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  • Autograph

    Autograph

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    • Some famous people are asked to sign autographs. Athletes sign on sneakers, balls, bats, T-shirts. Keynote speakers sign on the program sheet.
    • Attended lectures at the Computer History Museum and asked for autographs.
    Autograph of Computer Chess Pioneers
    • During our younger days, we carry small books known as autograph. Some friends just signed their names.
    • Others wrote or quote verses.

    Example (1)
    I wish to be a China cup
    in which you drink your tea
    And every time you take a sip
    It’ll be a kiss for me

    Example (2)
    Seasons may come. Seasons may go.
    Flowers will wither in due course, you know.
    But there is something as fresh as dew.
    That is the love and affection I’ll always have for you.

  • SOA

    SOA

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    SOA may stand for

    • Span of attention
    • Service Oriented Architecture

    Span of attention

    Most people have a short span of attention.

    The following are some examples emphasizing SOA.

    • Elevator Speech : Sell oneself to a potential employer/customer during an elevator ride
    • 10 – 30 second Sound Bites
    • A short paragraph
    • One Minute Manager
    • Five Minute Biography

    Architecture

    SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) is a kind of architecture used in Computer Systems and Applications.

  • A tribute to all teachers

    by Khin Maung Gyi

    Updated : May 2025

    Dr. Khin Maung Gyi (Kevin, SPHS59)

    “The Gardener”

    (A tribute to all teachers)

    Let me introduce to our teacher

    Who is also a guardian and preacher

    Guiding and nurturing from a youthful age

    To raise us up with a healthy image.

    As soon as the morning bell tolls

    He started his routine – heart and soul

    Never does he skips a single day

    Sickness and malady are kept at bay.

    He may be tired, his voice may whimper

    His zest and zeal, nothing gets dimmer

    Never to be seen in fits or rage

    Happy and contented on not so high a wage.

    His loving kindness is like a mountain

    Goodwill from him flows like a fountain

    He looks after us as one of his own

    His empathy towards us is very well known.

    Hearing the success of his ‘daughters and sons’

    He beams as though ‘a war was won’

    He is now overjoyed and highly thrilled

    His life seems to be thus fulfilled.

    KMG (Khin Maung Gyi, SPHS59)

    SPHS59

  • AAA

    AAA

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    Association

    AAA stands for American Automobile Association.

    In California, the AAA branch is called CSAA (California State Automobile Association).

    The benefits vary depending upon if one is a regular member or a premium member.

    Services include

    • Towing
    • Jump start
    • Lock out
    • Out of gas
    • Maps
    • Battery replacement (Optional)

    Battery

    • AAA is a battery size.
    • AAA batteries are smaller than AA batteries.
    • The price and quality of the battery varies with the manufacturer, technology and intended usage.

    Computing

    In computing, AAA stands for

    • Authentication
    • Authorization
    • Accounting

    Authentication may be based on

    • What you know (e.g. password or pass phrase)
    • What you have (e.g. special token for login)
    • What you are (e.g. fingerprint)

    Authorization may be based on

    • Role (e.g. Administrator)
    • Time / Period (e.g. working hours only)
    • Types of allowable resource (e.g. sensitive data)

    Accounting may be based on

    • Paid subscription
    • Pay as you go
    • No charge
    • Discount

  • Organization

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    • There are various types of organizations.

    Non-profit

    • There are non-profit organizations. That does not mean that the employees are all unpaid volunteers.
    • In the USA, non-profit organizations are classified by the IRS tax code. The organizations have to comply with the Federal and State regulations. If one donates to a non-profit organization with 501 (c) (3), part or all of the donation is tax deductible.

    Types

    • There are for-profit organizations.
    • Business organizations may be known as companies or corporations. The companies may be privately or publicly held. Some (e,g LLC) have Limited Liability.
    • NGO is a Non-government organization.
    • HMO is a Health Maintenance Organization.
    • There are Religious, Social, Educational, Political and Sports organizations.

    Structure

    • The structure for organizations may vary.
      For example, an organization might have
      (a) Immediate Past President : to help the incoming team
      (b) President : for the current term
      (c) President-Elect (to be President in the next term) : to allow for continuity in the operations.

    NorCal RITAA

    NorCal RITAA
    • It is a non-profit organization with 501 (c) (3).
    • Donations are tax-deductible.
  • Friday

    Friday

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    • It is a day of the week. There are seven days in a week.
    • It is a week day and not a week end.
    • It is also known as Frige’s Day (named after the goddess Frige).
    • It is associated with the goddess Venus and the planet Venus.
    • Sabbath for Muslims

    Terms & Usage

    • Good Friday : Crucifixion of Jesus
    • Friday the 13th : Superstition
    • Black Friday : Based on context, may be good or bad
    • TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) : Most companies have holidays for the week end.
    • Friday — character from Robinson Crusoe
      Man Friday — Loyal personal assistant
      Girl Friday — extension of above
    • Holiday in Muslim countries

    Ko Tin Maung Lay (M69, GBNF)

    • He passed away in Dubai on a Friday. Most offices were closed.
    • His company and friends took extra effort to enable his remains to be flown back home ASAP to California.
  • Confusion & Superstition

    Confusion & Superstition

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    • Some people confuse Correlation with Causation.
    • Some people are superstitious and associate Bad Luck with specific signs and events (e.g Solar & Lunar Eclipses).

