Magic Time

Today I showed Zoe a simple coin magin which amazed her so much that she kept asking me to reveal the secret behind it.

I then disclosed to her the sleight of hand that makes the magic work. After learning it by heart, Zoe was in no hesitation to show her newly-learned ploy.

Voila! The coin disappeared! You know what happened? The sliver coin slipped right into her bra and she failed to remove it from her body by giving herself a big bra shake! I envy that little coin, "who" could get so closer to her! @_@

You are really my queen Zoe!

Websites Could Get Film-Style Ratings

I happened to bump into an interesting news tonight when surfing Google news. The news said English websites could soon get rated in a way that similiar to the one the movie industry is doing. What would be your response if you are not allowed to view a website because it is rated 'not suitable' for you? Would you scream out 'freedom of speech forever' and then hurl straight your mouse into monitor? We have been censoring through out our lives. We got censored on TV, newspaper and virtually all major offline media available on earth. Unfortunately, we couldn't escape the gorgeous censorship by turning to online world. What have you got online? Great Fire Wall! So website censorship is no news to me, as our government has for ages helped us, willingly or unwillingly, sort out the online material in a bid to 'protect' us. What a government! Thank you!

What do you think about this website rating system?

Dormant for a While

I've kept this blog dormant for a while as my whole body and soul had been engaging in choreography for an annual show next month. I have to admit that I'm dancing-challenged, so I had to spend double time, or even treble, on the pre-set dancing steps. Ache crawled over my entire body after a backbreaking training yesterday, so that's why I can sit here now typing out this piece, though with great pain in both my arms and legs. Anyway, I enjoy the dancing game very much and will try to give the best of myself in the upcoming show. Cross my fingers!

Guangzhou Pork King

If you are still doubting the hidden power of selling pork, you should think again. Guangzhou Pork King, Mr.Chen, who left his post as a civil servant years ago and turned himself into a pork vendor, had now become a millionaire.


I was struck when hearing the pork king said in an interview 'I don't compete with the rich, and I don't compete with the smart. Since selling pork is 'shameful' in the eyes of the rich and smart, so I could succeed in this field more easily.'

His word struck my mind like a lightning out of the blue. Yes, he is absolutely right on this. Why should we again and again push ourself into battleground for something hot? Why shouldn't we be a little bit clever to avoid all those unnecessary business warfares by turning ourselves to an unwanted market? As a marketer, we should learn to take advantage of an unexploited soil, where the true treasure may well lie beneath.

This is a lesson for all of us -- focus on not the fully-competed but the undeveloped market.

How to Cancel Scandisk?

The very disgusting scandisk can be ultimately removed by first running regedit.exe.

Then locate the bane at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager and clear the value BootExecute autocheck autochk *

Done!

Deep Throat Died, Aged 95

Today BBC ran a front page news about the dead of a larger-than-life figure -- Deep Throat(深喉).

Deep Throat, one of the most widely-known figure in Nixon-era, has died, at an age of 95. Even thought you may not know this oldie well, the name should ring a bell. He was a former FBI-member who literally orchestrated a resignation of the then president Richard Nixon.

The review on Deep Throat was mixed. Some says he was a hero who helped overthrow a corrupt government. Other criticized his berayal, calling him a traitor. Whether you are for or against him, what you cannot deny is that he have done something that put him eternally in a history book.

Little bonus knowledge point: Deep Throat was named after a popular pornographic movie of the time. I intend to post the poster of the pornographic Deep Throat here, but after thinking twice, I think the best strategy for me is to skip this part. If you do want a peep of the pornographic Deep Throat, go directly to Google and do an image search with the sure-fire keyword Deep Throat movie. =D

Shoe Throwing Game

Well, do you remember that I've talked about the shoe throwing incident in an Iraq news conference at my blog early?

