Technology: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Hands-on Review & Tips

MILLIONS OF THANKS TO MY BELOVED WIFE

FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY PRESENT

YOU ARE AMAZING!

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9005
Image from Locky's English Playground

Actually, I have already written a detailed blog post on the new Galaxy Note 3, so if you have not read it then I will highly recommend that you do.

What I want to talk about today is the hands-on experience and offer you some personal tips on how you can make your Note 3 perform better.

Let's start with what I like about this phablet.


THE PROS
Ultra High Speed Boot-Up
My first impression of this phone is that it is lightning fast at start! Booting up the phone takes only about 8 seconds! Whether this has to do with the improved CPU, 3Gb RAM or the streamlined Android 4.3, I have no idea, but I am genuinely in love with this speed.

Responsiveness
Hard to describe this with words, but upon selection and button press, you get your apps launched and displayed on the screen much more faster than in the Note 2. Note 2 loads fast, but it was nothing as compared to this. Will the speed drops when Note 3 gets older? I don't know, but my 1-year-old Note 2 is still performing reasonably faster than many other phones.

TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0
Image from Locky's English Playground

Screen
Putting the Note 2 side-by-side with the Note 3, I can see that there is a huge difference in colour and sharpness. Again, not a fair judgement considering the Note 2 is already 1 year old and the pixels might have begun to 'burn'. I hope someone who has a brand new Note 2 can do a comparison in this aspect.

Side Metal Strip 
Apart from the screen, I really like the straight metal strips. I think it will still be easily scratched though, which is why I will recommend that you leave those plastic stickers on if you are planning to resell your phone in the future.

Black Premium-Looking Pleather Back
Image from Locky's English Playground

Back Pleather Cover
First heard of this term Pleather from Zedomax, which is obviously a portmanteau of 'plastic + leather', and I like it! Previously I was afraid that it will get dirty easily, but lucky that I was wrong. It was a leathery plastic cover and it looks absolutely premium! However, Zedomax says that there is a difference between the pleather in the white and the black phones, watch the video below:

This could be the reason why the black version is selling about HK$300 / US$38.5 more expensive in Hong Kong.


THE CONS
Caseless

Cutting Edge Case
Image from Locky's English Playground

The problem with the Note 3 is that it doesn't come with a case. Even though the pleather back is a good protection, you don't want to scratch any parts of the phone, right? Because this phone is still very new, there aren't too many phone case available just yet. Since I am a person who will only go for a complete transparent phone case, I decided to cut the Note 2 case so that it can fit the Note 3 for temporary sake. I have ordered new cases from Taobao but that will take around 6 days to arrive.

Severe Battery Drain

S Voice
Image from Locky's English Playground

Application Manager
Image from Locky's English Playground

No joke, I had about 30% drain in less than 3 hours! Going this rate, my phone will be powerless in 10 hours or less. But panic not, because the same happened to Galaxy Note 2 and S4 and I have managed to solve the problem. After fixing the problem, my phone has lost 20% in just 6 hours.

What is wrong with it then? Well, the culprit is ... S Voice!

I like this voice assistant function so maybe when my battery is full I will use it, but for now, I will disable it for good.


To disable it, simply head to Settings--> General--> Application manager.

Swipe 3 times to the left and find ALL. Under ALL, find S Voice and select.

You will see a Disable button, press that and your battery will be as long-lasting as ever!

Disable S Voice here
Image from Locky's English Playground

Tips:

1. Get the black version for a better leathery feel.
2. Leave the side stickers on the metal strips for better protection.
3. Get a case ASAP, a completely transparent one will keep the original look visible.
4. Cut an old Note 2 case and fit your Note 3 in it for temporary protection.
5. Disable S Voice for much much much better battery life.
6. Download App Ops (see below)

We often talk about the seriousness of apps asking for permissions which are really unnecessary. Doing so, the app developing companies will gain access to your phone's data and even control of your phone entirely, stealing everything they want.

On smartphones such as the Note 3 running Android 4.3, you can now have a say in which app should gain what permissions after installation. All you have to do is download App Ops from the XDA-Developers website. This app works on both unrooted and rooted phones because it is in fact a hidden app from the Google Android 4.3. This app is just a shortcut that brings it back up.

App Ops
Image from Locky's English Playground

After installation, run the app, then choose the app you want to control its permission. For example, if I don't want the Facebook app to read my contacts, I simply switch off the button of Read contacts.

