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Geekwhat.com

A Tech, Music, and Finance Blog by Tony Chung

Applying Ari Gold to LifeNovember 17

Sometimes when I watch TV shows or films these days, I try to jump out of my position as an audience member and instead imagine myself in the roles of interesting characters. Ari Gold’s role in ‘Entourage’ is a great example.

I’m a big fan of the HBO series ‘Entourage’, I’ve watched pretty much every episode (and some more than a few times). If you’ve ever seen the show, you’d probably agree with me that Jeremy Piven’s character, Ari Gold, steals the show. His character is incredibly believable and totally entertaining.

In the TV show, Ari Gold represents Vinnie Chase, a famous and aspiring actor in Hollywood. Ari is one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood and this is totally evident in his high-energy dialect and actions. I think there is so much to learn from the way Ari Gold presents himself and the way he pursues (and achieves) success.

1. High energy level 24-7. Ari Gold is alive and thriving at all times. If he’s not thinking, then he’s executing. Period. His energy is totally infectious, it carries over to those around him and even the audience members haha.
2. Staying fit and healthy. There are many scenes in the show where he is doing push-ups or other exercises during phone calls or at home. The guy dines well too. I think his strong health also attributes to his high energy level

Doing One Thing Very Well = SuccessOctober 6

If an organization, whether it be a company or a government, can execute just one thing successfully with good sense, then there is hope and a potentially prosperous future for that org. Good God, that sounded like an excerpt from The Economist.

The above statement is actually my personal reflection on Taiwan. I noticed recently one thing that Taiwan has been executing quite successfully (besides the High Speed Rail — which is awesome and very well done). What is it Tony? Well, Taiwan has been doing an excellent job of attracting international first tier artists to perform in Taipei. A superb job. Some artists that visited (or are visiting) this year include:

1. Diana Krall
2. Linkin Park
3. Paul Potts (of European Idol fame)
4. Vitas (Russian opera singer)
5. L Arc en Ciel (Japanese band)

Seeing posters of these global acts around town really enhances the image and reputation of Taiwan. It’s almost like seeing a highly reputable list of clientele on a company’s website. Given that Taiwan is not one of the very well-known or often mentioned spots in the world, I think it’s awesome that these highly influential artists are paying a visit to Taiwan. It actually benefits both parties because both the visitng acts and the Taiwanese people are exposed to new

How to Record Music with a ComputerAugust 20

Upon request by one of my readers, I’ve decided to post an entry about how to record music with a computer. I have been recording music in the form of vocals, live instruments, and synthesizers for well over ten years. I started when I was 12 years old by recording on a dual cassette deck boombox with my parents’ karaoke microphone (good times). Today, the power of technology has enabled any one of us to set up a decent recording platform in the comfort of our homes at a very affordable price. For instance, if you sing and play the acoustic guitar, you could record decent quality demos of your songs with a microphone and recording machine at the cost of less than USD$200. This was definitely not the case ten years ago.

Here is a basic visual of my recording setup along with the prices of the individual components:

There are four primary components that you will need to record decent quality music with your computer:

1. Whatever it is you want to record (e.g. guitar, vocals, synth, drums, strings)
2. Recording hardware
3. Computer
4. Recording software

Explanation:

To understand this setup easier, try to imagine a river between the Yamaha synthesizer and the Mac Mini computer in the above image. In order to travel from synth to co

Hong Kong Trip, Day 4 - Losing in MacauAugust 14

Last day of our trip

Day 4 (Friday, 7/27)

Total money spent (in USD):

$45 - Round trip, ferry from HK -> Macau
$10 - Lunch at The Venetian
$XX - Money lost in gambling at Macau
$5 - Dinner at the airport

Net expenses: ~USD$60 + $XX ;-)

On our last day in Hong Kong, Wei and I headed to Macau to try our luck at the blackjack tables. We checked out of our hostel around 11am and took the ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Macau around 12pm. There are two types of ferries, Turbojet and First Ferry. I took Turbojet the last time I went to Macau from Hong Kong, so this time we took First Ferry. Seeing the two of us walk around was quite a sight, Wei’s backpack was basically the size of an adolescent lol

When we got off the ferry at Macau, we were uber excited to get our gamble on, but then… we witnessed mayhem:

This was what we saw as soon as we walked off the boat towards customs. We waited for about one and a half hours in that crowd before getting past customs. It was absolutely ridiculous. I’m not sure if that day was an exception (it was a Sunday BTW) or if it is First Ferry service, but it totally sucked like c

Hong Kong Trip, Day 3 - Mong Kok and The Infinite Search for a CafeAugust 8

On the streets at Tsim Sha Tsui

Day 3 (Saturday, 7/26)

Total money spent (in USD):

$10 - Transportation costs
$15 - Dinner at PRC
$30 - Shopping in Mong Kok
$10 - Drinks at Lam Kwai Fong

Net Expenses: ~USD$65

Wei and I left our hostel around 11am and went our separate ways. I went to have lunch with my dad and Wei went to Hong Kong Island to have lunch with his buddy Doug. Lunch with my dad was nice, I hadn’t seen him since the last time I visited Hong Kong in February. We had some traditional Hong Kong dim sum at Tsim Sha Tsui.

Afterwards, Wei and I rendezvous-d and headed to Mong Kok. BUT before we did so, we loaded up on some vitamin C ’shots’ at the local Watson’s store:

Yes, super nerdy galore, but we had to try it. The bottle form and label of these little badboys had made us curious since day one. Seeing that we were lacking in energy, it seemed the perfect time to try them out. I don’t think it did much for us in the end :p We got to Mong Kok via MTR around 2pm, it is basically the biggest street market area in Hong Kong, I did a video about Mong Kok on my last visit. We shopped around for a f