Happy New Year 2008

Yeah...Happy New Year Folks!
As a way of celebrating the new year instead of the usual countdown, we decide to go to the zoo.
Thanks to Val who got the complimentary pass from her company, yz and I are able to go today.hahaha...
Here are some of the photos taken today.


Buaya @ the entrance


A little Fountain beautifully built into the scenery


White Tiger, literally Snow White. There are 3 of them by the way.
Here are their names. They have all been adopted.



Flamingo


Hamadryas Baboons - it is the whole family. U know the chinese saying - lao gao ang ka cheng right?


Warthog - Geez they do look like wild boars isnt it? Do you know that it is being hunted for the horns to substitute the elephant tusks?


Australian Outback

Geez...snakes...we hated it.. so as Val will say....NEXT.......


Emu - the cousin to the Ostrich


One lazy kangaroo which fell asleep while sunbathing. Geez.... It is a male some more. Sort of reflects the male patriarchal society. Male just dun have to do anything, just eat and sleep.


A female kangaroo - Dun ask me how i id them coz if u do not know..please go and look at the pictures real carefully. Still cannot see, please change specs.




A must have picture with the kangaroo.





Polar Bear - Inuka


Well, YZ said die die must have one shot with him. haha..



Val's version. Sorry ladies,I can only get the u up close and personal with the bear by placing him on top of ur heads. Oops, hope u dun mind.





Deers.


Rhinos - With crows.
Do u know that the crows feed on the worms found on the rhino's body? Rhino will not chase the crow away and in this case, both benefit as the rhino gets clean up and the crows get fed. Good eh...ecology.


Zebras feeding..


The highest single decker - Giraffe.


Cheetah - Do u know the difference between cheetah and jaguar? Note the spots.


Jaguar - Officially adopted by Jaguar the carmaker. Cheezy right?

The Splash Safari - Animal Show.

We came a little late for the show. So we had to stand for the rest of like 45mins with people picking and poking at us. Luckily we chomp a very good position which would not get us wet. But some parent just like my shoulder too much. Does it look comfortable and sturdy to u that u can not hold on to ur kid and just let her lean on me?? Geez..How heavy and uncomfortable it is or not?

Tips: If you are going to visit the Singapore Zoo and want to see the show, please go 45mins ahead of the show time to chop a nice vantage point. otherwise u will end up like us.



Baby Sea Cow with the mum in front. Cute isnt it?



Penguins - love them.



Notice how they swim


Couldnt resist them taking shots in turns




After the show, we found that we miss out the seals. Here we are with shots of its sculptures





Garden with the view.

Nice view and more pictures.














Horse Carriage - Romantic huh! Comes with a price of 20bucks per trip.



A show of all the orang utan family.


Mercats - Correct me if i am wrong. But they sure hell are fierce when they are fighting for meat.


Giant Tortoises - feeding


Sun Bear aka Honey Bear. You know Pooh Bear right?


Again, bear caught ladies attention. Haha...


Chimpanzees. They are the noisy lot. Geez...Make so much noise and bang on the enclosure gates..aiyo.Gave us a huge scare

Hmm....where is the feeding time?


That Aristotle doesnt have the sauve look that i have now. I am the real philospher.


Grandpa, I am hungry, i need food.



The bus 926 is super slow to wait ah. We waited 35mins and the bus ride is like 15mins?



But on the whole zoo is definitely cleaner No more mozzies. They have the tiki lamps with citronella.

haha....cool...



Why not visit old place again?

