Technology, News & Opinion: The New iPad & iPad with Retina Display, aka, iPad 3 & iPad 4

Only White & Silver is left, Black & Slate are unavailable
Image from Apple Store

English Players from other countries may not know, but Hong Kong is a real indicator of how well the iProducts will sell in China, one of the biggest potential markets in the world.

From the days of the iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, human traffic flooded the streets in all retail shops any time of the day. Fans, traders, subcontracted professional queuers would line up outside the one and only Apple Store in Central for days to get their hands on the latest gadget. As a result, Apple did very well in those days, turning the company into one of the priciest corporations in the world.

The chaos caused by the iPhones did not hinder much when iPhone 4S switched the game to tight window online reservation mode. Professional hackers somehow got hold of the bandwidth and used automated programs to register for the phones, barring the Apple Store website from innocent "4 Steve" wish-makers as well as programming-challenged beings from owning the last of Steve Jobs' creation.

Currently Apple changed the game once more and made getting an iPhone 5 a daily lottery, minimising the frustrations of many and making not-getting-iPhone-5 not a blame for the lack of effort, but a blame for the lack of luck. If you don't succeed today, try again tomorrow.

This does not always work for the iPads. As I recall, the iPad 2 and the new iPad (iPad 3rd-gen) barely made the headlines for about a week, and then it was a serious of news on traders' financial loss. The main reason for their failure was commonly believed to be the lack of difference in the exterior design for the new version as compared to the predecessor.

For the mainland Chinese, as the top-tier traders describe, an obvious difference in the design allows them to distinguish themselves from those who own an older version. Since Apple is a symbol of status, power and prestige, getting it new and getting it first makes a huge difference for them.

With that said, we should understand why the iPad 2 did alright when compared to iPad 1, but not for the new iPad, which constituted for the a recent drop in Apple's stock price. Jonny Evans has got it right when he captioned the iPad 2 ad,

"That's the iPad 2 video. Insert 'iPad 3' where they say 'iPad 2' and add a few superlatives and that's probably what's coming..."

What about the iPad mini and the iPad with Retina display (iPad 4th-gen)? Following the same logic, as long as the appearance is difference, popularity is expected. Putting the specification of the iPads aside, I expect the iPad mini will do much better than the iPad with Retina display, which explains why the iPad mini Black is already out of stock while White is still available (The difference of the black version is more obvious on the back of the iPad mini), whereas the iPad with Retina display...

Is this the iPad 3 or iPad 4? There are still a lot for people to order
Image from Apple Store

... possibly due to the puzzling and unspectacular naming system which had confused me until I checked with Wikipedia, are not having any out-of-stock issues, supplies seem to be abundant even after its launch 4 days ago. People just don't seem to know iPad with Retina display is iPad 4! Even if you do know they are different, iPad 3 and iPad 4 have almost zero physical difference.

Finally, the fact that Apple announced and started selling the iPad 4 only just half a year before the new iPad went on sale makes me question its motives. Once I thought Olympus enjoys the fame of releasing new Micro Four Thirds cameras faster than ladies buying new shoes, now that Apple completely phased out iPad 3 makes me think that there might be some dangerous issue with it, either hacks or cracks.

Let's see if I am right or wrong in the end.


Vocabulary:
subcontract -- (vb) [T] to pay someone else to do part of a job that you have agreed to do
professional queuer -- (n)[C] people whose major job duty is to queue up to earn profit
hinder -- (vb) [T] to limit the ability of someone to do something, or to limit the development of something
bar -- (vb) [T] to prevent something or someone from doing something or going somewhere, or to forbid (= refuse to allow) something
constitute -- (vb) [L only + noun not continuous] formal to be or be considered as something
phase sth out --

phrasal verb 

[M] 

to remove or stop using something gradually or in stages


hacks or cracks -- loopholes in software allowing access to internal system, or hidden defects in the hardware.


