Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of building the UI for a client program using Webkit. Access to all the CSS3 features has been great as well as completely liberating from the constraints of IE compatibility.

WebKit offers another great feature: the -webkit-transition property to animate transitions between different style declarations. One obvious application is fading an element in and out which requires a CSS property which I’ve long since relegated to the pile of “nice, but not so applicable” properties: “visibility.”

here’s an example:
.module {
visibility: hidden;
opacity: 0;
-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in;
}
.module.display {
visibility: visible;
opacity: 1;
}


Why not just use the display property? Because even if display is “none”, an absolutely positioned <div> will block click and other mouse events from being detected by elements below (in terms of z-index) the hidden <div>.

I used to work at the Chicken Kitchen in Miami (I think it later became Starr’s Chicken Grill or something). Most of the staff were Haitian or Guyanese immigrants. I was studying French in school at the time and my Haitian co-workers spoke creole. One co-worker, Franz, seemed to have a knack to seduce women. Hoping to pick his brain for secrets on how to sweet-talk a girl, I asked him for a sample of his persuasive prose. He produced the following for me on a scrap of notepaper:

C’est avec un coeur recuplis de joie et d’allegresse et que je propite aujourd’hui de vous dire quelque chose,

je t’aime mon amour,

et je t’adore,

parce que hier je t’aime aujourd’hui je t’adore demain se sera pour toujours pour toujours;

si je pourrais dis l’amour que j’avais dans mon coeur pour vous,

cette journee ne sera pas suffisante.

Thanks to Elie who commented on a previous post, I was introduced to Gdumb.com which uses the auto-suggest feature in the search bar as an indicator of some of the most ridiculous search queries you could imagine. Elie’s own post about it explores three partial queries: “Why is Israel…”, “Why are Jews…”, and “Aliyah is… .”  The results are very interesting and a transparent* indicator of the attitudes and questions that people have.

* As transparent as Google is.

This being a site about mixed identity, the next obvious extension was to try plugging in queries containing racial identifiers.

Before we jump whole hog into this, I think there are some things to consider:

1. Who’s queries are these? I have no idea from which regions Google takes its samples
2. Google censors its queries, so queries using racist epithets are censored from the auto-suggest
3. The questions about certain prejudices and what demeaning racial terms mean bolsters the observation that prejudices are really passed down, they are learned behaviors and attitudes

There are probably some more things that will bubble up eventually, but for now, here are the results:

Why are mixed…

Why are chinese people…

Why are black people…

Why are mexicans…

Why are jamaicans…

Why are australians…

Why are italians…

Why are vietnamese…

Why are koreans…

Why are french people…

Why are indians…

I’ve been playing violin in a Piazzolla cover band, Tango Negro (myspace, 無名小站), for just over 2 years now and have had to learn a whole set of new (and unusual) techniques for the violin. For those not familiar with Piazzolla’s music, the violin and other instruments have been assigned to provide atmospheric sound effects and percussion. It is difficult to find English-language literature or resources on these techniques, but some do exist as listed below.

Jeremy Cohen

The first violinist of the Quartet San Francisco became a tango fan and eventually was a violinist in “Forever Tango”, a show featuring tango. It was during this time that he picked up tango violin techniques from the Argentinian violinists in the show.

His extremely helpful series of videos are offered on his website, violinjazz.com.

Introduction

Chicharra – the “cricket” or scraping sound

Latigo – the whip-like glissando

Arrestre – bow acceleration into the downbeat

Strapatta – percussive attack at the upper-half of the bow

Triplet Pizzicato – pizzicato into the downbeat

Articulating – tips on articulation for tango

These videos helped me so much, thank you Jeremy!

Tambor

However, there was one major technique missing: the tambor (or tambour). The tambor is the drum-like rap which is produced by putting the fingernail of one finger on your left hand right next to the G string and then using your right hand to pull the string into the fingernail.

There was a helpful discussion on Violinist.com (check the answer by Popovici Alexandru) that got me started. Based on that discussion and watching a video (now removed from Youtube) of Piazzolla’s violinist, Fernando Suarez Paz, I was able to get close to the sound, but not consistently or easily. Tonight, after some experimentation, I realized the error of my ways and how to produce the sound more consistently and of the same tone that I’d been hearing in the recordings.

1. Place the third or fourth finger of your left hand between the G and D strings at around where the E flat would be on the neck
2. Pluck the G string with your right hand, making sure you pull the string towards the D string
3. The important thing here is that you don’t pluck too far from where your left hand’s finger is placed. The sweet spot I’m getting is about 2 and a half inches up the neck. Your mileage may vary.

Hope that helps somebody out there!

I’ve just spent an hour and a half upgrading to WordPress 2.9.1. Why did it take that long? Well, their database upgrade assigned the wrong collation to the fields in the database, rendering all the double-byte characters in my posts as ???. Very annoying and a pretty major oversite for such a widely adopted piece of software.

After searching around the WordPress Forums, I found this post which blames the Gengo plugin for these encoding problems: [Plugin: Gengo] characters showing as ?????.

