Saturday, November 28, 2009

Greatest Conspiracy Theories In History

Just came across an article of the captioned item, wanna share with you all. If you are interested, further info can be found in Wiki and else.

Chemtrails
Chemtrail conspiracy theorists believe that some contrails, which consist of ice crystals or water vapor condensed behind aircraft, actually result from chemicals or biological agents being deliberately sprayed at high altitude for some undisclosed purpose. The staple of right-wing radio shows in the US, there is fevered speculation that the chemicals being sprayed are part of a wider plot that involves the so-called New World Order and is being directed by shadowy forces within the government. The existence of chemtrails has been repeatedly denied by federal agencies and scientists.


Global warming is a hoax
Some climate change doubters believe that man-made global warming is a conspiracy designed to soften up the world’s population to higher taxation, controls on lifestyle and more authoritarian government. These sceptics cite a fall in global temperatures since last year and a levelling off in the rise in temperature since 1998 as evidence.


The Aids virus was created in a laboratory
Based on the theories of Dr William Campbell Douglass, many believe that that HIV was genetically engineered in 1974 by the World Health Organisation. Dr Douglass believed that it was a cold-blooded attempt to create a killer virus which was then used in a successful experiment in Africa. Others have claimed that it was created by the CIA or the KGB as a means to reduce world population.


HAARP
More than 200 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, is the Pentagon’s High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, officially an enormous experiment to heat the ionosphere with radio waves. But conspiracy theorists believe the project is a weapon to bring down aircraft and missiles by lifting sections of the atmosphere, cause earthquakes or even a huge weather modification machine.


Plastic coffins and concentration camps
Just outside Atlanta, Georgia, beside a major road are approximately 500,000 plastic coffins. Stacked neatly and in full view, the coffins are allegedly owned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). Conspiracy theorists believe that Fema has also set up several concentration camps in the US in preparation for the imposition of a state of martial law and the killing of millions of Americans. They suggest that the financial crisis will be used to justify the imposition of a police state.


The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
A popular theory in the Muslim world is that the tsunami could have been caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated. Several newspapers in Egypt and the Middle East alleged that India, in its heated nuclear race with Pakistan, has acquired sophisticated nuclear technology from the US and Israel, both of which “showed readiness to co-operate with India in experiments to exterminate humankind,” beginning with the heavily populated Muslim regions of southeast Asia, where the bulk of casualties took place.


Fluoridation
Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water as a way to reduce tooth decay. However, there has been some evidence that there could be some harmful side effects from fluoride and conspiracy theorists believe that this information is known and recognised by those responsible for adding the fluoride, but that they continue the practice regardless. Drug companies have been targeted as possible beneficiaries, as they will profit from a population with ill-health. Another motive is that fluoride lowers mental abilities thereby “dumbing down” the entire population.


Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American’s third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from Heathrow to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. On December 21, 1988, the aircraft flying this route – a Boeing 747 – was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. The remains landed around Lockerbie in southern Scotland. A popular theory for which no evidence has been produced suggests that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had set up a protected drug route from Europe to the United States – allegedly called Operation Corea – which allowed Syrian drug dealers to ship heroin to the US using Pan Am flights. The CIA allegedly protected the suitcases containing the drugs and made sure they were not searched. On the day of the bombing, terrorists exchanged suitcases: one with drugs for one with a bomb. Another version of this theory is that the CIA knew in advance this exchange would take place, but let it happen anyway, because the protected drugs route was a rogue operation, and the American intelligence officers on the flight had found out about it, and were on their way to Washington to tell their superiors


The Philadelphia Experiment
Popularised by the Charles Berlitz novel of the same name, conspiracy theorists believe that during an experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1943, the US Navy destroyer Eldridge was rendered invisible. According to some accounts, the scientists on the experiment found a way to bend light around an object but that the experiment went wrong and Eldridge was transported through space and time, reappearing at sea. Several sailors, it is said, were badly hurt when the experiment went wrong and some were melded into the ship’s superstructure. The US Navy has denied that the experiment ever took place.


Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen
Theorists believe that President Franklin Roosevelt provoked the Japanese attack on the US naval base in Hawaii in December 1942, knew about it in advance and covered up his failure to warn his fleet commanders. He apparently needed the attack to provoke Hitler into declaring war on the US because the American public and Congress were overwhelmingly against entering the war in Europe. Theorists believe that the US was warned by the governments of Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, Korea and the Soviet Union that a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was coming and that, furthermore, the Americans had intercepted and broken all the important Japanese codes in the run up to the attack.


The peak oil conspiracy
Peak oil (a theory in itself) is the supposed peak of oil production during and after which demand for oil outstrips supply sending prices through the roof. The peak oil conspiracy theorists believe that peak oil is a fraud concocted by the oil industries to increase prices amid concerns about future supplies. The oil industry is aware of vast reserves of untapped oil, but does not utilise them in order to maintain the illusion of scarcity, they claim.


The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Despite being utterly discredited for at least 100 years, belief in this document has proved remarkably resilient on the internet. The text takes the form of an instruction manual to a new member of the “elders,” describing how they will run the world through control of the media and finance, and replace the traditional social order with one based on mass manipulation. Scholars generally agree that the Okhrana, the secret police of the Russian Empire, fabricated the text in the late 1890s or early 1900s but belief in it still persists – particularly in the Middle East.


