Topic of the day: ESPN360

Just read an article about ESPN charging ISPs a fee so that their customers could watch videos on ESPN360. How comes it is news? I have been watching ESPN360 for more than one year (for Canadian Football and Major League Lacrosse. Yeah, I know I'm a sports junkie) I could understand that people would be surprised if they are not sports fan though. I am also not surprised that the same people would be pissed because the ISP must have recouped part of the cost from them, who are not even using that service! As one of the comments say, content providers such as ESPN obviously like such deals. ISPs makes such deals to differentiate from their competitors. (Just like certain channels are exclusives to a certain satellite/cable TV provider) The only loser seems to be customers. In the past, I always tell people that if they don't like the way they are charged by all those satellite/cable TV providers, stop watching and terminate the service, but it is much harder for internet access because it is not just for entertainment. Can you imagine not having internet access at home?

BTW, one of the comments also mentioned an interesting connection: ESPN is owned by Disney and the largest shareholder of Disney is ...... (drum roll please) Steve Jobs! I thought the man doesn't do evil (wait, that's Google.)

Album of the day: Uroboros

For a Japanese band to make it big in the heavy metal scene in USA, it is certainly quite an achievement (probably as hard as an European became a successful sumo wrestler in Japan!) And the band Dir En Grey did it. I knew about this band because MTV2's headbanger's ball showed their video "Saku." It was voted the #1 video of the year on that show in 2006! Fast forward 3 years (and 2 albums later), I saw another video from their latest album Uroboros, on headbanger's ball again. And I listened to the whole album on Rhapsody and I must say I was impressed. Their music is not the straight forward loud and rock type. Even though I don't understand a word of their lyrics, the vocal successfully conveyed a very mysterious and dark mood. It's much more interesting than either the visual rock which used to rule in Japan or the heavy metal popular here.

BTW, just for curiosity, I checked out two other Japanese metal bands from the 80s on Wikipedia: Seikima-II and Loudness, the latter being the first Japanese heavy metal band that signed with an American label. So glad to hear that both are still active after 20+ years!

Tech of the day: $10 laptop from India?

When my dad asked me about a piece of technology, you know it has really generated a lot of interest, not just from the circle of tech geeks or gadget freaks, but from the general public. He was very amazed by the news about India will be releasing a $10 laptop (perhaps he recalled spending ~$150 on my first computer, a Apple II+ clone)

Oh well, if it's too good to be true...... (you know the rest)

Details from The Hindu:
1) the device will cost $20-$30.
2) the device is not a laptop. It needs to be connected to an input and a output device to be useful (i.e., more like a desktop)
3) the device could be used for accessing the web (e.g. download e-content by e-learner)

And according to The Guardian, the device has 2Gb storage and wireless networking capability.

With such details, I guess the general public won't be excited anymore. Still, I'm interested to see a working demo of it.

Star of the day: David Beckham

I guess it is more likely than not that Beckham will leave LA for Milan, judging by stories like these. As a fan of Beckham (actually, a fan of all current and former Man U players!), I am torn. On one hand he is doing so well in Milan (and in Europe in general) That level of playing is definitely more beneficial to his career. On the other hand I wish he would stay in the States, to fulfill the expectation of him lifting MLS to a higher level.

In any case, I will respect his decision and wish him well wherever he plays!

Album of the day: Traced in Air

Last year Guns 'N Roses (or I should say Axl Rose) released his first album in 15 years . Around the same time, another metal band also released its first album in 15 years. I am talking about Cynic here. Cynic certainly is much less well-known then GnR but in their genre, progressive death metal, they are very highly regarded (if not more than GnR in its respective genre.) Cynic's Focus, released in 1993, was a ground-breaking album, fusing jazz and elements from other genre into death metal. Half of the band played on Death before, which lend the band a lot of credibility for sure. I am glad to see them back together and releasing new material. Cynic is currently on tour with Meshuggah now. Coming to SF tomorrow but the show is sold-out already :(

Game of the day: Batoo

This post is not about that game but about a new board game which is a variant of my favourite game: Go.

