Technology: Phabletious!! Samsung Galaxy Note II

Samsung Galaxy Note II
Image from GSMArena

I must say my motivation for compiling my first XDA Developer tutorial Technology: Turning your Galaxy S2 to Galaxy S2.5!!! originates from my fondness of the Samsung Galaxy S3, it was a truly amazing device with handful of innovative functions and enormous potential!

Samsung Galaxy S3 GT- i9300 is already a speedy device, with 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4 processor and 1GB RAM (or 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with 2GB RAM for the US and JP variants), 4.8" Super AMOLED PenTile display and a 2100 mAh battery pack, weighing 133g in total; running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Samsung Galaxy S3
Image from GSMArena

But Samsung has pushed the standard even higher in the the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note II, which comes with a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412, 2 Gb RAM, 5.5" Super AMOLED non-PenTile display and a 3100 mAh battery, weighing 180g in total and running; running Android 4.1.1 Jellybean.


S3's PenTile display, though lasts longer, has caused a lot of dismay among users who were expecting an HD Plus version. This time with Note II, Samsung has cleverly invented a new matrix that is different from the RGBG PenTile one to regain the trust of the Galaxy fans.

Image from Phonearena and The Verge

With the oval green pixels now lined parallel to the oval red and perpendicular to the thin blue ones, the Galaxy Note II does look sharper, clearer and more dense than the old matrix, so despite having a lower ppi pixel density than the Galaxy S3 (720x1280p in 5.5" VS 720x1280p in 4.8"), the Galaxy Note II can still look pretty sharp!!!!

Phabletious!!!!

Samsung Galaxy Note II
Image from GSMArena

In terms of design, not only is Note II thinner than Note in numbers (9.4mm VS 9.7mm), it does actually look thinner due to the more pronounced corners at the back of the phone.

Note II (top) is obviously thinner than Note
Image from CNET

The cover is even better than the HTC One X this time, seems like Samsung has really heard the users' voices.

Rear view. The Galaxy Note 2 (right) uses a metal cover instead of a textured plastic version.
Caption and Image from CNET Asia

In terms of functions, it is a MONSTER!!! Here's a video,

No wonder people will need to go for a class to learn them all! I really like the Best Face function!

As a senior member of the XDA Developers, I must say Samsung's developer team has really got brains, the ideas could have been suggested by some XDA Developers, as Samsung is actually working with the XDA Developers, but it is Samsung that makes it happen. I am impressed!

In terms of performance?

Note II hitting 6120 on the Qudrant Benchmark
Image from CNET Asia

I didn't get the Galaxy S3, but I am now seriously considering getting the Note II, hope I will be able to save up enough money by then.


For details, do visit GSMArena's Samsung Galaxy Note II preview: First look and CNET Asia's Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - Mobile Phones.

Quick Commentrs:
Phonearena : Samsung has weighed things well enough where it counts for it to be worthy upgrade.

GSMArena: Our short time with the Samsung Galaxy Note II is over, but it was enough to whet our appetite and we'll surely be coming back for more.

CNET:

Vocabulary:
variants
phabletious -- (adj) a word created by Noisy Biatche from TechieBiatche, a kind of wordplay, from fabulicious -- (adj) from fabulous (adj) + delicious (adj)
phablet -- (n)[C] Phablet is the term by which some touch-screen devices with screens of 5+ inches are referred to. A phablet is a device that combines the capabilities of a smartphone and mini tablet. Bigger than a smartphone, but not large enough to be considered an actual tablet or even mini-tablet, the range of screen size of a phablet falls anywhere greater than or equal to 5", but less than 7".


