Instructional hockey skating links

A friend of mine is starting to learn hockey and he asked me for tips on skating. Here's a nice collection of (free) links I found.

Forward stop
http://robbyglantz.com/forwardstop.html

Turning
http://www.sportskool.com/videos/turning (video)

Backwards skating
http://robbyglantz.com/backwardskating.html
http://www.sportskool.com/videos/backward-skating (video)

Transitions
http://robbyglantz.com/transitionmoves.html

Quick start
http://robbyglantz.com/quickstart.html

Videos on skating (general)
http://www.hockeyshot.com/articles.asp?id=231

If you're willing to spend money, get Robby Glantz's skating DVDs.

Link of the day: RescueTime

Lifehacker mentioned the computer usage tracking software RescueTime almost a year ago, but I didn't try RescueTime until now. [Note: The Lifehacker post is a little old so I recommend visiting the RescueTime website to see the current features.]

As long as you're not too worried about privacy or installing yet another application on your hard drive, RescueTime seems like a nice piece of software. It tracks what applications and web sites you're visiting, then transmit that information to a central data server where you can log in and see how you actually spend your time. It's sobering to see that you thought you did six hours of work, but actually only three. Of course, this doesn't work very well for off-computer time like updating my research notebooks.

In my first week of usage, RescueTime seems like a killer app and I recommend it. I'd like to write a more detailed post on RescueTime at some point (maybe a few weeks or months from now?)

Song of the day: "Superman" by Lazlo Bane

OK, I've decided that "A Little Respect" is one of the most annoying pop songs I've ever heard, up there with the Backstreet Boys.

Back to the song of the day, this one is the theme song for Scrubs. It was supposedly suggested by show star Zach Braff. He thought that one of the core theme of Scrubs is the fallibility of the characters.

"Superman" is much better than "A Little Respect." I think alternative music pays more attention to lyrics than pop. Is it me or is the reference to 405 from Los Angeles?

Out the door just in time
Head down the 405
Gotta meet the new boss by 8 am

The phone rings in the car
The wife is working hard
She's running late tonight again

Well
I know what I've been told
You gotta work to feed the soul
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

no

You've got your love online
You think you're doing fine
But you're just plugged into the wall

And that deck of tarot cards
Won't get you very far
There ain't no hand to break your fall

Well
I know what I've been told
You gotta know just when to fold
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

That's right
== harmonica solo ==

You've crossed the finish line
Won the race but lost your mind
Was it worth it after all

I need you here with me
Cause love is all we need
Just take a hold of the hand that breaks the fall

Well I know what I've been told
Gotta break free to break the mold
But I can't do this all on my own
No I can't do this all on my own
I know that I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

Someday we'll be together
Somedaaay
Someday we'll be together
Somedaaay
I'm no Superman

Song of the day: "A Little Respect" by Erasure

No particular reason for this song except that it played a major role in the story line of Scrubs episode "My Best Friend's Mistake." Scrubs is an awesome show -- a real pick-me-up for those low times, especially when you can't fall asleep. To be honest, when I listen to pop music, it's as filler, catchy background music.

I try to discover
A little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
Why you're making me work so hard

That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

And if I should falter
Would you open your arms out to me
We can make love not war
And live at peace in our hearts
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason
Could drive a man to forsake his lover

Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
You know you're making me work so hard

That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

A tale of two super brothers (sisters)

This is a tale of two brothers (sisters).

The two brothers (sisters) love each other very much. In fact, they share a house together. Ah, they live the American dream -- a house complete with a white picket fence and a "green" pipe for getting around (the siblings are environmentally conscious).


Notice that the house has the name of the older brother (sister) on it. Of course, Mario (qmechanic) is much more famous and important that his (her) younger sibling.


Mario (qmechanic), being the wiser and more mature brother (sister), frequently travels far from the house. When he (she) gets home, he (she) always sits down with bro (sis) Luigi to retell the adventure. This is one of the few times when Mario (qmechanic) talks more than his (her) brother (sister). When the siblings talk over the phone, Luigi is usually the loquacious one. To be fair, Luigi also goes on adventures, but the tales he (she) tells are so ridiculously exaggerated, who knows what happened? Just ask Luigi's partner, Blooey.


The house is decorated with white walls, as young Luigi favors a minimalistic scheme. The plant is probably not Enitsirk...


Note the bunk bed. Both brothers (sisters) enjoy sleeping. Their favorite lullaby is sung by Crazee Dayzee: "laaaa la la laa laa laa laaaa dink!" Though Mario (qmechanic) admits that Luigi's expensive gift of the sun clock also works very well.


As much as they love each other, they have the usual sibling rivalry. One day, Mario (qmechanic) found Luigi's diary.

