No kidding. The Hong Kong government is giving away HK$6,000 to every Hong Kong resident over 18, because the government monetary reserve is overflowing with money. With the top-of-the-line iPad 2 priced at HK$5,688, the $6K will be more than enough to cover the cost of a new iPad, with spare change for the Smart Cover.
Then of course some of us will use the money to help alleviate the rapid inflation on food and other basic necessities.
iPhone app developers hated the tightly controlled Apple approval process. But for users, we should be thankful Apple stood by its rigorous screening from the get-go, so we don’t have to worry about reading headlines like this:
Google pulls 21 apps in Android malware scare
…Once downloaded, the apps root the user’s device using a method like rageagainstthecage, then use an Android executable file (APK) to nab user and device data, such as your mobile provider and user ID. Finally, the app acts as a wide-open backdoor for your device to quietly download more malicious code…
At least 50,000 people already downloaded the apps. If I were an Android user, I’d be petrified.
Yup, there’s a white iPad 2. That’s all I need to know.
If you’re wondering what Mubarak has amassed over 30 years of serving his country, here’s the lowdown according to a CNN report (video):
Estimated fortune: US40-US75 billon dollars. To put that in perspective, the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim Helu, has an approximate fortune of US53.5 billion dollars. That puts Mubarak the 2nd richest man in the low end, or easily the richest man on earth in the high end. Compare that to the median annual income of Egypt at US$2,070, and 20-percent of Egyptians living in poverty–making less than US$2.00 per day–and you see why the country and its people can’t afford to keep him in office for another day.
Thought I’d better mark this very special day. The next time we get four identical digits in a row will be eleven years later on 2-2-22. 2010 had been an uplifting year for the economy worldwide, and 2011 should continue on this trend. For places in the world that has yet to see improvement, let’s hope 2011 will change that. Happy New Year, Everyone!
Counting down to 2011 in Hong Kong
Counting down in Hong Kong
It’s past midnight, so start a new month and a new goal. I’ve put it off for years, using work as the reason, even though everyone else has to work, too. Now even that excuse is no longer, because I don’t have work. I knew the day will be coming, so a year ago I put it on my scheduled to-do project in Things. I was both excited and anxious as months passed, looking forward to November 1st, yet, dreading as it loomed. The fact that I had never written 50 thousand words of anything makes it a daunting task to do, no less in a month. Yet, I know if I don’t do it, then I’ll never be able to write the book I’ve wanted to write. If not now, when?
To get myself psyched, I’ve put together an arsenal of tools. I bought the Brain Wave app (iTunes) for my iPhone; I’m listening to the Concentration binaural program. Then I bought Scrivener 2, which should go live in a few hours, when the rest of the world strikes twelve. I’m using my MacBook Air exclusively to write my novel, so I can write it on my balcony as well as Starbucks. I installed the PlainText app on my iPhone to sync with my Scrivener files via Dropbox, for those moments I don’t have my Air with me and want to write a few lines or paragraphs. Also on my iPhone is a free app called WriMoDemon (iTunes), a cute and simple tool to keep me on course to 50K words. Yes, I’m ready to tackle the mighty beast, one word at a time.
NaNoWriMo is meant for novel writing, but I’ve no interest in fiction. The organization knows it, too, so it doesn’t enforce what you write, as long as you be true to yourself and start from scratch. It isn’t about quality but quantity, which is the opposite of what I’m used to, but, yet, I’ve come to terms that it’s what I have to do to reach my goal. I’m my own worst critic, so I doubt anything I write this month will see the light. But it doesn’t matter, since my goal is to build confidence in writing book-length projects. The genre I will be attempting is memoir, with focus on my past 12 years living in Hong Kong and my work in the wristwatch profession. My original focus was a book on wristwatches, but to write such technical piece in a month is wishful thinking. However, blending some of the more interesting experiences I had at work into my personal life will be fun to do, and I can extract the relevant parts when I’m ready to write THE book. Memoir is a good choice for this 30-day project, because I’m recounting personal experiences, so there’s no right or wrong, just my ability to recall and retell experiences and turn them into interesting stories. If I just write 1 to 2 stories a day, I’ll have up to 60 stories at the end of the month. Of course part of the fun will be to weave them into a meaningful memoir. If in the end it touches my soul when I reread what I wrote, then I consider my book complete and a success.