Harold Wilson was a Soviet agent
Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn is thought to have claimed that Wilson was a KGB spy. He further claimed that Hugh Gaitskell was assassinated by the KGB so that he could be replaced as Labour leader by Harold Wilson. Furthermore, former MI5 officer Peter Wright claimed in his memoirs – Spycatcher – that he had been told that Wilson was a Soviet agent. MI5 repeatedly investigated Wilson over the course of several years before conclusively deciding that he had no relationship with the KGB. On the BBC TV programme, The Plot Against Harold Wilson, broadcast in 2006, it was claimed that the military was on the point of launching a coup d’état against Wilson in 1974. Wilson himself told the BBC that he feared he was being undermined by MI5 in the late 1960s after devaluation of sterling and again in 1974 after he narrowly won an election against Edward Heath.


Black or unmarked helicopters
The concept became popular in the American militia movement, and in associated political circles, in the 1990s as an alleged symbol and warning sign of a military takeover of part or all of the United States. Rumours would circulate that, for instance, the United Nations patrolled the US with black helicopters, or that federal agents used black helicopters to enforce wildlife laws. In Britain, a similar conspiracy theory known as “phantom helicopters” has been reported since the mid 1970s. This concept relates phantom helicopters to UFOs and alien invasion rather than to martial law.


The Moscow apartment bombings
Former GRU officer Aleksey Galkin and former FSB officer the late Alexander Litvinenko (who was killed with Polonium-210 in London in November 2006) and other whistle-blowers from the Russian government and security services have asserted that the 1999 Russian apartment bombings were operations perpetrated by the FSB, the successor to the KGB, to justify the second Russian war against Chechnya.


The July 7, 2005 Tube bombings
One of the supposed mysteries surrounding the 7/7 attacks is this image, used by several news outlets, of the bombers entering Luton station on their way to London at around 7.20am on July 7. Theorists claim this image is fake because the man in the white hat – believed to be Mohammed Sidique Khan – has been electronically placed on the picture after it was taken. They claim that it shows his arm behind a railing while the rest of his body is in front and that the bar behind his head goes across and in front of his face. Theorists postulate, among other things, that the bombs which went off on the Tube trains were actually under the floors of the vehicles and not in the alleged plotters’ back packs


Paul is dead
“Paul is dead” is an urban legend alleging that Paul McCartney died in a car crash 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike. “Evidence” for McCartney’s death consists of “clues” found among the Beatles’ many recordings. Hundreds have been cited at various times by various people. They include statements allegedly heard when a song is played backwards, symbolism found in obscure lyrics, and ambiguous imagery on album covers. A few of them are well known, such as the fact that McCartney is the only barefooted Beatle and is out of step with the others on the cover of Abbey Road, pictured.


The disappearance of Shergar
On February 8, 1983, a group of men wearing balaclavas and armed with guns turned up at the Ballymany Stud Farm in Co Kildare, Ireland and took a hostage – Jim Fitzgerald, the stud’s head groom. “We’ve come for Shergar,” they said. “We want £2m for him.” Shergar was arguably the greatest racehorse to have ever lived. But 25 years after he was kidnapped from Ballymany the mystery of exactly what happened to him after he was snatched that night still lingers. The theories are numerous with the IRA, Colonel Gadaffi and the Mafia featuring among the most lurid. One story suggests that the IRA kidnapped the horse for Gadaffi in return for weapons. Another suggests that the New Orleans mafia took him.


Shakespeare was somebody else
Who really was the English language’s greatest writer? Among the numerous alternative candidates that have been proposed Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, William Stanley (6th Earl of Derby) and Edward de Vere (17th Earl of Oxford), are the most popular. Theorists believe there is a lack of evidence proving that the actor and businessman sometimes known as Shaksper of Stratford was responsible for the body of works that bear his name. Very little biographical information exists about Shakespeare.


North American Union
The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical regional union of Canada, Mexico and the United States similar in structure to the European Union, sometimes including a common currency called the amero. Theorists who believe that the three countries are planning for this believe that it is part of a global conspiracy to set up something called the New World Order (NWO). Officials from all three nations have repeatedly denied that there are plans to create a NAU although the idea has been proposed in academic circles, either as a union or as a North American community as proposed by the Independent Task Force on North America. The amero received support in 1999 from Canadian economist Herbert Grubel, a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute think-tank, in a book entitled The Case for the Amero. Robert Pastor, vice-chairman of the Independent Task Force on North America, supported Grubel’s conclusions in his 2001 book Toward a North American Community, stating that: “In the long term, the amero is in the best interests of all three countries”.


