behind the thumbgrip is that it provides additional grip surface area and stability for executing reverse backhand strokes. In my opinion, it is an improvement on the standard Chinese penhold handle for those who want to use a non-traditional backhand stroke.

(See blog post here for the details.)

Here is how I hold the modified SuperCPen blade:

I use Tenergy 05 black on the forehand and Tenergy 05 FX red on the backhand.

How does it feel and play?

Well, it certainly feels pretty good in my opinion. The handle is extremely comfortable: the back of the SuperCPen is wide and flat and has a cork backing. My index finger can comfortably wrap around the front part of the handle. And the thumb has great support. The wrist can turn quite freely (nearly as freely as with a regular Chinese penhold handle). No morphological issues at all.

As to how it plays, well here is a video clip:

Link: here
Thanks to Moy Yu (practice partner on the far side of the table).

Back in the groove

2011-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Several thousand years ago, the Roman poet Juvenal wrote "orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano" from which we derive that now famous quote about a healthy mind in a healthy body.

For a variety of reasons, recently, I confess I have kinda let my body and fitness slide. This has become unacceptable. Not from reasons of vanity: it's not just about the physical, there is a mental cost component as well. Mentally, I've noticed I've slid a bit too.

Of course, we all know there is a strictly limited number of hours available in a week. So, one of these reasons is purely a resource limitation. It's easy to crowd out time for physical recovery. I should know as a cyclist who used to train systematically with a powermeter, getting stronger is a feature of recovery, not the actual workout. Spacing the workouts out appropriately is crucial.

Trying to recapture my halcyon New Jersey ping pong days of a decade or more ago, I've concluded I've gone a bit overboard. This has crowded out basic fitness. I find ping pong somewhat frantic and mentally challenging. I love a good challenge but it doesn't have that mind clearing, mental relaxation aspect that accompanies a good long run (or a steady bike climb up Mt Lemmon), where endorphins enhance and subtly flavor the rhythms of one's own body: for example, the flow of breathing while teasing up again and again against the anaerobic threshold, the sheer pleasure of the mechanics of footfall blending with a moving center of gravity. It all accelerates and relaxes at the same time, footfall eventually becoming so brief and light it almost blurs into the desert landscape. And before you know it, it's 10 kilometers or 10 miles. And you smile and you smile...

Rather than attempting to wax obscurely about that state of body and mind, it is time to get real, and review and renew my basic fitness vows, to ensure that baseline I have promised myself in the past I would make time for and maintain. Simply stated:

To be ready to run a marathon at any time.
When I first started running about 4 years ago, I achieved this standard in 3 months. I'm not talking about running a Boston qualifying time. I'm simply talking about the ability to smoothly run a marathon without injury in under 4 hours.
To be able to swim a mile.
When I spent a semester at the MIT Stata Center (see my off-blog entry here) back in 2007, I swam nearly every day there. With the friendly encouragement of the lifeguard, (I don't even remember his name except he was a bit on the large side with a somewhat unforgettable Boston Irish accent and demeanor), I achieved the mile mark briefly despite horrible swim mechanics, and the real fear of having to be fished out before being able to count up to 37 laps or whatever it took to surpass the so-called "swimmer's mile".
A third secret benchmark.
Maybe I'll expand on this in a later post, but for now allow me to leave it unclarified.

These are a set of actually rather modest minimal standards. Once achieved, they take little effort to maintain. Once let slip, they are hard to achieve, especially as life passes by. I have achieved the run and swim baselines before (but not at the same time). And if I don't get back to them, one day they'll be unachievable from scratch.

To be ready to run a marathon at any time

I've promised myself before that I'd run one marathon a year as a reality check and spur to not let myself slide.

However, it has been more than one year since I've run a marathon, see post here. I achieved the fitness to do 3:44:42 despite cramped and difficult training conditions. Basically, I ran a bunch of 10Ks in the gym and around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. So 10Ks, (crucially) doable in under an hour of spare time, can be the cornerstone of such a training program.

