Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Blogger.com on Sony Ericossion Handset

Sony Ericossion launched two handsets--K800 and K790--both with 3.2-million-pixels camera. Another important characteristic is that they can specially support Google's Blogger.com! Now Sony Ericossion users can experience the unprecedent blogging service from blog*spot!

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced several new phones on Tuesday, including two that carry Sony's Cyber-shot brand and come with 3.2-megapixel cameras that are integrated with Google's Blogger application.

Users of the new K800 and K790 phones who don't already have a blog can set one up over the phone. They'll be able to take photos with the camera and then easily add them to their blogs, according to Sony Ericsson. Blogger is an online tool hosted by Google that lets people create and manage blogs for free.

The camera features include autofocus, red-eye reduction, digital zoom, and a flash. When users turn the handsets horizontally and slide open the lens cover, a user interface similar to the one on Sony's Cyber-shot cameras appears on the screen. (link)

Other recent Sony developments on my weblog:
Sony Cyber-shot H5 and Cyber-shot H2 Come Out
Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader

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China Angry at Chen

China got angry at Taiwan leader--Chen Shui-Bian who de-continued the function of National Unification Council of Taiwan.

Chinese President
Hu Jintao on Tuesday slashed the decision of Taiwan authorities to cease the function of "National Unification Council" and the application of its guidelines, saying it is a "dangerous step" toward "Taiwan Independence."

"Despite the strong opposition within and outside of the island, the Taiwan authority went its own way and decided to cease the function of 'National Unification Council' and the application of its guidelines," Hu said.

"It's a grave provocation to the one-China policy universally adhered to by the international community and to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits," he said. (link)

At the same time, China reaffirms commitments to Taiwan compatriots.

"We'll promote cross-Straits personnel exchanges and economic and cultural exchanges and advance the process of direct links of mail, shipping and trade," said a statement jointly issued by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

It said the mainland will work with Taiwan compatriots to safeguard and promote the peaceful and steady development of cross-Straits relations and to strive for peaceful reunification.

"We resolutely oppose 'Taiwan independence' and will never allow 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces to secede Taiwan from the motherland under any name or by any means," the statement said. (link)


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Monday, February 27, 2006

Mac's Mysterious VoIP iPod?

Apple's mysterious promises of new goodies will turn out a VoIP iPod on Feb. 28? Red Herring is speculating: Is Apple��s Next Act VoIP iPod? Snips from the article:

Buzz about Apple��s to-be-unveiled products focuses on iPods, iTunes, even computers. When Apple talks, people listen?and chat among themselves?and the computer company��s announcement about products to be unveiled Tuesday had watchers speculating about a VoIP-enabled iPod.
(picture credit:www.apple.com)
Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a fan of hugely-hyped product introductions and this latest campaign, set to take place at Apple��s headquarters, has the same buzz factor as past ones. It started as usual with a vague reference to ��some fun new products�� in invitations to the media sent out last week.

Talk of Wi-Fi on personal media devices like iPods has generated speculation that the company might roll out VoIP-enabled media players.
......

��Instead of a phone, maybe in a year Apple could have a VoIP-enabled iPod,�� said Current Analysis analyst Chris Crotty (see Wi-Fi iPod Expected Soon).

But others believe an actual Apple phone, sporting iTunes software, makes more sense, especially since Wi-Fi availability is spotty while cellular networks blanket areas with coverage. (link)

Click here to see iPod's challengers/competitors.

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View From the Sidewalk

View From the Sidewalk--a blog written by a homeless man named Michael Brown, tell of his life experience! He said in his first post "I hope my little contribution to the blogosphere will help people understand that although I and many others are in the sorry state of not having their own roof over their head, we are no less human, no less dignified, no less capable, no less deserving of respect." Now his bad luck of being a homeless man may turn him a well-known person as his story of being a blogger already has compiled into a news report--Homeless man blogs about his experience. "A blog from the perspective of a homeless person may be a first for Greensboro, a city known for its blogging. Nationally, a few blogs appear to have homeless authors. And some people have posted stories of the homeless in their own words. But most are from the perspective of those helping the homeless." Blogger Buzz made a short introduction in Homeless in Greensboro as Brown is one of its special users!
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Lucy (Lucinda) Southworth, Larry Page' Girlfriend

In a picture shown here were Google cofounder Larry Page and his Standford doctoral girlfriend Lucy Southworth (or Lucinda Southworth)! Cheers!

Petrol Price Up Again!

This piece of news forwarded by my friend kshern must be explosive in Malaysia, which must be the first-page story in all today (28/Feb/06)'s newspapers of Malaysia. Since four years ago I came to Malaysia to do my postgraduate studies, the price of Malaysia petrol has improved many times and almost double. Sign, my living expense is setting to GO UP again!

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- The retail price for petroleum products including diesel will be raised by another 30 sen effective Tuesday.

"The government has decided to raise the retail price of petrol and diesel by 30 sen per litre and the price of LPG by 30 sen per kilogram effective tomorrow (Tuesday)," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office Monday night.