MK-ULTRA
The code name for a covert mind-control and chemical interrogation research programme, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence. The programme began in the early 1950s, continuing at least through the late 1960s, using US citizens as test subjects. Project MK-ULTRA was brought first to wide public attention in 1975 by Congress and by the Rockefeller Commission. Investigative efforts were hampered by the fact that CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MK-ULTRA files destroyed in 1973. Although the CIA insisted that MK-ULTRA-type experiments were abandoned, CIA veteran Victor Marchetti has stated in various interviews that the agency routinely conducts disinformation campaigns and that CIA mind control research continued. In a 1977 interview, Marchetti specifically called the CIA claim that MK-ULTRA was abandoned a “cover story”. Conspiracy theorists believe that MK-ULTRA was behind many so-called black-ops: Lawrence Teeter, the attorney for Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of the assassination of Robert Kennedy, pictured, believed Sirhan was operating under MK-ULTRA mind control techniques. Furthermore, Jonestown, the location in Guyana where members of the Jim Jones cult and Peoples Temple committed mass suicide, was thought to be a test site for MK-ULTRA medical experiments.


Operation Northwoods
A genuine conspiracy involving a plan by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to launch a fake Cuban terror campaign on American soil to persuade the US public to support an invasion against Castro. The plan involved bombings and the simultaneous hijacking and blowing up of American airliners. The operation was quashed by President Kennedy leading many to speculate that it was linked to his assassination a year later. The plan has also been linked by theorists who believe that the September 11, 2001 attacks were a so-called “inside job” because of the use of airliners


Elvis Presley faked his own death
A persistent belief is that “the King” did not die in 1977. Many fans persist in claiming he is still alive, that he went into hiding for various reasons. This claim is allegedly backed up by thousands of so-called sightings. The main reason given in support of the belief that Presley faked his death is that, on his grave, his middle name Aron is spelt as Aaron. But “Aaron” is actually the genuine middle name for Presley. Apparently, either Presley or his parents tried to change the name to “Aron” to make it more similar to Presley’s stillborn twin, Jesse Garon Presley. Two tabloid newspapers ran articles covering the continuing “life” of Presley after his death, in great detail, including a broken leg from a motorcycle accident, all the way up to his purported “real death” in the mid 1990s.


Diana, Princess of Wales, was murdered
Despite an official inquiry that found no evidence of a plot by MI6 or any other entity to murder the princess and Dodi Fayed in 1997, fevered speculation continues. The theory is that rogue elements in the British secret service decided that Diana’s relationship with Fayed was a threat to the monarchy and, therefore, to the British state. A plot was hatched in which a white Fiat Uno carrying agents was sent to blind and disorientate driver Henri Paul as he sped through the Paris underpass pursued by photographers. Later, Paul’s blood was switched with a sample of somebody who had drunk a lot of alcohol. The trouble with the theory? Not a shred of evidence exists to support it.


The Jesus conspiracy
The theory that launched a blockbusting novel (The Da Vinci Code), a film of the same name and a plagiarism battle in the courts Those who believe in this – and they seem to number in their millions – think that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had one or more children, and that those children or their descendants emigrated to southern France. Once there, they intermarried with the noble families that would eventually become the Merovingian dynasty, whose special claim to the throne of France is championed today by a secret society called the Priory of Sion.


The Illuminati and the New World Order
A conspiracy in which powerful and secretive groups (the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group and other shadowy cabals) are plotting to rule mankind with a single world government. Many historical events are said to have been engineered by these groups with one goal – the New World Order (NWO). The groups use political finance, social engineering, mind control, and fear-based propaganda to achieve their aims. Signs of the NWO are said to be the pyramid on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, inset, strange and disturbing murals at Denver International Airport, pictured, and pentagrams in city plans. International organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the European Union, the United Nations, and Nato are listed as founding organisations of the New World Order.


Nasa faked the moon landings
People who think that the Apollo moon landings were not all that they seemed at the time believe that Nasa faked some or all of the landings. Some of the theories surrounding this subject are that the Apollo astronauts did not land on the Moon; Nasa and possibly others intentionally deceived the public into believing the landings did occur by manufacturing, destroying, or tampering with evidence, including photos, telemetry tapes, transmissions, and rock samples; and that Nasa and possibly others continue to actively participate in the conspiracy to this day. Those who think that Nasa faked some or all of the landings base their theories on photographs from the lunar surface which they claim show camera crosshairs partially behind rocks, a flag planted by Buzz Aldrin moving in a strange way, the lack of stars over the lunar landscape and shadows falling in different direction. These theories have been generally discounted but belief in them – particularly on the web – persists.


A flying saucer crashed at Roswell in 1947
The event that kick-started more than a half century of conspiracy theories surrounding unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Something did crash at Roswell, New Mexico, sometime before July 7, 1947 and – at first – the US authorities stated explicitly that this was a flying saucer or disk – as shown by the splash story on that day’s Roswell Daily Record, pictured. Numerous witnesses reported seeing metallic debris scattered over a wide area and at least one reported seeing a blazing craft crossing the sky shortly before it crashed. In recent years, witnesses have added significant new details, including claims of a large military operation dedicated to recovering alien craft and aliens themselves, at as many as 11 crash sites, and alleged witness intimidation. In 1989, former mortician Glenn Dennis claimed that he was involved in alien autopsies which were carried out at the Roswell air force base.

