Message: No News? Not Really, Just Not Interesting Enough

Image from Samsung

No news? Well, not really, the most exciting one for me is the launch of the Samsung Galaxy SIII, but too much of it will definitely turn off my other non-SIII-interested readers, so I decided to shut up... at least for awhile, about the SIII... or maybe a little bit more before I do actually shut-up, and that is I have finally found a good excuse for me to wait a little longer before I splash out my cash to get it -- I will wait for the Pebble Blue colour one to come out first and compare which colour I really want to get. Then again, I will go to New Century Plaza in Mongkok before the 3rd June to try out the phone myself.

I might even make a hands-on video review myself! If that is the case then it would be my very first video on the internet. I'll see how it goes. It might just be fun!!!

I have added one additional video in my last entry just now for those of you who want to hear what the professional software developers from xdadevelopers have to say about SIII.

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And you should have noticed the change of theme from House M.D. to SIII on our blog.

No sure if you consider this a news or not but I have just realised that I have left my USB flash drive in the evening school which contains a piece of homework which I am currently working on and the class note for the class I did tonight. Not sure what the night school will do to it and I will go back to reclaim it tomorrow morning. (What a bummer!) Fingers crossed!

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And then there was this solar eclipse which I missed, but actually, everybody in Hong Kong also missed. I will just let Kai help me tell you more about it!

Epic fail? Indeed!

Subscribe/Like to our English Playground if you want to hear me talking about my own stuff rather than reading more research stuff, or subscribe if you want to read more research stuff.


Vocabulary:
launch -- (n) [C] an event to celebrate or introduce something new
splash out (sth) -- phrasal verb UK to spend a lot of money on buying things, especially things which are pleasant to have but which you do not need
reclaim -- (vb) [T] to take back something that was yours
bummer -- [C] [S] offensive something that is very annoying or not convenient
Fingers crossed --  cross your fingers (also keep you fingers crossed) to hope that things will happen in the way that you want them to
epic -- (adj)  informal  extremely large



Resources:


Hands-On with the Galaxy S III: UI, Gestures, Web Browser, and USB Host @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6idNXrjfAo


Technology & Event: Samsung Galaxy SIII Reviews @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/05/technology-event-samsung-galaxy-siii.html

How to Take Photos of an Eclipse (EPIC FAIL?) @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/lL2kR1EJKkw

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/launch_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/splash_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/splash-out-sth#splash-out-sth__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/reclaim
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bummer
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cross-your-fingers_2#cross-your-fingers_2__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/epic_2

Technology & Event: Samsung Galaxy SIII Reviews

Image from Samsung 

This time, it is serious! Samsung Galaxy SIII has already begun selling in Dubai and it is available for pre-ordering today!!! Let's have a look at what it means by "designed for humans".

What do you think about the commercial? I think the concept is pretty cool!

Here's my interpretations of the commercial.

The first shot on the ripple lockscreen is really the most eye-catching selling point -- "it understands you" when you swipe across the screen, the water pattern follows.

The "hands-on-heart, phone-to-phone, palm-to-palm-separated-by-glass-wall" airport scene "shares what's in your heart" with S Beam and is really touching! Wedding and running hand-in-hand "keeps track of loved ones"? That's the Social Tag, a glance at yourfriends’ photos will show you their current SNS status..

The baby touches mummy's finger and "recognises who you are" is brilliant and warm! And of course that is referring to the Face Unlock function which is available on Android Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0.

The orchestra conductor swinging her hands left and right follows your every move, could refer to several functions, in particular the S Voice, which you can tell it towake up, answer, even take a photo

Girl running with scarf and the jumping wedding group with "sees your best side" refers to the Best Shot function which intelligently select the best photo for you.

Waves and sunlight -- "connects with nature" with the Pepple blue and marble white choices.

Smart Stay "waits till you are asleep".

Samsung Galaxy S3 pop-up shop @ London
Image from recombu

In fact, there are many more functions then the TV ad can say, check this following video out!

A more detailed review on words can be found here, written by The Verge : http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

Additional video by the xdadevelopers, a website for professional programmers, who were testing this amazing phone, see what they have to say about the phone from a programmer's point of view.