Resources:

Technology: Turning your Galaxy S2 to Galaxy S2.5!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/06/technology-turning-your-galaxy-s2-to.html

Technology: HOLY SMOKE!!! Galaxy SIII As A PC???!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/06/technology-holy-smoke-galaxy-siii-as-pc.html

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

Samsung Galaxy S III @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III#Hardware_and_design

Samsung Galaxy Note II @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Note_II

Pentile News @ Oled-info
http://www.oled-info.com/tags/pentile

Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 vs. Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III @ GSMArena.com
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4854&idPhone2=4238

Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 @ GSMArena
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_ii_n7100-4854.php

[GALAXY Note II] First Hands-on Video @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DcgZum8M1o

Samsung Galaxy Note II preview: First look @ GSMArena
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_ii_n7100-review-806.php

Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - Mobile Phones @ CNET Asia
http://asia.cnet.com/product/samsung-galaxy-note-2-

http://myfavtechy.blogspot.hk/2012_03_01_archive.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phablet

Photography: Digitizing Old Memories

Killer Whale of Ocean Park
Image from Locky's English Playground

Have been busying with many projects lately, one of which is the digitization of old photos, real photos printed on photo paper.

These photos have been around for over 40 years and I want to prepare a good birthday present for my mum and dad, so I decided to dig out their childhood photos and scan them.

A real cliché but always true, "It's not the value, it's the thought that counts"

Lucky that my Canon scanner is pretty fast with colour scans, so it wasn't too time-consuming, took only 2 days of scanning, cropping and saving, the photo-retouching will take much longer time so I think I will be a little short with my blog posts this week, sorry about that first.

But if you happen to have films and you want to do photo digitization too, then you can try the following method recommended by Kai last year.

After you have got all the photo digitised, get a digital photo frame and install all those good moments in its flash memory, then offer to your parents as a gift!

Enjoy your new project and make your parents happy with this great suggestion!


Vocabulary:
digitization -- Digitizing or digitization[1] is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal (usually an analog signal) by a discrete set of its points or samples.
cliché -- (n)[C or U] a comment that is very often made and is therefore not original and not interesting
It's not the value, it's the thought that counts -- The objective value of the gift is not important; it's the value to the recipient that matters.

Resources:
Digitizing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitizing

How to Scan Film With a DSLR @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOTk4ApEYs

Opinion & Sport: Football's Cash & Trends

Ibra to PSG, one of the biggest names in transfer this season
Image from arabnews

In soccer, there is something called transfer window, which is the period which football clubs are allowed to trade players (players can be bought, sold, loaned, released on mutual consent, released on free). Apart from rounds after rounds of battles of the football season, fans are most excited during the transfer windows, as they can wait and see which player will join their favourite clubs and help to achieve better results in the next season.

These few years, football fans definitely saw huge changes in and out of the game, mostly due to the financial crisis that swept across Europe.

Except the seemingly inexhaustable Spanish clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, other giants with the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich have been very cautious with their spending. Arsenal has even gone so far selling their top players (eg. Frabregas, Nasri, Vela, van Persie, Alex Song) and buying in second-strings that my Arsenal die-hard friends call the club "stingy".

Arsenal Manager -- Arsene Wenger
Image from Getty Image

While big names seem to have disappeared from the ears of the Italian and German clubs and their fans, European clubs which seldom won champions suddenly became extra rich, making every money-loving player drool. First was Chelsea's takeover by Russian mogul Roman Abramovich, who spent £681M on transfer fee alone in the last decade,

Torres
Image from BBC Sport

Chelsea's key signing since takeover:

Eden Hazard
Image from Fox Soccer

• Frank Lampard (£11m) 
• Joe Cole  (£6.6m) 
• Juan Sebastián Verón  (£15m) 
• Hernán Crespo  (£16.8m) 
• Claude Makélélé (£16m) 
• Petr Čech (£7.1m)
• Arjen Robben (£12m)
• Didier Drogba (£24m)
• Ricardo Carvalho ( £19.85m)
• Shaun Wright-Phillips  (£21m)
• Michael Essien  (£24.4m)
• Andriy Shevchenko  (£30m)
• Ashley Cole (£5m + Gallas)
• Nicolas Anelka  (£15m)
• Deco  (£7.9m)
• Michael Ballack (Free)
• David Luiz  (£21m)
• Juan Mata   (£23.5m)
• Ramires  (£17m)
• Fernando Torres (£50m)
• Eden Hazard (£32m)
• Oscar (£25m)

then came Manchester City's £572M in recent years,


Man City's key signing since takeover:

