English learning - Quaint motorcars

(Modern motorcar)

(Vintage motorcar)

I tend to be fascinated all the way by words like 'motorcar'. Those words seem quaint and suggest certain historically technological or scientific progresses. For instance, the 'motor' in 'motorcar' tends to hint that motor for vehicles was a fancy thing, when the word was coined. 'Motorist' is also interesting in that sense. Some other English words approximate to "motorcar". One nice example would be 'motorbike'.

Don't you think the current word 'car' to be a little curt, comparing with 'motorcar'? :-)

On a different note, in American English, people don't regard the word 'car' coolly in their minds. They have certain emotional attachment to it. It indicates 'liberty', 'freedom', 'mobility' and so on, to my knowledge.

Applicable to English learning too - 日本语达人之道 - 豆瓣

Certain ideas on the web page 日本语达人之道 - 含MP3光盘 - 豆瓣 can be applied to English learning too, I suppose. And those are:

文化是日语的基本精神——少了它，处处不对味

虽然知道不少单词句型，却抓不住日本人的精神，只能表面沟通，达不到深层沟通。

Music video - Eminem feat Elton John - Stan (Live)

Here go the lyrics, which are too rabid and painful and may offend some people.


/
When the sounds proximately emerged and parted from Elton John, the beauty of music came to life.

Eminem, as well as a host of black and colored rappers, raps cathartically. I can feel the anger in their music. On the other hand, it can be hard for a Han Chinese like me who grew up in a largely monolithic China to entirely fathom the frustration of the American black population, which the rap culture was born in.

Trench coat, pea coat, or sweater coat?

(Image from http://bit.ly/cQ3LvQ)

You can tell, pea coat is in the canon of the received dress code in Canada, for the most part. So a few weeks ago, while the blasts of the fall blew, I went into a W store, with the meme that a pea coat would preen myself a wee bit. I bought one over there. But it's a glance at a sign "Sweater coats" in the store that sent me scrambling to find out the distinctions among trench coat, pea coat, and sweater coat. I just vaguely figured out. The differences between trench coat and sweater coat are still not crystal clear to me.


Alas. It's such a painstaking trek to acquire the myriad of English nouns and phrasal nouns designated to clothing items. Too many of them are in active daily usage! 'Garment', 'apparel', 'outfit', 'outer coat','suit', 'jacket', 'bridge coat', 'trench coat', 'pea coat', 'sweater coat', 'shirt', 'T-shirt', 'wife beater', 'hoody', 'sweater', 'denim', 'jeans', 'sweater pants', 'trousers'... Endless. And these are only for the comparatively simple arsenal of men's clothes. Not to mention the plethora of nouns and phrasal nouns describing women's clothing items. Gee.

Atmospheric music videos - The Corrs - Breathless, live in Trafalgar Square and so on

The lyrics are here: http://bit.ly/1aj5Uv

Four other versions of the fantastically well received song:


























In the first video, you can see that the fans at the site were enraptured, transfixed, yet moved all the way by the performance.

I can scarcely believe that I hadn't heard of The Corrs back when China was still my abode country. The band was so hot and groovy! And for the most part, its music is just pretty.

By the way, the Trafalgar Square, where the first live concert above was held, celebrates the historic sea battle between Britain and France, which took place in Spain.

What our infant daughter needs

What she demands day in and day out is proximateness to us, intimacy, interaction, and feeding, yes, lots of feeding. Ah, girls always need attentive company, straight from day one. :-)

Notification - I'm switching from Reddit to Google Bookmarks to recommend excellent articles

(Image from http://bit.ly/9IHUtO)

Because Reddit.com is too much a hassle to deal with, I'm switching from it to Google Bookmarks, in order to refer to groovy articles that I'd like to share with you.


Here goes my newly inaugurated Google Bookmarks public list: http://bit.ly/cM4XeO . Thanks.

Marvelous music / video - Summer Wine

The edition by The Corrs / Bono




The version by Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazlewood



Lyrics:
http://bit.ly/6XEmlm



I go into raptures every time when I listen to the music in this particular song "Summer Wine".

The song made its way into the canon of the world pop music in the 1960s, then it has been revitalized time and again by various artists since. The Corrs' version above is appealingly modern, while the Nancy Sinatra's more picturesque and golden. Personally I love the classic edition by Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazlewood more, due to the texture, tone and so on of their voices.

As outlined in the lyrics, an impostor presenting herself as a welcoming girl plays havoc on the male protagonist. All swindlers tend to have charming surfaces, don't they?

