Google Blinked

The search engine giant lost this the moment it made the declaration. Its failure to immediately take action, by just shutting down or limiting its operation and withdrawing methodically during negotiations, might have shown they had more resolve. Or actually meant it.

in reference to: On Google’s Impending China Decision, and How It Has Lost Its Impact (view on Google Sidewiki)

Tian Tan Buddha

He's big, he's bronze, he's enlightened.

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View from the Ngong Ping 360 cable-car

It's pretty cool. We're in the Crystal Cabin , the cable car with the glass bottom.

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Bob's new haircut/beard trim

He cleans up good. On the MTR to Tung Chung. Lantau Island and big Buddha.

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Liberals, Atheists More Evolved?

This is the kind of study that will send the Wingnut blogosphere into a frenzy. Why not just tell them their parents dress them funny, too, while you're at it?

參考來源： Liberals, Atheists Are More Highly Evolved? (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Well, DUH ... Virgin Galactic lawyers up

From SPACE.com: "The president of the most prominent company developing a space tourism business on March 3 applauded legislation signed into law in New Mexico that reduces the risk that space tourism operators will face crippling lawsuits brought by surviving family members of a participant injured or killed during flight."

參考來源： SPACE.com -- Virgin Galactic Applauds Legal Protection Against Space Tourist Lawsuits (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Cool iPad accessory ...

... with short shelf life. Not unlike the cute keyboards that came out after the first Palm Pilots made the scene, this foldable keyboard turns into a Bluetooth phone that takes calls via the iPad's Wi-Fi/wireless system. Call me crazy, but I don't think the next-gen iPads will need that ...

參考來源： Foldable Keyboard for Tablets Doubles as Phone Handset - foldable keyboard - Gizmodo (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Sugar globe

Watching the staff at Sift in Hong Kong make spun sugar globes.

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Prawn korma, lamb vindaloo & mushroom pullao

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The great alcohol debate ...

I'm not quite the oenophile as my friend Jon Bonne, but I must say, I have had some 16% alcohol wines -- with Jon, actually -- that were wonderful. (On the other hand, we did have one that pretty much was firewater.) Still, it's one of the more entertaining debates ...

參考來源： Fine wine at 14% alcohol is impossible - or is it? - decanter.com - the route to all good wine (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Still, that's a lot of shut-ins ...

From ComputerWorld: "A study released today supports the oft stated notion that most of Twitter's 75 million registered users are less than committed to the microblogging site. The report, compiled by Barracuda Networks Inc., an e-mail and Web security company, concludes that only 21% of people now signed up for the Twitter Inc. service use it regularly."

參考來源： Only 21% of Twitter members are active, report says (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

And the State of the Union is ... what?

I find it laughable that the SOTU, nothing more than a chance for who's ever in the White House to basically say: "Things are not so bad under me. Better than under the last guy," is suddenly being described as being politicized. Please ...

參考來源： Chief justice chides State of the Union as 'political pep rally' - CNN.com (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

50 tablet computers to premiere in 2010

That's a lot of competition for Kindle and certainly Apple will have to take into consideration if it wants the iPad to become the iPod/iPhone of e-readers.

參考來源： ARM sees over 50 new iPad-like devices out this year (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Rush Limbaugh: Patriot?

It's funny, when Alec "the Bloviator" Baldwin and numerous liberal celebs vowed to leave the U.S. for greener, more liberal shores like France (hey, nice headscarf; freedom of religion, anyone?) when George W. Bush narrowly won election in '00, folks like Rush couldn't wait for them to leave, all the while branding them traitors.

Since America will become some weird socialist wonderland if it gets what is now just laughable health care reform, it appears the shoe is on the other foot. Last time I checked, true patriots down turn and run. On the other hand, maybe he's just following the jobs. I know I did.

參考來源： Rush Limbaugh Says He'll Leave the US If Health Care Reform Is Passed - AOL News (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Prospero's Books: Penguin reimagines reading with the iPad

Check out this great promo video from PenguinDigital. It's an exciting, very proactive look at how publishing could/should evolve.

They cover everything from "See Spot ... " to "Gray's Anatomy" (no, not THAT "Grey's Anatomy", the real one ...)

Oddly enough, it reminds me of Peter Greenaway's 1991 movie, "Prospero's Books", a highly polemical re-imagining of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" that thoroughly embraced the idea of multimedia in its storytelling and how Prospero's magic worked.
 