First page:

Once again, my brother went on an exciting journey. Once again, he went alone. It's so unfair! I remember the carefree days when we played Golf and Tennis and had Parties. I remodeled the house and made a secret basement. My brother has no idea! It's the perfect place to write in you, my secret diary. I heard that a ghost appeared in Toad Town today. It was big, really big. And it had red eyes, a giant, gaping mouth and a mustache.

Second page:

..........Because you're my secret diary, I'll tell the truth: Yaaaah! I hate ghosts!! What will I do if it appears at night! Come back, Mario! I'm scared! Yikes! I can feel something behind me. Ahhh! I'm sure it's there, but I can't look back! No! No! Get away! I think I'll be safe if I don't freeze with fear. I'll just shut my eyes and take five steps back, and then I'll jump and dash into bed. Here I go!

Although Mario (qmechanic) used to beat up on his (her) brother (sister) when they were younger, Luigi secretly looks up to Mario (qmechanic).

In the later pages of the diary, Luigi writes of his (her) wish.


The wish had been written in pencil and subsequently erased, but the letters were still faintly legible.


Despite being ordinary plumbers (grad students) in their day jobs, they moonlight as superheroes. Hopefully, they will go on an adventure together in the near future!


Footnote: A few corrections are in order. Okay, we don't live in a house together yet, but we have thought about it. Despite the picture, qmechanic is actually taller than her sister. Also, qmnechanic's sister says she prefers red over green. It is true that qmechanic's sister lacks coordination. Remember all the times her character fell into a pit or into water while playing Thousand Year Door?

And just kidding about the diary. But wait... qmechanic better check the floor boards...

Amateur computation

I finally got around to reading Brian Hayes's essay "Calculemus!" from the American Scientist. The essay and many of Hayes's other works are available on bit-player.org.

Hayes talks about making computation more accessible to laypeople so the average computer user can do "inquisitive computing." He gives some examples of inquisitive computing from mathematics, for instance, perfect medians. A positive integer m is a perfect median if it satisfies the equality 1 + 2 +... + m-1 = m+1 + m+2 + ... N for some number N.

Inquisitive computing is a cool idea. I have often thought about becoming a better programmer by challenging myself with little problems. I don't have the kind of personality to work on mathematical puzzles, but I would like to learn enough so I can write scripts to solve tedious everyday problems. For example, a week ago, I wanted to import my calendar file to Yahoo. The support staff at Yahoo told me that in order to safely import my 16,000 line CSV file, I should divide it into 1000 line chunks. If I hadn't been so lazy, I should have written a Python script to read the CSV file line-by-line and spit out a 1000 line CSV file after each 1000 line chunk. I was lazy because I don't know Python well enough yet.

These types of problems come up all the time and I'm always really impressed when I see a person post a script solution on a computing forum. One of my goals is to someday become that person -- the scripting guru.

Weightlifting routine - September 2008

After reading Starting Strength, I made a number of changes to my workout.

• I'm doing five sets of five reps (5x5) for the heavy full body lifts (e.g. squat, press), so I can focus on learning form.
  
• Pendlay rows are a new exercise I'm using in substitution of the power cleans recommended in Starting Strength.
  
• I dropped pullups and lateral raises from my upper body program. There were too many exercises and I couldn't find a way to do assisted pullups with a full range-of-movement. My gym is not pullup-friendly to short women.
  
• Bicycle crunches are a core exercise, not a leg movement. However, I stuck them with the leg workout so I can get a bit more ab work in.
  
• I'm pretty lazy on the cardio right now -- 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. By lazy, I mean that I could do that workout half asleep. Maybe I should increase the resistance. Another idea is to try the rowing machine. Personally, I find it difficult to do an intense workout on an elliptical or cycling machine if there is no one to push you but yourself.

Monday: Upper body and cardio
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Core and cardio
Thursday: Upper body and cardio
Friday: Legs

Legs
Squat 5x5 [45 lb]
Deadlift 5x5 [35 lb]
Hip abduction 3x8 [36 lb]
Hip adduction 3x8 [36 lb]
Rotary hip [50 lb], all four directions, both legs 2x8
Seated calf raises 3x8 [90 lb]
Leg curl 3x8 [36 lb]
Bicycle crunches 2x10 [body weight]

Upper body
Bench press 5x5 [45 lb]
Press 5x5 [15 lb]
Assisted dips 3x8 [-60 lb]
Tricep extensions with EZ bar 3x8 [20? lb]
Barbell curl 3x8 [25 lb]
Barbell wrist curls 3x8 [9 lb]
Barbell reverse wrist curls 3x8 [6 lb]

Core
Pendlay rows 5x5 [25 lb]
Leg raises 3x8 [body weight]
Broomstick twists 3x8 [body weight]
Back extension 3x8 [body weight]
Dumbbell shrug 3x8 [2 x 7.5 lb]

Link of the day: Concise explanation of quantum computation

A few years ago when I first started this blog, I tried to write up a layperson's explanation of quantum computation. Anyone who works in the field of quantum computation has to come up with such a speal. My experience is that people get lost when I try to talk about quantum computers. Nowadays, I just tell them that I work on superconducting circuits: "We fabricate circuits on chips just like your computer chips and then we put the chips inside really cold refrigerators."

