Why Would I Write

  • Sleeping Upright

    Back when I flew a lot for work, one of the things which annoyed me were flight attendants waking me up before landing to straighten my seat and pull the window shades up. While I knew it was protocol and they were just doing their job, I never understood the reasons for it. To me it seemed like they were being anal about something so trivial because it was never explained to me before. Today, I decided to Google why and according to these articles, it’s mainly for passenger safety. I learned something new.

    Anyway, since the frequent interruption of my sleep, I adapted by learning how to sleep in an upright position, and I have a beanie pulled over my head to block out light. Now the flight attendants don’t bother me on flights anymore, unless I put the sticker for them to wake me up for meals.

    I still haven’t learned how to not drool during sleep. My only tip is to not wear black so your saliva stains don’t show on your shirts.

    I kinda miss flying long distances. Long hours in a cozy seat, while you enjoy old movies, music or podcasts with no interruptions. No texts, emails or phone calls. Just you, alone with your own thoughts, soaring through the sky.

    Alone time is good time.

  • A Couple of Strange Dreams

    It’s been a while since I’ve had some dreams worth writing about, but the other day and earlier this month I had two that I remembered to write down on my phone.

    March 24th
    One of my friends hosted a big ass party for his whole neighborhood. The roads were closed so that people could walk around freely. There were tables and chairs set up along the side of the roads for people to sit and enjoy their food. It seemed to be some sort of Chinese New Year themed event, as I remember a lot of red decorations and fireworks. There was roasted pork, grilled chicken wings and satay. Everybody was having a good time until some troublemakers arrived.

    I was chilling with some friends, enjoying our food when a bunch of Chinese gangsters showed up wielding knives, guns and slingshots that fired long needles (don’t ask me why, it’s just what I remembered in the dream). They walked around with masks and bandannas around their faces to protect their identities. I had no reason why they were at the party. I just assumed that they had something against the host. Anyway, they went around the neighborhood killing random people – I had no idea who the victims were, but quite a lot of people died.

    I remember cowering in fear, crouched by some walls, trying to hide from the gangsters. None of us could do anything to stop them. Even my friends who were trained in combat didn’t dare to attack them because they had weapons. It was a very strange feeling. I knew it was a dream, yet I felt so helpless and hopeless. We were such cowards.

    The dream was still going on when I woke up. One of the gangsters had found me and my friends and was threatening to kill some of us. I don’t know how it concluded, but I felt pretty bad about it.

    March 5th
    I was walking home one night and as I approached my condominium, I saw a guy I had been trying to avoid waiting for me outside the guard-house. Since he was some distance away, I didn’t think he saw me so I decided to avoid him by sneaking into the condominium through the side entrance. However, he managed to spot me and followed after me. I took the elevators to the wrong floors, and used the stairs to throw him off but somehow he managed to stay on my trail. It was like he knew my every move.

    In the end, I decided to confront him instead of hide from him. I questioned him – what do you want from me? Why are you following me? He told me that he needed my help. He wanted me to sell drugs for him. The kicker? He took his arms out of his pockets to reveal two stumps where his hands used to be. They had been chopped off.

    I’m pretty sure I declined his proposition – I woke up after that.

    Two vivid dreams. Strangely violent. I haven’t been watching violent or gang-related movies recently, so I’m not sure what influenced my mind to concoct such stories. Also, they seem too literal to have any symbolism though I could be wrong. Any dream interpreters out there care to shed some light?

  • A handy guide to Windows shortcuts

    Whenever I watch someone demonstrate something to me on their computer and they navigate through clunky menus instead of using shortcut keys, it irks me. So in honor of those people who aren’t using their computers efficiently, I’ve decided to write a handy shortcut guide to make their lives better. I’ll keep it as general as possible and include only commonly used programs. If you have suggestions for any other shortcuts, let me know and I’ll consider adding them to the list. Here we go!