Sergio Agüero
Image from guim.co.uk

• Sergio Agüero  (£38m)  
• Samir Nasri  (£23m)  
• Robinho (£32.5m) 
• Carlos Tévez  (£25.5m) 
• Emmanuel Adebayor  (£25m) 
• Kolo Touré  (£16m) 
• Yaya Touré  (£24m) 
• David Silva  (£24m) 
• Mario Balotelli  (£24m) 
• Edin Džeko  (£27m) 
• Aleksandar Kolarov  (£16m) 

as well as Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Anzhi and Queen's Park Ranger. Cash floods into these clubs like ocean into streams -- so much money into so few clubs.

This has not only impacted the clubs, but also international teams.

Wayne Rooney may not command the respect he once did
-- Caption from ESPN; image from zimbio

ESPN columnist Norman Hubbard voiced out his concern over the future England international team as the English players are not getting enough playing time in the Premier League due to the influx of overseas talents, and less playing time means less practice to prepare them for international duties. Among the famous names listed above, barely Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips are English, aged at least 30. Lack of big English names signing means the future of English football is bleak.

I once questioned and complained about this trend, as it disrupts the equilibrium in the sport, turning leagues with teams of even competitiveness into a severely lopsided no-match. At this moment, I still think this is unhealthy and I still miss the good old days when I could never guess who the winner of a game was until the last minute, but I understand this is simply another natural phenomenon and one day, things will return to normal again.

Chibi -- Red Cliff
Image from Wikipedia

I've always been impressed by the words of wisdom from Romance of the Three Kingdoms,

"The world under heaven, after a long period of division, will be united; after a long period of union, will be divided. " ( 話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分。) 

as it resonates with the law of conservation of energy in physics, according to NASA,

"Within some problem domain, the amount of energy remains constant and energy is neither created nor destroyed. Energy can be converted from one form to another (potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy) but the total energy within the domain remains fixed."

Fulham's talented Moussa Dembele valued at £15 million, is on the verge
of signing Tottenham Hotspur after the club has £27 million received up front
for the selling of Luka Modric
Image from icnetwork

Applying the same concept into the world of football, although the even distribution of talents has now shifted to total dominations among a handful of clubs, but the money spent makes smaller clubs richer which will in turn attract better players or strengthen their academy, the key to long term stability or success of the clubs.

Let's not forget, the money-flooded clubs are also players flooded. When good players spend too much time on the bench, they will eventually leave, that's when the smaller clubs get their chances to sign them.

So, maybe football is less (or more) interesting now, over time the situation should improve if the smaller clubs manage their income from the selling of players to the super-rich. UEFA has similar thoughts and that's what the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations are about -- the clubs cannot spend more than they earn.

Let's hope that the future of football will improve. Already I'm seeing a huge gap in the quality of the existing talents and the next generation of footballers, say the Spanish Olympic team.


Vocabulary:
takeover --(n)[C] when a company gets control of another company by buying most of itsshares (= the equal parts into which the ownership of the company is divided)
mogul --- (n)[C] an important person who is very rich or powerful
influx -- (n)[U] the arrival of a large number of people or things at the same time
bleak -- (adj) If a situation is bleak, there is little or no hope for the future
disrupt -- (vb) [T] to prevent something, especially a system, process or event, from continuing as usual or as expected
equilibrium -- (n) [S or U] slightly formal a state of balance
lopsided -- (adj) with one side bigger, higher, etc. than the other; not equally balanced
no-match -- (n)[U] from be no match for sth/sb -- to be less powerful or effective than someone or something else
domination -- (n)[U] power or control over other people or things
academy -- (n)[C] an organization intended to protect and develop an art, science, language, etc., or a school which teaches a particular subject or trains people for a particular job


