The sweeping financial crisis that strikes U.S has brought a debate in the country and its congress whether the government should intervene and rescue the Wall Street, or even the entire economy. And It is not the only country pondering on a rescue plan. Right in a recent interview by CNN, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao appealed for giving States a hand: So this time we should join hands and meet the crisis together. If the financial and economic system in the United States go wrong, then the impact will be felt, not only in this country but also in China, in Asia and in the world at large. Wen talked so with a certain reason, as blogger ???? posted on discussion board Tianya.cn in a entry named “should China rescue U.S?” ; ???????????;? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? In this world, U.S i s the only state that may influence the entire world, not just that it’s the only super power, but that it owns th e largest consumption market all over the world. You can stop importing goods from U.S, but c an by no means ceas e exportin g to it. If such a market stagnates, the global economy has no way to avoid a disaster. The plane named “subprime mortgage crisis” is running into “Dollar status” and “foreign debt”, illustrated by unknown netizen. Besides the States’ significant influence over global market, more importantly, China is the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bills, and also maintained a strong trade tie with US where is the country’s major destination of export(21% of total). With its GDP’s reliance on export, the determination of China to help rescue U.S from another disastrous depression could be reasonable. As Wen Jiabao said in the interview, The U.S. finance is closely connected with the Chinese finance. If anything goes wrong in the U.S. financial sector, we are anxious about the safety and security of Chinese capital. But does the situation allow China to rescue U.S? Above all, the prospect of U.S economy is in deep uncertainty. No one could imagine how much the crisis that has destructed Bear Stern and Lehman Brothers is going to wreck anymore. ???? pointed out that the crisis is rooted in the States’ inherent economic system, that ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????“????”????????????????????????????? The U.S economy relied strongly on financial industry, being used to consuming on today with the money might be earned tomorrow, as determined by their consumerism culture. Thus, the consequence could be ???????????????? ????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????…… ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????1931?????????????????? ??????????????? 1. Americans dare not put money in the banks. 2. The downfall of financial industry would drive people away from the bonds Wall Street issued, thus its financing capability would be very much undermined… 5. the dollars are going to devalue so that its status as a global currency would come to an end. 6. as the largest and second holders of U.S. Treasury bills, Japan and China would be marred due to the slumping dollar value 7. Major nations in the world might endeavor to displace their crisis by the method of war, and a new world war with the massive use of nuclear weapons is inevitable….. At the end of his article, the blogger posted a critical question ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? We should know that China could play a positive role in the crisis as the largest holder of dollar reserve. The problem is, since U.S has long been giving troubles to China and trying to impede the reunification of China. Should we pay back the bad with good? In 2 pages of comments followed, firespace1 scorned ??????????? I support you to rescue U.S with your salary. 7758521wan said: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????……????????? You are such an amazing man that is going to save America! No f**king a few days since you have enough to stuff your stomach! if you have money you had better go out to the street and accommodate a few more countrymen. Isn’t that better? ……Shame on you. Accordingly, maybe people should ask “do we have the power to save America”. ????1970 said: ??????????? ??????????????????? China has no power to give U.S a hand. It’s been the greatest support not to take its advantage to sell the treasury bills. But ??????? thought the other way, ??????????.??????.???????.??????????.?????,????????.????????????.????????????. Shut up those abuse the blogger. If the crisis keeps going, up to 10 months our domestic economy would be out of control, from financial to real estate industries. I can’t tell then how many Chinese would kill themselves. EileenZ?rebuked: ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? So as you guys say, America should never fall, and the entire world ought to uphold the power of U.S so that it can spend others’ money to pay and order goods from other countries. ?????? seconds, giving an analogy ???????????,?????????,?????.????????,???????,????????????????,??????????.???????? China is like working for U.S, a boss who someday says he has run out of money, the company going to collapse. However, China says,”No, you can't fall, or I will be starving without a job.” Then the boss says,” OK, then please lend me some money, so that I can keep the company, and you can keep working for me.” What a logic! That might be why insins said: ?????????? ???????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Yes, we should help it. But it should be conditional. Though it’s not moral to bargain that way, we don’t have to feel guilty to do so with Americans, since that’s the way they treated us. We can bargain on Taiwan and Tibet issues. What good chips! More than the unwillingness to give a hand, there are voices criticizing U.S is trying to transfer his financial burden to all the rest of the world, nothing different with a rogue state's action. In another discussion board, IronBlood, ??? said ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????……???????????????????????????? The financial bankruptcy, quite the same as Chinese enterprise reform in 1997, is to rid of its financial burden. But they are inherently different, that U.S is going to rid of the debt he owed to the world, with its actual capital unaffected. Do we have to save such a country without any credit? On the one hand, China fears the financial crisis would not only involve the States itself, but destroy the global market and economic order as well; while on the other hand, it is thrilled by the significant chance, as the States might have during the World War 2, that along with the shift on power map, China would escalate to a status of super power. ???'s comment is exactly the expression of this ambition: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????“??????????????????????????????????????” Chinese people refused to let their government to help rescue the U.S market. Firstly, China has suffered a lot in U.S financial bankruptcy; Second, dollar should no more be the single world currency we have, and stop kidnapping the global economy with such a status. Third, the world economy is in need of a reshuffle, to evade any likewise debt-shirking behavior in the future. As netizens say: the economic crisis this time is a redistribution of the economic powers in the world; China, has to be prepared for the restoration of a new order. Less