Yesterday, I ran a 7 miler with the running club at the university. See my Nike+ data below. Suffered some (as the heart rate stats indicate), some mild stirrings of rhythm latent, but by the end it felt good to be back on my feet again. I need to do this twice a week.

I've also done an hour occasionally on the treadmill when I am not able to run outside. It's not as nice as the outdoors, but not as bad as it sounds, especially with music playing over my iPod. And there's the opportunity to work on core muscles and upper body on the machines in the gym afterwards as part of the cooldown.

[I haven't said anything about weight yet. Obviously, weight is critical for running (it can be shown there is a direct effect) but not at the expenses of needed muscle mass. Before restarting my runs, I had been steadily losing muscle yet gaining weight despite trying to eat less. A kind of strange spiral and the wrong approach. With the metabolism rejuvenated through workouts, as of April 16th I'm down to a 18 month low of 68.7 kg (from 73 kg) with significantly better muscle tone. I hope my weight will eventually stabilize just under the 70kg mark.]

And occasionally, I need to substitute in a half-marathon weekend morning for one of these runs. Maybe once a month. A total of just 2 to 3 hours a week. I should be able to do make this happen.

To be able to swim a mile

To be honest, and probably to the casual reader's surprise, this one is a much more daunting prospect to me. Although my freestyle technique has improved since MIT 2007 (not difficult since it was so impoverished), I still get winded after swimming 50 or 100m, and I have to stop and catch my breath. It's strange that I can run a marathon without stopping but not swim more than 100m. I need to swim almost daily. And put in the laps (volume) to develop those swim muscles. Initially, perhaps just limited to 30 mins at a time. Again, the time commitment is small and I should be able to make it happen.

Since the university pool here has re-opened after refurbishment, I have lost my last excuse for not visiting the pool. Hmm, maybe I need a gadget (toy) incentive here. I have my eye on a lap counting swim watch. After all, my iPod Nano with Nike+ was reward to myself for getting out to run...

heaven from hell

2011-03-26T11:07:00.001-07:00

So, so you think you can tell?
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

[Fortune cookie I got today at dimsum: if you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.]

Shenzhen Ping Pong: SuperCPen

2011-03-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been tinkering with a traditional Chinese-style penhold blade to better support the reverse backhand I've been learning and practicing with. (See here and linked posts therein.)

Attempting to improve my reverse backhand further, basically, I took a regular Chinese penhold blade and epoxied a thumb grip for stability and power for the backhand loop and over-the-table backhand wrist open. (You can see the epoxied support in the picture to the right.)

Details of that experiment can be seen here. Initial indications were very encouraging.

SuperCPen is Dai Feng's idea. (See his website here.) He offers a more much professional-looking solution. And to my eyes, it's a considerably more labor-intensive and adventurous modification than my humble experiment.

He had mentioned to me that he had tried something like a thumb grip before, so I was very curious to see how far Dai Feng had taken the concept.

I was also intrigued about what his modification has to offer someone like me who has been training for the reverse backhand, but also occasionally use the traditional backhand. Moreover, although I don't have any grip problems with the forehand, an improvement there would always be welcome. So I ordered and sent him a brand-new Butterfly Amultart to modify.

[The traditional backhand still offers an advantage for certain common situations in game play. If the ball is looped to your forehand/backhand crossover point, if the incoming ball is a surprise, it's possible to react faster with a traditional block because there is no crossover point.]

I've never seen a paddle quite like it. (See the picture on the right.) Its sheer width and large surface area permits support for the thumb, and also allows maximum surface area contact with the index finger and the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and index finger.

It also cut a 10g off the blade weight; doesn't sound significant but percentage-wise, that's quite a change: 86g down to 76g.

The thumb achieves its support by rotating the blade in the hand until the thumb contacts the middle or centerline of the new handle. This re-angling of the blade makes the SuperCPen concept unique.

[To get an idea of how different: compare the placement of the thumb here with that of the first picture above.]

By comparing the SuperCPen picture above to the initial pictures below, you can see I've shaved away some material from the beveled top to provide a large, flat angled area for the thumb. (I've also removed a bit of material from the index finger side since I got a blister first time I played with the SuperCPen.)