If you have time, look into those social apps and you'll find a bunch of permissions which are potentially dangerous for hackers. Play around with this App Ops and have a safe Note 3 experience!

Resources:

Technology: Welcome! Samsung Galaxy Note 3!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/09/technology-welcome-samsung-galaxy-note-3.html

Galaxy Note 3 White vs. Black Pleather Feel Test! @ YouTube

http://youtu.be/gTwO6k1Cr8I

Galaxy Note 3 White vs. Black Pleather Feel Test! @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTwO6k1Cr8I

【DoubleX】Onekey open android4.3 App-Ops-Control all Access（work whitout root）@ XDA-Developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2379030

Science & Technology: Geeky Facts About Smartphones We All Should Know

The world's favourite camera said I am made by SONY
Image from Apple

iPhone 5s' CPU A7 Chip Is Made By Samsung

Inside the heart of every iPhone, there is a Samsung
Image from ChipWork

This is one of those movie storyline in which two men who have always wanted to kill each other end up being the offspring of the same mother! Inside the heart of every iPhone 5s, AGAIN there is a Samsung chip.

Since blood is thicker than water, they should just stop suing each other all together.

WHY??? WHY???!!!!! WHY DO I HAVE THE BLOOD OF SAMSUNG IN ME???
WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME???!!!

Well, actually no, not only the blood of Samsung, but also Sony, another Android phone maker.


iPhone 5s' Camera Sensor Is Made By Sony

It's a Sony! Camera sensor inside the iPhone 5s.
Image from ChipWorks

People are saying that the iPhone 5s back-facing camera is doing better than the one in iPhone 5, well, you've got to thank SONY for making that bigger 8-megapixel sensor.

"Sony has been on a roll with its camera image sensors, and a close look by ChipWorks shows that the iPhone 5 uses one of its products for the main camera.
A close-up photo shows the Sony brand name on the 8-megapixel sensor at the heart of the camera.
It's not a big surprise: Sony is very competitive with image sensors these days, and former Sony CEO Howard Stringer let slip earlier this year that Sony was supplying camera technology to Apple."

Sony Xperia Z and its 13 Mp Camera
Image from GSMArena

But SONY, you are mean, your own Xperia Z is using 13 Mp camera!!! By giving iPhone 5s the inferior you are also promoting your phone!


iPhone 5s TouchID Has Been Officially Hacked!

Yes, it has so been hacked, but it isn't that easy as expected. You'll need to take a high resolution photo and turn it into a mould for making that fingerprint copy. Still, a hack is a hack. Once you get used to those steps, everything becomes easy, eventually.

Well done, Germans!

Here, we might not be able to make our very own fingerprint copies, but we can definitely learn from the quote below. It is strikingly awakening!

Image from Forbes

The moral of the story -- We should all learn to be smart whatever we do.


Galaxy S4 In Gold

Image from Samsung Update & Twitter

I don't know what you think but I think gold phones isn't my cup of tea. I think Samsung knows that, so they only release the gold version in the Middle East. Does it just look gold or is it real gold? That would be an interesting question to find out, but if you really want a phone plated with real gold, it should just set you back about HK$3000 or US$384. Ask your nearby jewellery shop if you are interested and they will be more than happy to do it for you.


Galaxy Note 3 Without 32Gb in Hong Kong

Image from Samsung

I really want to know why the international version in Hong Kong only gets 16Gb instead of 32Gb at the price of a 32Gb phone? This is incredible! I will not pay stupid money for 16Gb less. I will wait for the price to drop to a fair price before considering.

Vocabulary:
geeky -- (adj) informal boring and not fashionable:
blood is thicker than water  -- saying said to emphasize that you believe that family connections are always more important than other types of relationship


Resources:

Samsung Introduces Galaxy S 4 Gold Edition @ Samsung Updates
http://samsung-updates.com/samsung-introduces-galaxy-s-4-gold-edition/

Samsung says gold Galaxy S4 was not copying Apple, released before iPhone 5S announcement @ Android and Me
http://androidandme.com/2013/10/news/samsung-says-gold-galaxy-s4-was-not-copying-apple-released-before-iphone-5s-announcement/