Thief...beware of laser beam

U.S. Eyes 'Pain Beam' for Home Security, Law Enforcement
By David Hambling 12.10.07 2:00 PM


Sandia non-lethal weaponry researchers Willy Morse and James Pacheco test the small-size Active Denial System in the field. Photo: Randy Montoya
Burglars break into an apartment, hoping to pick up some expensive electronics or jewelry. But they're out again, empty-handed, within seconds, howling with pain and surprise. They've been driven back by waves of intolerable heat: Entering the apartment is like stepping into a furnace. It's the Active Denial System, or ADS, at work, the ultimate in home protection ... among other uses.
Also known as the "pain beam," ADS is a revolutionary non-lethal weapon that uses microwaves to cause burning pain without injury. The 95-GHz waves only penetrate a fraction of an inch, heating the outer surface of the target's skin. According to the Air Force, nobody can tolerate the beam for more than five seconds, and improvised protection such as wrapping yourself in wet towels or tin foil is useless.
There have been repeated calls for ADS to be deployed in Iraq, but the military is bogged down in reviews of the technology. However, now that ADS exists, the pain beam's manufacturer is exploring domestic U.S. uses, like industrial- and home-security systems. The Department of Energy is looking at employing the technology to protect America's nuclear stockpile. Meanwhile, some U.S. law enforcement officials are eager to get their hands on the pain weapon, and the Department of Justice is funding a multimillion-dollar research project to give it to them.
"We seem to have no qualms about dropping bombs on people, but are afraid of being embarrassed if we accidentally hurt someone while trying to save their lives," says Charles "Sid" Heal, a commander at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department "Those restrictions do not apply to the Department of Justice and we are zealously looking for ways of resolving confrontations without having to kill or seriously hurt our adversary."
A former Marine, Heal has tested Active Denial and believes it could be invaluable in situations like jail riots, where the searing pain could cow rebellious prisoners. His biggest problems are the system's size and price tag; it's currently mounted on a Hummer and costs millions of dollars, putting it far beyond the reach of police departments.
That's where the U.S. Justice Department comes in. The National Institute of Justice, the department's R&D branch, believes police need a cheaper, lightweight Active Denial system with shorter range. NIJ tested a prototype of such a system earlier this year, but the results of testing have not yet been revealed. A working device is expected to be delivered towards the end of 2008.
"NIJ is working with the developer of the ADS system, Raytheon, to modify its underlying technology for law enforcement and corrections application in a man-portable configuration with a desired range of a hundred feet," says Department of Justice spokeswoman Sheila Jerusalem.
Mike Booen, Raytheon's vice president of directed energy weapons, says the handheld version could progress rapidly if the demand is there. So far funding has only amounted to $2.5 million (compared to $100 million on the military version), and more money would speed the process of getting it into the field. Such a device might be a separate unit or might be mounted under a rifle.
Booen says the smaller system may fire short pulses rather than a continuous beam due to power limitations. Beam diameter will be much smaller than the Hummer-mounted version -- just a few inches, instead of six feet. But in tests, even one square inch of exposure produced the "repel effect," forcing the subject to get out of the way as quickly as possible.
A handheld ADS would deliver an intermediate level of force, between verbal commands and more drastic means such as pepper spray or Tasers. But some have concerns that it could be used to punish or torture suspects rather than control them. Pepper spray and Tasers have caused plenty of debate, and any police use of "pain compliance" methods invites controversy. A device that causes intense pain but leaves no physical or chemical traces could easily be abused.