This famous press conference has inspired a spate of Shoe Throwing Games. Though it's still not certain about how the history book would record deeds of George W. Bush, he has successfully registered his name on game industry. It's not easy, at least, to earn a pair of shoes from your audience and make that into a widely-played online Flash game.

Joshua Persky Gets Job Again

Joshua Persky is not a common guy, at least in my eyes. A MIT grad has been trudging the Manhattan streets for half a year, in efforts to get himself hired again. This is not truly innovative to me. I'd seen reports on TV this kind of job-hunting or mate-hunting in the past, some of those stunt were even more spectacular. But in US, this guy appeared to be the first. Persky has attracted rich media attention since his 'take-on-street' strategy beginning in June this year. His perseverance is something worth our notice and reflection. He has again got a nice job all by his own efforts. Do you have the same determination and pserseverance like Persky to get something that you really want? This is a food for deep thought.

Crammed Christmas Eve

People are absolutely overreacting to a western festival -- Christmas. I was on board a Christmas Eve tube yesterday night to have a first-hand experience of this US-imported festival. To say that I was like in a crammed sardine can was an outright understatement. A few bouts of savage elbow fighting finally ensured me a place in the compartment. Everyone on board was dressed to the nines, seemed heading for an important audition. The scenario was tantamount to Chinese new year. I couldn't help asking myself how and when Christmas started to invade into China in the first place? Is China being assimilated subconsciously by western powerhouses? Should we be conscious and aware of this ongoing "harmless" assimilation? Whatever the answer, it is a trend.

I myself is not a fan of Christmas and have no intention to embrace it in the imminent future. But I'm not totally against it or deny its widespread penetration. Maybe the lacking of a western culture background was why I couldn't melt myself in this widely-enjoyed festival. The only way out? Live it or leave it!

Panda Diplomacy

Today we see the cliche panda diplomacy again. China has just sent two giant pandas to Taiwai, naming Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan respectively, in yet another effort to reunite the politically-unstale island. Panda diplomacy is a guesture that China frequently resorted to in the past, however, it seems there is no magic in the two Taiwai-bound pandas this time. Taiwai has been actting indocile for decades in the eyes of Chinese leaderships. Since the end of the Chinese civil war, China has tried, in vain, to reunite Taiwai through a host of strategies, from diplomatic gestures to military threats. But generation of leaderships have failed to find a way to budge the isle a bit closer to mainland. The relationship between China and Taiwai has been ebbing and flowing with no visible improvement. These two pandas, IMHO, will do nothing than a commonplace publicity. How can we reunite Taiwan? This is a tough question for our 'country boss.'

Sense of Disappointment

"Never overpromise but underdeliver." I once thought this golden slogan should be strictly applied to business environment, however, today I realized that it should also be strictly applied to your personal life.

I'm not in a good mood now, bcuz I'd disappointed her.

I should have figured out how important my words were. My words carry weight and also convey confidence to her. But I failed my words. I didn't realize that. I sucked.

Thinking backwards, this sense of disappointment was not too unfamiliar to me. I'd experienced the same feeling months ago, when she quitted learning En cold turkey. Yes, my heart was stung and the disappointment struck me hard.

Feeling disappointment is one of the great pains you can possibly suffer on earth. I'd like to confess that it's very easy to disappoint someone, bcuz we tend to boost our bragging right. On the other hand, it's really hard to "undisappoint" as you have to keep your stream of commitment fulfilled day after day.

Sorry Zoe.

But luckily, I'm someone who can learn from my own mistakes.

And I did learn. What about you?

This is a Personal Blog

Starting from today, this blog will be limited to talk about personal issues only, no technology, no politics, no language learning lessons and other trivial unrelated bullshit pieces.

My professional freelancer life will be moved to my Sina blog, so this place will again be positioned as a restful paradise for Dennis and Zoe, pure and spotless.

UPDATE: well, the blog is still a hodgepodge as of 2009.