On a different note, I suspect that Nancy Sinatra derived some proximate glamour from her father, Frank Sinatra. Or she didn't?

News - Embraer takes aim at Bombardier

Here goes a piece of news from The Gazette: Embraer takes aim at Bombardier.

I generally commented on that issue the other week in this post.

Now does the proximate head-to-head competition from Embraer worry Bombardier's top brass? You bet.

Notification - I've put up a page for first-class resources for English learning

(Image from http://bit.ly/9IHUtO)

Here's the new page. You might really want to take a peek at it, if you're an English learner.

A spooky night walk

(Image from http://bit.ly/a2JGhc)

I was taking a walk on the street around 2AM the other night. For sure no one was out and I was by myself all the way.

Then this squat and portly guy in his forties appeared, about thirty meters away from where I was. I had seen him around before, for few times. But still, observing him drifting quietly in this dark fall night? It didn't make me feel comfortable. Anyways, he walked past me undisturbingly.

Two minutes later, I spotted another tall man in a trench coat, moving quickly toward my position. He was crossing a street corner. Due to some shrubs and the likes, I could only see his lower body. O.K. That did it. I became spooked.

I hurried towards the 24/7 convenience store at the gas station at the major intersection, where I could expect to find and see a few real and unspooky people.

Music - Captain Nemo - Ace of Base

The lyrics are here: http://bit.ly/4Crl7w



Ace of Base once was the world's favorite all the way and used to have abundance of ardent fans. Their fantastic air and acute music used to know no bounds.

For sure the band's popularity sagged in recent years, given that it's been on the world's pop music stage since 1987. Nothing, definitely nothing, can mitigate any pop star's decline, I suspect.

By the way, the abode of Ace of Base is Sweden, which has spawned glamorously popular singers and bands such as ABBA and Ace of Base. Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, which are cultural and business innovation powerhouses, are in proximity to each other. And that group of Nordic countries never ceases to amaze me.

Saint Joseph's Oratory & the recent sainting of Brother Andre

The Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, the largest church in Canada, was initiated and founded by Brother Andre. And he got canonized by the Pope in Vatican lately. What an enormous event for Quebec Catholics that is! Will Catholicism rally a bit in Quebec in the wake of this high profile event?

The miracles and good deeds emanated from Brother Andre left their mark on Quebec, Canada. The canons of modernity seem to only suggest secularity and materialism. But religion, and people's inner yearning for something higher, is here to stay.

University of Geneva

Wow. University of Geneva was founded by John Calvin! It's almost surreal for me. He created it.

U of Geneva must be a significant keeper of the precious original documents of the John Calvin canon, I guess.

Elegant Geneva, Switzerland and its monkey business of private banking

Geneva, Switzerland is never a vapid and rapid city like some others are. Pretty scenery, gourmet foods, tasteful cultures, high science establishments such as CERN, ... They have it all.

Now the private banking biz of Geneva, which has been always under lock and key for decades and decades, is prone to cracking and rupturing, due to the public leak of the tax evasions scandal. All the nations' governments, I believe, must have gotten enchanted and enraptured by the case and be watching or involving in the development of it closely. Well, that should be "bliss" for the banking industry of Switzerland.

Barnes & Noble Nook

The Barnes & Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, and the likes constitute an elegant range of e-book readers for consumers to choose from. People do need the kind of raptness when they read a good novel or something. And that's why James Patterson's fictions have been such hot commodities all these years.

All the same, the sordid DRM things will kill some businesses here and there.

News - Security Council rejection a deep embarrassment for Harper

Is this news article cunning enough? I'm waiting for The New York Times to try its hand at reporting and analyzing the causes of the particular fiasco.

Not being inside the UN Security Council would leave Canada's successful defense

Bern, Switzerland

(Image from http://bit.ly/a8OmE6)

I haven't been aware that Bern, or Berne, is the capital of Switzerland.

Ah, the zesty and tasty Europe. Asia's developing countries have seemed to be held so rapt with the U.S.A. They're not quite aware of Europe's strengths and richness, for my money.

On a different note, the edict of secret banking services offered by Switzerland is intriguing and loathsome to other nations, if you will. Think about the current scandal of discovered tax evasions by some HSBC Private Banking clients residing in Canada, France, U.K., etc.

Exceeding - Music video - Two songs by Elliott Smith

"Miss Misery"







"Miss Misery" Live








"Fond Farewell"
(Unfortunately, no good live version of "Fond Farewell" is to be found on the web for the time being.)




