Sammy Cafe

Blog Moved

2008-03-14T15:10:00.001-07:00

http://sammycafe.blogsome.com

分手

2006-08-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

大家相處了一段時光, 已堆積不少的情感。每週的接觸, 你的個性我亦十分了解。你有很多優點. 有氣質, 有原則, 有錢。但我不懂得欣賞。其實我是一個簡單的人, 只需要一些簡單的東西。可是從你身上, 我找不到 ... ... 我不想在這裡談論太多我們的問題。阿 "蕉" 隻歌都有唱:

Be a man, if you can, 就算一朝翻了臉
做個君子好相見, 愛不了當買個經驗
Be a man, if you can, 別揭私隱那麼賤
共你畢竟相好過, 你都要面, 將愛恨留念

多謝你給我的一切, blogspot.com. Best wish to you! 我的新 blog 是:
http://sammycafe.blogsome.com 有空的話, 請來坐坐吧！

Sammy Cafe II

2006-07-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

"森記茶餐廳"將于年內開業﹐正在learn中文打字。敬請留意。

Sammy Cafe II will be opened later this year. This time I want to write a chinese blog.

Macau EE Talents

2006-07-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I have some contact with staffs and EE students in U of Macau VLSI Lab. They have several very good IC design talents. Mr. Mak won a prize of Student Design Contest in DAC/ISCCC (Major IC conference in US) last year. It is very impressive. Hopefully they will help the growth of IC Design industry in Macau

UM Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI Lab
DAC/ISSCC Student Design Contest Award (U of Macau 2nd place)

Life without blogging

2006-07-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

A month without blogging ... turn out to be pretty good. So let's continue.

10 Years

2006-06-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

This month is exactly my 10th years working as an engineer. The first three years I worked in a downsizing company, from 200 people to 30. I have served nine different boss. Work as three different positions from software to hardware to service. Beside technical stuff, the most important thing I learn is a dynamic working style and surviving mentality.

The next seven years is opposite. I work in an up sizing company. I serve the same boss and work at the same position. Beside technical stuff, the most important thing I learn is pleasing my boss and avoiding mistake.

That's what 10 years can do to an employee ... ... :P

Sometimes I wonder what have I really learnt all these years. Seriously I don't feel I've learnt much. Everyday just need to work this and that. Never really have time to learn certain thing specifically. Until recently, I get some answer.

Last month, my team hired a summer intern who is a master student. He is actually pretty smart. But still, he often comes to ask me all kind of question from software usage, programming trick, circuit design, semiconductor theory, even email writing style. Surprisingly, most of time I answer him with ease. Those things seem to be basic facts to me that I don't need to think much.

I look back. Probably I don't know most of these things when I was in college. But somehow during 10 years of working, we just learn them without notice. Perhaps, that is what people call experience.

So this blog concludes a full year of Sammy Cafe. Now it goes to a break. Cheers!

Second to the Last

2006-06-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

This blog was started last June. Initially I just want to be "In" and catch up with the Internet trend. Later on I find some interest on writing, so I keep it going. I like to post a new blog in a regular schedule, especially on Saturday. It is in honor with my favorite HK comic "Dragon Tiger Gate", which used to release on every Saturday. The comic usually hit the street on Friday, so as my blog.

Recently I ran out of new blog topic. I don't want to write my daily stuff as it is quite routine: family->work->child care->school->family. There are many interesting tech development in my industry that I want to share. But they are too specific (chip design stuff) and there are some confidential concern. So I don't think it is good material for general public.

My point, this will be the second last blog of Sammy Cafe. Then I will stop writing this blog for a while.

Invincible vs. Invincible

2006-06-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

There are 3 great sport events this weekend. First, World Cup, but only 1st round. Then NBA Final, but just 2nd game. And French Open, this is a tournament final. I will definitely watch this one.

Two great players reaches final, Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadel. I especially like Federer. In fact he bought back my interest to watch tennis again. Federer is the best player in the world. Many argue he has potential to be the greatest tennis player ever. He has skill, strength, precision, and most importantly, style! He plays calm and smooth. His signature one-arm back hand stroke makes his game so elegant. He tied all-time record 83 win last year and reaches every tournament final this year. He is almost invincible. Everyone plays against him is expected to lose, except Rafeal Nadel.

Nadel is the No.1 player on clay (French Open surface). He sets all-time record, 58 consecutive win on clay, and still counting. Federer had lost only 3 times this year but all against Nadal. However, Nadal tennis record on other surface is no match to Federer.

Federer has skill and style. Nadel has energy and quickness. This year's French Open final will be a high quality and exciting tennis match.

Wikipedia: Federer
Wikipedia: Nadal

B.S. Scare

2006-06-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I need to B.S. at work. I define B.S. like this: something I don't know exactly, but I still talk like I know it very well. This is not too easy when discussing technical stuff. Because people may ask question or even challenge. Why I need to B.S. anyway!? Can I just say "I don't know"? Sometimes it is the pride issue. Sometimes I have no choice, like this one:

Last month, a co-worker invited me to listen his project presentation, because some part of this project was related to my work. This co-worker is a high-level engineer, so his presentation included audiences in VP and director level. I think he was just polite to invite a typical engineer like me. But when he presented the agenda, he introduced that I would talk one section, which related to my work. I didn't knowthis earlier. Even worst, from the presentation hand-out, he added some information on my part that I had no idea what it was!!

This was obviously a communication mistake. I should know this earlier, so I can prepare. But no time to complain. While my co-worker was still talking his part, I start to plan what to present. When it came to my turn, I use all my B.S. skill to sound like I knew the stuff. I used a lot positive word, praised other people's help, emphasize good things. Try to minimize negative statement as this often draw question. For those parts I don't understand I just skip quietly. Man, this was the most scary presentation I had in recent years.

Rock Bands in Seattle

2006-05-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I read the news about the music tours from Guns N' Roses and Pearl Jam. It reminds me the good old days when I was in college. Perhaps I was young at that time, I was on hook with American modern (back then) rock music. It was early 90s, I recalled the top notch rock bands included Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Metallica. U2 and REM were hot too, although I don't their music were as rock.

Nirvana and Pearl Jam were from Seattle, where I studied. Before Pearl Jam became super famous, they once hosted a small free concert in Seattle Center (Space Needle) and I watched it. How much are their tickets now? I don't even try to ask.

For Nirvana, they became famous overnight with one hit song, Smell Like Teen Spirit. At the peak of their career, main member Kurt Cobain committed suicide. He shot himself in his head. It shocked the whole city. Then Nirvana went down quietly. With all the fame, fortune, and talent, it seems not enough without a loving soul.

Reference: Grunge Music

Snap Shot: 123456

2006-05-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

May car is 9 years old. Recently it reach 123,456 miles. I think it is an interesting milestone so I took a snap shot.

Web Cast

2006-05-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I have joined a few web casts. I find this is a convenient way of listening presentation. Someone from a remote site hosts a presentation, I logon the web cast network, then I can see the presentation online dynamically. Sometimes they use WebEx and sometimes MS Live Meeting. For listening the talk, I use telephone conference call function. The sound quality is still much better using the phone.