Resources:

Hong Kong Apple Store avoids scalper antics with lottery system for new iPad @ Apple Insider
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/03/16/hong_kong_apple_store_avoids_scalper_antics_with_lottery_system_for_new_ipad.html

Apple fights scalpers with iPhone 4S lottery system in Hong Kong - Tech Talk @ CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57368820-501465/apple-fights-scalpers-with-iphone-4s-lottery-system-in-hong-kong/

Apple iPad sales disappoint, Street eyes holiday quarter @ Reuters
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/apple-results-ipad-idINDEE89O0GO20121025

Living: A Day That I Sold An iPhone 4 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/living-day-that-i-sold-iphone-4.html

Apple iPad 2012: Faster, brighter, cheaper @ ComputerWorld
http://blogs.computerworld.com/18967/apple_ipad_2012_faster_brighter_cheaper

iPad 3 vs iPad 4: the key differences iPad 3 vs iPad 4: the key differences @ techradar.
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/ipad-3-vs-ipad-4-the-key-differences-1106685

Apple iPad Mini and iPad 4 Price – Will Hit Shelves on November 2 @ PC Tablet
http://www.pc-tablet.com/9590-apple-ipad-mini-and-ipad-4-price-will-hit-shelves-on-november-2/

iPad with Retina display - Buy iPad with Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + Cellular @ Apple Store (HongKong)
http://store.apple.com/hk/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/subcontract?q=subcontracted#subcontract__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hinder?q=hinder
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bar_6
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/constitute_1?q=constitute
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/phase-sth-out#phase-sth-out__2

Technology: How To Speed Up Your PC

Cheap and Dead 1G DDR2 RAM
Image from Locky's English Playground

Yup, after replacing the power supply on my 4 year old PC turns out that it was in fact one RAM and its RAM slot that died. RAM is nothing, but RAM slot can't be fixed, so my PC is revived, but half dead, working at 8 times the time it used to take. On one hand I am trying to get hold of a cheapo 4Gb DDR2 RAM from online shopping, on the other, I must keep my PC usable while the RAM is to be delivered.

I have to find ways to do that.

I have always been using ReadyBoost on Windows 7, which is an easy way to speed up the PC a bit. ReadyBoost speeds up the computer by using external USB flash drives as extra cache. It doesn't replace RAM at all, but it does boost the speed a little.

Image from Locky's English Playground

To use ReadyBoost, plug in any USB flash drive and select "Speed Up My System using Windows ReadyBoost", if that doesn't appear, go to the drive and right click and select Properties, choose ReadyBoost tab and check "Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost", then click Apply.

Another method I have applied is compressing the hard disks. The screen capture below is actually taken after I have compressed the hard disks, otherwise, they will be full by now. Particularly for my Windows 7 drive, at one point it was only 300kb left, after the compression, it has at least 6.79Gb of space left, that is awesome compression rate!

Image from Locky's English Playground

To get your hard disk compressed, first, do this at night before bed and leave it on while you sleep, because this will take from 1 hour to 3 hours depending on your computer speed. One hard disk of mine took 3 hours, I did all of them in 4 separate nights.

Once the time is right, go and right-click on the disk, select Properties, then go to General tab, perform a Disk Cleanup to free some hard disk space, then check "Compress this drive to save disk space" and then click Apply. After 3 hours, your computer will be so much more spacious and quite a bit faster.

Of course, there are many more ways to speed up your computer, the best way is of course to add RAM (let's hope my cheapo 4G DDR2 667Mhz RAM from Taobao will arrive sooner to speed up my PC), but so far, my computer is about 70% of its usual speed at 2 x 1G DDR2 800Mhz RAM. Not too bad considering it is running on just 1G RAM and 3 x 1G USB flash drives.

I quite like online shopping now. This is the second time I shop from Taobao, the first time I bought LED lightbulbs, and they are still going strong!


Vocabulary:
turn out -- phrasal verb to be known or discovered finally and surprisingly
cheapo -- (adj) [before noun] informal low in price and often low in quality


Resources:

Living: Lamps & LED @ Taobao @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/09/living-lamps-led-taobao.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/turn-out_1?q=turns+out#turn-out_1__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cheapo?q=cheapo

Vocabulary: New Words from House M.D.