The increase was to tackle the impact from the increase in the price of crude petroleum in the world market and to curb the increase in subsidy which had to be borne by the government, the statement said.

However, the statement said that the government gave an assurance that there would be no further raise in the retail price of petroleum products this year.

The last time the government raised the retail price of petroleum products was on July 31, 2005 where the price of petrol went up by 10 sen per litre, diesel by 20 sen per litre and LPG by five sen per kilogram.


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Microsoft's OneCare

Microsoft likes to be the later comer? Once beating Netscape by bundling its Explorer to its Windows OS is the best example. Then by launching live.com to compete arch rival Google's silimar service--personalized Google search homepage. Now it is to enter Anti-virus field to combattle with companies like Symentic and McAfee, by providing Windows OneCare Live which other than including an anti-virus software, contains the software for backing up a PC and restoring damaged machines, and a firewall. It is almost sure that there is no easy work for Microsoft to win this war. On my own computer, I am using AVG of free version (then 6.0, now 7.0), it works so nice after being installed since my NEC laptop was once struck by annoying virus which intruded my system due to my carelessness to open an email from my then college academic supervisor with an .exe attachment in April, 2002. Till now I still remembered its file name Family Survey.

MICROSOFT will begin selling a personal computer antivirus service as part of a plan to compete with Symantec and improve the security of its Windows operating system.

Windows OneCare Live will cost $US49.95 ($67.90) a year for use on up to three computers, Microsoft general manager Ryan Hamlin says.

A free trial will be available in May and the software will go on sale in June.

Microsoft has spent almost four years building the service to bolster security after attacks on the company's programs angered customers and led them to consider alternatives.

The company is entering the market more than 15 years after Symantec, saying current antivirus products are insufficient because 70 per cent of consumers don't have up-to-date virus protection on their PCs. (link)


Related links:


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Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader

Have you ever expect to view PDF files or your holiday pictures on your palm while listening to MP3? If so, Sony's PRS-500 Portable Reader (pictures credit: Sonystyle USA) must be your first consideration. I am so marvellous to savvy Japanese Eletronic Mogul's technology. Its price of only US$349.99 on Sonystyle couldn't be your attraction?

The Sony? Reader offers a new and convenient digital reading experience. It boasts an amazing screen with technology that rivals text on paper. Weighing less than 9 ounces and at only ?�� thin, it��s more compact than many paperbacks. Plus, it comes with software that seamlessly allows you to search and browse thousands of electronic book titles from the Connect? eBookstore and then easily transfer from your PC to your Sony Reader. With built-in memory and multi-format support, you can take many of your favorite titles and documents with you. So compact and convenient, you��ll want to take it everywhere. (link)

Related reading: Engadget's Sony's eBook Reader gets a price on SonyStyle store

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Sunday, February 26, 2006

CPC Adnomish its official: Don't Corrupt!

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has set up a mechanism of supervision based on admonishment as an intensified step to keep its officials upright, honest and incorruptible.

The General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued a notice Sunday calling for full implementation of the supervision and admonishment rules governing officials' honest and clean handling of the affairs, which was jointly worked out by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The move is aimed at strengthening the routine supervision and education on the CPC officials of various levels, the notice said. Link

Appreciate such a move to curb the corruption of officials. Never appease their undisciplined behaviours!


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China Tops World in Road Accidents

Road accidents, so hated yet not avoidable. My father fells into one of these victims, now almost doing nothing but just playing a Chinese traditional gambling activity--Majaung. Though such is not so decent, then what else he can do? A piece of very sad news now says: China Tops World in Road Accidents and death toll. But days ago I did read an exhilarating one--Chinese astronauts will perform spacewalk wearing our China's own-made EVA Suit.

Chinese Vice Minister of Communications Xu Yahua said in Beijing on Sunday that both the country's number of road accidents and the related death toll rank the first in the world last year.

In 2005, 98,738 people were killed in 450,000 road accidents and 470,000 others were injured, with direct property losses totaling 1.88 billion yuan (233.8 million U.S. dollars), the minister said.

Road safety has become one of the top concerns of the country, Xu said.

With the fast expanding auto market in China, the number of drivers increased by 5.5 million a year, or an annual growth of 10 percent, during the country's 10th Five-Year plan (2001-2005) period.

Link


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Saturday, February 25, 2006

Sony Cyber-shot H5 and Cyber-shot H2 Come Out

Gigantic maker of electronics, Sony Inc. , released its most updated compact digital camera Cyber-shot H5 and Cyber-shot H2 according to DigitalCameraInfo.
In one of the fastest growing segments of the digital imaging market, Sony released the ultra zoom Cyber-shot H5 and H2 cameras. Both models have improved Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 12x optical zoom lenses and Sony��s Super SteadyShot image stabilization system. The 7 megapixel H5 will retail for $499 and the 6 megapixel H2 will sell for $399; both models will be available in May. Both camera bodies are chunky SLR-like forms with large right-hand grips and prominent viewfinders. They also both have the new 12x optical zoom lens. The previous Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 had a 12x optical zoom lens, but it wasn��t a branded Carl Zeiss piece of glass. The new cameras keep the same image stabilization that was on the H1, though. Link
Engadget said: Sony's also (when referring to Sony's Cybershot DSC-W70 and DSC-W100) loosed upon the world their new 7.2 megapixel H5 and 6 megapixel H2, both featuring 12x optical, 32MB internal memory, and a 3.0 and 2.5-inch display, respectively. These slightly more expensive suckas will run you $500 and $400 in May and April when they hit the streets. (Link)


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One Transexual Mother

Congratulations on China Zhejiang Province's Transexual Mother!:-)

Lei Xiaochen wears a bra for the first time after the gender reassignment surgery on July 26, 2004.