What was the solution? Open up phpMyAdmin. and:

1. Change the collation for each table to “utf8_general_ci”

2. Change the collation of the offending fields to “utf8_general_ci”

It’s a pain, but it’ll solve the issue. Hopefully, the next WordPress version will solve this problem.

Working in a Taiwanese company has provided me with great insight into how things work here. I get to witness and participate in group decisions on a daily basis. On one hand it can be particularly frustrating because people are not forthcoming with their thoughts, or when they do say something, they try to say it in a way without rocking the boat. On the other hand, one can witness the deeply rooted attempts to maintain harmony at work: the principle of “不好意思” (bùhǎoyìsi). One example occurs daily at lunchtime, the question being “where should we eat lunch?”.

Then the following cycle occurs: one person makes a meek suggestion. Then the normal answer by the members of the group is “都可以啦” (dōu kěyǐ lā) which means “Yeah, sure, whatever.” My issue with this answer is that it carries no information concerning the person’s preference and does not help to bring the group closer to a decision.  In reality though, the real decision has subtly been made by whoever has chosen the direction that the group is walking in. As the group continues to walk in one direction, the choices for restaurants become fewer and fewer (some are full, others have been passed), until finally the decision has been made by somebody pointing out the obvious or making a safe suggestion based on the few remaining acceptable options.

While this way of decision-making is non-confrontational, do people really eat what they want to eat? Or does that really matter? After being here so long, I can feel that the harmony of the group is definitely more important socially than personal preferences, so much so that I feel like some significant part of my personality has faded away, relegated to the background like some embarrassing Halloween costume. I have become part of the “都可以啦” (dōu kěyǐ lā) crowd, conquered by the all-powerful “不好意思” (bùhǎoyìsi).

If I was to pick one thing that really hurts the image that Taiwan projects to foreign visitors, the one thing that sticks out above the lack of standardized romanization of Chinese, the relative lack of English and the general lack of organization and consistency, it would be the airport. In particular, the customs line for incoming foreign nationals.

Every time I come back to Taiwan from other countries, the airport really lets me down. Last night, as I came back from a short trip to Japan, I strolled up to the customs area and was once again shocked at the incredibly inefficient and unwelcoming way of handling incoming foreigners.

Where the locals got about 10 short lines, foreigners were herded into a snake-line. The difference? My Taiwanese workmates got through the line in about 10 minutes. It took me 45 minutes to get through customs. Why the different handling? I’m not sure, but compared to other international airports in East Asia, Taoyuan is almost laughably primitive. The new Korean airport in Incheon plans for large influxes of passengers, preparing a battalion of customs officers to handle the load. I think the longest I’ve waited to get through customs there was 3 minutes. Narita isn’t bad either, taking around 10 minutes to get through.

There’s a new terminal being built at Taoyuan, let’s hope the new building brings not just nicer digs but more importantly, a better process.

Being here for a few years, I’ve just attended what has to be at least my tenth wedding here in Taipei. Though each wedding has its nuances, just about every wedding I’ve attended save one has followed a simple formula. I’m writing this guide as a record for myself and also as a tip sheet for others who are less familiar with weddings here in Taipei.

I should first stress that I draw a distinction between weddings here in Taipei and weddings elsewhere around Taiwan (read: the south). Weddings down south are a whole other animal and I’ve only been to one so far. Even though the one I went to was pretty tame, from what I’ve heard, they can get wild and crazy (strippers, pole dancing) and are completely different from your average ceremony in Taipei. That’s another blog post and one I’m not “qualified” to write.

1. Arrival

OK, so you’ve received a wedding invite from a friend or colleague. If you can read Chinese, you’ll notice that it specifies a time to arrive. Nobody ever arrives on time. If it’s says the 入場 (entry) is 6:30pm, you don’t need to sit down until 7pm.

2. Hong Bao (“red envelopes” / cash)

How much do you give? (Many thanks to Sophie for her insight into how much to put in the hong bao) Well, this depends on five factors: whether or not you are going to attend the wedding, how close you are to the bride or groom, whether or not you are bringing your partner, where the banquet is being held and lucky / unlucky numbers.

First off, if you’re not going, but you’ve received an invitation, you should still give a hong bao. How much? Well, I’ve heard anywhere between 600 and 1200 NT. This may depend on the next factor: closeness.

Obviously the closer you are, the more you may be inclined (or expected) to give. My friends say 1200 NT for acquaintances, 2600 – 3200 NT for close friends.

If you bring somebody else, add at least 600 NT to what you plan to give.

If the banquet is held in a very expensive (or cheap) venue, be sure to factor that in to your gift as well, since this gift helps the bride and groom cover their costs.

Finally, as with any major milestone in a Taiwanese person’s life, superstition rules, so never give odd denominations (1300 NT, for example) and no amount containing a 4 (considered unlucky because it sounds like 死 (si3: death). As Sophie states in her comment, even the old go-to number 8 can be considered bad luck since it sounds like 別 (bie2: separation).