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 DUOS Leaks, Confirms Snapdragon 800 Chipset @ GSMInsider
http://gsminsider.com/2013/09/samsung-galaxy-note-3-sm-n9002-handset-leaks/

hacking iphone 5S touchID @ YouTube

http://youtu.be/HM8b8d8kSNQ

German Hacker Group Says It's Broken The iPhone's TouchID Fingerprint Reader @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/09/22/german-hackers-say-theyve-broken-the-iphones-touchid-fingerprint-reader/

Sony sensor found inside iPhone 5s @ CNet
http://www.cnet.com.au/sony-sensor-found-inside-iphone-5s-339345510.htm?feed=rss

Inside the iPhone 5s @ Chipworks Blog
http://www.chipworks.com/en/technical-competitive-analysis/resources/blog/inside-the-iphone-5s/

iPhone 5 camera powered by Sony sensor @ Apple - CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57518444-37/iphone-5-camera-powered-by-sony-sensor/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/geeky?q=geeky
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blood-is-thicker-than-water?q=blood+is+thicker+than+water

Culture & Academic Research: Historic Buildings, What Are They Really?

The East side of the Legislative Council and HSBC in 1946 with the Peak in background
Image from tressillian photoblog

Interesting questions!

Must historic buildings / structures be old? If they are relatively new but are symbolic enough to represent a place, are these historic buildings?

Let's find out!


What Is A Historic Building?

Old Halls @ The University of Hong Kong, built in 1915, confirmed Grade 1 historic building on 18th Dec 2009.
Not a bad Christmas present
Image from wikimedia.org

We often talk about historic or historical buildings but exactly what are they? I suppose that many of us will immediately name buildings which are of a very old age. This is a safe choice, but don't be too shallow, because age is NOT the only determinant, and that is not the whole story.

Queen's Pier, then aged 50, which was given a de facto approval for its demolition.
The Year of Pig to the slaughter.
Image by Leo Cheung @ Wikimedia, taken on 17th May 2007

Hong Kong is a fast pace city of very high demand for land. Old(er) buildings often have to make ways for newer ones to satisfy the seemingly infinite appetite for residential and commercial properties, thus it is reasonable to think that old(er) buildings have not always been given the opportunity to get old. Some of these buildings are rich in culture and therefore deserve to be protected, or at least enlisted as protected, as soon as possible. This could be one of the main reasons why we are able to see very young buildings, some of which of less than 40 years old, already classified as historic buildings by the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong.

Image from amo.gov.hk
Captured on 30th Sep, 2013

Here's the official definition of a historic building by the Antiquities and Monuments Office,

"Historic buildings are symbols of our cultural identity and continuity which can always give us a sense of wonder. They also carry various kinds of academic and aesthetic value. "

Here, the keywords are "symbols of our cultural identity", "continuity", "wonder", "academic", "aesthetic" and "value", all but the word "time". Thus, it is clear as day that "time" isn't a determining factor in the classification in the case of Hong Kong's historic buildings.

Hung Shing Temple and Fuk Tak Temple, near No. 8 Shau Kei Wan Road, Shau Kei Wan, H.K.,
built in 1969 and 1980 respectively
Image from HKHeadline

Even Fuk Tak Temple was considered in 2010, although not being awarded any Grades.


What Do Grade 1, 2 and 3 Mean?

I like this part, because I don't need to write anything.

Image from amo.gov.hk

What Are Some Of The Historic Buildings In Hong Kong?

Tsang Tai Uk, Sha Tin, New Territories, built 1847-1867, confirmed as Grade 1 only after nearly 2 decades on 18 Dec 2009,
a little way too slow, don't you think?
Image from David randomwire

There are just too many to be listed!!

The Antiquities and Monument Office has a full list assessment of 1,444 historic buildings posted on their official page, if you are interested, you can click here or find the link in the Resources section below to download. But I have discovered something deep, something which might just well be the Office's top recommendations.

A very special city needs a very special definition for the term "historic". From the Antiquities and Monuments Office's definition of historic buildings,

"The types of historic buildings are varied in Hong Kong, ranging from traditional Chinese ancestral halls and Western residences to functional structures such as waterworks facilities. The architectural styles, selections of sites and building materials as well as types of buildings to be constructed etc. are all governed by social beliefs, traditions, ideas and cultures. The study of historic buildings can reveal the artistic and human messages embraced in them."

Top 3 on the list of 1,444
Image from aab.gov.hk

From the above description, we can see that the Antiquities and Monument Office places traditional Chinese ancestral halls before anything else, and if you look at the list of the 1,444 historic buildings in building assessment (as of 10 September 2013), ancestral halls-related structures also come in top 3!!!