cyber threats

Here Comes the Cyber Cold War, spies declare eagerly
By Bruce Sterling December 11, 2007 4:18:17 AM
(((Or the "Cold CyberWar," as terminology differs.)))
Subject: SANS NewsBites Vol. 9 Num. 95 (((Gotta love these guys, they're my favorites)))
Date: December 4, 2007 8:54:40 PM GMT+01:00
"The first story in this issue provides very strong evidence that many more organizations are direct targets of nation-state cyber attacks aimed at economic espionage: law firms, smaller businesses and more as well as the big banks and industrial companies. The TimesOnline story provides excellent coverage of the letter sent to 300 CEOs by the head of MI5 (the spymaster known as "M" to James Bond fans.)
"And a similar wake-up call in the US: All across Washington DC, senior government and contractor officials are reacting with shock to the revelation that their systems have been deeply penetrated and taken over by unauthorized users who are stealing enormous amounts of sensitive data. Most of the penetrations were done through spear phishing emails with infected attachments or with urls that took victims to web sites where their systems were infected.
(((That doesn't sound very "Chinese" to me. Sounds very RBN "Russian Business Network," an outlook who, it is claimed, recently rel-located their services to Chinese machines. They're the blackest of black globalizers, and if anybody can spearphish a gullible fed, it's these guys.)))
(((Guys who are employed by nation-states always wanna go fight a nation-state. Condemning China because of the depredations of the RBN is like invading Iraq to defeat Al Qaeda.)))
"Now a new attack vector is being used increasingly against federal sites: direct attacks against federal web sites and commercial web sites. Apparently most developers that create web sites and other applications have had no intense training in secure coding, and they do not know what they don't know. If you would like to know whether your developers have good secure coding skill (in C or Java) there's a free assessment they can use next week in Washington, DC . (It will cost $250 after January 1). If you have developers who would like to know where their security knowledge gaps are, write me at apaller@sans.org.
(((Are you a fed? You should listen to these guys.)))
TOP OF THE NEWS
--MI5 Warns UK Businesses of China-Sponsored Cyber Attacks
(December 2 & 3, 2007) (((On other news, MI5 might warn China about "Russian business" attacks, but the idea of "businesses" savaging governments is, like, still too much to a bureaucrat's head around. You mean states are FAT VICTIMS of cyberwar -- that Britain is just a bigger Estonia? Does not compute!)))
"Reports in the English media say the UK government has accused China of breaking into computer systems at prominent UK businesses. (((I dunno why they bother when they could just walk off with the CD plasticware, but never mind, forge on:)))
"The reports indicate that MI5 chairman Jonathan Evans sent a confidential letter to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at major UK companies, warning them of the attacks. Rolls Royce and Royal Dutch Shell have reportedly been targeted by the cyber attacks, but so have many smaller organizations and law firms representing companies doing business in China. A Chinese embassy official in London denies the allegations."(((Like they'd tell him. "Hello? Is this the Chinese embassy in London? Yes, we plan to rifle through the British databanks using unrevealed first-day exploits -- is that okay with you guys in the corps diplomatique?")))
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/china/article2988228.ece http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9050499&source=rss_topic17 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7123970.stm
"STATISTICS, STUDIES & SURVEYS
"--McAfee's Virtual Criminology Report
"(November 29 & 30, 2007)
"According to McAfee's annual Virtual Criminology Report, the world faces a cyber cold war over the next decade; 120 countries around the world are conducting cyber espionage operations. The operations target the military, political, economic, and technical arenas. The report also says that China is leading the way in cyber espionage. The Chinese government denies the allegations that it is at the forefront of the impending cyber cold war. The report was compiled with input from the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), NATO, and the FBI."http://www.scmagazine.com/uk/news/article/769321/mcafee-report-issues-stark-cyberwarfare-warning/ http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2962570.ece http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39291156-39001093c,00.htm http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Chine-disputes-McAfee-report-labeling-it-a-key-cyber-warfareinstigator/2007/11/30/1196037112426.html
(((I'm saddened that the world now requires a "Virtual Criminality Report" (once a year? Shouldn't that be once a week?) and it doesn't improve my mood that the net is boiling over with spooks. A hundred and twenty countries with "cyber-espionage" outfits? All spying on each other, presumably... Where do they find the elbow room?)))

This is alarming news

In Test, Canadian ISP Splices Itself Into Google Homepage
By Sarah Lai Stirland December 10, 2007 1:42:16 PMCategories: Network Neutrality
A screen shot posted to the web over the weekend seems to show that Canada's largest provider of high-speed internet access is exploring a controversial data substitution technique that lets it add its own content to the webpages customers visit.
Expect this development to become Exhibit A in the case for net neutrality legislation.

