Back in April I wrote and article in my Blog titled, “Made Up Words“. Now Webster dictionary have added the word “google” into their 11th edition of the Webster dictionary. Other new words include: “mouse potato and spyware.
Environment Awareness
Given the current condition of our world everyone should be environmentally aware.
Here in Hong Kong the Discovery Asia channel is airing Earth Communication Organization (ECO) 1998 campaign, “Think”. The message of the campaign is simple and direct:
What if your family lived in a home on an island you couldn’t leave?
With limited amount of food and save drinking water
It would be very important to make things last wouldn’t it?
Especially when your family kept growing and growing… and growing
Well… it doesn’t matter where your home is
Because we all lived on an island we can’t leave [and they show the picture of the Earth floating in space]
So please only use what you need because supplies are truly limited
We can do that… [and the caption at the end is “Get involved”]
I think this video is very powerful and yet subtle. More people should see it.
The air condition of Hong Kong had deteriorated substantially in recent years and we, as citizens of Hong Kong, really need to help out to reverse or stop the situation as soon as possible.
One thing we can do is to begin to change all our utility bills and bank statements to online statements by registering with their respective services.
If you live in Hong Kong, to get you started I have listed the web sites of some of the Hong Kong utilities below:
Another thing you can do as citizens of Hong Kong and members of this planet is to join the “Lights Out Hong Kong” event. The organizers of this event are asking every person and companies to turn off the lights in their homes and businesses for 3 minutes on August, 8th, 2006 at 8:00pm.
Are We All Paparazzi?
Now a days digital video and still cameras, and mobile phones capable of both are all around us, almost anyone can be a paparazzi. Is this a good thing for our society or is it something that is part of living in a metropolis in the 21st century?
There are sites like YouTube allowing amateur videographers to share their videos. With the Hong Kong video “Bus Uncle” being the most viewed video on YouTube last month (June).
There are also web sites and organizations like Videopower in Hong Kong that are independent videographers capturing the latest stories in Hong Kong using a different view point than commercial news broadcasts.
With so many readily media technologies in the hands of amateurs, many people are now raising the privacy issues of these media. I personally think that we must forego some personal privacy, when we (particularly in Hong Kong) lives in a place with over 7 million people in a territory smaller than the island of Manhattan, New York.
So if you are not doing something wrong you have nothing to worry about. If you are you should keep in mind that you may become the star of a video posted on YouTube or alike sites.
Having said that, like everything else, there are always bad apples in the mist. For amateur videographers and photocasters, there are ones who take hidden videos and photographs of others with sexual intentions and then post these media files onto the Internet. This is where I do agree that there is a violation of privacy to the extent of being illegal.
How do we draw the line? When does it consider invasion of privacy and when do we accept it as part of freedom of expression?
Please feel free to support your opinions.
Why Programming and Sex are Similar
Here are the reasons why:
- Some people are just naturally good at it.
- Once you started you will only stop when you are exhausted.
- Only someone who has experience will appreciate what you are doing.
- If you make one mistake you will have to support it for the rest of your life.
- Most of what you learn are not taught in school.
- There are more males enjoy doing it than females.
- If you have not done it for a while you will miss it.
- You can either get pay doing it or just do it for fun.
- Many people write books about the right way of doing it.
- You often feels like you do not know enough.
Technorati Tags: comparison, programming, sex
Can United States Afford To be the Police of the World?
Calling United States the “Police of the world” may seen as generous by some critics of United States’ foreign polices. These critics instead may refer it as imperialism, “U.S. Global Empire”.
United States’ foreign policies have brought US troops to 135 countries around the world including Afghanistan and Iraq, which equates to 70% of the world’s countries. These deployment range from as low as 1 to as high as 74,796. Although the total number of troops deployed in foreign soil may be lower than the average in the past 50 years, the number of territories that US troops deployed are the highest in 50 years.
The U.S. foreign policies seem to have a need to impose American believes and virtues onto other nations. Take the case of Iraq. Yes, Saddam Hussein may be a tyrant and it harsh towards Iraq’s citizens. Who gives the right for the U.S. to intervene. I am not condoning dictatorship or (alleged) genocide, but no foreign government should interfere with the politics of a sovereign nation. That is what the United Nations is for.
In the case of “Osama Bin Laden” and Al Qaeda. The U.S. [government/president] has to understand that they are not fighting an individual who has a following. Bin Laden has successfully made the war against the U.S. into a religious war; a Jihad. Hence, no matter who is the leader of Al Qaeda the war will not end. The only difference along the way is how organize these individuals will be.
With the U.S. existing foreign policies, they had taken their needs to protect “American interests” to the extreme.