And their lyrics are:
http://bit.ly/a2hrYK (I especially appreciate the part "That you left lying around" in it.)
    &
http://bit.ly/7zSyMI

Elliott Smith with his art, vis-a-vis vices, is too tragic. His savage death is juxtaposed with his beautiful art.

These two songs are a blast from the past for me. I go into poignant raptures about Elliott Smith every time I listen to them.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier - The Man with the Silver Tongue - The Canadian Experience

A part of transient politicians became portly statesmen in a nation's history and heritage. Mr. Wilfrid Laurier is one of them for Canada. It would be an odious wrong for the state-of-the-art generations

Totally engaging - Blitzkrieg - Wikipedia

Panzer! The Third Reich took the whole Earth with its Blitzkrieg by stupefaction!

The quick and sharp movements of panzer divisions, and the tank bombs' blasts thrust bloody ways for Germans in the European battlefields. In those early years of panzer which were full of successes, Germany's military officers must be

McMansion

I almost always view California with rapture. It's in the vanguard of almost everything. Silicon Valley, alternative energy, the mammoth movie-making industry, Stanford U., UC Berkeley, Caltech, the sophisticated San Francisco,

English learning - Wife beater, sweatpants, and sweatshirt

Do you know the gal in the picture? Man, that's Britney Spears, in her unphotogenic wife beater and sweatpants. No, I don't mean she beats her wife. The upper outfit she wears is called "wife beater" in English. A provoking name, isn't it?

O.K. Here comes some eye candy in a wife beater, and this Ms. Keeley Hazell sends British men into raptures:

Video - Hot case - Above Suspicion - the fifth estate

It's the real hot case of Colonel Russell Williams of Canada's Air Force.

Here's a groovy documentary video by CBC: Above Suspicion - the fifth estate.

What a shocker. Now that RCMP is tarnished by leadership struggles, and this ugly incident happens with a top officer in the Canadian army. What is wrong with Canada's public forces?

On a different note, it strikes me profoundly that one's private life and work/public life can be shockingly inconsistent.

Connecticut, U.S.A. - Wikipedia

Connecticut, U.S.A. is a nice place to be in. It's got a moderate weather. You don't expect encounters with winter blasts like you do in Montreal, Canada, do you? And it's got the highest per capita income in the U.S. It's nigh the fantastically sophisticated and cosmopolitan New York City. Moreover, it's home to Yale U., whose faculty and students are rapt and tasteful learners, in my humble opinion, and the also prestigious Wesleyan U., which not many mainland Chinese know of, I suspect.

Windows Phone 7 - Wikipedia

Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 are worthy of keeping tabs on. Now with dapperer products, is Microsoft gonna be able to turn the tables on Apple and Google?

HP cuts full year outlook - Reuters

Here's a piece of news in 2009: HP cuts full year outlook | Reuters. Facing the fierce competition from Acer and Lenovo, HP's PC biz isn't above suspicion of collapsing in the upcoming months, for my money. Where's "the HP way" now for average consumers? Smart phones and tablets made by HP?

At the same time, it'll be intriguing to see the fate of Dell.

Mutterer

No wonder he likes night
He comes out of it
No wonder he fusses with night
No one distracts him at it

No wonder he gets enraptured by night
He does things at it
No wonder he mumbles about night
He misses the moodiness of it

Brief video - Brazil Boom Continues

A piece of video at Yahoo: Brazil Boom Continues (in 2010):

Brazil Boom Continues

Fri Oct 1, 1:20PM ET - CNBC 4:04 | 198 views

The emerging world is hungry for resources, and Brazil is happy to feed that appetite, with William Landers, BlackRock portfolio manager.

Investors who hold Brazilian equities must be in rapture these days. The Brazilian economy's been doing so well in a world blitzed by turns after turns of slipping of GDPs.

On a different note, the comments of the wily financiers are typically dry, aren't they? "The market will see some volatility", "the interest rate hike will make investors alert", etc., etc.


P.S. The aircraft in the above picture was manufactured by Embraer, the third largest airplane company in the world, which is headquartered in Brazil. Now I start to worry over the future of Bombardier, which I suppose has a higher cost structure than Embraer.

Goldman Trust - The New Yorker

There is an article on the elegant New Yorker website: Finance Dept.: Goldman Trust.

The overly complex phantasms of financial products dragged down the highflying Goldman Sachs (a.k.a. 高盛集团). Begone, the legendarily easy money-making. Welcome, Wall Street malcontents.