The creator hopes to draw more young players by making the game more "computer game"-like with graphics and additional scoring rules, inspired by the popular game Starcraft. See screenshots and description of rules here.

I will definitely give it a try when it gets easier to access (without requiring registration)

每週冷飯﹕冬

摘自00年2月1號

本來以為今個冬季的主題曲會是“這個冬天不太冷”﹐原來卻是遲來的冬天﹗上個月我還在為沒有白色聖誕而失望﹐怎知前幾天一早出門竟然遍地積雪﹐天氣真像女人心情一樣難以捉摸﹗

事實上我對雪的感情也是又愛又恨﹕前幾天我在紐約中央公園玩雪﹐霎時間有一種重拾童真的感覺﹐心情頓然開朗起來﹔但上班下班時走過濕滑的積雪﹐又感到懊惱不已。唉﹗這個世界真是沒有絕對美好的事物。

其實想深一層﹐如果沒有肅殺的冬天﹐又怎顯出春天的可愛﹖相信很多人像我一樣抱怨嚴冬減少了很多出去“蒲”的機會﹐不過從另一個角度看﹐它也令大家有更多時間留在家中和家人一起﹐而且令人更珍惜和欣賞你的關心。朋友﹐不要錯過這樣的機會啊﹗

筆者希望在此向各位讀者好友及家人傳送一點暖意﹐祝福各位被病魔打擾的朋友早日康復﹐龍馬精神地迎接龍年﹐在新一年萬事勝意﹗

其實每年冬天都是生病的旺季﹐不過一年後又忘得一乾二淨﹐只覺今年特別慘﹗還有﹐我對本文完全沒有印象﹐迎接龍年似乎不覺特別興奮﹖不過從描述的情節看﹐寫的應是本人。

Book of the day: The Shock Doctrine - The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Who could have thought of the connections between disasters (natural or man-made), dictatorships and free-market economy? I certainly would not have seen it if not for this book, written by Naomi Klein.

The first example occurred in New Orleans, after Katrina hit. Free-market economist seized the opportunity to rush in and replace public schools by private ones. Later in the book she has also given examples in Argentina, China and most recently, Iraq. And all of them are connected to the highly regarded, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman.

This book is certainly an eye-opener. Of course, one should always read the other sides to every story. Reviewers at Amazon pointed out that Friedman was actually opposed to the Iraq war.

Topic of the day: do Prop 8 contributors have the right to hide?

Will the people understand that giving money to support unfair legislations (e.g., Prop 8, gay marriage ban) cannot have it all? Simply because you are afraid of boycott of your business doesn't mean you should sacrifice people's right to full disclosure and transparency. If you are so afraid of boycott, my advice: next time think before you give your money. Just so you know, you could "vote" for it and no one would know about your vote.

BTW, Prop 8 proponents have also threaten to boycott businesses that did not donate to their campaign. It is another example of "if I do it, it is right. If you do it, it is wrong."

The irony is: the people who demand for extra right (right to hide their political contribution) are the same people who take away right from others.

Music of the day: Sonatas for Guitar by Bach

This is a free download offered by the local classical station KDFC. Just visit their website, scroll down and you will find the link (require signup and iTunes installed)

This is originally written for violin (Sonata No.1 in G minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto) and arranged by Nicholas Goluses (also the performer) If you want to play it yourself, the tab could be found here.

BTW, KDFC refers this as MP3 but it's actually in AAC format (just like everything else offered on iTunes) I guess the term MP3 has lost its original meaning!

Topic of the day: New York Times selling its stake in baseball

If you know anything about American sports, you would know NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox are the biggest rivalry. The irony is: the newspaper NY Times actually owns part of Red Sox (not Yankees!) I wonder if they have to disclose this whenever they write about Red Sox. Even more ironic is that Red Sox should actually be a better investment than the newspaper business (lost $57.8 million in 2008 because of the decline of ad revenue)

I wonder if New York Times will be joining the following publications by stopping the print version and publishing online only:
- AsianWeek
- Dr. Dobb's Journal
- PC Magazine

Maybe it's just a question of "when?"