Resources:
Sport & News & Vocabulary: Can Arsenal turn around? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/09/sport-news-vocabulary-can-arsenal-turn.html

Premier League spending breaks £4bn barrier over last decade @ BBC Sport
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19416223

Chelsea FC  @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_fc

Manchester City @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_city

Three Kingdoms @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms

England stars being marginalised @ ESPN Socceernet
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1145516/england-stars-being-marginalised?cc=4716

Conservation of energy @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy

Romance of the Three Kingdoms -- Part 1 @ new3k.com
http://www.new3k.com/files/[DW3K.COM]The_New_Three_Kingdoms_Ebook-Part1of6.pdf

UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Financial_Fair_Play_Regulations

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/takeover?q=takeover
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/mogul_1?q=mogul
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bleak?q=bleak
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/disrupt?q=disrupt+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/equilibrium?q=equilibrium+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/lopsided?q=lopsided+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/match_3?q=no+match#match_3__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/domination?q=domination+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/academy?q=academy+

Medical & News: Tick & Lyme Disease

Tick from Italy?? (Came out from a parcel from Italy)
Image from Locky's English Playground

In the same episode of House as mentioned in the entry Medical: How To Use a EpiPen, the girl who was played by actress Michelle Trachtenberg was found to be poisoned by a tick. Few days ago, a parcel from Italy came and when I opened it, a tick came out!!! Illegal immigrant!!! It was immediately caught and flushed down the toilet of course (sigh... I hate killing), and this is a photo taken before its swim.

But what if this is not just an individual case? What if actually, little ticky has a whole family in living inside the cargo from Italy and now they have successfully found root in Hong Kong?

If you have been reading US version of Google's Health News, you are surely not a stranger to the term Lyme Disease.

Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector of Lyme disease
in eastern North America
-- Image and Caption from Wikipedia

In short, a certain kind of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia get passed onto the host amid a tick bite, causing possible headache, fever, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic circular skin rash called erythema migrans (EM) in human, or a bullseye rash, while the tick itself happily detach itself after sucking a belly-full of blood and is rested for months before making another bite.

Common bullseye rash pattern associated with Lyme disease
-- Image and Caption from Wikipedia

Lyme disease is a treatable tick-borne disease, and like many other treatable disease, the earlier the better, but that's not all of the story.

Tick bite can also bring about parasitic co-infections, such as babesiosis and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). The following video explains a case of the former.

Told you that Monsters Inside Me is a great TV programme!

Lyme disease can also afflict dogs, with the retrievers particularly prone to it. According to Washington Post,

Retrievers seem prone to Lyme disease in the States
Image from Washington Post

"With its bull’s-eye rash, achy joints and flulike symptoms, Lyme is a concern for humans. Most dogs exposed to the disease show no signs of infection and recover on their own. But a small percentage run fevers, become lame, lose their appetite or, in rare instances, die. And some of America’s favorite breeds — golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers — seem to be particularly at risk."

According to sources from Wikipedia, Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America and Europe, and one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States.

Countries with reported Lyme disease cases.
-- Image and Caption from Wikipedia

In Hong Kong, Lyme disease is rare (if not yet to be reported). The Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health in Hong Kong discussed this issue in March 2012 in a casual manner as far as I can tell from their scope of advice, but seeing a tick like that coming out from a parcel makes me feel sooner or later, we'll be hearing it.

If you are buying products from overseas, check them carefully. If you have dogs, do check their fur after every walk in the bushes and woods. As a tick can attach to its host for more than 72 hours (Sood SK, Salzman MB, Johnson BJ, et al., 1997), if a dog really has a tick attached to it, you will most likely be able to find it.

Take good care of yourself and your lovely doggies!


For other entries about Monsters Inside Me, do visit Medical Vocabulary: Medical Words from House M.D. , Food, Dining & TV: Sushi, Sashimi & Monsters Inside Me .