Pre-order in Hong Kong is almost over, as the phone should be on sale pretty soon. For those of you who are interested in trying it out before you buy, such as me as I want to see which colour suits me best, you can check out the following website,

http://www.samsung.com/hk/galaxys3/

Or simply, see the following poster,

Resources:
Samsung Galaxy SIII
http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxys3/
http://support-hk.samsung.com/galaxys3/

[GALAXY S III] Official TV Commercial @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/OsP-S2nETCc

Samsung Galaxy S3 gets pop-up shop @ recombu
http://recombu.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s3-gets-pop-up-shop_M17810.html

Samsung Galaxy S III Review @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/L4l8zhx6TeA

Samsung Galaxy S III review @ The Verge
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

Hands-On with the Galaxy S III: UI, Gestures, Web Browser, and USB Host @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6idNXrjfAo

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III @ GSMArena
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300_galaxy_s_iii-4238.php

Technology & News: Samsung Galaxy S3 Has Finally Arrived!!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/05/technology-news-samsung-galaxy-s3-has.html

Rising star: Samsung Galaxy S3 @ TODAY Online
http://www.todayonline.com/Technology/EDC120528-0000079/Rising-star--Samsung-Galaxy-S3

Song: I Started A Joke -- Bee Gees

Image from Billboard.biz

Definitely deserves more entries from our English Playground and my late sleep tonight just to finish this entry, Bee Gee's slow songs not only live forever, but also provide huge opportunities for learners to practise their listening skill.

Mainly sung by Robin Gibb, "I Started A Joke" is a song with two interpretations, one as a outcry of social alienation, and one as a self-reflection of the devil.^[1]


Simply and wonderful melody, beautifully sung, magically magnetising the deepest of the listeners' heart.

I started a joke Which started the whole world crying But I didn't see That the joke was on me, oh no I started to cry Which started the whole world laughing Oh, if I'd only seen That the joke was on me Running my hands over my eyes Image from Jeanetics: Blink I looked at the skies Running my hands over my eyes And I fell out of bed Hurting my head from things that I'd said Brave heroes started the whole world living @ Tyne Cot Military Cemetery, Passchendaele Image from photo.net Till I finally died Which started the whole world living Oh, if I'd only seen That the joke was on me I looked at the skies Running my hands over my eyes And I fell out of bed Hurting my head from things that I'd said Till I finally died Which started the whole world living Oh, if I'd only seen, oh yeah That the joke was on me, oh no That the joke was on me, ohh

Thank you Robin once again, for all your great songs and music.



Vocabulary:
outcry -- (n)[C] a strong expression of anger and disapproval about something, made by a group of people or by the public
magnetise -- (adj) to make an object magnetic
alienation -- (n)[U] the feeling that you have no connection with the people around you

Resources:
People: Thank You, Robin Gibb!!! R.I.P. @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/05/people-thank-you-robin-gibb-rip.html

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_started_a_joke

Bee Gee Robin Gibb Mourned and Hailed in Britain @ Billboard.biz
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/bee-gee-robin-gibb-mourned-and-hailed-in-1007110352.story

I Started A Joke @ elyrics
http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/bee-gees-lyrics/i-started-a-joke-lyrics.html


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/outcry?q=outcry
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/magnetize?q=magnetising+#magnetize__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/alienation_1?q=alienation

People: Thank You, Robin Gibb!!! R.I.P.

Tribute to Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb
Image from wikipedia

Thank You Bee Gees, for bringing extraordinary songs to this world!

Number 5 / Johnny 5
Image from hexus

For creating romance in your magnificent falsetto songs!

For making my childhood filled with hope, decency and love!

For bringing disco music to this world!

You didn't start a joke, you started the whole world loving! You started my loving your songs even before I was born, when I was in my mother's womb!!!

Robin Gibbs, R.I.P.

Vocabulary:
falsetto -- (n)  [C] (plural falsettos) a form of singing or speaking by men using an extremely high voice
decency -- (n) [U] behaviour that is good, moral and acceptable in society


Resources:
Short Circuit (Johnny 5) - More Than a Woman @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/kOWYVT5xABA

bee gees - more than a woman @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/2ZCtgFmQvjQ

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love ( Original ) HQ [ NO CONCERT / NO KARAOKE ] @YouTube
http://youtu.be/BBMriOspUvA

Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive [Version 1] (Video) @YouTube
http://youtu.be/I_izvAbhExY

Bee Gees - I Started A Joke and First Of May  @YouTube
http://youtu.be/0QTQdAKUZmA

Movie: Short Circuit @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/03/movie-short-circuit.html

Song: How Deep Is Your Love -- Bee Gees @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/02/song-how-deep-is-your-love-bee-gees.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/falsetto_1?q=falsetto+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/decency?q=decency

Academic Research: Corpus-based Analysis of Whatsapp Group Chat

Image from thewp7phones

Title: Author: Descriptors:  Publication Date:  Pages:  Last Updated:

Learner Corpus Mini-research: Corpus-based Analysis of Whatsapp Group Chat Law, Locky English, ESL, EFL, Corpus, Corpora, Multimodality, Internet, Smartphones, Grammar, Chat room, Group chat, Learning, Teaching, 2012-5-21 76 2012-7-11