Wall Street Smarts - NYTimes

Article from NYT: Wall Street Smarts.

The fantasies and tricks of financial products know no bounds.

Introduction - The novel "The Catcher in the Rye"

The Catcher in the Rye, my friend, is a famous fiction. Its title is translated as "麥田守望者" in Chinese. The specific novel gets mentioned, recommended, or read time after time across the entire English-speaking world.

I perused the novel the other month. For one thing, the protagonist berated those phonies in the American society while possessing a heart of gold, if you will. The tale is elegant, and the language accessible and suave. Highly recommended.

Always wonderful - Moscow State University - Wikipedia

Introduction at Wikipedia: Moscow State University (a.k.a. 国立莫斯科大学)

Quote:

Moscow State University has educated 8 future Nobel laureates, 5 Fields Medal winners, as well as a number of writers, philosophers and politicians. The university is alma mater for the famous writers of the 19th century, such as Anton Chekhov and Ivan Turgenev, mathematicians and physicists of the 20th century, such as Boris Demidovich, Vladimir Arnold and Andrey Kolmogorov.

Speaking of academic prestige, Moscow State University is in fact on a par with McGill U., UToronto, and UPenn and the likes. But all these higher education institutions, are well behind the, ah, formidable yet munificent Havard University, with which around 75 Nobel laureates and a few Fields Medal winners are affiliated.

BlackBerry's PlayBook

After having read some hype over the official announcement of the still phantasmal Blackberry Playbook, I've concluded RIM made a move that's not too smart. Eventually RIM will be toast, under the management of the seemingly prodigal Co-CEO Jim Balsillie, who seems to be always wanting to buy a hockey team. Think about it, what real needs of customers will the BB Playbook be able to satisfy? Not quite much.

On the front of the consumer market, Playbook seems to be lackluster in comparison with iPad and the increasing slew of Android tablets, in my opinion. And on the front of the enterprise market, I suppose, only few people have a workspace larger than a typical desk, and they don't need a tablet beside their work desktop computer; as for those field sales reps, when they hit the road, they mostly only want to carry a more portable smart phone, not a somewhat clunky BB Playbook; and as for those executives with their own little offices and couches, there's a bad omen for RIM, which is 50% of the Fortune 500 executives have been reportedly considering deploying iPads within their companies.

I understand that RIM's been a little desperate lately and scrambling hard. But to launch Blackberry Playbook isn't a very suave move. RIM will continue going south, but it will survive for a long time notwithstanding. And that prediction isn't a fantasy only owned by me. I don't want to bash RIM all the time, seriously.

On the article "亲子教育，从接纳孩子的情绪入手"

Here goes a superb article: 亲子教育，从接纳孩子的情绪入手-心理健康与家庭教育-搜狐博客.

Well, the ideas expressed in the article are subtle and complex. I don't think the author did a suave job expressing the set of and logical relations among the ideas.

My take is, for one thing, as following:

看来，喜、怒、哀、惧，这人类的四种基本情绪中，怒、哀、惧在童年不被父母无条件接纳的话，从此通通会转化成变形的“怒”的情绪能量。但是，如果“怒”的本能在童年被抑制被消灭的话，怒、哀、惧就会转化成“哀”、“惧”中的两种或一种。


Nonetheless, the article is an eminent piece, for my money.

Quebec - The most corrupt province (in Canada) - Macleans

Article from the Macleans magazine: Quebec: The most corrupt province (in Canada)

>

Well, Quebec's politics is obviously pedestrian. Posses of politicians slink and siphon off sums and sums of public money. Look at what truthful services some public servants have rendered.

Is it a fantastic project to get Quebec politics clean? Or more cynically, is politics clean from money always just a phantom, in the human world?

Updated - Netflix has finally arrived in Canada!

(Image from http://bit.ly/axERTe)

Here's a piece of new news from NYT: Netflix Faces New Competition in Streaming.

For one thing, most U.S. companies have been fantastically sluggish coming to Canada. Is the Canadian market too small for them? You bet!

In addition, Google TV is noteworthy, for my money.

***
My old post just few days ago:

Netflix has finally arrived in Canada! Here it comes: Netflix Canada - Unlimited TV Shows Online & Movies Online

Well. Netflix, an American giant business and a Johnny-come-lately into Canada, are sweepingly blasting the hitherto remaining phantasms of relatively inefficient video rental stores. Somewhat poignant, eh? I'm wondering if the phantom limbs of the Blockbuster video rental stores will sheerly rent games, in lieu of movies, in the forthcoming years, if not months.