The conspiracy theory has been fanned by the US military repeatedly changing its story. Within hours of the army telling reporters that it had recovered a crashed saucer, senior officers insisted that the only thing that had fallen from the sky had been a weather balloon. A report by the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force released in 1995, concluded that the reported recovered material in 1947 was likely debris from a secret government program called Project Mogul, which involved high altitude balloons meant to detect sound waves generated by Soviet atom bomb tests and ballistic missiles. A second report, released in 1997, concluded that reports of alien bodies were likely a combination of innocently transformed memories of military accidents involving injured or killed personnel, and the recovery of anthropomorphic dummies in military programs like Project High Dive conducted in the 1950s.

Since the late 1990s the debate about Roswell has polarised with several former pro-UFO researchers concluding that the craft was, indeed, part of a US military project and that it was, most likely, some sort of weather balloon. But further evidence has emerged – notably a signed affidavit by Walter Haut, the Roswell Army Air Field public affairs officer who had drafted the initial press release on July 8, 1947. Haut says in the affidavit -signed in 2002 – that he saw alien corpses and a craft and that he had been involved in a military cover up. Haut died in 2005.


The assassination of John F Kennedy
The 35th President of the United States was shot on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas at 12.30pm . He was fatally wounded by gunshots while riding with his wife – Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy – in a motorcade. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963 to 1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976 to 1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President had been assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald – who was himself shot dead by Jack Ruby while in police custody.

But doubts about the official explanation and the conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman firing from the Texas Book Depository overlooking Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was hit surfaced soon after the commission report. Footage of the motorcade taken by Abraham Zapruder on 8mm film supported the growing belief that at least four shots were fired – not the three that the Warren Commission claimed. The moments of impact recorded on the film also suggested that at least one of the shots came from a completely different direction to those supposedly fired by Oswald – evidence backed up by testimony of several eye witnesses. Many believed that several shots were fired by gunmen hiding behind a picket fence on a grassy knoll overlooking the plaza.

The assassination is still the subject of widespread speculation and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories, though none of these has been proven. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed. However, later studies, including one by the National Academy of Sciences, have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.


September 11, 2001
Thanks to the power of the web and live broadcasts on television, the conspiracy theories surrounding the events of 9/11 – when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington – have surpassed those of Roswell and JFK in traction. Despite repeated claims by al-Qaeda that it planned, organised and orchestrated the attacks, several official and unofficial investigations into the collapse of the Twin Towers which concluded that structural failure was responsible and footage of the events themselves, the conspiracy theories continue to grow in strength.

At the milder end of the spectrum are the theorists who believe that the US government had prior warning of the attacks but did not do enough to stop them. Others believe that the Bush administration deliberately turned a blind eye to those warnings because it wanted a pretext to launch wars in the Middle East to usher in another century of American hegemony. A large group of people – collectively called the 9/11 Truth Movement – cite evidence that an airliner did not hit the Pentagon and that the World Trade Centre could not have been brought down by airliner impacts and burning aviation fuel alone. This final group points to video evidence which they claim shows puffs of smoke – so-called demoliton squibs – emerging from the Twin Towers at levels far below the aircraft impact zones and prior to the collapses. They also believe that, on the day itself, the US air force was deliberately stood down or sent on exercises to prevent intervention that could have saved the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

Many witnesses – including firemen, policemen and people who were inside the towers at the time – claim to have heard explosions below the aircraft impacts (including in basement levels) and before both the collapses and the attacks themselves. As with the assassination of JFK, the official inquiry into the events – the 9/11 Commission Report – is widely derided by the conspiracy community and held up as further evidence that 9/11 was an “inside job”. Scientific journals have consistently rejected these hypotheses.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

A View on Extramarital affair


The other night this week, I caught up with some old colleagues to chit-chat. Three of us are married men, and the other one is a single female. We had a good time chatting in a bar, various subjects, one linked to another, were brought up. I had a good time there, cos it is nice to see some old faces to see how things are going, not just for them, but to learn news of other folks that we know as well….

One of the topics that came up was about extramarital affair. We all three men similarly voiced out that we would not get into an affair while we are married. Well, some readers may say that any man vows not to do it is exactly the one who will. I can’t speak for others, though based on what I knew about my ex-colleagues, they don’t seem to be the kind that will get into affair with other women. Anyway, we did voice out our opinions why we won’t do it.

Firstly, we find that handling a woman is already a tough job. Handling means making the relationship smooth and pleasant (or able to live with at least). We all thinks that handling a second one would take much more than double the current effort. Cos, the premise is that if you are into cheating, you need to have very good memory on what you have said to whom. If you tell a lie (most likely you have to in order to cover your tracks), you will most likely need to create another to cover it. If it becomes a relationship, just think about how many things you might have said all through the year! You just can’t keep check of so many things in your head. Also, women have relatively better memory and more suspicious mind. They can sniff on clues for any slippage of tongue. That’s tough to lie for long.

