LookBark's pub

i'm is a new initiative from Windows Live (TM) Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i'm, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. While there is no set cap on the amount each cause can receive, Microsoft will make a minimum $100,000 guaranteed donation to each of the nine organizations during the first year of the program. The more i'm (TM) conversations that happen, the more donations that happen. The sky's the limit.

So any time you have an i'm conversation using Windows Live Messenger, you help address the issues you feel most passionate about, including poverty, child protection, disease, and environmental degradation. All you have to do is join and start an instant messaging conversation. Microsoft handles the donation.

Visit http://im.live.com to join and get more information.

I am really happy to see our product in the public media... Yes! This is a show off! :D

最近和猪有缘了，发个猪的小专题吧。。。

1. Pig of shame

在俺们组里，做坏事是要受惩罚滴，所以这次作为Break DOA的责任人之一，拿了小猪，特此拍照留念作为教训以儆后来。。。

拍完才发现，这张还有点艺术照的那种光晕感觉哪，看俺们的小猪迷人不？

 

2. 猪音响

在engadget上看到了这个好玩的咚咚，发现老外还真能琢磨啊。以下引文：

不过，顾客永远是对的，有需求，就会有响应，先前想必有人已经在 E 站主战上看过这些可爱的喇叭，牺牲了听觉上的效果，但却造就了让人意想不到的娱乐笑果。看看这头 Stereo Squealer 推出的粉红猪，随然小小一只，仅 1.6 瓦的输出功率，没法让人听到动人的音乐，不过，四颗 AA 电池驱动，利用mini-jack连结，几乎可以和市面上所有的随身听兼容的便利性，其实还算不赖啦！而他最特殊的地方，在于音量控制的方法，只要摇摇猪尾巴，大声小声就随你调啰！售价 14.95 欧元（约人民币 150 元），不过中国可能没卖吧。

Just did a Quiz about major, seems I am right on track...You scored as Mathematics.
You should be a Math major! Like Pythagoras, you are analytical, rational, and when are always ready to tackle the problem head-on!
Mathematics 83% Engineering 83% Biology 75% Art 75% English 67% Dance 67% Sociology 50% Chemistry 50% Psychology 50% Philosophy 50% Theater 50% Linguistics 42% Journalism 33% Anthropology 33% http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=119158

Recently I suddenly found that I am in love with the feeling of writing even if I don't have something special to write. So this shit is just releasing my writing addiction. :-)

 

Today is another normal day among the thousands of days in my life, nothing specially good to say, nothing specially bad to say either. Smoke is broken due to their improvement to the system - definately not a smooth improvement, so I am seating here to put some shit on my blog just in order to kill time...

 

However I am really feeling good during these 3 weeks, except for missing someone in Beijing ;-) First of all I met my US colleagues here and found they are all nice guys, I am increasing my effeciency with thanks to the direct communications with them. Secondly I synced up with several old friends here, it is good to know their recent news. What more, I knew some new friend in Redmond, and once again I have to say, the world is round! The last but not the least, we are enjoying the beautiful scenery and great food in Seattle, really amazing...

 

Ok, so much for today, got go back to real life.

Today I was coming back early than usual, that's why I saw some guys playing on the court near our condo.

 

Sunset, rap music beside the court, black guys playing ball, so that is what the US street ball looks like in my imagination, and that was just the same on the play ground today. I was eager to join in the game, so although feeling uncertain, I still made my way to the court.

 

Surprisingly, the guys are friendly enough to count me in, not showing a little bit weird to see an Asian guy on the court. Then we started a 3-on-3 game soon. I had to say, these niggas are really strong and fast - the muscles, the speed they dribbling, and the presure I felt when struggling for advantage space in the paint - now I know how hard Yao is fighting in the NBA game court!

 

But a funny thing on the court is, the best player, undoubtly, is a caucasian. He is about 1.87 meters height, not too strong but actually powerful, with astonishing jump speed and height. This guy is leading our team, he made a lot of incredible moves during the game, including a 360 degree spin layup (360度空中转体上篮 - I don't know if this is the correct term in english -_-).

 

My 1-on-1 counterpart is a *GAINT* black guy, he is about 195 meters height, his arm is as strong as my calf. When I said "You are so strong!" during our wrestling, he replied "Hey, I don't even begin to use my muscle..." But this guy is not so swift, he often lose ball when his teamates made a quick pass. After I grabbed a rebound using my speed and positioning, he said "So you can see muscle is not everything." :-)

 

It is an interesting experience to play street ball in US, and it is my luck that I met some friendly niggas today. After the game, they hit hands (击掌致意) with each others. Some of them even came to me and told me they are glad to play with me - no matter what they really thought - and this made me so happy.

 

Ok, I didn't take picture today, here is one from web: similar environment, but no audience :)

 

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* Below explaination for Nigga is from wikipedia:

Nigga is a term used in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) that began as an eye dialect form of the word nigger.

The term is used in AAVE to replace words such as pal, friend, chum, people, person, boy, etc. For example, when speaking AAVE, one might say, "European niggas can ball" which can be translated into English as, "European guys can ball." Another example would be, "(That) Nigga stole my bike." The English translation would be, "That loser stole my bike."

As of 2006, the word nigga is used, without intentional prejudice, among all races of people in the USA, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and more recently by some Caucasians. This may be due to the overwhelming popularity of rap music in modern American culture...

Many, however, continue to see the word as pejorative, and its use outside African-American communities remains controversial. Many African-Americans express offence when referred to as a nigga by Caucasian people, but not if they are called the same by other African-Americans. In this case, the term may be seen as a symbol of fraternity and its use outside a defined social group an unwelcome cultural appropriation. Critics have derided this as a double standard.