Michael Nielsen, a co-author of the standard quantum computation text, offers his less-confusing but sufficiently-complex explanation of quantum computation. The idea of visualizing the information as a list of numbers is a good idea. Maybe I can use Nielsen's explanation to tell people what I do, instead of simply saying that I work on superconducting circuits.

Lang Ping, Chinese volleyball hero

The Beijing Olympics have been good for me. I learned a bit of history from the opening Ceremony ("who the heck is Zheng He?") and discovered judoka Ronda Rousey. Last week, I read about Lang Ping (郎平) in the New York Times.

Being Chinese-American, I should know more about my "other half." China made its first appearance at the Olympics in 1984. So it was a big deal when the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated USA in the gold medal match. Due to her team-leading performance, Lang Ping became a huge celebrity and a living historical icon. Her nickname is the "Iron Hammer" 「鐵榔頭」. (I want a nickname like that!)

Apparently, the celebrity eventually became suffocating and Lang Ping decided to leave her home country for a "normal" existence. Life has now come full circle for Lang Ping. She returned to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as the USA women's volleyball head coach. The USA women eventually won silver, defeating China on the way to the gold medal match.

I found this amusing interview with Lang Ping. Most people probably won't understand why I find it funny, but Lang Ping talks a lot like my dad and my dad's sister. It's not just the strange grammar and word choice of a non-native speaker. Something about the innocent and earnest yet frank tone that I find refreshing and familiar.

Here is a humorous example:

Yes, many people were concerned about my safety when I went to carry the torch in San Francisco. Apart from friends and relatives, the person most concerned was the chairman of the United States Volleyball Association. He called me daily. Before I flew to San Francisco, he even told me that I could give up my position for safety reasons. But I was very calm. How can a Chinese person give up her right? I told him not to worry. If someone should try to grab my torch, they should know who I am! "The Iron Hammer"! I will strike him down with my torch!

The part of the interview I found most relevant to myself was the cultural differences between China and the United States. My parents ingrained in me some of those oft-stereotyped Chinese mannerisms -- stoicism, putting too much pressure on yourself, not celebrating small accomplishments because you're still working towards a bigger goal -- but like Lang Ping, I have gradually come to appreciate the "relaxed" American attitude which "puts the emphasis on participation and whether you have done your best." Perfectionism makes me unhappy and creates "excessive nervousness" as Lang Ping notes. Most importantly, perfectionism is not emotionally sustainable. You have to stop and smell the flowers regularly.

There are aspects of Chinese culture that I do like and that I want to keep. For example, Lang Ping says

When I criticize them for not playing to their potential in games, they usually respond by saying that they are "not in shape." This is somewhat distressing. In China, you cannot use the excuse of "not being in shape" for a lousy performance. You are not allowed to relax because the eyes of the nation are watching you. The honor of the state needs your success to sustain, and you cannot be emotional as if you please.

Being mentally disciplined to do things that need to be done despite your feelings is a great, great skill. All good leaders and athletes have this skill. Mental discipline is a wonderful Chinese tradition and I hope to keep it up.

Rippetoe/Kilgore notes on the press

The Press

Start position
Grip the bar just outside of shoulder width, such that the forearms are vertical. Place your thumbs around the bar with the weight as close to the heel of the hand as possible. Rotate the elbows forward so that they are in front of the bar and pull the shoulders forward so that the bar rests on the deltoid or chest. Your stance should be 10-12 inches between the heels.

Look straight ahead and at the wall. Lift the chest, take a deep breath, and hold it during the entire rep. Lean back slightly.

Movement
Drive the bar over your head. To lockout, straighten your elbows and shrug your shoulders up. As soon as the bar crosses the top of your forehead, move your torso forward under the bar and lockout. At lockout, the bar should be behind the neck.

Key points
Don't let the shoulders slide forward during the movement. Keep the shoulder blades retracted and tight. Keep the bar close to the shoulder at all times. Visualize pushing the bar by your face, scraping the nose. Keep your body in a tight, squeezed column. Squeeze the abs to maintain the tight column.

You can also get this information in a 3" x 5" press quick reference card.