In contrast to the beveled top, the reverse side is completely flat with a cork sheet glued for good grip.

Initial impressions? Well, I don't have any problems with the traditional Chinese grip. And my thumb modification already improved on that for the backhand, so I didn't expect that much more from the SuperCPen. But what about the forehand?

I've only had the SuperCPen for a weekend. I did some ball drills with it. And I played a few matches, switching back and forth between the SuperCPen and a traditional blade nearly every game. My impressions? It's early days yet but here you go:

Pluses:

It's definitely good for the reverse backhand stroke.
Stability is assured. Removing some of the beveled top surface seems to provide a flat thumb area seemed to improve it further. Compared to my thumb modification, the SuperCPen is as good (or better).
You gain leverage for power on both sides. Your wrist ends up further away from the blade. A bit like the effect of a longer handle.

Minuses:

Over the table backhand topspin/sidespin flick, the traditional block, and the reverse side small counterloop are definitely not as good.
The simple reason is that I cannot achieve the same rotation as easily with the wrist.
It could be a lack of wrist flexibility with the SuperCPen or the fact that the wrist rotation point is further away from the ball contact point: the "long lever" effect. You can easily test your wrist flexibility by closing the distance between your index finger and thumb to zero and then cocking the wrist back. And then check that against having the thumb and index finger further apart. There is a significant difference in my opinion.
Mitigating against this: let me point out there is a rudimentary video on Dai's website for the "wrist turn" backhand, and also documentation for a "control" grip.
As for the forehand loop, I found the SuperCPen a bit awkward. Grip was solid, but as I mentioned earlier, I don't have any grip problems with the regular Chinese-style blades. No net improvement felt.
Push. I found I had less control with the push due to the long-lever effect. I didn't experiment with switching to the control grip just for this shot.
Serve. Inferior experience due to less wrist flexibility with the SuperCPen.

I'd like to emphasize that some of these problems may go away with more playing time as I adjust to the angling imposed by blade. (Also, my wrist became fatigued after about an hour.)

[Clearly there is some adaptation involved. Initially, I was losing games against the (same) opponent with the SuperCPen that I was winning with a regular Chinese-style blade. Towards the end, I was able to win with it too but not to the same comfort level.]

For comparison, here is the SuperCPen and my modified blade side by side:

[Ignore the short pips rubber illustrated above. I don't use short pips. I loop with Tenergy 05.]

And my modified blade superimposed on to of the SuperCPen.

Update

I felt the grip was rather uncomfortable and I never got really used to it. So I converted the Amultart SuperCPen into a paddle equivalent to the thumbgrip Amultart shown earlier in this blog entry. Meanwhile, I sent Dai another new paddle, a Butterfly Innerforce ZLC to be modified into a SuperCPen.

After a week or two playing with the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen exclusively, I managed to hurt my index finger (bruise near tip and first joint pain). It eventually became too painful to stroke freely and overcompensation gave my wrist a bit of an overuse injury too. I stopped and went back to the thumbgrip-modified Amultart SuperCPen. Before stopping, I shaved the SuperCPen down to 50mm width to see if that helped. Unfortunately, I still had problems executing my strokes without pain. There could be morphological reasons for this.

For posterity, here is my last video with the SuperCPen executing the reverse backhand (in some pain):

The positioning of the fingers on the SuperCPen:

When I went back to my thumbgrip paddle, the index finger pain went away almost immediately, and the wrist felt under less strain.

At the time of writing, I am playing with the thumbgrip paddle (which plays conventionally but with better grip) and have sent the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen to be modified into a SuperCPen (size S) - which was not available at the beginning of this experiment. When my injury is healed, I will try the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen S. Meanwhile, I will try to re-discover and re-balance my strokes with the thumbgrip paddle.

Mons, Belgium

2011-03-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've posted anything about travel. Recently I went to Belgium for an academic conference.

What do you associate with Belgium?

For me, it's a close personal association with beer, chocolate and ping pong.

Well at least, the beer and chocolate are uncontroversial. There is plenty of evidence for these.