So says Sahar . On the occasion of World Peace Day she writes: Look at the world – where is peace? It is shy and illusive. There is turmoil and war. There is distrust and fear of the other. There are hearts bleeding for their loved ones – it doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter who – loved ones are just as precious. Can we really strive for a day – one day of peace? One day in which we intentionally look at the half that is full instead of the half that is empty? Can we take a day to look at what human beings on Earth have in common rather than what divides us? Can we make the effort? Today a mixed bad of posts. A meeting of old friends, a little politics, a coin of excellence, a dose of female geekery and, if you read to the end, find out what fasting really does to you. If you watch no other video this week watch this one If you listen carefully to the news you may hear the odd glib comment about the concrete walls that have gone up around Baghdad. But, to truly understand the devastation these walls cause to the communities that are divided by them one must listen to the voices of the ordinary Iraqis. Which is exactly what Alive in Baghdad does. When Birds Die Where do birds dig their graves, brown and black … and blue? They crawl at the end of their time into nothingness that we will never know… They respect each others private last minute with God… before the final accession. They turn their heads the other way when loved ones die. Then turn them again to bestow all the love of the skies and flight… in parting. Poem by ZZ Bits and Pieces A&E Iraq meets his closest friend that he has not seen since they parted in Iraq. The meeting brings memories of times past: I had flashes from the past, him being threatened by the security forces, there weapons were pointed to his neck, when I started shouting and threatening. We were always ready to die together, he never let me down… I kept looking at him, the same smile, the same gestures, and the same childish behavior. I closed my eyes and found myself sitting in his black small car (the one he used to have in Baghdad), as he used to come everyday, ringing the bell, and then we both disappear. Going out, drinking special juice from (14th of Ramadan street), chatting, listening to songs, eating Falafel or Lahmb3ajeen, and then going back, sit in the car, keep talking, talking about love, friends and future plans. Last of Iraqis notices the recent prisoner releases by America but finds some ominous signs for the future peace in Iraq: I can surely say that there is a good number of [Al Qaida] members among those prisoners as a colleague of mine said when he was talking about his neighbor who is a released prisoner:” I can assure you Mohammed he was in [Al Qaida], I'm sure of that as I'm sure of my name…he was released and few hours 4 members of the Awakening came to visit him!! can you believe that…I bet the situation will get worst pretty soon”… Only god knows what the coming days are hiding for us. Inside the Green Zone, Neurotic Wife gets an award (picture left) from the Commanding General in charge of her office. For the first time “the woman that can go on talking forever and give headaches to people all over the world”, is speechless. But, she does not want to take the credit for herself. Neurotic Wife writes: I seriously don’t think I deserve this coin, but instead, I believe that this coin should be dedicated to all those who lost their lives in the name of this country. First and foremost I dedicate it to all the innocent Iraqi martyrs whose blood is still running deep. Deep within these rivers. And ofcourse, I also dedicate it to the coalition forces and the multi national forces who may not have sacrificed their lives because they “love” us, but they sacrificed their lives in the name of their own country. And to me, to me all those who sacrificed their lives for THEIR country is the epitome of ones honour. A Pure and Honest Honour… Ihath finds a Swarovski Crystal pendant that is also a USB memory stick and, as a true female geek, she cannot contain her delight. Ihath tries to explain to the confused shop assistant why this is so cool: So I began to explain to her that this thingy can be attached to a computer or a laptop and you can transfer you files to it and then you have your files with you all the time but it is also a heart shaped pendant which makes a statement about the love you have for these files. The elderly woman still looked puzzled and asked me “So why is that cool?”. “Well it is cool because you have your files with you in a heart shaped pendant hanging on your chest, which means you love your files and your digital files are important to you and you have them hanging right next to your heart, which says something” I tried to explain. “Aha” she replied, but she didn’t look very convinced. And Finally Bookish posts a result of Ramadhan that everyone fasting will find familiar: This is my weight just before having Al-Futoor. My weight just after having Al-Futoor. :) Less

