we are big, and small.

Here I found a very interesting pictures of comparison between earth and other planets/stars.
Although it is common knowlodge, i'm still astonished to find out how small earth is compared to the whole universe.
Here's the pictures(don't drop your jaws, you have been warned!)


The smaller planets compared to the Earth


Smaller planets compared to Jupiter


Planets compared to the Sun


Sun compared to Arcturus, Jupiter is 1 pixel in size and the Earth is invisible as this scale


Arcturus compared to Antares, at this scale Jupiter is invisible and the Sun is 1 pixel in size.

And Antares is just the 16nd brightest star in the sky !!! (according to wikipedia).

Ractopamine (瘦肉精)

A much debated issue here(taiwan), yet the term 瘦肉精 is very unintuitive. After searching for a while, i finally found that it is actually called Ractopamine. Here's some explanation of this chemistry term, taken from wikipedia:

Ractopamine is a drug that is used as a feed additive to promote leanness in pigs raised for their meat. The feed additive Paylean®, produced by the U.S. company Elanco Animal Health, contains ractopamine hydrochloride. Paylean was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration on December 22, 1999, and has also been approved in more than 20 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Thailand.^[1]

Ractopamine in feed for animals is responsible for dramatic muscle growth, yet it is not a steroid or hormone, but rather a compound known as a beta agonist. Only a trace amount of ractopamine need be added for a marked increase in protein and decrease in fat accretion in animals, in particular swine. For the last 90 pounds of live weight gain, a mere 18.5 grams of ractopamine added to a ton of feed (20 ppm) will increase protein by 24% and decrease fat by 34%.^[2]

In July 2007 Chinese officials seized U.S.-produced pork for containing ractopamine residues.

or in chinese:

俗語說的好，豬養肥了就要殺來吃，但是怎麼讓豬能夠產出最多的肉，賣更多的錢，我們必須讓豬吃的飼料裡面，含有讓它可以更紥實的物質。目前主要用於改進動物體組成的方法，有以下幾類：一、生長激素；二、腎上腺素受體促進劑﹔三、營養調節；四、合成代謝類的類固醇。

最近鬧的沸沸洋洋的瘦肉精就是屬於第二類，事實上瘦肉精是一個統稱，有很多種化學物質都可以有這個效果﹔目前衛生署公布可以核准使用的就是 Ractopamine(Paylean培林)，Paylean是在在一九九九年經美國ＦＤＡ核准上市，在肉豬上市前二十八天加二十ppm的 Paylean於飼料中，可使每頭豬隻增加瘦肉五公斤，降低脂肪三公斤，節省飼料十八點五公斤，並且可提早四天達到上市。體重另外一個毒性較高的是 Clenbuterol，衛生署正打算核准中，天呀!!為何要核准毒性較高的瘦肉精，台灣人真是眾人騎，沒人疼嗎??(參考電影悲情城市)。無能的政府你 們在幹麻??

Ractopamine本來是禮來藥廠預計研發在治療氣喘的用藥，但實驗中發現Ractopamine要達到能治療氣喘的藥量會產生極大的副作用，因此不適用人類使用，但在動物試驗中偶然發現，少量用於豬隻時卻有提高豬隻精質瘦肉的效果，就如GSK公司開發憂鬱症藥物Zyban，而意外發現可以戒煙一樣。

在台灣較常使用的則是Salbutamol最為普遍，因價格便宜，它的毒性比Ractopamine高，比Clenbuterol低。

腎上腺素受體促進劑(agonists)主要有類似腎上腺素和正腎上腺素的結構，能夠大量提高瘦肉率，在近二十年來深受重視。但是世界各國幾乎都已經禁止使用，剩下美國還採用大量的高標準，只是不知道是不是都用來輸出給落後的第三世界國家，例如台灣。

modeling TD

I have been assigned as modeling TD today. So now i need to be very capable of manipulating maya's modeling tools. Hope that i can give some contribution to the team!!

3 years for a siggraph paper

I have made a target for myself. Three years from now, i must submit a paper to SIGGRAPH! Whether it is accepted or not isn't a problem. At least i have to try.
The process should be like this:

• First year for understanding maths behind the previous papers.
• Second year for reviewing the existing papers.
• Third year for writing the paper itself.

I know it's pretty demanding task given my lack of depth in maths, and without any specific tutor, but i truly believe i can do that, so yeah, add oil!!!

in memorial of...shrek

After playing a while with maya, i decide to render a satisfying image.
This image was rendered with maya renderer, using scene from 3DRender.com, and the 'pitiful' shrek picture was taken from tx.technion.ac.il using google image search.

Click on the image to see the full-size one.

what i need to master a month from now

1. MAYA and MEL
This software's complexity is tremendous, and the learning curve is quite steep. But if learned properly, it is a very powerful tool.