So, you’ve prepared the money, now who do you give it to? Well, you need to find the table at the front just before you walk in. One side will be the groom’s, the other the bride’s. Give it to the side that you have a relationship with. Write your name on the book (in Chinese or English) and grab some of those wedding photos / glamour shots that look like trading cards. You are set to walk in.

3. Sitting down / Short video sequence

If you’re a foreigner, it’s likely that they’ve arranged for someone to escort you to your table. Take a seat and within a few minutes, the room should darken and a video will be projected on the wall. This video (probably between 5-10 minutes long) will show, in chronological order, pictures of the about-to-be-wed couple: as kids, how they met, pictures of them during their courtship and finally, the present day.

4. Newlyweds entrance

After the video is over, the couple is ready to enter. You may be provided bubbles or those little plastic snap-pop things that spray a little confetti to “welcome” the lucky pair as they walk up the aisle between tables. The MC will introduce them, ask for applause and then the couple sit down.

5. Meal time

Once that formality is over, the real reason why everyone’s there is exposed: the 9 or 10 course meal. Make sure you pace yourself and take it easy. It’s a long meal and there is normally way too much food.

6. Dress Change #1 / Activity

About 15-20 minutes into the meal, the bride and groom will disappear and the bride will change into a totally new outfit. They make another grand entrance, everybody claps again and then turns their face back to their plate. Normally, entertainment of some sort happens at this point. First a short speech from the newlyweds, thanking their parents for all they’ve done for them, etc. and then perhaps a game, or some sort of activity where the bride and groom invite their single friends up to the stage for an embarrassing, awkward “chance” to meet other singles, or even a performance. I’ve seen couples sing songs at this point, and recently, the groom even brought his rock band on stage for a live two-song set. Whatever happens, the patrons may or may not watch, perhaps more interested in their meal.

7. Toast the bride and groom

Once the entertainment is over, the bridge and groom and both families go from table to table, toasting their guests. Most of the time, the groom is drinking grape juice, but I’ve been to a wedding where the groom drank anything and everything. This is usually not the case, as your average Taiwanese guy is a weak drinker. Be sure to fill your glass with the house wine that is on your table, stand and tip your glass to the newlyweds when they make it to your table. This marks the beginning of the end; it’s safe (and not rude) to leave after this point.

8. Dress Change #2 / Farewell

After all guests have been toasted, the bride and groom will disappear once more, the bride to change once again, this time into a gown to bid you farewell with. After they change, they will wait by the door to say goodbye, take photos and probably present guests with a small gift. This is your chance to congratulate the lucky couple and make your escape, if you’re able to even walk after the heavy meal.

Congratulations, you’ve survived a wedding in Taipei, with a full stomach and some grog in your belly. Any thoughts? Have I missed anything or gotten anything wrong? Let me know and I’ll update this post.

While in Kending during the last weekend of the Lunar New Year, I witnessed the boldest manifestation yet of that crudest and most-desperate species of the Taiwanese cock-block family: the Brokeback Attack.

Here’s the scenario:

There was a group of guys and girls dancing together, probably a high-school reunion or something. Some Filipino and African guys jump on the dance floor and start to rip it up. These guys are really enjoying themselves and start to dance with the Tai-girls. Not just dancing, but freaking. The guys are digging it, and the girls are enjoying it as well.

So, to protect the girls from the dirty and dangerous immigrant folk, or maybe to protect the girls from themselves and their intended harlotry, the Taiwanese males jump in to save the day, going where no man should go, namely in between the gyrating hips of the colored men and the local girls.

It happened over and over again. I suppose the sailors were used to it, because they played it cool, but the Taiwanese women looked more and more frustrated at their male counterparts. It really surprised me that the whole situation didn’t break down into a fight, because the Taiwanese males were unusually aggressive during the cock-blocking. In addition, the women’s reaction to the interruptions was quite telling: their friends’ “help” was really a good micro-representation of male-female relationships here: being a man is protecting and controlling your woman, who by extension can’t protect or control herself.

Well, I signed up for the Versions app beta and finally got it about a bit over a month ago. I installed it and then minutes later, I clicked it off, fired off an email to their feedback address and removed it from my dock, expecting never to use it again. You see, the problem was I couldn’t get it to work with my Site5 SVN setup. I received an email back from the beta team and now it’s working and back in my dock.

Version’s website mentions a feature: svn+ssh:// key pairs are unnecessary. However, the first time I tried to connect to my repository on Site5, I got an error message “Connection closed unexpectedly.” I tried many different login permutations, but nothing worked. And so I was resigned to looking into other more painful Mac SVN clients like SvnX.

The email today alerted me to newest beta update and so I downloaded the update and tried again. No beans. Following a tutorial on setting up SVN on Site5 I was still getting the same error. There was still no way to point to the private key I had set up. After re-reading the Versions website (I really hope some documentation is on the way), I realized I was going about it the wrong way. Assuming you’ve already setup SVN on your Site5 account, here’s the correct way to connect to your Site5 SVN repository without creating key pairs:

Location: svn+ssh://[Site5 username]@www.[domain name]/[path to repository]

Example: svn+ssh://username@www.versions.com/home/username/svn/project
Username: [Site5 username]

Password: [Site5 password]