Secondly, we thought that only men with certain characteristics can and will cheat. It is not necessary to do with their financial status or appearance. We didn’t go deep to figure out what those characteristics are; we just think that none of us fit such mold. Come to think of it. I kinda buy the idea that ‘cheating men’ are different. I heard it before that women and men are like fishes and cats. I.e. which cat doesn’t eat fish? The analogy is only partially right. I’m a normal man (I think). I like woman. I like to look at beautiful things and human beings. Certainly, if by any chance, I came across beautiful women on the street or something, I will look at them. But for me, same as what I told my wife, that’s about it. For men, looking at women doesn’t mean they will think about them and fantasizing them afterwards. Even for those who will fantasizing them, it doesn’t mean they will carry any actions to follow up in reality. Let alone trying to meet those women, wooing them, having an affair with them, etc. That applies to both married and single men, I think.

Some times, it has something to do with the financial status and the appearance of the men, cos they make a difference on whether it would be easier to have an affair or not provide that he REALLY wants it. However, it is all in the mind of the men.

In my opinion, the first thing is about what is the priority of the man. Cos, having an affair is very resource-consuming. Unless, he put having an affair with a woman as a high, very high priority, he easily can find many other hobbies, interests to spend money and time on. Yes, many men who are the so-called ‘geeks’ or ‘nerds’ have talent and are good in certain hobbies or interests, are difficult to find women. It could be a chicken-and-egg situation. In fact, many geeks or nerds are also married men as well. So, it’s not like all geeks can’t find women, so they don’t have affairs. They are just simply happy with what they have and not going out looking for more.

I think men that are relatively prone to cheat are those so called ‘lady’s men’ or ‘sweet-talkers’. They may not be rich or handsome. They just know women better and generally get along with women really well. Well, I think it is a major character, but having that character only means that they can cheat easier than others - doesn’t mean they will cheat. Many men in ‘people’ business have such character and skill with women. That’s how they can survive and succeed in their careers. Certainly, I think having such character is just like having a knife. It doesn’t make you to stab someone simply because you have a knife. Actually, after reading the book ‘Tipping Point’, trying to borrow a thought form from it, there gotta be a ‘Tipping Point’ to make that man cheat. For that to happen, it would really be case by case. Maybe that man is not happy with his marriage, maybe he wants some challenges, maybe he want to have a revenge on his wife, etc.

I don’t know about others, I just think that cheating in marriage is just not right. Cos, just thinking about if the opposite of my wife cheats on me. That really hurt! Why would you want to do something to hurt someone that you love? If you don’t love that person, why you marry her? If you think that you loved her before, but not anymore. Then, why are you still with her? That wastes her time and yours! Instead, you should try to work on the relationship, to fix it, to make it up, to make things work again! Rather than going out to seek someone else, we should think about the commitment that we made to get marry in the first place. Also, we should think about the good times that you and your partner have together. If you really want to fix it and tell her about it, the subsequent effort to be put would be worthy and the return could be even more than you expect. If things don’t work out, then depart from each other peacefully after sorting out logistics. Mutually wish good luck and move on. Don’t get things messy and ugly, I doubt that’s what anyone in the relationship wants.

Looking from another angle, what are men really looking for at the end of the day in an affair? Love?hm…..maybe…if there is really love at the end, most likely is not the original intention. Most men who want to cheat will go for younger prettier women for the sake of ‘scoring’. I would guess in many cases, the cheating man would not treat the woman on equal basis, but regarding her as an object that is dumb and to be easily manipulated. The cheating man only thinks about what he wants and doesn’t think that the woman does have a mind of her own. He may use his ‘resources’, i.e. time, money, lies, to charm her to give him what he wants. After that, when he realized that the woman also wants something which are mostly likely not what he has thought (if ever) she wants. Then, he will realize that he is in ‘deep shit’. That’s also when things turn ugly for everybody involve.

If a man thinks, I mean ‘THINKS’, about what are the pros and cons of having an affair, what would be the possible consequences and their respective possibilities, he most likely won’t cheat in the first place. Can the quick fun really outweigh the troubles that have to go through, the resources that have to spend, and the potential risks on cheating your wife? I don’t know about others, such deal is ‘no go’ for me.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Information



I spoke to my wife the other day about the importance of enforcing discipline on our son, as we believe that it is vital to his upbringing. During our conversation, she mentioned that she wished our son to be a lawyer in future… For me, I’ve never thought about wishing my son to have any particular career. Cos, the bottom line is that it is his life. It is up to him to seek and manage what kind of life he wants to live. Also, what kind of career he will take will depends on his talent, interest, and the macro environment. Talent wise, I believe that it is at least 50% natural born, so there is only so much we can to change/train the other 50% or less. Interest wise, it is still too early to tell, for Christ sake, he is still a toddler! Regarding the macro-environment, well, I’m no prophet. Who know what the future will be. However, come to think of it, we are living in the Information Age. I think we, including my son, will still live in this Age for foreseeable future. So, what I think is important is to learn to live with information and be comfortable with it for the sake of survival. Whether we can succeed or not, most likely it will depend on whether we can ‘master’ information to make it serve our goals. Whoever can do that most of the time, he/she will be invincible!

According to Wiki, ‘Information’ as a concept has many meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. The concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation.