Lei Xiaochen, the first transsexual in east China's Zhejiang Province, has fulfilled her dream to be a mother by adopting a lovely girl from Lin'an Social Welfare Institution. Lei Xiaochen underwent gender reassignment surgery on June 15, 2004 in Shanghai. She married Yang Siyou, a native of Jiangxi Province on April 28, 2005.


Via Peoples' Daily Online


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Friday, February 24, 2006

Thai First Son Throw his Father in Trouble

Thai first son, Phantongtae Shinawatra's indiscipline may put his Father Thaksin Shinawatra in trouble, as the later has stripped of his Parliament to warrant national elections within two months. Reuters' report via CNN international reported:

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's son broke stock disclosure laws before the $1.9 billion sale last month of the telecommunications empire his father founded, Thai regulators have said.

Phantongtae Shinawatra, 27, also violated tender offer rules in the run-up to the sale of 49.6 percent of Shin Corp to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

"The violations are not serious enough to press criminal charges," SEC Secretary General Thirachai Phuavanatnaranubala told reporters after a month-long probe into the deal, but Phantongtae is likely to face a fine.

The guy is too young to steer his father's Empire.


Related links:
Thailand PM Thaksin dissolves parliament
Thaksin 'to call early Thai poll'
Thai Shares Climb Friday


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Must-Read Adsense Mogul's tips


Want more Adsense revenues? Sure. Google Adsense blog can let you know Mike Gutner, AdSense Optimization Specialist and Eight for Experts. But you also need to get tips from Adsense mogul other than googlers lo? Eric Giguere is one of them, he has his very own ways! He is the contextual advertising expert who wrote Make Easy Money with Google and Uncommon AdSense . You're suggested to read his Making money from MSN to boost your incomes, which will dig your gold from online advertising! Shown below is just an excerpt at his blog post and intends to get you have the first glimpse of it.
Although I've neglected it of late, the Invisible Fence Guide has had a sudden flurry of AdSense activity lately. (Don't worry, I will shortly finish the belated AdSense case study that features the Guide ? anyone interested in having a PDF version of the case study?) Wondering why, I did some investigation. The Guide still ranks in the top 10 or 20 (for "invisible fence" ? it's still #1 for "invisible fence guide") in Google, depending on which data center you're using, so nothing changed there. It is, however, now ranked #3 on MSN for the search term invisible fence. A quick look through my logs shows an increase in traffic from there. Of course, it could just be that it's a seasonal thing ? as spring approaches in North America, more people are thinking about installing wireless electric fences to contain their dogs. Still, it's a good starting point for our discussion about making money from MSN and Yahoo via AdSense.
See other says also: MSN Visitors Produce Higher Revenue?

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Assassination Vacation

Assasination Vacation is a book by Sarah Vowell in which she travels around the country researhing the assasinations of United States presidents Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley and James A. Garfield (via Wikipedia). I don't know if it is available already on the Malayisan local bookstore. One reviewer Jack Danson (Oklahoma City) commented this book on Amazon: Sarah Vowell has written an excellent book chronicling the various sites and curiousities involving the first three presidential assassinations. Many of the sites she writes about I have been to on my own "assasination vacations" and it is as if I have returned to these sites. Her writing is very engaging and entertaining. I would highly recommend this title to anyone not only interested in history but also good writing.

It seems that herbook is set to be the bestseller. Decide to get your first glimple at book here at Assassination Vacation?

Something more about Sarah Vowell via (wikipedia): she was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She earned a B.A. from Montana State University in 1993 and an M.A. at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996. Vowell received the Music Journalism Award in 1996.

Vowell lives in New York City, cannot swim, is afraid of heights, and does not drive a car. She usually enlists the aid of her friends and family to drive her to plaques and graves when doing research. She suffers from celiac disease, in which the body has an auto-immune reaction to gluten. She's also an atheist.

And she has a twin sister! :-)

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Google Research Blog Launched


what Google Research is like, First let me say that we're not like the stereotype of a Research Lab: the place where you hide all the Ph.D.s to keep them away from the engineers who do the real work.

We're different for two reasons.

First, Google Engineering is different: it contains many world class Ph.D. researchers. For example, the top download from the ACM digital library last month was The Google File System, written by Google Ph.D.s who happen to be "engineers" (although in their previous jobs, two were at research labs and one was a grad student). This week's cover story in Nature describes work by Google Earth engineers in partnership with colleagues at CMU and NASA Ames.

