AFP: Google prepared to quit China over censor feud: executive

AFP: Google prepared to quit China over censor feud: executive: "Republican Representative Chris Smith pointed to a Forbes magazine report quoting Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer as saying Google was acting irrationally and vowing to censor search results if instructed to do so.
'If the Chinese government gives us proper legal notice, we'll take that piece of information out of the Bing search engine,' the magazine quoted Ballmer as telling oil company executives in Texas in January."

We can't say that Microsoft's search engine Bing actually is rubbish 'Bin' compared with Google, but Microsoft has more products to make money out of Chinese pockets, such as Windows operating system, while Google has nothing besides it's Chinese search engine Google.cn, and Gmail. If Chinese government keeps it ever-tightening policy of censorship, the only thing Google can do is to quit, and do it outside the Great Fire Wall(GFW), and help Chinese netizens to develop some tools to break the blocking.

Boustrophedon

Originally, the Greek alphabet was written from right to left, but a form of writing called boustrophedon later developed.

In boustrophedon, lines of text alternated direction: One line would run from right to left, then the next line would run from left to right, then the next line from right to left again, and so on in zigzag fashion down the page.

Gradually, this system died out and all lines were written from left to right. Boustrophedon was generally seen just in Greek writing, but some early examples of Etruscan and Latin writing also use it, so it's not completely unheard-of for Latin-alphabet text to be written right to left.

In boustrophedon, the shape of a letter on a right-to-left line was the mirror image of its shape on a left-to-right line, enabling the reader to tell easily the direction of a given line of text.

Master Crook's crime academy

Master Crook's crime academy, by the creator of Horrible Histories, Terry Deary.

This is a story happened in 1837, that was the year the old queen came to the throne. Here is how the narrator described the old queen:

It was quite a large throne because she had a large bottom, of course. In fact she was a short but wide young lady at the time. She grew wider as years passed. Several people tried to shoot her, as you know. They all missed. How they missed such a w-i-d-e target I'll never know.

This book is quite funny, just as one of the reviewer said: a book this funny should be against the law!

The Blenheim campagn and the Duke of Marlborough

The Blenheim campaign was one of greatest feats of arms in British military history. Acting entirely on his own initiative, Marlborough marched his entire army 250 miles, down from Flanders and into Bavaria. It was an astonishing tour de force and a masterpiece of logistical planning, particularly given the international nature of his force. Of sixty-five battalions of infantry and one hundred and sixty squadrons of cavalry, only fourteen and nineteen, respectively were British.

Marlborough today tends to be overshadowed by Wellington, but properly considered his true importance becomes clear.  Marlborough's victory at Blenheim delivered a body blow to Louis XIV whose army had reigned effectively unbeaten in any major battle for fifty years. At a single stoke Marlborough save the Austrian Empire and drove the French onto the defensive. In real terms the allies killed or captured 40,000 French and Bavarian troops along with 1,150 officers, 50 cannon and 128 infantry colours. The allied losses ran to 6,000 killed and 8,000 wounded. The news reached London on 21 August and the city bells rang out to salute the victory.

Blenheim was the end of an era. In a single day of battle, Marlborough had elevated his queen to the unquestioned status of European monarch, demonstrated that a British-led army was fully capable of defeating the French and given Britain the confidence which would result in the forging of her Empire. In personal terms, despite the inevitable attempts to use Blenheim as a vehicle for party politics, Marlborough's political enemies were confounded and the balance of power in Parliament moved dramatically away from the Hight Tories in favour of the Whigs. The Duke's future prosperity was also assured with queen Anne's  reward of the manor of Woodstock in Oxfordshire where he and his wife, Sarah,  set about the construction of a magnificent palace which would bear the name of his victory.

-- Man of Honor: Jack Steel: For Queen and Country, by Iain Gale, published by Harper

Amos is so dehydrated that he cannot even produce tears

"Amos had been ill for a week and his grandmother didn't know what was wrong or how to treat him. By the time they arrived, Amos's condition had deteriorated to the point where he was very weak and lifeless. His body was so dehydrated he couldn't even cry.

Catherine decided to walk to Mkomaindo with Amos, a long hot journey of more than nine miles. Amos's symptoms alerted doctors to the fact that he was suffering acute dehydration. At the time Catherine was distraught, obviously concerned that her grandson might die.

But Amos was prescribed Oral Rehydration Therapy. He spent two days taking Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), a mixture of sugar, salt and water - administered every two hours which enabled his body to absorb water.

Thanks to Oral Rehydration Therapy, Amos improved dramatically and was on the road to making a full recovery."

This is UNICEF story.  Amos is dehydrated from diarrhoea.  According the data from World Health Report 2005,  dehydration caused by diarrhea kills nearly 4,800 children under the age of 5 one day,  that's over 33,500 children in one week alone, and kill s nearly 1.8 million children every year.

The Oral Rehydration Therapy is amazingly simple. It's a mixture of salt and sugar that, when added to water and given to a child suffering from sever dehydration, can bring a child quickly back to health.

Sometime I just couldn't believe it due to my own experience and shocked by the statistics, for example, how can a influenza or diarrhea kill people and so many? How could people not know just to give their child salt and sugar water solution to help preventing dehydration? People don't know their children thirsty?

A single sachet costs just 4p, and made of  salt and sugar, here are the ingredients:

• Glucose anhydrous food grade 13.5 g


• Sodium chloride BP 98 2.6 g


• Trisodium citrate dihyrate BP 98 2.9 g


• Potassium chloride BP 98 1.5 g

There are scientific names for sugar and salt!  If you couldn't find this kind of Oral Rehydration Salt sachet, you simply make it for yourself mixing the following:

• 1 liter/quart of purified water


• 1/2 teaspoon of table salt


• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda


• 8 teaspoons of sugar or 2 teaspoons of Karo syrup


• 1/4 teaspoon of salt substitute (provides potassium)

This is there suggestion from Palo Alto Medical foundation website, and other recipes for making rehydration solution.

Green shoots of recovery

There has been plenty of negative press over the past year, particularly aimed at the housing market.

However, though we hesitate to use the phrase "green shoots of recovery", homebuyers are definitely sensing a rejuvenation of the market and prices are inching up, suggesting now is a good time to buy before the recovery really gathers pace.

So the futures looking bright for home buyers, maybe it is the right time to buy.

How to reduce your chance of becoming a victim of crime?

How to reduce your chance of becoming a victim or a repeat victim of crime?

There is a Chinese saying, 'not afraid of ten thousand, but only afraid of that one in ten thousand', which means if there is a 1 in 10,000 chance that something will happen, it's not the 9999 that one need fear, but that single 1 that one should fear, because that single one could cause great damage to you. To close and lock doors and windows looks so unnecessary that you are just going out for a very short time. But what would you do if that 1 (in 10,000 chance) actually happens? So please always ensure:

• When you are in that you shut and lock your doors


• Close and lock all windows in unoccupied rooms


• When going out always lock the door and close the windows - even if your are just going out for a short time.


• Window locks will help stop people getting in ( a burglar is less likely to break in if they have to smash a window)


• Use timers for lights and radios if you are going to be out for the evening or overnight.


• Visible burglar alarms can put the burglar off - if you have one make sure you use it.

And if you do all these, but you still feel not safe, you may take a free or paid crime prevention survey to reduce your vulnerability and give yourself peace of mind. And if deemed appropriate, get a security improvements installed, which could possibly include the fitting of extra locks, chains or vibration alarms dependent on the vulnerability of the property.