博客來書籍館>IBM老總教你1500字溜英語(上)：跨國主管的英語反而最簡單(附mp3)

Introduction from the web: 博客來書籍館>IBM老總教你1500字溜英語(上)：跨國主管的英語反而最簡單(附mp3)

/
Perhaps the Globish language that the French author preaches is sheerly a new watered-down and valueless version of the elegant English tongue, or perhaps it is surrogate English which

Books of The Times - The Human Behind the Heroic Pose - NYT

Article from NYT: Books of The Times; The Human Behind the Heroic Pose

Simon Bolivar used to have a fantastic dream of assembling the then largest country in the world by uniting the South America. He for sure failed and lamented, "America is ungovernable". How can a person distinguish realistic dreams from fantastic dreams? It's one of the hardest questions every human being ever faces.

The Greenroom » History Written By The Losers

An article from the web: The Greenroom » History Written By The Losers

>

It's interesting to look at Obama, who's used to churning out cunning speeches, from the side of his enemies. Speaking of his management of the slippery U.S. economy, people're never going to know whether the assumed economic catastrophe without mammoth fiscal stimulus packages will be phantasmal or not. Or are they?

On a different note, I've been wondering if the whole world will regain their confidence in the economic U.S. It's probably just a fantastic project, if the United States of America can't get their loathed Wall Street straight.

In the end, for the majority of the American population, let's hope all's well that ends well.

Stratford-upon-Avon

(Image from http://bit.ly/ajMHZo)

Stratford-upon-Avon is Shakespearean all the way! It's marvelous that the matchless Shakespeare had been born in this seemingly pedestrian town.

Like someone once put it, "Shakespeare... familiarizes the wonderful". But not too many people nowadays read Shakespeare, to my knowledge. Is it fantastic to peruse Shakespeare in this modern era?

Switching from iPhone to Android

Here's an excerpt from Switching from iPhone to Android - Computerworld Blogs:

The iPad was a game-changer for me in my relationship to the iPhone, and not in a good way. Most of the things I used to do on the iPhone are now things I do in the iPad: Reading, Twitter, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, Web browser. The iPad has made the iPhone a lot less important in my life.

And it got me thinking. The fact that the iPhone with iOS is a pretty closed platform is just unmeet for the majority of the consumers population. That kind of systems means potential deep lock-in. I doubt that iPhone will ever grab a fantastic amount of market share, even sheerly in the developed world.

Curiously, I'm waiting to see the next moves of Nokia, which has become largely phantom in the U.S. and Canada. And, ah, there's Samsung, whose products I personally regard to be a little shoddy but have been extremely popular among consumers nevertheless.

Music video - New Slang - The Shins

Its lyrics is here.


Oh, I love The Shins. For your information, the song's been quite popular and received just well by a great many discerning music fans.

It's a blast from the past for me, isn't it? I for one hold it dear. Its lyrics are a little labyrinthine. Just the same, those're excellent English, for my money.

Music video - Cara Dillon - Bonny Bonny

&

The song's lyrics

Beautiful English is showcased in Cara's lyrics.

Ah, what bliss! Just an exalting piece of music, lyrics, and singing, by Cara and her husband! I simply can't keep myself from being fond of it.

However, the video illustration uploaded by someone to YouTube isn't terribly tasteful, for my money.

On a different note, Ireland, the once poor country, has spawned so many poignantly wonderful creative singers such as U2, The Corrs, and Cara Dillon.

It's sad to see the particular nation's economic prospect, which had been rosy in the not so distant past, got blasted by its own folly and the current global recession.

Last but not least, sorry for my wordiness. :-)

Profoundly significant - Outsourcing to India Draws Western Lawyers

Article from NYT: Outsourcing to India Draws Western Lawyers

>

Mark this, ladies and gentlemen, mark this heavy and taxing article.

Ah, this unfeeling world of business decision-making, this apathetic world of business cost-aversion. American and Canadian employees have been carrying the overbearing brunt of off-shoring

Well, pictures depicting colicky babies

These pictures are just vivid: http://bit.ly/dD5mWH

/

Our daughter just had a colic and cry session, I suspect, this evening. And that sent us scrambling. Sigh...