For example, in transit in Denver International Airport (DEN), I was immediately confronted with the New Belgian Hub visible below. Add in frites (French fries) and moules (mussels)? Pretty much case closed.

How about the ping pong? Well, on arrival at Brussels airport, I was heartened to find that these posters were very much in evidence. "Be a fan of skill," exhorts the poster. Absolument! Amen, brother.

As I mentioned earlier, I was there for a conference (on the topic of Language and Recursion as it happens). It was held at the University of Mons, bang in the middle of what seems to be a small town of around 30,000 inhabitants. (To compare, the University of Arizona has more students than that.) But even in this modest town there are 3 ping pong clubs. I visited CTT Ecurie Mons, which meets in a high school gym.

It is the middle club of three in terms of size in Mons. They field some 8 teams, with the top team in the Belgian national league (3rd division). Plus, more recently, one women's team. I hit for an hour with the guy on the left. His name is Guillaume. (He seems to be around the 2200-2300 USATT level.) Guy on the right is Laurent. He was the guy who responded to my attempts to contact someone over the internet.

No chance to play people like that where I live. So yes, due to its popularity, ping pong in Belgium can be pretty good even in a small place.

How about Mons itself? Well, it was just a 3 day conference, a short visit.

Let me offer the Grand Place (main square) by day (with the typically grey skies of Spring can you even spot it's 6pm?):

and the Grand Place by night:

At the conference reception inside l'Hôtel de Ville (aka the town hall), the big building in the above Grand-Place-by-day picture:

Let's take a closer look at the mural, which depicts a scene that seems familiar to me.

Once a year, there is a re-enactement of the St. George and the Dragon story in the Grand Place in Mons. Note I used the definite article here. Because I grew up in England, I thought this was an original English-only story. Perhaps the indefinite article would have been more appropriate. Apparently, St. George and the Dragon both might not be so English…

As for the conference? Well, it included all the (free) beer and wine you could drink while ruminating and attempting to think serious academic thoughts.

Seriously. I'm not kidding. All we had to do was flash our badges at the hotel bar. Talk about hospitality. Well then, who's a lucky monkey then?

Patting Le Singe de Mons (the monkey of Mons) on the head at the Hôtel de Ville with your left (has to be left) hand is said to bring good luck.

Finally, back at Brussels airport, the counterpart of the New Belgian Hub I began this post with in Denver, the Leffe Plaza Café

(All pictures taken with my Olympus E-P1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens.)

Shenzhen Ping Pong: reverse penhold paddle

2011-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

In this blog entry, I'd like to return to consider the topic of the penhold grip, first introduced here.

There are two basic styles of penhold blades: Chinese (round head, flared handle) and Japanese (rectangular head, built-up cork handle with a hook for the index finger). The Japanese blade favors a powerful forehand loop and the Chinese blade perhaps provides for a more flexible wrist in over the table play. Recently, there also has been some interest in developing blades that favor the reverse penhold backhand stroke. The picture on the right shows a penhold blade that I've modified for this very purpose.

Some background first. I've been blogging about the reverse penhold stroke for a while now: for example, see entries in December 2010, Feb 2010 and October 2009. The videos show that my reverse backhand stroke has evolved over the course of this time period (and is still evolving). Learning a brand-new backhand isn't easy, especially if you want the new reverse backhand to dominate and supercede the traditional backhand, a stroke developed over many years.

There are claims that new grip designs can make the reverse backhand stroke stronger and more consistent. For example, one can convert an existing blade, as in the SuperCPen design here), or build a blade from the ground up, as in the Gushi penhold blade (古氏直拍) (here).

Interested in improving my reverse backhand, I purchased a Gushi blade to see what the fuss was about.

It has an ingenious cut-out in the handle and an extension to the head to allow the thumb to rest comfortably horizontal with good support. Unfortunately, the Japanese-style blade weigh 106g (vs. about 86g for my current blade), and the blade itself is much slower than my preferred Butterfly Amultart. The extreme weight (for a penhold-style blade) meant I could only hit for about 10 minutes before fatigue set in. In short, I believe the Gushi cannot hold a candle to my Amultart blade; nevertheless I determined that its idea of supporting the length of the thumb had definite merit for grip stability, and consequently the power and reliability of the reverse backhand stroke. If only I could try an Amultart Gushi...