After taking a break from my n-th time rewatching of House M.D., the journey continues once again and I've reached Season 4. The fact that after rewatching the show so many times yet new words still pop out is truly amazing!! The level of detail in the scripts is simply remarkable and should be appreciated for decades to go! If you still haven't seen any episodes yet, it is time to get its DVDs.


Season 1 Episode 5: Damned If You Do 
(in the hospital chapel, a room set aside for prayer, but House goes there to watch a portable TV):

Dr. House talking to Eucharist
Image from FOX

Eucharist: I need to talk with you, Dr. House. Sister Augustine believes in things that aren't real.
House (sarcastically): I thought that was a job requirement for you [religious] people.
Eucharist (somewhat offended): She's been known to lie to get sympathy. She's a hypochondriac.
House: So you're warning me that I may be treating a non-existent ailment?
Eucharist: [She has had] Sore throats, joint pains. There's always something wrong, and there's never a reason for it. Mother Superior (their boss) plays right into it… lets Augustine off work duties, treating her as fragile—special.
House: Let's talk about you for a moment. We've got pride, anger, envy, gluttony… That's four of the "seven deadly sins" in under two minutes (less than two minutes).
Eucharist (still annoyed, but calm): They say you have a gift. You hide behind your intelligence. And you make jokes because you're afraid to take anything seriously. Because if you take things seriously, they matter. And if they matter…
House: …when things go wrong, I get hurt. I'm not tough. I'm vulnerable.
Eucharist: I barely know you, but I hope I'm right because the alternative is that you really are as miserable as you seem to be.

Season 4 Episode 14: No More Mr Nice Guy

Dr. Chase bowling with Dr. House
Image from FOX

Chase: Cameron had this one insufferable friend. She wasn’t going to get rid of her and I sure wasn’t going to join them, so I just said, see her on Thursday’s. I know it’s not as exciting as an exploding birthday cake, but, hell, I don’t want to hang out with her every night anyway.

House: That’s amazing. Cameron only has one insufferable friend?


Season 1 Episode 22: Honeymoon

House arguing with ex-wife Stacy
Image from FOX

Stacy: You want him to die.House: I gave him [Stacy's husband] the parameters. It's his call.
House: I diagnosed him. I did my job. You want somebody to tie him down and force him into treatment, you're way better at that than I am.
Stacy: Is that what this is? Payback for your leg? How many times have we been over this? I saved your life.
House: Yeah, maybe.
Stacy: You're gonna kill my husband to teach me a lesson?
House: No. He's gonna die 'cause he's too stubborn to make the right choice.
Stacy: Now we're in your territory.
House: I am respecting your husband's decision. I don't see why you got a problem with that.
Stacy: Because it's crap! Because you browbeat patients, intimidate them, lie to them! If you think you're right, you don't give a damn what they think! I did what you do all the time. The only difference is, I did it to you.


Season 1 Episode 17: Role Model
[Cut to Exam Room One, where Sarah is back with a mysterious bruise on her neck…]

House checking on the bruise on patient Sarah

Sarah: Petechial bruising?  I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that right.
House: Gosh, the internet is such a wonderful tool.
Sarah: It could be leukemia.
House: Definitely possible.  The more likely diagnosis is hickey.
Sarah: Well, it can’t be a hickey.
House: [exasperated]  Why is everybody so ashamed of sex all of a sudden?
Sarah: I’m not having sex.  I’ve barely even thought about sex since my marriage. [House pulls a hair from Sarah’s head.]  Ow!
House:  I say you’re having sex, you say you’re not.  Either you’re lying, or I’m wrong.  Or there’s some middle ground.
Sarah: You mean like oral?
House: I mean you’re having sex without knowing it.  I’m testing you for booze, drugs and GHB.
Sarah: I don’t drink, and… what’s GHB?
House: The date rape drug.  [He leaves.]

Season 4 Episode 2: The Right Stuff

"Cut-throat Bitch"
Image from FOX

Applicant #24: Aren't we going to discuss how the patient received burns. He [Applicant #6] brought paddles into an oxygenated room!
Dr. House: Well, either you thought it was worth a shot, which makes you a hypocrite, or you thought he would fail, which would make you a cut-throat little pixie.