Tech of the day: cell phone camera beep sound

The approval rating of our congress reached record low (9%) last July. If you are wondering why, take a look at New York Republican Congressman Peter King, who introduced a bill to mandate all cell phone must make a loud sound when its camera is being used for taking picture. Mr. King: what's your priority?

Topic of the day: class notes seized and destroyed

An Economics teacher (presumably in a US high school) required all students in the class to turn in their notes at the end of the semester for him (or her) to destroy so that future students of the same class cannot copy such notes.

Isn't this strange? Why should he (or she) prevent the students from referring to their notes in the future? The teacher should not prevent future students from being lazy by taking away from current students! This is just wrong. Period.

BTW, it is interesting to look at the issue from the legal standpoint. Most legal opinions on the thread pointed out that the students have right to their notes so the teacher should not be allowed to take them away.

Topic of the day: Faking for the cameras

From the February issue of the Gramophone magazine, there is an interesting article about how actors and actresses play the role of musicians in movies. We have all seen many poor performances. On the other hand, some were quite convincing. The difference is of course related to how much efforts were put into preparations.

Some actors are pretty good musicians, like Jamie Foxx, who has no problem playing the actual piano parts and sang in the Ray Charles movie (he studied classical music in college!) It's different when he prepares for the role of a cellist in the upcoming movie, "The Soloist." Even though the soundtrack will be played by another cellist, he learned how to play cello, a new instrument for him, just so he would look like a real cellist in the movie, down to the small detail like how a cello is being held.

And you could imagine how hard it would be for a non-musician, like Jessica Alba, to play a blind violinist in the movie "The Eye." She has also put in a lot of effort learning the instrument, starting with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

So, next time when we think Hollywood actresses are all about pretty faces, think again. Successful ones like Alba worked very hard at it.

BTW, this story also reminds me of my favorite music themed movie, "The Fabulous Baker Boys", starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff and Beau Bridges. The Bridges are not pianists in real life but their performances were quite convincing. Pfeiffer sang the actual parts in the soundtrack and I enjoyed her singing very much. (Her role was originally written for Madonna!)

每週冷飯:十年前的定位問題

前言
熟悉筆者的朋友可能都知道本blog的前身是99年至04年出版的零零誌，當年筆者結束零零誌，想省掉每年要交的註冊費，於是連域名00zine.com 也放棄了，之後一直後悔！等了四年才把00zine.com買回來重頭開始過。目前的形式是每日一篇，以英文為主（在公司蛇王寫blog寫英文沒有那麼礙眼），盡可能也會寫一點中文（長期停寫恐怕會退化），或重溫一下當年的舊作（當今中外雜誌也頗為流行“開倉”炒冷飯）

以下摘自原刊登於99年11月15日（第二期）的開場白，提到“互聯網的發展令人人只要有熱誠都可以參與［發表］個人化的訊息”，預視了三年後開始大行其道的blog，筆者也算有點遠見吧 :P

我們的“口號”是探討新世紀新人類新生活感受享受以至心理命理﹐我們認為這個新世紀的特色是多元化、全球化、互動化以及網絡化﹐互聯網的發展令活在這個新世紀的新人類一方面能夠輕易吸收各方面的新資訊﹐另一方面亦有機會和廣大群眾分享個人的認知和感受﹐接觸大眾已不再是大商業傳媒機構的專利﹐也就是說資訊已不再受他們操縱﹐人人只要有熱誠都可以參與提高全“地球村”生活以至知識水平的過程﹐這個新資訊網絡可以容納大眾化的內容﹐更可以容納小眾和個人化 (personalized)的訊息﹐這也是我們出版本刊的目標。本刊的作者們都是生活在這個新世紀的新人類﹐我們在每篇文章真誠地表達個人對該話題的認知和感受﹔原創性、真實性和個人化是本刊的“個性”(personality)﹐我想我們能為大家帶來一點新鮮的、與其他主流刊物/網站不同的東西。