Lauren Weinstein, a technology consultant in Los Angeles and a long-time Internet activist, posted a screen-shot of a Rogers-modified Google search page this past Saturday on his blog.
The screen shot, forwarded from "a concerned reader," shows a Rogers-Yahoo branded customer service message apparently on Google's home page.
The message informs the Rogers customer that they are approaching their data cap limit for the month, and provides them with a link to information on how they would be able to upgrade their account, among other things. (Click the image to enlarge)
"Just brought to my attention today by a concerned reader who chose Google for his example, what you're looking at is reportedly an ongoing test by Rogers in Canada, scheduled for deployment to Rogers Internet customers next quarter," Weinstein wrote in his blog.
"This is what Net Neutrality is about -- it's not just making sure that data is handled in a competitive and non-discriminatory manner, but it's also that the data that's sent is the data that you get -- that the content is unmodified, not with messages that are woven into your data stream [from third parties]" he says in an interview.
Weinstein is a co-founder of a non-profit discussion and policy group called People for Internet Responsibility, the latest project of which is a new e-mail discussion group called the Net Neutrality Squad. The project's goal is to report on and discuss alleged incidents of discriminatory activity.
Update: Rogers vice president of communications Taanta Gupta confirmed that Rogers is experimenting with this technique as a way to communicate with its customers.
"We're trying different things, and we'll test customer response," she says.
Gupta says that the bandwidth limitations have been in place for some time now, and that the ISP currently doesn't have a standard customer notification procedure.
"This is useful information for the customer to have," she says.
Image: via Lauren Weinstein's blog

Garden

Suddenly, I have an urge to see all the pictures of gardens.
Here are some beautiful ones:

Funny Videos

Why does Asian guys not have Ang Moh gf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63bWYFGBTuE

Why Asian Girls Go For White Guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI3lPLsbwjw

Men who are good in suits

This topic has been in my mind for quite some time. I have always admire guys who looked really good, dashing, sauve, cool in suits.
Duno if this is the Fairy Tale syndrome, I've always like guys don either in suit or those oxford scholars, with vest and shirt on, regardless of whether they are in pants or jeans.
I am super duber crazy over that kind of look.
I think when I helped my brother to scout for clothes, I tend to dress him up like that which may be impractical due to our tropical climate.
Besides that, the guy who is donning that look, must have those strong triangle shaped shoulder, somewhat flat abs (Hidden by clothes or what i dun care)and quite tall.
That is a killer appeal to me.
Here are the list of actors that I feel have that look.

Taiwan
1.郑元畅





2. 明道




3. 郭品超

4. 言承旭

5. 金城武

6. 贺军翔

7. 霍建华

8.许绍洋

Korea
1. 朱智勋

2. 玄彬

3. 朴信阳

4. 金正勋

5. 李秉宪

6. 李东健

8. 在熙

9. 池珍熙

10. 车仁表


China
1. 黄晓明

2. 陆毅

3. 保剑锋

Hong Kong

1. 吴彦祖

Western

1. 奥兰多·布鲁姆

2. 莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥

3. 基诺里维斯

Singapore

1. 立威廉

2. Guo Liang

3. Thomas Ong

Of coz the list is not exhaustive so check out the following website for more details!