2. RSL
Combined with maya, they can produce the most realistic images available now. So it's also essential tool to be mastered.

3.Python
Powerful, easy-to-learn, easy-to-read, this is the must-have scripting language.

In the future:
4.Advanced Computer Graphics knowledge
This is also a must-have for RD department. Without this knowledge, i'll forever be a pawn that performs the low-level jobs.

5.Maths required for computer graphics
To accomplish no.4, this is the essential knowledge.

Seems a lot to learn, huh?

Bypassing MegaUpload Toolbar

source link: another blog
If u want to download from MegaUpload, yet u don't prefer to install the toolbar first,
here is a way to bypass it:

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.5 tweak:

1. Go to address bar and type about:config . Press enter
2. Look for general.useragent.extra.firefox using the filter and double click on it
3. Change the default text with this: Firefox/2.0.0.5 MEGAUPLOAD 1.0

if u use IE 6 or 7, go to the source link.

Ubuntu

if u want to free urself from using illegal softwares, and wanna try another
operating system beside the crash-all-the-time windows XP, i recommend using
ubuntu (most popular linux distro for desktop).

some pros and cons compared to windows XP, (based on my own experience)

pros:
1. no need for antivirus, which eat considerable amount of memory and CPU time
2. major update twice a year, to encompass the latest features.
3. LOTS of nice applications, and mostly open source (free).

i can do almost all the things i usually do on XP, including:
1. BBS
2. P2P
3. mail client (outlook express on XP, evolution on ubuntu)
4. MSN
5. microsoft's famous office application(using openoffice)
6. audio&video
7. browsing (firefox feels exactly the same on both OS)

you see that if u're using ur PC/NB just for these general purpose, ubuntu
is more than enough.

4. the spec requirement is not high ( especially if u compare it to vista)
5. The GUI is cool and better compared to XP (i haven't used Vista,so i don't
know how it feels).

cons:
1. if u use some unusual hardwares, u may encounter drivers problem.
2. u can't play most PC games coz they're exclusively designed for windows/mac
3. u need some knowledge of using command line (command prompt on windows XP,
though command prompt's functionality is extremely limited).
4. Software installation can be a complicated task because of dependencies or
insufficient knowledge about how linux works.

those are some i can think of.

Lots of tips and tutorials can be found on ubuntu's forum.
http://ubuntuforums.org/

Here's some positive responses using ubuntu compared to windows XP:
http://linux.sys-con.com/read/382946_p.htm
http://aaronjlynch.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/6/13/Ubuntu-VS-Windows-XP-part-2
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=199201179

u can find a lot more by just googling "ubuntu vs windows"


Here is a demonstration of the cool new GUI desktop of Ubuntu based on
Beryl Project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7QraljRfM

new box, new feel

I've moved into a new room after graduated from NTU. Actually i had the option to stay in dorm until September, but i refused it since i old dorm is under renovation, and i had to move to another dorm just for 2 months. So here i am, at my new "home".
Pros:
- It's located in downtown and close to night market, so it's very convenient.
- Finally it's MY OWN ROOM, so more privacy.
- Almost all i need are provided ( minus a place to cook, not necessarily a kitchen).

Cons:
- A bit expensive ( NT 8,000 a month)
- A bit too small.
- The internet runs like turtle. Its much more slower than my dorm's connection, especially the upload part.

More on it later.

Graduated!!

Finally i'm graduated from NTU!
But I've grown to love this uni and especially my department, CSIE. The staff and teachers there are very nice, also my classmates are nice ones. Very recommended major and department for someone who want to study here.
Here's the pics of my graduation sertificates in English and Chinese:
english
chinese

Beware of Google Desktop Search...

....if your diskspace is low, because it takes up considerable space. In my PC, the index file size is about 1 GB + . I thought i would be much smaller, but maybe google puts something more into its indexing algorithm so that the size grows bigger. But on the other hand, the search time is definitely faster than native windows XP searching program, so it's still worth the cost.
Anyway, since most of us have hundreds gigabyte of harddisk space, it wouldn't be a big problem, except that you're like me who like to install a lot lot software into the system =.=

digimax > all

lately, i was approached by Asus, Quanta, and some others, and i have rejected the chances to have an interview = =". Hopefully my decisions are right ones, and the work permit for digimax can be solved immediately. Otherwise maybe i have to call them again to ask for interview =.=

Computing barycentric coordinate

I find a good website that teach me how to compute a barycentric coordinate of point P in the triangle T(v0,v1,v2). The formula can also be used to find is whether the P is inside T, which is the problem i want to solve.

Here is the link to the full explanation.