Someone suggested the possibility of epoxying a thumb grip (weighing 8g) to a regular penhold blade. Before modifying the rather expensive Amultart, I tried adding a rough thumb grip (sourced from wood scraps from a guitar maker) to an old Sword blade. However, the epoxy attachment wasn't secure, and thumb lever force made it fall off after about 10 mins of reverse backhand play. But the concept seemed sound.

I then took a Dremel tool to the thumb grip and reshaped it to custom contour it to the Amultart blade and the length of my thumb. And employed an excess of epoxy to fill in any gaps to make sure it could withstand thumb lever force. Result is shown below:

Front and back:

In the hand:

For me, the extra thumb grip is a definite enhancement to my Butterfly Amultart blade. It's early days yet with the modification, but I can feel my reverse backhand is considerably more stable, powerful and reliable.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Jiwu Duan and his guitar-maker friend for making this project possible!

A perfect ski lesson

2011-02-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

[On the right: Me making tracks in powder. Photo courtesy of Sasha.]

This is the third in a series of blog entries about cold and winter. (The other two are Onsen (温泉): the right way to do cold and Frozen in Tucson.)

At the very most charitable, I'd call myself a beginning intermediate skier. A friend of mine, Sasha, whom I've known for about 3 years, is an elite skier and coach.

With Sasha, I've run, biked, hiked (e.g. the Grand Canyon, see here), and swam but never before skied. The other day, I got the rare chance and good fortune to have her skiing with me and provide expert, one-on-one instruction and critique for most of a day. Needless to say, such opportunities don't come often, and I leapt at the chance. I must say, after her coaching, I truly don't remember how I managed to ski before. (Some might say what I did before hardly qualified to be called skiing anyway...)

The location? Sunrise Park Resort owned by the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Nearly 4 hours drive from Tucson or Phoenix. Lift ticket just under $50. My equipment rental was $25. My 4 hour lesson? Priceless.

It was a beautifully sunny day just below freezing with almost no wind, and an almost empty park the day after an arctic cold front had dumped lots of snow on this 9,200 ft (2800m base height) small resort. The highest of the three small peaks is at 11,100 ft (3400m). Seems like we had great conditions, I even managed my well-supervised first attempt at ungroomed (powder) in the picture above.

On the approach road to Sunrise Park Resort (panorama taken with my Olympus E-P1):

Click here for the panorama.

Things like leg extension to partially shift weight onto the uphill ski, feeling the effect from moving the center of mass, not to mention use of those previously-thought-useless appendages called arms and pole planting with only the wrist at leg extension time, are abstract concepts that have now been grounded in tactile feel. In other words, they have begun to have real import and meaning. From neither rhyme nor reason to a bit of both now...

Late afternoon photo at 10,700' (3260m). It was a really clear day (picture taken with my iPhone 3G):

The obligatory souvenir picture:

I survived and had a great day of instruction. Thanks Sasha!

Onsen (温泉): the right way to do cold

2011-02-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is the second in a series of three entries about cold and winter. Last post titled "Frozen in Tucson" (see here) got me thinking about how to do cold right.

I think the Japanese have gotten making the most of the cold of winter down to a science. For example, anyone who has been to a Japanese home in winter would be immediately struck about how inadequately insulated their homes are.

On the flipside of that, it's those draughts of cold air that makes the kotatsu (炬燵), a low, covered table that gently warms your legs (nowadays electrically-heated) while you're sipping hot tea a delightful counterpoint. In other words, you can't fully appreciate hot tea and a kotatsu unless your windows are draughty.

Another distinct charm of winter in Japan that one should not pass up is the onsen (温泉). The top picture in this blog entry is a detail of the hot spring water intake in a small but tastefully understated place in rural Japan. The water temperature is about 41C.

Picture-taking is normally not allowed, but since I was there alone and had the place to myself, I took the liberty of snapping a few pictures for posterity.

