Today is the Memorial Day in the US to remember the men and women who died in wars. With wars we all lose regardless which side we were in. This picture was taken in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, USA. There are over 58,261 names listed on the Memorial to remember the men and women who either died or missing during the Vietnam war. The memorial was designed by a second generation Chinese American Maya Ying LIn.
And here is the rest of the picture set.
This is a Japanese Maple tree. It is a Tamukeyama to be exact. How do I know? I know because I planted it myself this morning in my front yard. This is the first tree that I have ever planted. The leave is crimson-red in Spring and will turn to dark-purple in later part of the year. It is currently about 3 feet tall. This is a slow growing tree and could get as high as 8 feet when fully matured. It is a beautiful tree.
Baidu, the largest search engine in China, and many other companies suspended their entertainment businesses on April 21st for the day to participate in the China national day of mourning to remember the victims of the earthquake in Qinghai. The earthquake took place earlier last week and today the death toll reached 2,039 dead. 195 other people were missing.
The Christmas Tree is finally up and it is beautiful. Want to see how it looks like? You will just need to come by and see it for yourself.
Wish you and your family a Safe and Happy Holidays!
-VS-
My first personal computer was a Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III. I got it when I was very very “young”. Just ordered my new Dell XPS 9000. I think it would be interesting to see how technology has evolved from my first to my most recent personal computer. Hope my math is right.
Component : TRS-80 Model III : XPS 9000 : Delta
RAM: 16 KB : 12 GB : +75,000,000%
CPU clock speed: 2.03 MHz : 2.66 GHz : +131,034%
Monitor Size: 12 in : 24 in : +200%
Storage: 356 KB Floppy Drive : 2 TB Hard Disk : +280,898,876%
Cost: $999: $2,500 : +250% (Inflation ignored)
There were also other interesting facts about personal computing at that time using the TRS-80 as an example. The monitor was Black and White. There were no bit-mapped graphic although we were quite creative with character-based graphic. Screen resolution was 64 x 16 characters. The floppy disk was 5.25 inches in size. Hard disk was not available until a later time. Mass storage was external cassette tape. There was no such thing as pointing device (i.e. mouse). Windows 1.0 has not been invented until a few years later. There were two interface ports: RS-232 serial port (i.e. for modem) and a parallel port (i.e. for printer). Modem speed was 300 bit per second. In addition to program in BASIC, the other logical option is the Assembly language with Peek and Poke.
Life was certainly a bit simpler then.
First snow of Winter is always forgivable with all the anticipation. The one for this year is exceptionally beautiful.
Suddenly all signs of Christmas show up everywhere right after the Thanksgiving. Life has been so busy and stressful this year. Perhaps getting an early start on the holiday spirit will help.
no this is not my birthday cake. i usually don’t celebrate my own birthday so this cake would be too big for me anyway.
no i am not drinking champagne nor waiting for anyone either. i am by myself and just made a fresh cup of tea for this quiet evening. reading my birthday card from my good friends at hyatt. it reads something like: “in honor of your birthday, we would like to offer you a complimentary 4-day/3-night hyatt get-a-way to many of the hyatt properties located in …”.
it is now 10 minutes into my birthday. it reminds me the song 零時十分 (12:10 am) from 葉蒨文. well, happy birthday to me …
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