stlplaceThis is a good one. I got this from a programmer friend. Open a new document from Microsoft Word, type in the following:
=rand(100,2)
then hit “enter” or “return”. What did you got?
There are many similar interesting hacks in the software we use daily. I think it’s just a way for programmer to express themselves during their daily boring work 🙂
It seems like I don’t have anything to do with C++ because I have not touched C++ much in this blog. I am a software engineer by trade; programming and debugging is a large part of what I do during the day. I was a little frustrated last two days by a memory problem shown only on UNIX. The program ran fine on Windows, except one or two instances slightly weird results which I tend to ignore. But I could not pass the UNIX test and obviously something is wrong. By looking at the trace back I can tell it’s a memory problem. Memory problem is kind of problem everyone hates. Because it’s usually hard to find the root cause. Dev Partner made the process a little easier because it will show all potential memory overrun and leaks. To my surprise, I made a mistake like the following (very basic C++ mistakes):
char *temp_str = new char[length];
for(int ii = 0; ii < length*2; ii++){ // do something with temp_str[ii] } It is a typical memory overrun problem because I only allocate "length" number of char, but I was trying to use "length*2" number of char. It's like use twice the credit limit? But I am still very puzzlled that my program ran on Windows (without Dev Parter) before the fix. No wonder we see "Windows crash" from time to time :-) Seriously, in software development we want the problems being uncovered the earlier, the better. Because we don't want our customer run our program and crash.
Words from Warren Buffett’s interview, mostly regarding his opinion on the markets, the full article is here.
…Common stocks are part of a business. Markets are there to serve you, not to instruct you. You can often find a couple of companies that are out of line. Find one; get rich. Most people think that what the stock does from day to day contains information, but it doesn’t. It isn’t just something that wiggles around. The stock market is the best game in the world. You can take advantage of people who have no morals. High prices inside of a year will typically be 100% of the low price. Businesses don’t change in value that much. That is simply crazy. There are extreme degrees of fluctuation, and Mr. Market will call out the prices. Wait until he is nutty in one direction or the other. Put in a margin of safety. Don’t find a bridge that says no more than 10,000 pounds when you have a 9800 pound vehicle. It isn’t a function of IQ, but receptivity of the mind.
When investing you don’t have to invest in all 10,000 companies available, you just have to find the one that is out of line. Mr. Market is your servant. Mr. Market is your partner and wants to sell the business to you everyday. Some days he is very optimistic and wants a high price, others he is pessimistic and will sell at a low price. You have to use this to your advantage. The market is the greatest game in the world. There is nothing else that can, at times, get this far out of line with reality. For example, land usually only fluctuates within a 15% band. Negotiated transactions are less volatile. Some get this; others don’t. Just keep your wits about you and you can make a lot of money in the market…
BTW, words from Fortune cookie today, “A new hat will brighten your day give you an updated look”.
OK, enough about the Home Inns (HMIN) and New Oriental (EDU), both of which are well known consumer brands based in Shanghai and Beijing respectively. On Sept 26, a not so well known medical device company based in Shenzhen (by Hongkong), did IPO on NYSE and it was well received by the investors. The company is Mindray Medical International, ticker symbol MR. It’s not the first Chinese medical device maker listed in the US. China Medical (CMED) came to NASDAQ about a year and half ago. But this MR is much bigger. I looked at its F-1 form, and it seems like a solid company.
Some key numbers:
It seems all these China stock bloggers are taking vacations 🙂
Click on the date it will bring you to the “events” page of the stock; you can add the event to your “Yahoo Calendar” if you like.
Baidu: Nov 1 (Oct 31 evening US time)
Ctrip: Nov 8
Netease: Nov 6
Sina: Nov 2
Sohu (done): Oct 26
China Medical: Nov 13
Mindray Medical: Nov 16
Home Inns: ???
Saw this from haiguinet, I thought it’s a good one. The original article is here.
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深圳美企诚聘
找人真难,急煞老总!!!深圳美企诚聘品质工程师, 制造工程师,ERP / JD Edward 实施顾问
各位大侠有好人选可以推荐给我们吗?
