A simple hug and a simple smile, to the end of 2015

The Christmas in this place is just simple with some white bears for you to hold.  Nothing fancy and nothing electronic.  Smile is a smile.  

Train in the Sky

Free from the ground.  Free from the worries.  Free from lies.  Free from the occupy... Eye in the sky.

2014年7月9日，台北的天空

七月九日, 炎炎日照台北市, 有一個公聽會, 上千數百位資深作者, 儘管天氣有多熱, 也蓋不了他們的怒氣.  擠進這公聽會.  為的是捍衛他們的產業在電子綱絡世界巳完全摧毀至邊緣下一點委屈的尊嚴 - 著作權!  這群作者的怒吼及他們的陳述, 令人感慨良多, 每每想起, 氣湧心頭.  俳佪在智能世界自我單向沉抑的恐懼, 難以與週遭的人舒發對智能世界某些恐懼, 一些不對的事情正正是大多數人在做, 原來可以捏曲成對時, 只好繼續單向沉抑.  然而這天台北天空太陽高照， 耀眼炫目， 灼喚那沉抑的情懷，喜悅這裡有這些聲音，可笑的是香港，還有那些世界英雄大國對這七月九日在台北市發生的這一切，隻字不提 － 諸位亞洲卓越出色的作者（如方文山－周杰倫的顆伴填詞人，陳樂融 － 80／90年代台灣多產創作人等）在綱絡世界裡被那大多數人認定的對下再被踐踏反撲的怒吼！  這是什麼樣的傳媒 － 選擇性的言論自由，雙重標準的國度，可笑的智能世界 － 原來還是文明倒退的自我陶醉。  我們常笑著某些國家對婦女強暴視作等閒，倘若有一天剩下你一個人，而在身旁的數百人認定強暴是對的，你會怎樣⋯⋯  

好了，仍要活著，雖然逆風而行，有點吃力，但隨心而行，簡單的一份快樂。

以下節錄自台北市一群創作人的聲音：

時下風行利用他人著作改編的KUSO，智慧財產局僅正面思考，認為此種著作利用行為，屬意見、思想或言論自由表達之範疇，不知是在公門修行而不諳社會黑暗面，思慮不周，或已習慣為利用人解套，率即引進部份歐洲國家的立法例，將其利用行為合理化，但法律一體適用的結果，固然幫未取得原著作人授權改作之詼諧仿作者化解了難題，但也幫魔鬼們開了一扇除罪的方便門。

為嘲諷或詼諧仿作之目的，即可利用他人已公開發表的著作__多麼神聖的目的呀？多少扭曲、醜化、謾罵、毀謗、侮辱、霸凌、汙衊他人的行為，假汝之名，即可合理合法而堂而皇之地利用改作我等創作人的心血，化為暗器利器神器，去遂行醜陋惡意的算計！

其實，時下利用他人著作改編的KUSO，只要確為詼諧仿作之作，且不踰越紅線，一般被引用的原創作人大抵皆一笑置之，鮮少會為此興訟，但若係惡意改作利用去攻擊他人或改作為不堪入目入耳者，此教原創作人情何以堪？__改作後之衍生著作，縱使未取得原創作人之授權改作，仍可依著作權法第6條第1項規定，取得衍生著作之著作財產權，更教人情何以堪！

草案條文所謂「利用」，當然包括「改作」，而著作人專有將其著作改作成衍生著作之權利，此為現行本法第28條所明定，故「改作」他人著作當然必須取得原著作人之授權或同意。

時下網民利用他人著作改編的KUSO，從來都不曾取得原著作人之授權或同意，難謂合法，惟我英明的智慧財產局明知KUSO改作者恐不明須事先取得授權之法律規定，又不敢宣導教育之，深怕網民不理性謾罵攻擊(如封鎖非法境外網站IP事件)，影響官員考績前途，乾脆引用外國立法例，將網民之KUSO改作，美名為言論自由，而合理化兼除罪之，犧牲著作人專有之「改作」權及著作人格權，亦在所不惜__IPO的魯莽作為比不作為更令人擔憂、嘆氣、心寒。。