When not asking question, I put mute on my phone. Then I can do other stuff on my desk and no one knows. If I want to take a break, I can just leave for a drink or restroom. No one cares. For knowledge learning, web cast is almost as efficient as listening presentation in person. The only problem, presentation is sometimes boring. Without people watching, I felt asleep a couple times during those web casts.

Chinese Stocks

2006-05-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

Following up my Christian Q&A blog this week. Here are some Chinese Stock I own and watching:

STP: A Solar Power company. China is hungry for energy resource.

ACTS: First public fabless IC design house, locate in Zhuhai. Makes mp3 players and other portable electronics.

SNDA: China biggest online game vendor. How many kids in China like to play online game? Go figure.

SMI: China first semiconductor foundry. China can not produce enough chip to supply domestic need. There are $6 billion trade deficit on IC chip last year.

LFC: China Life: China largest insurance company. As quality of life improves, people and business are more concern on insurance.

* Why I buy Chinese Stocks (1) (2) (3)

Nerdy chat

2006-05-06T00:10:00.000-07:00

During friends' gathering, usually I like chat with other people. Chat topics are typical: gossips, stocks, job markets, sport news, etc. But there is one topic that I like the most, which is tech industry related topic.

If I meet people who are in IC industry, I won't be shy to open conversation with them. Somehow I like to know what other people do in this industry. Any new development? What's hot and what's not. I also like to talk to people who write software code or web development. These aren't main task at work but it is something I like to know about the latest developments.

My wife says I look really nerdy when I keep talking tech related stuff in friends' gathering. Mmm ... I guess she is right.

Happiness as Flowers

2006-04-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I bought a mainland TV drama: 幸福像花儿一样. My motivation is to have some quiet time watching TV with my wife. That last time we watched a complete TV series was over three years ago.

I am not a big fan of TV drama. This one interests me because of:
1. It is a love drama (the only type my wife likes)
2. Starred by 孙俪 (she is good in 玉观音)
3. The story background is Liberty army in the 80's (that's odd for a love drama)

This love drama is not as cheesy and involves more thinking. The story describes how two girl friends finding their desired happy lives. Although most characters are soldiers, their feeling, desire, love, joy, and sadness are similar to ordinary people. After all, soliders are human too.

P.S. Drama theme song in my Stickam.

Animation in PowerPoint

2006-04-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday I finished the presentation of my school project. It is a so-call "CMOS UWB IQ Modulator". In short, it is a Radio Frequency (RF) Circuit.

I and my partner first started the project in 2003. At first we planned to do "Automatic Gain Control System". But this design was difficult and references were limited. We spend 2.5 years but couldn't got anything going. Fortunately my partner is doing RF circuit at work now. Then we change the project topic. And bang! We get it done in half a year.

I will skip all the circuit stuff here. But there is one interesting thing we learn from this project, which is using animation in PowerPoint. Our design involves some not-so-easy RF theories. In a book those theories can take a few pages to explain. So we use animation to present those ideas. To my surprise it is pretty easy to add animation in PowerPoint. And the result is good. It makes the presentation much easier for audiences to follow.

I still need to submit a long report. That I can't use animation. But with all the training form blogging, it shouldn't be too hard to B.S. all the writing.

Departing Flight

2006-04-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

Still remember that time when graduating from high school. We, as teenagers, were so passionate. We exchanged card, photos. Sadness started to build up throughout the last months of the semester. Usually songs like "Friends", "Wish" would be K-Song hits. But as we grow older, we see friends leaving numerous time. The emotion is no longer strong. Friend's departure, it seems to be just part of life.

This time Henry is going to HK for good. His departure comes quite suddenly, really caught our surprise. In contrast, last year, another friend told everyone he was leaving but turn out staying. He didn't mean to fool us, life itself just isn't easy to predict.

Anyway, Henry continues his 奇異旅程 in HK. Good luck and God bless!

Blog. Friend.

2006-04-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, I found a blog of an old friend, who I didn't keep in touch for long time. In the normal circumstance, I should be pretty excited to find a friend in this situation. But I have mixed feeling this time.

He was my friend throughout elementary and high school. We went to same college and were roommate for many years. However, there were some very unpleasant incidents happened to our gang of friends during college year. Then he slowly stayed away and we lost touch.

I were struggle to leave him a blog message or not. There is no big problem happened between our friendship. However I'm afraid my appearance may remind his unpleasant memory of those days. Plus he seems to meet a new group of friends and happy now. Why disturb?

Dinner Ideas

2006-04-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

Me and my wife often have problem to come up cooking ideas. So recently I start to take picture of any new dishes we make. We plan to put all these photo in a blog. Then we won't forgot what we've cooked. It may helps us come up new dinner idea. Here are some dishes we had recently:

Went out of food at home, so just noodle mixed with soy source, plus wonton.

I were pretty hungry at that time, so cook a lot: a) Korean BBQ source on Pork, b) Egg-Flower soup with tomato and crab meat, c) Seafood pasta, d) stir fried vegetable with lots of Garlic

Pork rib soup with a Chinese herb and mixed vegetable. It taste better after putting in a frig overnight so can filter out the grease.

Scripting in Windows

2006-04-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

I mainly work in Unix environment, so I write script quite often. I am more familiar with Perl because I used it to write CGI since I was in college.

A while ago I tried to do some script programming using my PC at home. The idea is to look-up eBay items automatically and do some marketing analysis (helping my brother because he is a professional ebay seller). Doing such task with Perl is pretty easy in Unix/Linux. In Window, it is a little troublesome. I need to install a Perl compiler. Then the program syntax need to be changed a little to fit DOS. It works but not quite convenient.

Recently, Microsoft announces it will support an open-source script language: Python. This is a good news for script programming fans such as myself. Python is a pretty neat language. Its syntax is closer to serious programming language such as C++ but can still program like a script. The things I like about Python are: 1. No need to compile 2. It is an Interpreter 3. Easier to program in Object Oriented.

Microsoft IronPython goes beta

Two playboys

2006-03-25T00:10:00.000-08:00

I have two good friends. They are both very smart and charming. They also have one common point, both have many girlfriends before. I think I need both hands and foots to count all the gfs I know about from them. So I often joke to them they are playboys.

Let's call them Mr. W and Mr. O.

Mr. W is my high school pal. He was the best computer genius in our high school. We came to US to study but in different colleges. We often chatted on the phone and visited each other. Mr. O is my college pal. He was also my roommate and business adventure partner. I met many of his girlfriends before. All of them were movie-star pretty, seriously.

These two guys changes gfs so often, so my first greeting to them was often this: having a new date recently? But last month, to my surprise, both of them told me they were getting married. I am glad that they finally settle down.

Mr. W is in UK and Mr. O is in NYC now. We didn't keep in touch as often. I just want to let them know I am very happy for them about their marriage. And I missed all the fun time we had together.

Self Study: System on Chip

2006-03-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

System on Chip(SoC) is a popular topic in chip design nowadays. SoC means combining digital and analog system on a single chip. Circuits used to build on a large board, now it can be packed on a tiny chip. The outcome, small multi-function devices such as cell phone and iPod.

Digital and analog system are often design separately. For digital system (e.g. CPU), CMOS technology is the favorite choice because it is cheap and consumes little power. For analog system (e.g. amplifiers, radio receivers), BJT, SiGe or GaAs technology are often employed because they have much better performance. CMOS, BJT, SiGe, GaAs are different semiconductor. Usually they can't be combined together so they are built separately.