Ein Damenwäscheträger, kurz DWT, war zu früheren Zeiten, ein Bediensteter des Kaufhauses, der Damen der gehobenen Gesellschaft, beim Einkaufen die Pakete mit Damenwäsche hinterher trug. Sein Kennzeichen war eine meist rote Pagen-Uniform mit einem ebenso roten Hütchen. Er unterschied sich von dem Kleiderträger schon durch die Signalfarbe der Uniform. Wenn ein roter Page jedoch mit runden Boxen hinter einer Dame von Welt her trabte, handelte es sich in der Regel um einen sogenannten Hut-Boy ... Less

Well I suppose now that its just about 5pm EST I should have gotten this post out a little earlier. However the fact that I forgot still does not change the simple fact that today is RSS Awareness Day. I can say that without RSS I would be a lot less productive as it lets me scan hundreds of posts and websites in minutes looking for just the good stuff that helps me get the job done. Personally as a multi-computer user I prefer (and use) Google Reader, but there are a variety of great RSS clients out there. Some good options for PC’s and Mac’s alike as well as online readers such as Bloglines and the previously mentioned Google Reader. For anyone in your life, I am sure you have at least more than a few, that are RSS ignorant here is a great video called “RSS In Plain English” courtesy of commoncraft. Here are a few links to check out for RSS; rssday.org, rssday.info and of course we cannot forget Wikipedia, who defines RSS as: “RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts.[2] An RSS document (which is called a “feed” or “web feed”[3] or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.” Credit: (jeff)isageek for posting this and reminding me. Less

Take a behind-the-scenes trip with Break a Leg's very own, Chad Yarish (Jennifer John Bradley) as he shows how a no-budget production fakes shooting in a sewer. See the episodes and more at: http://www.breakaleg.tv Less