Again, A Blocking Game

Here is a bad news to all English learners. China has just blocked access to the New York Times Web site, online edition of the prestigious UA newspaper, the second time. My mind was swiftly brought back to a few years ago, when New York Times, CNN, BBC and a slew of other online US media were unaccessible then due to China's strict censorship. These long-barred websites were allowed access during the Summer Games held in August. I'm sorrily sad to say the history has just repeated itself. Now we are again be put into an informational dark. Good bye New York Times. Maybe we will have to wait for the next Olympics in order to get a panorama of New York Times.

Bluekai

In an age of reduction and bankruptcy, it is uncommon to see a skyrocketing company. Bluekai, a previously unheard company, has secretively shot to fame these days in a seemingly doubtful business model.

The company, with only 13 staffers, doesn't sell any physical products. Its main staple is what it called 'intent data'. Bluekai collected customer intention from websites around the world and then organized, aggregated or disaggregated the messy data accordingly. After an in-house processing, they will start to match these customer intentions with marketers. It looks like that Bluekai is selling privacy data, right? Bluekai didn't deny, but added that they sold the privacy data in a friendly way. Furthermore, there is also a opt-out system at hand for consumers to tick on/off their privacy info at any time.

Bluekai is acting against other IT companies if we take a closer look at its business model. While most of the IT firms are trying to expand and aggregate, Bluekai is disaggregating himself into a very little service piece. Disaggregation is one way to survive in this tough economic time. I'm sure, before long, disaggregation will be all the rage.

Deep Throat Died, Aged 95

Today BBC ran a front page news about the dead of a larger-than-life figure -- Deep Throat.

Deep Throat, one of the most widely-known figure in Nixon-era, has died, at an age of 95. Even thought you may not know this oldie well, the name should ring a bell. He was a former FBI-member who literally orchestrated a resignation of the then president Richard Nixon.

The review on Deep Throat was mixed. Some says he was a hero who helped overthrow a corrupt government. Other criticized his berayal, calling him a traitor. Whether you are for or against him, what you cannot deny is that he have done something that put him eternally in a history book.

Little bonus knowledge point: Deep Throat was named after a popular pornographic movie of the time. I intend to post the poster of the pornographic Deep Throat here, but after thinking twice, I think the best strategy for me is to skip this part. If you do want a peep of the pornographic Deep Throat, go directly to Google and do an image search with the sure-fire keyword Deep Throat movie. =D

Eblitz is Open for Register! Hurry Up!

Eblitz, dubbed herself as an online learning center, from where you can download via torrent format a sea of ebooks and audio books, is surely something worth a big cheer! You can now easily access to hundreds of thousands of dream books that you can never reach otherwise. How can you miss out on this fantastic site? Bookmark it today to level up your knowledge through a stack of downloadable e-tome! =)

Bluekai is Growing

In an age of reduction and bankruptcy, it is uncommon to see a skyrocketing company. Bluekai, a previously unheard company, has secretively shot to fame these days in a seemingly doubtful business model.

The company, with only 13 staffers, doesn't sell any physical products. Its main staple is what it called 'intent data'. Bluekai collected customer intention from websites around the world and then organized, aggregated or disaggregated the messy data accordingly. After an in-house processing, they will start to match these customer intentions with marketers. It looks like that Bluekai is selling privacy data, right? Bluekai didn't deny, but added that they sold the privacy data in a friendly way. Furthermore, there is also a opt-out system at hand for consumers to tick on/off their privacy info at any time.

Bluekai is acting against other IT companies if we take a closer look at its business model. While most of the IT firms are trying to expand and aggregate, Bluekai is disaggregating himself into a very little service piece. Disaggregation is one way to survive in this tough economic time. I'm sure, before long, disaggregation will be all the rage.

Affiliate Venue

Look no further to seek affiliates! AffiliateSeeking is the fortune that you have been looking for. Spend some time on it and you will definitely land yourself a chance to rich!

A World for Real Buck - BlackHatWorld

BlackHatWorld is a hidden place for real bucks. A place where you can find a host of money-making theories and strategies. You can either find here a short cut to wealth or a long-tern path for prosperity.

