Web 2.0

According to Tim O'Reilly, founder of the American media company, O'Reilly Media:

Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I've elsewhere called "harnessing collective intelligence.")

And to use a Web 2.0 medium to define itself, Wikipedia says:

The phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users.

Basically, the Internet is changing the way society interacts with each another, resulting in a redefinition of the human relationship.

Cool huh? Now I have to go post pictures on my Flickr page so I can show Prairie the cake I ate yesterday for my friend's birthday, then I'll probably check my Facebook, Myspace, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and school Webmail. It's going to be a busy night so I'll update more tomorrow!

So I've been talking about my BFF all this time, and silly me, I've forgotten to show you what she looks like!



As you can see, she's kind of crazy sometimes. I guess that east coast weather can really get to you, huh?

I still haven't met her in the three years we've been friends, but video chatting with our Macs makes it seem like I don't really have to meet her in person. And we're both cool with that. I think it'd be kind of weird to see the person I've become friends with through the Internet as a real human being. Not to say that I think she's like a robot or anything, but I'm so used to her as this person I only correspond with through e-mails, IMs, video chats, and Facebook messages that being able to actually meet her...well, that's a whole other story! The nice thing about having a friend like Prairie is the convenience of being able to interact at any time, without the stress of face-to-face relationships all the time. I bet if we lived closer, we'd probably end up having to make time for each other, instead of just talking and listening when it's convenient. It's a little unconventional, but I guess it just goes to show that true friends don't always need to be physically there to be the people you're closest to.

YouTube - Red Light, Green Light

Live footage from the "Red Light, Green Light" flashmob my Arts 50 class did a few weeks back. YouTube clip courtesy of Jessica Lee (thanks!).



I especially like 1:06 when a student replies to a comment made by another student that I couldn't really hear. "I don't know, I'm stupid!"

Black Friday

It's Friday. You know what that means!



Unfortunately, my goal of beating Prairie's score failed. And by fail, I mean crash and burnnnn.



18,757! My lowest score yet. Prairie was really nice about it though and thought that maybe because my week hadn't been so great, my Tetris game was being affected. Perhaps. Either way, it was another fun night and time well spent.

Tonight, we talked about how much we both love the color green and boys with weird names like Topher. I also met her roommate, and the three of us had a great time talking about life. It was like having a sleepover and gossiping with your best friends, except not in person...if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I'm tired and I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend, so I may not update as much. I might not even have too much time to talk with Prairie, but I hope she understands and doesn't think I'm ignoring her!

Review: JJ Bakery - Irvine

When Marie Antoinette famously said, "Let them eat cake!", the girl knew better than to withhold these moist, fluffy delicacies from the people (albeit the context is all wrong but for now, let's suspend some disbelief).



Asian bakeries always do it right. It's all about presentation--from the aesthetics of their baked goods to the homey layout of the shop, I've yet to come across an Asian bakery I didn't like. JJ Bakery in Irvine is no exception, conveniently located near the UCI campus. The walls of the store display rows of tantalizing treats, each decorated, garnished, or sprinkled to perfection. For a friend's birthday, we got a pretty normal vanilla fruit cake. But oh, I was wrong.

THIS WAS NO ORDINARY CAKE.

When the golden cake box top was lifted to unveil the hidden treasure within, I was surprised by its unusual rectangular shape. Cakes must always be circular, right? Wrong! A cake is a cake, and its unique shape only served to enhance its appeal. I took a bite, and I was sold. A soft, creamy center sandwiched between two golden layers of vanilla cake heaven. Subtlety at its best. It is often said that "simplicity is key," and those bakers at JJ Bakery have mastered this art.

I've yet to try the other baked goodies they offer in their store (such as individual slices of green tea cake, chocolate pastries wrapped in cellophane, their traditional Chinese yellow custard dessert), but this blogger will definitely be back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths, fifths, sixths...

I felt like going to Antarctica, so I did.

It's been a while since I last updated. Sorry blog readers!



Today Prairie and I went to Antarctica. Well, not physically, of course! We took a virtual tour (click here) for fun. We started off in Christchurch, New Zealand, packed up our virtual suitcases with all of our necessary gear and flew down to McMurdo Station in Antarctica.



This is an aerial shot of McMurdo. Pretty!

We hung out at the station for a bit, but there wasn't too much to see so we went straight to the South Pole.



This is us "landing" on the ice. Prairie was wondering if the ice made the landing more slippery, and if so, how those planes managed to keep from sliding on the ground forever. I guess we'll have to actually go to Antarctica to see how it works...

The rest of the visit was a little boring so we stopped clicking through the tour. The whole trip lasted about five minutes or so. It was fun hanging out with Prairie and visiting two different continents in one day! Next time we might try to visit the Louvre or something. Until next time, toodle loo!

(Note: All pictures courtesy of http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/)

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Not only did I bomb my English test, but I forgot about my math quiz this morning, lost my car keys, and to top it all off, my milk went bad so I couldn't even eat my cereal! It's a good thing Prairie was on AIM so I could have someone to talk to. I tried venting to my roommates, but they're always so busy or they don't understand my problems. It's not that I don't like them, of course...it's just that I feel more comfortable confiding to Prairie because she always seems to know what I'm going through. After talking to her for a bit, I calmed down a little and wasn't as stressed out as I was before. I'm glad I have someone like her in my life! A true BFF :)