Backflip, AT&T's first Android phone

After years of suffering from my Palm Centro, I got my Backflip this morning in a local AT&T store, at 11am. I was expecting people lining up to get the Backflip, but found myself to be the only customer there. It was the first ever Android phone sold there. They got two Backflip, so after me, there was only one left.

I paid $199 plus tax of $34.11 (calculated on the full Backflip price of $349.99), and extended my AT&T contract by 2 years. Of course I will pay the $30 monthly data plan from now on.

The phone is not bad. I like the hard keyboard. I also like the trackpad on the back of the screen.

The home screens (5 of them) have many AT&T and Yahoo stuff, about 6 of them. I don't know how to remove them yet. But I added back all the google stuff to the home screen: Google Map, GMail, etc.


Google Map and GMail feel fast and smooth. The Google Map even feels faster than that on my son's iPhone.



The enclosed browser works well, fast and smooth. I particularly like the keyboard's 4 arrow keys, which can be used to scroll the webpage. You can also use the trackpad.




I also downloaded the Dolphin Browser, and found it tricky to use; maybe I just need sometime to learn it.

The screen is somewhat small (3.1"), compared to iPhone's 3.5". But on the other hand, the phone feels good in the hand, and fits well in the pocket. I actually like the size. The keyboard and the trackpad actually compensate for the small screen, because you don't have to use the touch screen to interact with the phone. When you touch the screen, your figure blocks part of the screen, making the screen effectively smaller.

Backflip has Android 1.5. The phone crashes once when I first used the camera. After rebooting, I could use the camera fine.

I put the Backflip and the iPhone 3GS side by side. The 3GS is brighter, and the white is whiter. Maybe the 3GS has a more expensive screen; it is a much more expensive phone. But I like Android more, and I can live with a dimmer screen.

mathematical morphology

Mathmatical morphology: basic principles ,by Heijmans (heijmans_1995_morphology_first_course.pdf). A bit too mathematical. Not a good first course for me.

A tutorial, from ground up. Very graphical, and easy to understand.

Fast course of mathematical morphology, Baback recommends.

A lecture note of 1997. Not enough introduction of symbols.

Various brands of green tea

I am going to buy many brands of green tea, taste them, and grade them according to how much I like them: 1 as I like it the least, and 5 as I like it the most.

Bigelow: It doesn't taste like Chinese Green Tea. The tea water is not green at all. Some kind of brownish color. Grade: 1

test from w.bloggar

calling Fortran from C

If you want to call Fortran from C, Here is a good site to consult to. Without it, I would have spent many more hours.

The web site's author is Jonathan Thornburg. Just want to say 'thank you'.

Python is overtaking Perl

Here is Python vs. Perl on Google Trends.

Something can be said from this:

• Python is overtaking Perl;
• Bangalore of India has more Perl/Python programmers than any other city in the world;
• Indian programmers prefer Perl over Python by a ratio of 3 to 1, lagging behind the world trend;
• The three most Python capable cities in the United States are San Francisco, Seattle and Atlanta.

Some Notes:

• My understanding of Google Trends is that the rankings among regions/cities/languages are by absolute volumes, but the bar lengths are not comparable, otherwise you would conclude that there are as many Swedish-speaking Python programmers as English-speaking ones.
• I tend not to trust the Regions ranking. It says that both Norway and Finland (population of less than 10 million each) have more Python programmers than the United States (population of more than 300 million).

Other comparisons:

Python programming vs. Ruby programming

redhat linux vs. ubuntu linux

internet explorer vs. firefox

"San Francisco" vs. "Los Angeles"

China vs. Japan vs. Korea vs. Taiwan vs. Singapore

Can't Live Without Google

My life is surrounded by Google. I use gmail to send/read emails. I set google.com as the default page in every of my browsers. I check Google Scholar for research. I travel within Google Earth. I find directions in Google Maps. I am now blogging in blogger.com. They are all Google's services.

I spend almost all my waking hours sitting in front of computers. Half of my mouse clicks land on one of Google's windows.

I am not related to Google in any way. The closest I can think of is that a former coworker of mine went to Google to work. I know Google has smart people.

I haven't paid a penny for all these Google services. They are all free. Google is leveling the playing ground.

I like Google's "Don't Do Evil". When you focus on doing good deeds to the world, you earn a fat profit.

I don't know how I could ever live without Google.

The Humen Trip

Humen (虎门) is a town near Hong Kong.

From left: My nephew, me, my daughter, my wife, my son, and my father. Three happy generations. That was in 2006.

my cooking

That is all I can make. It should be healthy. Nearly zero Calorie.

Lingkai in a Gumdo fight

They really tried to hit each other. But don't be scared: They were pretty good at blocking other's attacks.

About Myself

(Updated on 8/10/2007.)

I live near Los Angeles, since I moved here eight years ago. I grew up in Shenzhen, China, a border town near Hong Kong. Cantonese is my native language. I also speak Mandarin. Cantonese and Mandarin are just two Chinese dialects, among hundreds of others.

I am married to a lovely woman for more than twenty years. I consider myself a lucky man. I have a daughter and a son. My daughter just finished college this year and is now working in New York City. So you can guess I have reached a certain age.

My life is pretty simple. I am a scientist/engineer at the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy Group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL/NASA), a fun place to spend time at. Off work, I swim, play table tennis (at the entry level), read randomly, and write in Chinese. I am a gadget lover, perhaps spending way too much money buying electronics.

In my first thirty years of life, my only name was 汤奔阳. When I came to North America to study, I added another name: Benyang Tang. Of course, I am still the same person.