Larry Lin's Home Page:

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about Me:    (as of 9/13/2005)

• Q: How did you get this website? How much are you paying? How do I get my own too?
  A: The one-stop place to get everything done is:  www.dreamhost.com .  They register the domain name ("larrylin.org"), host the web files, forwarding the email addresses (all the emails going to "<any_name>@larrylin.org" will be forwarded to a place of my choice ... what better way to keep a permanent contact address!), and more.
  
  I believe it is only about $15 a month.  So DreamHost is definitely a place that I can recommend to my friends.
  
  (info  as of 10/30/00)

• Q: What do you use to take all of those digital pictures?
  
  A:  My current camera is a Canon PowerShot S220.  It is not the most powerful or impressive camera - only 2MB.  But its light weight and small size makes it a great camera to take with me to all of my trips, such as Iceland / Greece / New York / China / Taiwan ... ^_^
  
  (Old answer = A:  I use the Epson PhotoPC 500, a camera that I bought in spring of 1995.  In these past 4 years, it has been performing marvously.  It captures about 20 pictures at 640 x 480 resolution, which is really not that thrilling nowadays.   However, the benefit is that this resolution fits into internet browsers (Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Internet Explorer) really nicely.,
  
  The PhotoPC is a bit bulky, does not offer some of the nice add-ons (LCD screen, zoom lense, etc.)  But it offers REALLY good photo quality.  I like it a lot. )
  
• Q: How long have you lived in United States?
  A: 23 years -- since 1983.

• Q: Where were you born and raised?
  A: I was born and raise in Taipei, Taiwan.
  
  For those of you that understand Chinese language - If you ever hear my voice, you would not believe that I actually was raised in Taiwan.  But it is true!  It is all because I attended a 外省小學 in 台北 Taipei, and was frequently rewarded when I "pronounce the words using Mainland 捲舌 Chinese."  So, when people hear me speaking now, they think I was from China  ... >_<   (Also see the next item.)

• Q: (From people who speak Chinese with me) Why is your Chinese so "Mainland-like" and "standardized"?
  A: I am REALLY from Taiwan and not from China.  ^_^  When I attended the private school in Taiwan, I attended a specialized class where the concentration was formal Chinese pronounciation.  So for 2 years I spoke every day with the Peking (Mandarin) accent, and frequently attended public speaking competitions.
  
  I really hope to use this training for my near-future career; maybe go to China, Taiwan, Singapore or some other Asian country, and maximize my language advantage.

• Q: Why did your family choose to live in Atlanta?
  A: Atlanta was (and still is) a city that has great growth potentials and numerous opportunities. It is not over-crowded with too many Asians; it is still expanding rapidly; the cost of living is fairly low; the weather is very pleasant, with all the different varieties (snow, summer, changing of the autumn leaves, etc.) Here I can play drums for many major events, and my family can operate a Chinese-centered business with relative ease.

• Q: What is up with your name: Are your Larry or Lawrence?
  A: Legally speaking, I am Lawrence Sheen Lin. While I was being sworn in as US citizen 2 years ago, I was given an opportunity to change my legal name. So I thought that it was time for me to go to a more professional legal name... you know, seems that there are all types of no-so-glamerous connotations with the name Larry -- like Larry in the old TV show "Three's Company", and the recent beer commercial of dog show bridery ("Larry?.... *brings out beer* Larry!")...
  
  However, old habit dies hard. Most of my friends and family members still call me by the name that I have been using for about 13 years. So it is okay for everyone to call me "Larry" as long as they know that I also have begun to use a different name now. ^_^

• Q: How long have you played drums?
  Q: Why did you pick drums?
  Q: Did you play drums before ACCC and Lion Dancing?
  
  A: I started to play drums when I was in 8th grade, in USA. This is because for my sister and I, we both wanted to join social activities at school, but language barrier made it hard to do anything. The best activity for us was the school marching band -- and in the marching band, the instrument that was easiest to play was the xylophone and the bells. They are laid out exactly like piano (Carol and I have been playing piano for a long time, since we were little kids.)
  
  Next year they needed a snare drummer instead of marching xylophone. So that is how I became a drummer. It has been about 14 years now.
  
  When I was in school, I took daily free lessons, in the form of band classes and afternoon practices. But hardly did I get a chance to play the drumset in front of a large audience; that saddened me. But miraculously, in 1990 we started to use drums in ACCC. Ever since then, I have had numerous opportunities to play and get better. I am very, very grateful for this chance.
  
  Playing drums for Lion Dance in Atlanta area has also been a tremendous blessing. Through it, I get more exposure to different audience sizes, playing styles, stage composure, etc. It is one of the best things about living in Atlanta -- great opportunities for performing!

• Q: How did you get all of these digital pictures into your website?
  
  A:   Since I began to snap digital pictures back in 1996, and since I created by first website that year, I have really cherished the opportunity to "travel around" - and hope to use it to brighten all of my friends and relatives' lives.  So, I began to share EVERYTHING onto websites - from consulting trips, from personal trips, from "dating trips", etc!  
  
  Another reason why I posted so many picture on my website is that, earlier in Internet's development days, there were people who were liars and pretended to be someone that they are not.  Ever since that time, I believed that if I meet a new person on internet, and voluntarily share so much of the "real Larry" with him/her, then it becomes hard for that person to continue lying about his/her credentials.  ^_^
  
  Also, I believe that I only live once on this world, and therefore I must keep a record of my life ... so I can share it with my children, my girlfriend / wife (yes, these pictures were impressive to Phoebe, my wife .... ^_^ part of the reason why she chose to marry me.  ^_^ )
  
  (old answer = A: I use the Epson PhotoPC, which I bought almost 5 years ago.  It downloads 640 x  480 pictures directly into my laptop, so whereever I travel to, I always take both of them (laptop and digital camera) with me.  I have taken 127,000 pictures already; and the number is still growing with each additional city that I go to. )

• Q: Did you know that you look like a Chinese TV star?
  A: Actually I did not. I do not watch Chinese TV programs at all (satellite or VCR tapes) so I still do not know who that guy is and what type of career he is having. But people tell me about him many times already.
  

Last revised: 2005-09-13.