Andre

Andre http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre Looking for new challenges... andre 2012-02-06T00:00:14Z MJ Memorial tweets http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/960_mj_memorial_tweets.html My <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson" target="_blank">Michael Jackson</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_of_Michael_Jackson#Memorial_service" target="_blank">Memorial service</a> coverage by using <a href="http://twitter.com/andremartin" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, sorted by oldest (first in order) tweet on top: <ul> <li>Why does all the TV coverage from the US always looks so shitty in quality? Blurry and worse.. YouTube looks better than a US live coverage.</li> <li>ATV was mentioning Twitter & Internet in general, some impressive numbers.. Would have been good opportunity to introduce their own account.</li> <li>I believe the last and only time the world stood still, glued to the TV waiting for something to happen was when man set foot onto the moon.</li> <li>I guess the next similar event might be something like Madonna, moon again or Mars. Expert guesses suggest the world stands still right now.</li> <li>It is actually an excellent test to see how the media and the Internet in particular holds up to the challenge as mankind becomes connected.</li> <li>I wonder what % of the MJ Memorial followers' mass is actually the part which follows the event because of its mass, thus enlarging it more.</li> <li>In the age of combined TV and Internet coverage, I think the last Pope did not do too bad in the ratings when it comes to death ceremonies..</li> <li>As usual when tragedy struck, people are more famous afterwards. With many unpublished tracks, reworks, MJ'll be richer than ever, in death.</li> <li>RT @<a href="http://twitter.com/TechCurious" target="_blank">TechCurious</a>: ... wow look at all the hot spots from the MJ streaming worldwide on this Akamai map! <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ytwysn" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/ytwysn</a></li> <li>RT @<a href="http://twitter.com/olgs" target="_blank">olgs</a>: RT @<a href="http://twitter.com/william_ma" target="_blank">william_ma</a>: We are WITNESSING history! This could be the event we go back and say geographic limited broadcasting TV is DEAD!</li> <li>I am really looking forward for "the day after the Michael Jackson Memorial" statistics, reports and analytics of the event and its traffic.</li> <li>A couple of funny but also good harsh lines so far. I expect any moment now the Pope on stage declaring MJ a saint for bringing world peace.</li> <li>I was close with my "saint" tweet: that US Congress lady declared him a national hero with that bill, even if very unlikely it doesn't pass.</li> <li>TVB Pearl was the only station to go with the live coverage through to the end. Glad I kept switching between ATV and all TVBs all evening..</li> <li>Funny & interesting to read how US President Obama got shoved aside by the current global Michael Jackson "mania": <a href="http://tinyurl.com/mb4kbt" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/mb4kbt</a></li> <li>Zooming live over Los Angeles in one of the news helicopters. They got a great camera onboard, feels like I stand on the street by myself :)</li> <li>Reading MJ's Memorial created a lot but not as much as expected online traffic. I doubt the result counted by 1 agency. What about restream?</li> </ul> <div align="center"> <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/MJ_traffic.jpg" /> </div> Entertainment 2009-07-08T18:29:40Z andre Who hears a tree tweet? http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/957_who_hears_a_tree_tweet.html If tweets, those 140 character messages sent on the <a href="http://twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a> service, are in fact nothing more than status updates and we personify objects, events and actions, then anything measurable can tweet. The question everyone answers with their tweets is "What are you doing?" The answer to that should be another counter-question: "Do we care to read?" Even a simple tree could tweet about what it sees all day, how it interacts with insects, animals and the wind, how it grows, sheds leaves.. A private tweet to me by my laundry machine might still be useful to me at least but does the world need to know? Isn't it enough already when I tell it to all in my own tweet stream? Fictional accounts like <a href="http://twitter.com/DarthVader" target="_blank">@DarthVader</a> are fun to read, and so are real, human accounts like <a href="http://twitter.com/_syma_" target="_blank">@_Syma_</a>. Both can't tweet on their own and thus rely on real people who write their stories. However, this is only so long fun as it stays within the account's personality. Using Twitter as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging" target="_blank">micro-blog</a>, the daily life of a tree indeed could turn into a beautiful story when carefully written - with a professional level of children books or poetry in mind. Otherwise it would turn into a dead branch of the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twitterverse" target="_blank">twitterverse</a>. Why not let an atom whine about its breakup? Besides the usual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)" target="_blank">spam</a> that today affects every web service that accepts any form of input and