No Script

I've been using Firefox for quite some time. It's much better than IE, even IE 7. Not to mention much safer.

And today I've decided to install another add-on for Firefox- No Script, that is supposed to make Firefox even safer!

Here's the official introduction from Firefox website.

Winner of the "2006 PC World World Class Award", this tool provides extra protection to your Firefox.
It allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice, e.g. your home-banking web site.
Such a preemptive approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even unknown!) with no loss of functionality...
Experts do agree: Firefox is really safer with NoScript ;-)

To download, click here.

Girls no need to be afraid!!

In the recent by-census, it was shown that there were far more women than men in Hong Kong. A recent news report contradicted this finding...

Read the news report here. (It's in Chinese.)

As for "Kong men" (Kong for Hong Kong), I read this interesting article on Metro Post today.



Even guys are criticising guys... =P

The saddest news today is about the father who killed himself, the one with a daughter who is a crazy fan of Andy Lau. It is so sad... I don't even know how to comment on that... other than cursing the daughter, though I don't deny that her parents have responsibility on this as well...

Ulnar neuritis

My ulnar neuritis is only slightly better, so other than the splint I'm wearing for night time, today the occupational therapist made me another one for the day as well.

Today, he tested my sensation, my little finger sensation is blunted... (I knew that from my subjective feeling, but today even the objective exam confirmed it...)

My colleague's son

This is a true story. From my colleague and her son (who's studying Primary 3 only!).

(Mother enters room)
Boy: I'm leaving.
Mom: Why?
Boy: I need personal space.

Mom: If you behave like this, I'll stop giving you money, and you have to live like a beggar!
Boy: Didn't anyone tell you that grandma is very wealthy?

Boy: Grandma gave me $5000 because she earned a lot in stocks today.
Mom: How come you know she earned a lot in stocks?
Boy: She asked me to go on the web to check the stock price for her.

For my colleagues

You may not be able to understand why this is funny unless you work in the same field as me...

Anyway... haha!!

Would you go?

I just heard that someone from work is going to Iraq(!) with MSF this coming Sunday!

Then I started to think whether I would do the same thing... hmmm...

The answer is-- No, I won't.

If it's with a Christian organisation, I may consider going to such a dangerous place, but for MSF, no...

Illiterate old lady

I met this illiterate old lady who signed her name with her initials in English today! haha!

She said it's much easier to write "KF" instead of her Chinese name... =)

Why you should not waste your money on 300... MAJOR SPOILERS ahead...

Since certain people are surprised by the fact that I actually wanted to see this movie, I suppose I'll have to start first by explaining why I wanted to watch it...

When I first saw the poster in the MTR station, I ignored it, "yuck, another violent movie" was my first impression. Until I read the review in the Metro post and got to know its story. I have always been fascinated with ancient history and culture, ever since I don't even remember when... Just look at all the ruins I've been to...

And I also like reading about military strategies, that's why I love the Legend of Galaxy Heroes. (no idea what the appropriate translation is, anyway, it's a Japanese novel with comic and animation adaptation.)

Now back to the reasons why you should NEVER waste your money on it...

1. If you want to watch for the history stuff... (yeah, I knew before watching, the historical accuracy is non-existent... but it was way below my already low expectation...), no plot at all! Just give me a story, I'll be satisfied, never mind the historical accuracy, but there's none. Just watch the 5 minutes trailer, then you've already know everything worth knowing in the movie.

2. If you want to see how they plan the attack with only 300 with some brilliant strategies, well, there was only one. "Hold the narrow passageway, and the Persian army will not be able to win!" Repeat this for 5 times in your mind. And then they break it every time, charging out to the plains to kill the Persians... It's a wonder the Persians actually took 2 hours to kill them all...

3. If you want all the gory, bloody scenes... there are lots of them, but every single one was horribly done... They were so unreal! Special effects... well... I won't even comment on that. The blood looked like red water, the cuts on the head looked as if they're made by an electric saw. (There's no way they could make such a clean cut with an axe/sword/whatever ancient weapon they were using...)