Is this something that even Dan Brown could have missed?

Kat Hing Wai, Shrine, Kam Tin, Yuen Long, N.T.,
the Wai was built between 1465 and 1487, the wall was 1662-1722,
granted Grade 1 collectively on 31 Aug 2010
Image from discoverhongkong.com

Must A Historic Building Be A Building?

Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir, Memorial Stone, Tai Tam Reservoir Road, Tai Tam, Hong Kong,
build in 1918, was declared Grade 1 and as a monument in 1994,
an example of a historic building that is not actually a building
Image from Wikipedia

Again from the same description above, 

"The types of historic buildings are varied in Hong Kong, ranging from traditional Chinese ancestral halls and Western residences to functional structures such as waterworks facilities. 

Since a historic building can be a functional structure, even if it is not a building, it is still included in the consideration. Thus the answer is "No! A historic building need not actually be a building."

What Could Become Historic Buildings And Structures In The Near Future?

The Tian Tan Buddha
Image by foongpc

The Tian Tan Buddha, aka The Big Buddha, built in 1993 as an extension of Po Lin Monastery built in 1906, has yet to be listed as an official historic building with grades by the Antiquities and Monument Office.

"The Buddha is 34 metres (112 ft) tall, weighs 250 metric tons (280 short tons), and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007. It reputedly can even be seen from as far away as Macau on a clear day. " -- Wikipedia

Po Lin Monastery
Image from Wikipedia

In fact, the entire Po Lin Monastery has NOT been listed as 'graded' historic building despite its old age, its "cultural identity and continuity", and "wonder", and "academic and aesthetic value"!! Don't forget economical value and the Hong Kong image.

Po Lin Shut, Lower Keung Shan, Lantau Island, built in 1916,
Grade 3 confirmed on 20 Sept 2010
Image from Medalene and Tachibana san

If there is any part of the monastery that received attention, it was the Po Lin Shut built in 1916 and was only given Grade 3 in 2010.

That said, a historic building which has yet to receive a grade from the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong does not imply they fail to qualify as 'historic building'.

I am very sure they will eventually be enlisted as historic buildings, but I can't tell when exactly.

Do you think the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery should be included in the Grades of Historic Buildings in Hong Kong? Or leave them out because no one is going to tear them down anyway? Are they also the historic buildings in your mind and heart? My first realistic water-painting is exactly the Big Buddha.

Leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts.

Also, take some photos next time you walk around Hong Kong and who knows, they may just be the next historic buildings on the list.

What Is The Difference Between Historic Buildings And Historical Buildings?

Historic VS Historical
245 : 38
Historic Buildings win!
Image from COCA

The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) tells us that "historic buildings" occurs 245 times as opposed to 38 times of "historical buildings", which means "historic buildings" is 6.4 times more popular than "historical buildings" in American English.

Image from BNC

Similarly, the British National Corpus shows 30 results for "historic building" versus 3 results for "historical building", which means "historic buildings" is 10 times more popular than "historical buildings" in British English.

Image from BNC

It is thus obvious that both terms are used with preference in "historic buildings".


Vocabulary:
symbolic -- (adj) representing something else:
shallow -- (adj) not showing serious or careful thought:
determinant -- (n) formal  something that controls or affects what happens in a particular situation:
demolition -- (n) the act of destroying something such as a building:
aesthetic -- (adj) describes an object or a work of art that shows great beauty:
clear as day -- very easy to understand:
Chinese ancestral hall -- (n) (Chinese: 祠堂; pinyin: Cítáng or Chinese: 宗祠; pinyin: Zōng Cí) or lineage temple is a site of ancestor worship in Chinese culture. Ancestral halls are closely linked to Confucian culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety.


Resources:
Antiquities and Monuments Office @ Leisure and Cultural Services Department
http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/built.php

List of 1,444 historic buildings with assessment results @ Information on 1444 Historic Buildings - Antiquities Advisory Board
http://www.aab.gov.hk/form/AAB-SM-chi.pdf

Queen's Pier @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Pier

Court ruling clears way for Queen's Pier dismantling @ The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=51043&sid=14893111&con_type=1&d_str=20070811&sear_year=2007

Dan Brown @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown

Tian Tan Buddha @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha

Po Lin Monastery @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_Lin_Monastery

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/symbolic?q=symbolic+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shallow_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/determinant?q=determinant+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/demolish_1?q=demolition+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/aesthetic?q=aesthetic+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_hall

Usage & Academic Research: Describing Percentage -- A Corpus Approach

How to describe percentage?
Image from ggpht

Percentage, percentage, percentage, something that we see, we use, we ignore, we love and we hate. Whatever your feelings towards them are, you cannot escape from them, especially in report writing.

