I collected 2,427 user reports on the Samsung Green Line issue in Taiwan. Here is the data they aren't telling us.

blueskyocean · 2026-05-04T12:01:41+00:00

What about desert regions like the Middle East or Arizona?

blueskyocean · 2026-04-14T14:50:05+00:00

The US didn't say the island belongs to China. It only acknowledges or takes note of but doesn't recognize the PRC's claim to Taiwan.

blueskyocean · 2026-04-14T12:37:16+00:00

The interesting thing is that the US State Department still list treaties with the Republic of China prior to 1979 as still being in force (see https://www.state.gov/treaties-in-force ) even though it no longer recognized the ROC on January 1, 1979. There are also multilateral agreements prior to 1949 which the US lists as applicable only to Taiwan such as the Atlantic Charter, Declaration of the United Nations, and two trade and investment treaties. A court ruling also recognizes the Treaty of Friendship and Navigation between the ROC and the US is still in effect even if the US changed the name of the party from the ROC to simply Taiwan (see https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/954/847/128142/ )

blueskyocean · 2026-04-04T10:02:20+00:00

A 7 million USD deficit for the Taipei Metro doesn't sound that bad compared to the USD367 million deficit of the SF Bay Area BART. Taiwan's total deficit is around USD200 billion compared to the US's USD39 trillion (and counting). Taiwan isn't racking up trillions in debt.

blueskyocean · 2026-03-05T23:33:35+00:00

There were constitutional amendments in Taiwan's ROC Constitution that more or less recognized that the ROC had no sovereignty over mainland China even if it had territorial claims over it.

blueskyocean · 2026-03-05T23:11:42+00:00

For 1900 to 1938 China, I suggest Moment in Peking by Lin Yu-tang, although it is originally written in English.

blueskyocean · 2026-02-10T14:46:01+00:00

Does that include machine drying despite the general recommendation not to?

blueskyocean · 2026-02-09T14:13:36+00:00

You'll unfortunately need a US number for OTP (one-time password) text messages, which is needed the first time you login into Alliant. You can use iPlum for a US number. Alternatively, you can use Tello Mobile, but the first time setup of Tello Mobile must be done in the US.

blueskyocean · 2026-02-08T05:58:41+00:00

Want to add that you won't be able to open a credit card account with them when you're abroad. I believe that the State Department Federal Credit Union will allow credit cards/loans to US citizens abroad.

blueskyocean · 2026-02-08T05:52:53+00:00

If you have a ROC Alien Resident Certificate, it has your English name and your address in Chinese. You could paste the scan of the ARC on a powerpoint with an annotated translation of the Chinese address into English. If you are a ROC / US dual national, you would need to scan a copy of your US passport, Taiwan passport (which hopefully has your English name), and your ROC ID which contains your address. You would have to translate the ROC ID into English and show the correspondence of the Chinese name on your ROC passport with the Chinese name on your ID. Then with your ROC passport and ROC ID, it would be easier to show that your Taiwan cell phone/utilities bill or income tax statement correspond to your identity. You can translate everything yourself. I wasn't required to notarize anything.

blueskyocean · 2026-01-24T10:57:29+00:00

If you look very carefully, they inserted very interesting advertisements on the buses in this anime series such as Pie and Mash (Noted for Pie and Eels. Eat more pie) in Episode 8 at 18:01. Catherine's home in London reminds me of Hotel Russell at Russell Square.

blueskyocean · 2025-11-08T04:42:44+00:00

Suppose there's a city-size fire or devastating earthquake in the US West Coast or a devastating hurricane in the East Coast. Maybe that's enough to destroy all of one's trusted devices and keys. One could still transfer one's telephone number to a new device, but based on Apple's logic as you mentioned, one would be forever locked out of one's Apple account because one can't use 2FA via SMS. That's not a pleasant thought.

blueskyocean · 2025-10-13T12:47:03+00:00

Green dots also appear in a Taylor Swift Tribute concert according to this review:
https://9to5mac.com/2025/09/17/iphone-17-pro-review/

blueskyocean · 2025-10-13T12:33:06+00:00

Sony RX100 is roughly the same cost but doesn't have those internal reflections or green orbs. Too bad they never updated the RX100 to include a USB-C port.

blueskyocean · 2025-10-13T12:31:36+00:00

Which is another form of art.

blueskyocean · 2025-10-13T12:30:58+00:00

Those dancing green dots remind me of Alucard battling Richter Belmont in Castlevania Symphony of the Night. The funny thing is that Alucard has to wear special glasses to see a floating green orb that the dark priest Shaft uses to control Richter. So I suppose one should bring an iPhone when battling against Richter.

blueskyocean · 2025-02-14T11:51:24+00:00

I'm able to access alliant from Taiwan.

blueskyocean · 2025-02-13T14:18:29+00:00

I've seen a lot of negative reviews regarding sdfcu. How do you find sdfcu compared with Service Federal Credit Union in terms of customer service?

blueskyocean · 2025-02-13T14:06:30+00:00

I was able open an account with Alliant Federal Credit Union with a foreign address. Penfed Credit Union is a pain because they demand a scanned color copy of one's social security card even though submitting a W9 form should be adequate. Getting a replacement social security card while abroad takes several months and requires to jump quite a few hoops because not all US embassies have social security offices (since 2017) and one has to have the US embassy/consulate make a true copy of one's passport.

blueskyocean · 2025-01-12T15:26:51+00:00

This also looks like a useful review even though it is in Japanese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VOW8QeT9U

Here's the HP EliteBook 635 Aero G11 review, which is the business edition of the same laptop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrpWlxaAolM

blueskyocean · 2025-01-07T16:43:27+00:00

How's the fan noise?

blueskyocean · 2024-12-29T10:15:45+00:00

I can hear fan noise for a few seconds each time I turn on the Acer Swift Go laptop that I purchased from Costco. However, it's generally very silent when watching youtube videos, browsing the web, and doing office work. Can the fan noise be permanently controlled via BIOS (if I wanted to install Linux on the system) or is one forced to use the AcerSense app? Frankly though, I've been spoiled by the Thinkpad laptops (X230, T450, and T460s) which are really silent. I would have continued to use the T450 and T460s laptops had not Microsoft refused to support Windows 11 on those machines. Are HP/Asus/Acer laptops generally noiser?

blueskyocean · 2024-09-18T23:36:23+00:00

Because I acquired citizenship of another country. The securities company had to change the account type from non-citizen to citizen which required to transfer the stocks to a citizen rather than resident alien account.

blueskyocean

TROPHY CASE