http://bbs.4yt.net/showtopic-204739-1.aspx

武侠电影

最近在商场上,看到很多不同的武侠电影。
可是，我却没有购买欲。
很奇特，不是吗？我可以说是个武侠迷。
我发现，我还是喜欢香港电影鼎盛时期，也就是1980-1997之间的武侠电影。
《黄飞鸿》、《洪熙官》。。。。。
那时的电影比较纯，只渲染正义，邪不能胜正的道理。虽然特效和画面是粗糙了点，可是看了之后，心里还是有一股暖流划过。心里总觉得当英雄是好的。
曾几何时，武侠电影变的不一样了？
是因为西方国家爱上武侠电影，所以为了迎合他们的视觉与味觉，我们东方人改变了武侠电影的制作方式？
这是极有可能的因为香港电影界正处于低弥时期，为了抓住全球观众的这块大饼，牺牲本土观众又有什么关系？毕竟制作电影的出发点还是为了钱。
还是因为香港回归祖国后，为了迎合大陆观众不同层次的文化品味而做改变？
有或则是因为东方人有意让武侠电影成为一种最低共同点(lowest common denominator)，让不同文化背景的人都能欣赏，象西方的舞蹈歌曲一样？
我不知道这箇中的原因，可能是综合以上所有吧。
但我知道，《卧虎藏龙》是武侠电影的转（车戾）点，因为它让西方惊艳，让国际社会为武侠电影着迷。
那种唯美的镜头，逼真的特效，悠美的人物是令人为之向往心动。
其他东方导演为之效仿，但画虎不成反类犬。
其实以我个人而言，唯美主义的电影可一而不可多。
其实历史上也有记载。
比如诗词吧。
我记得老师曾说过有一段时间文人很爱唯美主义的诗词，写了大量文词并茂的文句。
然而，这些虚有其表，却空无内涵的文句很快便过时了。来的快，去的也快。
这段其间红的也只有《花间集》中的几位诗词人。
所以，我不知道现代的武侠电影是不是会这样。但是可以肯定的，若是没有内涵的东西，必定让人看不懂。看不懂的东西刚开始会觉得很新鲜，但是久了人会看腻的。
同理，若是留不住自己的文化特色，那文化产品根本没有吸引人的价值。

Stunning news

Yah, you may be wondering why I am blogging at this time of the day. Because I am on 2day MC. Yeah...i got fever as high as 38.3 deg c on sun nite. my body aching like crazy.
Now, feeling much better, I hope to blog somemore as I know, you guys think that this blog may disappear soon sia.

And now for thw dramatic news of the day from Wired news:

Stiffer Cyber Laws to Crack Down on Botnets, Spyware
By Luke O'Brien
WASHINGTON -- Federal lawmakers confronting a plague of botnet infections, denial-of-service extortion schemes and spyware are going on the counter-offensive with two new bills that would make it easier for federal prosecutors to charge cybercriminals, while bringing computer intrusion under the ambit of the mob-busting RICO Act.

Together, the Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act would represent one of the more significant updates to federal computer-crime law in the last two decades.

Around 30 percent of malicious internet activity took place or originated in the United States in the second half of last year, according to information from Symantec. China was second at 10 percent. Prominent among today's threats are bots -- a type of malicious software that secretly puts a vulnerable PC under the control of an attacker, who can direct thousands of computers at once. Organized cybercriminals routinely use networks of bots to launder spam, steal passwords for online banking and launch denial-of-service attacks like those that recently plagued the small European nation of Estonia after it angered Russian nationalists.

"You're looking at a new species of criminal conduct," says Roma Theus, a white-collar crime expert at the Defense Research Institute and a former federal prosecutor. "We have to look beyond where we are today and think about where we might be ten years from today."

The Cyber-Security Enhancement Act, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), would do just that, stiffening penalties and sentencing times for cybercriminals by classifying computer-fraud offenses as a predicate offense for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law. Authorities could also seize any ill-gotten gains a crook may have obtained through online rackets.

The measure also adjusts the damage threshold that qualifies a cybercrime receive FBI attention. Currently, a financial loss of $5,000 spread out among victims makes an intrusion into a federal case; under the bill, damaging 10 or more computers in a year would automatically qualify, even with no financial harm.

This bill has cheered many advocates for tougher laws on cybercrime. "In our discussions with law enforcement, that $5,000 limit is a major sticking point in terms of not being able to go after these criminals," says Rob Tai, the manager of cybercrime prevention for the Business Software Alliance, which represents the commercial software industry and supports both bills.

The I-SPY Act, introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), amends the same federal computer crimes statute by setting a five-year sentence and/or fines for anyone caught using subversive software "in furtherance" of a federal criminal offense. Scam artists who distribute software coded with keystroke loggers or other covert functions, and who use it to steal Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords or any personal identification information could face new charges. So could hoods using spyware to "impair" a computer's security system while trying to defraud another person, although the prison time for that offense drops to two years.