Vocabulary:

glib -- (adj) (glibber, glibbest) speaking or spoken in a confident way, but without careful thought or honesty
hypochondriac -- (n) [C] a state in which a person continuously worries about their health without having any reason to do so
ailment -- (n)[C] an illness
gluttony -- (n)  [U] disapproving when people eat and drink more than they need to
insufferable -- (adj) very annoying, unpleasant or uncomfortable, and therefore extremely difficult to bear
browbeat sb -- (vb)  [T] (browbeat, browbeaten) to try to force someone to do something by threatening them or persuading them forcefully and unfairly
split hairs -- (vb)[I]  disapproving to argue about whether small details are correct
hickey / love bite -- (n)  [C] US (UK love bite) a temporary red mark on someone's skin, often their neck, where someone has sucked or bitten it as a sexual act
du jour -- (adj)  [only after n] (of food in a restaurant) the particular type available today:
hypocrite -- (n) [C] disapproving someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in way which shows these are not sincere
cut-throat -- (adj) mainly UK (US also cutthroat) not involving considering or worrying about any harm caused to others; fierce
pixie -- (n) (also  pixy) [C] (especially in children's stories) a small imaginary person

Resources:

Medical Vocabulary: Medical Words from House M.D. @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/medical-vocabulary-medical-words-from.html

Medical & Vocabulary: New Words from House Finale @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/12/medical-vocabulary-new-words-from-house.html

Dr. Gregory House (Character) - Quotes
http://zg85.com/uploads/HouseMD/transcripts/s1/house-117.htm

House MD @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0015927/quotes

House (Season 4) @ Wikiquote
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/House_(Season_4)#The_Right_Stuff_.284.02.29

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/glib?q=glib
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hypochondria?q=hypochondriac+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ailment?q=ailment+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gluttony?q=gluttony+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/insufferable?q=insufferable+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/browbeat?q=browbeat+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/split-hairs?q=split+hairs#split-hairs__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hickey?q=hickey+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/du-jour?q=du+jour
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hypocrite?q=hypocrite
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cut-throat?q=cut+throat
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pixie?q=pixie

Living: A Day That I Sold An iPhone 4

Once mighty iPhone 4
Image from dailyiphoneblog

 Hi, it's me talking about iPhone again, this time though, I'm not going to compare it with anything else, just solely talk about how I sold my sister's iPhone 4 in Hong Kong.

Mr Lo, master of the Hong Kong gray market
Image from micgadget

Normally, selling a new iPhone 5 needs little thinking, first get the phone, then go to Sin Tat Plaza in Mongkok, look at the resell prices the shops list out, and sell it to them for quick cash gain. Ka-ching!! If Mr Lo doesn't take your iPhone 5, a bunch of mainland Chinese traders outside Sin Tat Plaza will.

The writers at HardOCP don't understand why Hong Kong people has to win a lottery to get an iPhone, that's because they don't know how aggressive the Chinese are in terms of making money. They will squeeze through every gap possible in systems to make a profit while making sure that they don't cross the legal line. Apple wants to minimise frustration and unfairness, so they came up with this lottery policy, which is why I am still not lucky enough to get my iPhone 5.

Ka Ching! Money in the pocket. Traders outside IFC2
Image from courier journal

Of course, the iPhone 5 lotto has been on for quite awhile now. The gray market price isn't as high as it used to be. I don't exactly know the price now, but I guess there is still a difference of HK$2000 or less. Making an online reservation is still worth the bucks. I am still reserving it every day as long as I can remember to do so.

But if your phone is already a bit too old, like if you still own an iPhone 4 or 4S, then you will need to do some homework to get a better price.

Trade-in your old iPhone is one option to lessen your burden. One of my student Celia went through the troubles and asked the retail stores such as Wilson for their trade-in price. At the time she informed me, the prices were:

iPhone 4 (with no previous repair done)
Black 16Gb $2150
Black 32Gb $2200
White 16Gb $2300
White 32Gb $2350

iPhone 4S (with no previous repair done)
16Gb $3600

One of the many many second-hand gadget buyers in Causeway Bay
Image by Alanala

In the end, she sold her 4S for $3600 to a second-hand gadget buyer in Mongkok instead. Same price as the trade-in price from Wilson, less the attachment of new phone purchase at the store. Good money in the pocket! I hope she's happy with her Samsung Galaxy Note II.