我们从一个实际的例子来看英文有多重要 - Re - Leon Chua

Memristor 是 HP Lab 的革命性新产品。而 memristor 的理论奠基人则是 UC Berkeley 的蔡少棠教授。

让我们来对关于蔡少棠教授的 Wikipedia 的中文版和英文版来做一个比较：

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%94%A1%E5%B0%91%E5%A0%82

vs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_O._Chua


以信息的丰富程度和含金量来讲，中文版较之英文版相差何止以道里计！你我当知用心用功之所在。

An excerpt and my two cents - "But Old Man Stark looked at the Boss"

"But Old Man Stark looked at the Boss, and said, "I sorta reckined--I reckined you was gonna stay out here tonight." There was any trouble figuring out what he said, though. The child comes home and the parent puts the hooks in him. The old man, or the woman, as the case may be, hasn't got anything to say to the child. All he wants is to have that child sit in a chair for a couple of hours and then go off to bed under the same roof. It's not love. I am not saying that there is not such a thing as love. I am merely pointing to something which is different from love but which sometimes goes by the name of love. It may well be that without this thing which I am talking about there would not be any love. But this thing in itself is not love. It is just something in the blood. It is a kind of blood greed, and it is the fate of a man. It is the thing which man has which distinguishes him from the happy brute creation. When you get born your father and mother lost something out of themselves, and they are going to bust a hame trying to get it back, and you are it. They know they can't get it all back but they will get as big a chunk out of you as they can. And the good old family reunion, with picnic dinner under the maples, is very much like diving into the octopus tank at the aquarium. Anyway, that is what I would have said back then, that evening."

--p.35, the novel "All the King's Men"

In the author's perception, this yearning for possession of one's children's life, as described in the paragraph, is distinct from love. And it is interesting to note that this distinction made by the author has never been stated in any Chinese film or article that I have encountered.

Pictures - Three sorts of bats

Sometimes I smart from the phenomenon that mastering short English words can be harder than long words.

I've taken notice that there're three sorts of bats. And each of them is popular.

I googled the pictures of "bat" for my benefit and found them somewhat interesting.




A bat in the night






Baseball bats






Cricket bats

Eureka! I have discovered a top-notch novel which I like to read through - "All the King's Men"

In this world, who doesn't like reading groovy novels and having a good old time? And luckily, one nice way to advance a person's English language skills is to peruse fine novels. So in this holiday season, I set out to look for some worthwhile fictions to pour down into my brain. The famous 'David Copperfield' or 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'? I tried but soon concluded they were too dull for me. Perhaps that's because the lives of the protagonists were not immediately relevant to my own life and so the two books couldn't rouse my interest.

Hmm... Then what could I do? I turned to the All-Time 100 Best Novels list, which was compiled by the Time magazine, in order to dig out a fiction that I'd like to invest time to read. Finally I seemed to have observed one--'All the King's Men', by Robert Penn Warren. Then I borrowed a copy of it from a library and started to read through it. My typical and favorite location for the reading has been the various coffee shops, which are actually not so various from each other sometimes, in Montreal.

You can take a peek at the gist of this novel and some customer reviews on it here:
http://www.amazon.com/All-Kings-Robert-Penn-Warren/dp/0156004801

第一次到我的博客看哪里？

英语专家如是说 -- 学英语就得查词典



double_take recommends: 两本权威的在线英英字典



交美国朋友?



感悟时事英语 ——美英报刊导读读后



英语专家如是说--英语学习的误区
http://alexincloud.blogspot.com/200...og-post_28.html



转: 我混吃等死的加拿大生活和割舍不断的中国情结
http://alexincloud.blogspot.com/2008/06/article.html



香港起码有一半人口,为学英文而痛苦了二十年
http://alexincloud.blogspot.com/200...og-post_18.html



(My own notes): Re: 与时俱进 & 張忠謀先生對學習的看法
http://alexincloud.blogspot.com/200...y-notes-re.html



所謂「國際觀」，就是在這種不斷的漣漪「波及」中逐漸累積見識



double_take recommends: FAQ: What are (free) podcasts?


...

Shout-out: 我要无限期停止这个博客

I've decided to discontinue this blog indefinitely, because it seemed to me that there are not enough persons that care about having these kinds of information available while on the other hand, blogging takes me time after all.

If you, I mean you, one of the visitors, like this blog and would like me to resume it in a similar way or in some other more user-friendly fashion, please kindly let me know by leaving your thoughts or comments below, preferably in Chinese if you can. Thank you for your attention.


--Alex Wang

News stories: Electric cars now allowed on some Quebec roads; etc.