Format m? at?lacak? ?nternet mi koptu? Küçük o?lan?n müstehcen sitelere girdi?ine dair ?üpheler mi var? Hatta kulakl?ktan ses mi gelmiyor? Bo? bulunup numaran?z? verdi?iniz bu ev ahalisi için art?k H?z?r Acil hatt?n?n hemen yan?nda kay?tl? olarak, bir telefon uzakl???ndas?n?zd?r. En ac? servis deneyimleri de, evin ortanca k?z?n?n dershanede oldu?u ve kek yapmak için kabartma tozunun kalmad??? zamanlara denk gelen bilgisayar ar?zalar?d?r. Yine sorun?lu bir bölgemize parmak basay?m dedim lan. Abi bu teknolojinin yani daha do?rusu internet, bilgisayar vs. hizmet ve aletlerin geçmi?e göre nispeten ucuzlamas? ve tabana yay?lmas?yla biliyoruzki hemen her evde bir bilgisayar var gibi bir ?ey, en az?ndan ?stanbulda öyledir herhalde. Mesela cep telefonlar? k?sm?na deyinirsem hemencecik olay ?u, adam alm?? abi n70 falan neyse en son model bir cep telefonu ama yaz?k olmu? telefona çünkü sadece mesaj yaz?yor ve telefonla konu?uyor, ulan deyyus o telefonda gprs var, bluuuuuutut var, wap var, 3g var, kameras? ne bilem i?te bir ton ?v?r? z?v?r? var kullansana onlar?da. Yok bizimki hasta, sadece i?te son model olsun da aman karizmy? çizdidrmeyelim hesab?, belki de yani tabi daha çok nedenler olabilir. As?l konu ?u, kom?ular?n ar?zalanan bilgisyarlar? mevzusu, sadece bilgisayarda de?il, bunun yaz?c?s? var ne bilim mause ar?zalanan bile var yani biizm buralarda :D ?imdi ilk zamanlarda iyidir mesela gidersin tamam abi bi bakal?m basit bir ?eyse iki dakka halelderiz dersin, sonra kekler gelir, ne bilim pasta belki, ?ansl?ysan e?er çay kahve yan?nda müthi? ?eyler gelir, halleder ç?akrs?n. Lakin sonralar? bu tür kom?ular sizi cepte sayan dü?üncelere dalarlar, zira ulan nas?l olsa bizim Volkan var a.q bozun lan bilgisayarlar? :D diyebilirler. ??te tehllike bundan sonra ba?lar, ilk zamanlarda ho? olabilecek bu ar?zalanmalar sonralar? sizin kabusunuz olmaya ba?lar, çünkü gitmezsen ?srar ederler ya da illaki bir zman ay?rman? isterler falan filan, k?saca bilgisayar? ar?zalanan kom?u tiplerine göre siz bir insan de?ilsinizdir, meleksinizdir ve sosyal hayat?n?z yoktur, i?emeye ihtiyac?n?z yoktur mesela :) Geçen arkada?a, abi dünyada bütün sözleri söylemi? amcamlar, bütün k?tlar ke?fedilmi?, bütün seks pozisyonlar? uygulanm??, ulan ne bok yemeye ya??yoruz bizi farkm?z ne, hep ayn? makara, s2erim böle adaleti ben gidiyorum lan dedim :D Gülme krizleri vard?r lan, bay?l?r?m, kar??ndaki güler, sen gülersin, etraftakiler manyak diye bakr size, siz gülem lan dersiniz kar??ndakinize, yoo tutamazs?n, güle güle art?k surat?n ?ekli de?i?ir, bir zaman sonra aülamakla kar???r mesela. Mesela hiç unutmam zaman?nda bir ot alm??t?k abi, ulan ne deli otmu?, yeminle küvetin içine kafam? sokmak zorunda kald?m, gülme krizine tutturan otlar var, sak?ncal? içmeyin. Denemeyinde. ?nsanlara hayallerini anlatmaya göri hemen ulan bo? i?ler bunlar, delimisin olm, hasiktir falan diyorlar, neden? Çünkü beyin yok adamlarda senin dü?ündü?ün ?eyleri ak?l edebilecek bir beyne sahip de?iller, genelde onlar yer içer s?çar ba?ka bi boka yaramaz. Son olarak; bak?n kom?ular, abiler, ablalar ya da ne iseniz, bizi yani bu i?lerden anlayan “bili?imci gençleri” sadece bilgisayardan anlayan, odas?ndan d??ar? ç?kmayan, yüksek sesle müzik dinleyip olmayacak i?er pe?inde ko?an, asosyal bo?bele? dallamalar olarak görmeyin, insan?z ulan biz. Lanblog insan?n üzerine yak??an? giymesidir! Less

Cidden ya o kadar fazla bilgisayar kullan?yorum ki sa? i?aret paarma??m mause a t?klaya t?klaya mutasyona u?rad?. Bide bu mause ufak a.q. ?u laptopun Touch pad’?na al??mam gerek art?k. Ne okuyorum; 029ur, boksunuz, 5posta, sultanik, bildirgec, Burcu. 029 anlat?lmaz ya?an?r ?iir gibi yazar mübarek, boksunuz dünyan?n en ?ahane insan? arif taraf?ndan yaz?lan bir eser, 5posta hayalimdeki blog fikrini çalan fenasinin yazd???, sultanik i e?im yaz?yor habire adres de?i?tiriyor bir adam bulmu? yenilemi? dizayn?n? falan pek ki?isel yaz?s? yok yotube videosu koymaya bay?l?r genelde bana gönderme yap?yor ?ark?alrla, bildirgec delicious umun ba? kahraman?, Burcu hayat?mda gördü?üm en web2 k?z, ondan bir tane istiyorum (: Benim neyimi sevdiniz ulan? Bok gibi adam?m a.q. Hep git geller, ben onlara gittim geldim :( onlar geldiler gittiler, geldiler, gittiler. Gelmeye devam ediyorlar. Her gelene art?k ne zaman gidecek acaba diye bak?yorum. ??i çözdüm asl?nda (: ama aç?klamam bu bir s?r. Less

