It is a little hard to describe myself, since sometimes I feel that I don't know much about myself. But since you are reading this, I guess I should say something more than that. (Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that the things I post here can come back to haunt me in the future.)
I am currently working as an assistant consultant at Arup, a consulting firm that seems to be involved in pratically every facet of urban development (traffic, environment, lighting, fire, you name it). I graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a Ph.D. degree in 2010. My work consists mainly of analysis of vehicle emissions collected from vehicles' tailpipe and the roadside.
I completed the M.Sc. program in Applied Mathematics at Carleton University under the supervision of Dr. Brett Stevens in 2005. In 2002, I received my B. Math in Combinatorics and Optimization (a major where big words are a norm) from the University of Waterloo. Before that, I attended Magee Secondary School. If you want to know my whereabouts before then just ask.
There are times when I have a little trouble acting in a way that is appropriate to the occasion. Often I act silly when I should be serious, and vice versa. I also have a tendency to have a few jabs at my own expense occasionally (you can find examples of that from my articles and quick-hit comments). I am also a little shy and an introvert (a little odd considering that I describing myself on a public web site).
I have a tendency (perhaps habit) to make close observation to things that few do (often those things are ignored because they are not too interesting/important). I seem to enjoy looking for interesting dates in history and strange holidays, that may have a little to do with my interest in history (stranger the tale, the better).
I am an avid sports fan, but not to the point of being obsessive (not yet, anyway). I can talk about sports non-stop, from rule changes to labour deals to player movements. From time to time, I also try to participate in sporting activities myself. I would also like to develop a theory that explains everything in the world in terms of sports.
A significant portion of my spare time is spent on solving problems in recreational mathematics (a perfect exhibit of how dull I am), some of which can be found here.
The origin of the domain name is something like this: in many team sports, there is an offside rule where an attacking player would be called offside if he/she is caught beyond a certain (physical or hypothetical) line. Sometimes the referees make mistakes in making these calls, where an legitimate offside call is not called or offside is called when the offender player is onside. This often triggers jeers and howls from the stands, where fans would scream "offside!" (when the offside call is not made) or "offside?" (when the "offender" is onside) at the official making the call.
Comments on this web site can be directed to: jcylau at alumni.uwaterloo.ca.