Amazon's Kindle team playing catch-up?

From Boy Genius Report: "A job posting for a position within Lab126, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon that focuses on the Kindle, suggests that Amazon may be developing a new web browser for its popular e-reader."

Better late than never? Maybe. But BGR also cites a report that says most ereader owners would have bought the iPad if it had been available. Ouch ...

參考來源： Amazon planning to overhaul the Kindle’s browser? « Boy Genius Report (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Hail, hail, rock and roll

Kids today. Thanks to mp3s and iTunes, they will never get the chance to appreciate a rock album as God (or Sandy Pearlman) intended. Especially one of those tedious prog-rock albums of the 70s by Yes or Genesis.

OK, now while that might be considered a blessing, it's a safe bet that even though the Sex Pistol's "Never Mind the Bollocks ..." or Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" were not concept albums, per se, they were compleat musical experiences, hermetically sealed aural travelogues where the artists and producers made conscious decisions as to what songs came first, how they segued into the next and where and when to fade in or out.

I salute Pink Floyd and their efforts to keep it real by suing EMI about royalty payments, the right to "unbundle" and redistribute of how the art was originally conceived.

參考來源： In a world of tracks, Pink Floyd fights for the album (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Good news, ladies ...

From Decanter.com: "Moderate female drinkers are less likely to gain weight than those who drink mineral water, according to a new study."

And it gets even better! "Women drinkers also have a lower risk of obesity than teetotallers."
參考來源： Wine isn't fattening for women, study finds - decanter.com - the route to all good wine (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

You're kidding, right?

From the Telegraph (UK): "Lindsay Lohan is suing an online share trading firm for $100m, claiming that a "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay it cast in a television advertisement was modelled on her."

Grasping desperately at the last strands of fame ...
參考來源： Lindsay Lohan sues E-Trade over 'milkaholic baby' Super Bowl commercial - Telegraph (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

A Muppet Wicker Man

The Wicker Man, the original flick, not the atrocious Nicholas Cage remake, is a true classic of post-60s dystopian horror. 

Whereas communal living and back to nature spirituality was kind of the driving force of the hippy, flower-power movement, by the early-70s the dark side of communal living, rural insularity and pagan ritual became fodder for both cinema and television.

It also starred the late, great British character actor Edward Woodward, known later in the U.S. as The Equalizer.

Now comes the epic re-interpretation we've all been waiting for: A Muppet Wicker Man. Nothing short of brilliant ...

Shaken, not stirred

Nokia just filed a patent for a "Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester": You know, a battery that recharges when you shake it. I can see a future where people are shaking their mobile devices impatiently while trying to make calls ...

參考來源： Nokia files patent for piezoelectric powered cell phone battery » Unwired View (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Twitter: Much ado about ...

According to data compiled by link tracker Tynt, email remains the most powerful social networking tool that people use to send and receive content links on the Internet. That's 70 percent of link-sharing traffic. But what's most impressive is the fact that Facebook came in second with 25 percent of the audience.

參考來源： When It Comes to Social Sharing, Don’t Forget About Email – GigaOM (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

If you got bad news, you wanna kick them blues ...

Cocaine users share responsibility in the global climate change crisis. Seems coca growers are denuding rain forests in an effort to cultivate more Bolivian Marching Powder. Just. Say. No.

參考來源： Cocaine users 'making global warming worse' - mirror.co.uk (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree ...

Liz Cheney seems to be doubling her efforts to out do her father when it comes to despicable, unpatriotic behavior. Questioning the loyalty of Justice Department lawyers assigned to defend various terror detainees? I'm sorry, but what is wrong with that woman? Even members of the Bush Administration are recoiling in horror, and it takes a lot to make them feel anything ...

參考來源： Liz Cheney Group, Keep America Safe, Questions Loyalties Of Justice Department Lawyers (VIDEO) (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

While Rome burned, Congress ...

... not only fiddled about, it frittered away time on partisan claptrap as the financial world went into overtime protecting its interests.

From Portfolio.com: "One year ago, a group of financial institutions quietly launched ICE Trust, a new and theoretically safer way to trade derivatives, a key element of the financial crisis. As lawmakers debate reform, banks at the center of the storm are remaking the market—and stand to profit."
參考來源： Ice Trust Creates Cds Clearinghouse For Investment Banks While Congress Delays Obama Financial Reform - Business News - Portfolio.com (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Pat Boone, watch out! Christopher Lee has donned the devil's horns

Christopher Lee has released an orchestral heavy metal concept album called "Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross."

