Nice!
- Posted from my iPhone
Image Source: Krypton Zone (c) 2010 Entertainment
Friday, May 7, 2010
German Evening
Hmm... Discovered a great German restaurant, courtesy of my friends, just down the road from my place. Great schnitzel and yummy German beer! Fun evening with great friends.
Nice!
- Posted from my iPhone
Image Source: Krypton Zone (c) 2010 Entertainment
Nice!
- Posted from my iPhone
Image Source: Krypton Zone (c) 2010 Entertainment
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Google's New Look
I've just noticed that Google.com seems to have been given quite a make-over. The buttons are different, the search bar is thicker than before, and the search results are much more "modern." I think Google was getting a bit old (I hope Google doesn't deactivate my blog since they are kindly hosting it) and a new make-over is good for its image.
Still, on first glance, I don't really like it very much. However, after a quick search here and there, and I can see the point. It will take some getting used to since the image search option is now also on the left hand side-bar. The change is a bit bigger than my initial grasp.
I suppose this is part of the game in the world of technology. Things change, and you have two choices: adapt or be left behind. These days you have to accept change and then make sure you follow through. It can be tough and even for a techie like me. And with age, things get ingrained in your mode and it gets harder and harder to try drag the "old ways" out and replace it with something new!
Is it just me or did they also recolour their logo?
Still, on first glance, I don't really like it very much. However, after a quick search here and there, and I can see the point. It will take some getting used to since the image search option is now also on the left hand side-bar. The change is a bit bigger than my initial grasp.
I suppose this is part of the game in the world of technology. Things change, and you have two choices: adapt or be left behind. These days you have to accept change and then make sure you follow through. It can be tough and even for a techie like me. And with age, things get ingrained in your mode and it gets harder and harder to try drag the "old ways" out and replace it with something new!
Is it just me or did they also recolour their logo?
Volcano Blast 2
A new sci-fi, action thriller by top European studios. Featuring top British and French stars of the past two decades.
Yeah that was just a joke. But it seems that nightmarish volcano issue hasn't quite passed us yet. The thing is once again blasting more ash into the fly zone of British Isles airspace forcing some more closures in Ireland, Scotland and northern UK.
So this is not such big news because none of the major European airports were affected directly. You know, Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt... Etc. What was interesting was the emergency meeting the European Commission had on the aftermath of the crazy six-day-no-fly crisis in April. Please keep in mind the very important operative notion that the EC met AFTER the crisis.
What came out of this very pro-active way of working was the following:
1) EU Member States will have to bail-out their national airlines affected by the poor decision making of the European institutions.
I was under the impression that because the EU didn't do their work properly to make sure the Greek economy was sustainable, to what is basically an economic cooperation which is the EU, that the whole European economy is about to go for a second dip following the financial crisis of 2009. How do they suppose national governments can support a bail-out of this size? The whole structure will just fall to pieces!
2) A previous plan for the creation of a single controlling body of European airspace will be brought forward from 2012 to later this year. The idea being a single entity will call the shots in terms of European air travel safety, airspace, etc.
How on Earth does that help? The airspaces closed because all Member State national civil aviation bodies followed the recommendations of the European air travel advisory institution, Eurocontrol. Of course we all know it was due to their over-cautious reports that wiped hundreds of millions of Euros off the accounts of, not just airlines, but everyone (civilians included). Creating a body that will call the shots over that of every national aviation authority doesn't solve the problem. That wasn't the problem in the first place.
The problem was that there were no precedence and no one really knew what the safe ash-air concentration is. Why don't they just start scientific researches into this phenomenon and draw up proper regulations to govern situations like this.
Come on people. Stop being stupid. The entire European Institution is, well, basically that: an institution. Stop being bureaucratic, do some proper root cause analysis and fix the problem!
- Posted from my iPhone
Yeah that was just a joke. But it seems that nightmarish volcano issue hasn't quite passed us yet. The thing is once again blasting more ash into the fly zone of British Isles airspace forcing some more closures in Ireland, Scotland and northern UK.
So this is not such big news because none of the major European airports were affected directly. You know, Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt... Etc. What was interesting was the emergency meeting the European Commission had on the aftermath of the crazy six-day-no-fly crisis in April. Please keep in mind the very important operative notion that the EC met AFTER the crisis.
What came out of this very pro-active way of working was the following:
1) EU Member States will have to bail-out their national airlines affected by the poor decision making of the European institutions.
I was under the impression that because the EU didn't do their work properly to make sure the Greek economy was sustainable, to what is basically an economic cooperation which is the EU, that the whole European economy is about to go for a second dip following the financial crisis of 2009. How do they suppose national governments can support a bail-out of this size? The whole structure will just fall to pieces!