Russell's Street some years ago
Image by Alanala

Having taken her advice, I decided to first ask these second-hand gadget buyers. I chose Causeway Bay because it was nearer to my workplace. There were at least 18 of them on the same pavement of Russell's Street, a pair on each side, spaced out at about a meter away from each other, each sat on a foldable chair with a signboard in front of them showing "iPhone", "iPad", etc. These people probably work 24/7, my guess is, by sitting there and buying second-hand iPhones is already enough to make a good living. One after another, I saw people of different nationalities approaching them with various devices. These buyers seem multilingual enough to reach the negotiation level. I used simple English and asked them, "iPhone 4S, sell you, how much?", one replied me "$2100" verbally, others took out their phone and keyed in $2000. That day I didn't have the phone with me. I wanted to do a bit more research before deciding.

Day 2, I went online and found a nice article from South China Morning Post for expats in Hong Kong, it reports many different ways to sell the old phones, and the author named one shop called The Mobile Phone Direct Selling Centre saying that this shop offers a really good price for iPhone sellers, and so I went online  and found a branch in Causeway Bay,  took the iPhone 4 with me to check out the price.

The big muscular man at the shop was very unwilling to serve, he was playing some kind of game on his Galaxy Note and didn't want to put down, when I told him I wanted to sell my phone and not buy a phone, he eventually put down his phone with all his might and said "$2000", since I walked a long way before reaching this shop, I thought I might as well sell the phone there, so I took the phone out from the box and showed him the well-polished phone. He picked it up with his oily fingers, then he picked up his Note again and made a call. After about two minutes, he gave me an stare and pressed $1800 on the calculator to tell me that he would only offer that price for the phone. In response, I gave him a stare, shook my head and left this unfriendly unwilling dude. Terrible NON-service!

Where did I go then?

Can you see a row of second-hand gadget buyers on their chairs?
Image from Locky's English Playground

I went back to the street buyers just outside Hysan in Causeway Bay. I couldn't find the woman who offered me $2100 the day before, so I went for a second choice. Another female buyer was actually busying with another customer who wanted to sell his Samsung Galaxy S3, but I think he was unhappy with the offer and soon he left with his S3. I told the woman that she said $2000 yesterday, she nodded and fiddled her agile fingers across my iPhone, testing the condition and matching the IMEI against the box's, and before I even knew it, she stuffed my palm with $2000 cash and the deal was done.

I LIKE that! That's my style! Pay and go! No jive at all!

Next time if I want to sell anything, I will look no further. You guys can give it a go too! Let me know how much you sold your old phones by leaving a comment below. I read all comments.


Vocabulary:
24/7 -- adverb adjective informal twenty four hours a day, seven days a week: all the time
expat -- expatriate (n)  [C] (informal expat) someone who does not live in their own country
NON-service -- (n) a created word, meaning a service that was not given.
fiddle -- (vb) [T] informal to act dishonestly in order to get something for yourself, or to change something dishonestly, especially to your advantage
jive -- (n) [U] US slang talk which has no meaning or is dishonest

Resources:

Hong Kong Grey Market Is The World’s First Place to Sell iPhone 5 with Hefty Price Tag (video) @ MIC Gadget
http://micgadget.com/29998/hong-kong-grey-market-is-the-worlds-first-place-to-sell-iphone-5-video/

Chinese Have To 'Win The Lottery" To Get An iPhone 5 @ HardOCP
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2012/10/09/chinese_have_to_win_lottery_get_iphone_5/

Apple - Reserve and Pick Up @ Apple
https://reserve.apple.com/HK/en_HK/reserve/iPhone

iPhone launch draws Apple fans worldwide; man says getting one is better than sex @ Courier Journal
http://www.courier-journal.com/viewart/20120921/BUSINESS/309210066/iPhone-launch-draws-Apple-fans-worldwide-man-says-getting-one-better-than-sex

Personal Finance: Used mobile phones @ South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/1042399/personal-finance-used-mobile-phones