Second, Google Research is different: we also have lots of world class Ph.D.s (and a few non-Ph.D.s). Yes, we write papers and prove theorems, but we're all here because we want to discover and build useful things that will change the world.

So who are we? We're experts in machine translation who came here....

Theunofficialgoogleweblog' s Chris Gilmer also blogged: This Reasearch blog should be a pretty good read, in that it could contain some pretty cool insight into the minds of the research department��s individuals.



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World's First Remote Graphics Unit


Montreal-headquarted Canada's Matrox Graphics Inc. on 22/Feb/06 announced and launched Extio? F1400 (see the right picture, source: here) the world's first remote graphics unit, according to a press release on the company's website.

With this solution, the user interface of the computer ? the keyboard, mouse, monitors, audio peripherals, and graphics hardware ? are separated from the rest of the computer by up to 250 meters (820 feet) of fiber-optic cable. Designed for professional applications, this product supports up to 4 digital or analog monitors at a time, and has passive (fanless) cooling.

The versatile Matrox Extio F1400 remote graphics unit (RGU) has a Matrox-designed graphics chip, 128 MB of graphics memory, dual-LC connector for fiber-optic cable, 4 DVI-I monitor connectors, 6 USB 2.0 ports (4 in front, 2 in back), integrated audio hardware, an optical connector for digital audio output, and analog audio connectors for a microphone input, line input, and line output. To meet different slot requirements, Matrox separately offers PCI or PCI Express (PCIe) fiber-optic interface cards for Extio products.

With reference to this new product for professionals, Engadget's Ryan Block somehow disdained: Basically it's a remote graphics unit that shifts your desktop experience from right next to your box to wherever the hell you want it within 820 feet, via high speed fiber optics back to the mothership. No, we can tell already this graphics system isn't really meant for Dooming it up or anything like that, but for a desktop extension without a thin-client solution, the Extio F1400 is probably as sophisticated (and expensive) a solution as you're gonna find.

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Recent Biggest Ever Robberies

On January 28, a 2-million robbery happened in a local university in Malaysia. It was the first ever such a case happened in campus, but with big ammounts of loss (2 million Malaysia Riggits). That's why some bloggers shout their rants. On 21/Feb, a 20-million robbery happened but now is Pounds and in Kent of Englend. CNN's report described what happened on the day:
Authorities in Kent, England, have appealed to the public for help in solving the armed robbery of a security company, which involved the kidnapping of a manager and resulted in the theft of 25 million pounds, or about $43.5 million.

The incident at the Securitas security depot in Tonbridge began Tuesday evening, according to a statement issued by Kent Police's serious and organized crime unit.

A depot manager was stopped by what he believed to be an unmarked police car about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as he drove home from work, police said. The car was believed to be a Volvo with blue lights in its radiator grill.

"A passenger wearing a high-visibility jacket and police-style hat got out and spoke to the manager who, thinking these were genuine police officers, got back into the car with him where he was handcuffed," police said. The Volvo drove off. (Watch as police investigate the crime -- 2:04)

At about the same time, the manager's wife and young son were visited at their home by two men who said they were police officers and told them there had been an accident involving the manager. The wife and son were taken from their home, police said.

Meanwhile, the Volvo met up with a white van, and the manager was tied up, put into the van and driven to an unknown location, where he was threatened at gunpoint and told his family would be at risk if he did not cooperate, authorities said.

About 1 a.m. Wednesday, the manager was taken to the security depot. A white truck also arrived there, and six men -- at least some of whom were armed -- tied up the depot staff on duty "and then loaded a substantial amount of money" into the truck, police said.

"They left about 2:15 a.m. and staff raised the alarm about an hour later. No one was hurt during the incident, but the staff were all very shocked by what happened."

Those who make so easy money via robbing, will never peacefully sleep and Police are seeking everywhere!

Related links:
Police search for ?25m raid gang
Armed gang takes ?40m in cash depot raid
Bank of England: Robbers steal $43.5 million
What happens at the Securitas depot?
Robbers in cops' clothing get $43.5 million
$1m ATM Heist At University Of Malaya


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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Two Wonderful Things Introduced on Boingboing

Two more wonderful things were introduced on Boing Boing. Cory Doctorow posted:
Motorized ice-cream cone for the lazy-tongued These $10 motorized ice-cream cones are just the thing for those of us with very, very lazy tongues. As the bumpf sez, "No more licking around the edges of a drippy cone." Whew. The nightmare is over.
Cory Doctorow also posted:

Clever kids' easel/chair is made out of a roll of paper

This genius chair/easel provides a huge roll of paper for a kid to sit on while s/he draws, and comes with a five-year supply of paper. The Chair is made with drawing paper, as the paper is being "drawn upon", the size of the front cylinder increases and thus follows the child's growth!- age 2-7 Years. Clean paper is transferred from the back cylinder to the front simply by rolling the front cylinder backwards. The amount of paper is approx. 500 meters, which means that the paper can be changed twice a week for 5 years.