Actually, it sounds rather music hall-like then Motorhead. Still, its title has everything going for it: history, religion, threat of violence. Bring it, Count Dooku!

參考來源： Tea party candidates falling short - Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Tea Parties: It's all bombast

Reckless, often ignorant bombast, but bombast nonetheless. Despite all its alleged grassroots beginnings, the Tea Party movement has always been more about the mobilization of unfocused discontent by the more conservative members of the GOP and the lobbyists and political consulting firms they work for/with.

By attempting to paint Barack Obama and his Administration as severe Leftists, the brain trust behind the organizing of this "movement" were really just attempting to deflect blame from the failures of the last 15 years of both a GOP White House and Congress.

Now it becomes clear that while loud, the Tea Party has yet to prove itself politically viable. This is probably due to the shrill, fringe followers it has attracted and who Fox News has given air-time to (birthers, Glenn Beck 9/12 stuff) and the fact that the Tea Party and the GOP have not offered any solutions to the problems that face the United States.

Surely, a majority of Tea Party followers woke up the morning after Obama's inauguration to realize that the politicians and policies they voted for are the very same people and policies that helped usher in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, that mired the country in a two-front war with no discernible positive outcome and created an economic system that favored corporate success over the basic welfare of working people? Didn't they?

If the Tea Party members are angry with anyone, they should really just look in a mirror before they start pointing their fingers and mouthing off.

參考來源： Tea party candidates falling short - Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com (在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視)

Hong Kong -- More stories about drinking, eating and hiking

I've been delinquent in my postings about our adventures in Hong Kong. Normally I would blame myself. But thanks to providence, I've got the perfect excuse:

I blame the Irish.

Yes, two weeks ago Bob and I went across to visit the Hong Kong Museum of History in Kowloon. It was great. I think I have some pictures. Hold on.

Below Bob confronts some of Hong Kong's public art in front of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Feeling somewhat diminished, he and all the critics agree: the city's public art veers towards the ugly.

Anyway, we wandered over to the history museum and it was awesome. When they say history, they mean it: the museum chronicles the island and portion of the mainland's evolution from prehistoric, even primordial times all the way to the present. We're going to go back for another visit. Anyway, more pretty pictures:

Cantonese opera. It takes a little getting used to, but the traditional costumes are magnificent.

Representations of the gods. These are giant floats that come out during traditional parades. Inspiring stuff.

 

And they're about 30-feet tall. Impressive. 

Later, we attempted to do the tourist thing and have high tea at the tres glamorous Peninsula Hotel, but there was line and, really, four tiers of poncey crust-free sandwiches and petit fours? I mean, we're gay. We can do that shit at home.  So we got the ferry back to Caprica City:

We arrived back in Central about 2:30 p.m. and Bob says, "let's go to the Mandarin Oriental. They've high tea and the penthouse bar is meant to be pretty impressive." So we wandered over to the Mandarin and decided to have a cocktail at The Captain's Bar.

While there we struck a conversation with one Maire Candy, an ex-pat Dubliner whose brother, Andy, was visiting with his wife, Geri. The couple were staying at the Mandarin. Maire's been in Hong Kong for 25 years, with her husband, Ian, who was a magistrate in the Hong Kong judiciary. Now retired, he teaches law.

Well, one thing led to another, there was champagne involved and dinner at a French boite in the Mid-Levels and before you know it, it was 3 a.m. Sunday morning. I think this picture kind of says it all. Slainte!

The following week was the St. David's Society of Hong Kong's annual ball and we were invited to come by Orla Thomas, the beautiful lass in the red sweater in the above picture. The pretty blond on Bob's left arm is Kayte Candy, one of Moira and Ian's daughters. Ian is the distinguished gentleman with the pint glass trying to strangle Fergal Power. (You had to be there. Really, it was awesome ... well, what I remember ... Grrr ...)

So last Saturday we attended the ball. It was a celebration of all things Welsh and lot of fun. Orla's married to Gareth Thomas, the society's president. A black-tie event, Bob and I barely passed muster, but they forgave us our black and dark-grey business suits.

Held at the Hong Kong Football Club, the Hong Kong Welsh Men's Choir performed as well as Welsh comedians Owen Money and Gareth Lloyd Davies. The event involved leek-eating, men dressed as druids, assorted men of Celtic background wearing kilts with the evening being capped off with Ireland beating England in the Six Nations Rugby match which we watched on a large projection screen TV.  I didn't take any pictures. I was, you know, busy.

