How to play local video via chromecast?

Have you ever tried to chromecast your local video to your big screen TV?

I recently bought an android TV and encountered this problem. The below chrome app solved this issue perfectly. It could even replace your local video player of any kind. 4+ star rating in google app store.


Here's the download link:
Videostream for Google Chromecast™

Try it for yourself!

In case you have no idea how to launch chrome app/chrome app store. Here's how.
1, Type chrome://apps/ into your chrome. 
2, Click "Web Store" 
3, Search for Videostream

Have fun!

[Hugo Awards] The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem, BEST STORY of 2015 Hugo Awards. Below is purely my personal experience reading the novel, no spoiler involved. 
[Amazon link]The Three-Body Problem

I never thought this story would win the Hugo Awards when first reading it in Chinese several years ago, 2011 to be precise. It is a Sci-Fi novel running on a local magazine called "World of Science Fiction".

I clearly remember discussing looking for some noticable novels to read. "How abuot the three body problem by CiXin Liu?" I asked. A friends of mine smiled and said, "Ah, three-body problem, I started reading it before bedtime, thinking 'Hm... There's still time before sleep. Maybe just a little bit of bedtime story.' And the next thing I knew, is the sunrise of the next day." That's a pretty high recommendation for a book nowadays. Therefore, I decided that I will give this "The Three-Body Problem" thing a GO. I downloaded the book on my phone on my way back home that night and started reading around 11pm, and the next thing I noticed is the break of dawn.

To conclude, I have NOT felt this way about a novel for a long time.

[Did you know] Amazon offers price drop protection within 7 days of delivery

Imagine a 5-10% discount on lots of Amazon orders year around. Neat, isn't it?

Not until recently did I realize that Amazon actually provides price protection within 7 days of delivery date. It has been an equivalent of 5-10% discount on most Amazon orders ever since.

Since Amazon adjust their price tag via algorithm, it could change multiple times a day. Just check the price drop of your recent purchase especially large purchases, and simply contact amazon customer service via the below link. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?skip=true

A refund is generally granted within 1-3 days for the price difference within 7 days of delivery date. 

I understand that it is better practice to use a credit card with price protection, such as the Discover it Card actually covers price drop within 90 days, amazing. But, applying for price protection covered by insurance company of your credit card could be a long and annoying experience, while contacting amazon customer service is simple and easy. It is not uncommon to purchase everyday household items from Amazon. Therefore, this could be a nice potential saving.

[BBC]Chinese Style Teaching is superior?

Recently, I watched the controversial BBC documentary called "Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School". 

Personally, I studied in the Chinese public school system for 19 years (5 years of elementary school, 4 years of junior high, 3 years of senior high, and 4 years in college and another 3 for advanced degree). Let me tell you some of the experience regarding what's it really like to grow up in Chinese Style Teaching.

1, Authority, authority, authority

If you watched the documentary, those are probably the best and "almost nicest" teacher I have seen compared to what I had in my 19-year school life. Yet, students are rebelling against them. 

In my above-average public elementary school, we only behave ourselves because teachers have the authority to have you standing on the playground in a sunny summer morning for the entire morning if you are chatting in the class or whatever. I would say that those "not so nice" teachers often times abuse their authority. One time, I did my Chinese homework in traditional Chinese characters (which is used in HK, Taiwan, Japan, etc) instead of Simplified Chinese (the official Chinese in mainland China), out of I don't know, fun? My punishment is quite severe. I have to copy the entire 3000 Chinese character in Traditional Chinese character 10 times. It took me a whole day. And another example is that I am trying to be a smart ass and finish the advanced maths exercises in my homework, which is not part of the assignment. My maths teacher is so mad that I have to "again" copy a part of the textbook for I don't remember how many times exactly. I understand that obedience is important in a 50-plus-student classroom, but aren't they take it too far?

2, Boring, boring, boring

Many of you might think in a traditional Chinese class, students are working hard and trying hard and behave themselves. Well, only the last part is true. Most of the time, I just sit there, feeling sleepy, trying to compose a story, probably a romantic one with a superhero in it, and only pretend that I am paying attention. Often time, there's no Q&A, no interaction in class. Teachers just keep talking, reading out loud what's written on the textbook or their reference book. I heard that different teachers gives the exact same class using the same examples and same assignment throughout the school. And it is a dead boring one. 

3, All about ranking

It is true that Chinese schools rank students by their exam score. We have our ranking in class, in the same grade, and a percentile ranking among students in the same grade in the entire city sometimes. Lucky as I am, ranking top in the school means one thing, freedom!!! I can read novel, listen to MP3 player, and sleep in class. As long as I keep my ranking, no one would bother.

To sum up, I am just picturing my personal reality of what's it like to attend public schools in China. 

Amazon just offered me 5000 amazon coin for the price drop of Amazon Fire Phone

Recently, Amazon has dropped its price tag for Amazon Fire Phone to an unbelievably low $130, one year prime membership included. That makes the phone virtually worth $31. That is a hell of a final sale. (Since they've fired the engineer working on Fire Phone project already, I guess that's it for Fire Phone.)

It is a decent phone, especially for those who know how to side load google play. (Here's HOW.)

Anyway, the unsatisfactory of not able to install Amazon underground on Firephone leads me toward the abyss of sending Amazon an angry fan email concerning Firephone. I regret purchasing it at $199, blablabla. And guess what, they actually replied and offered me 5000 Amazon coins (worth $50). But since I side loaded Google Play and has loads of google play credit thanks to Google Opinion Rewards. What am I gonna do with the 5000 Amazon coins. Sigh... Evernote premium? Dropbox storage? We will see.