Vocabulary:
tick -- (n)[C] [C] a very small creature like an insect which lives on and sucks the blood of other animals
-borne -- suffix carried or moved by a particular thing
parasitic -- (adj)  (also parasitical) caused by or connected with a parasite
co-infection --(n)[C] In parasitology, coinfection (/ˌkoʊɪnˈfɛkʃən/) is the simultaneous infection of a host by multiple pathogen species. In virology, coinfection includes simultaneous infection of a single cell by two or more virus particles.
afflict -- (vb) [T] If a problem or illness afflicts a person or thing, they suffer from it
lame -- (adj) (especially of animals) not able to walk correctly because of physical injury to or weakness in the legs or feet


Resources:
Medical: How To Use a EpiPen @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/medical-how-to-use-epipen.html

Lyme Disease @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

Parasite Infiltrates Bloodstream @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGSWaXy1iHk

Lyme disease can afflict dogs as well as humans @ Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/lyme-disease-can-afflict-dogs-as-well-as-humans/2012/08/27/3820b370-cf62-11e1-b630-190a983a2e0d_story.html

Duration of tick attachment as a predictor of the risk of Lyme disease in an area in which Lyme disease is endemic -- Sood SK, Salzman MB, Johnson BJ, Happ CM, Feig K, Carmody L, Rubin LG, Hilton E, Piesman J @ PubMed
http://www.uptodate.com/contents/what-to-do-after-a-tick-bite-to-prevent-lyme-disease-beyond-the-basics/abstract/2?utdPopup=true


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

Food, Dining & TV: Sushi, Sashimi & Monsters Inside Me @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/09/food-dining-tv-sushi-sashimi-monsters.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tick_5
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/borne_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/parasitic?q=parasitic+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-infection
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/afflict?q=afflict+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/lame_1?q=lame

Science & Environment: The Fujiwhara Effect VS Li's Force Field

Typhoon Bolaven near Seoul and Typhoon Tembin near Taiwan
Image from HKO

I've always been fascinated by typhoons (tropical cyclones / hurricanes) and tornadoes -- mother nature's wind tricks, but it was just recently that I learnt about The Fujiwhara Effect, thanks to Typhoon Tembin and Bolaven.

My first picture in my head when I heard this term, and I believe that many of you would agree, is this...

Everyone around my age knows the famous characters of the Initial D, talented son Takumi Fujiwara and legendary racer dad Bunta Fujiwara. The manga and anime swept from Japan all cross Asia, Europe (Italy and Spain in particular) and America. Here are some YouTube videos of the anime in English, Spanish and Italian. 

But of course, it has nothing to do with Initial D. It was named after Japanese meteorologist who described the motion of vortices (whirling or spinning) in water. 

Typhoon Tembin made a Boomerang Turn due to the interaction with Typhoon Bolaven
Image from HKO

In simple words, Fujiwhara Effect is the interaction between two typhoon systems, when the larger one will control the movement the smaller one by changing its course or in rare cases, merge together with the larger one. 

Image from HKO

In some cases, there could be 3 typhoons in the interactions! Interesting!

Typhoons of 2010
Image from Wikipedia

What could be even more interesting is if we all get typhoolidays in the weekdays, which hasn't been the case  for at least two years, which is the reason why the term Li's Force Field has made its way to Wikipedia, describing the phenomenon that Hong Kong seem to be protected by an invisible force field created by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing such that no typhoon can enter, thus preventing possible typhoolidays on weekdays and financial losses.

Image from Wikipedia

If you are interested in learning more, you can read the references below, or visit Educational Material on Tropical Cyclone from Hong Kong Observatory.