Everybody needs information, even our ancestors - the cavemen would be in advantageous position if he knew where can find abundant foods. In this day and age, able to acquire accurate and timely information and know how to apply it is the key to success. There is almost no exception to that. Just look at the following areas that I can come up with:

Commerce – from a street corner hawker to MNEs, from pawnshops to investment banks, everyone is trading something in the market. Have the right information to determine the right prices to buy and sell made the ultimate difference, just look at Lehman Bros. vs. Goldman Sachs.

Science – Regardless which areas in science, collected data for further analysis generate theories. Theories go through experiments to prove validity produce knowledge. Appropriate application of knowledge shows intelligence. Information is spot along the whole process.

Politics – Insider information get people into higher place or in trouble. In the dirty world of politics, nothing beat the dirty laundry of opponents. It applies to different political systems in different countries throughout history.

Art – Art itself doesn’t involve information heavily. The technique part has a bit. Of course, art is a broad subject, some would involve information more than the others, especially those involve a large group of people, lengthy process and many resources, such as movie-making, or performing art. They require skillful information management. But, in order to make the art available for wide public access or try to make some money from it, i.e. commercialize it, and information rules.

Law – itself is information. Cases are information. How to win a case is to dig out and present advantageous information in front of the judge and juries.

History – is basically to dig out and study information in the past. Enough said.

Religion – Well, we can mediate or pray anywhere, anytime we want. Perhaps, this is the only area that doesn’t have too much ‘active’ information exchange, just our thoughts and God. However, if religious organizations are involved, I would say as long as there are a lot of people involved. To properly organize and manage them would take a lot of information management as well. Therefore, there is no escape from information.

Military – Intelligence gathering, encryption, decryption are critical throughout military history. Morse codes, spy, ninja, CIA, spy jets, all of these terms ring the bell of information. Why U.S. military is so superior is because of the satellite network coverage it has. Why the troops are still in Pakistan and Afgthanstein partially is because they don’t have information aka. intelligence where Bin Laden is at!

So, the point that I’m trying to make is that all aspects in our human society would involves information. I would think that my son will definitely have his own share of information to manage in future. Certainly, there are many things that we as parents should teach and guide him, such as moral values, manners, etc. I don’t have a lot to give him. I can only share with him my success and failure in handling information. Hopefully, we can bring him up properly to effectively use information and I do see that as a key to his education.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Storage space at home

As my kid is getting older, he just has more clothes than before. In addition to the other baby related stuff, the old chest of drawers is just not big enough. A new one with the same size with a closet at the top was delivered to my home last night. Our whole family was busy cleaning and packing stuff till mid-night. There are still things remaining to be done this evening when I get home....

The point that I wanna make is that it is just a big issue to me about getting space for storage at home. I think I'm living a frugal life, at least since I got married. I don't go crazy about shopping. My wife shops more of course, as most women do. However, she is no more than average I would think. Yes, she sometimes bought stuff that she doesn't need, which is also done by many women. The problem is that, particularly for me, I don't easily let go of old stuff for both sentimental and practical reasons. So, when the olds don't go, the news keep coming in (though slowly), it is just tough to get storage space!?

My interior designs demonstrate how to hide storage spaces, it doesn't work for me too much. First of all, I don't own my place, so there is no point to spend lots of money on various kinds of customization. Secondly, most 'so-called' designs are simply creating 'illusion' by using mirrors to make the 'remaining' space look bigger. I don't buy that self-deception.

So, I just need to struggle harder to make myself throw away old stuffs. To be honest, because of the limited space I have, my shopping mood has been largely suppressed. Well, yes it saves me money, it makes me think twice about whether I need to buy something. However, it also got me stick with some old clothes or old gadgets. The biggest thing is actually not the clothes, but my old CD/DVD collections, and books. Those are the 'space-killers'!

Back in the 'pre-MP3'days, I bought CDs like crazy, on top of that also come with movies. So, in terms of entertainment items in disc format, I've over a thousands easily. Yes, I can throw away the case and paper package. But that would create an 'incomplete' feeling to the items that I once own. Or, I can rip them on my harddisk. Yes, I'm doing that for my CDs, but that doesn't make me throw away the CD at all, but just for my convenience to access them on my iPhone. Therefore, I'm stuff with those discs. Man, they are heavy and bulky! As for books, I don't own a lot of them, not as much as some bookworms or as I would like to own. However, they also take up a lot of space. The worse case is that I have little to no time to really enjoy neither of them. I thought about renting some mini-storage place to store them, but that's not economical. So, I'm stuck!

People do say something that I buy very much is that...if there is something in your home that you haven't use for 2-3 years, most likely you can get rid of them. Well, that's true to some extents. However, that doesn't count the sentimental value of things and environmental disposal arrangement for those things. Also, sometimes I just can't let go on own certain things that I know I spent hard-earned money to trade them in. Just can't let them go easily....huh.....

Well, what I say? Extra living space is precious and expensive. I just have to live within my means and see if I can cut corners here and there every now and then. That's it!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2012



My wife and I went to see 2012 yesterday. Well, she didn’t enjoy it much and thought that ‘Days after tomorrow’ was actually better than this one. Well, they are made by the same director with similar theme. I don't blame her...Anyway, disaster movie has always been one of my favorites, and I love to see them on big screen. Cos, only big screen with great sound would do justice to those smashing top notch FX. Well, I do enjoy this movie and don’t find it to be much disappointing. The following is my 2 cents on this movie.