As CPU becomes so popular, CMOS is now the dominate main-stream semiconductor. To reduce cost, companies are demanding designers to build both digital and analog system using only CMOS. Unfortunately, CMOS semiconductor naturally has weak analog performance. But the demand is there and money make people think. Designers gradually come up new ideas to build good analog circuits using CMOS. As a result people know better on packing both digital and analog system on a single chip based on CMOS. Maturity of SoC design should bring more creative portable electronics to the market.

Snap Shot : Snow Peak

2006-03-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

The 1st time I see snow for the seven years living in the Bay Area ...

Snow on Mission Peak

The two palm trees nearby my home

Snap Shot : 夢の Art Work

2006-03-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

Wife having fun on making these ...

Three years of waiting

2006-03-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Is there anything you want to get an answer. But there is nothing you can do, except waiting. I have been waiting for something for three years. Last Tuesday, the waiting is over. My 1st ever US patent was granted. It was filed on April 2003.

As a tech guy, I always want to invent something. But honestly I don't have enough talent to innovate anything significant alone. I were fortunate to join an interesting research project. And unexpectedly, the research results had enough commercial value to make it a product. So the company filed a patent for protection. It was a rare opportunity and a nice experience for me.

Another topic, I realize my blog didn't talk about any tech stuff for nearly three months. I talked too much about personal this and that. It is drifting away from my original theme "Tech Life in the Valley". So starting next week I will post more self-study technical topics. I find by writing technical stuff into an easy-to-read style, it helps me to understand it better too. Hopefully someone will find those blogs worth killing time.

Dream Job II

2006-03-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

Not sure if this is just me, most of the cartoon character I draw has a name. Each character has its personality, follow with some story. This weird habit began since I were very little. I don't like to repeat the character's personality and its stroy. So every time I try to come up something different. Slowly I ran out of idea on cartoon character. At 25 year old, I even lost interest on the story of Kung Fu comic. So as my drawing skill stalled.

But then I developed a new hobby. I started to write. My English grammar was poor, so I write in Chinese. I don't know how to type Chinese so I can only write on paper. I had written several short stories for fun. There was one problem. I had no reader. So my wife was victimized to be my reader. She sometimes gave positive comments on my stories. She also correct my typo with a pen... like a teacher.

So I conclude my dream job is actually a fiction writer. In fact I have a Love Story in mind that I want to write seriously. It is based on real-life story of my far relatives, a respectful old couples. I have some compelling ideas but not yet able connecting the piece into a story. Plus I need to do more research on the society background of their age. So, this writing project will be on hold ... ... for a loooong time.

Better you go, better be friends
(1st ever English story. Very silly, I've warned you)

Dream Job I

2006-02-25T00:10:00.000-08:00

What's your dream!? Let's say you can work for another job with similar salary and growth potential. What kind of job you will do for living?

In the Valley, when we meet new friends who wear glasses, it will be a good bet that they are Software guys or Engineers. But I wonder how many of them really like to work in front of a computer eight hours a day!?

Before 25 years old, my dream job was a comic artist. I know how to draw Hong Kong Ku Fung style cartoon since very little (5 years old maybe). I drew cartoon on my text book from element school to college. Even now, I draw on my notebook at work. I even draw during meeting. Most of my colleagues know that, they never seem to mind. When I talk with friends on the phone, I hold the phone with one hand and draw with another. It is interesting I often draw unconsciously. When I hung up, sometimes I am surprised what I have just drawn.

My drawing skill improved as I read more comic books. After 25 years old, my skill started to stall. And I slowly understood why I liked to draw so much. In fact, I realize what I really want to do is not a comic artist. My dream job is something else ... (to be continued ...)

Nerds in Romance

2006-02-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's day, I went to buy roses. I went to a flower department, then I saw a handful of nerd-look men shopping there as well. Most guys were struggle what type, or what price in more accurate, to buy. It was funny to look at them shopping with a confused expression

For me, I went straight to the cooler and looked for a dozen roses. Man, they doubled the price! Well, it was V-day. Then I thought about which color to pick. I already brought pink and red in the past months. So I tried something different, I picked yellow roses this time.

When I went home, my wife was happy to see the flower. But then she asked why I picked yellow!? She thought yellow roses means break-up! No kidding. I were speechless .... The next day I did some googling on roses. Yellow rose means "friendship fall into love". Turn out my wife is as nerd as me. Anyway, next time I should just pick red.

Rose Color Meaning

Emil Chau in Concert

2006-02-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Last Friday evening, I went to Emil Chau's concert. Since the tech bubble burst, it has been a long time for a famous Asian singer to perform concernt in the Bay Area. In this evening, it was a full house. Emil was charming and humorous. The whole concert had great atmosphere, audience often sang along with Emil (including me ...). He missed a couple tones in the beginning, but he quickly got into mood then sang very well one song after another. Emil brought his Easy Band with him. The live music were excellent. There was an interesting moment. A female fan rushed on stage. Then Emil sang with her together. This girl hugged Emil like her boyfriend. All audience laugh out loud.

I know almost all of Emil's songs during the 90's, both Cantonese and Mandarin. I was attracted by his Cantonese songs first. Then I looked for his older Mandarin songs and I liked them as well. I owned many of his album. Here I recommend my top three favorites:

1. 弦途有你 : Emil's 2nd Cantonese album. Most songs composed by him purposely for this album. With lots of heart! This album sold really well and then Emil got the nickname of 天王殺手.

2. 風雨無阻 : Emil's Mandarin album during his prime time at 90's. At the time he and Jacky Cheung were the top 2 Mandarin singers. This album contains large variety of style. All 10 songs have great rhythm and well singing.

3. 小天堂 : Emil re-sings a collection of his famous Mandarin songs, with newly composed music played by his Easy Band. A good review of Emil's song with different feeling.

Seattle -- UW

2006-02-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Seahawk superbowl run reminds me the good old day in Seattle. So here I am to share some nice place in the city. For this blog, it is the beautiful campus of University of Washington.

These cherry blossom trees came from Japan about 100 years ago. Every spring, there is one week of full boom.

The water fountain is designed to form a straight line with downtown Seattle and the Mt. Rainier.

Suzzallo Library.

Husky Union Building, a.k.a. HUB, place for students to hang out.

Statue of George Washington. Birds often like to rest on his head ...

Husky Staduim. People can Kayak on the Lake Union waterfront behind.

Go Seahawk!

2006-02-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

I used to study and work in Seattle, for 8+ years. So I always have a special feeling tied to this city. I like most of stuff in Seattle. The city is beautiful, surround by lots of tree and water. People are usually friendly. It is a city filled with unique culture.

This Sunday, the Seattle football team, Seahawk, will play for Superbowl for the 1st time in franchise history. News show the city is crazy on this coming event, and I can feel their emotion.

It is sad most pre-game analysis don't give Seahawk a chance to win. Every so-call experts favour Steeler, although Seahawk has a better record in regular season. Perhaps Seattle often give people an impression as "layback" city, lack of aggressiveness in another word. But I have a gut feeling the Seahawk will win this Sunday, and win big!! Go Seahawk!!

Kung Hey Fat Choi

2006-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to every one!!