如第55、56條(原46、47條)反對修正理由所述，當知「改作」所涉層面之複雜及嚴重性，稍有不慎(如褻瀆回教)，甚有可能爆發種族屠殺及戰爭之嚴重後果，且禍延原著作人，此絕非不諳產業實務之行政機關及其諮詢委員們所能片面瞭解、輕忽怠慢！更遑論本條「嘲諷或詼諧仿作」之改作，其不可測之風暴，絕非「一般」改作可及，絕不可等閒視之！

我的異想天空下，多了一個她

10多年前，在上下班時常帶著我的消噪音耳機，在嘈吵的地鐵內，聽著自己disc man 的歌，清噪音啟動後，週遭的人聲即時靜下來。

今天在公共交通公具上, 很安靜, 看到很多人帶著名貴耳機, 在聽著音樂，而我好像有一點角色對換.  既然那麼多人在聽歌，應該歌曲銷售是相對地好。可是.......

現實生活中, 唱片店快要消失, 合法音樂平台未見成效, 周遭的朋友家人, 全因為某些智能手機操作平台的所謂方便好用, 主要在於免費程式及音樂電影等容易複製. 每當我聽到這些, 只會默不作聲.  很多時候, 在朋友的電腦或某些裝置, 見到歌曲只是一些數字亂碼代號為其曲名, 我當作看不見.  更有一次, 一位朋友在要求將我的iTunes library 全部拷一份, 我很憤怒拒絕, 我也跟他疏遠。以後我再也不想對人說自己喜愛的歌。

也有一次, 我對另一位朋友說, 我在唱片店及iTunes找不到 Mr. Children 的 “十四歲的媽媽” 的主題曲及 “The Day after Tomorrow” 的電影原聲帶, 因為某些版權問題, 而並未能在某些地區售賣, 我的朋友說會在日本給我找, 但我拒絕, 原因在於我喜歡自己去找, 也有很多人不明白, 為何我不因為工作之便, 去拿取一些免費樣版, 我說我喜愛享受自己去找尋及自己去買的那份情懷, 換來是別人的說裝模作樣, 之後我也收回這些話.  

其實找不到, 得不到某些歌, 我就不要硬著要, 再者, 自己的人生哲理就是簡單地不要強求. 這點的不執著, 原來在當音樂巳沒有尊嚴地很容易垂手可得時, 竟然顯得我是頑固執著.   我也只好再一次收聲, 也不再說因由.  

這天, 我聽到一位母親苦苦訴說, 她寫給小朋友的一首兒歌, 竟然在綱上給別人變成多樣不同版本, 輕挑, 中傷, 淫穢什麼都有.  她女兒哭著對她說不要再寫歌了, 不要再聽兒歌了.  這位母親只好屈結她的無奈, 默不作聲, 能做什麼?  當眼看所有人巳對隨意下載音樂, 及在綱上將音樂任意踐踏, 也認定應該是給別人這樣吧.

看著她, 也看著自己, 原來我與她是活在這無形的生活壓抑底下.  然而, 她比我更壓抑 - 她的女兒..... 

這位母親沒有放棄, 每晚照顧好年邁的父親及幼女睡覺後，不管是深夜，追尋自己理想......   堅持自己的信念.

在我看到一個異想天空下，多了一個她。

最愛的晚餐

其實我最愛在節日時做一些簡單的炒青菜， 蒸魚，洋蔥雞翼。因為生活的平實，才是節日最值得慶祝，

Fasten your seat belt at all times

The past week has been very stormy in the Southern Canton area.  When I was at the airport earlier this week, there came some heavy cloud with glow like the scene of UFO landing from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".  Later on, 10 minutes after the plane I got on took off, a strong lightning hit the plane hard.  Though I had quite some experience on lightning hitting planes, this time it was very severe.  Certainly the plane was very bumpy this time.  Remember often fasten your seat belt at all times. 