FX - this movies delivers on those effects. The only bad thing is that most of the destructions were already shown on the trailer. So, the submerging of California, the aircraft carrier USS JFK crashed the White house, the few seconds in Brazil, in Italy, the Yellowstone National Park, the temple in Tibet etc. They are all seen. Though, there are more in the end, in terms of overwhelming and refreshing, I wish they showed less in the trailer.

Story – Well, the story is kinda predictable, cos we are not fighter monster or aliens. With such scale of global climate change, the only issue is human survival. You kinda know who is gonna live and die after a while. I’m not complaining the story, it fits the formula of many pass movies. Formula becomes formula because they work before. This time, it still works, not great, but still decent. The best part is that the movie though is almost 2.5 hours long, it is not boring at all. Actually, I like the first half a bit better. Overall, the flow of the whole movie is fine. The ending is typical.

Acting – Everybody does a decent job. John Cusack is still John Cusack. Woody Harrelson remains playing the role that he supposes to play. The kids are not special or even adorable. The bad guys are still very one dimensional. I don’t ask for much, so I don’t complain what they have delivered. I would say nobody is really outstanding, they are just doing their job by playing a small role. Cos, it is not really a dramatic movie.

So, all I can say is that this movie is decent, worth seeing on big screen and it is a keeper for me.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Robot invasion

come across this by accident....it is nice, but the robot moves so slow....

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

Today, as I read some users' comment on a news article about a Microsoft employee saying that Window 7 was 'inspired' by MacOS. I came across an article. It is a commencement address by the recently awarded by Fortune, the CEO of the decade, Mr. Steve Jobs. Though it is not a news to most people, cos he delivered that speech back in 2005, the content of which is just inspiring. While reading it, I almost 'sniff' every word and thought that I must share with anyone like me who missed such a great article. Without Standford's permission, I copy and put it below. Hopefully, they wouldn't be upset.....and here we go:

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.
Or watch the entire speech here:

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

All in my head




Every now and then, when I don’t feel right about myself, I would carry out my personal ‘ritual’ to solve my problem. I think it is about time for me to do that again. Before writing this blog, I checked that the last time that I blogged about similar topic here in September. I guess ‘things’ have been kinda ‘managed’ since then but they ‘popped up’ again. This time, I think I need to have a more comprehensive plan to solve my problem. I need to kinda ‘reboot’ or to pump some ‘mojo’ back to my life, or whatever way to put it, I need to ‘change’! Cos, I feel like I’m being trapped inside a self-made ‘cocoon’ and I need to burst out to be a stronger and better person. Namely, I need to go through my own ‘metamorphosis’!

As a result of my reckless and laziness, things are spirally down on all fronts. As a believer of self-fulfilling prophecy, I think I’m approaching to the point that I need to stop this downward spiral and it’s time to reverse it. The ‘cocoon’ that I’m in is knitted by threads from both my work life and my personal life. Basically, my whole awake hours have to be revamped somehow. I’m not gonna go into great details on what problems I’m facing. Cos, they are not only very complicated, but also involve many people. As we all know, the web is a wild wild west, I don’t want any unnecessary or unexpected repercussion in future because of what I wrote here. Also, I don’t have all the solutions in details to talk about at this moment. However, I know that, after all the changes, I want to be a better husband, a better dad, a better son, a better employee, and a better friend respectively to my key constituents.

Unlike before when I was thinking, planning and executing my actions alone as I believed that things are all in my head, I think I’m gonna seek some external helps this time. I may not need to present the full scale of all my problems to others, I think I will seek help from others in the execution part. At least seeking their understanding of where I come from, and support me along the way. Cos, though these changes are all about fixing my problem, I just can’t take on everything and do that alone. The burden is just too heavy. If I want to succeed and want to make the effect of my solutions to stick longer, I would need help. I think that to some extents, I’ve a strong independent objective mind, but I do have my sloppy side as well. In order to get things done - really ‘done’, it is not really necessary to be ‘macho’ all the time. I’m no superman, I do need help sometimes. This time, it is the time. Seeking help doesn’t mean I’m weak, I’m still human after all. I should look at it as a way to show that I value others, they matter to me and I’m welcoming them in my life.

Of course, I’ve to bear in mind that I should ask for help only if it is really better than doing it alone. Nevertheless, I should not totally rely on others. Also, as I learned it long ago that I shouldn’t expect return on good deeds that I’ve done, but I should never forget the good deeds that I’ve received from others. Namely, I should expect ‘payback’ time down the road.

Anyway, nevermind that someone may find this blog confusing. I’m just recording it for my personal retrospective purpose in future.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Once upon a time in Texas

I named this blog as ‘Once upon a time in Texas’ for two unrelated topics which have only thing in common is ‘Texas’.