During the closing session of the new media workshop I led recently in Alexandria, Egypt, practically everybody paid tribute to Shahinaz Abdelsalam, better known in the blogosphere as Wahda Masrya - an Egyptian Girl. The lone Alexandria native and one of the few experienced bloggers among the group, Shahinaz became for most of the participants a symbol of courage and deep commitment to the cause of human rights and of freedom expression. As Delphine Nerbollier tells us in her interview (Fr) with Shahinaz on the NewsLab blog, Shahinaz broke with family tradition and left her native city in 2005, and now leads an independent life in Cairo. At 29 years old, she works as an telecommunications engineer with Orange, a job which, for her, raises a number of ethical questions. “Orange moved to this country to so they could pay engineers lower salaries, and I'm against that sort of thing,” she says. “But you still have to live, don't you?” Unlike the majority of Muslim women in Egypt, Shahinaz has never worn a headscarf or veil, and has no plans to do so in the future. In this special edition of the Global Voices Show, Shahinaz talks about her own reasons for blogging; the risks faced by Egyptian bloggers who dare criticise the authorities; her friend, the imprisoned blogger Kareem Amer (whom she encouraged us all to write by giving us self-addressed stamped envelopes); and the activist blogging scene in Egypt. Less

Im Vorfeld des Asien-Pazifik herrscht eine mangelnde Flugbereitschaft für die Damen und Herren des horizontalen Gewerbes. Less

her?eyle her?eyin aras?nday?z birine öyle uzak ötekine bu kadar yak?n a?z?na s?çm??lar duydu?uma göre b?y?k b?rakm??s?n… di?in ete sürtünürken ç?kard??? sesi duyuyor musun c?z?rt?larla bilmem neden suçluyuz bir sonbahar denizine dökülürken klarnet e?li?inde ak?am çay içip sohbet etmemizi ça??r?yorlar tan?k sandalyesine haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz ?a??yorum hâlâ insan? kanatan hakikatler olmas?na ve yaln?zl??a yaln?zl???n yumurtal?klar? falan var salataya karabiber koyar gibi sallan?yordu kolu ölmekte olan kad?n?n aya??nda kan k?rm?z?s? bir çorap b?raksalar tetiklerimi evde b?rak?rd?m say?n jüri üyeleri ve atard?m yaln?zl???n tâ yumurtal?klar?na kadar bir yumruk haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz bana gözlerimi vermiyor eteklerini k?salt?p yüzlerini saklayan kad?nlar h???rt?larla üzülme sen biz de sarho? ?ark?lar birgün söyleriz bir plak i?nesinin çizdi?i yüzlerle üzülmezsen tasmanya’da amma da dudaklar?m?z? tükürürüz tetiklerini yitirmi? bir otomatik tüfekle bak insan sevmesini ö?renebilir hapishanesini at yaln?zl???n yumurtal?klar?na bir tekme daha hay?r port arthur’a sapmad?m önünden geçtim sadece silah sesleri geliyor ?u kafetaryadan veya daha yak?ndan dan dan say?n jüri üyeleri hayata dü?ece?imi bilseydim aran?za dün adl? bir da?dan terliklerimi evde b?rak?rd?m elbette bir de cebimde bulaca??m? sand???m kibritlerimi suç aletlerimi ellerini yüzüme örten o ka??t k?z art?k haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz elimde tek bir tetik ve yaln?zl???n tâ yumurtal?klar?na varana kadar kolu elbette salataya karabiber koyar gibi sallanmal?yd? arabalar yava?layarak yan?ndan geçerken bunlar ellerim bu ahlâk?m bu az önce ç?kartt???m yang?n hay?r çorap k?rm?z? sadece aceleye getirilmi? bir gecenin yar?s?nda bak ben söyleyeyim b?kt?m senden ve tanr?lar?ndan dan dan silah sesleri geliyor `dinle plaklar?n iki ?ark? aras? c?z?rt?s?ndan ?imdi sesimi` bir sessizlik planlad?m misafirlere zor pazartesiler geçsin k?zlar sokaktan istedi?i erke?i seçsin diye çünkü blues az anl?yor musunuz haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz onu da ver diye hayk?ran ran ran misafirlerin arkas?ndan dan artan jambon cips ve ?ampan ya ?u evi de yakmal? ?u küçük k?z? da öldürmeli di?in eti özlemesini duyuyor musun v?n?lt?larla salataya karabiber koyar gibi sallanan kollar haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden bu gruba bir basç? laz?m çünkü adalet az ol ma z ?imdi ?ehre su veren bütün vanalar? kapatmal?y?m sokaklarda yaln?zl???n yumurtal?klar? var ve yazman han?m benimle evlenmeyen ne çok tütünsüz bol vitaminli bordo çorapl? k?zlar var ve inan?n birbirlerine çok yak???yorlar bu delik aln?n?z?n ortas?nda iyi durdu bayan bir hat?ra port arthurdan dan evet bu hayat?n biraz k?rm?z?s? az az daha yüksek sesle haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olm a z bilseydim tetiklerimi terliklerimi evde b?rak?rd?m ilkokullar?n kurumakta oldu?unu böylesine evet hep beraber haleluya demeden o l m a z haleluya demeden olmaz siren sesleri yakla??yor hamburgerinizden geçen bir mermi yaln?zl???n ta! yumurtal?klar?ndan geçen bir tekme hayat?n?z?n ortas?ndan geçen sidikli bir a?k ta! a?k bütün haks?z yere övülmelerim gözlerimin önünden ellerini yüzüme örten ka??t k?z art?k – ate?inizi alabilir miyim haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz sigara kullanmam port arthurdan silah sesleri geliyor veya çok daha yak?ndan ve arlanmaz devrimci gülü?ümü nereden buldu?umu soruyorsunuz kendinize dan dan mesela kar?? masadan say?n cinayet masas? yetkilileri bir arma?an bir arma?an danseden hayaletlerinizi k?r?yorum ?ang?rt?larla ve birbiri ard?ndan bir an ?aka??m? so?uk bir vanaya day?yorum ölüler geçmi? buradan haydi hep beraber di?leri g?c?rt?larla haleluya demeden olmaz haleluya demeden olmaz insanlar? de?il tenhal??? sadece ya?amak sadece ya?amaktan ibarettir bo? bir oda gibi nedensiz a?k ?iirleri ve yanan ?ehirler buradan gelir yine de kimse inanmaz… Less