account creation, the most annoying form of tweeting is its abuse as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messenger" target="_blank">instant messenger</a>. Twitter supports tweet replies which is a great tool to comment or answer someone's question. However, it terribly fails when entire accounts are consisting of nothing more than replies. This might still be useful to that particular account holder for a specific purpose but it is a turn-off for those seeking more content value. This is in particular annoying when such accounts follow one's own account and expect a follow-back. Probably the biggest misunderstanding of anything Twitter is the concept of following, where accounts can follow each other to receive updates of the others' latest tweets. The common sense interpretaion of the follower feature should be that people can follow (about the same as "sign up for") others because they are interested in the content of the one they follow. Unfortunately, counters (numbers viewable by the public) have a hypnotic influence on most and thus the race to get the highest count of followers was on the moment the feature was introduced. A couple of accounts now have over a million followers, led by the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/16/ashton.cnn.twitter.battle/index.html" target="_blank">public battle</a> between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Kutcher" target="_blank">Ashton Kutcher</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/aplusk" target="_blank">@aplusk</a>) and <a href="http://www.cnn.com" target="_blank">CNN</a> Breaking News (<a href="http://twitter.com/cnnbrk" target="_blank">@cnnbrk</a>). If the number of followers cannot be taken as yardstick to the importance of a certain account, then maybe re-tweets (rt) might do so. As the name suggests, re-tweeting refers to sending again someone else's tweet. This could be a simple copy led by a "rt" note and the original author's Twitter account name, or also joined by an own comment. Re-tweets are usually shortened in writing style or even content to fit within the 140 character limit of tweets but still carry the same message. If someone - no matter famous or totally unknown - tweets something of great value or importance, it will be picked up by others - not necessarily followers - and re-tweeted. Gaining momentum, this message begins to appear on trend-spotting radars and can <a href="http://current.com/items/89730854_twitter-first-off-the-mark-with-hudson-plane-crash-coverage.htm" target="_blank">break news worldwide</a> within minute, long before any conventional news media picks it up through traditional channels. Even with no WiFi or other Internet connection available, thanks to its SMS compatibility, Twitter users can send tweets from their mobile phone from <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gd5KpOLBPELdU7yODAe_rBn0qRJg" target="_blank">wherever they are</a> either next or inside the happening. Twitter might well be on track to create a new communication and expression medium, something like the telephone and TV combined: simultaneously broadcasting and receiving anything from anywhere. Twitter just might be the ultimate tool to give a voice to everything known to mankind. Web Culture 2009-04-22T18:29:54Z andre Kids lack pc education http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/956_kids_lack_pc_education.html Friends gave their children (11 & 3) a pc, loaded with daddy's download tools, no (child) protection other than some hacked anti-virus and firewall but they expect the older kid to use the pc for studies. Furthermore, they expect the school to teach about how to use a computer - not only to turn it on but also to stay safe. Of course they also complain that the kids spend too much time playing online games - the 3year old can't read yet but navigates around the web like an adult. No matter if the schools offer appropriate computer teaching or not, the problem is the combination of parents' lack of knowledge and/or interest about the relation of their kids with computers as well as the well too frequent lax attitude towards illegal copies. Asking for a 200HKD complete computer protection is already too much. My experience of most parents' lesson to their kids: "get cheap pc, don't pay for software, download illegally, no need to protect, discover by yourself". Parents and (many) schools play a convenient game of pushing the ball about who to charge with teaching "Internet"; same as they do with "sex ed". The punchline here would be that both actually must go hand in hand for some chapters. Reading recent Hong Kong news like "<a href="http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=77642&sid=22508101&con_type=1&d_str=20090202" target="_blank">School sees red at little boy blue</a>" are quite disturbing. Even if parents are capable of teaching everything they should, there is still to consider the "time versus convenience". When the choice comes down to kids vs. TV drama, you may easily guess what the preferred choice is. This isn't just a problem in Hong Kong: I remember when I was in primary school, one teacher always complained parents abusing the school as a daycare center. Parents, schools and kids are a doomed triangle: everyone is expecting the other one to do everything but nobody is doing anything what they are supposed to do. People 2009-03-29T19:57:02Z andre Follower or Friend? http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/955_follower_or_friend.html