Life, Travel, GRACE

The same company which brought you the glass in the iPhone. The idea in the video is quite futuristic though. The latest video is even more futuristic. We will see if any of these ideas can be realized.

Angry Birds is so popular that it also appears on red packet. Now is the giver as angry as the Angry Birds' characters?

There's a theory saying that everyone is connected to everyone by six degrees separation. Literally speaking, you are connected to Obama through five other people (friends of friends). Now with Facebook, everyone is connected by four degrees separation. You might not know some of your friends in your Facebook list. You just keep accepting their invitation. That's why it's so connected.

Psst, it's no good for baby under 2 years to watch TV. Recent research has pointed out that watching too much TV will cause development delays. No wonder Micah has speech language delays; because he watched too much Baby Einstein and TV? No doubt educational programs are educational, but they are only effective for toddler above 2 years old (when they know how to differentiate things, recognize stuff etc). What about iPad apps? No research on this yet. Perhaps few years later we will know.

The Big Mac's index has been updated for this year. This is the gauge comparison of purchasing power of a country against the US dollar (USA literally). Big Mac in Malaysia cost USD2.42 a piece compared to USD4.07 in the USA. Well, it's not that expensive. Who says our food price is increasing and getting expensive these days? We are still far better than a lot of countries (Wait until you see the price index chart. Then you will know why they said our stuff prices are increasing). Hong Kong and India have the cheapest Big Mac though. I bet you would want to live in Hong Kong, not India. Cheers. PS: Don't let this piece of info passed to our ministers. They will brag how good is our economy.

Lately there are a lot of websites offering discount coupons in some of the local shops or restaurants. This is not a new thing as it has gained popularity in US. Notable company in this business is Groupon. This company is on its way to be listed too. Wow, selling coupons can get you fat incomes. Before the online coupon, we had printed coupons in the newspapers. It's the same stuff but only posted on website this time. So at the end of the day, who gain from this coupon businesses? Consumers and the coupons coordinator companies. The down side of this, consumers will tend to spend more - irresistible great discount. At some points, we find it exciting with discounts in certain stuff which we've planned to buy for long time. But we try not to be carried away or obsessed with it.

There was a research concluded that city folks have higher level of stress compared to country dwellers. I thought everyone concurred with this long ago. However, it also said the earlier a child live in a city, the more prone of early-life stress. Well, so true that we can see our city school children have stressed out to the max in order to gain better result. In some parts, parents are the main culprit. Send your kids to live in countryside and they will have a good growing experience? Maybe. Should we raise the kids back home? Read more here . Note: Micah likes to stack things. Does he envision a high tower living?

Funny, but I don't think this is entirely true. The chart below explains on the x-line it's the daily point changes in the Shanghai composite, and on the y-axis, it's the changes in the rate of coronary death on those days. Well, there are the fewest heart attacks on days when the stock market moves the least. Read here for more.

An interesting fact by National Geographic.

Apple Store, IFC Mall, Shanghai. This is a good place to hang out. You can play all the gadgets there. No one will disturb you. Even taking photograph. A happy new iPhone 4 owner is trying his new gadget on the spot.

iPhone 4 was launched in China on 25 Sep 2010. So I took a trip to Apple store in IFC mall, Shanghai. Guess how many people were there? No wonder the company is making good profit.

It's weird to know that the country which has the highest broadband penetration is also having domestic cultural problem. People has become so obsessed with online game that they have forfeited their normal way of life. (Read this article .) It has been said , for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (2 Pet 2:19). By the way, are you addicted to Farmville until you have forgotten there's actually a real farm out there?

Follow up from Freedom to express , here's a snapshot of websites which are inaccessible in mainland China.

Where is our country in this comparison?

In year 2006, a poll was conducted on Americans with kids under 18 living with them. This was what they found out: - the strictest parents attend church weekly (identified as conservative) - the least strict parents are younger - men are little stricter than women - 52% of parents think it's better to guide children with "discipline and structure" - more than half say it's important to make children a better citizens However, 90% say today parents are too easy on their kids. It all starts from infant: should babies be comforted whenever they cry? Or allow them to cry it out so they learn how to sleep? The former has 60% of agreement. Here's another poll question: Suppose you had a 9-year-old son/daughter who screamed a cursed word at you and said he/she hated you. What would be your likely response? (1) Sit down and ask why he/she feels that way? (2) Tell him/her that you're sorry he/she feels that way, but you love him/her anyway. (3) Smack him/her. Of course...

Model simulation of H1N1 spreading across the globe...

Social networking is gaining popularity. Everyone is connected virtually. Lots of opportunity to be tapped from there... Source: technorati