I frequently download videos from the internet, via bittorrent files. Without these, I would have absolutely no entertainment as I don’t have cable TV. In addition to downloading the videos, I sometimes come across other types of files, like computer programs and documents. Recently, I downloaded an archive of “How to do It Yourself” .pdf files, 158 of them in total. The documents cover a range of things that can be repaired, including asphalt driveways, attached decks, board fences, brick walls, ceiling tiles, chain link fences, closet organizers, deck covers, disposals, drip irrigation, electric water heaters, flowing gutters, foam back carpet, hanging wallpaper, plank flooring, insulation, shingles, mower tune-ups, parquet squares, patching plaster, pool care, pruning trees and shrubs, rail fences, skylights, underground sprinklers, varnish and enamel, vinyl floors, wall paneling, lightscaping, and a whole lot more. I scanned through the documents and couldn’t find one of them useful to my situation now. I have none of the things covered in the documents. I mean, although the shape of my house is square and I have a dishwasher in the kitchen and some framed pictures hanging on the walls, my house is basically like every other house in Taiwan – a concrete box. I would love to spend the money to spruce up my house, to give it more warmth and a better atmosphere. However, every item purchased to do that would be a major argument from my wife, Shu Mei. You see, Taiwanese people are steadfastly against spending money on aesthetics, whether it be for a house or for themselves. You might think I’m making too broad of a generalization. However, in the over-five-years I’ve been here, I can count on one hand the number of Taiwanese women I have seen wearing make-up. And don’t get me started about the lack of fashion style! It’s all about money. Oh, they have it, but they refuse to spend it. It is a wonder how their economy survives. Actually, that’s not true. As long as they are willing to pollute the environment, making stuff for the West, they’ll have money. The sole reason the Taiwan economy flourishes is due to the money being imported from the products that are exported. If it weren’t for the West, these people would all be poor rice farmers. That’s not racist. It’s just a fact. Before I moved here, one of my wife’s friends told me that the Taiwanese people have one God whose name is “money”. That’s not entirely correct, but it is close to the mark. I have found the majority of the Taiwanese people love to earn money. Spending it is a different story, though. To them, spending money is foolish. They feel that the money that they earn should be kept, in case it is needed for an emergency. Less

