Phil Huang

Category: Asides

Random things I feel like mentioning without having to write a full post.

  • Bridge to Nowhere

    I was watching the Vice Presidential debates tonight and wanted to mention a certain moment early in the debate. Biden was responding to Palin about healthcare and he blasted McCain’s plan for a $5,000 healthcare credit (that replaces an employer-paid $12,000 policy) and stomped it down as a “true bridge to nowhere”. Did you guys catch that? Even the live audience reacted to it. Man, I laughed out loud at a political debate for the first time ever. Wow, Biden freaking owned her with that. BOOM. Debate over.

  • The Office is Back

    Yay, my favorite show The Office is back with new episodes. The season premiere aired last night and I gotta say the writers have not lost their touch after the strike. It was very sharp and very funny as always.

  • NYTimes.com Double Click Dictionary Search

    I just discovered a feature on NYTimes.com that has apparently been there for well over a year. When I come across a difficult word, I usually want to look it up. So I double-click the word to highlight it quickly so I can copy-and-paste it. Well I just did that on an article at the New York Times website and it automatically opened a popup window with the definition of the word. I thought that was very nice functionality. It saved me time and it was exactly what I wanted to do – look up the word.

  • Economic Crisis

    Reading about everything that’s happening with the banks is kind of depressing. How the hell did the sh*t hit the fan so hard? The government just bailed out stinking AIG with a $85 billion loan. And all the pundits and experts think we haven’t seen the last of this crisis. When these companies mess up, we need to bail them out with taxpayer money? Or should the Fed keep printing more of our fiat currency, devalue the dollar, and cause inflation? This shows exactly why there needs to be regulation, because when they f*ck up this bad, it affects the whole economy. Deregulation? Free market principles? What the hell do you call the goverment buying up and controlling major financial institutions?

  • McCain and Palin are Just Talking Points (and Liars)

    It’s pretty ridiculous. All they do is spew rehearsed and preplanned talking points. And they lie. They lie like crazy about everything – their own records, Obama, everything. Every interview I’ve seen where the reporter challenged McCain or Palin, they start stuttering, stonewalling, they lie, or end up repeating the same talking points even if it doesn’t answer the question. When they hit something they haven’t rehearsed before, it’s like they don’t know what to do, because no one told them what to say in those situations.

    When you can’t articulate your own views and have to memorize things you’re told to say by political strategists, you’re not competent enough to be President or Vice President. I know Obama does the same thing, all politicians do, but at least when he’s thrown a curve ball, he answers with clarity and specifically addresses the actual question. That, to me, signifies a much greater level of intelligence, competence, and initiative.

  • EZPass Website User Interface is Horrible

    Man, who designs these crappy user interfaces for government websites? I’ve never seen a NY government website with a decent user interface. The EZPass account area is really bad. The design is really dated, the sections aren’t organized, and the links aren’t labelled well. It’s not intuitive at all – an interface is bad when you basically have to click every link to see where they go and hope you find what you’re looking for.

  • US Wins Gold in 4x100m Freestyle Relay

    Wow, what a race! Jason Lezak pulled off a miracle and overtook Alain Bernard of France. Damn, that was exciting.

    WATCH THE RACE (Requires Silverlight plugin)

    http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/swimming/news/story?id=3528865

  • People Like This Should Not Be Cops

    Critical Mass Bicyclist Assaulted by NYPD

    This video shows a completely unprovoked assault by a NYPD police officer. He purposedly tried to walk into the biker’s path (evidenced by his accelerating pace) even though the biker swerved to avoid him. I really can’t fathom what goes through the mind of people like this. Despicable.

  • My Next Vacation Spot

    World’s Most Beautiful Girls in Stockholm, Sweden

  • Federer Will Bounce Back

    Federer’s a champ – he’ll bounce back. The loss hit him pretty hard but don’t think he’s just going to lay down his racket. Just wait and see. It’s going to be very hard, what with all the points he needs to defend, but I really want to see him come back roaring and maintain his #1 ranking.