Introduction:

In Hong Kong, adult learners of English rely heavily on face-to-face classroom instruction, which is the mainstream mode of learning. As the internet and computer technology advance, authentic resources have become highly accessible (Law, 2011) and corpora boom, data-driven learning (DDL) gradually proves to be a viable self-learning alternative to traditional one-to-many face-to-face spoon-feeding pedagogy. Computer-mediated communication has not only changed human behaviour (Law, 2011), but has gradually shifted learning paradigm. Through the use of online web-based corpora, learners are able to explore patterns, regularity and trends of any lexical items by inductive method through the internet. In this paper, a Whatsapp chat room chat log of 9 adult learners of English is analysed and three selected errors will be bombarded by corpus data to demonstrate the benefits and practicality of DDL. Towards the end of the paper, I will suggest a corpus-based pedagogy, discuss the limitations of this project and conclude by advocating DDL in cities with high mobile phone and internet penetration such as Hong Kong.

Opinions:
For those of you who would like to read academic papers written by me. Hope this will be useful for those of you researching in related areas as well.

Resources:
Learner Corpus Mini-research: Corpus-based Analysis of Whatsapp Group Chat @ Locky's English Playground
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9emHQBd5COmZW1EMEhwMUxyck0

News & Opinions: Bothering Steve Jobs Again, Knocking At Heaven's Door!

Image from lareducere

Earlier on, on our English Playground Facebook page, I just couldn't stand but to write a message

What??? Steve Jobs was working on everything from iPhone 4S to the 4-inch screen iPhone 5?
How about iPhone 6, 7 and 8?
Will we still hear that he was working on the designs of these?One moment rumour has it that "Apple's reconsideration of the iPhone's size wasn't a post-Jobs epiphany and that the company's longtime leader had himself seen the value in enlarging the handset to better compete in an evolving smartphone market."
But anyone remembered "how harshly the late Apple co-founder criticized larger smartphones in 2010, when he declared that "no one's going to buy" such devices"?
Apple, you make me think that you can't sell a thing if you don't bother Steve Jobs in heaven!!!

Tim Cook
Image from Tablet Roms.com

I mean, this is so true! It is ridiculous and even unethical to use Steve Jobs' name to keep promoting the iProducts, continually knocking on heaven's door hoping that Steve Jobs will bless the company with more earnings!

iPhone 4S was already dubbed as "iPhone 4 Steve", and before that I have already mentioned in the article dated 20th October 2011, titled News & Opinions: iPhone 4 Steve? Siri-ously? What about iPhone 5teve? I said,

One "iPhone 4 Steve" has triggered the best iPhone buying spree ever, what would their selling line be when they sell iPhone 5? iPhone 5teve? I'll surely take all the credit if they really do this, but my point is, they can basically do this forever! iPhone 5teve, iPhone 5S (iPhone 5teve JobS), etc.

I can't believe they are really going to use this method again!!!

They have fooled people once with the iPhone 4 Steve, now they want to fool people again!

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! -- Idiom

I will not be fooled! I'm not an Apple fan and I think the iProducts are way too expensive for users, but I do have great respect for Steve Jobs, knowing that the company keeps using his name as promotion strategy really pisses me off!!

Image from applematters

Wanna continue earning big money and not miss your earning, impress us with better phones and tablets!!! Cut the (fake) rumours!! You know how much more you earn compared to Steve Jobs!

Apple's Tim Cook could top CEO pay list in '11






Vocabulary:
unethical -- (adj) not ethical (= based on moral beliefs)
dub -- (vb) [T + noun] to give something or someone a particular name, especially describing what you think of them
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. -- (Proverb) After being tricked once, one should be wary, so that the person cannot trick you again

Resources:
President Bush -- Fool me Once @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ux3DKxxFoM

News & Opinions: iPhone 4 Steve? Siri-ously? What about iPhone 5teve?
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/10/news-opinions-iphone-4-steve-siri-ously.html

Steve Jobs' death clears way for rumoured 4in 'iPhone 5' screen @ The Register
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/17/iphone_5_4_inch_screen/

Report: Steve Jobs 'worked closely' on new iPhone design @ MSN
http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/report-steve-jobs-worked-closely-new-iphone-design-779931

Apple's Tim Cook could top CEO pay list in '11 @ MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45935345/ns/business-us_business/t/apples-tim-cook-could-top-ceo-pay-list/#.T7nWeNxOAlE

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/unethical?q=unethical
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/dub_1?q=dub
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Fool+me+once,+shame+on+you%3B+fool+me+twice,+shame+on+me