In short, the formula is like this:

u = V₁-V_0;
v = V₂-V_0;
w = P-V_0;

The parametric coordinates (s,t) of P is the solution of the equation: w = su + tv, and the barycentric coordinates of P = b₀V₀ + b₁V₁ + b₂V₂ are equal to: b₀ = (1-s-t), b₁ = s, and b₂ = t which satisfy: b₀ + b₁ + b₂ = 1.

We can compute the solutions for s and t using only dot products as:

Thanks very much to Dan Sunday at http://softsurfer.com/index.html for providing the solution.

眷村

剛看了康熙某一集，邀請了一些在卷村長大的藝人．感覺真的很像我的家鄉，雖然我沒他們慘，但還是有那種ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ．希望以後有出頭了也可以給我的家鄉一些貢獻!

社會局核銷真離譜!!

規定也太多了吧!! 真的很不合理!
連電話費都要著名是打給誰的,然後工作人員交接加減也要報告給他們,我覺得社會局根本就沒有信任這概念.我們有不是拿這些錢來做生意,是在幫災民呢!!
海嘯是2004年發生的,現在已經2007年了.我想如果捐款者知道他們捐出來的前三年過後還呆在社會局帳戶裡,會很氣吧!這樣捐款的benefit 就沒了.

老闆也一樣不合理.問題這麼嚴重了還不想直接下手,一直叫根本沒什麼經驗的人去處理,然後又希望趕快弄好.還說什麼 " 你已經要進入社會了" ,我有不是去做行政的工作,我是寫程式的勒!!
咳,不想管那麼多了,反正先把薪水要來吧.

translucent happy buddha

Here is my newest rendering of translucent material using PBRT.
The rendering time is quite slow, about 2000 seconds using P4 with 768MB RAM.
I am quite satisfied with the result. But maybe i need to add more surface reflection to make it more jade-like.

mood is temporary, class is permanent

can you learn to be classy?

panorama stitching

This was my VFx assignment #2. We're supposed to combine multiple images into one panorama image. 
Here is one of my better results:


 For the full-size image you can go here:
http://r4inm4ker.m3.ntu.edu.tw/ok2.jpg

digimax has just published a cool short movie

the story is somewhat similar to "Night at the Museum" comedy, but it's full CG movie. I just saw the trailer some days ago, and i was impressed as it is (IMO) as good as most of the current US CG movies.
Here's the trailer.

fwd: importance of writing

Cyy sent us a link to a very good article about the importance of writing. I paste some of the interesting content:

「我的朋友叫張懷恩他是我難亡的朋友他有很多很多專長他的專長是跑步跑很快、跳遠跳的很遠很遠、打電腦長長說有什麼遊ㄒ一ˋ他知道很多很的遊ㄒㄧˋ他很短可以他很跑很快的。老師一定有ㄧˊ問說：「他為什麼是我最今我難亡的朋友我也不知道我知道我跟他跟我是很好很的朋友所以他是令我難亡的朋友。」

這是桃園某小學五年級學生作文：「我最難忘的朋友」，這篇作文沒有標點，錯字多，內容顯得空洞貧乏、毫無思路可言。但這個小朋友是來自中產家庭，他也是民國九十年，政府推動「九年一貫」教育改革，降低國語課時數後的「產物」。



Here's the link for you who's interested to read the full article.

成功加入太極影音了!

昨天去面試了第二次,跟R&D主管 chris 聊了一下(大部分跟工作無關 =.=").雖然薪水起跳有點低,但相信我一定會學到很多有趣的東西.我覺得還是很直得啦.好比在我沒什麼興趣的公司工作,雖然有較多錢可以拿但感覺也沒什麼意義 . 七月開始工作,非常期待呢!!

Improving last semester's project

After unsuccessfully simulating jade's appereance last semester, i try to improve my codes now.
Here's the current result:
















I will try to improve my formula to create a better one as i am also working to implement multi-layered subsurface scattering for translucent materials.
I will try my best to match the results from original paper's authors. The images below were linked from http://graphics.ucsd.edu/papers/layered/

Subdivision Surfaces with Loop's algorithm

My first assignment on Geometric Modeling was about subdivision surfaces. I implemented Loop's algorithm, and work on VC7 using CGAL library. Most of the time on this assignment i was dealing with how to work with the library, since i found it very confusing = =" (not the library's fault though). I also use some of the code from PBRT for counting the vertices' weights.
Here's the result of my program:

original shape



















after 3 levels of subdivision

new chapter..again!

For the n-th times,  i start all over for this blog. Hopefully this time i can fill it with interesting stuffs!! ^ ^
Some weeks ago, i finished my first assignment on Digital Visual Effects about High Dynamic Range (HDR) images creation. I use Paul Debevec method for this assignment. Anyway, here's the results :


It's still not very satisfying, partly because i didn't take enough pictures and my camera's lens was a bit dirty. I'll try to take better pictures when i have spare times.