Tag Archives: photography

by

Catch The Spring Beauty Before It’s Too Late

There are so many hidden treasures in the East Bay of Northern California, I just began to explore them after living in Livermore for some many years.  Treasures, parks, where the beauty of nature is in its full display.  Here are some more moments I captured for this season before the dry heat of 2015 hits East Bay.

IMG_6435 IMG_6501 IMG_6515 IMG_6532 IMG_6559 IMG_6574 IMG_6576 IMG_6587 IMG_6593 IMG_6598

Nature simply inspires me, to think, to appreciate, and to do my best in making this world a more secure (did I mention that my company Cyphort just won the Rookie Company Of The Year from SC Magazine 🙂 ) better place for us all.  You may ask what do I get out these moments.  Confession time!  Cow and Feeding Calf – I decided to let her show her love for the baby in public; Butterfly and Flowers – Enjoy the beauty, add to it but without ruining it; The tree with bright clusters of flowers – no blazing color or big pedals like others, but still adding its beauty to the blue sky in the warm Sun; Two turkeys or pheasants (please tell me what they are) – my curiosity tricked me into disturbing their nice outings in the meadow; Two different flowers (I wish I knew what they are) – they proudly persuaded the Spring to stay longer for us, simply elegant and outstanding; Trees, oak trees – the first displayed amazing character through its branches, the second makes you wonder how are oak and rock related or connected?  The boulder-oak pair – I see harmony and beauty between that boulder and the oak, don’t you?

by

Earth Day Visit To The City, San Francisco

Finally, I got to pay a visit to San Francisco on Earth Day last week.  To be exact, my short excursion included a stop at the Civic Center where a dance event marking the Earth Day was happening, and a hike in the Golden State Park where hatching herons supposedly could be seen.  Before that weekend, a lot of disturbing things already happened upon us: the Heartbleed exploit on HTTPS websites, data breach disclosure at more companies, ferry accidents in Hong Kong and South Korea, lack of progress with Ukraine situation.  I am not the most optimistic person, but I was hopeful that the Earth Day weekend would be better.

How did it turn out? Well, let me just say that I am still savoring the experience after a week even though I missed hatching herons.  Here are a few things I captured through my lens.  I was not able to see anything reflecting a cybersecurity threat, a ferry or airline disaster, or the shadow of cold war.  Maybe that is the beauty and power of the nature? I feel recharged so that I can go back to my cause of fighting advanced Malware threat at Cyphort.  I hope you enjoy these moments as well!

Enjoy Earth, enjoy dance, do Earth justice and smile!

Enjoy Earth, enjoy dance, do Earth justice and smile!

Different colors, different kind of beauty

Different colors, different kind of beauty

Just enjoy the scenery, Chckling 4 & 5 will catch up soon!

Just enjoy the scenery, Chckling 4 & 5 will catch up soon!

I like water, but I like up here now!

I like water, but I like up here now!

by

Cherry Blossom, Big Boulder, And 1977

I just took a personal trip to Xi’an China from April 2 through April 9. This was a great trip worth sharing. This was the first ever reunion of my class – Computer Hardware Class 1982 of Xi’an Jiaotong University. It’s special because old classmates got to gather together after 30 years, to reminisce the disciplined campus life between class rooms, library, cafeteria, and dorms; to remember the bicycle rides to the suburbs; and to retrace the paths lined with cherry blossoms leading to class rooms. It’s even more special because all of the Class Of 1982 joined forces to commission a 25-ton boulder in front of the library to commemorate 1977 – the turning point in modern Chinese history.  It was 1977 that China began her journey of reform and openness; It was 1977 that China restored the college entrance exam system, affording millions of high-school graduates in the past 10 years a chance to enter college, and allowing many more village kids a chance to become someone other than a peasant.

As can be seen from the pictures here, the boulder is beautifully engraved with a description of the historical 1977. The cherry blossom is ever more beautiful. The campus is packed with people coming to appreciate the April flowers and the campus atmosphere, among them are young generations dressed in costumes of their favorite cartoon characters. What would all these pictures look like if China did not make that right turn?

by

Mt Hamilton Impression – Beauty Is In The Details

Last Sunday, I finally got to make my first trip to Mt. Hamilton to the East of San Jose. I have heard about the Lick Observatory atop there and had seen the snow capped top of it more than a couple of times in the past 12 years I have been living in the bay area.  Although it was plenty warm in the South Bay, there was still snow on the ground on the top of the mountain.  The Joseph county park is right at the foot of Mt. Hamilton, visiting the park was icing on the cake to the Hamilton trip.

Check these pictures out, they say much better than my words of the trip.  There was the view of the Observatory buildings atop the summit, with snow still trying to stick around in the bright spring Sun; I spotted a brave hawk standing its branch looking me straight in the eye; then I passed by flowing curtains of Spanish moss from oak trees; I admired pines with the biggest cones I have ever seen, and with generous saps protecting wounds around trimmed branches.Image

Image

Image

Image

Of course, that’s not all.  I was especially amazed by intricate patterns in the Spanish moss, and by the crystal clear look and the elegant surface patterns of the dry resin. Look at these cropped image to see them yourself.  I have to say that Beauty Is In The Details! Don’t just fool around, enjoy life and enjoy nature!