(Photo source: Boing Boing)


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Japan's Affluent Economy

Japan's Rapid Growth Spurt The country's gross domestic product is rising at a blistering pace. Could it outperform the U.S. this year? Speculated by Bussiness Week

Check out Tokyo's bustling electronics shops for signs that Japan is definitely back. At Bic Camera's five-story complex in downtown Tokyo on a weekday afternoon, dozens of people were eye-balling giant flat-screen TVs. Though they sell for anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000, demand for the gadgets is white hot. "Big-screen TVs are popular because of the Olympic games in Italy and this year's World Cup soccer finals," says Yumi Kawahara, a spokeswoman for the electronics chain.

Yet there is far more driving the economy than die-hard Japanese sports enthusiasts. On Feb. 17, the Japanese government revealed that gross domestic product expanded at a blistering 5.5% pace in the October-December quarter -- which blows away the 1.1% annualized growth the U.S. managed last quarter. "This is not a one-quarter wonder," says Jesper Koll, chief economist at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo. "Japan's GDP has risen more than 5% for three of the last four quarters."

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Powerball Jackpot Power Enough

Just want to go back for sleeping, but CNN Breaking News I subscribed tells me: Eight workers at a meat processing plant in Nebraska are the winners of a record $365 million Powerball jackpot, AP reports.

Oh Lucky Guys, No one is more luckier than you! So you no more meat processing work for you!


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Bye, Havard

It is Google News that let me first heard/saw of Mr. Summers when looking through its news tiltle webpage. At that time he just made a public speech and accidently (wrongly) expressed his views on those female faculty members in Havard University, so it is understandable that he had caught so many spotlights from the sceptic American medias. It's a pity that he's resigned and is going to step down as when I heard of Mr. Summers the second time. Lois Romano of Washington Post reported the story:

Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard University, announced yesterday that he will resign his post, bringing to close a stormy tenure in which the former Treasury secretary made impolitic remarks about women, alienated many black professors and repeatedly clashed with the faculty at America's most prominent university.

Summers decided to step down last week after concluding that he could no longer contain the growing conflict being played out publicly while effectively running the university.

"I looked at the extent to which the rancor had emerged in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and I personally had become a larger issue and concluded very reluctantly that the agenda for the university I cared about and my own satisfaction would be best served by stepping down," Summers, 51, said from his office in Cambridge, Mass., in a 45-minute conference call with reporters.

His resignation takes effect at the end of the academic year. Derek Bok, 75, who served as Harvard's president for 20 years, was named interim president. Summers said yesterday that he will return to the school as an economics professor after a year-long sabbatical.

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US Media Rants on a UAE company

A report found on Washington Post website put American media's rants on a UAE company which probably would take big stakes of American ports. Excerpts from the article of Howard Kurtz, WP's Staff Writer, reads

On Feb. 12, the AP moved a story that began: "A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism."

Know what else happened on Feb. 12? A certain ranch owner called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times to say that a certain senior administration official had accidentally shot his hunting buddy. And for the next week, the media cared about little else, culminating in this week's Time and Newsweek cover stories.

....

"The management of major U.S. ports taken over by an Arab-owned company? What was the Bush administration thinking when it allowed such a thing?"

....

"In the face of growing Republican opposition, President Bush today threatened to veto any congressional effort to block a deal that will allow an Arab company to take over the management of six major U.S. seaports, saying that any attempt to scuttle the arrangement would send 'a terrible signal to friends around the world. "
It seems President Bush's goverment is again under fire. MAUREEN DOWD , OP-ED columnist of New York Times, wrote an article titled G.O.P. to W.: You're Nuts! Same old pattern: a stupid national security decision is made in secret, blowing off checks and balances, and the president's out of the loop.


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One More Larry in Google Inc.

Dr Brilliant, a physician, epidemiologist and a specialist in international health was hired by Google as executive director of Google.org. He played a key role in the World Health Organisation campaign to eradicate smallpox and has also worked for the UN in the fields of blindness and polio eradication.

"I'm deeply honoured to have been selected to direct Google.org," said Dr Brilliant." I have great admiration for Google's technical contributions to society and believe that it can have an equally great impression through philanthropy." Via ZDNet UK

Google is extremely fortunate to have found in Dr. Brilliant the combination of experience in building and scaling successful programs and ventures in the fields of medicine, philanthropy and technology. Via Googleblog


Wish two brilliant Larry in one company May Cooperate Well and Bring More Philanthropies to the World!


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Example for a Bad Samaritan-Family

Uncle Sams has set an good Example for a Bad Samaritan-Family when one found other's lost digital camera. What a sharp contrast between two kinds of people! Such Sams is always appreciated and win respects from me! I once lost my wallet with 650US$ and some Riggits Malaysia inside and only realised this the next day when I needed it to pay for my lunch. Maybe you think this 650US$ is not too much, but in Malaysia it almost equals two-month salaries of an average worker or the half-year allowance of my mother in China. So now you can image how anxious I was. But I was lucky, when I checked back the a drinking shop on my campus where I visited last night. The boss instantly told me that his employee did pick up a wallet and let me discrible its characters and the things inside. After I made a detailed explanation, the boss nodded and returned it to me. Since then, we became good friends, whenever I see the boss, I will say hello to him. Boss, thank you again! Though you may not read this post, your good deeds will always be in my mind!


