How to be an Expert
This is what I’ve been reading lately, a witty article on the captioned subject from The Creating Passionate Users Blog. This particular article is written by Kathy Sierra, an expert on brain and artificial intelligence. Too deep for you? If interested, click here to read on.
Vista Blues
Well if anyone should be having problems upgrading to Vista, it shouldn’t be me. But then…spendt 6 freaking hours trying to get all the drivers up-to-date. Yet still to figure out how to setup a home network (Thanks to the Chinese version). In a very pitiful mood indeed. Going back to hack on it more later today. One good thing is that I got all my MMORPG games up and only to find some complete moron trying to steal these virtual items off my account. Aye, what a weekend.
Good read: Things to Love & Hate about Vista from Raizlabs
Trivia – Name That Movie – 11 May
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
[Updated: 13 May] 2 got it right, Samuel L Jackson’s famous quote from Pulp Fiction. Luke followed up with an even better quote.
Random Fact of the Day
La Paz, Bolivia is the world’s most fireproof city. At 12,000 feet about sea level, the amount of oxygen in the air barely supports a flame.
Militant ‘Mickey Mouse’ Pulled Off Air
Mickey Mouse? Not. The character’s name is “Farfour”, or “butterfly,” but unmistakably a copy of the Disney character, preached against the U.S. and Israel each Friday on the show called “Tomorrow’s Pioneers” in West Bank.
“You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists,” Farfour squeaked on a recent episode. “We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers.” ….. (more from USA Today)
Save the Queen’s Pier
Photo from Hong Kong Digital Vision
[23 April] Queen’s Pier (皇后碼頭), named after Queen Elizabeth II, is a pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong.
The History
The pier is steeped in history. Built in 1957 on reclaimed land, to replace a pier adjacent to the Mandarin Hotel, which was then near the waterfront.
The structure consist of tiled concrete base and pillars and model after previous piers in the area. Stairs are located on the northside to allow ferry passengers to board and disembark.
It was formerly a ceremonial landing area for the British Royal Family visiting Hong Kong and for the Governor of Hong Kong landing or leaving Hong Kong. Her Majesty Quenn Elizabeth II landed there in 1975, Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales landed there in November 1989.
The pier is also a public pier, where pleasure craft were allowed to dock. Tour boats offering a view of the Kowloon side of the harbour use the pier for passenger boarding. Up to 1978, it was the winning line for the annual cross-harbour swimming race.
Currently, this is the pier for the ferry service to and from The Sea Ranch.
The Pier’s Future
The pier’s role diminished with most visitors coming by air. Today, the pier serves as a meeting point for people strolling the area, and some for fishing.
Following the controversy following the demolition of the Star Ferry Pier in Edinburgh Place, activists made Queen’s Pier the next battle-ground against the conservation policy of the Government of Hong Kong.
At the end of January 2007, the government postponed the demolition of Queen’s Pier until a consensus could be reached on the course of action. To that end, the Government held consultations with the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers, and the Conservancy Association, which were in favour of keeping Queen’s Pier at the original site.
Following Donald Tsang’s re-election of as Chief Executive, on 26th March, the Government proposed to dismantle and moving the entire pier to the location in front of City Hall. Environmental groups angrily criticised the Government of “playing up the technical aspects to confuse the public”. It was also criticised for inflating the costs and technical difficulties of keeping the pier at the original site.
The plans will have to be put before Legco and the Finance Committee. [Extract from Wikipedia]
Statement of Artists, Cultural Practitioners and Academics in support of the Preservation of Queen’s Pier in-situ
Statement initiated by Leung Man Dao, Ma Ka Fai, Cheng Wai Pang﹝Siu Sai﹞, Kith Tsang Tak Ping, Anson Mak Hoi-Shan, Tang Siu Wah
April 17, 2007, Hong Kong
Click here for the full Chinese and English version of the statement as well as the video.