The larger picture below is a zoomed out view that shows the outside air (露天) bath. (There is also an indoors bath but why bother?)

It's snowing hard outside. The water is non-recirculated (unmixed) fresh (生) highly mineralized onsen water. It is relaxingly peaceful and calm. (No kids or noisy crowds like what you'd find at a large onsen place.)

In fact, nothing at all to disturb my viewing of the snowfall and of the valley beyond. You take in the cold winter air which invigorates your head while your body remains wonderfully warm. Can you imagine a better way to slowly unwind after a big day on the slopes or a half-marathon? I can't.

Frozen in Tucson

2011-02-04T06:55:00.001-08:00

An unusual sight in sunny Tucson, Arizona.

During the previous evening, temperatures had dipped to -7C during the night and it was still below freezing in mid-afternoon in bright sunshine when I snapped this shot. Nearly an ice sculpture.

Shenzhen Ping Pong: Li Jun at the Pacific club

2010-12-25T16:08:00.000-08:00

In this increasingly homogenized world, minority styles are at a premium. For example, it's really difficult to find good choppers to loop against. Therefore this winter break, I was grateful for the opportunity to hit with Li Jun (李君) at the Pacific club while visiting Shenzhen.

She is a high-level chopper with Friendship 802 short pips with thin sponge on the red side (backhand) and inverted on the black side (forehand). Having resided in Belgium for a while, she speaks English (some Flemish as well) and understands my Cantonese. (I don't speak Mandarin unfortunately.) She was also ladies singles champion while in Belgium.

The so-called Pacific club, is officially called the 友傳乒乓城. It is conveniently located near the Mix City (万象城) shopping area in Luo Hu (罗湖). However, people know it as the Pacific club because of the name of the building in which it resides.

It has excellent air-conditioning (necessary for humid and hot summers in Southern China) and a range of court sizes. The cost (aka table fee) for one of the larger individually barriered courts ranges from around 40 to 55 RMB an hour: actual price depending on peak/off-peak demand. Of course, a large court is needed for the chopping game. (For comparison, an individually barriered court at the Shenzhen Century South China Table Tennis Club (深圳市世纪南华乒乓球俱乐部) that I've blogged about previously costs from 20 to 38 RMB per hour.)

In addition to the table fee, one must pay the coaching fee. In the case of Li Jun, she charges 100 RMB per hour. A reasonable practice session would range from 90 minutes to 2.5 hours. One needs about 20 minutes to warm up. And then looping 4 or 5 baskets of balls will take up the rest of the 2 hours. You can do the math.

First, let's warm up the forehand.

(Direct link to the video here.)

And then, the reverse penhold backhand.

(Direct link to the video here.)

As to be expected, you can probably see that my reverse penhold stroke has evolved a bit since my previous posts on the topic. (I may take the opportunity to blog about the technical changes involved next time.)

Finally, we are ready to loop for an hour or two. First, looping on the forehand diagonal.

(Direct link to the video here.)

Some background is appropriate at this point. I first learned to loop with short pips a long time ago. Despite switching to inverted at 1900 level, and progressing to a pretty solid 2100 rating years ago, the underpinnings of that loop with all its warts visible here (which currently hold me back) can be traced back to my first short pips experience.

In short, I'm attempting to dump and re-tool my forehand loop. (Yes, I want to get rid of that same loop stroke that got me over 2000.) However, years of inappropriate reinforcement has meant that change has been particularly hard to come by without impacting power and spin in a major way. In particular, the ingrained timing and over-large backswing that I have developed has been a barrier to progress. It's gonna take a lot of effort to re-program my muscle memory. Looping against chop is an excellent way to overwrite that muscle memory.

So on this visit, my plan was to play Li Jun every other day. This gives sufficient recovery time and also time to review the recorded video, and think about stroke changes. Since her chop is pretty high level, one must be able to loop a pretty strong ball even to put it on the table, and definitely a very strong ball if it's to challenge her chop. So there always pressure on the the looper. And under pressure, I tend to revert to old habits that die hard. Still, one must swim against the current sometimes... in order to spawn something better...