Mission Peak

2006-01-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

The highest mountain peak in South Bay is "Mission Peak" in Fremont city. I see it everyday when I drive home. It reminds me when I was in Seattle, the Mt. Rainer was also a beautiful landmark for me when I drove to work.

The mission peak hiking trail is one of my favourite. This trail isn't easy. It takes me at least 2 hours to get to the top, good exercise though. At the peak, I can see the whole south bay, even San Francisco downtown in sunny day. It is a very refresh view.

I used to go there hiking often. Last year, I was very busy so I pretty much stop all activities including hiking. But now I start to have more free time, so I'm thinking to go up there agian in a weekend.

1st ever blog tag

2006-01-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

STP

2006-01-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

The combination of:
1. following a stock since its IPO
2. it keeps going up $1~2 every day
3. hesitate to buy

= painful !!

Disconnected Management

2006-01-21T00:10:00.000-08:00

A friend of my friend recently has some complaints to his manager. His manager was once a technical guy (20+ years ago). But now he starts to forget the difficulty of each technical tasks. And often assign tasks to his employee with unreasonable scope and time frame. For example:

* Manager says: Just do a sweep of analysis on all possible cases, create some nice charts, so I can make a decision. (Well, many cases are similar, it is waste of time)

* Late Friday afternoon, manager says: "Kick off this job so we will have the data next Monday. Have a nice weekend. (He seems to think it takes zero time for preparation. And he assume nothing will go wrong during the weekend. But if something goes wrong, he think the engineer makes bad preparation)

* Manager: write a script program to automatic this task, so just one click to do the job. By the way I need the result tomorrow. (So he thinks it just take one click to write a script program)

* The engineer is in a hurry to finish task ABC, which his manager assigned yesterday. Then the manager suddenly come and says: "Do you think XYZ is also important. Please give me the result of XYZ also tomorrow." Then the engineer asks, "Should I try to finish ABC first?" The manager replies: "It is your call." (ABC$&%*XYZ)

Well, this friend isn't just finding someone to blame. He does praise his team lead (not the manager) know how to break down tasks, and assign them to his teammates with reasonable time frame.

Solar Cell 123

2006-01-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

One of the latest hot technology in the Valley is Solar Cell. It hits the right market nowadays: Energy. Solar cells are made by silicon mostly. Its function is to translate sun light into Energy. So, source is free and the cost is the device itself. One application is house hold electricity generator (placing solar cells on the roof). Product lifetime is usually 20 years. Some keywords for this topic:

1. Dollar per Watt : most solar cells in the market are $4 per watt. It means you need to invest $100 on solar cells to operate a 25 watt light bulk. But then you never need to pay electricity bill again. Most researchers are working on $1 per watt solar cell, which believed to be the breaking point for Solar cells to become main stream.

2. Efficiency: most solar cell have only 10~15% efficiency nowadays. So it can only translate 15% of sun light into energy. This is mainly due to the limitation of silicon itself. Higher efficiency translates to lower Dollar per watt.

3. Spectrum: If the Solar cell can absorb light with border spectrum, there will be more source available to convert to energy (think as a radio that can receive more channel). This again translates to lower Dollar per Watt.

Well, just some self-study to prepare for this soon-to-be main stream technology.

Solar cell reading 1
Solar cell reading 2

First NBA game

2006-01-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

In the last Wednesday of 2005. I brought my brother, who was visiting me from Macau, to watch his 1st NBA game. It was also my 1st.

There are several professional sport teams in the bay area, NFL Raiders, 49ers, MLB Giants, A's, NBA Warriors, NHL Shark, and formerly MLS Earthquake. I went to watch Giants, A's, and Shark before, but never watch any NBA or NFL game. The main reason I missed those games is because of the expensive tickets. But this time my brother come to visit me, and he is a basketball fan, so I open my wallet.

We left home from San Jose early, one hour before the game. We get to the Oakland area 30 minutes before tip-off. But don't know if it is always like that or we were unlucky. There was a huge traffic jam in the last two miles. When we entered the arena, the game was already in the 2nd quarter. We were pissed off. But when we saw the basketball court and the full crowd, we quickly became so excited and enjoyed the game immediately. It was Warriors vs. Celtics, closed game throughout. It become a tie game with 30 seconds left. Then the arena started to play the Rocky music. Everyone started to stand and yell. Emotion was so high. Then Derek Fisher took the last shot and finished off the Celtics ... everyone in the Arena became crazy!!

Woo! It was a fun experience. My brother loved it. It worths all the money and traffic jam.

One week trip in the Bay Area

2005-12-31T00:10:00.000-08:00

In the last week of 2005, my brother and my nephew came to visit me from Macau. It is the first time my nephew came to US. I hope to give him a memorable trip. Here are the places we went to.

Day 1: they arrive SFO at 7:30pm. I brought them to Danny's, had a full dinner. Then went to downtown San Jose, and walked around the "Christmas in a Park", a San Jose holiday tradition.

Day 2: Tech company trip in the South Bay. We drove around companies such as Cisco, Intel, Yahoo, ebay, google. Stop by and took pictures with their company logo. At night, we went to local church for Christmas dinner.

Day 3: Went to Napa Valley for wine tasting. At night, family gathering for another Christmas dinner.

Day 4: Early trip to San Jose airport, they went to Las Vegas for three days.

Day 5: In Vegas

Day 6: They returned to San Jose at noon. Then we went to Stanford University. I showed my nephew, who is still in high school, how the US college system works.

Day 7: Tour in San Francisco. Golden Gate bridge, China town, Fisherman Wharf, etc. In the evening, we went to watch an NBA game in Oakland.

Day 8: Last day of the trip. I let my brother drove my car the whole day. Surprisingly he handled the traffic pretty good. We went to San Jose State U, San Jose library, Barnes & Noble, Guitar Center. In the evening, they took flight back to Macau.

Too bad the weather wasn't good, so I didn't bring them to the Mysterious Spot in Santa Cruz. Maybe next time they come in Summer, I can show them more outdoor activities.

Happy Holiday Shut down

2005-12-24T00:10:00.000-08:00

It has been several years already. My company shut down over a week during the Christmas holiday season. It is an enforced unpaid shut down. Some people don't like this idea much. Believes it is a cheap shot of the company to save money, out of employee's benefits.

For me, I like this holiday shut down idea. There are only one main reason. It is a vacation that nobody works. My whole team take off, so I don't need to worry of missing anything. Also, after a full year hard work, it is good to take a long break and recharge for next year.

So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

Monitor evolution

2005-12-17T00:10:00.000-08:00

I bough a new PC in 1997. At that time I were struggle to buy a 15" or 17" monitor. A wise man told me: "Buy a 17" so you will never need to consider buying a bigger one." I took his advise. It was a NEC 17" CRT mon, price tag was $500. I kept using this NEC mon till 2005, the quality was so good that I never have any problem. However, flat panel monitors are everywhere now. I check craig's list, my NEC mon worth less than $50 bucks.

Early this year, I finally bought a Princeton 17" flat panel monitor, price tag is $210 after rebate. It was a good deal. However, later on I am addicted to using laptop, so I put my Princeton to storage. Recently, I saw this news in Yahoo "Plastic Logic Fabricates Largest Plastic Active-Matrix Display". In near future, plastic monitors may replace flat monitors. Then I may end up buying another 17" mon.