1. I watched the last episode of ‘Heroes’ few days ago. As a long time fan of the show, it seems like the quality of the show is going up and down and up and down again lately. Usually, I don’t really challenge the story too much, cos trying to enjoy the show rather than criticize it is the reason why I follow the show. However, that last episode titled ‘Once upon a time in Texas’ really get me cranky about one of my favorite character – Hiro. The story saying that he will kowtow Samuel (the bad guy) because Samuel has trapped Hiro’s lover – Charlie back in time. Samuel is the only one knows where she is and he will make Hiro to use his power to serve Samuel’s agenda. Oh, common! Hiro’s power is to stop time and doing time travel. He can simply going back to the minute before Charlie was kidnapped and save her. That’s it! So damn easy, why would Hiro couldn’t figure out to do that? It is just stupid on the writer side….ah…..

2. As we all know, the latest mass shooting took place in Fort Hood, Texas, but a guy with name of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is an Army psychiatrist. Of course, massacre is always bad, I’m sorry for the lost of lives and the suffering of the livings who are closed to them. However, what get me thinking about this case is that this case is actually quite different.

Unlike many other pervious mass shooting massacre in the States, the ‘suspect’ or I would say those guys who went ‘nut’, are usually fit the image of being a loner, a loser, a geek that had been picked on by jocks at school or treated as a freak by others, a disgruntled employee who was fired by his boss, etc. However, the suspect in this case is a person doesn’t seem to fit any of the above. What is his motive? Is it because of religion? Or somehow he just snap? Of course, for many significant events, there is always a cocktail of causes. Since, I’m still reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point’, I’m just wondering what is the tipping point in this case. I’m neither an expert or have time to investigate, just being curious of what would the upcoming investigation results will be.

Another different thing about this case is that the suspect is still alive. So, the motive won’t be figured out by circumstantial evidences and testimony from those so-called experts. Cos, this suspect is a psychiatrist himself, that makes this case more interesting than the others. I don’t think he can go ‘Hannibal’ again like Dr. Lecter in the ‘Silence of the Lamb’ series. Also, this suspect is a mass murder, not a serial killer. Their psychiatric states are different. I think more updates will be reported in news in coming days and weeks.

However, if the findings from the suspect is really closely related to his religion, then it will be a very sensitive political case for the President and the military to deal with. Even without any evidence at the moment, simply based on the superficial evidence that the guy was shouting religious related sound bite while he was firing at people. That has already generate a wave of condemn from the Left and Right to elevate this from a crime into political strategy of some sorts. Anyway, I would continue to watch out the development of this case to ‘feed’ my curiosity.

Monday, November 9, 2009

My son's self-confidence

My last weekend was quite busy at the home front. My wife and I brought our son to have interviews in few kindergartens on Saturday. We dressed him up nicely and we do dressed ourselves as if we went to work. However, things didn't go so well in most of them. My son just didn't respond to the interviewer's questions. He didn't look at them, let alone smiling and thanking them for little tokens that he received. He just behaved poorly. That really got me upset and I was mad at him for few hours that day for the first time. I actually didn't mad for that long, but I gotta let him know that I was upset. So, I pretended for longer than I should....anyway....
Yes, he is still a toddler, what can you expect from him? I'm not blaming him more than blaming myself as a parent. I think he is a fine young boy that if he would have behaved well, he should be able to get into any kindergarten that we want. I read some articles about what kid of his age should be able to learn. He actually did pretty well on that, I would say he is above average. However, his manner, temper are just sub par. We wished we had brought him up better, but there was a lot we can do. He is fine with people that he knows. He talked a lot and even in complete sentences. When it comes to strangers, even for those that he saw almost everyday, he just didn't behave well. I think it has something to do with his self-confidence. He is being too shy and we did spoil him a bit for his bad temper. That's just not right.
With the lessons learned, my wife and I just gotta find ways to improve him on that front. We just need to get him enroll in classes of some sort to get him exposed to strangers and others. I think we should have better idea after coming weekend to meet with his nursery teacher. Let's see what she will say and what we will do.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Nice Painting

An example of good thing never last....if she did that 100 years ago. But now, with Youtube, her art can linger forever....

Monday, November 2, 2009

Domain Name in local languages

ICANN recently announced to allow domain names to be in local non-Romanic languages. So, we will see www.???.?? pop up in places that we would never have envisioned before. Is it a good thing or bad thing? Certainly, the wise guys must have thought them thoroughly and 'various forces' from behind must have made their voices heard. To me, I think definitely there would be both pros and cons. For me personally, as I've been comfortable using English on web communication for so long, the so-called advantages of using local languages wouldn't benefit me at all. Instead, it may cause more confusion and I can see cons more.

Anyone remember back then when corporations or interested parties fought their asses off to register their domain names on the web in order to secure potential traffic to their site? Now, they have to do that again with X times of the effort. Also, many folks will be able to profit again by fighting to own certain domain names and sell them to the highest bidder in future. That's the major economic front of the whole thing. For me, if I want to go to certain site in local languages, I just need to bookmark the master domain and click the local language support link in the site to get there. But, I may have to remember the domain for local languages as well. Don't just get to the technical setup for multi-languages input, the human side of learning to input in local languages could be a hassle as well.

To me, I don't know if this new opening of multi-languages is really a good idea or not. We suppose to bring people together rather than grouping them separately. Yes, the 'Bebel' thing is being brought up in the discussion in forums about this issue. To me, I don't like it a bit.