Kevin Chiu » Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org Things are only impossible until they're not. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:39:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 China July 4 – Sep 3 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-july-4-sep-3 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-july-4-sep-3#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:39:24 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1421 IMG_0009 IMG_0019 IMG_0020 IMG_0022 IMG_2991 IMG_2992 IMG_3059 IMG_3174 IMG_3249 IMG_3258 IMG_3260 IMG_3303 IMG_3316 IMG_20100828_215918 ]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-july-4-sep-3/feed 0 China June 18 – July 3 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-18-july-3 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-18-july-3#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:26:16 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1355 IMG_2406 IMG_2408 IMG_2422 IMG_2433 IMG_2434 IMG_2496 IMG_2525 IMG_2605 IMG_2609 IMG_2611 IMG_2615 IMG_2616 IMG_2622 IMG_2623 IMG_2624 IMG_2625 IMG_2628 IMG_2630 IMG_2649 IMG_2655 IMG_2660 IMG_2664 IMG_2671 IMG_2675 IMG_2676 IMG_2694 IMG_2725 IMG_2740 IMG_2768 IMG_2828 IMG_2830 IMG_2857 IMG_2932 IMG_2933 IMG_2934 IMG_2967 IMG_2971 IMG_2974 IMG_2979 IMG_2981 IMG_2984 IMG_2986 ]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-18-july-3/feed 1 China June 6 – June 17 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-6-june-17 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-6-june-17#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:31:30 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1325 IMG_1783 IMG_1815 IMG_1886 IMG_1964 IMG_1970 IMG_1976 IMG_2050 IMG_2097 IMG_2100 IMG_2102 IMG_2126 IMG_2136 IMG_2243 IMG_2250 IMG_2263 IMG_2264 IMG_2269 IMG_2272 IMG_2310 IMG_2314 IMG_2315 IMG_2319 IMG_2354 IMG_2361 IMG_2366 ]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-6-june-17/feed 3 China June 2 – June 6 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-2-june-6 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-2-june-6#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:48:28 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1297 On the flight from Seattle to San Francisco, I gave up my window seat to a kid who'd never flown before. Worth it. At SFO, i couldn't find an empty table, so I ended up sitting with this guy - who's actually an airline captain. We discussed programming languages, and I got him back into the groove with Ruby. Upon arrival at PEK, they use a thermal camera to watch for sick people. This was at the PEK baggage claim. It sort of looks like a camera. The kitchen / bedroom area. The bathroom I tested the tap water here. Everything is ok so far. I still need to test the bacteria content. The view from one of the windows on my floor. Microsoft Research Asia - There's something Zen about it. Old + New architecture. This is the rating system at the Bank of China. I saw something similar at the PEK airport. It's an interesting way to acquire customer feedback. Precarious! This clothing store had pretty much every Dreamworks character promoting its clothing. I only brought business casual in my luggage. I stand out a bit, but I think it's in a good way. American brands, such as Playboy, are really stretched here. BMW also makes clothes. There is a ton of great teas. I got to try a bunch in Wangfujing. There are some really huge shopping malls in Beijing. This one is Joy City and is 11 stories tall. This is Wangfujing. There are a lot of foreign goods sold here, but they're marked up quite a bit. Haagen Dazs is considered ultra luxurious here. The ice cream costs about the same as the US, but there's a lot more effort put into the presentation. This is a building with a nice sculpture in front of it in Wangfujing. The Garfield brand is repurposed to represent a high end bakery chain. Pretty much anything with American branding is a luxury good or service. ]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/china-june-2-june-6/feed 4 Arrived in China! http://kevinchiu.org/archives/arrived-in-china http://kevinchiu.org/archives/arrived-in-china#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:06:11 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1294

It’s kind of pollution-y here. I still need to figure out if I’m headed straight for Microsoft Research or heading to my accommodations first.

]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/arrived-in-china/feed 0 Summer Plans: Microsoft Research Asia http://kevinchiu.org/archives/summer-plans-microsoft-research-asia http://kevinchiu.org/archives/summer-plans-microsoft-research-asia#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 05:01:41 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1292 I just got my Chinese visa for an extended business trip to China where I’ll be consulting for Microsoft Research.

The last time I went to China, I was 1 year old. Foreign travel is new to me.

Check back often. I’ll be documenting everything here on my blog.

]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/summer-plans-microsoft-research-asia/feed 3 iPad and iPhone OS 4 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/ipad-and-iphone-os-4 http://kevinchiu.org/archives/ipad-and-iphone-os-4#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:04:32 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1287 Several people have asked for my opinion on the iPad. In short, I have an iPad 3G 16GB on pre-order, which will hopefully be shipping this month.

In related news, iPhone OS 4 was announced for a launch in summer. Check out Steve’s keynote. The biggest highlight is probably efficient multitasking, and the biggest rumor coming out of the announcement is that there will be a new iPhone coming out this summer equipped with the new OS.

]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/ipad-and-iphone-os-4/feed 0 There are now more people on Facebook than there are in the US http://kevinchiu.org/archives/there-are-now-more-people-on-facebook-than-there-are-in-the-us http://kevinchiu.org/archives/there-are-now-more-people-on-facebook-than-there-are-in-the-us#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:32:21 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1279

Six Years of Making Connections
by Mark Zuckerberg Yesterday at 8:41pm

Today we’re celebrating our sixth birthday, and this week there will be 400 million people on Facebook. Just one year ago we served less than half as many people, and thanks to you we’ve made great progress over the last year towards making the world more open and connected.

For reference, the current estimate for the US population is only 315 million.

]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/there-are-now-more-people-on-facebook-than-there-are-in-the-us/feed 0 Did American Express just launch a bank? http://kevinchiu.org/archives/did-american-express-just-launc-a-bank http://kevinchiu.org/archives/did-american-express-just-launc-a-bank#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:43:18 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1268 Today I noticed a link to American Express Personal Savings on my Mint account.

I think Amex just launched a banking division…

]]> http://kevinchiu.org/archives/did-american-express-just-launc-a-bank/feed 0 Drop.io vs Dropbox http://kevinchiu.org/archives/drop-io-vs-dropbox http://kevinchiu.org/archives/drop-io-vs-dropbox#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:05:44 +0000 Kevin Chiu http://kevinchiu.org/?p=1265 Dropbox is my preferred cloud storage solution for files thanks to its seamless desktop interface. However, Drop.io has found its place on my toolbox for one-off file transfers. It’s basically a short url generator for files.

You can create as many drops as you want under 100MB for free. Larger drops can be created by subscribing to premium service.

Drop.io also has a ton of other features, like conference calling for a drop, leaving voicemail messages, and real time presentations.

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