Star of the day: Martin Havlat

You might have heard of the expressions "golden goal!" or "million dollar shot!" from sports but Chicago Blackhawks winger Martin Havlat literally made a million dollar shot, not for himself but for a fan. This is what happened: Illinois Lottery has offer a new promotion: a fan at Blackhawks' home game will be picked randomly and if the Blackhawks scored at exactly the 10-minute mark of the second period then that fan would win $1 million. And it happened three days into the promotion!

This seems to be unlikely to happen. Oh well, not that unlikely according to Greg Esterhai of US Hole In One, a company that specialize in insuring this type of contests. He estimated the odd is about 1-in-1000 for a game, and 1-in-25 over the whole season!

And the math is not that complicated: each game lasts 60 minutes if it ends in regulation. Add 5 minutes for OT, which occurs roughly every 5th game or so. So an average game has 61 x 60 seconds = 3660. Blackhawks score on average ~3.3 goals per game. So the probability that a goal is scored in any second is about 3.3/3660 = 0.0009. Pretty close to Ms. Esterhai's estimate.

BTW, what a coincidence that I wrote about lottery two times in a week!

Topic of the day: Al Gore Ice Sculpture

Call me a cynic but I have always been skeptical about "global warming." There is not enough data points to support a clear upward trend. I am not against recycling or endorse pollutions. I just don't like to see people using "global warming" to gain political ground.

I wish I'm as creative as this guy who made a statement. Will Al Gore accept the invitation to see the ice sculpture of himself?

Topic of the day: Health Care San Francisco Surcharge

I had lunch at Boulevard in San Francisco the other day and this is the first time I notice a restaurant charging customers something call "Health Care San Francisco Surcharge" (Boulevard charges 4%) I googled it immediately and found that such practice begun early last year, after the city required employers with more than 50 employees provide health care for all staff members working more than 10 hours a week.

Obviously I'm going to be charged more than expected. So the question is: is it fair? That's no easy answer. Consider:
1) it is a good thing that people are getting health care insurance. No matter how selfish I am, I'd rather be in a city with more healthy people than sick ones.
2) if restaurants in SF didn't have to pay for that in the past, they will pass the additional cost on to their customers, just like what any business would do.
3) my employer provides me health care too but I don't think they put a surcharge on their customer.

(See more discussions at Yelp)

So it comes down to:
(a) restaurants raise food price to cover the cost
or
(b) restaurants charge it separately

Some might appreciate restaurants being "transparent" by doing (b) but I am afraid a side effect is that people will just tip less figuring there's 4% going to those waiters anyway.

Topic of the day: innumeracy

I just learned this word today from an old news: Some time in 2007 a new lottery game was introduced in UK. It was basically a scratch card type of game where you compare the number you scratched with the printed number. The theme is "Cool Cash" and the numbers are temperatures, usually subzero. It was withdrawn because so many players were confused about the result because they were not able to compare negative numbers! One player commented that she thought -6 is lower than -8.

That's a classic example of innumeracy.

Book of the day: Family of Secrets

Here is the subtitle: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America.

This is a thick book (500+ pages) and I only skimmed through it at the bookstore but it was an interesting read: the author didn't jump into any conclusion. Instead, he just revealed related facts that tied the two former presidents to various important events in the history of America. Readers should be able to decide what roles the Bush family played in those events. What amazed me the most is this is the first book I see that gets ALL 5 star reviews (10 of them) at Amazon (at the time I read the reviews). After all, it is by no mean an obscure book (ranked #506 yesterday) I wonder why no one came to their defense by writing a 2 or 1 star review discrediting the book. Not a single one!