The bill is a nice step forward but only part of a much-needed collection of tools to combat spyware violations, according to David Sohn, senior policy counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "It's adding an additional enforcement arrow to the quiver," Sohn said.

Both measures modify the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the federal anti-hacking bill enacted in 1986. Originally intended to protect only federal government computers and financial institutions, the CFAA has been amended several times since then, most recently in 2001, when the Patriot Act raised the maximum penalties, among other tweaks.

Not everyone thinks the latest crop of bills is the correct response to shifting cyberthreats. "I'm not sure it's completely necessary," says Andy Serwin, a noted cyberspace lawyer and the author of a book on information security and privacy laws. "How much burden do you put on business?"

The Federal Trade Commission already enforces cyberfraud, and state and federal laws cover more than enough ground to allow for prosecution, Serwin argues. Increased legislation might wind up criminalizing legitimate software, such as Microsoft's updater, which automatically installs programs on computers and might technically be spyware under the new legislation, he says.

Besides, Serwin adds, "The guy who's going to do the really malicious stuff is going to do it anyway. And he may do it offshore, so there's no way to get at him."

Theus disagrees. He says that the government could extradite wrongdoers, or even seize them, ala Manuel Noriega. "If someone is under the misapprehension that they can be outside the U.S. and commit a crime that has effects inside the U.S. (and avoid sanctions), that person is going to be terribly surprised."

So far such extraditions are virtually unheard of. In the U.K., Gary McKinnon, a 41-year-old man accused of penetrating over 90 unclassified U.S. military computers in 2001 and 2002, has delayed extradition for years, even while admitting to the hacking spree. In April he lost a court challenge to an extradition order, and is now on a final appeal to the U.K. Parliament's Law Lords.

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/06/bot_law

Comments:
Whoa! That is a very law specific case of regulation. I thought US being very open and democratic will not obstruct free trade and agreement but I guess they have reached the limit of tolerance and use offline laws to restrict online activities. How effective is this? I am not too sure. We will have to wait and see.
But this is one of the interesting piece of news especially for the students of new media.haha...

Feelings

心情实在太复杂了。
我还是通通写出来比较好。

《神雕侠侣》
金大侠可真厉害，难怪他要封笔。
写了这么多脍炙人口，隽永的小说后，还是激流勇退，免得落得江郎才尽的臭名。
我想就算他封笔，还是有办法养活自己。单单版权费，就十分惊人。小说一再再版不说，连电视剧，电影也一再制作。
若是我，此生足矣。
再者，古人可说对了一句话： “温故而知新”。
不同的年龄，不同的经历，在面对同一篇小说便有了新的想法。
小的时候，总觉得杨过很深情，小龙女很天真。他们经历的灾难还能在一起很了不起。
现在，看着中国版的《神雕》后，觉得很多时候，他们彼此之间的灾难是自找的。
1。如果小龙女没有那么天真，她就不会被奸，也不会害她和杨过分开16年。
2。如果杨过没有在武林大会大放厥词，说什么要姑姑做武林盟主，强那个头衔，年轻气盛，也许他和姑姑早就在一起。
3。如果杨过没有这么厉害放电，是一座活的发电厂，他和姑姑就不会波折重重，也不会害得其他女子为他神魂颠倒，为情所困。

种种如果导致如此，唉。。。。。。。。

Gathering

This is first of the kind. Never have I known that HM has such kind of charm or influence. Anyway, she managed to round up 4 persons to attend this mini secondary school gathering.
hehe...
Then I found out that some of us are happily attached or married, while others are happily swinging single like me.
Hehe...we took some pictures..




Big Beauty Peipei and me.



Aijia and Huimin.


Up Close and personal with me haha.....




The four of us.haha...

This picutre is taken in Mac. We are contemplating whether others would mind if we ask him take a photo for us. He ask us that first.haha...so funny...afterall we are the ones who should ask him 1st..