New missions for Super Mario, Master Chief & Kratos

For more information: Clash of the Consoles

Sexploitation

Here is a production of my friends.

The video shows that too much commercial are sexually objected a person for boosting sales, which is a phenomenon of "sex-exploitation" all around us. We should think about to "respect ourselves, resist conformity. Boycott the sexploitation economy".

Securitization of Environment

Recently I read few pieces of news about the correlation between war and climate change. This reminded me a report I read few years ago. It was a Pentagon study on the potential catastrophic consequences of national security related to climate change.

Rather than predicting how climate change will happen, the Pentagon report dramatized the impact of climate change could have on society if the nations are unprepared for it. It said that the destabilization of the geo-political environment may lead to skirmishes, battles, and even war due to resource constraints such as disrupted access to energy supplies, food and fresh water shortages. They also predicted that military confrontation may be triggered by a desperate need for natural resources rather than by conflicts over ideology, religion, or national honor. The increasing number of environmental refugees will become an un-neglectable issue too.

I was stunned at the first time when I read the report. Not because of its scary prediction, but how come this report can be released by the Pentagon when their head boss the Bush Government was expressing an opposing view and rejected to ratify of the Kyoto Protocol at that time.

Anyway, the US politic is always non-understandable. What I am happy to see is the discussion of both climate change and the concept of environmental security already moved into the mainstream. Not only has public awareness of climate change seemingly reached a tipping point, but the likely security repercussions of the unsettling changes to our planet’s climate are now increasingly acknowledged and analyzed. I am also happy to see that there is a sign that Australia will leave US itself alone and ratify the Kyoto Protocol soon. It is surely a very positive move that the international community is working together in combating the climate challenge.

Yet, there is still more to be discussed and to be worked on to protect our mother earth.

Wiser use of computer for our environment

Source: Operation Greenhouse Effect

Read an interesting news about how to be more environmentally friendly by activating the power management functions on our computer. It is said that it can save up to US$75 per year in your energy bill. Here you are:

1. Turning your computer off completely when you know you will not be using it for more than several hours, such as overnight.

2. Setting the power management functions on your computer to put both your monitor and computer (CPU, hard drive, etc.) into “sleep” mode after a certain amount of time of non-use. Set your monitor to go into standby mode first, followed by your computer.

Use the following guidelines to make sure your computer is properly sleeping:

1. Certain applications will run in the background and prevent your computer from going into sleep mode. Be sure to close these down completely.

2. If you use a virtual private network (VPN), disconnect it when you’re not actively using it.

3. Some applications which continually scan can prevent your computer from going into standby mode, such as Wi-Fi antennas & infrared ports. Anti-virus software can be set to scan more periodically yet still be safe.

4. Some Web sites will not allow your computer to enter into sleep mode because of active advertisements and banners. Close down all Web pages when you are not viewing them to allow your power management function to work properly.

5. If you have set a screensaver (like that fish tank) for your monitor, you may not realize that it is actually wasting energy by preventing your computer from going to sleep.

6. Unplug the peripherals when they are not charging or synchronizing as they also prevent the computer from going into standby or “sleep” mode.

More things you can do to help save energy in your computing use include:

1. Increase your memory (RAM) to reduce disk usage, which can be a power draw.

2. If you have a desktop computer, upgrade to an LCD flat panel monitor instead of a CRT monitor, which can account for half the energy use of a desktop computer.

3. Power supplies for your peripherals (such as your mobile phone or iPod) still draw power even if the peripheral is not plugged in. Switch them all off when you leave the room or go to sleep.

4. Shut off that printer. Printers also have a sleep mode that still consumes a significant amount of power.

5. Replace wireless mice and keyboards with wired mice. Wired mice and wired keyboards use relatively little energy and they avoid unnecessary wasting of batteries.

More information about offsetting your own carbon footprint :

Carbonfund.org

Carbon Footprint

Funny Signpost in China

Got some interesting pictures from my friend in mainland. These signposts are going to be fixed before the Beijing Olympic....

A brilliant commercial video

Lovely Kittens

The Shifting China

It is already ten years after Hong Kong’s handover back to China. These few weeks I found there are heaps of articles reviewing how the “one country two systems” performs in the last decade. I also started to read more Mainland publishing after coming back from Oz. The more I expose to these mainland publishing, the newer picture that I perceive about China. They also gave me some inspiration and retraction about what Hong Kong did and what Hong Kong has to do. Of course it is such a big issue to have any answer or conclusion at all.

Like most of Hong Kongers and Westerners, I rather relied on the messages about China provided by a sound-bite driven media that seesaws between playing on our fears of China’s Communism, state repression and human rights abuses or so. However, things are changing dramatically and people from outside is damn difficult to get a better understanding about what is happening inside the dragon land. People just wind up with mainly superficial portraits of that part of China that’s most visible to the eye and to the camera.