[Updated: 10 May] The Antiquities Advisory Board has voted to designate Queen’s Pier as a grade one building of outstanding historical merit. Twelve out of 25 members supported the move – after hearing public views and discussing the issue among themselves. The government is currently consulting the public on four different options for dismantling the pier and rebuilding it, to make way for reclamation works in preparation for the Central-Wanchai bypass to be built. The deputy Secretary for Home Affairs, Esther Leung, said the government would carefully study the Board’s decision. But she stressed that the grading does not mean Queen’s Pier will not be dismantled and relocated elsewhere.
Nokia N95 Review
Photo from Gizmodo
[10 April] A very thorough review with nice pics is up at Gizmodo, click here to read. From the review, short battery life and laggy OS seems to be two big issues, hope future patch can address them. Personally, I’m not too impressed, still like my Dopod 838 pro very much.
[Updated: 13 April] Another excellent review from Mobileburn.com, click here to read, 12 pages long.
[Updated: 23 April] Yet another great review from MobileTechReview, the phone scored a 4.5 out of 5 on their editor’s rating, click here for full article.
[Updated: 4 May] Review from All About Symbian here.
[Updated: 9 May] Very LONG review from Symbian Freak, click here to read.
First Look – HP Pavilion HDX
Photo from www.laptopmag.com
The latest monster from HP.
Featuring a 20.1-inch, 1680 x 1050-pixel high-def LCD, four Altec Lansing speakers, a 400GB hard driveand an eSATA port for an external hard drive, FireWire, HDMI, four USB ports and two headphone jacks. Also you’llfind NTSC/ATSC input (with an included F-Jack adaptor) for HDTV, S-Video input, and a stereo audio input. Go a little deeper into the system, and you’ll find Intel’s new 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 processor, 4GB of RAM (a first for any HP consumer notebook we’ve tested), and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB of dedicated video memory. So the question, what’s this monster gonna cost?
A hefty US$4,250. Click here for the review from laptopmag.
Samsung Q1 Ultra Specs and Prices
Entry model starts at US$799, WOOT.
Tons of information regarding the new Samsung Q1 Ultra came out the past 24 hours. First is the Q1 UltraMedia site. Secondly, click here for the Samsung press release, it detailed everything you want to know about the new Ultras. For the announced models, specs, prices and release date, GottaBeMobile ran a great article covering everything, click here. Lastly, the official Samsung Q1 Ultra Quick Guide.
Paris Going to Jail
[6 May] The 26-year-old heiress appeared shocked as she was sentenced to a 45-day stint behind bars Friday for driving with a suspended license and other probation violations.
The hotel-chain namesake will call the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, her temporary home, starting June 5. There will be no house-arrest options, no monitoring-bracelet breaks—she will do 45 days straight, per the judge…..click here for E! news report.
[Updated: 8 May] This from Reuters. “She’s going to be assigned a two-person cell, and most likely have another inmate in the cell with her,” Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said on Monday, adding Hilton, like all inmates, would be confined to her quarters 23 hours a day.
She will be allowed out of her cell once a day for an hour to shower, stretch her legs, use the telephone or watch television in a jailhouse day room, he said.
The cell — 8 feet wide by 12 feet deep, with an 8-foot (2.4 meter) ceiling — contains “two bunks, a table, a sink, a toilet and a sliver of a window.” Hilton’s cellmate, if she gets one, will be another individual serving time for a serious driving infraction or other nonviolent offense, he said.
While the facility houses roughly 2,200 women, Hilton will be segregated from the general population in a “special-needs” unit designed for such high-profile prisoners as celebrities, former police officers and public officials, Whitmore said.
Hilton will get three meals a day, all taken in her cell, but like the jail’s furnishings, nothing fancy — cereal or yogurt with fruit for breakfast, a sandwich or hamburger for lunch, and a hot meal such as chicken for dinner.
“She’ll be given the same food that is served to every inmate in the jail, he said.
The jail’s schedule also will make it hard for Hilton to keep the late hours she is accustomed to. Breakfast is served between 6 and 7:30 a.m., and lights are turned out at 10 p.m. ………here for full article.
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