A cheating taxi driver, Bangkok

There are times I have heard about those cheating taxi drivers in many cities.  My first encounter is in Amsterdam.  It cost me HK$500 from the airport to an airport hotel for a transit night stay and the journey time is just 3 minutes within less than one kilometre.  So as I arrived at the hotel, I asked the front desk to verify if that's the fare from the airport to the hotel.  Turned out it's a 2.5 times higher.  So at this recent visit in Bangkok, I had a 2nd time encounter with a cheating driver.  Noticed the meter count ran unusually fast (3 times faster).  When it got at the first toll way in entering the city area, it showed 35.4 kilometres (double the actual distance). Then when it got near to the hotel in Sathorn, it showed 66.4 kilometres but it was then slower back to normal.  Supposed it shouldn't be over 35 kilometres if you are getting to areas like Siam/Sathorn/Sukhumvit.  The interesting part is that the taxi driver kept asking for the paper that the airport taxi counter put his driver's licence details on record.  I then claimed that I dropped it at the airport.  He repeatedly asked for that.  So when I got to the hotel, I told the front desk to check on his meter.  So the funny thing is that the driver made an excuse that his meter was fixed the night before and didn't know it wasn't fixed.  One lie over another.  Anyway, in order not say that I took advantage of the situation, I simply offered to the fare that I usually pay for the ride to Sathorn area, which is THB320 (including the THB50 Airport transportation charge).  Later on, I told the front desk to report it to the police as we shouldn't let him cheat more future victims.

清茶淡飯 steamed rice and a cup of tea

I often got asked by my friends why I can take plain rice and plain bread without any soy sauce or butter/jam...etc.  I'd often tell plain rice and plain bread do taste and that's the nice rice and bread original flavour.  This scene reminds me of how my grand ma warned me of not leaving one rice left in the bowl.  So whenever possible, I would do so - not a single rice left.

Aetas Hotel, Lumpini, BKK

Location wise, this hotel isn't bad but interesting that only one block away from Sathorn main road (3 min. walk), this hotel seems to lose certain advantage.   To me, it's rather a good alternate choice for a quiet location but yet convenient to MRT station Lumpini (1 min walk).  The pros of this hotel is their green idea for putting a nice patio outside the cafe on a different relaxing scene from the bustling Rama 4 road (photo 1).  Staff are attentive and helpful.  The deco. of the room and the hotel interior is quite finely furnished.  The room is not bad either.  The cons are the bed mattress isn't good enough in considering the hotel claiming itself as a 5 star standard.  The swimming pool is a bit not well maintained (quite dirty) and the gym is just a room of some treadmills.  Overall, it's still a nice hotel but as the bed is my main concern, I have to say Park Plaza soi 18 is still my preferred choice.  The last 3 photos are the view to Rama 4 area,  view afar to Suk 16 on the right to Asoke to the middle, and the last one is the Lumpini park and the busy Rama 4 on the left (leading to the direction to Hua Lam Phong (BKK train main terminal) (i.e. to Yaowara - China Town).  Think of those taxi rides with my friends and family on this road.

Merchant Room, Park Regis Hotel, Clark Quay, Singapore

 Tried this hotel last year and like it very much.  So this time I chose it again.  Cozy and clean room with everything needed though the room is not too spacious.  Staff service is a plus too.  Impressed with this Australian management Staywell group.  For sure this hotel will be my regular choice for my Singapore trips.

Lisa Wong in her 45 years of artiste's career

I had to re-focus my eyes to check on this poster, and recall some of my friends asking me to take photos like who who who.  My answer for them "get a photoshop".  :

The 5 star way you are treated - on a shuttle ride from Cape Dara hotel Pattaya to downtown

Don't let your parents see you are taken in such a "convertible" truck.

Preliminary testing Canon 5D MKIII

So many years ago I wondered why some cameras can be that expensive and heavy. Years went by with entry level DSLR after a no. of compact cameras, I gotta have my first full frame camera Canon 5D MKIII. I find the answer to what I wondered.

On my seaplane flight, I looked at the propeller running so fast. I wanna freeze it. So I had the maximum shutter speed 1/8000 second at F5.6 and got this image (photo 1). I felt a bit horrified with this image - as it looks like an engine problem at 10,000 feet high.

Then in the villa at night, I set it to the auto. Though I set the minimum shutter speed at 1/15 second, the auto setting made it 1/30 (at 24mm), F4 and then ISO10,000. This is a bit different from my other cameras like 550D or X100 or most other cameras that normally it would first go to the minimum shutter speed setting first and then ISO. That means the ISO is in a very good control. As I enlarge the photo, the noise is amazingly low (3-4 times lower than 550D). So putting the ISO in priority can minimize the handshake issue when taking night photo. More to test and more to discover....