I have a mixed feeling when I recalled what the wise man said. Well, he was not particularly wrong ...

Pastic Logic

OLED: Technology vs Marketing example

2005-12-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

Based on an EE Times article, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) shipments grows due to demand of MP3 players. OLED is Organic LED. Its biggest advantage is bright and low power consumption.

A friend of mine worked for a company that made OLED products a few years ago. At that time their OLED technology could only produce grey level display. Their target market was cellular phone. As usual it took a few years for technology development. But when the product was ready, most cellular phone was using color display. Their company's marketing then changed direction. My friend mentioned they changed to target for small home appliance such as shaver display. Eventually this product line didn't do very well.

A few years ago, who can foresee the huge MP3 players market? And who can foresee the usage of OLED in MP3 player display? In the Valley, Technology and Marketing live and die together.

OLED shipments grow again, says DisplaySearch

Language barrier

2005-12-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

I used to speak poorly in English. I took me many years to practice, now I feel pretty comfortable to speak. It is funny I feel a lot easier to speak English with other foreigner such as Korean or India. But when I talk to American, it still feel a bit uneasy. Recently this problem has been improved a little. The husband of my sister-in-law is an American, I talk to him quite often, so it helps.

Long time ago when I was still in Seattle, an experienced Chinese co-worker told me that I should speak English anywhere in the company even talking to Chinese. Because it would allow other people to join the conversation and improve the PR. I took his advise and kept doing so. But when I come to the Valley, I feel most people (at least in my company) don't do that. Chinese speaks mandarin with their friends and Indian do the same. Unfotunately, my 1st language is Cantonese so I can't really join either conversation.

Perhaps I need to find a relative who speaks Mandarin or Indian.

International Conference Call

2005-11-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

International conference call (ICC) is a matter of business life in the Valley. Companies have teams or customers in different countries. For direct communication, ICC is often required. I have many ICC experience, some of them were quite memorable.

1. ICC to India
This was a joint project with one member located in India. Due to time zone difference, I need to have conference call with him at 8:30am. This was a weekly meeting through out a six months period. At that time, I was one of the few employees who came to work earliest.

2. ICC from Shanghai
Last year I went to Shanghai office for a week. In one meeting I need to conference call back to the US site. For me, who is a Chinese working in US, then ICC from Shanghai to US and speakings English. I just feel kind of funny.

3. TV ICC to Japan
Two years ago, I have a ICC with a big customer in Japan. They were making a chip for their next generation game console. Perhaps they were big customer, we setup a Video ICC with them. The whole system was provided by Sprint, including a large TV, camera, and software interface that operated by a remote control. The TV resolution was acceptable but and there was half second delay or so. The good thing was people can drawn something on white board and both sites can see.

The art of Emilology

2005-11-19T00:10:00.000-08:00

Like most people in the tech industry, I need to read many email at work, usually around 10~30 each day. Reading email requires some skill. For example, some Cc email, most are unrelated to me, but one line could be an action item to myself. It could been easily overlook.

Writing an email is an art. I usually don't write too long of an email, 2~3 paragraph at most. And try to summarize all the important thing in the first paragraph. It is hard to expect people to read the whole email in detail, because I don't.

Sending email is another feat. When to send, who to send, who to Cc, can all produce different outcome. For example, sending a report at 8:30am for an upcoming meeting shows you are a responsible team player. Send a data analysis results at 8:30pm shows you are a hard working employee. When I need to request something from tough-dealing people, I always Cc their boss.

BTW, when people ask you to do something, don't reply too quickly. Because it mean you have nothing to do. :)

Advertisement: new blog in sammyreview

2005-11-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

Job market is heating up

2005-11-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, a head hunter called my office phone. I didn't received these type of phone call for a long time. Does it indicate the job market here is picking up. I think so. Some of my friends just fired their boss recently, of course they already found new boss. And almost all of my friends have a job now.

Although job openings are there, companies are still hiring carefully. They look for very good match for their positions. Unlike the Y2K boom time, now employers won't rush to grab good telnet and then spend a few months to train them. They want good telnet, good experience, and expect people to work on day one.

For the employee, now seems finding a job isn't that difficult. Then we starts to be unsatisfied about what we have earned. One of my co-workers always want to sneak my salary information. He likes to ask somethings like: what is the percentage range of your bonus. Then ask if you ever get bonus more than $10K ... or he will ask how much $$ you put down on your ESPP ... etc. Well, personally I don't mind to reveal how much $$ I made. I don't earn much, barely enough to support my basic living. But there are two reasons I don't want to tell:

1. It is company confidential
2. If turn out I make more than him/her, he/she will be upset. If turn out I make less, then I will be upset. Why do something that surely will make someone unhappy?

Expensive EDA tools

2005-11-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

Nowaday, it is difficult to start a fabless IC company, because they need to invest a lot of money to buy enpensive EDA tools up front.

Synthesis, RTL simulator, P&R, layout verification, timing verification, etc. Each of these tools cost around $50~$100K a piece. A big chuck of funding is already burn upon software installation.

It is not EDA companies over charging their customers. It is due to the fact that chip design is getting more complicate, engineers indeed need more tools to solve the problem.

Some argue to build free open source EDA tools. But I doubt if this will work.

EDA tools are complicate software, and it is used to improve productivity. Perhaps someone can write a free EDA tool that works. I doubt it could ever match the accuracy and speed of a commercial tool.

Free EDA Users Group

Two palm trees

2005-10-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

Nearby the North 1st street exit of I-237, there is a huge open area. I heard the land belongs to Cisco. But they never do anything there. The last 6 years, all I see is a wild unused land. There are two long time resident though. A tall palm tree, and a shorter one next by.

There are no other trees in this land, so these two palm trees really stand out. Everyday, they seems to enjoy their quite moment, dancing together under the slow wind, and watching the busy vehicles drive along I-237. In windy days, these two trees hold hands tightly to stay firm. In rainy days, the tall palm tree will be a gentleman and block the rain for his partner. All these days they support each other, living strong in the busy silicon valley. Although they seem to stay there alone, they are not lonely.

Recently, there are some activity starting in this land. Looks like people are going to build some construction. I hope the owner of this land will keep the palm trees there. Because everyday when we drive along I-237, we like to see these two old buddies, waving hands to us.

Housing Mania : taking profits

2005-10-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, two of my friends sold their homes. One sold a 3 bedrooms luxury town house for $759K, which he bought in 1998 with $400K. Another sold his 3 bedrooms single family home for $749K, which he bought in 1999 in $425K. Both make very good profit in 6~7 years. But my observation is, for people who want to live in a decent 3 bedrooms house, they need to pay around $750K in the valley nowadays. It is pretty tough for 1st time home buyer actually.

One of them actually move back to an apartment. He thinks the housing price will go down. And taking his chance to shop for good deal. Well, he sold his house a few months ago. Ever since the housing price starts to go down. Perhaps he is right ...

Top Google search result on "Bay Area Housing"

For EE students

2005-10-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

The following is a recent conversation between me and a Electrical Engineering professor in the Silicon Valley:

Professor: P
Sammy Cafe: S

P: Don't do digital/Verilog type of projects, all these jobs are going off-source fast.

S: But Anaolg design company don't hire fresh grad.
P: That's true, you need to be good. They hire good students.