Welcome to the third voyage of the BlogHarbor Cruise, an audioblog or podcast where we take a trip around BlogHarbor and visit some of the sites our bloggers are creating. The BlogHarbor Cruise is somewhat more of an audio weblog than podcast; it will be very convenient to listen to the program in front of your computer while visiting the locations we speak about in your web browser. On this program which is just under 18 minutes long, we’ll visit: http://unbecominglevity.blogharbor.com.com/ Inventive and creative personalization of the default templates.   Add a banner to your header http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2003/12/26/10894.html   Collapsible Components http://unbecominglevity.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/6/30/97796.html http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=746   Changing the structure of your Recent Comments component http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1123 http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/6/3/82631.html   Printer Friendly Pages http://unbecominglevity.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/5/28/79642.html http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=654   Changing the color of your sidebars http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=515   http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/ Modifying the default presentation and structure to create a fully customized design.   Modifying the presentation elements of your blog via CSS How to Center your blog, a good primer on modifying your blog’s CSS style template http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1150   Change the background color of your component titles http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1259   Add a border around your dates http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1250   Tips on tweaking your stylesheet: http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1108   Modifying the structural elements of your blog via the category and article templates Changing the default font http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=518   Changing the style of the article’s title http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1080   Changing the “More” link on Category pages http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1196   Add default content to every article http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1132   Make the article title link to the article’s Permanent Link http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=998   Modifying the attachments icon http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1227   The RSS feed for this podcast is http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/Podcasting/Cruise/index.xml so if you’re using a podcast receiver or podcatcher such as , you can use that address to automatically receive new BlogHarbor Cruise podcasts when they they are released. Questions, suggestions, feedback, and MP3 comments to or via the comment form below. All aboard! Less

Welcome to our second BlogHarbor Cruise, an audioblog or podcast where we take a cruise around BlogHarbor to see some of the interesting things our bloggers are doing. The BlogHarbor Cruise is somewhat more of an audio weblog than podcast; it will be very convenient to listen to the program in front of your computer while visiting the locations we speak about in your web browser. On this program which is just over 12 minutes long, we’ll visit: http://thisblogismyblog.blogharbor.com/ A great writer shares a personal experience.   http://www.metsblog.com/ A popular weblog for fans of the New York Mets baseball team A moving comment by a reader of the site. Learn how to center your blog.   http://blogforfunandprofit.blogware.com A wealth of information about RSS, blogging, podcasting, and marketing.   http://brightave.blogharbor.com/ Professional journalist blogs and podcasts. Audioblog.com: www.audioblog.com   The RSS feed for this podcast is http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/Podcasting/Cruise/index.xml so if you’re using a podcast receiver or podcatcher such as iPoddder Lemon, you can use that address to automatically receive new BlogHarbor Cruise podcasts when they they are released. Questions, suggestions, feedback, and MP3 comments to cruise@blogharbor.com or via the comment form below. All aboard! Less

Welcome to the first BlogHarbor Cruise, an audioblog or podcast where we take a cruise around BlogHarbor to see the interesting things some of our bloggers are doing. The BlogHarbor Cruise will be more of an audio weblog than podcast; it will be very convenient to listen to the program in front of your computer while following along to some of the locations we visit. Some of the places we’ll visit on our first program which is just short of 15 minutes long include: http://www.vallartaundiscovered.com/ See this page for how to use a domain name as your blogs address: http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2003/11/27/7410.html   http://dissidentvox.blogware.com/ Add a background image to your blog’s header table: http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1083   Add Audio to your Weblog Using AudioBlog.com: http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/5/22/74667.html   http://www.eftzone.com/ Make simple changes to your blog’s CSS stylesheet, it can go a long way: http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=518   Customizing your blogs CSS stylesheet http://forums.blogharbor.com/viewtopic.php?t=1150   The RSS feed for this podcast will be at http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/Podcasting/Cruise/index.xml so if you’re using a podcast receiver or podcatcher such as iPoddder Lemon, you can use that address to automatically receive new BlogHarbor Cruise podcasts when they they are released. Questions, suggestions, feedback, and MP3 comments to cruise@blogharbor.com or via the comment form below. All aboard! Less