Vocabulary:
vortex -- (n)[C]  (plural vortices) a mass of air or water that spins around very fast and pulls objects into its empty center
typhooliday -- (n)[C] (n)[C] A word created by Locky, meaning a holiday brought about by the hoisting of high intensity Typhoon signals
Li's Force Field -- (n)[U] Li C Lik-cheung (Chinese: 李氏力場, LCL, Li's Force Field, Lee's Force Field) is a kuso that is very popular among the Hong Kong society, which states that Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) invented a machine that could create an invisible force field over Hong Kong and prevent any Typhoon from entering Hong Kong territories. As a result, the Hong Kong Observatory would only issue a Strong Wind Signal No.3 or lower.
phenomenon -- (n)[C] (plural phenomena) something that exists and can be seen, felt, tasted, etc., especially something which is unusual or interesting

Resources:

Fujiwhara Effect @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiwhara_effect

Initial D (3rd challenge)- AE86 vs EG-6 Civic (English) Part 1  @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xugUyyt4vjs

Initial d (Takumi Vs Bunta) @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtajrFne_i8

Initial D il Film in Italiano Parte 1 @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IC3ZLZCZs

Li C Lik-cheung @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%27s_Force_Field


Educational Material on Tropical Cyclone
http://www.hko.gov.hk/informtc/tcInfoe.htm

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/vortex?q=vortex

Culture: "Typhoo-lidays", Britons and Weather @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/06/culture-typhoo-lidays-britons-and.html
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/phenomenon_1?q=phenomenon+

Young Learners & News: Babies' Do Talk??

Image from Daily Mail

Interesting article from the Daily Mail titled, Hey mum! I'm trying to tell you something: The faces babies pull aren't just adorable - they're trying to communicate. Here's what they're saying...
A really lengthy title indeed, the article itself is pretty short though, as most details are only available in the author's book, The Blossom Method.

The article introduces some of the patterns that psychotherapist and body language expert Vivien Sabel has discovered about baby's language. Although the viewpoints introduced in the article are pretty "blindingly obvious" as the Daily Mail reporter wrote, we should remember that books are meant to be for those who seek knowledge, something which is blindingly obvious to one may not be that obvious to another, thus any books will have their audience.

Image from Daily Mail

Actually, can babies really talk / communicate? Instead of thinking in terms of human, how about looking at other mammals such as the whales, giraffes and elephants? Their newborn not only instantly walk or swim, they also recognise their mothers and "communicate" with their parents through body language (or even animal speeches). Evolution has pushed these intelligent species to acquire such amazing abilities in order to survive, as the first couple of hours after birth are high time for the cubs to become predators' meals. Human babies need not fear such danger and may not have develop such basic instants, but parent-child communication remains highly possible.

Rugrats?

Image from fanpop

Any parent, let alone rationality, can tell you that they do communicate with their children in one way or another. No doubt about that. My question though, is that if the patterns observed are indeed what the author has claimed, then what does the baby mean when all these "decoded" expressions appear one after another? This is highly possible.

Image from Daily Mail

Babies seldom maintain one single expression when they are awake, then how should their changing expressions be interpreted?

Image from Daily Mail

The last thing is, even if one really can read babies' mind, does that imply the babies' wish must be fulfilled in order to help their development? You see, some parents often choose to ignore their babies' crying for food or hugs so as not to let the babies "get used to obtaining what they want too easily". If the parents can really see what their babies want now, will the babies benefit or suffer more? If babies really are that highly intelligent even at very young age, will more parents assume that the babies should also understand why their parents are not giving them food when they are hungry or hugs when they feel lonesome?

Albert Einstein
Image from paulocoelhoblog

Babies language interpretation does help, but I do hope that parents not to imagine their babies as Einstein. Consult experts if there are doubts.


Vocabulary:
blossom -- (n) [C or U] a small flower, or the small flowers on a tree or plant, hereby refer to as the process of growing up
blindingly -- (adv) extremely
predator -- (n)[C] an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals
infant -- (n)[C]a baby or a very young child



Resources:
Hey mum! I'm trying to tell you something: The faces babies pull aren't just adorable - they're trying to communicate. Here's what they're saying... @ Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2185561/Hey-mum-Im-trying-tell-The-adorable-faces-baby-pulls-attempts-communicate.html?ITO=1490

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blossom_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blindingly?q=blindingly+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/predator?q=predator+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/infant_1?q=infant+