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??
Monday, May 26, 2008
Free Dreams
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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!
Friday, May 9, 2008
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. Technorati Tags:facebook, honesty box, social capital
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.
Monday, May 5, 2008
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. Technorati Tags:peter o'toole, lawrence of arabia, t.e. lawrence, venus
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)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
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
Friday, May 2, 2008
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. Technorati Tags:yojimbo, akira kurosawa
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.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
First Lady as a Part-time Job
Technorati Tags:chow mei-ching, feminism, hillary, clinton, female politician, taiwan, asia, first lady, ma ying-jeou
An unprecedented decision was made and Chow Mei-ching carries it out as if it is the most natural thing to do. She went back to her work as the head of legal department, Mega International Commercial Bank, after her husband Ma Ying-jeou was elected as the president of Taiwan in March 2008.
A typical wife of a Taiwanese politician is a helper to attract women's vote, a celebrity to generate publicity in soft news, a back-up if the guy gets jailed and fails to run the campaign, a hit man when the guy wants to attack his political enemy without dirtying his own hands, and Mother Teresa when the guy is troubled by extra-marital affairs. What's special about Chow Mei-ching is that she does none of the above.
Ma Ying-jeou has been in politics for all his life and has been the media darling since the early 90s, but Chow Mei-ching was absent in the media coverage until 2002. She turned down all the interviews, and the comments she made about Ma was hardly favorable: "undoubtedly he works hard; but he also has good looks and good luck and that helps a lot." "It seems that every woman in Taiwan idolizes Ma but he manages to marry someone who doesn't."
In the presidential campaign Chow couldn't avoid the media as much as she used to. In the final days of the campaign she stumped for Ma and kept low-profile: she said "thank you" to whatever questions the journalists raised. Yet she was portrayed by most media as sincere and modest for the fact that she shook hands with Ma's supporters and did 90-degree bow.
After Ma was elected as mayor of Taipei, Chow Mei-ching spent time finding a parking space every morning as a citizen, although as a spouse she has the right to get a parking permit. Now Ma is the president-elect and Chow chooses to live her life as a professional woman. Some people express their concern about the conflict of interest Chow might encounter, but Chow argues that she provides legal advise to the bank and there is no benefit involved.
According to the poll of Apple Daily, the newspaper with the second biggest readership in Taiwan, Chow's choice to continue her career is supported by 55.58% of the respondents, and the survey conducted by the United Daily confirms this trend with the supporting rate of 48%. It shows that women and the youngsters demonstrate stronger support. Even among those who voted against Ma, it is the majority opinion that Chow can keep her job if she wants.
Chow seals her marriage in the private arena and acts as if she doesn't remember having a husband with political power. She rejects to share what her husband has. By doing that, she makes a powerful statement that she is an individual who can not be reduced and belittled to a "wife", someone defined by her marital status. When she requests the public not to address her as "first lady" or "Madam Ma", it is an independent woman talking.
What Chow doesn't remember is what Hillary Clinton couldn't forget when she was first lady. Clinton used that opportunity to exercise the influence on policies despite the fact that it goes against the democratic principle of accountability. If the health care policy works, can we promote Hillary Clinton? When it failed, could we demote her? As first lady her influence on politics derived mainly and solely from her husband and that makes her the appendage, the second sex.
Hillary Clinton proves her capability and competence by running and winning the campaign as a senator. Her ambition in politics was interpreted as unconventional or even subversive, but as far as I am concerned, her achievement is shadowed by the compromises she made and the shortcut she took as first lady. A first lady later runs for presidency is no legend; a woman taking first lady as a part-time job, is the legend.
Relevant articles:
All the President's women
Chow Mei-ching: the career-minded first lady
Taiwan's prospective first lady sets an example
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