Electric cars now allowed on some Quebec roads
Low-speed electric cars are now allowed on some Quebec roads, thanks to a provincial pilot project testing the silent, fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Quebec government pilot project makes room on some roads for electric cars as of Thursday, as long as the plug-in vehicles follow certain rules.
Vehicles produced by two Canadian companies – Nemo, based in Quebec, and Zenn, headquartered in Toronto – can now operate on Quebec roads with posted speed limits less than 50 km/h.



Media host, software developer Les Crane dies at 74
Radio host and one-time Johnny Carson talk show rival Les Crane, who found later success as a software developer and publisher, has died at the age of 74.



New RIM market pitch: BlackBerry's not just for business

Pictures - Capsules

Medicine capsules






The stuff in some capsules






Well, an angry eye candy in his Capsule Corp. shirt

News story: Mamma Mia!

News about Britain

Mamma Mia!

Stars of the film meet members of the band ABBA

The ever so-beloved West End musical Mamma Mia! has finally been taken from the stage to the silver screen.

The film is based on the songs of legendary Swedish pop band ABBA and is an adaptation of the musical of the same name.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/080715_mamma_mia.shtml

News story: China 'could reach Moon by 2020'

16 July, 2008 - Published 11:59 GMT

China 'could reach Moon by 2020'

The United States wants to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2020, but China could get there before them. Dr Michael Griffin told the BBC that China is now capable of sending a manned mission to the Moon within the next decade. Here's our science reporter Paul Rincon:

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/07/080716_china_space.shtml

News stories: U.S., euro-zone inflation rates hit multi-year highs in June; etc.

Mourners crowd into chapel to remember fallen medic
More than 300 people crowded inside a chapel at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick on Wednesday to pay their final respects to a Canadian medic who was killed in Afghanistan.

U.S., euro-zone inflation rates hit multi-year highs in June

Last Updated: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 | 10:52 AM ET Comments2Recommend3

CBC News

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http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/07/16/useuinflationjune.html?ref=rss

Hezbollah hands over bodies of Israeli soldiers in prisoner swap

Video

Peter Armstrong reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:59)

Play: Real Media »

Play: QuickTime »

CBC's Nahlah Ayed reports on the celebrations that will mark the return of the Hezbollah prisoners (Runs: 2:48)

Play: Real Media »

Play: QuickTime »

In wake of botched breast cancer tests, pathologists issue new guidelines
The Canadian Association of Pathologists released new guidelines for testing Wednesday, a plan that calls for pathology test results to be verified by an external, independent laboratory.



Stephen Hawking considering offer to work in Canada: report
One of the world's most famous physicists is considering moving to Canada for part of the year to work at Waterloo, Ont.'s Perimeter Institute, according to a published report.



Vancouver blackout sparks demands for investigation, compensation
The Mayor of Vancouver is calling for an investigation into the debilitating power outage that shut down nearly a quarter of the downtown business district, as the blackout stretches into its third day.



Zimbabwe's inflation rate a punishing 2.2 million per cent Comments



Montrealers mistaken for robbers awarded $60,000 in discrimination case



Job Cuts 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/tl-jobcuts2008/

Barenaked Ladies singer faces drug charge in N.Y.

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 8:00 PM ET Comments168Recommend121

CBC News

The lead singer of the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies has been charged with drug possession in upstate New York.

Steven Page, lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, has reportedly been arrested on drug charges in New York. (CBC)

Steven Page, along with two women, were arrested after police allegedly found cocaine and marijuana in a Fayetteville, N.Y., apartment, according to a Syracuse-area radio station's website, 9WSYR.com.

Page and one of the women were apparently arrested Friday at about 2 a.m. after police discovered a car with an open door in the driveway of a home. While they were investigating the vehicle, officers observed a man and a woman sitting at a kitchen table with a white capsule inside an apartment.

...

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http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/07/15/barenaked-charged.html?ref=rss

In Depth: How it works: Noise-cancelling headphones

In Depth

Technology

How it works: Noise-cancelling headphones

How high-tech headgear eliminates unwanted sound

October 10, 2007

By Chad Sapieha | CBC News

Panasonic's RP-HC500 noise-cancelling headphones. (Panasonic Canada)

Technology is at its best when it appears to work like magic, and that's exactly what noise-cancellation headphones do. Place a set on your ears, and the sounds of the world outside simply disappear.
At first you might be inclined to think that the headphones' snug ear cups simply block outer sounds. To an extent, you'd be right — much like quality traditional headphones, noise-cancelling models (both headphones and fitted ear buds) tend to have good physical sound barriers that help to block outside noise. But this blockage is passive and has nothing to do with the dynamic eradication of unwanted sound.


