The Root of the Problem
When you have AIDS, your immune system gets so weak that you can die from the common cold. Would you consider the common cold as the cause of death?
When you have AIDS, your immune system gets so weak that you can die from the common cold. Would you consider the common cold as the cause of death?
Once in a while, I get pretty down. Things that don’t usually bother me, well, start bothering me. I don’t get excited about working to become a billionaire anymore. I get second doubts about things I’m confidant about. When it gets bad enough, I drop everything I’m doing and go for a run.
I stopped regular […]
I got accepted into the 2008 Google Summer of Code program! It’s a Google initiative to pay programmers to work on open source software projects. I’ll be updating my blog more this summer.
I will be writing a Ruby library to implement various algorithms and data structures so that they do not have to be re-implemented […]
Ralph Nader gave a fascinating talk at Emory tonight. He never mentioned his previous achievements, of which there are many, such as running for President four times (in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004) and writing the important book, Unsafe at Any Speed that led to a revolution in car safety. Instead, he dove right into […]
Kanwei Li
12/18/01
Mr. Funny Bones was already there. My buddies and I walked into the small, windowless classroom through the front door labeled “239”. The black, metal podium was in front of the standard-sized TV and VCR that belonged to the Math Office. Posters of World War I propaganda hung from the TV stand. Rolled up […]
When I first read the Michael Vick headlines on dogfighting, I really didn’t know why it was such a big deal. I thought of it like cockfighting, which is legal and popular in many countries.
Dogfighting is a felony in the United States. According to Wikipedia, it used to be legal back in the colonial […]
1. Stuff is expensive.
The US dollar isn’t doing so hot. I mentally multiply all prices in euros by 1.35 (by 2 in England) to get the dollar equivalent. Everything here (even wine!) is more expensive than in the US, save chocolate and specialty cheese.
2. People kiss a lot
You kiss everybody. On my first day at […]
I’m doing classified research in France. I’ll share what I can here, but do also check out the cool work that my fellow Emory students are doing as well.
My name is Kanwei and I’m an alcoholic.
Well, not really. Quite the opposite actually, but I’ll talk about that another day. I’m writing at 9pm from the […]
Updated 10/26/07
1999, Columbine. 2007, Virginia Tech.
Columbine is one of those events that can’t be forgotten. I was living and going to school in another country, and it affected me nontheless. It’s become a landmark in American history, a name that instantly conjures images of teenage violence. How could two teenagers kill so many in cold […]
One of my friends showed me this article titled Ten Ways Being a Geek Makes You More Attractive. It left me very confused. It compelled me to do the right thing: to debunk these crazy accusations.
1. You’re probably very smart.
This guy has obviously never been a geek. Intelligence isn’t attractive; muscles are. Knowing Pi to […]
A car suddenly comes to a screeching halt for absolutely no reason. Something hits it.
Driver: WTF WAS THAT??
Passenger: OMG IT MUST BE A GIANT FREAKING EAGLE LANDING ON YOUR CAR!
It’s a giant freaking eagle landing on the car.
Giant Freaking Eagle: HI MY NAME IS EAGLEMAN I’VE COME TO GIVE YOU A SWEET DEAL […]
I always knew there was something about Jim, my rowing buddy. Yup, I found out today. Jim’s a wagonsexual.
Having been rejected and friend-zoned by countless women throughout his life, he has realized that it was never his fault… for his destiny with a biped was not to be. But let’s let him do the introductions.
Little […]
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, Apple board member, former CEO of Sun Microsystems, multi-billionaire, nerd-hero, general badass and good friend of mine, made this joke at a conference:
Most blogs have precisely one reader—the blogger themself.
I think he was making fun of me. It’s not just a joke; it’s true most of the time. No one […]
I’m a sucker for crappy catchy pop songs. As long as everything rhymes and there’s a good melody, I’m good to go. Meaningful lyrics? Overrated. Talent? I’ve got that covered. The epitome of good music is something that makes you happy, gets you friends, (and lovers if you’re in the band), and makes you want […]
Well I’ll admit it, I check Facebook way too often, and I’m not the only one. Walking through the hallways between classes, I often take a quick glance at what people are doing at the computer kiosks. 65% of the time, it’s email. 30% of the time, it’s Facebook. The other 5% is someone trying […]
To kick off the new Chinese Year of the Pig, I’ve decided to post something on my site everyday for a year. Writing prevents me from being completely engulfed in my abstract world and helps me clarify my thoughts. You’re welcome to join me.
Probably my favorite quote of all time comes from the 30th President:
Nothing […]
I took an introductory class to Western philosophy last year. I did some research on the personal lives of some famous philosophers.
Immanuel Kant – Never married.
Friedrich Nietzsche – Never married.
René Descartes – Never married. Illegitimate daughter.
David Hume – Never married.
John Locke – Never married.
Thomas Aquinas – Never married.
Gottfried Leibniz – Never married.
Baruch Spinoza – Never […]
Stephen Hawking was once a coxswain for Oxford College. He was smart; he didn’t row.
I’m not so smart. I signed up for crew two years ago with no idea what I was getting into. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Enjoying mornings rowing on tranquil water? Check. Getting into the best shape […]
Not to brag or anything, but venerable Google ranks me as the #1 Kanwei on the Internet. So does Yahoo. And Ask.com. However, those uneducated misguided souls at Microsoft don’t. In fact, I’m not listed anywhere on their search engine. Just for that, I’m asking everyone to boycott MSN search. Seriously, do it for me. […]
UPDATE: I was 100% wrong on all my predictions. Wow.
Well damn, it’s time for the playoffs again. It seemed like just yesterday that the Red Sox were first in the AL East. They finished 3rd after the Yankees and Toronto. Anyways, on request of Grant Maki, here are my predictions:
Oakland vs. Minnesota
3-1, Minnesota advances. Minnesota […]
Why are college textbooks so expensive? Is it the premium, glossy paper and the hard cover? Is it to pay the distinguished authors who spend months researching and writing on their subjects? Maybe the fact that college students can afford anything?
I used to have no idea why, but after taking Microeconomics 101 last semester, now […]
I’ve been seeing a lot too many of these lately:
How could these silly sunglasses have possibly become so popular? Just about every “in” girl on campus dons a pair of these. When first designed, they were probably justly deemed ridiculous and were about to be thrown out when a teenage girl saw it and decided […]
Civilization is ridiculously addictive. Careers have been lost, relationships ended, hours disappeared, all because someone decided that with one more turn, they could crush the Greek in a quick display of tactical brilliance. An hour later, the same person is pondering how one turn became thirty, and looking over at the clock, realizes it’s way […]
Voter turnout in America is one of the lowest in first-world democratic countries. According to Wilson and DeIulio, 47.2% of the voting-age population voted and 63.4% of registered voters voted in the 1996-2001 elections1. Since a democracy is supposed to reflect the opinion of voters, low turnout can be seen as a problem. If less […]
I recently read an article about myspace.com, a very popular online personals site with over 45 million users. The article expresses concern over the safety of minors who might post their personal information and become exposed to predators.
I also received a letter this week from campus administrators who were worried that students might be posting […]
Superbowl XL was more like Superbowl XXBoring. The Seahawks looked like they were playing a scrimmage, wasting precious time in the final two minutes of both halves on 3 yard gains. Big Ben could learn a few moves from Tom Brady, such as how to throw a complete pass that’s not an interception. Also, Bill […]
In the society I live in, attracting the opposite sex is an important aspect of a young man’s life. There is great peer pressure to not only have a girlfriend, but to have her be hot as well. Since there are only so many hot girls, this is a problem for many guys.The obvious solution […]
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