4. If you want to watch naked men/women/sex... First for the guys, (I read in a girl's blog, the reason she watched this film was because of all those naked muscular guys), none of the naked guys are good looking, yep, they all have great bodies, but after 10 mins, every screen filled with men in the buff... none of them good looking... no plot... (yeah, I'm repeating myself...) I just wanted to fall asleep...

As for the naked women, every one of them appeared in a perverted way, except maybe the queen... no idea why they need to show the naked young lady (the oracle) being fondled by those ugly old prophets... YUCK! I won't even mention those naked women with the hunchback.

Sex... well, not even the consensual love scene between King Leonidas and the queen was well handled, so you can imagine what happened with the rape scene... (don't get too excited, there's just about 5 sec of it.) If you want more, I think porn may be a better choice...?? (though I've never watched them before)

Not news... but interesting... how come nothing like this in HK? haha!!

Bad Date? Use Your Cell Excuse

With both Cingular's Escape-A-Date and Virgin Mobile's Rescue Ring service, a customer can arrange to be called at a set time, using the cell keypad. When the cell rings, one of Cingular's eight "emergency" messages says: "Hey, this is your Escape-A-Date call. If you're looking for an excuse, I got it. Just repeat after me, and you'll be on your way! 'Not again! Why does that always happen to you? ... All right, I'll be right there.' Now tell 'em that your roommate got locked out, and you have to go let them in. Good luck!"

haha!! Read everything here.

Companion

Share this with you. Watch this whether you have a companion in your life or not. This animation is created by a guy in Hong Kong, using 3 years...

My Girl (aka Liar Girl on TVB)

It's such a funny show! And sweet as well. Last night, after I don't remember how many episodes, they've finally admitted to feelings to each other... This can only be done in a Korean drama... even though the progress of the story is slow, this one has no boring moments...

Here's a funny one to show you.



Watch this if you haven't started! Really good!!

Seemed that TVB has cut a lot... wondering if I should go and buy the DVDs... though I don't really have time to watch it...

?! What?! Men love teddy bears...

More men than women take teddy bears to bed when sleeping alone, according to a new study.

I personally don't even have a single teddy bear... I remember I used to have some when I was a kid, and then when I graduated from college, I got one too, not sure where it is right now...

But men like teddy bear more than women? UNBELIEVABLE?!

The survey revealed Angelina Jolie was the person men would most like to cuddle up with. Women opted for Johnny Depp.

I personally can never understand the charms of Angelina Jolie... Is it just because of her voluptuous figure? I guess if I could choose anyone for cuddling, I'd choose some guy with a great body (unless I'm in love with someone else, then it's a different story.) I don't particularly want Johnny Depp though, Captain Jack Sparrow? hmm... no...

Read everything here.

Wen Jia Bao Press Conference

Just started watching Wen Jia Bao's press con... wow! They've got a website to collect questions now! I have tried to search for it to no avail.

Really interested in reading what sort of questions they allow on a website/forum like that! I'm sure they censor the material on the web, but this is really unexpected for China, to me at least.

Anyone have any idea where the site is located?

On the Road

Surprising, surprising. I have never really liked Nicholas Tse all that much. To me, he had seemed to be an immature rebel. I don't like high school dropout... I can understand that some people do not like academic stuff... but the ones who want to leave school and earn money ASAP always seem immature to me, they don't seem to understand how harsh the world is...

Surprisingly, the new series of On the Road (I just checked the TVB website for its English name! haha!) changed my impression on him. I like him.

He's direct and blunt. Like me. (haha! I hate pretentious people.)

This type of character can be portrayed as impolite and cool. Just like the first impression people get from me.

Yet in the series, he was featured in a positive light. It showed how successful the producers are!