Image

Image

by

Aruba Impressions

I just came back from a one-week vacation on Aruba island (I know, I am trying to take a good break from worrying about security product development for the time being)  Although it’s officially Dutch speaking, English speakers can pretty much feel at home in Aruba. English is widely spoken and US dollars are readily accepted, so what else would you need then? Indeed, I ran into many fellow Americans throughout the stay. I really liked the place – it’s big enough to have a variety of natural geographical features, plants, and animals to see, yet small enough to go to different places by car on one-day trips. There are many beautiful beaches. People are very friendly and good restaurants are easy to find as well. Enough words from me, here is the link Aruba Impressions to some pictures I shot for you to see yourself.  One other interesting observation: the small island has a surprisingly prominent Chinese presence, at least judged by the grocery store and restaurant chains run by Chinese. I hope these beautiful sights help to brighten your holiday season!

by

Holiday Season Is Coming

It’s only ten days till Christmas and sixteen till the new year, 2012, that is. Some of us have big plans for 2012 already, whom I envy; some of us are going to make great plans and ambitious resolutions, whom I admire and wish good luck; some of us believe in the coming of the end of the world, to whom I would say enjoy your life as if it’s true.

Much left to desire. The physical world is not much safer, people still getting shot on the streets; the environment still urgently needs a lot of care, that dreaded gloomy haze in Beijing still causing controversy; the cyber security situation is not that rosy either, good old firewalls at network boundaries not yet being confidently managed when IT managers now have to worry about the security of cloud computing and millions of smart phones.

Desire, we shall. I believe it’s OK to have those problems but it’s not OK if we drop the ball on fixing them. Recognizing the problems is a good start, we (including politicians, executives, researchers, developers, and netizens of the world…) just need to keep at developing better solutions and implementing them diligently. Hey, I am going to work harder on better security solutions to help make cyberspace a safer and more productive environment for all in 2012! To help you get started, here are a select few of pictures I took around the States in the past, America The Beautiful, reminding you that there is great beauty on this land and there are more for us to discover, maintain, and cherish. Wishing you all a great holiday season and a more fulfilling 2012!

by

Steve Jobs, Dennis Ritchie, Machu Picchu, And Long-Lasting Innovations

Last couple of weeks witnessed the passing of some very influential tech giants, Steve Jobs and Dennis Ritchie are the two I am more familiar with. People are talking about the significance of the products like movie Toy Story, iPod, iPhone, iPad that were produced under Steve’s leadership; Computer industries are again reminded of the great creations such as C programming language, Unix operation system, and many useful software tools for which Denis Ritchie was one of the brains behind.  These innovations already have and will continue to have lasting impact on how we develop our computing technologies and live our lives. All these also got me thinking of the ruins at Machu Picchu too. Although the creators, Incas people, are no longer there to show the place off to us, we cannot help but be impressed by how they came to select such a site, managed to build such a self-sustaining village, designed and built their houses, Sun-dial for season keeping, and terraces for agriculture.  After some serious thoughts, I believe that useful innovations and striving for perfection should be the two most critical elements for us to build technologies and products that will have long-lasting impact. Please click on the pictures to get a better view. Thank you.

by

Fleet Week Impressions

I finally made my way to the Fleet Week air show this Saturday after being in the bay area for over 10 years.  I wish I could have stayed longer at the show.  This time, I was not admiring nature per se, rather the human feat of creating amazing flying machines and those pilots’ ability to fly them.  There are teams creating celebratory writings by their contrails; there are teams flying in spectacular formations that literally leave great impressions in the sky;  there are pairs performing precision cross-overs and showing their “loving hearts” to the spectators; and there are solos causing roaring cheers through their daredevil verticals.  Here are just a few shots I took, hoping that you enjoy them as well.  Regardless how fast you’ve driven your cars or how many times you’ve flown in a commercial jets, I bet being in these planes will be very different — much more exhilarating!

by

Two Pictures For An Observation

To be exact, I would like to share two pictures with you and offer up an observation, hoping to hear your feedback. As you can tell, the two pictures below have nothing to do with usability of any kind that may directly come to your mind.  I won’t argue with that. One picture was taken at the “rainbow cascade” place in Yellow Stone national park, the other was taken at Lewis Lake in Grand Teton. I just like the magnificent marble-like color and texture in the first one, and the tranquility of sunset in the other. I hope you enjoy them too. You can have a better view by clicking on the photo.

Two minor incidents during my recent trip to China triggered this observation. First, one day I almost stumbled over a set of stairs in an expensive restaurant because the pitch suddenly changes for some steps. Later on, I saw a few other places with similar issues in the stairs. Second, I found myself having to stretch and twist to reach for toilet papers in several 4-star hotels (don’t try to picture it :-). Being a technology geek I am, I think this may reflect a poor level of usability design in these buildings. Usability is in my mind lately because I happen to be dealing with software usability issues. I certainly hope what I experienced were just exceptions; Otherwise, we should all look forward to better design and better construction with good usability in mind!