Shoes Dodging Acrobatics

How many shoes can you dodge in a conference? Two! This seems to be a very weird Q&A. I had this question in my head after seeing a dodging acrobatics performed excellently by Bush. How responsive Bush was to a danger! Well, so now you see it is not gonna be easy to assassinate this oldie. XD

Site Point and Digital Point

I have to bookmark two more sites today, namely, Site Point and Digital Point, from where you can find a lot of useful marketing info. These two sites should be frequently surfed to keep your marketing knowledge up-to-date and to absorb fresh ideas from marketing gurus. Anyway, start hitting them today!

Should We Celebrate Christmas?

For me, there is always a point for argument. I don't really know how I was adrenalized to write this piece. There was just an inside writing rush that pushed hard, forcing me to print my thoughts onto papers.

If you think a little bit deeper before celebrating the upcoming Christmas, you would find your mind twisting in an endless abyss about why Chinese should celebrate Christmas at all. Digging into Wikipedia, we finds that Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. So are Chinese religiously bound to Jesus? Or are Chinese celebrateing the reincarnation of a virtual Jesus? Sorry to all of those Christmas celebrators, I've been wondering why some of us are so crazy about Christmas. You may cite globalization as a pro, but I deem that very weak.

So what's your opinion on this?

No Worry about Future

Different living styles would together mix the most beautiful color of life. Darling, I've been appreciating your earn-it-yourself living scheme. Yes, you shopped a lot, you bought a lot, be it commodity or luxury. But you never overdrive. Actually you had a little gear deep down your heart to control the money tap. I believe in you. My "unflamboyant" language style tells that I am a practical and realistic guy. With our conerted efforts, we will overcome whatever obstacles lies ahead on our way to felicity.

Some Chic Words

1. dis = disrespect

I was supposed to meet these guys in front of MacDonald's at noon, but nobody showed up. What happened I don't know but maybe they dissed me by going someplace else without telling me.

2. props = proper respect

I really have to give you a lot of props.

3. veg = to engage in relaxing or passive activities. Often used with out.

I'm so glad that the week is almost over! I've had too much work to do. So I'm staying home and vegging this weekend. I won't do anything not even think about my deadlines next week.

4. chill = to calm down or relax; to pass time idly;

Oh, no! Mom's going to be so mad that we broke the window, and we'll be in deep trouble. We've got to chill and think about what story we can tell her, so she won't get too angry.

We didn't do much yesterday. Tim came over to my house, and we pretty much chilled there all day. We watched TV, played a few video games, and had some snacks -- nothing special.

The Variants of Drunk

Now if you want to say someone is drunk, think twice! Here is a "drunk" list which will come in handy in your future writing.

The man was intoxicated after several rounds of drinking spree.

The boy was tipsy but continued to ask for more drinks.

He’s had a drop too much.

You don’t want to drive here on a dark night if you’re a bit tiddly.

The man was in his cups and talking very loudly.

A Get-Together with Zoe's Relatives

On a breezy day, I was on my way to an all-important get-together -- a so-called face-to-face gauge by Zoe's relatives. It seemed everything was on its right track at first. I got the time and place, and hit the road early just in case any traffic jam. We were supposed to meet at 万佳 so I ignored a mall named 万家. But when I got off board, my intuition informed me that there must have been something wrong. I tried to call up Zoe, but her phone turned me down, for unbeknown reasons. And the next thing happened was that I was stranded on a packed street with no foreseeable goal in sight.

But when the time seemed to have moved at an unbearable pace, she SMSed me! And from there, my day started to grow bright! =D

Zoe's is truly a fairy. Yup, that's why I've been falling heavily in love with her. ^3^

Upcoming Terminator Salvation

John Connor is back, but this time is not with the muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been starring Terminator in the last three sequels. Again we will be involved into a terrible secret of possible annihilation of mankind. Who will finally come out ahead? Mankind or Robot? The answer will be revealed 6 months later!