I have a few questions in my mind about describing percentage in English, and so I decided to find my answer through a corpus approach using both the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).

(Since this is not the first time I talk about BNC and COCA, I hope you still remember how to use them. If not, please refer to my earlier entries listed in the Resources section below.)


Highest / Largest / Biggest Percentage?

Do we say "the highest percentage", "the largest percentage" or "the biggest percentage"?

The simple answer is, all three of them have been used, but in terms of frequency,

Adjectives \ Corpus	COCA	BNC
highest	298	20
largest	164	6
biggest	25	3

"the highest percentage" is more common than "the largest percentage" than "the biggest percentage" both in British and American English.


"Of x percent" / "At x percent"?

Now, it really depends on your sentence structure for this question, but at least we can see from the numbers that they are both used in British and American English, with "of x percent" being more popular.

extract of "Of x percent"
Image from COCA

extract of "At x percent"
Image from COCA

What Other Prepositions Go With "Percent"?

Oh many many, but among them, 'versus' is pretty interesting.

Search Preposition within 4 words to the left of 'percent'
Image from COCA

the general structure of 'versus' with 'percent' is,

x% (of A) versus y% (of B)

Image from cornell.edu

eg. The retention rate of Cornell’s M.R.P. program was 91% of the total enrolled students in August 2006 versus 59% in August 2011.

Other than 'versus', 'compared with' and 'as opposed to' are also possible.



Resources:

Academic Research: Corpus-based Analysis of Whatsapp Group Chat @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/academic-research-corpus-based-analysis.html

Academic Research: What are the top phrasal verbs to learn?  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/03/academic-research-what-are-top-phrasal.html

Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 1  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/08/usage-academic-research-differences-in.html

Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 2 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/08/usage-academic-research-differences-in_27.html

Usage: "No" & "Not"? Is That Even A Problem? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/03/usage-no-not-is-that-even-problem.html

Song: Hey Mario -- Patent Pending

Image from YouTube

A hard-working student of mine named Rita nicely completed her song recommendation assignment and emailed it to me together with a couple of questions about the song. Since the song is really cool and the questions are pretty decent, I'm turning it into a blog entry to share with everyone.

I know you think you love her but dude it's such a bummer how you chase that girl around You've been fighting all her battles if she's really worth the hassle you'd be living in the castle by now And it makes me sick how you break these bricks for a girl that barely knows you exist Now you're tripping on mushrooms just for fun  Dude I think you've got a problem Mario get your ($$$$) together bro You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives Just let her  go Mario you're a next level bro  and she's a jump too short when the clock is running low Hey Mario  get your ($$$$) together Hey Mario  or you'll chase this ($$$$) forever Warp zone friend zone high score no more stalking this chick in a Koopa-Troopa town Live life easy like Luigi ain't never let a HO get him down Let Koopa keep her bro grab a flower and go we'll jump the flag pole and light up the night Hit rainbow road with toad we spinning them tires and spitting hot fire Mario get your ($$$$) together bro You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives Just let her  go Mario you're a next level bro  But the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code You're a plumber, a doctor, a race car driver,  an athlete, a spaceman, a super smash survivor,  you've got coins like mad get a bachelor pad  Down in cocoa beach where the hunnies at Yeah get up get up get off the floor she's not the one worth dying for Mario get your ($$$$) together bro You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives Just let her  go Mario you're a next level bro  and she's a jump too short when the clock is running low Hey Mario  get your ($$$$) together bro You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives Just let her  go Mario you're a next level bro  But the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code get your ($$$$) together Hey Mario  or you'll chase this ($$$$) forever

What is the meaning of... you're a next level bro ?

Image from YouTube

As we all know, the Super Mario games have many different levels. If you are at a next level, you are better, more superior. In this case, the line means Mario is more superior than the Princess.


What is the meaning of... she's a jump too short when the clock is running low

Image from YouTube

When Mario jumps too short, he falls into red hot lava or down the sky and he dies.