S: No matter how good I'm. Investor won't pay $50K more to train me comparing to outsource.
P: Don't worry about investors. Be good to make a senior enginner wants you.

S: You area a consulant of startups. Does investor expect startups to outsource some jobs.
P: Absolutely.

S: How many EE fresh grad in this school can get into EE industry nowday.
P: Around 20%

S: Thanks professor.

So I think, if you are EE studnets. You have two choices. 1. Be good. 2. chance major.

Getting physical

2005-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

I started making a living by writing Verilog modules. Shortly after, I moved to physical design, doing Place-and-Route and layout. In the layout domain, it is like playing 2D puzzle. The physic behind it, honestly, I don't need to know much and can still get the job done.

A couple years later, I am doing RC extraction. This requires me to think in cross-section domain. Now I need to think in 3D. And I start to understand how manufacturing affect a chip.

Later on, I moved to work on SPICE level analysis. This time I need to pull back my text book and recall the detail of MOSFET physic. And recently, I am doing DFM and yield analysis. So I deal with the physic on semiconductor process.

Man, it is just getting physical. I wish I had studied harder on physic when I was in high school.

Britney's Guide to Semiconductor Physics

Blogger Spam

2005-10-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

For some reason, my recent new blogs receive SPAM comment almost right away. I sample other people's blog and I don't see this problem. Is there any SPAM filter setting for blogger somewhere. Also, how does people write a script to automaticall upload SPAM comment on new blog!?

I am putting a curse on this particular blog. Anyone who put comment on this blog will have a bad teeth in three months!! Let's see if I will see anymore SPAM comment this time.

Breakthrough on circuit simulation

2005-10-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

SPICE simulation is a breakthrough innovation for IC industry in the 70's. This technology enables engineers to simulate circuit behavior on the computer. It accelerates the progress on semiconductor IC chip development for the next several decades. Nowadays people call this technology TRUE SPICE.

As IC chips become larger and more complex. The TRUE SPICE algorithm starts to become incapable. It take very long time (e.g. over 24 hours) for large digital circuit simulation.

In the 90s', there was another breakthrough for circuit simulation. This is the so-call FAST SPICE. Basically it sacrifices some simulation accuracy but enables 10X more run time improvement. This again accelerates the progress on large digital circuits development.

In 2005, there is another breakthrough. There is no proper name for this technology yet. But the company who own this technology is called Xoomsys. It utilizes parallel grid computing, combined with FAST SPICE and TRUE SPICE. The outcome, 10X run time improvement with 100% TRUE SPICE accuracy.

How the Xoomsys technology can help the IC design industry!? It is yet to determine. But for innovation point of view, this technology solves a years long problem and I vote it as a breakthrough on circuit simulation.

Xoomsys

Buffet Craze

2005-09-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Todai buffet used to be my favourite for Chinese-seafood buffet. Their Sushi and seafood are super. The price tag is around $20. During the boom time in 2000, people feel they are rich and Todai was very popular. I remember I always need to wait 10~15 minutes to get a seat in the weekend.

But recently I went to Todai again in the weekend. Half of seats are empty. I think it is simplify caused by competition. Here are a few popular chinese-seafood buffet around:

1. Chinese Buffet
2. Crazy Buffet
3. Super Buffet (coming soon)

All of these name are pretty catchy. I have other suggestion though, for example:

1. Ultra Buffet
2. Buffet R Us
3. Warren Buffet

Anyway, name isn't important, price and quality is. Most new buffet restaurants charge $7.99 for lunch. It is pretty attractive in fact.

To my friend

2005-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

My good friend in Seattle will have a big surgery in two weeks. I would like to designate this blog for her successful surgery and full recovery.

Housing Mania : garage utilization

2005-09-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

In my condo complex, many resident use their garage as a storage. Their cars never park inside. With housing price so high and average living area are getting smaller. It is understandable to use every inch of the space for better usage.

Here are some other creative garage utilization I saw before:
- remodel as a fitness room (my next door)
- make it two bedrooms (no air circulation dude)
- build it as cats playground (she is a cat lover)

This seems funny but actually quite practical. The average housing price is above $600K in the valley. Assume garage space occupies 20% of the house. This translates to $120K worth of value. Let's say you always park the car outside. Then pay full cover insurance so you don't need to worry about car stolen. It probably costs $1K more on insurance per year. Still it is peanut compared to $120k. And now you have an extra space for living.

Does this sound ridiculous!? My wife thinks so. Therefore my car still stays inside my garage!

Fab and Fabless

2005-09-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

When I joined the industry in mid-90s, a lot of companies are making good money on semiconductors IC business. Meanwhile, fabless design house are getting started. Fabless mean they don't own a fabs. They do chip design only. Then outsource the fabrication process to independent foundries such as TSMC. The disadvantage is that they don't have control on process quality, which can affect their IC product quality directly. Therefore, the people in this industry used to say: the real guy has fab.

But nowadays. The wind has changed.

As the IC chip scales to ever smaller, the manufactory steps are getting more complicate. For the latest TSMC 65nm fab, the cost is over $6 Billion. This is not the money that any company can afford. A company got to sell A LOT of chips to make return of this investment. Let's do a quick math. Let's say a high end chip can sell $100 a piece. They need to sell 60 million of them to break even!

So in today's IC industry, even big companies like Motorola and Philip build jolt fab together. The cost of investment are just too big to do it alone. Meanwhile, fabless design houses are getting more common. Let's name a few famous one: Broadcom, Qualcom, Xilinx, etc. They are real IC chip players, but not necessary have fabs.

Soaring tool costs to delay 450-mm fabs

No tech blog today

2005-09-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

No mood to write about tech life in the valley now. Because it seems so unimportant comparing to the situation in New Orlean. I just have one comment. For those top government officers who said the victims staying in New Orlean should share the blame, they don't have a good mentality to be excellent leaders. If only tens to several hundred people didn't follow the mandatory evacuation, we can say those people are not wise. But if you have thousands of them staying, and no meaningful rescue effort after three days, you know something must be wrong in the system.

Lunch plan

2005-08-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

The Valley is a very diverse cities and there are all kind of restaurants. Popular one are Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Japanese, and of course American fast food. However, usually I can't make up my mind where to eat until noon. I don't want to spend more than five bucks for lunch. And I don't like to eat food with too much calories. As a result, my choice is limited.

Taco Bell is my favourite. I go there at least once a week. I go to Subway sometimes, but they are expensive. I also go to Burger King. Whooper has high calories but I like Burger King for personal reason. Sometimes I go to Chinese or Vietnamese restaurant. Their price on menu usually is cheaper than $5, but I gotta pay tips ...

Recently I got a 25% off coupon from a Vietnamese noddle house. Then even including tips, I can walk out of the door in five bucks with a full stomach. I went there three time in the last two weeks. But the discount pricing is ending this month. So now I am looking for any restaurant with special discount.

Change of blogging time

2005-08-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that I am slowing running out of topic. And I don't want to just write ordinary daily stuff. So from now on, I will post a new blog once a week on Saturday. Actually I don't know if anyone visit my blog regularly. But I still want my blog posted on a predictable schedule.

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If you are interested and live in the Bay Area, let me know. Ten bucks is all I want.