Far too much electronic

On my flight back to HK on SQ, the flight path map has been all the time mis-located in about 4-5 km difference. The below photo showed how the plane docked on the airport, not the flying position. I noticed quite several times the current GPS on various smartphones and tablets, esp. running on Android having this kind of GPS distance variance of around 3-4 km. Perhaps nowadays the electronic communication is much overloaded and jammed. As I consider this is the year of 2012, the technology shouldn't be like this.

From HK to Male with Singapore Airlines

I spent quite many times for planning a trip to Maldives and failed, due to the flight being so full for a few months or the resort being full too. Finally as I could make it, my travel agent suggested me have a more leisure transit time at Singapore Changi Airport (almost 4 hours) though the A380 flight from HK to Singapore has ample transit time of 2 hours and plenty of seats. No doubt A380 does have quite a lot of problems since its launch. So no need to bother with flying A380.

Singapore Airline offers a better firmer economy seat cushion than Cathay Pacific, and more leg room too. Service-wise, SQ is a bit better and very traditional in providing hot towels and meal menu before the flight. The meal tray and presentation is also pretty traditional. The front folding tray has a mirror (photo 2/3).

As for the inflight entertainment, it has a very wide selection of movies and music as well as games. However, the electronic system is not that smooth. Two of the four flights I took has some problems that I couldn't use it. Quite unexpected to see the RCA jacks (the conventional analog input for L/R audio and video) (photo 1), but wondered who would bring RCA cables onboard.

Live a full life on a full frame

A pretty long engagement with 5D. The recent TV ad. simply told the feeling with 5D. Full of exit, full of solitude, full of riddles, full of wonders.... Time to hold firm. Time to hold breath... and time to think. Thankful for being given a full life.

我是一個背囊﹣別了巴塞隆那的這夜

那天我從貨架上跑到你的肩膊上，那天你給我一位同伴在我懷內，它有很多照片，也有你背著我的照片，它有音樂，有遊戲，有你的工作行曆。天天天天，更多同伴在我懷內。

你背著我，我抱著他們，踏上一段一段路途。我們喜悅在和風日照，緊擁在飛舞雪天，無懼雷轟暴雨。正是我們彼此相依的一個小天地。

這天這貪婪的無耻的，把我們奪走。無奈看著，焦急徨恐的你在人群中愈漸渺小。

最後我們被帶到這幽黯房內，眼前滿是淩亂雜物，灰塵揚起光線下，有一縷一縷別人的回憶從這堆雜物堆中溜走往窗外，身旁傳來一陣斷斷續續的聲音 “很快你的記憶與感覺也會這樣消逝，誰會留戀這裡的貪婪與疾妒” 。

昨夜，雲影月移，一晃一盪我隨著窗外的光影遠飄，回望背影下這一切，在我的回憶快要消逝的這刻，要說一聲感激曾與你同行，是你人生的努力賦予我的生命。那些歲月，那些回憶，散聚這月夜下，淡淡雲梢，影遠映去。

今天，我只不過是一個背囊，它是一個平版電腦，它是一個錢包.......

Salute to a cheerful hardworking young man

Saw this heavy bike, but my mood was then so light. What impressed me is his cheerful attitude. Unlike some other people carrying stuff on their bikes, he was so thoughtful in passing thru' the lanes. I took this moment with my camera to capture his natural smile. Salute to him - way to go, young man.

Thai Airway B747-400 business class, Bangkok to Phuket

All these reminds me of the business class seat of North West of 20 years ago. Check on photo 1. See that the back board behind the seat. This is a big draw back for this seat that the recline is really restricted. Photo 2: the tray and table setting (fork/knife) is in business class but the food. 3 (once) deep fried shrimp balls with some pickled veggie and some eat-hard coconut jello as a morning breakfast. Very alternately authentic. The master chef for this catering really needs to go back to school. Serving cold food isn't that bad, but cold deep fried food shouldn't be on board. I'd rather prefer some cold cut or sandwiches.