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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Special Shoes


Sure you must have know many shoes for specific purposes. But this one equipped with the compass, light, map and enen painkillers, maybe you haven't seen it yet. Even they were not specially designed for illegal immigrants along US-Mexico borders. As to my own opinion, their legalities were suspicous. BBC's State-of-the-art shoes aid migrants
tells of some stories.

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Future Newspaper

De Tijd, a Belgian newspaper, will soon be available for reading on a paper thin screen the size of a newspaper page. The black and white ink-on-paper look also gives an appearance similar to newspaper. (picture credit: Amit Agarwal)

Readers will be able to write comments and scribble on the paper by using a special marker. Interactive advertising will also be featured.

Mr. Amit Agarwal made the introduction in his post--Newspapers that reduce newsprint cost, save paperas--as to this future eNewspaper. The paper is currently only available 200 testers.




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Paris Hilton: Naked Ambition

What's Paris Hilton's ambition? Here the article in the Independent BY ANDREW BUNCOMBE seems worthy of having a reading, snippets shows: Paris Hilton is famous. You may have heard of her. She appears in a celebrated sex video, she appears on television, she is the heiress to a $50m (?29m) hotel fortune and this week she appeared on the catwalk at the London fashion show, showing off the frocks of designer Julien Macdonald. She turned 25 yesterday and she has the nearly there looks of the model she almost is.

And with one crucial exception, she also appears to be supremely talentless. Her acting has been laughed at, her performance on television has drawn scorn, her (successful) attempt to trademark the catchphrase "That's hot" has been widely mocked. Even her raunchy video performance with a then boyfriend received decidedly mixed reviews.


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Monday, February 20, 2006

Google Library Goes Furthur in Euro

Google Library Program goes furthur with six European countries: Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, annouced I'd like to say that Global scholars will definitely appreciate Google Scholar's versatile services!

According to , other development associating this Library program is that Google Book Search are paging through presidential history and have already prepared some special collections onUS Presidents (i.g. George Washington & Abraham Lincoln) under the public domains, as the third Monday in February is "President's Day" (this year is 20/Feb). From there, I first time know about the anecdote about President George Washington's birthday.

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IBM to Unveil Advance in Chips

The report found here on Los Angeles Times says:

  • Technique for shrinking silicon circuitry may boost power and reduce production costs.

  • IBM Corp. is expected to announce today that its scientists have developed a technique for printing circuitry on silicon that could make computer chips significantly more powerful while extending the life of current manufacturing technology, potentially saving billions of dollars in plant reconstruction.

    Most semiconductor manufacturing today uses a process called optical lithography, in which lasers imprint patterns on silicon wafers, much like silk screening, with features as small as 90 nanometers in width. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

    As components shrink, more can be crammed onto each chip, enabling smaller devices that are increasingly powerful.

    Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, introduced microprocessors on the 65-nanometer node late last year, but the majority of today's computer processors are still made at 90 nanometers.


    Related reading:
    IBM Researchers Find a Way to Keep Moore's Law on Pace
    IBM promotes making chips in the bath
    IBM set to unveil its skinniest microchip
    IBM Research Demonstrates Path for Extending Current Chip
    IBM Develops Technology To Keep Chips Evolving

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    Wild Men now in Malaysia?

    I still remember when I was in the High Middle School in the middle of 90's, there were a lot of speculation as to Wild Men in a very famous tourism destination--Shen Nong Jia-- a place located in Hunan Province in central China. As a stimuli to spot these men, the government once offered a reward of 100,000 RMB to the first one who provided the evidence either photos or videos. Then so many adventurists went to try their fortunates, as a result, I think you already can expect what to happen? No one can find Wild Men and then caused a hugh damage to the ecosystem of Forests in Sheng Nong Jia area, so not before long, the government reversed their stimuli and claimed to recover these mysterial creatures illegally. Until now, I seldom see any reports as to that myth. But now such Wild Men come to Malaysia? AP report in CNN says:

    Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman said the state will form an official Bigfoot-tracking team in a serious bid to find evidence of such a beast following the reported sightings late last year in the Endau Rompin National Park forest. (note:Endau Rompin National Park is situated along the Johor-Pahang border)

    "The mystery of Bigfoot's existence has attracted a lot of interest," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama national news agency. "We hope the expedition will be able to prove its existence."

    "Bigfoot" is a popular name given in the United States to giant hairy creatures walking on two legs. Sightings of such beasts have been reported in many parts of the world but their existence has never been proven.
    My opinion is that Mentri Besar should learn the China's lesson before such adventure group to be formed. Otherwise, under the spirits of Malaysia Boleh, the concerned adventure team most probably bring some side effects to the concerned areas.


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    1st Computer to Surpass 1 Terabyte-per -Second

    LinuxElectrons reported:
    Global supercomputer leader Cray has announced that the "Red Storm" supercomputer installed at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is the first computer to surpass the 1 terabyte-per-second (1 TB/sec) performance mark on a widely used test that measures communications among processors in high-performance computing (HPC) systems and provides a key indication of the total communication capacity of the network.