    Correlation

    • In Probability and Statistics, one has to determine if two variables have positive, negative or zero correlation.
    • Two variables are said to be positively correlated if both go up and down together.
    • Two variations are said to be negatively correlated if one goes up when the other goes down (and vice versa).
    • Two variables are said to be zero (no) correlation, if there is no significant trend.

    Confusion

    • Some confuse Correlation with Causation.
    • Correlated variables may or may not be related as “Cause and Effect”.
    • For example, we hear, “My friend has lung cancer. He does not smoke.”

    Does Smoking cause Lung Cancer?

    The early experiments show some correlation between Heavy Smoking and Lung Cancer.

    There are several parameters in Smoking

    • cigar, cigarette, e-cigarette, cheroot
    • frequency
    • quantity
    • deep inhalation
    • second hand smoke

    Superstition about Eclipse

    • Solar and Lunar Eclipses occur every year. There are Total and Partial Eclipses. We cannot see all eclipses from a place. Some occur in places we cannot see.
    • Some are superstitious. They fear when there are Eclipses.
    • Eclipses are natural phenomena. They do not cause bad events to happen.
    • “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
  • Law

    Law

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    National and International Laws

    The “Law of the Land” differs with countries.

    There are some International Laws for use by the nations.

    US Laws

    Members of the Congress — House of Representatives and the Senate — vote to pass a new Bill (of Legislation).

    POTUS (President of the United States) may sign the Bill into Law.

    The President may veto the Bill. The Congress needs a sufficient majority of votes to overturn the bill.

    British Laws

    The British introduced laws including Penal Code and Civil Code.

    Several Burmese attended Temple Inn in the UK to become Barristers. Technically, they were called to the Bar and they could use Bar-at-law in their name tags and cards.

    French Laws

    Some Burmese studied Law at the University of Sorbonne (in France).

    Law Professor

    Sir Arthur Eggar was an early Law Professor at the University of Rangoon. He is the Founder and Life time President of the Rangoon University Boat Club (RUBC).

    U Kyaw Myint served as a Justice in the High Court & the Supreme Court. He presided the Tribunal for trying Galon U Saw. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Rangoon University. His students include Guardian U Sein Win, Sao Hso Holm (Mong Pawn Sawbwa Lay) and U Mya Thein.

    Law Classes and Practice

    In the old Education system, law classes (e.g. for Bachelor of Law (BL)) were conducted early in the morning. It was common to see BA BL and BSc BL holders.

    In the new Education system, LLB and LLM were offered.

    Some practitioners take exams for RL (Registered Lawyer) and HGP (Higher Grade Pleader).

  • Neikban & Neikban Zaw

    Neikban & Neikban Zaw

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    Neikban

    • Neikban is the Burmese term for Nibanna (in Pali) and Nirvana (in Sanscrit).
    • It is rendered as “Liberation” or “Enlightenment”.

    Neikban Zaw

    Neikban Zaw
    • It is the pen name of my beloved spouse. She wrote articles for the Dhammananda Newsletter. I have re-posted some of them.
    • Some volunteers for Dhamma activities also call themselves “Neikban Zaw”.
    • Some associations for Dhamma activities may be called “Neikban Zaw Ah Phwe”.

  • QWERTY Keyboard

    Background

    • Sholes invented the mechanical typewriter. In order to prevent two keys stuck after hitting them rapidly, he designed the QWERTY layout.
    • Business schools and companies trained “touch typing” with the QWERTY keyboards.

    Ergonomics

    • In the English alphabet, e is the most frequently used vowel, and t is the most frequently used consonant. To hit them, a touch typist has to move a left finger.
    • This led to claims that the QWERTY keyboard is not ergonomic; not suitable for efficient typing and It could cause tendonitis and similar medical problems.
    • Computers (desk tops laptops, pads, …) continue to use QWERTY because most people do not want to change their habits, and retraining is costly.
    • Numerous attempts to replace QWERTY were not successful.
    • Many computer users are not touch typists; some use the “hunt and peck” method using two fingers. They do not care about the ergonomics of the keyboard.
    • A few use ergonomic keyboards either with QWERTY layout with two sections (e.g. laid out in V-shape) or with non-QWERTY layout (e.g. Dvorak)

    U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76) wrote :

    In the early days, one of my leads really like Dvorak keyboard and used it on his desktops. One day we had an issue with one of the servers, and needed to logon to it to troubleshoot the root cause. [This was before the advent of the remote access.]

    Even though we had the admin password, no one could logon to it, and the lead was on vacation for couple of weeks. We decided not to rebuild the server as it had some unique applications running on it and the issue was livable, waiting for him to come back. [He was the last person to logon to that server, so we assume he might have changed the password without telling the team.]

    When he came back to work, we told him about the server, naturally he logged on to it to investigate. We asked him what the new password was, he denied he changed it at all.

    Then we discovered he changed the keyboard to Dvorak while using it but did not switch it back.

    The directive was issued across the board not to switch the keyboards on any servers, across all company data centers.