Andre

I know it's kinda late to announce something supposed to be today but for those timezones not yet going to sleep soon, here it is: today is "Blog Action Day". If it wouldn't have been for other blogs writing about it, I wouldn't have known there is such a thing.

The purpose of this action is to get attention to a certain topic; to be achieved when thousands of blogs publish posts about and discuss the same issue on the same day.

After "oceanpark" and "disneyland" comes "wifi wonderland". I wonder what will be the next title for Hong Kong. According to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), 5,228 Wi-fi hotspots had been installed at 3,055 locations through the city, making it an international leader in providing wireless broadband.

This is nice for those in need of a quick online session but it's not to be confused with other technologies like mobile phone network-based such as 3G. WiFi restricts you to your currently logged-in hotspot and moving away from it will get you disconnected. Furthermore, WiFi is quite a "fragile" radio signal such as a simple wall may reflect or break the signal with ease. Navigating within the theoretically operational radius becomes a challenge in a concrete and steel environment.

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This is about some old notes I found regarding topics I wanted to blog about but didn't have the time for it and later I couldn't as I was doing extensive changes to BlogSpace. They are mostly in a chronological order but in some cases not really up-to-date or relevant anymore. I just felt I should post them here anyways despite belonging to the old Andre - Archive blog. Better late than never.

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For as much as the term "googlishly" doesn't make sense, so doesn't Google Maps' (for mobile devices) version counting.

Running version 1.2.0.13 on my HP iPAQ hw6965 (Windows Mobile 5), it works all well until I zoom out too fast and too far. Then this error message pops up: "You must install a new version to use this programme."

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It never ceases to horrify me how reckless people can behave, totally ignoring their environment and other people's feelings. In Hong Kong, with a smoking ban (in most places both in- and outdoors) enforced and heavy fees for spitting and littering, bad behavior is gradually (though slowly) becoming a bad memory. While older ones are more difficult (sometimes impossible) to convince, many "traditional" behaviors are received with a feeling of disgust by the younger generations.

Forgiving the occasional faux-pas and with mainland (China) busloads of tourists being tought "how to behave" (at least that is for those with destination Disneyland), the remaining nuisances are now mainly the road traffic (why honking when it doesn't move anyway?), the government's historic buildings demolishing plans, and young own-the-world-and-don't-care-a-dime backpackers.

The bloke below was resting on the MTR train's floor at the wheelchair parking lot and posed a public hazard for everyone. While it may be funny to imagine in a cartoon style someone jumping through the closing door, stepping on this gweilo and crashing the opposite door's window (what a face that would be), it's nevertheless just plain reckless.