[Online Shopping Experience][Bulky items] Amazon Overstock Wayfair Bestbuy Ikea, etc.

Today, I want to share some online shopping experience with various US merchants.

1, Amazon.com
Price 4.5/5
Delivery 5/5
Customer Service 5/5
Return Policy 4.5/5

Overview:
Amazon is the No.1 online shopping site, and Amazon definitely earns it.

Highlights:
Amazon offers fair price on most items. I personally always go to amazon when I am too lazy to research for a lower price. Delivery is lightning fast and free with a prime membership. Chat session with Amazon Customer Service usually solves my issue within 5 minutes. Packing materials are mostly recyclable.

Lowlights:
Return is easy, just print the shipping label from the website and drop it off at UPS drop-off location. However, if the item is not defective, in other words, Amazon is not at fault, then customer would have to pay for the return shipping.

2, Ikea.com

Price 4.5/5
Product Quality 4/5
Delivery 3/5
Customer Service 1/5
Return Policy 3/5

Overview:

Affordable furniture, very easy to assemble in most cases. However, terrible customer service experience and you only get what you pay for.

Highlights:

Ikea provides furniture that is practical and good looking(as long as they're new) at an affordable price. Assembly is super easy compare to some other self assembly furniture. And the instruction is crystal clear.

Lowlights:
Delivery takes $99 if there's a IKEA store within 50 miles, which is a fair price for furniture delivery. In my case, they delivered the wrong item at their first attempt. I have to call the customer service and wait in the phone queue. It takes forever (~45-50 minutes, which is forever to me!) to speak to an customer service representative. Ikea provide no spare hardware, therefore, if I break a nail or misplace a screw, I am screwed! In my case, I am tired of waiting in the phone queue and decided to email customer service for a change. It took them like 3 days to write me back and deliver the hardware requested.
Ikea do not take backorder. So if the item went out of stock, pay another $99 for another delivery when it is in stock, or forget about the item and move on with your life.

3, Bestbuy.com
Price 4/5
Packaging 4/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: Competitive price for electronic and appliance. Fast & free delivery, polite stuff and responsive customer service.

4, Wayfair.com
Price 3/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: No tax for most states. Beautiful selections of home improvement items. Free shipping on orders over $49. Also, they offer 10-12% off coupon every now and then.

5, Overstock.com
Price 5/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: No tax for most states and 10-12% off coupons available all the time. Great selection of furniture and other home improvement items. In my case, I bought a piece of furniture and later discover that another website is selling the some piece for less. Customer service immediately offered to refund me the difference, great shopping experience. Free shipping on orders over $50.

Lowlights:
Some of the furniture are really hard to assembly. But guess I have to blame the vendor not the website in this case.

6, Homedepot.com/Lowes.com
Price 3.5/5
Delivery 3.5/5
Customer Service 4/5
Return Policy 4/5

Overview:
Not much to say about these large home improvement chains.

Highlights:
Wide range of selection for a reasonable price.

Lowlights:
Home depot claims the tile covers 11 sqft per pack while it cover only covers 10 sqft. Lowes send me 13 accent tiles while I ordered 14. And that concludes it.

7, Abt.com
Price 4.5/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5

Highlights:
You can actually negotiate purchase price with a real person sales associate! Which means, after wiggle a little bit, you get a price that you're satisfied with (better than any other site you can find) in most cases, plus no tax in most states!

Lowlights:
Delivery is free but slow(~ 10 days).

8, Homedecorators.com
Price 4/5
Delivery 3.5/5
Customer Service 4/5

Lowlights:
In my unfortunate case, several days after I submitted the order, I was informed that the item I purchased is out of stock temporarily and I have to wait 4 weeks for it. The packing material is mostly Styrofoam, which is not recyclable material in some states.

9, Crateandbarrel.com
Price 3/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 3/5

Their furniture looks good, however, they keep charging me the wrong amount of M-o-n-e-y!!! I have to call 4 times to correct the billing mistakes. Plus, their phone queue is ~15-30 minutes as well!!!

To conclude, the message is simple and clear. It is impossible to build reliable service using minimum wage temporary-contract workers. Training and competitive wage which leads to a higher employee retention rate is the foundation of great customer experience.

Asset inflation is what really ripping us off in recent years

Have you ever heard the term asset inflation?

Everyone knows inflation. In fact, many important numbers that are closely connected with our finance such as tax deduction are claimed to be adjusted by "the traditional inflation", which is CPI, consumer price index.

However, in recent years, asset inflation is taking a much bigger role than the traditional inflation in our personal finances. Housing prices skyrocketed so that we would have to take a huge debt in order to be able to afford a price to live. The majority of land are owned by the privileged, while the average people is concerning about bring sufficient food on the table. Therefore, by keeping the CPI low, the bare necessity such as food are are offered at a low price tag to keep the low income family alive so that there won't be social unrest. At the same time, with the raising asset price, mid income tier are sinking in the mud of debt. One little mistake and boom, here comes the bank notice of foreclosure. Following this thread, we can clearly see that cheap food and rent control is not helping the mid-low income tier, instead it opens up the possibility of driving asset price higher and higher.

Studies regarding including asset prices in the calculation of inflation goes way back to dot com bubble. Real as it is, considering the unequally distributed pricing is the nature of real estate, it is hard to really measure it in a national basis. A county basis inflation index would be more appropriate but less likely to be adopted. 

Although there's no such thing as absolute fairness, I think something has to be done to compensate people with less asset. Otherwise, as long as general capital rate of return is higher than the growth of economy, wealth is going to accumulate, which simply means the riches are getting richer.