Seize the Moment: Street of Causeway Bay @ A L A N A L A
http://alanala.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/seize-the-moment-street-of-causeway-bay/

Mustang
http://www.mustang.com.hk/agency.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/24-7?q=24%2F7
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/expatriate_1?q=expat#expatriate_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fiddle_1?q=fiddle
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/jive_2

Science & News: Today's Rarity On The News

Google Date Centres: inside the campus network room, routers and switches allow Google's data centres to talk to each other. The fiber optic networks connecting Google's sites can run at speeds that are more than 200,000 times faster than a typical home internet connection. The fiber cables run along the yellow cable trays near the ceiling. Image from Google, Caption from news.com.au

Google Data Centre, Georgia: These colorful pipes send and receive water for cooling Google's facility. Also pictured is a G-Bike, the vehicle of choice for team members to get around outside the data centres. Image from Google , caption from news.com.au

It was definitely a rarity for us non-Google employees to go inside the Google data centres to have a look-around, not any more, because Google has put their data centre on Street View and you can now move around quite freely in and out of the building.

And look what I've found in the building!!!

A Super Secret Stratgic Power usage effectiveness (PUE) Plan
Image from Google

A Stormtrooper from Star Wars with mini R2D2
Image from Google

Google staff get candies everywhere!
Image from Google

Table tennis and pool for relaxation
Image from Google

Very careful reminder
Image from Google

People with actual faces on Street View, not easy to find
Image from Google

Another rarity is this rare octopus that comes with a shell which turned up in the nets of a fishing boat off the coast of San Pedro last weekend. It is now staying at San Pedro aquarium and has attracted attentions since then. For more detail, do read the article by NBC.

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Next up, researchers have found a rare Japanese Otton frog which uses its Wolverine-like retractable spikes for mating and fighting! Hm... so mating and fighting are similar stuff? Just as violent, maybe?

The Japanese Otton frog -- with Wolverine-like retractable spikes
Image from Mail Online

Sharp and Pointy
Image from Mail Online

Wolverine with retractable claws
Image from empireonline

I do think that this Japanese Otton frog cannot be described as "cool", that's for sure!

Green tea is good for health
Image from tumblr

Last but not least, WedMD Health News adds more clues to how green Tea can help prevent or slow the growth of prostate and breast cancer. Their findings show that Green tea, which is high in polyphenols -- an antioxidants that protect against cell damage, lowers the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) which is produced by the prostate gland. Another green tea extract called Polyphenon E, may slow down breast cancer by affecting substances called growth factors which are involved in the signals that tell breast cancer to grow.

Can you see the prostate gland?
Image from weisshospital

Care for a cup? Grab some this weekend and start drinking!


Vocabulary:

rarity -- (n)  [C or U] something that is very unusual, or the quality of being very unusual
retractable --(adj)  formal  can be pulled something back or in


Resources:

Google Data centers @ Google
http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/

Google reveals 'top secret' data centres that act as beating heart of the digital age @ News.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/technology/google-reveals-top-secret-data-centers/story-e6frfro0-1226498166064

Explore a Google data center with Street View @ Google
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=avP5d16wEp0

The incredible Japanese 'wolverine frog' with spikes that shoot out of its false thumbs @MailOnline
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2219727/The-incredible-Japanese-wolverine-frog-spikes-shoot-false-thumb.html

Rare Octopus on Display at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro @NBC
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/the-scene/events/Rare-Octopus-on-Display-at-Cabrillo--174817521.html

Green Tea and Cancer Prevention: New Clues @ WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20121018/green-tea-cancer-prevention-new-clues

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rarity?q=rarity
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/retract?q=retractable+

Culture: Cultures You Shouldn't Miss Out

Felix Baumgartner jumped from 128,100 ft
Image from guim.co.uk

There are definitely a lot going on these days, some extremely exciting, some you might not even notice, hence the title of this post.

First off, Austrian Red Bull jumper Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere at a world record height of 39,045 metres (128,100 ft) or just over 39 kilometres (24 mi) and landed on Earth's soil again safely. He took this risk-taking culture to a height never before!! It was absolutely breath-taking even watching the video clips, madness!!!