And the way he talked about his family... how young people always fail to communicate with their family. It reminded me of my own relationship with my mom. We both love each other. However, I don't know if it's generation gap or what. We never seem to communicate well. It goes both sides... when I talked about A, she answered with B, or when she disagreed with me, she just talked about her own opinion and disregarded mine... and I don't want to talk to her, and don't want to listen to her... vicious cycle, I guess... every time I try to break the cycle, she ruins it... or she try to talk to me, I ruin it... sigh...

The Pursuit of Happiness

Another movie that seems interesting...

Best way to get donations

Whenever you go to MTR stations these days, you see old ladies selling cookies for Helping Hands...

I don't really like cookies. And I don't really think Helping Hands is a really worthwhile charity. I bought a cookie from one of them years ago because it is really difficult to say no to them.

Not because they follow you if you don't buy one.

Because they work so hard, and they look so old... so...

This year, I have to strongly resist the urge to go buy a cookie from them. Firstly, I don't like Helping Hands. (No, not because I don't give any money to charity, because I do.) Secondly, I don't like cookie. Thirdly, even if I wanted to help the organisation, I would write them a cheque to get the tax deduction... Lastly, there are so many different old ladies in different MTR stations every day, how can I buy cookies from all of them?

I feel so guilty about this though...

This is really the best way to get donations...

I'm making a difference

If you see me on MSN, you'll notice I've just added "i'm" in front of my name. What's that about?

Now if you add this icon, every time you chat with your friends with MSN, some of the ad revenue will be donated to one charitable organisation of your choice. Just add this code *xxx in front of/behind your name! Easy!

These include:

Text Code	Cause
*red+u	American Red Cross
*bgca	Boys & Girls Clubs of America
*naf	National AIDS Fund
*mssoc	National Multiple Sclerosis Society
*9mil	ninemillion.org
*sierra	Sierra Club
*help	StopGlobalWarming.org
*komen	Susan G. Komen for the Cure
*unicef	The US fund for UNICEF

I chose StopGlobalWarming.org, what about you?

(One thing I'm not sure... the list on the official site is shorter than what one of my friends sent me... hmm... I'm going to be safe and stick with the official list, though I want to choose WWF more...)

300

Initially when I saw the posters of this movie in the MTR stations, I thought it's just another violent movie that I'll never be interested in, until I read what the movie is really about...



Actually it is about the historic Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans fought against 100000 Persian army. They all died in the end, but the Persian army suffered a great loss from these 300 warriors.

Quite interested in the movie, wonder if it'll be too bloody... It's R rated in the States, but in Hong Kong, it's just in Category IIB... hmm...

Touching story

(This piece of news is in Chinese...) Click here. And a blog post on this.

This will make you cry...

Beer Tossing Fridge

How can someone work so hard to be SO lazy?? How hard can it be to get a can of beer from the fridge?????

Takuya vs Jerry

I heard about this on TV today... if anyone know where I can view this show on the web, pls tell me!! Takuya pretended to be Jerry in the Meteor Garden!! I want to watch this!!

Two of Asia's most famous idol groups "F4 VS SMAP" battles together in one show! F4 will go to Japan today for the Taiwan Tourism Bureau promotion. They will also guest at the taping of alreaSMAP's variety show "SMAP X SMAP". After they return to Taiwan, they will hold a Japanese and Korean fan meeting sometime in April, in its aim to target the Japanese and Korean tourists.

Actually, the only public appearance of F4 in Japan is tomorrow's press conference, but they will already arrive there a day earlier because they will guest in the taping of the "SMAP X SMAP". It's only Takuya Kimura, Shingo Katuri, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Goro Inagaki who will be together with Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Vanness Wu and Ken Zhu in this episode, that could bring enough excitement to the viewers.

Beauty or Brains?

I remembered a female writer said she'd rather have beauty than brains.

The logic behind this choice is mainly for attracting guys, I presume. Seriously, though I have read in so many magazines, books about guys who are attracted to intelligent women (because they are smart, NOT because they also happen to be beautiful), in real life, I have never heard of any guys who're like this... hmm... Most of them want pretty/sweet/gentle girls...

