Remembering the Kanji

I have begun (re-) studying Kanji (Chinese characters used in the Japanese language). The method that I am using is detailed in a book entitled Remembering the Kanji Vol 1. After the first week, I am at 80 some odd characters. The method entails building an image/story of any particular Kanji based on primitives (radicals). Thus far, I am impressed with the method and have learned several quite complicated characters. Some Kanji that I already knew were easy, but most that I have learned are new to me since the character order of this method does not follow JLPT level or grade level. I will report my progress here.

BEAM Robotics: Mallorca

Back in 1998, I was heavy into BEAM robotics and constructed many walking machines built from simple analog circuits. The circuits were simple pulse generators that activated motors through a motor driver. I also was active with the early BEAM community, even constructing the first FAQ on a site called BEAM Tek. Why suddenly is this deep-rooted passion returning? My children are asking about robots, building them, inquiring how they work, etc. I knew I would always return to building robots, just when was the question. Now I need to have a plan.

Prediction: Gasoline in 2009

Let's look into the crystal ball for just a second of what is to come this year. New president, access to capital is restricted, joblessness is on the rise. Okay, we know all that. How about something really juicy? Oil prices dropped to below $43USD a barrel today - the drop primarily fueled by reports stating that U.S. oil reserves were much greater than expected, suggesting demand continues to fall. My prediction is that demand will continue to decline till summer. After that we will see demand start to rise. If I were to place money on this, I would go long on gasoline after spring.

Betting against America

Sometime back in late December 2008 when I was researching and considering shorting US treasuries, I read an article on seeking alpha. The article was written well and pointed out the obvious technical points: Investors are running to bonds driving the yield curve down. However, the memorable part was a user comment that stated "Hopefully you can sleep at night knowing you are betting against America." The next day I called my broker.

First post

I have finally done it. I never thought I would have a blog, let alone find something interesting to write about. The primary motivation behind starting this blog are the following:

• Organize writings/ideas/code that I commonly use or need
  
• Point to release software that I create in an informal fashion
  
• Post ideas that are informally fishing for commentary

There. Enough reasons, no?

Topics that I will most likely be discussing are C, python, scheme, robotics, machine learning, Japanese and even finance.