A thought about "followers" on <a href="http://twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a> versus "friends" on about most other social (network) services. There is something seriously wrong with the usage of "friend" when people clean up their social lists by removing 100s of "unknown friends". If those you follow on Twitter become real friends, it's because you have learned something about them or have communicated with them first. You "follow" people/services because you are interested in their updates. I personally don't believe in the blind following out of courtesy. What I like about Twitter is that it is about "followers" and not like other sites where the whole world is your - often unknown - "friend". "Thx for follow" tweets can be annoying but when they are links to "thx for follow" pages with video and plenty of ads, it becomes terrible. You can <a href="http://twitter.com/andremartin" target="_blank">follow me on Twitter</a> - and just maybe we might become friends. Web People Culture 2009-03-22T13:12:54Z andre Public privacy http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/940_public_privacy.html Some people still don't understand that there is no such thing as "public privacy". Opening online banking accounts on a public terminal such as in coffee shops is NOT a good idea, despite the acces code generator (<a href="http://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/hk/personal/sfc/device" target="_blank">Security Device</a>) required for logging in and executing transactions. <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/public_privacy.jpg" /> People 2008-09-16T05:45:10Z andre Wally discovers MLM http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/939_wally_discovers_mlm.html <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_(Dilbert_character)" target="_blank">Wally</a> encounters a popular scenario of many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing" target="_blank">MLM</a> businesses during a job interview. <a id="res_477" href="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/1003.strip.gif"><img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/previews-med/1003.strip.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-09-29/" target="_blank">Dilbert.com</a> Personal note: this comic strip does not apply to all MLM businesses but unfortunately its story is far too common and sheds a bad light onto this business field. Various 2008-09-16T05:34:58Z andre Typhoon traffic http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/944_typhoon_traffic.html If you are a hardcore biker and always annoyed by the traffic in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a>, scared to share the lane with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Tramways" target="_blank">tram</a> and don't want to ride in the middle of the night, just wait for the next <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon" target="_blank">typhoon</a> to hit the city. With most inner-city areas still pretty safe, just make sure you got a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bike" target="_blank">mountain bike</a> to jump the occassional garbage. <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/typhoon_nuri.jpg" /> <a href="http://blogs.andre.lu/">Central</a>, 7.34pm - <a href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=typhoon%20nuri%20hong%20kong&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn" target="_blank">Typhoon Nuri</a> Various 2008-08-23T13:20:26Z andre Garbage man: Ad gone wrong? http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/941_garbage_man_ad_gone_wrong.html <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/garbage_man.jpg" align="right" />In high-density places like <a href="http://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/hk/personal/sfc/device" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a>, where advertisement is everywhere, you get the occasional surprise where you wonder if that was intention or someone didn't check the result after a botched planning. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR" target="_blank">MTR</a> is known for <a href="http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/5391" target="_blank">allowing advertisement on virtually every inch</a> of their stations to milk every cent out of their deals. I wonder though if this one was intentional, the guy supposed to jump out of the garbage. Culture 2008-08-20T13:56:59Z andre Dude, where's the pool? http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/932_dude_wheres_the_pool.html Poor people of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Chung" target="_blank">Tung Chung</a>: sweating away in the hot summer temperatures, they are too far on the outskirts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a> and their place is too young (not taking into account the tiny fishing village it once was) as a town to have a public swimming pool; the nearest public one would be in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsing_Yi" target="_blank">Tsing Yi</a>. Locals have resorted to play in the <a href="http://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk" target="_blank">CityGate Outlets</a>' shopping mall fountain and (most) children come fully prepared with the right swim gear. <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/tunchung_fountainpool.jpg" /> To seemingly taunt them even more, each