This jump really made his own jump from Taipei 101 look super easy!

Some people are asking why there is still gravity at stratosphere, well of course there is!!! Although less than a person is at sea level, Felix still experienced gravity at that height. Think about it, how can there be tides if the moon's gravity isn't affecting the movement of the ocean? There is still gravity even in outer space!! Not hard to see if you still remember this formula from secondary school,

Image from Wikipedia

Image from FOX

Second, America's favourite family The Simpsons is back on TV in the US for another season, but it was not always liked by everyone.

TheFW has an article titled 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About ‘The Simpsons’, Fox television wanted to kill The Simpsons family in the early days, luckily, that never happened and now we can still watch this yellowish family today.

Image from Scott Olson, Getty Image

Former First Lady Barbara Bush didn't like the family that much back in 1990 and told People Magazine that The Simpsons "was the dumbest thing I had ever seen". What happened after that?

Image from FOX

The FW reports,

Soon after the interview hit the stands, the White House received a personalized letter from Marge Simpson addressed to the First Lady. Marge admitted her family wasn't perfect but she told Mrs. Bush that she still tried to instill humility in her children and “believed in my heart that we have a great deal in common. Each of us [is] living our lives to serve an exceptional man.” The letter so moved Mrs. Bush that she wrote a response apologizing for her remarks and complementing Marge for “setting a good example for the rest of the country.”

This 24-season Simpson's culture isn't any cartoon can compare!

Then as I was reading off some news from Google News, I ran into a really interesting website which talks about the things that people often missed out when they watched movies, and that website if ZergNet,

Image from ZergNet

It has many intriguing topics such as

1. 10 Superheroes Who Really Don't Need Their Own Movie, 
2. Top 10 Most Paused Movie Moments, 
3. The 10 Biggest Movie Mistakes, 
4. The 19 Best Movies That You Didn't See in 2011, 
5. The 10 Most Gruesome Deaths In Film, etc.

Everything you really can't miss reading! If you want to get some topics for chats, this attractive website is the place to spend time on. Highly recommended!

Finally, in football gaming culture, there is Football Manager 2013 which will be on the 2nd November!! I have been waiting this since FM 2011 because I didn't play 2012, this upcoming version is definitely something I won't miss. Football lovers who want to taste the feeling of management, buying and selling football players, this is a game you can't live without!

That's all for today!

Vocabulary:
first off / first of all -- before anything else
stratosphere -- (n) [S] the layer of gases surrounding the Earth at a height of between 15 and 50 kilometres, which is not affected by the weather and in which the temperature increases with height
breathtaking -- (adj) extremely exciting, beautiful or surprising
madness -- (n) [U] the state of being mentally ill, or unable to behave in a reasonable way, also means awesome
instill -- (vb) (-ll-) UK (US instill) to put a feeling, idea or principle gradually into someone's mind, so that it has a strong influence on the way they think or behave
humility -- (n) [U] the quality of not being proud because you are conscious of your bad qualities



Resources:

Red Bull Stratos 120000 ft/36km jump Felix Baumgartner HD @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAeB4K8yDT0

Felix Baumgartner Unlikely To Cash In On Red Bull Space Jump
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/10/15/felix-baumgartner-unlikely-to-cash-in-on-red-bull-space-jump/

Felix Baumgartner BASE jump from world's tallest building, Taipei 101 Tower, Taipei, Taiwan @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWojBhx4ooc

The Simpson @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About ‘The Simpsons’ @ thefw
http://thefw.com/things-you-didnt-know-about-the-simpsons/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_29176

10 Superheroes Who Really Don't Need Their Own Movie @ ZergNet
http://www.zergnet.com/news/29894/10-superheroes-who-really-dont-need-their-own-movie

Football Manager 2013 Release Date Announced @ IGN
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/28/football-manager-2013-release-date-announced

The tractor beam pull of the new Football Manager 2013
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/bootroom/id/32?cc=4716

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/first-of-all?q=first+off
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-stratosphere?q=stratosphere+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/breathtaking?q=breathtaking
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/madness_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/instil?q=instill+#instil__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/humility?q=humility+