Traffic in the Valley

2005-08-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

The traffic in the Valley, most of time, it is JAM!. There are a lot of nice cars driving on the highways, and they drive fast and furious. But it doesn't matter, they are driving 20 mph mostly when they go to work, especially bridging from one highway to another.

There are five major high ways in the Valley, I-101, I-880, I-280, I-237, I-85. All these highways connect and form a large circle surrounding the valley. It is a pretty good idea. Unfortunately, with more highways, there are more bridging. And bridging causes all the traffic congestion.

It is particular worst in I-237, which connect I-101 (West Bay) and I-880 (East Bay). From my observation, I-237 is not originally built as a major high way. For example, I-237 is merely 10 miles long and both ends connect to local streets directly. In recent years, more people buy houses in the East Bay. So they rely on I-237 to go to work. This makes I-237 bridging as one of the worst congestion spots. And even worst, I also take I-237 to go to work.

Fortunately, now the city had built a nice bridge to connect I-237 and I-880. This helps. But unfortunately, bridge rebuild between I-237 and I-101 is still nowhere in sight.

There is one thing quite interesting for the high way traffic in the Valley. It reflects the job market pretty well. In 2005, the traffic is warming up again, and I receives more phone call from head hunters.

Traffic411.com

Yahoo! back to work

2005-08-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

It is 10am Monday, someone is still in the bed.

"Wake up, Yahoo, Wake up"

"Who is it?" Yahoo asked.

"This is Google."

*** *** *** *** ***

I used Yahoo since 1995. First I used their search engine. Then Yahoo map, Yahoo mail, My Yahoo, Yahoo Photo, briefcase, etc ... however, there is not much new development in Yahoo in recent years. I still use My Yahoo frequently. I have to keep my Yahoo email account. But some of my friends already forward all their Yahoo mail to Gmail.

Yeah, Gmail, the Google. Other than search and mail, Google is doing a lot of good stuff that dominated by Yahoo traditionally. Ever try Google Map!? You will feel Yahoo Map is for your grandma. Google is waking up Yahoo (or shaking up ...). In fact, from the gossip in the Valley, I know Yahoo is doing a lot of tech development under table now. They are activly hiring. I won't name what exactly the stuff they hire people to do (although I know a little). Basically Yahoo is going to upgrade their existing web service.

Yahoo may not come up any brand new innovative web service. But the competition between Yahoo and Google will surely make web service (and local job market, yeah!) exciting again.

Yahoo Services
Google Services

Toyota Prius

2005-08-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

What is the hottest car in the Valley these days. I would say Toyota Prius, the hybrids vehicle. I see Prius everywhere. And people talk about this car all the time. Discuss how Prius can saves gasoline cost. More importantly, talk about the new feeling of driving.

Last month, my sister-in-law bought a Prius. I got a chance for a free ride. Then I understand what the new driving feeling is.

When I jumped into the car, the engine was already on. I asked: where do you put the key? She said: Oh, it has a wireless sensor to the car key, so it turns on the engine itself. Mmm ... OK, that is cool.

Then she started to shift gear, by control a small joystick-like rod next to the steering wheel, by using three fingers. Mmm ... like playing video game ... that is pretty cool.

When the car started running, she controlled the satellite map, CD player, and air condition all by a touch screen display. Mmm ... that's really cool. Then the screen showed the statistic of energy storage, mile-per-gallon plot, etc ... Mmm ... that's way too cool. I started to wonder if I were sitting in a space shuttle.

So, I agree Prius gives me a new experience of driving. For around $26K, perhaps it worths a try, especially the gasoline cost is rocket high.

There is one problem though ... with so much information on the screen, will it be a distraction for driving!?

Toyota Prius

Shortage of Computer Scientists

2005-08-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

In July, Microsoft complained there are lack of computer scientist in the US. It is also true that less students enroll in computer science or engineering degree. Microsoft's explanation: "technology field just hasn't done a good job of positioning itself as hip and exciting."

This is far from true, I think.

IMHO, a degree program's enrollment rate is decided by the ratio of "Job Opportunity vs. Study Effort".

Music and art are fun and interesting. It is not the most popular degree program. Medical school guarantee you to have a high pay job, also it isn't the most popular program.

CS/EE program is not easy. But in the old days, you get multiple offer upon graduation. And it is among the highest paid for fresh grad with 4 year degree program. But now, although pay is pretty much unchanged, you gotta be the best students to get a decent job offer.

The best way to make it hip and exciting: add more job opening in the US!

Let's see what Mr. Gate said

Acupuncture

2005-08-06T00:10:00.000-07:00

I work in front of a computer 8 hours a days. Plus some more computer time at home (including writing this blog). One problem of mine due to long computer usage is shoulder ache and head ache, from time to time.

Shoulder ache is easier to control as long as I do light exercise in the office regularly. Head ache is a bigger problem. Pain reliever works. But it is just temporally. I prefer a more permanent solution.

One of my friend hurt her shoulder due to injury form playing tennis. Many doctors told her there is no cure and she can not play tennis again ever. Finally she went to acupuncture. And bang! It fixed her shoulder problem. Because of her experience, I gave acupuncture a try.

After visiting an acupuncture clinic twice. My headache was gone. Yeah I got needle pinch on my leg, stomach, and head. But it really isn't that hurt. I continue to visit acupuncture regularly, just for the sake of good health. Now I no longer have headache. Amazing isn't it? It is!

Acupuncture in Bay Area

SPICE model standard

2005-08-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

SPICE model is the key to simulate physical behavior of a semiconductor chip. So designers can verify the function of a chip on the computer. For the last couple decades, UC Berkeley BSIM model is the de facto SPICE model standard.

However, BSIM5, the next generation of BSIM, is not selected as the standard SPICE model of next generation semiconductor (CMOS) process, according to Compact Model Council (CMC). In stead, Japanese HiSim model and Philip PSP model (joint effort with U of Pennsylvania) are selected. It is a bit of surprise because Berkeley's BSIM model has such a long successful history. CMC's claim: BSIM5 is just not good enough.

This supposes to be end of story, until I hear something.

BSIM's creator is also the executive of world's largest independent semiconductor fab. Rumor said he thought with the power of his company, BSIM5 will be selected as standard model by default. So he didn't do any promotion for his new model. Unfortunately, the result turn another way.

Now the interesting is: for political reason, the Big Guy will probably support BSIM5 mainly. But the International standard are something else. So what will the rest of chip companies root for? It remind me Microsoft vs. software industry. USA vs. UN ...

CMC
CMOS

Sun Visor

2005-07-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

The first year I came to the Bay Area, I immediately love the weather. What a nice California sunshine! Later on, I start to feel the sun light is a bit too strong for me. Especially when I drive on freeway, the sun light keep hitting my face and I hate it. More little dark dot appears on my face. My wife said this will become skin cancer and it freaks me out.

Recently, I see many women, Asian mostly, wear Transparent Sun Visors (as shown on photo) during lunch break walking. My first reaction, they looks so hilarious. They looks like Power Rangers. Later on, I see someone even wear the visors when driving. That's ridiculous! But on a second though, perhaps I can give it a try ...

So I bought one of those visor and sometimes wear this when driving. It really helps block the sunlight and I feel more comfortable. There are a few side effects though. Other drivers keep looking at you and think you are crazy or something. The good news is they tend to back off away your car. Also beware other drivers can't have your eye contact. It is not a good driving practice, so I don't wear it when drive in local.