    Windows 10
    These should work on older versions of Windows as well – also, you should have upgraded if you haven’t already.
    Windows + D : minimizes all your programs to reveal your desktop. Great ‘boss key’, also great if you need to access something on your desktop without minimizing every open window.
    Windows + M : minimizes your current window
    Windows (to open the start menu) then type the name of the program you want to launch : this should let you launch the program of your choice without having to click through multiple menus or look for icons on your desktop. It should work for most programs installed on your computer. If it doesn’t work, you can use the shortcut below.
    Windows + R : brings up the run dialog which will allow you to run or open any file on your computer. Most of the time you will need to get the filename of the program correctly i.e. winword for Microsoft Word, not word.
    Windows + E : opens Windows Explorer. Something I use on a daily basis, and I’m sure you will too.
    Windows + Left/Down/Up/Right : snaps the window to the corresponding edge of the screen. Windows 10 will also allow you to select another program to fill the other side of the screen if there are any available for you to choose from. It will also allow you to move windows across multiple monitors. Down will restore and minimize, while up will maximize the window.
    Windows + L : log out of Windows. Great for when you need to leave your PC unattended without having to sleep it or shut it down.
    Windows + . : brings up the emoji menu for you to easily insert emojis into whatever you’re typing.

    Alt + F4 : exit the current program. When you have no programs open, this will bring up the dialog for shutting down your computer.
    Alt + Tab : cycle through your running programs.
    Windows + Tab : cycle through your current programs with a larger preview, also gives you the option to create additional desktops on your monitor.
    Alt + Space : brings up the menu bar for your current window. From here you can hit the shortcut keys to Restore, Minimize, Maximize, or Close it.

    Ctrl + Backspace : delete a word. This saves you so much time. Make it a habit. It allows you to easily erase words instead of tapping the backspace key multiple times. You can also double-click a word to select it and hit backspace/delete to achieve the same effect. This shortcut deletes characters from where the cursor is until the next space on the left.
    Ctrl + Delete : Same as above, except it deletes instead, so it will delete characters from where the cursor is until the next space on the right.
    Ctrl + Escape : Brings up the start menu. If for some reason your Windows key is broken and you want to bring up the start menu, this shortcut will do that for you.
    Ctrl + Left/Right : this shortcut lets you jump through your text word by word instead of letter by letter. It will place your cursor to the beginning of the next or previous word. Words are clumps of texts separated by spaces or punctuation.

    Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right : highlights text, one word at a time.
    Shift + Left/Right/Up/Down : highlights text, one character at a time.
    You can also use Home/End/Page Up/Page Down with the shortcuts above for bigger jumps.
    These shortcuts also work in Excel, letting you select cells instead of words.

    Windows Explorer
    Ctrl + Shift + N : create a new folder.
    Shift + Delete : delete a file or folder without sending it to the recycle bin. Be careful when using this – I’ve deleted files that I didn’t want to delete using this method before. Fortunately I could just download them again.
    F2 : rename selected file or folder.
    Ctrl + Click : add a file or folder to your current selection.
    Shift + Click : add files or folders from the current position and everything in between where you click to your current selection.
    Alt + D : jump to the address bar – in the event you would like to type out a location instead of manually navigating to it.
    Shift + Double click : open a folder in a new window.
    Ctrl + Drag : create a copy of selected items at the location you drag to.
    Shift + Drag : move selected items to the location you drag to.

    The shortcuts above should improve your Windows experience significantly once you have memorized them. Here are some additional shortcuts for some commonly used programs. More will be added in the future.

    Google Chrome
    Ctrl + W : closes the current tab.
    Ctrl + Tab : jumps to the next tab.
    Ctrl + Shift + Tab : jumps to the previous tab.
    Ctrl + T : opens a new tab.
    Ctrl + Shift + N : opens an incognito window.
    Ctrl + F5 : forces a complete refresh of the current page.
    F5 / Ctrl + R : refreshes the current page.
    Ctrl + N : opens a new window.
    Ctrl + 9 : jumps to the last tab.
    Ctrl + 1 - 8 : jumps to tab 1-8.
    Ctrl + -/= : zooms in or out of the page.
    Ctrl + 0 : resets the zoom.
    Ctrl + click on link : opens a link in a new tab. Can also be accomplished by clicking a link with your middle mouse button.
    Shift + click on link : opens a link in a new window.
    Alt + D or F6 : places your cursor on the address bar and selects the URL, allowing you to easily copy/paste/or type in the address bar.
    Ctrl + J : opens your downloads page.
    Ctrl + H : opens your history page.
    Ctrl + F / F3 : search the current page.
    Ctrl + D : add the current page to your favorites.

    VLC
    Space : play/pause a video
    Shift + Left/Right : jump back or forward a few seconds.
    Ctrl + Left/Right : jump back or forward a minute.
    T : displays the time remaining for the current video.
    Mouse scroll up/down : increases/lowers volume.
    M : mute.
    F : toggle fullscreen mode.