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http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/how-it-works/noise-cancelling-headphones.html

(This sort of handy devices work almost like a magic! I've been amazed by them. They won't aggravate the potential situation of hearing loss due to very loud sounds or music. Unlike traditional headphones, they quieten the ambient noises instead of simply encouraging you to increase and increase the sound volumes of your headphones. When are they going to become cheaper so that I can buy one pair and don't feel the pinch in my pocket? --double_take)

In Depth: Solid-state drives

Solid state drives have no moving parts and use silicon chips to store information, making them more durable than a traditional hard drive. The thin black rectangles on the solid state drive circuitboard to the left side of the picture are the solid state drive's memory chips. (Courtesy Toshiba)

In Depth

Technology

Solid-state drives

Durable, power-saving alternative to hard drives

April 29, 2008

By Erin Bell

A traditional hard drive has a delicate read/write head on an arm that moves across a spinning platter, as seen in this cutaway view of a hard disk. (Courtesy Seagate)

Compact and durable solid-state hard drives were once reserved for demanding groups with big-budgets, such as the military, but that is changing. Prices are tumbling and they're starting to carve out a respectable niche for themselves in the mobile world of the average consumer.

Solid-state drives (SSDs) store information on memory chips instead of a spinning disc. The technology isn't new, but storage capacities have traditionally been fairly limited and SSDs have been extremely pricey compared to regular hard drives.

...

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/how-it-works/solidstate-drives.html

In Depth: Touchscreens: The technology behind true drag-and-drop

In Depth

Technology

Touchscreens

The technology behind true drag-and-drop

July 11, 2008

By Ted Kritsonis

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/how-it-works/touchscreens.html

News stories: EBay not responsible for phoney merchandise, court rules; etc.

EBay not responsible for phoney merchandise, court rules

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 9:24 AM ET Comments3Recommend11

The Associated Press

EBay Inc. has scored an important victory in court as a federal judge said companies such as jeweller Tiffany & Co. are responsible for policing their trademarks online, not auction platforms like eBay.

'Brand owners have to be vigilant. That's the message.'—Anthony LoCicero, lawyer

Tiffany had sued eBay in 2004, arguing that most items listed for sale as genuine Tiffany products on eBay's sites were fakes.

...

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http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/15/ebay-tiffany.html

New Guns N' Roses song to debut on game sequel Rock Band 2

Upcoming game also to include Bob Dylan, AC/DC

Last Updated: Monday, July 14, 2008 | 4:53 PM ET Comments4Recommend13

CBC News

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, seen here performing in 2002, chose to debut a new track from his long-awaited album Chinese Democracy on the upcoming Rock Band 2 video game. (Beth Keiser/Associated Press)

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http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/14/rockband-gnr.html?ref=rss

Intel rolls out new computer chips

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 11:05 AM ET Comments2Recommend9

The Associated Press

Intel Corp. introduced a new batch of chips for laptops Monday that promise longer battery life and better graphics-rendering abilities, the company's latest salvo against smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Both companies seek to capture the attention of computer buyers looking for crisper high-definition video playback on their laptops and less battery drain, a difficult balancing act.

The latest from Intel is its new Centrino 2 "platform" — a package that includes a processor, related chipset and wireless communications chip.

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http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/15/intel-centrino2.html

Government urged to spend spectrum proceeds on broadband

Last Updated: Monday, July 14, 2008 | 5:56 PM ET Comments17Recommend26

By Peter Nowak, CBC News

Liberal industry critic Scott Brison says broadband is as important as roads and railways.

With the auction of cellphone airwaves having raised more than $4.2 billion and nearing its end, an increasing chorus of voices is calling on the government to invest in broadband internet access to prevent Canada from falling behind the rest of the world.

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http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/14/tech-spectrum.html?ref=rss



Astronomers warn northerners against sungazing during eclipse
Skygazers are sending a strong message to northern Canadians keen on watching next month's solar eclipse: never look directly at it, or else risk permanent vision damage.



YouTube to keep user details away from Viacom
Viacom has backed off its demands to gain access to the viewing habits and personal data of YouTube users, information it had originally asked for in its copyright infrigement case against the video-sharing website.



Undersea volcanic rock could house greenhouse gases, scientists say
U.S. scientists say an ocean floor bed of volcanic rocks southwest of Vancouver Island could act as a natural storage facility for millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide gas.