Free Dreams

Microsoft provides students free software to download at Microsoft DreamSpark. You can download it after the student status is verified. But who can tell me what's the use of these softwares??

Read More......

The Beans

煮豆燃豆萁
豆在釜中泣
本是同根生
相煎何太急

Cook/bean/burn/bean/stalk (Cook the beans by burning the stalks)
Bean/in/pot/inside/cry (The beans cry in the pot)
originally/is/same/root/grow (We grow from the same root)
each other/fry/why/too/rush (Why fry me in such eagerness?)

This poet, 曹植, was known to be talented from an early age. His older brother, an Emperor, was jealous of the poet and feared that someday the poet would take over his political power. The Emperor ordered the poet to compose a poem within making seven pace, otherwise the poet would have to die. Here it comes "the poem of seven pace".

The poem is a famous quote in Chinese although the original one is slightly different. I saw it in the movie Beijing Rocks （北京樂與路, 2001）. The movie SUCKS. Yike!

Read More......

Honesty Box

Facebook has an application called "Honesty Box". It allows people to send and receive anonymous messages. A lot of activities in cyberspace can be anonymous but the Honesty Box in Facebook is special in the sense that you are sure the message comes from someone you know.

Plenty of concerns are raised regarding cyberspace and one of them is recklessness. If I am not held responsible, will I remain decent? According to the New York Times, Honesty Box is used to spread hatred as a form of bullying, and to express affection when you have a crush on someone but are not ready to tell. People act differently in cyberspace and that leads to the argument that virtual communities are not real, or not real enough to be taken seriously. I confirm the observation of the differences between online and offline communication but I just don't know which is "more real": a diplomatically-managed social relation, or a rough, harsh, unacceptable but heart-felt expression?

An honesty box in a parking lot is an economic arrangement to collect small fees, but the Honesty Box in Facebook is a Pandora's box in which a variety of emotions are sealed. Allegedly "hope" is in it too.

Technorati Tags:facebook, honesty box, social capital

Read More......

His Prime Time

After Lawrence of Arabia, I just couldn't do anything properly. I was taken away to another place, another time. I started it with a simple dinner when it was bright and pleasant, an ordinary summer evening in Europe where the night is not born until nine. When I finished the movie, it was dark, and the sunlight was a hint of the past, a rumor that will never happen.

I've watched Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year, The Lion in Winter, and Venus; it is Venus (2006) that pushes me to watch Lawrence of Arabia. In Venus he fell off a stool for trying to peep at a girl's body and O'Toole manages to fall so convincingly. The old day's glory isn't worth a dime and he has long given up his pride.

The depth of Peter O'Toole's performance matches the complexity of of the life of T.E. Lawrence. In the first half of the film, he was considered brave but he couldn't stop trembling when talking about the unavoidable death. In the second half he burst into hysterical laughter when he saw the living hell of Turkish survivors in an intentional overkilling, a result of his own doing.

Lawrence died young but O'Toole lives old. Due to heavy drinking he looks older than he actually is. It's hard not to see the pride and shame coexist in those eyes, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not so peacefully. The war didn't end, nor does it confine to Arabia.

"道其盛時，以悲其衰。" ——歐陽修（1007-1072）
"tell/his/prime/time,to/feel for/his/withering" --O-Yang Hso(1007-1072)

Technorati Tags:peter o'toole, lawrence of arabia, t.e. lawrence, venus

Read More......

Free AVG 8.0

AVG has upgraded the anti-virus software to 8.0 and it's EUR 34.49, but they also kindly provide a free download on a less-easy-to-find page. Click on the link BELOW THE BUTTON will give you faster speed because you download it directly from AVG server.

Technorati Tags:avg, anti-virus, free download, free software

Read More......

Copycat

I watched Yojimbo by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa to know that A Fistful of Dollars was nothing but a copycat, including the storyline, the characters and structure. It's a poor imitation: the strength was lost, the tension was watered down, and the deep understanding of Zen is abolished. Only the beauty of Clint Eastwood is, though, original.

When writing this, again, I can't get rid of the image of a cat in "copycat". In Chinese expression, a copycat is a dog-- "畫虎不成反類犬"-- intending to copy a tiger but it turns out to resemble a dog.

I do remember a dog in Yojimbo. After the concise but powerful opening, the samurai reached the outskirt of the town. The villagers offered him water but slashed their anger about the chaotic situation on the samurai: "Dogs come along for they smell blood!" When the samurai entered the town, an innocent-looking white dog passed by with a human hand in his mouth. Humor like this is what the copycat A Fistful of Dollars fails to copy.

Technorati Tags:yojimbo, akira kurosawa

Read More......