Having more exposure to the mainland media gives me a different understanding about what is happening. For no doubt the media censorship still exist, but seeing something that release under such strict censorship has sorts of implication. I just read an article in a mainstream Chinese magazine which is about the Democratic Party in Hong Kong. The article is very positive to comment on the Party and saying that the Central government should do something to engage the Democrats more. Currently, most democrats do not have the passport to go to the Mainland China. I am so amazed when I read this article. The point of view in the article is nothing new, but having such article in the mainland media does imply a lot and this is the point that makes me so surprised. Things are really changing and I couldn’t see such change reflect in any of the Hong Kong or foreign mass media.

I remembered I read an article and it said that “we maybe have a better shot figuring out the future of India– or even Mars – than China…… something as generic as a Big Mac can mean very different things depending on the context."

I have a very strong feeling we do need someone/something that can bring us illumination about China without blinding us with sensationalist stereotype or pre-set values. Though understanding Chinais going to remain irritatingly difficult.

Photo Source: sina.com.cn


Link: <南風窗>：一國如何兩制

Kitten 2 - Name to be confirmed....

Now


Before

Kitten 1 - Name to be confirmed....

Now

Before

The guys who I am living with...

Job nightmare

Job refers to the regular activity performed in exchange for payment. According to Aristotle, all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind. Aristotle also said that “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work” and it is one of the attitude I apply to my working life all the time. I always have a belief that if I can choose a job I love, I will never have to work a day in my life. However, thing always doesn’t happen as we expected.

I am doing something I really don’t like at all. I never expected to be involved into the shitty tasks I am working on. Such shitty are not the duties my employer told me when they gave me the job offer. What I am working is completely different from the work I was told when I signed the 1-year employment contract, while such shitty duties were assigned to me just right before I passed probation. I have a very strong feeling that people around me are taking advantage of the limited employment time which does not give me any bargaining power with the boss(s). Short term contract employees are always the first tier to be exploited in a company.

I will not blame too much if I knew what I expected to do when I accepted the job offer, as it is my choice and I am always responsible to what I have chosen, no matter the outcome is good or not. But the case now is not what I chose, and I feel so powerless during the whole process. Of course, I can choose to resign but the resignation would have so much negative impact to my career in long term. I rejected few offers from other organisations of the industry I am working on when I accepted this offer from current organisation. And there is so few organisations and job vacancy within the industry in Hong Kong. So, it is so hard for me to work in the industry again if I resigned before my contract end normally. So, to certain extend, I am forced to stay as I am so devoted to work on the industry that I am working. My devotion is possibly one of the major sources of my powerlessness in this situation.

My everyday life is just a nightmare for me. This moment seems one of the worst moment in my life too as I have to force myself to do something I dislike without enough incentives. This is something really not in my blood…

(Well, i also feel that the "complain culture" among most Hong Kongers also finds in my blood... +_+)

The way i celebrate my birthday......

.....it was what i did on my b-day in 2007.

http://www.greenpeace.org/china/en/press/release/1129930

Beijing Snapshot: People

1. Preparation for 2008 Olympics ?

2. Tourists in the city


3. Food market

4. Outdoor Hair Salon
5. Herb stall

Beijing Snapshot: The city

1. Old & New

2. Advertisement every where

3. Traffic Control

4. Less bikes than before

5. Local wet market

6. Coke Cola: 2008 Olympic edition

7. Olympic Souvenir on sale

Beijing Snapshot: Tianman Square

It is almost ten years since my last visit to the capital city. The city itself does change enormously, but the landmark Tianman Square seems more or less the same.

Tin Hau Festival @ Lamma Island

《Go Green》: Music & Well-Being

Source: Greenpeace Works

One of the greatest song ever, spreading the environmental message through music!!

Songwriter and music producer Dave Stewart works together with activist group Greenpeace to come up with ways that can promote environmental causes in a rockie way.

Lyrics

What happened to the unborn babies
when their life is left up to maybes
When toxic chemicals are released in the air
and the land and the sea
All the dangerous climate changes
it’s human greed that made this
If it’s not a flood, it’s a drought, tsunamis about
you and I can change it
What happens when the water’s no longer fresh here
we created a dirty mess
Now let’s join hands and hearts
Greenpeace has made the right start
Let’s move now

Go green, Greenpeace
Go green, Greenpeace

Nuclear bombs unlocked
humans beings have run amuck
Thousands dead while laying in bed
I’m asking now can we stop
Life is so precious, every bird that sings
follow the natural course of things
As human beings, within our means
what can we bring
Take charge now, get yourself up
This is home where can you go
Take charge now, get yourself up
This is home where can you go

Go green, Greenpeace
Go green, Greenpeace

Go green, Greenpeace
Go green, Greenpeace

How long can we keep holding on
How long can we keep holding on
How long can we keep holding on
How long can we keep holding on

Go green, Greenpeace
Go green, Greenpeace

Go green, Greenpeace
Go green, Greenpeace

Listen to the music: Greenpeace Works
《Go Green》@ Beijing Midi Festival: Greenpeace China

Today's Snap Shot