Remarkable Google

I remember when I started using Internet search engine, my preference was clear and it was Yahoo search engine. I do not quite know what were the main reasons but I guess it must be due to the popularity of Yahoo at that time. The Yahoo home page was well organized with news headlines complete with nice images and sometimes, video clips. We could do leisure surfing and find out what’s new and what’s cool at that time.

Over the years, Google was slowly but surely overtaking Yahoo in terms of popularity. Today, I find that the products and services that Google provides really are remarkable. Without realizing it, I am now actually using quite a number of services provided by Google.

I first tried out Google search engine when my secondary school mates set up a Google Group to enable the old boys to share and communicate with a common platform. After that I started using Blogger to blog, then later I signed up for a Gmail account. Google search become my default home page and I love the degree of customization that the user can do with the I-Google. I almost totally stop using my Streamyx’s e-mail account, as the G-mail is so convenient and reliable.

Other Google services that I am using now include Picasa Web, You-tube, Library, Docs, Alerts, Android, and Reader.

One point worth mentioning that I believe has huge potential to spur further growth of Google is the open concept adopted by Google and also a concept called cloud computing where all the programs and user’s data are not stored in the user’s PC, instead they are stored in Google’s online servers hence are accessible from anywhere in the world with Internet access.

Other than the Android phone that I have to pay for the phone, all other services are free of charge at the moment.

The only concern that I may have of using too much Google services are that if Google is to charge for the services (then we will have to pay for them), and if Google’s servers are severely corrupted then all our online data might be lost.

Technology, if suitably adopted and utilized, could actually make our life much better.

Note: I still consider Yahoo as an excellent Search Engine but my personal preference now is undoubtedly Google’s package.

手足情

女儿任性被母亲骂了一顿后，弟弟陪着还在哭泣的姐姐收书包。有时弟弟坏蛋被罚打手手，女儿则会趋前抱着弟弟按抚一番。这种情景，让做父母的看了非常窝心。

反之，姐弟俩若争吵不休大打出手，或争风吃醋互不相让，就让父母看了忧心忡忡，深怕姐弟俩伤了和气影响手足情。

让兄弟姐妹之间建立雄厚的感情，互助互爱是所有父母的愿望，但欲达成所愿却让不少父母大费心思。

如何让孩子觉得父母不偏爱一方就是其中一个难题。买玩具礼品等给孩子都要卖两分，称赞的话语也要考虑双方感受，尽量做到大公无私的境界。如何赏罚分明却不伤害到任何一方心理也是个学问。

育儿这段路程，有酸甜苦辣，有不知所措，也有满心欢喜的时刻。。。。

七十美元

在一个村落里，有一户穷苦人家，因为漫长的旱季，农作物都没有收成，生活陷入了水深火热之中。

孩子们都建议搬迁到城里谋生，老头子却不肯。

“我是一位虔诚的教徒，现在有难，上帝一定会伸出援手。”老头子于是写了一封信述说他们糟糕的生活，请求上帝赐他们一百美元。在信封上写着“上帝”收。

这封信寄到了邮政局，值班的邮差看了这封寄给上帝的信封，满头雾水，就把信交给了邮政局长。

邮政局长打开信封读了信后，心想这户人家处境也算可怜，就和朋友和同事们一起凑了一些钱以帮助这家人。

邮政局长数了数，只凑得七十美元，只好把七十美元放入信封，寄回给这户穷苦人家。

老头子收到了钱，心想上帝还真不错，但后来发现只有七十元，于是又写了一封信给上帝，内容大约如下：上帝啊，我们收到了您的钱了，但只有七十元，一定是您搞错了。请您把三十元再寄给我们，但请别寄到邮政局去，邮政局那班人也许会私吞了这些钱。。。。

看了这则故事，各位有何感想启发？应该好气还是好笑呢？

最爱

无意中看了这广告 ，被剧中狗儿的举动深深吸引。

生命中的最爱，值得最好的！狗儿亦有此情操，虽然只是广告，看了却令人无比感动。。。。

潜能

最近带女儿上了蒙眼读书法，女儿虽然尚学不成，却亲眼目睹了许多学生们成功学会蒙眼读书法，包括了友人的孩子。对人类潜能也因此增多了一份惊异。

人类头脑的潜能，没有一副电脑比得上。其规格及容量无人知晓，其潜能却深不见底。

到目前为止，人类对科学知识的掌握，上至天文地理，下至生物基因等学课不可谓不令人惊叹，但这些知识和无穷尽的学问与疑问比起来，却显得如此微不足道。

和一百年前相比，今天的科技日新月异，若地球不因人类环保不力而世界末日，一百年一千年后的世界肯定是一部精彩的科幻片。。。。

通过科学，我们对自己的身体构造，功能与操作了如指掌。但和未知的领域一比，所知却是九牛一毛。许多疑难绝症让医生们束手无策；许多妙药对一些人药到病除，对令一些人却毫无效用；许多不药而愈的例子，及许多壮健人士忽然倒毙的新闻，都说明了我们对自己的身体的认知还有好长的路要走。

人类生体与头脑的潜能，到底我们只用了几分？ 我们又如何启动尚未被发掘的潜能呢。。。。

烟花

虽然昙花一现
却代表送旧迎新
也许价格不菲
却代表富足年年

烟花的灿烂与缤纷
让人们 惊叹不已

沉静的夜空
因这霎那光辉
露出骄傲的脸孔

天真无邪的孩童们
因这短暂的绚丽
留着永恒的丝丝记忆

唯一真正天长地久的
不正是人们心中的
曾经甜蜜的记忆
以及对未来的曈憬吗

Panning Shot

Photography is an interesting hobby. The same action or scene, if shot with different camera setting will yield very much different effect and feel.

I came across the panning shot technique through Digital Camera magazine and found the technique to be innovative and amazing. By using the panning technique, the image of the moving subject could be made sharp whereas the background was made blurry to give the photograph a sense of motion.

The photograph above was the first time I tried out the panning shot. After a series of trial shots with unsatisfactory result, I finally got a reasonable one. Eventhough the image of my little one here was not as sharp as I wanted it to be, it is at least still acceptable to me.

I will need much more practice to improve on the skill.


Unlike the panning shot where I set the shutter speed to relatively low (1/10 second) and move my camera in the direction of the motion while taking the photo, the photograph here was taken with very fast shutter speed (1/4000 second) with the purpose to freeze the action. The child in motion and the background both remain sharp with this setting.

Don't you think photography is interesting?