tkh’s blog

Version Control System

Having been annoyed by CVS’s poor handling of renaming files and directories for years, I’ve finally decided to switch the version control system to another one. I’ve been leaning toward Subversion, but I thought I should do a little research since there are so many options available now. Google instantly found a nice webpage which compares features in different version control systems. This review has reinforced me to choose Subversion. The only thing I don’t like about Subverison is that it’s not licensed under GPL, but its Apache/BSD license is acceptable. I’ll switch to Subversion, and hopefully I would be satisfied with it for a long time.

gnuplot

I used gnuplot to plot the results of the research I’ve been doing. It looks like so many interesting features were added since last time I used gnuplot. For example, you can use truetype fonts. The most notable additions should be truetype font support and pm3d which stands for “palletted mode 3d plotting”. Look at the examples for pm3d plots. It’s very close to Mathematica’s graph plotting.

Doom 3 Expansion Pack

I got Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil which I had pre-ordered a couple of months ago. Since id said that they will release the Linux binary for this expansion, I’ll wait for it and not going to play it under Windows.

Form 1042S

I went to the payroll office and asked them to give me the form, but it turned out that I don’t need it as long as I write specifically about the US-Japan tax treaty article on page five of the form 1040NR. To receive 1042S, I had to sign up for tax treaty at the payroll office and fill out required information at the website they use. Usually I am notified in December or January by email to login to the website and enter information, but I haven’t been notified in this year. I have no idea what went wrong, but it’s not a big deal since I can claim tax exemption without attaching 1042S. This kind of things are really rare in Japan, but they do happen in the US. Now I’ve sealed the envelope for 1040NR and ready to send it to IRS. I also filed the state tax return via Internet.

BTW, you can file the form 1040 via Internet using one of various free Internet filing systems listed on the IRS website, but I’ve never seen a system supports 1040NR. Until I become resident as tax purpose, I have to enter PDF forms, print them, and send them to IRS.

Tax

I filled out the tax forms for 2004, and I noticed that I haven’t received from the university the form 1042S which can be used to exempt $2000 from the income by the US-Japan tax treaty. I need go to the bursar’s office to discuss this and get the form.

Expo

When I was working out at the gym, I saw the TV commercial of the Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan. Is it worth broadcasting the TV commercial in the US? I think it is irrelevant to having the Expo anymore. People can easily visit foreign countries or even eat huge selections of foreign cuisines in a relatively big city. What’s the point of the Expo? It only feeds corporations backed up by the goverment.