    Red Storm posted 1.8 TB/sec (1.8 trillion bytes per second) on the PTRANS interconnect bandwidth test.
    This computer is based on Linux system, Read Full Story!

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    Human Body Perspective Picture


    Are you fantanstic with these Human Body Perspective pictures? For myself, yes Do be! When using Google to search a Chinese idiom--Tan Wei Guan Zhi--this afternoon, I run across these pictures from one thread in the forum of Sina.com . It seems now X-rays does not only provide the diagnostic manner for the disease, also a way to produce the uncommon body perspective art.
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    One-week old Google China Blog



    Google China Blog now is one-week old already! When looking up to these statistics from the post named What we heard...... of Dandan Wu, a team member of Google China Blog, I have to acclaim them as the peak of perfection! As of last Friday, 17/Feb/06, there are altogether 233, 809 unique visors with total 273, 309 page views (but not say from how many countries). What a success! I think only Google has such huge and charming attraction. And more and more China net-citizon are thrilled about Google's outstanding service!

    Blogger Cuiniao says:
    On 14/Feb/06, Google China Blog was launched, with which its China Work Group to tell of any new matter, new ideas, new creativities happened in the company. This blog manifests their enterprise culture. And Google is more and more appreciated by me.


    The Italic fonts above is directly translated from the Chinese from their respective author's post.

    Google China Blog! Wish You Go Well Throughout All the Time!

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    Sunday, February 19, 2006

    PowberBook Auctioned on eBay


    Cute! One BoingBoing writer--Mark Frauenfelder put his 17-inch G4 1.5 Ghz PowerBook with a cracked screen auctioned on eBay. Other than a black spot on its upper left conner, there is no other compromises. If anyone wants such an laptop with a 5400 rpm, 80 GB hard drive, you are suggested go bid on eBay. The auction ends on Feb-26-06 13:30:42 PST. As of 12:49pm (GMT+08 Time), there already have 26 bids and the price level is currently at US $510.00. Don't wait until last minute to bid! The right picture provided by the author for your first glimpse. For more picture goes here!


    What other bloggers say:
    Is There Anybody Out… Here?
    Auf die Verpackung kommt’s an.
    I'm on boingboing!


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    EU to Boost China's Coal Tech

    EU is going to help China update its technology to generate cleaner coal power after a pact to be signed between two parts. Hope this ttech will not only reduce China's pollution but also bring down those notorous dealy coal mine accidents. Excerpts from Xinhuanet says:

    The European Union (EU) and China will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on near-zero emissions coal technology next week, the European Commission (EC) announced here on Sunday.

    The pact will be signed by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Ma Songde, China's Vice Minister for Science and Technology during Piebalgs' visit to China next week.

    The MOU builds upon and strengthens work on such programs or areas as the Action Plans on clean coal technologies, energy efficiency and renewable energy, the EU-China Dialogue on Energy and Transport Strategies, the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement and the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme, according to the EC.

    The MOU will encourage the development of technology allowing the capture and underground storage of carbon dioxide emitted from coal-fired power stations, a matter of potential significance in the fight against climate change.

    It's not too late for China to learn such technologies. A stich in time saves nine!

    Related links:
    EU, China to boost energy cooperation
    China, EU to create cleaner coal power
    China, EU to create cleaner coal power


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    Bizarre Stories

    Sure this story will be another issue again which would cause some ripples in America. Haha, it's amusing in USA, polices no right to police pornagraphy viewers. in China, only polices have the right to police this kind of thing. Somewhat sympathy with these two resigned Homeland Security Officers. Abridged Excerpts from Washington Post show below:

    Two uniformed men strolled into the main room of the Little Falls library in Bethesda one day last week and demanded the attention of all patrons using the computers. Then they made their announcement: The viewing of Internet pornography was forbidden.

    The men looked stern and wore baseball caps emblazoned with the words "Homeland Security." The bizarre scene unfolded Feb. 9, leaving some residents confused and forcing county officials to explain how employees assigned to protect county buildings against terrorists came to see it as their job to police the viewing of pornography.

    After the two men made their announcement, one of them challenged an Internet user's choice of viewing material and asked him to step outside, according to a witness. A librarian intervened, and the two men went into the library's work area to discuss the matter. A police officer arrived. In the end, no one had to step outside except the uniformed men.

    Another is: A family who recovered a camera refused to give back to the lady who lost it on holidays just because the family's child liked it so much. What parenting model has been set?
    BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow challenged! He also agreed:
    Should post this family's name and hold them up for shame and ridicule. This is theft.
    Update: As to the second story, please see Cory Doctorow's Mysterious "lawer" threatens to sue over Bad Samaritan story.

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    Weather Gets Warmer


    A glacier drops into Sermilik fjord in southeast Greenland. Photo by J. E. BOX of Time.