2) A previous plan for the creation of a single controlling body of European airspace will be brought forward from 2012 to later this year. The idea being a single entity will call the shots in terms of European air travel safety, airspace, etc.
How on Earth does that help? The airspaces closed because all Member State national civil aviation bodies followed the recommendations of the European air travel advisory institution, Eurocontrol. Of course we all know it was due to their over-cautious reports that wiped hundreds of millions of Euros off the accounts of, not just airlines, but everyone (civilians included). Creating a body that will call the shots over that of every national aviation authority doesn't solve the problem. That wasn't the problem in the first place.
The problem was that there were no precedence and no one really knew what the safe ash-air concentration is. Why don't they just start scientific researches into this phenomenon and draw up proper regulations to govern situations like this.
Come on people. Stop being stupid. The entire European Institution is, well, basically that: an institution. Stop being bureaucratic, do some proper root cause analysis and fix the problem!
- Posted from my iPhone
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Make a Wish - The Sound of Heartbeat
Recently I came across the Taiwan Pavilion which somewhat shocked me. The Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou was voted in as President over two years ago, and that's nearly as far back as the last time I followed Taiwanese political and cross-straight relations news. I know the relationship between Taiwan and China has been steadily improving because of the new economic cooperation policies of the Taiwanese President, but I was still a bit surprised that there would be a Taiwan Pavilion at the event that China is supposed to use as a platform to declare that it is now a bona fide world super power.
Looking at the venue map, I think the placement is a bit strange. Basically you have the hilariously big China Pavilion surrounded by much smaller sites for Hong Kong, Macau and... Taiwan. Now, the political status of Taiwan is exceedingly different to that of Hong Kong and Macau. The two former colonies were reclaimed by China after their "lease" ran out in the late 90s and early 2000s. The island nation of Taiwan is, well, a sovereign nation with a government elected by the people (key operative notion here). But that's not too important.
No, even the fantastic 4-dimensional technology, and one of the world's biggest LED displays is not important enough compared to "it". Just for your information, the 4D experience is quite spectacular. Basically you are positioned inside a large spherical chamber where tiny LED projectors project CGI image all around you. I mean all around you, in the surrounding sphere. Along with the images you have true 4D surround sound, meaning the sound can come from every single direction possible. But it's also not important here.
Unfortunately, I have never been a big fan of the new-age popular music songwriters and artists. My liking of (Taiwanese) Mandropop seems to have stopped just after the turn of the millennium. Granted, my perception on Jolin Tsai changed dramatically after seeing her on the TV show of the "Local King (本土天王)" of Taiwanese entertainment Jack Wu (吳宗憲). My abiding memory is that she was seriously unwell, some kind of eye infection, yet she persisted to stay on the show which involved going all around town to find objects with certain wording connections. That show of real hardcore Far East Asian work ethic made me see her differently.
Before, I saw her as some young pop artist with not much in terms of talent. She was vaguely pretty, but she was also not very refined. After watching that show some years back, I have completely fallen head over heals for her. To me now she is extremely pretty, with a great singing voice and some pretty fun songs. I still do not like her way of singing which always sounds like she is trying to imitate a westerner singing in Chinese, with a funny westerner's accent. But still, this is also not important.
The really important thing here is the song. The way the song was sung - with a gentle, shy, and yet emotionally charged way. The way the song was written - with very visually vivid imagery of all that's good about Taiwan, but for most of the time accompanied only by a simple brightly sounding piano. The meanings coming from the song - which directly reminds me of my birthplace, and promotes love and peace in a very heartfelt and honest way (very far removed, thankfully, from Hippie-love). Even the rap, in Mandarin Chinese, is modern yet somehow perfectly fitting the setting.
I don't think I've ever listened to a song for the first time and burst into tears of emotion (more joy and reminiscence than anything else). Music for me is what I attach my own meaning, memories and emotions to. So they normally mean something only after time. But this song, titled "The Sound of Taiwan's Heartbeat" (台灣心跳聲) tugs at every fiber of my emotive nerves and conjures up beautiful sceneries, images, smells, tastes...
It's just simply fantastic. Really... Amazing.
Thank you, thank you and thank you to all involved in the making of this great song. Forget all the politics for once, and let's live on the fragile planet as one, one Human Race. I leave this post today with some lyrics from the song (roughly translated by me)
少一點傷痕 (a little less hurt/injuries) 多一點的掌聲 (a little more applause)
少一點戰爭 (a little less war) 多一點的單純 (a little more purity/innocence)
少一點仇恨 (a little less hatred) 多一點的我們 (a little more of "us")
少一點寒冷 (a little less coldness) 多一點的溫存 (a little more warmth)
Official Music Video of 台灣心跳聲
Image Source: Krypton Zone (c) 2010 Entertainment, 聯合新聞網, YouTube
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