time the Tung Chung population decides to visit the city by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR" target="_blank">MTR</a>, they will pass an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games" target="_blank">Olympic</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics" target="_blank">swimming</a> pool mock-up in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central,_Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Central</a> MTR <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_MTR_station" target="_blank">station</a>: <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/central_mtr_pool.jpg" /> However, a <a href="http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ppr_release_det.php?pd=20060705&ps=04" target="_blank">public pool project</a> is under way for Tung Chung so in just a few years time - eternity for a child - cooling off options won't be limited to in- and outdoor shopping mall activities anymore (poor parents). People Entertainment 2008-08-11T14:05:25Z andre Bomb scare http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/930_bomb_scare.html <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_kong" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay" target="_blank">Causeway Bay</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR" target="_blank">MTR</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Station" target="_blank">station</a> had a <a href="http://media-newswire.com/release_1070237.html" target="_blank">bomb scare</a> just hours before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_Opening_Ceremony" target="_blank">opening ceremony</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics" target="_blank">2008 Summer Olympics</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing" target="_blank">Beijing</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" target="_blank">China</a>. Hong Kong is host to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics" target="_blank">equestrian events</a>. <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/hk-cwb-bomb.jpg" /> <a href="http://gallery.andre.lu/v/HongKong/Andre/Travel/HKSceneries/2008/BombScare/" target="_blank">See more...</a> Various 2008-08-09T10:45:52Z andre Tropical Storm Kammuri http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/929_tropical_storm_kammuri.html <a id="res_457" href="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/hk-typhoon.jpg"><img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/previews/hk-typhoon.jpg" border="0" align="right" /></a>What a great sight: 9am on a Wednesday in the heart of Causeway Bay and it's virtually empty. Usually at this time it would be the morning rush hour making it impossible to even stand at the place I took this picture but thanks to Tropical Storm Kammuri which by now has turned into a typoon signalled at number 8 on the local scale, most people stay at home as everything but emergency services, limited public transportation and some die-hard private shops remain open. If the signal stays up until past noon, the rest of the day will be off as well. Various 2008-08-07T09:00:34Z andre The Dark Knight-mare http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/927_the_dark_knight-mare.html <a id="res_455" href="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/batman_darkknight_hk.jpg"><img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/previews/batman_darkknight_hk.jpg" border="0" align="right" /></a>I had a chance opportunity to watch the latest <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman" target="_blank">Batman</a> movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_(film)" target="_blank">The Dark Knight</a> in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines" target="_blank">Philippines</a> shopping mall theatre. Happy about this and excited to see what everyone's talking about, the afternoon turned into a nightmare to the point of ruining the movie experience. I shall never set foot into a local cinema again, given I was assured there's nothing unusual about all that I experienced. In short, throughout the movie I had to endure: <ul> <li>Most of the audience were children aged anywhere from 5-10, having a blast like it would be their own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mcdonalds" target="_blank">McDonald's</a> birthday party (forget about any movie rating whatsoever);</li> <li>People chatting like at a bar on a weekend evening;</li> <li>People coming and going like in a train station;</li> <li>Mobile phone lights like in a disco (surprisingly no ringtones though);</li> <li>The couple next to me was exclusively playing for the first 2/3 of the movie with their mobile phone and then left, not looking once at the big screen;</li> <li>People standing up for no reason;</li> <li>It was a lot colder than even the freezing Hong Kong theatres with occasional wind blows matching a typhoon.