I have been a big terminator fan since 1984, when I was truly amazed, the first in my life, by the abilities of a liquid robot, which was set as an opponent of the Schwarzenegger-starred terminator. As a whole, terminator series has outperformed the later-released robotic flick Transformer in many aspects, including but not limited to the story lines and plots. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming blockbuster and I think you should never miss a marvellous chance to explore a futuristic and robotic universe that would totally beyond your wildest imagination.

By movie aficionado Dennis

Office is Nothing But a Pressure Cooker

Office is nothing but a pressure cooker. In a company meeting yesterday, my boss roared and hit the ceiling when he was presented a cluster of messy data, and went on to blame us for the losing streak. Fine, to be frank to the world, I almost collapsed these days. Overwhelming by tons of frivolous stuffs on a minutely basis and executing a six-day working schedule packed with painful tasks had prevented me from loosening up, both physically and mentally. The company top dogs who have been milking me from the first day I worked for them had finally irritated my ego. Don't treat me like a working machine. Don't increase my workload but decrease my pay. I demand fairness and justice! But, will there really be fairness and justice in work place? This question must have been translated into a big question mark on every employee's head. =(

Superman Story 2

While something big was about to happen, it make no difference to a pretty girl who has just nestled her head into a puffy pillow, and dipped into a sound sleep minutes before.

The story between a brave man and a pretty girl has just begun.

International Debate Education Association

IDEA, a place to get ideas for debate. If you are wracking your brain for a debate topic, you should go check IDEA ASAP. There you will see a complete list of debate topics filtered by theme. Next time you don't necessarily need to earn yourself a big headache if you are assigned to organize a debate. IDEA makes your life way eaiser by providing you a simple way and full access to a vast universe of neat topics.

A Rigged Vote

Today I was involved in a rigged vote for the excellent staffer in 2008. The entire voting procedure was a farce with one of our bosses rigging the final result overtly. What did it mean to sit in a packed room and being controlled to vote for a particular staffer? To me, it was outrageous and I felt I was raged throughout the voting process again and again. Stop all the bullshit! The people in managerial level need to be cleansed and purged so as to root out all the ugliness hidden everywhere in our company.

I will never again get myself involved in such a headless ballot. Never!

How Two Boarded a Bus by NOT Paying Full Price

This is real and not fictitious. Last night we did something that would be called a "deed". Me and Zoe got on board a bus by paying a mere 1.2 yuan. How could we do that? I didn't really know how but I'd like to repeat the whole event here.

First we rushed onto an uncrowded bus, I didn't beep my "electric card" upon boarding, instead I was holding 1 yuan on my hand waiting at the doorstep, appearing to be checking if Zoe had enough charges. At the same time, Zoe was scouring her handbag for money. In a few seconds out of nowhere she conjured up some coins and plunk them into the slot, while I slipped the note into the slot in a rather calm way. It's clear. We did it! What Zoe plunked into the money-box was 2 coins worth 0.2 yuan. And me, slipped into a one yuan note with a composed mind.

You see, life is magical and colourful! It's all because of you, Zoe.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Found a great site today, Online Etymology Dictionary. Through this site, you can peruse explanations of what English words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago. It's a great reference site for English learners. Well, it does require advanced English skills in order to plough through the etymology universe, but anyway I decided to mark it down here for any future reference.

Our Program is On The Way

Yes, it seems a bit in a hurry but our program is really shaping itself up. Well, admittedly, if I take this English learning program as part of my job, I will soon be exhausted and dead. So I've been telling myself at the very beginning to never consider this a job or the like, simply make it one of my hobbies. Don't dream of turning a shabby and underinvested blog into a cash cow. Be realistic and down-to-earth by creating the blogsphere merely to spread the knowledge of English and fun. That's all!

Thank you Zoe, you have been so supportive! I love you!