Transparent sun visor

Language Tools

2005-07-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

Silicon Valley is a very diverse city. Indian, Chinese, Mexican, I don't think any of them are consider minority here. Sometimes I wonder if I can read all these language, I will able to learn more about different culture.

Recently I find a Google translation tools. So I give it a try. Although not perfect, it translates around 70% of the correct message. The diffcult part is word with multiple meaning. The tools usually can't make good guess on it. But who can blame it? It is tough.

The following is a short story I think of today. I type in English. I copy and paste the Chinese translation. For those who know Chinese, you can judge how good the tools is.

*** *** ***

Rumor on Fear Factor

In 2006, the popular host of Fear Factor has been changed. The new host is a sexy lady. Audience are attracted by the lady and forgot about the original host. In fact, audience never see the original host on TV again. There is a reason for it. It is all because of an unseen episode of Fear Factor: House Haunting.

The fear factor team challenged the ultimate fear: life beyond dead. They went to the most haunted house in Mississippi. Unfortunately, this time they got into trouble. The whole team, including the host, were haunted and unable to recover till now. The program producer had no choice but to remove the episode and changed host.

*** *** ****

谣言在恐惧因素

2006 年, 恐惧因素的普遍的主人被改变。新主人是一个性感夫人。观众由这个夫人吸引和忘掉原始主人。事际上, 观众从未再看原始主人在电视。有它的一个原因。它是全部由于恐惧因素一个未看见的情节: 议院困扰。

恐惧因素队质询最后恐惧 : 生活在死者之外。他们去了被困扰的房子在密西西比。不幸地,这时候他们惹上麻烦。整体队, 包括主人, 无法困扰和恢复直到现在。节目生产商没有选择但去除这个情节和改变主人。

Google Language Tools

Analog Automation

2005-07-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

Design automation has done a very good job on digital circuit. This enables engineers to design their circuit in high level description. Then let the software to translate it to circuit description (synthesis) and physical description (place and route).

However, design automation is nearly none on analog circuit. Engineers still need to design the circuit manually and layout it manually. Numerous companies tried to do analog circuit automation but none gain wide spread success, if not completely fails.

Recently I get a chance to use a software that is close to analog automation, and do it well. This tool is called Circuit Explorer. Well, it can't design or layout the circuit by themselves. But it helps the designers to optimize the circuit device size to meet the spec. Currently, most designers use parametrize sweep or simply random simulation to fine tune the design size. This is tedious. I don't think any engineer enjoy this task. Circuit Explorer help to do this job and it do it well!

Imagine this, you finish a circuit. Meet all the spec at room temperature and typical process corner. Nicely done. Now the next step. You need to fine tune the design size that it still meet the spec at different temperature and process corner. Man! There is lots of simulation and lots of button clicking. The good news, Circuit Explorer can automate all this work.

This tool isn't a break through on analog circuit design automation, but it really helps making life easier for analog designers.

Circuit Explorer
Planet Analog

Hiking and Walking

2005-07-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

One activity I enjoy a lot in the Valley is hiking. The weather is so nice that you can go hiking anytime. There are many hiking trail in the Bay area. Some is easy, like the one in Foothill. Some is tougher, for example Mission Peak. Some has super view, such as Half Moon Bay. It is my interest to explore different hiking trails in the Valley.

Ever since I have a kid, there is not much free to go hiking. I still like to take a walk outdoor sometimes. So, I start to look for walking trail that fits for lunch break. So far, I only find two good trails nearby my company. They are Mountain View Shoreline park and Sunnyvale Baylands park. I go to Baylands park more often because it is closer for me and my walking partners. There is one drawback for Baylands park though: it charges for parking during the Summer. But over the last couple months, I discover a few "hidden spots" that can park for free. So, lunch break walking becomes my weekly activity now.

Bay Trail Pages

Cycle on housing price

2005-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Income level of people in the Valley doesn't increase much last several years. But housing price keeps going up. A two bed room townhouse in good condition can easily cost half a million.

Those so-call creative mortgage, such as interest-only mortgage, helps to keep housing afforability. Everyone want to live in a better house. And most are willing to push the affordability limit to buy a better house. When people bid a house, some will calculate their affordability based on interests-only mortgage rate. This pushing up the bidding price. As a result, this become a cycle on housing price. With housing price rocket high, people can't afford to buy a decent house without using interest-only mortgage.

Sense a housing bubble blurts!? But it just doesn't happen ... ...

Housing article

Wireless vs. Wrist

2005-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Wireless boardband become so common in the Valley. Even I've setup this at home. Look at the image above. It is captured from Yahoo! SBC DSL Ad. Do you think the girl is surfing the web comfortablely! I basically do the same thing every evening. Laying on my bed and surf the net. It seems so comfortable that you almost addict on it.

But there is a catch ... Look at the girls's wrist, bending at 90 degree. I do the same thing and it hurts after a while. In a long run, it isn't good for the hands.

So, all the tech guys here. If you figure out a way to use your laptop while laying (definitely laptop isn't designed to use that way). Let me know, we can file a patent together, perhaps it can become a nice product!

Yahoo! SBC DSL

An era of EDA industry

2005-07-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ray Bingham, the former CEO of Cadence (CDN), is leaving the company for good. This concludes an era of Cadence, perhaps an era Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry as well.

EDA was once a proud industry, especially in the 90's. Technology innovation on software tools makes possible to build IC chips with millions of transistors. A copy of EDA tool can easily cost $100K, per year! Research on EDA tools was a hot topic in Universities. I watched an TV interview of Jerry Yang, Yahoo founder. Before his Yahoo idea took off, he was planning to work on his Ph.D in Stanford focus on the EDA related research.

In the new millennium, innovation in the EDA seems to stall. Coincidently, it is the same time frame Ray became CEO of CDN. The big guy in EDA (including CDN of course) believe it is more effective to acquire start-up with good technology, rather to build on your own. It is no wrong to buy good technology. The problem is, once the start-up is bought, the engineers acquired will become less motivated to innovate (perhaps they are safe now!?). And for the big guys, the potential competitor is now gone, so just focus on marketing and try to sell more this and that.

When will a Google of EDA emerge ... I wonder!?

Related EE Times article

1st ever blog

2005-07-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Web Surfers, this is my 1st ever blog. First let me give a brief introduction of myself. I live in the Bay Area Silicon Valley, work for an IC design software company. English is my 2nd language so please pardon my poor writing. I will focus my blog on Tech life in the Valley, especially on my industry. There are 2 things quite interesting happening in my industry in 2005.

First, the Design-For-Manufacturing phenomena (so call DFM). There are so many start-up proposing all kind of solution to address this problem, but none is promising. It is like a gold rush. A couple years down the road, it will be interesting to see how many can survive.

Second, the outsourcing. Yeah, not a NEW news. But I'm casting my vote here: outsourcing is a one-way street for tech jobs. Except there is another technology breakthough (e.g. anti-Internet). Outsourcing is just such a logical choice for CEOs. If you have 10 years experience on the right knownledge, you are probably safe for a while. Because most Enginners in China/India don't have that much experience yet (but don't worry, they will catch up). If you are fresh grad or junior, better have backup plan on your career path.

Sammycafe
July 9th, 2005

DFM Startups