我们公司不差,条件不低.可几个engineering level 的职位找了一年了,不知为何就是找不到人.
看来,制造业已经不是一将难求了,好兵帅克都难找啊!难道所有的人都跟着安校长去做了投行?
全球最大的消毒类一次性医疗仪器和耗材的供应商，现诚邀有潜质之精英加盟本公司：
1、Quality Engineer（品质工程师）
理工科本科以上学历；3年以上医疗器械行业, 或电子,五金, 注塑行业QA工作经验，了解医疗器械行业质量体系标准ISO13485及其它相关法规者优先考虑；良好的团队合作精神与沟通协调能力；英文读写良好，电脑操作熟练。
2、Manufacturing Engineer（制造工程师）
理工科本科以上学历；有三年以上注塑、五金方面的工作经验；曾从事过工装夹具的设计，会熟练使用Auto CAD；有医疗器械行业工作经验，熟悉医疗器械行业者优先考虑；良好的团队合作精神与沟通协调能力；英文良好，电脑操作熟练
3、ERP / JD Edward Implementation Consultant (ERP / JD Edward 实施顾问)
两年以上JDE Enterprise one系统实施经验，熟悉JDE ERP系统设计及数据库，能独立设计实施方案并带领实施完成，英语熟练，能用英语与美国同事沟通，有在JDE公司工作背景者优先考虑。财务、制造模块实施顾问要求有良好的财务、制造流程知识及工作经验
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It appears to me good engineers (mechanical, electrical, etc.) are badly needed in China these days. Besides designing and manufacturing, procurement is also a big one. I heard a guy took a procurement job in Shanghai and went back recently.
AA is doing a promotion of flight from US to Shanghai (PVG). A ticket from St. Louis to Shanghai is just $688 (before tax); the full ticket will be about $850 including tax. There are some restriction such as (from AA.com):
But I think it’s still a good deal. This offer is good for most Midwest and Eastern US cities (transfer at Chicago).
I remember when I took the China Eastern from Shanghai to St. Louis, the one-way ticket was about $700. Note at that time gas price was about 80 cents per gallon. Now with gas price at $2.00 (after the recent pull back), the air ticket to China is going at the other direction. No wonder the airline companies are not making money. One reason is the competition. Nine years ago there is no direct flight from Chicago to Shanghai. Now we have two daily flights. Anyway as a consumer I won’t complain. I just can not understand the airline stocks went up so much lately. I guess they are still making money 🙂
Next Microsoft. Next Bill Gates. Next Google. Next…
We all want to get the hold of “next big thing” before it becomes real, don’t we? Think about this, the stock of Cisco, the networking and communication company, increased 73 times from 1990 to 2000 in 10 years. The Microsoft stock’s performance was similar.
From time to time, when a young company came up with some cool product or service, and performed well in the market and financially, people will praise it as “next Microsoft”, and think its founder will be next Bill Gates. The reality is, except Google, no company has come close to Microsoft in past 10 years. But sometimes we innocent investors (like me) fell into this trap.
Just for fun…
The power you desire lives in your heart. (yesterday)
Next week at this time, something good is coming your way! (today)
And today they had a big parade in the downtown St. Louis, from Union Station to the Busch Stadium. I took the newly completed metro link from Brentwood to the Stadium; and it took an hour to get there because there are too many people taking the train. Unlike the metro (subway) in Shanghai, the light railway here was not designed for that many people: it only has two cars; people here are not willing to move closer to let more people in (spoiled American?); I did see the parents have to leave the train in the middle because their kid got sick. You know Americans are all used to the A/C and bigger rooms at home and in the car. Other than that, the Parade and celebration is great for the city and the region. It’s 24 years since this town won last World Series. An interesting number in Chinese zodiac, isn’t it?
Among the Cardinal players, I think I like David Eckstein the most. Here is what he said after got the MVP award.
“No one believed in us, but we believed in ourselves,” Eckstein told reporters. “It was a total team effort.