    With such apparent proof that our earth is turning hotter and hotter, will our world leaders realizing or still deny something? To save our Mother Nature is to save our own life! Some selected excerpt from the Time:

    If all of Greenland’s ice were plopped into the ocean, sea level would rise a catastrophic 20 feet or more. Until yesterday, most experts thought global warming might make it happen in a couple of thousand years. Now they’re talking hundreds. It still sounds like a long time, but, says Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton, "that comes to a couple of feet per century, and that’s more than society is equipped to handle." It doesn’t, moreover, take into account the two mammoth ice sheets of Antarctica, which pack about 20 and 200 feet of potential sea-level rise, respectively, if some new process is discovered that speeds their disintegration. Given what’s being reported in Greenland, the fact that nobody knows what that process might be should be little comfort.

    Here also some excerpts from the Independent which published the interview of Jim Hansen, who is the director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and President George Bush's top climate modeller.

    A satellite study of the Greenland ice cap shows that it is melting far faster than scientists had feared - twice as much ice is going into the sea as it was five years ago. The implications for rising sea levels - and climate change - could be dramatic. This new satellite data is a remarkable advance. We are seeing for the first time the detailed behaviour of the ice streams that are draining the Greenland ice sheet. They show that Greenland seems to be losing at least 200 cubic kilometres of ice a year. It is different from even two years ago, when people still said the ice sheet was in balance.

    Hundreds of cubic kilometres sounds like a lot of ice. But this is just the beginning. Once a sheet starts to disintegrate, it can reach a tipping point beyond which break-up is explosively rapid. The issue is how close we are getting to that tipping point. The summer of 2005 broke all records for melting in Greenland. So we may be on the edge.


    Related links:
    Rapid melt shrinks Greenland's ice cap
    Greenland Glaciers Losing Ice Much Faster, Study Says
    Greenland glaciers dumping ice into Atlantic at faster pace
    Greenland ice swells ocean rise
    Greenland glacial pace on the rise, study finds
    Greenland Glaciers Dump More Ice Into Ocean


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    Teen's Social Network

    Internet offers teens a first choice to weave their social network compared to other means. As this internet network is comparatively more reclusive than those built up during their rountine face-to-face meeting and some crime on these teens are arising no matter in China or U.S.A. Some offcials are somewhat worried. Social network such as Myspace.com is accused by many. AP'sTeens at risk on social websites, officials worry may have some remindings:

    Parents, school administrators and police are increasingly worried that teens are finding trouble online at sites like MySpace, the leader of the social-networking sites that encourage users to build larger and larger circles of friends.

    Police in Middletown, Conn., are investigating recent reports that as many as seven local girls were sexually assaulted by men in their 20s who contacted them through MySpace pretending to be teenagers.

    One girl allowed a man into her room while her parents were home, police said, underscoring just how in the dark parents often are about one of the most popular web activities for teens today.

    There are other reports like these scattered around the country, prompting some parents and schools to equate the likes of MySpace with the Internet's red-light district, even as many experts believe that the worries are greater than the actual dangers.


    Related readings:
    Schools: MySpace may put kids at risk
    Does your child fit in MySpace?
    Internet postings could compromise kids' safety
    Protect Your Kids: Dangers Of MySpace.Com
    Authorities say many teens at risk on Web sites


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    Unique Buildings

    I am not so unfamiliar with the Crooked House in the left when first glimplsing at it recently at UniqueDaily.com because I ever saw it from a cybered mail in early 2005. At then I didn't care it too much, thinking that the persons to build it how ridiculous! Now I understand it so unique so that Boingboing wrote a post named Whimsical buildings and collected it to their A Directory of Wonderful Things. Have you ever seen these bizare buildings? Go and Have fun!




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    Saturday, February 18, 2006

    the Wheels of Life


    The caricature of the wheels of life was received from my friend jerjing.
    Though its origin was not known, its copyright has to be reserved for its original creator. The picutre is vividly showing the whole life cycle of humankinds--no one will escape this. Here also have a glimpse at Wikipedia--free online encyclopedia's explanantion as to the wheel of life:

    In the dharmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism), the wheel of life (also called by a variety of other names; see the Names section below) is a mandala or symbolic representation of samsara, the continuous cycle of birth, life, death. One is liberated from this endless cycle of rebirth when bodhi, enlightenment, nirvana, moksha, or samadhi is reached.

    There are two primary forms of the wheel of life. The more elaborate form is usually six-spoked, though it is sometimes five-spoked. The simpler form, primarily used in Buddhism, is eight-spoked.

    In computer software Unicode, the wheel of life is called the "wheel of dharma" and found in the eight-spoked form. It is represented as U+2638 (☸).

    Names of the wheel of life

    The most common name is the "wheel of life", but the wheel also has a variety of other names:

    • wheel of dharma
    • wheel of existence
    • wheel of law
    • wheel of rebirth
    • wheel of samsara
    • wheel of suffering

    The symbol is also known as chakra from the Sanskrit word for wheel (not to be confused with the Hindu use of the same word to refer to energy nodes in the body— cf. chakra). The wheel of life is specifically known as bhavachakra or dharmachakra (the wheel of dharma).

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