Mona Lisa by Chalks

Though street artist is common in western countries, it's really rare to see this kind of thing in China, as the Chinese government has long been taken a strong dislike for ground doodling. (well, street artist poses a tough job for city cleaner and makes the street a complete mess, our top-dog denounces) They are a very cood bunch in fact. We should respect this kind of art and set up a place freely available to them. China's Got Talent!

Mona Lisa drawn on ground by colorful chalks. Click here to see the stunt. (Summary of the video: a Chinese street artist is showing off his drawing skills by chalking Mona Lisa on the ground.)

International Workers' Day

It's May Day today, but for those who don't know, May Day is NOT a national holiday in United States.

Here is an excerpt from Wiki, better read it through to get a better understand of Labor Day in US.

The United States has its own Labor Day holiday, celebrated on the first Monday in September instead of on May Day. The U.S. version of Labor Day was a creation of the Knights of Labor, and was adopted officially in 1887 in an effort to disassociate labor activism from the radical left. Subsequent efforts to officially switch Labor Day to the international date of May 1 have failed. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 both as Loyalty Day and as Law Day.

Baidu's May Day logo
Google has no specially-designed logo dedicated to May 1.

Swine Flu is Here

After rounds of unmerciful baptism of avian flu, we have got something new here -- swine flu. Swine flu is technically more virulent than its avian congener as it would transmit from human to human via your everyday coughing and spitting. The good news amid nowaday combined glooms - economic meltdown and swine influenza - is that we are now better prepared and equiped to deal with these threats, be it pathologically or economically.

Blizzard Theme Park Design

Very creative Blizzard theme park design! I sincerely hope Blizzard would consider establishing an entertainment park in Guangzhou, after all, I like Starcraft and Diable way more than Mickey Mouse.

Shoddy Lydia

Well, it's hard to get a job in today's over-competitive labor market. So even sacrificing one's look is considered acceptable for a job. A man transfigured himself to look like Lydia in order to get himself a job as a shoddy late celebrity, a very very risky move indeed.

I'm speechless when reading this news. What I want to tell the would-be-graduate is, it's a wild jungle out there, prepare yourself. And some of y0u might have to deform your externals, for a job.

Sa Dingding

Sa Dingding, a female singer who garnered Radio 3 Awards for World Music in Asia/Pacific session, is remarkable in any way. Her voice is penetrating and her appearance literally resembles a fairy. Ok, let's cut the blah blah blah and get down to her first album. (well, you might need a translator on standby)

How Big is One Trillion?

With the ending of G20, some deals had been reached by the economic powers. The word trillion appeared recently in many news coverage so let's take a look at the picture below to get a better understanding of what a trillion really is.

My Journalism Writing Style

I questioned my own writing style today during my regular reading of a newspaper columnist. With a start, I realized that my tendency to use big words was formed subconsciously by what I read and followed. My favorite reading was newspaper and magazine, so I find my writing style is somehow contiguous to journalism. Looking back, my every single writing resembled a news item in effect.

Well, when one is introspecting his/her own writing style, it's a harbinger for an upcoming growth. I'll start to mix some other styles into my own works, but now, please call me journalist.

Earth Hour

Can you image the world without lights? That would be a dark world. =)

Brooks' law

Brooks' Law stated adding manpower to a late software project makes it later, and the bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.

Explanations

One reason for the seeming contradiction is that software projects are complex engineering endeavors, and new workers on the project must first become educated in the work that has preceded them; this education requires diverting the resources already working on the project, temporarily diminishing their productivity while the new workers are not yet contributing meaningfully. Each new worker typically must "ramp up" in this way with not only one, but multiple engineers who must educate the new worker in their area of expertise in the code base, day by day.

Another significant reason is the communication overheads increase as the number of people increase. The number of different communication channels goes up as the square of the number of people; double the number of people and you get four times as many different conversations. Everyone working on the same thing needs to keep in sync, so as you add more and more people, they spend more and more time trying to find out and keep up with what everyone else is doing.

Something to That Effect

Let's start this morning by learning a new phrase -- Something to that effect, or, words to that effect. This phrase simply means something like that just mentioned.

Look at these easily-understood example:

She said she wouldn't be available until after three, or something to that effect.

I was told to keep out of the house -- or words to that effect.

Powers That Be

"Powers that be" refers to the people who are in authority.

Take a look at the following examples:

The powers that be have decided to send back the immigrants.

I have applied for a license, and the powers that be are considering my application.

Bodice Ripper

This word baffled me today during my regular reading over internet. A quick look into the dic fed me the answer: bodice ripper is a work of popular fiction characterized by scenes of unrestrained romantic passion, 煽情小说 in Chinese.

Another category that I want to mention is scapist literature, indulging in or characterized by escapism.

Got a Notebook

Well, a new BENQ notebook is sitting on my desk now. Still trying to adapt to this newly-gained gadget. I'm kinda all thunbs now. The first thing I need to overcome is try not to hit the wrong key as the notebook keyboard is vastly different from the desktop keyboard.

Anyway, I'm lovin' it. Thanks Zoe!

Undo Send

Oops, hitting the "Send" button too soon? Give yourself a grace period of a few seconds to cancel sending, then edit your message before sending again.

This is a new feature available in Gmail Labs, a small leap forward, so to speak. I found it functioning very well based on some preliminary tests. Now we are granted the power to virtually "eat words" by undoing rash messages. Nice move!

My Adsense Account Died

Don't tell me our world is peaceful! It's definitely not! My adsense account died today for some stupid reason. I shot at a Google customer representative, Ruthu the poor guy, with some fiery language, but to no avail. They refused to take any action to reduce my losses. My dollar has all disappeared into thin air in just a single day, possibly done by a few mouse clicks in the back-end.

Hails to Google. You are the winner!

Making Real Money in Unreal Places

Play Money, a documentary claims to reveal the darkest side of virtual economy, economy that exists in online game only. I will surely pay close attention to this nameless filming project, to see what they could possibly unearth from the underground industry. Hope I will see some fresh insight on this site soon, though there is nothing much on it right now. =)

Pump Priming

Now in the midst of an economic crisis, a word is heard more and more.

Here is an excerpt of a piece of news online:

"But optimists saw fresh hope in the more forward-looking investment data that China might pull out of its swoon faster than other major economies thanks to the government's pump priming and galloping credit growth."

Pump priming = Government action taken to stimulate the economy, as spending money in the commercial sector, cutting taxes, or reducing interest rates.

Adsense Generator

A very funny site that claims to generate proof of making huge money through Google Adsense. A way to fulfill your vanity during this tough time. Well, you love virtual money and imaginative fame, don't you? =D

Click to enlarge

Zoe's Interview

Zoe SMSed me today during her first interview in a year. She questioned me a barrage of English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English translations.

Here is my trouble-shooting list:

放映机 = projector

遥控 = remove control

待机状态 = idle state

指示灯交替变色 = indicator light alternating between colors

on-board = 车载的

datapath = 数据通道

graphics card = 显卡

upscale = 高级的

portion = 部份

utilize = 利用