Something happened today and I asked myself this same question (obviously I am NOT the few lucky ones who are blessed with both, haha! Not that I can choose anyway...)

I'd rather choose brains... (I won't say I'm a genius, but I don't think people who know me would ever consider me an idiot...)

I can't imagine myself being a brainless bimbo... I hate idiots, and I don't want to hate myself... And what would happen when I became an old crone then? With nothing, no beauty, no brains...?

Brains... Definitely brains...

Perks of Being Single During Mistletoe Season

"What are you writing? This is not even October?? Mistletoe...??"

I am not crazy... This is just an example on how to write on the topic "let single women relax" (Cosmo style) I found on the web... This at least makes me smile... If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read my previous post...

1. No arguments in the car about who said something stupid to whom at the family party.

2. Not having to wake up at some ungodly hour to open gifts and pretend I'm surprised or elated.

3. Decorating the tree in green, pink and purple bows if I feel like it... or not at all.

4. Not having to coordinate everything with a lazy husband who made us late everywhere we went, then just fell asleep on the couch wherever we were.

5. I can go shopping and completely avoid Home Depot and the golf store. Plus, I can hit every store I want without hearing the whine, "Do we have to go in here?"

6. Spending less money and anxiety on trying to find that "perfect gift." I can buy myself something instead.

7. Because I'm single, I still get as many presents from my mom as I did when I was a kid. As soon as I have kids, I'll get an ugly sweater and slippers from her, and nothing else. I know, because I've seen it happen to my older sister!

8. More time to spend with my family and friends, and less stress trying to juggle multiple families and expectations. I can spend however much I want, have dinner wherever I want and spend Christmas wherever I want, rather than spending time with people out of obligation.

9. I don't have to watch the Christmas football games. Instead I can sit down with a glass of red wine and watch the "What Not to Wear" marathon all afternoon.

10. I have more energy and time to put into doing good in the community. Last Christmas morning, I volunteered to serve food at a local restaurant that put on a huge spread for homeless people in town. It made me so grateful for everything that I have in life — which is a lot.

And if you want some more serious stuff, I like this. Not on how girls can get marry, but why being single is not bad at all... Just reading the first paragraph made me say "YES!"

I've been married and I've been single (my present state) and can indisputably testify that sleeping alongside another breathing body won't ward off ''the lonelies.'' Having a boyfriend or husband is not akin to holding a cross under a vampire's nose; you will not automatically be protected against feeling alone. Take it from one who knows: Being in a bad relationship is the opposite of comforting. Yes, I hope to one day remarry, but it will be because I love the guy, not because I hate being single.

Alone but Not Lonely
One of the best aspects of being single is not having someone by your side 24/7. Yes, you read that right. I'm not trying to stereotype, but I frequently see couples shortchanging themselves and sinking into ruts vast as quicksand. They allow their lives to become ultra-routine, figuring that it's okay to walk on the boring side so long as they're strolling hand in hand.

Many singles, on the other hand, work harder to have a well-rounded life. They keep themselves fit, attend lectures and workshops, go on interesting vacations, do volunteer work, engage in hobbies, look for more entertaining activities than dinner and a movie -- aren't these activities actually just attempts to find a mate, you ask? Perhaps, but the bottom line is that it's fine if these pursuits are undertaken with the hope that a man will materialize so long as if at the end of the night fun was had, man or no man.

Putting Yourself First
Another bonus derived from ''singlehood'' is the freedom of having time and space that's exclusively yours -- especially for those who see the ''alone'' hours as a gift rather than a burden. They have an invaluable opportunity to develop a satisfying interior life and nourish their creative side. It's so much easier to write a novel or concentrate on Kant if you don't have to break away to make dinner for hubby.

Yes, there are times (after enduring a particularly brutal meeting at work, on a starlit winter night) when the only thing that seems worth having is a man's arms around you. Not to knock the joys of being caressed, but it's not the only joy to be found in life.

