Chinese Quarters, Barry Steakfries, and Procrastination

Hello there!

Yeah, it’s been a little bit of a while since I’ve done a post like this. ARME threw me off my routine that I’d gotten into, but that’s no excuse for not getting back into it sooner than I have.

Anyway, this past week and a bit has been fairly uneventful, but the events that have been going on have been pretty exciting…for me.

The first was that for the past few weeks, I’ve been eyeing Halfbrick‘s app entitled ‘Age Of Zombies: Anniversary’ on the App Store. I got it. It features their very own mascot ‘Barry Steakfries’ in a Zombie obliterating fast-paced game that I just can’t seem to put down. It’s become such a hobby that I’ve found myself climbing the Game Center leader-boards in the survival levels at a relatively slow, but assuring, rate. It’s well worth the price, and retina enabled, too. I suggest you buy it…like, now.

Second is that I’ve, as stated in my earlier post, become quite attached and interested in ‘bokeh’. So much so that I spent quite a few hours trolling though, favouriting, and downloading photos from Flickr to a special ‘Bokeh‘ folder that I use simply as wallpapers for my devices. So far the count is 254, but I hope to expand on it soon. I may need a bigger hard drive at this rate, come to think of it.

Lastly, I managed to get over to Birmingham yesterday, and not just any part of Birmingham. The Chinese Quarter part of Birmingham! It’s most easily my favorite part of the city, not that I’m exactly sure why. Maybe it’s the buildings, the writing that I can’t make sense of…or just the all over oriental feeling of it, I really don’t know. Of course there’s always that reminder that you’re in the UK. You know, the blatant prescience of native English people, the view of the 80′s flats in the distance, and the lack of blaring lights that the dense cities like Tokyo sport. It was more of a taster I guess, but it was enough to make my day. I took quite a few photos, too. Some of which will be at the end of this post. If you want all of them , then just check out my Flickr photo stream. The link should be in the sidebar.

Anyway, I’m off. Chores to do, a day to finish, Spiral Knights to play. You know the drill. Oh, by the way, just forgot to mention earlier, I’ll be away from Friday 5PM till Monday…sometime. No, I won’t tell y’all where I’m off to right now, I think I’ll leave you hanging on that one till I get back.

Chao!

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Photo Of the Day – IMG_5238

IMG_5238 a photo by JDHuang on Flickr.

Afternoon readers!

No long speech today, you’ll be glad. So I’ll skip straight into why I chose this photo.

Signs have always fascinated me. Not so much English signs, but more the way Asian signs are presented in areas like China, Japan, and Taiwan. Even though some may be old, they really look attractive…in my opinion. That’s actually quite significant coming from a person who’s a downright cleanfreak, and hates a spot of dirt anywhere in his room.

Today’s photo was taken on February 24th, 2012 by another one of my favorites, JDHuang. I don’t know his actual name, though I’d hazard a guess to say that it starts with J. I do love how the lights in the picture are like bright spots, and also the angle at which the signs have been captured, too. Great work, Huang! (If I may call you that)

Newsspot – Russia and China Block U.N. Action on Syrian Crisis

Not much to say about this post, since I’m too excited to start my next two, which will actually have something to do with my day, so I’m not even going to attempt to say something logical while I’m high on excitement. Todays article did touch me in some way though, or it touched my mentally stable side at least, so I thought I’d share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Russia and China Block U.N. Action on Syrian Crisis

Reuters

Anti-government protesters during the funeral of protesters killed in earlier clashes town of Daraya, near Damascus on Saturday.

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ANTHONY SHADID

Published: February 4, 2012

 

UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria collapsed in acrimony with a double veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the deadliest government assault in the nearly 11-month uprising.

The veto and the mounting violence underlined the dynamics shaping what is proving to be the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt: diplomatic stalemate and failure as Syria plunges deeper into what many are already calling a civil war. Diplomats have lamented their lack of options in pressuring the Syrian government, and even some Syrian dissidents worry about what the growing confrontation will mean for a country reeling from bloodshed and hardship.

The veto is almost sure to embolden the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which brazenly carried out the assault on Homs on the very day that the Security Council had planned to vote. It came, too, around the anniversary of its crackdown in 1982 on another Syrian city, Hama, by Mr. Assad’s father, in which at least 10,000 people were killed in one of the bloodiest episodes in modern Arab history.

“It’s quite clear — this is a license to do more of the same and worse,” said Peter Harling, an expert on Syria at the International Crisis Group. “The regime will take it for granted that it can escalate further. We’re entering a new phase that will be far more violent still than what we’ve seen now.”

The Security Council voted 13 to 2 in favor of a resolution backing an Arab League peace plan for Syria, but the measure was blocked by Russia and China, which opposed what they saw as a potential violation of Syria’s sovereignty. The support of those countries has proven crucial in bolstering the Syrian government’s confidence, despite an isolation more pronounced than any time since the Assad family seized power more than four decades ago.

After the vote, and the failure before that of the Arab League peace plan to stem the violence, predictions were grim about what lay ahead in a conflict that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives. To many, two inexorable forces were at work: a government bent on crushing the uprising by force, faced with an opposition that, if not increasing in numbers, appears to be radicalizing and growing in determination.

“What more do we need to know to act decisively in the Security Council?” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asked at a news conference in Munich. “To block this resolution is to bear responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in Syria.”

So, that’s the newsspot for today. What did you think? Post below and tell me your views! I’ll be putting up an evening post and photo of the day shortly, so stay tuned!

Newsspot – In China, Human Costs Are Built Into An iPad

Well, here I am again! This evening’s been quite dry, in my opinions, and all I’ve been doing is playing Jetpack Joyride (get it, if you haven’t got it already), and reading up on the news. This article caught my attention though, seeing as it was on the front page, and also because it had the word ‘iPad’ in the title. I have to admit it brought many things to light for me, and it also made me pretty distraught to see that the big companies still tolerated this kind of working conditions. You can see the first part of the article below, as normal, and the link to the actual page can be found underneath. Enjoy!

THE IECONOMY

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

By CHARLES DUHIGG and DAVID BARBOZA

Published: January 25, 2012

 

The explosion ripped through Building A5 on a Friday evening last May, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws.

When workers in the cafeteria ran outside, they saw black smoke pouring from shattered windows. It came from the area where employees polished thousands of iPad cases a day.

Two people were killed immediately, and over a dozen others hurt. As the injured were rushed into ambulances, one in particular stood out. His features had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.

“Are you Lai Xiaodong’s father?” a caller asked when the phone rang at Mr. Lai’s childhood home. Six months earlier, the 22-year-old had moved to Chengdu, in southwest China, to become one of the millions of human cogs powering the largest, fastest and most sophisticated manufacturing system on earth. That system has made it possible for Apple and hundreds of other companies to build devices almost as quickly as they can be dreamed up.

“He’s in trouble,” the caller told Mr. Lai’s father. “Get to the hospital as soon as possible.”

In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history.

However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.

More troubling, the groups say, is some suppliers’ disregard for workers’ health. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning.

“If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible,” said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department. “But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that.”

Here’s the full article: NY Times – In China, Human Costs Are Built Into An iPad

I’m gonna be off this for now, so I think it’s safe to call it a day for this blogging addict. You’ll hopefully get more posts tomorrow though, so stay tuned. Oh, and George? You really need to open those emails and actually comment… >_>

Alex Out!