I do not have a solution or grand plan to resolve all the conflicts around the world, but as long as there are unequal balance of power and the ability of any one party to have leverage on the situation the conflicts will continue. I wish the respective governments would put more emphasis on local policies instead. May be then we will have “peace on earth”.
What is George W. Bush Trying to Do?
The 43rd president of the United States.
Over the years there had been many criticism on George W. Bush and I definitely do not call myself an expert in US politics, but it is hard for me not to comment on some of the policies and decisions of George W. Bush.
His policies on Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea are not without controversies, but it is hard for me to believe that all these controversies are true. It is not that I believe in George W. Bush or agrees with him, I just cannot imagine that someone in his position can do so many, alleged, bad things and behave the way he did. He has even been labeled “The War President” among its critics.
A movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11“, by Michael Moore, was released in 2004 that documents Micheal Moore’s version of what happened after the attack on New York City on September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11).
The evidence Moore presented are very convincing, but if all that were presented were true than the Bush family is definitely guilty of some sort of crime against the American citizens.
Not sure if it is because Bush is now on his half way mark of his second term and still coming up with policies that do not make sense, Moore is going to release a sequel called “Fahrenheit 9/11 ½” in 2007, and I suppose it is to elaborate on what had transpired since 2004.
The apparent theme of the reasoning behind Bush’s actions and decisions, and how he is able to get away with it, has to do with the large amount of money involved. I guess this further proof that money talks and people are willing to do almost anything for sake of money.
So will George W. Bush legacy be known as “The War President” or will he be know as the most powerful manipulator in the history of United States, it will take many more years before that is known.
Technorati Tags: George W. Bush
What is George W. Bush Trying to Do?
The 43rd president of the United States.
Over the years there had been many criticism on George W. Bush and I definitely do not call myself an expert in US politics, but it is hard for me not to comment on some of the policies and decisions of George W. Bush.
His policies on Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea are not without controversies, but it is hard for me to believe that all these controversies are true. It is not that I believe in George W. Bush or agrees with him, I just cannot imagine that someone in his position can do so many, alleged, bad things and behave the way he did. He has even been labeled “The War President” among its critics.
A movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11“, by Michael Moore, was released in 2004 that documents Micheal Moore’s version of what happened after the attack on New York City on September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11).
The evidence Moore presented are very convincing, but if all that were presented were true than the Bush family is definitely guilty of some sort of crime against the American citizens.
Not sure if it is because Bush is now on his half way mark of his second term and still coming up with policies that do not make sense, Moore is going to release a sequel called “Fahrenheit 9/11 ½” in 2007, and I suppose it is to elaborate on what had transpired since 2004.
The apparent theme of the reasoning behind Bush’s actions and decisions, and how he is able to get away with it, has to do with the large amount of money involved. I guess this further proof that money talks and people are willing to do almost anything for sake of money.
So will George W. Bush legacy be known as “The War President” or will he be know as the most powerful manipulator in the history of United States, it will take many more years before that is known.
Technorati Tags: George W. Bush
North Korea Strutting Its Stuff
Today North Korea conducted a test of their ballistic missiles, firing a total of 7 missiles including one long range missile capable of reaching the United States.
North Korea went ahead with their missile test among strong oppositions from various nations; including Japan and United States who openly threaten sanctions.
After the test Japan and United States together drafted a plan for the <abbr title=”United Nations”>UN</abbr> Security Council to impose economical sanctions on North Korea. North Korea in turn responded by saying, “… any sanctions imposed by UN will be responded with equally severe actions.”.
What I do not understand is, “… equally severe actions.”, what do they mean by that? It is not that anyone of the nations against North Korea’s testing needs anything from them. Particularly not Japan nor United States. The only “equally severe” action I can think of is to expel nationals of these countries from North Korea.
Given the unstable conditions in North Korea, it is already not a good idea for any foreigners to be in North Korea.
It appears that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il is just trying to hold the world hostage demanding ransom in the form of aids from foreign nations.
North Korea being one of the poorest nations, with one of the world’s largest army and majority of its citizens starving, could have reached its last straw. Forcing it to use drastic scare tactics to achieve its goals of strong arming aids and supports from foreign nations. Whether North Korea truly have the technologies to create nuclear weapons or missiles that can reach the United States are still questionable. With the United States recent intelligence track records (Iraq and Bin Laden), United States claims on North Korea may be taken with a grain of salt.
I definitely do not call myself a political expert, bullying others into getting ones way may work in other situations, but in politics it is a very dangerous game to play.
Technorati Tags: missile, North Korea, nuclear