Since the Mario game has time limit, when the clock is running low, he has little time left. When the time is up, Mario dies.

"She is a jump-too-short-when-the-clock-is-running-low" means that she is a girl who will get you kill either way, so she's not worth it, as the lyrics go "You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives" and "she's not the one worth dying for".

What is the meaning of... the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code?

Image from YouTube

Here actually, "Peach" is actually not "Peach", actually the singer makes a malapropism --a word play trick of the word "Bitch", meaning, the bitch has been cheating on Mario, having relationships with other men, and my guess is, King Koopa. How can I be so sure that "Peach" isn't referring to Princess Peach? Well, we don't normally add "the" in front of people's names, do we?

King Koopa
Image media.screened.com

"I ain't talking code" directly means "I'm not talking about computer programming code", since Super Mario games are programmed using computer languages, which most likely means "I'm not joking or talking rubbish".

Then again, since the songs has many BEEP sounds to cover the actual foul language, so I won't be surprised if the word "code" actually refers to "code brown", meaning poop, droppings, faeces or shit in hospital English.

Good job Rita! Keep up with the good work!


Vocabulary:
bummer -- (n)[S] offensive  something that is very annoying or not convenient:
hassle -- (n) [C or U] informal (a situation causing) difficulty or trouble:
HO -- (n)[C] another spelling for whore -- (n)[C] offensive  woman whose behaviour in her sexual relationships is considered immoral; old-fashioned a female prostitute
malapropism  -- (n)[U] the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance.
code brown -- (n)[S] Patient has defecated in the bed. Used as a "tongue-in-cheek" among hospital staff.


Resources:
Patent Pending - Hey Mario (BRAND NEW SONG!!!) @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZeR-vxREvw

Malapropism @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism

Hospital_emergency_codes @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_emergency_codes#Other_Codes

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bummer?q=bummer
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ho
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/whore?q=whore

Science & Technology: Fun Facts About Cars We All Should Know

Audi A3 Sportback
Winner of the WhatCar? Car of the Year 2013 Award
Image from Telegraph

I'm curious. Since I have been practising driving recently, I started to be curious about topics related to cars and driving, especially the mechanics of a car.

What is Rallying?

Some many years ago when Jeremy Clarkson was still young...

Did the British really invent rallying? I have no idea, but I'm sure that other countries will disagree with Jeremy.

What is rallying? That' a long story that goes back to the first Monte Carlo Rally in January 1911, I can't help but going into Wikipedia to get my answer. We all should in fact, but here's a summary:

Asphalt / Tarmac Image from Wikipedia

Gravel Image from Wikipedia

Rallying is a car race going round specific courses or on all sorts of surfaces and terrains such as asphalt / tarmac, gravel, dessert, snow or ice with much emphasis on timekeeping.


What is Drag Racing?

Quite simply, a race between 2 cars in a straight lines at a fixed distance, using whatever cars you've got, original or modified.


How Does Steering Work?

Centre of turning circle Image from HowStuffWork?

Rack-and-Pinion Steering Wheel turns at different angle Image from HowStuffWork?

This is hugely complicated and I am tempted to simplify things here, but I can't. HowStuffWorks? has an excellent detailed diagrammed explanation, so you are advised to read that.

Recirculating-ball Steering Image from HowStuffWork?

Ball bearings fill the thread Image from HowStuffWork?

Unless you want something very visual and simple, and you can watch the following video till the 2:00min mark.

How Formula 1 Steering Wheels Work?

Let's welcome world-class F1 driver Lewis Hamilton for the explanation.

Coming up in the next blog entry, we'll talk about electric vehicles.

Vocabulary:
terrain -- (n)[U] an area of land, when considering its natural features:
asphalt / tarmac --(n)(also tarmacadam) trademark (an area of) black material used for building roads, etc., that consists of tar mixed with small stones
gravel -- (n)[U] small rounded stones, often mixed with sand:


Resources:

Rallying @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rallying

BBC: Rallying and British Attitude- Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld @YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG9PjMBk4o8

Drag Racing @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_racing

Drag Racing - Top Gear - Series 19 Episode 2 - BBC Two @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_c1H60zlW0

How Car Steering Works @ How Stuff Works?
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/steering.htm

Lewis Hamilton explains how Formula 1 steering wheels work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM6_BfZGElk

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/terrain?q=terrain+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tarmac?q=tarmac+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gravel?q=gravel+