(Perfectly Happy) Party of One
I am not saying you shouldn't make an effort to meet a man, but I am saying don't fritter your life away in a desperate search to become part of a couple. I am suggesting you spend time with people whose company you enjoy, not just people who you think might be ''the one'' or lead you to the one. The more you enjoy your own company, the less driven you'll feel to hang with anybody just to have company.

Being alone on a Saturday night is not a fate worse than death. Being with the wrong man can be.

Baptist Link

I got a copy of the latest issue of Baptist Link (a newsletter published by the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong) last Sunday in my church...

Right on the cover, the headline reads "Change the angle-- let single women in church relax"... This is a very popular topic recently with the by-census data. I was thinking what sort of new insight they can write on this old topic... so I went ahead and read it...

oh... what a brilliant and ingenious solution they got!! (you hear the sarcasm??!!)

First, there's a table on how the expectations of men and women differ on their future spouses, how women have much higher expectations than men... and then it suggests that women should consider "marrying down"...

Don't get me wrong on this, I have no objection in marrying up or down, I don't think marriage should be categorised into "up" or "down"... The most important thing is for two people to love and admire each other, anyway, this is besides the point here...

And then it continues with the nonsense by quoting a few examples on how women took the initiative in getting the guys they like... It is basically suggesting to solve the problems, women should just go ahead and chase the guys in church... Again PLEASE don't get me wrong on this... I think it's perfectly okay for girls to take the initiative... Is this going to solve the problem? Or create more embarrassing situations in the church? (in one of the examples, the girl repeatedly declared her love to the guy until he changed his mind... yeah, it might work in this special case, but...)

Most importantly why am I reading these sort of advices on a supposedly Christian newsletter??

If I picked it up from the floor, and read this, I would think this is a bad version of Cosmopolitan...

UNBELIEVABLE!

The Edge of the Swamp

The Edge of the Swamp
Originally uploaded by thepres6.

Just saw this pic on flickr... wonder how it's taken... where the reflection is from...

really gorgeous pic...

NOD 32

My antivirus software that came with my computer expired last month. I've been downloading trials of different softwares since then. I like this one a lot, so I went to buy it since Commercial Press is doing a spring sale.

Initially I planned to buy the one year version ~HK$280, then I saw the 3 year version (though I know it'll probably get updated versions in the future...), only~ HK$ 420 (the one year update costs ~150), I hesitated...

decided to buy the 3 year version finally! because there are two gifts, 1GB USB Flash Drive and 1 $50 Park'n Supermarket coupon... I think it's a great bargain!



Worth to consider if anyone of you need to new antivirus!

I also got 1 piggy bank... and 4 Commercial Press 10% off coupons... (expiring on 30/4/07) anyone wants the coupon? pls tell me!

Keyboard & ulnar neuritis

A friend of mine said she did not understand how the design of the keyboard can be so bad, here's a pic of my workplace, the computer is basically hanging from the ceiling, the position can be changed, but not the height...

sigh...

CE candidates Forum

Donald Tsang gets mad quite easily and cannot seem to hide his anger...

His whole face "darkened" when people asked him questions he obviously hated to answer or when Alan Leong said something which made a direct hit. =P

haha!! Let me continue to watch this forum...

Initially he tried to keep that frozen smile, now even the smile is almost gone...

Tax

The new budget report was described as "giving candies" by local media.

Despite the huge surplus, the regular income of the government did not increase all that much if you look carefully, most of the surplus money is from investment and land. And any idiot can get money from last year's stock market. It seemed premature to give away so much money though from personal perspective, I'll be getting a bit of money back...

My family used to belong to the low income group who refused to apply for CSSA, they're the poorest people and the most hardworking ones, it's so unfair for them to get nothing from society. The money should be distributed to them instead...

And on the tax allowance increase... how come there is no increase in parental allowance??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the only one I can claim, since I have no children????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!