Later in the week Larry Loh, CNNGo's Singapore City Editor, and his lovely lady, Angelia, invited the rest of the CNNGo staff to join them for dinner at one of Hong Kong's "private kitchen" restaurants. Larry's working here in the Kong for a few weeks. An unlicensed restaurant, the owners serve Szechuan food on the fifth floor of a rather ugly building in Lan Kwai Fong. Known as either Man Chou Szechuan or Manchurian Candidate (love that), the restaurant is basically a two-bedroom apartment. It's not fancy, but the food? Amazing.

We had about seven courses: beautiful roasted chicken served in smoked hot pepper and garlic paste (almost like chipotle or a mole sauce), cooked, but crisp zucchini served chilled in a rice wine chili flake vinaigrette (bright, refreshing), an eggplant and potato stew prepared in savory chicken broth, what appeared to be salt-baked prawns served buried in bowls of friend chili peppers, just to describe a few of the courses. Bob, not a fan of the heat, loved it. We are going back. We will become members of this private club.

I tried to take more pictures but staffers started heckling me with cries of "tourist!" So, that's all I got.

Well, later in the week, we joined Moira and Ian for dinner and they recommended Bob and I make the trek to Shek O, a seaside village on the east side of the Island. It was wonderful. Moira said it reminded her of the towns you see on the West Coast of Ireland, and she was right.

We had a late lunch at the Shek O Chinese and Thailand Seafood Restaurant. A green shrimp curry, mushrooms in oyster sauce, mixed seafood tom yum kai soup and pork fried rice.

 

There is a hike from Shek O north to Big Wave Bay, but we decided to explore the tiny village and wind our way up to the Shek O Headland. It's far from gentrified, but there seemed to be a large number of ex-pats living in the town, and some of the homes on the headland were extravagant. Still, this dilapidated building did remind me of the abandoned seaside towns in Ireland.

There was a temple in the town, not far from the main Shek O Road, but hidden among the houses and tiny mom and pop restaurants that, like all the local temples we've seen, was fragrant and precious and seemed to ache with local history. Bob wanted to go in an bang on the drum, which is part of the tradition when you're offering up prayers to your ancestors, but then thought it might seem rude. We will wait for a religious festival, or the anniversary of his late wife's death.

The beach at Shek O is really popular for Canto-Pop music video shoots, and while we were visiting there was a wedding photo shoot taking place. At first we thought it was a real wedding, but later we saw this couple in more traditional wedding garb on the shoreline getting photographed. But they posed for us gwai los no problem. Love the shoes on the "bride."

We walked up the headland and it was quiet, and though humid and in the 70s, a cool breeze came off the sea.

OK, I love this pic below of Bob. I just turned on the camera when we got to Shek O beach and it was the first thing I saw when I looked through the lens. "Hey, little buddy, how long are we on this desert island ..."

There are a lot of hawks on Hong Kong island. I can see them from my office window, on the 29th floor. They are graceful and impressive. Shek O headland was full of them.

In the distance you could see oil tankers and such, but close to the shore lone fishermen in small craft plied the waves.

It was a wonderful day out. We saw a part of the island that was tranquil and free of the hurly-burly of downtown Hong Kong, in Central where we live. A nice break.

Hong Kong continues to surprise us. I have fallen in love with its signage. I know, that sounds weird. But there is something always entertaining and to a certain degree, almost epic, even for something simple, like a restaurant sign:

It's just funny to me. And I know westerners just love Chinglish signs, but I've grown to have an appreciation of those signs that seem to go one better than native English speakers. See Exhibit A, below:

Plinth. They used "plinth." In a sign! And it was a plinth! After reading the sign I desperately looked around for erudite construction workers sipping tea, maybe a port, and reading Baudrillard. Alas, it was to no avail.

Still, there was this beauty. Exhibit B:

I love this sign. "Beware of the Threshold." Not since "Prepare for the Rapture," have I readied myself for something so full of portent.  Sure, the Chinglish in the user's guide for our dehumidifier could have got us killed had we not gone by the pictures, but when the native Chinese speakers nail an English phrase or epigram, they do it with style.

OK, one last gratuitous megalopolis of the future picture before Bob and I head off for dinner. The IFC2 building at night:

More later ...