</li> </ul> In addition to that, there's the inconvenience of registering and giving up at the security check-point any picture-taking device (though mobile phones seem to be ignored). I'm not in favor of movie piracy but I think I'm not wrong in wondering why a country like the Philippines has such strict measures when the movies sown there are already available in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd" target="_blank">DVD</a> quality both on the Web and on the street markets. With today's high expectations of the quality of illegal copies, I doubt there's any market left for hand-recording movies already on sale. Lack of seat selection (first comes, first served), no staff monitoring the audience for their behavior, no blanket rental, are only a few of the many other inconveniences. At least I was told there are better places to enjoy a movie. People Entertainment 2008-07-29T12:16:12Z andre Off the grass http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/923_off_the_grass.html <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a>'s relation with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass" target="_blank">grass</a> could be summed up in the widely used line "Off the grass!" despite having a lot of nature - obviously the problem is that people prefer to stay within the city and thus don't see the nature, even less so actually touch it. So what's wrong with the picture below? <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/ts_art_grass1.jpg" /> The pictures show an art exhibition at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_(Hong_Kong)" target="_blank">Times Square</a>'s mall which includes a big carapet of fake grass and some stones copied from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_garden" target="_blank">Japanese garden</a>. It's heart-breaking to anyone who appreciates the touch of real grass to see how children glow up in jo, throwing off their shoes, running and jumping on the carpet like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Duck" target="_blank">Donald Duck</a>'s uncle <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagobert_Duck" target="_blank">Scrooge McDuck</a> taking a money bath. By the way Disney characters, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Disneyland" target="_blank">Hong Kong Disneyland</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspiration_Lake,_Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre</a> features a lot of freely accessible grass to step, walk and sit on; you can even have your picnic there. <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/ts_art_grass2.jpg" /> People 2008-06-15T14:08:36Z andre First in line http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/917_first_in_line.html <img src="http://blogs.andre.lu/gallery/6/hsbc_nr1.jpg" align="right" />I did it! I finally, totally unplanned and by pure luck, was the first one in the waiting line at a local <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hongkong_and_Shanghai_Banking_Corporation" target="_blank">HSBC</a> branch. Not just any branch but one in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay" target="_blank">Causeway Bay</a> where usually the crowd spills back to the road to withdraw cash. It's not really a branch designed for counter services but nevertheless they do have some tables set up for personal paperwork. Various 2008-05-28T09:32:25Z andre Quake vs. savings http://blogs.andre.lu/6_andre/archive/911_quake_vs_savings.html <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/2008_Sichuan_earthquake_map_no_labels.svg/240px-2008_Sichuan_earthquake_map_no_labels.svg.png" border="0" alt="Provided by Wikipedia" width="180" height="153" align="right" />A week after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake" target="_blank">2008 Sichuan earthquake</a>, more news articles and discussions are focusing on why so many buildings - in particular the over 9000 destroyed schools - collapsed. The answer to that question is very simple and has nothing to do with prejudgement: absolutely no construction quality. That was my very first thought when I heard about the quake (I didn't feel it myself in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_kong" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a> though many others did). Sadly but true, Mainland China is well-known for saving wherever it can even if enough money is available, and most of the times the savings go into some local officials' and constructors' pockets. How would you interpret the following sentence? "All 61 schools funded by Hong Kong charity group <a href="http://www.sowers.org.hk" target="_blank">Sowers Action</a> were still standing after the quake and no casualties were reported at them - including 7 near the epicentre in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenchuan" target="_blank">Wenchuan County</a>." You would probably come to the same conclusion as I did. As the group's chief executive Johnny Leung Kin-wah points it out: mainland authorities were particularly concerned about the quality of projects involving foreign capital. In theory, all constructions in China are required to meet certain seismic standards designed to protect buildings from a shaking level measured on a scale of 1 to 9. While these requirements vary among counties according to their geology, it is a general rule that kindergarten and primary schools are up 1 level from other buildings in that same region. Ironically, mostly schools suffered the greatest damage. Furthermore, why won't secondary schools have to meet the 1-up requirement? The best magnitude level system can't protect buildings which can be teared down with a hammer by a single man. "Schools built in the 1980s were mostly made of wood and stones. It was not until the 1990s that they started to build concrete houses," says Philip Lam Chak of the <a href="http://www.amityfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Amity Foundation</a>. Various 2008-05-22T03:52:25Z andre