At the exit of a local supermarket…
Oh, OK!
Oh, OK!
Archive
Archive for August, 2008
I am sure this happens everyday somewhere in the world, but when it happens somewhere near you, it is still very shocking and scary!
Car accident scene in the city, scary!
When I grabbed my iPhone, switched to iPod mode and about to rushed out of the door to go to work this morning, something very strange and distressing appeared on the screen: No Content. WTF? I clicked on the “playlist” button, “video” button and “Podcast” button frenetically, no response, nada. Last time I checked, which is last night before I went to bed, I had more than 14gb of music, podcast, audio books and video loaded on the phone, now “No Content”? What is going on? I connected the phone to my computer, and a message jumped out: “iTunes cannot read the contents of your iPhone, …. please restore the iPhone to factory settings..” What? I don’t want to lose all my applications, messages and settings, not to mention the unlocked and jailbroken status of the phone!
Did some research on the internet, seems that this is a quite common problem, especially with iPhone 3G, with no obvious solutions. Many people tried factory restore functions in the iTunes and went through the unlock and joailbreak process again and again, only to find the problem persisted.
Turns out there is a very easy fix for this problem:
On your iPhone, go to general settings and choose “reset”, in the following options, choose “reset all data and settings”, confirm and let iPhone go to work, this whole process only takes 1 minute or so, depending on how much data the phone has to wipe out. All my third party applications are intact and my wifi network settings are still there. Some of the home screen buttons are gone, but they are all shortcuts to websites, so no big deal.
Next, connect your iPhone to iTunes, and a very nice surprise jumped out:
Choose restore, and you will see this screen:
The process takes about 5 minutes, after it is done, you will find that all your home screen buttons are back, together with call history, contact list and SMS messages, in fact, the iPhone will be restored to the exact same status last time you synced with iTunes. Nice, isn’t it?
Saw a part of this music video on TV a few years ago, I was intrigued by the whole feel of it: the imagery, the rhythm, the old dude’s voice and the melody. I couldn’t really make out what he was singing about, but the song is kind of romantic, I thought.
Finally figured out who the artist is a few days ago and found the lyrics thanks to Google, oh my! It is a rather cynical song! But I still like it, here it is:
Closing Time
Leonard Cohen
Ah we’re drinking and we’re dancing
and the band is really happening
and the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
And my very sweet companion
she’s the Angel of Compassion
she’s rubbing half the world against her thigh
And every drinker every dancer
lifts a happy face to thank her
the fiddler fiddles something so sublime
all the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it’s CLOSING TIME
Yeah the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it’s CLOSING TIME
Ah we’re lonely, we’re romantic
and the cider’s laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit’s crying, “Where’s the beef?”
And the moon is swimming naked
and the summer night is fragrant
with a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
down the snakes and up the ladder
to the tower where the blessed hours chime
and I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
but CLOSING TIME
I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
CLOSING TIME
I loved you for your beauty
but that doesn’t make a fool of me:
you were in it for your beauty too
and I loved you for your body
there’s a voice that sounds like God to me
declaring, declaring, declaring that your body’s really you
And I loved you when our love was blessed
and I love you now there’s nothing left
but sorrow and a sense of overtime
and I missed you since the place got wrecked
And I just don’t care what happens next
looks like freedom but it feels like death
it’s something in between, I guess
it’s CLOSING TIME
Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
looks like freedom but it feels like death
it’s something in between, I guess
it’s CLOSING TIME
Yeah we’re drinking and we’re dancing
but there’s nothing really happening
and the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
gets me fumbling gets me laughing
she’s a hundred but she’s wearing
something tight
and I lift my glass to the Awful Truth
which you can’t reveal to the Ears of Youth
except to say it isn’t worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it’s once for the devil and once for Christ
but the Boss don’t like these dizzy heights
we’re busted in the blinding lights,
busted in the blinding lights
of CLOSING TIME
The whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it’s once for the devil and once for Christ
but the Boss don’t like these dizzy heights
we’re busted in the blinding lights,
busted in the blinding lights
of CLOSING TIME
Oh the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
It’s CLOSING TIME
And it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It’s CLOSING TIME
I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
It’s CLOSING TIME
The Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
But CLOSING TIME
I loved you when our love was blessed
I love you now there’s nothing left
But CLOSING TIME
I miss you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex.
Oh will you never let me be?
Oh will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us are still around us
There´s no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
A cigarette that bears a lipsticks traces
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
A fairgrounds painted swings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
You came, you saw, you conquered me
When you did that to me, I somehow knew that this had to be
The winds of march that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings – but who´s to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling´ring on a pillow
Wild strawb´ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The isle de france with all the girls around it
The beauty that is spring
These foolish things
Remind me of you
I know that this was bound to be
These things have haunted me
For you´ve entirely enchanted me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside, dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
First daffodils and long excited cables
And candlelight on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The smile of garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that crosby sings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
How strange, how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
That seem to bring you so near to me
The scent of smould´ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you, just you
If you are a Dell Pocket PC X51v owner like me, you know what I am talking about: I love my X51v, but it is getting old…
I take my PDA with me everywhere: on my morning commute to work everyday, on the 17-hour flights to Asia and to the local library. I listen to music, watch TV shows and movies on it, check emails in a hotspot, make Skype phone calls and take notes on it, the X51v has been an amazing digital assistant to me.
However, it has been two years since Dell stopped development on their PDA product line, and the X51v is in dire need of a refreshment, especially after Microsoft updated their Windows mobile OS to version 6 earlier this year.
Dell does not provide the upgrade for the X51v, but you can do it on your own, here is how:
1. you need to get a copy of the customized WM6 ROM for X51v by following this link:
Unzip the downloaded file, create a folder on your PC hard drive and save the uncompressed files in it.
2. Get a SD card, format it to FAT32 file system on your PC.
3. copy the two files you unzipped in step 1 to the root of the SD card.
4. Connect your X51v to external power, insert the SD card. Press the on/off button (top front), Wifi button (on the side) and the reset button (on the back) all at the same time, the ROM files on the SD card will run.
5. A file will show up, double click action button (front bottom, center of the d-pad) to run it, the new ROM image will be loaded, it will take a while, so be patient.
6. After the image file is loaded successfully, do a hard reset on your X51v by holding down both the on/off button and the reset button at the same time.
7. After the system boot up and guide you through a brief calibration process, you will see screen like this:
Windows Mobile 6 Today Screen
Windows Mobile 6 on X51v System Info
8. Congratulations, you are done, enjoy your refreshed X51v with Windows Mobile 6 Pro!
Credit and reference:
This ROM is developed by “Makuu”, please check out his posts at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=384266&page=14
If you need more visual tutorial on how to upgrade your X51v to WM6, this youtube video might help you:
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Turn Data Roaming “OFF”: Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software (version 2.0) from iTunes. By default the setting for international data roaming will be in the “OFF” position. |
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To turn data roaming “ON/OFF” tap on Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming |
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Utilize WiFi Instead of 3G/GPRS/EDGE: WiFi is available in many international airports, hotels and restaurants to browse the Web or check email. |
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Turn Push Email “Off”: Data usage from email can accrue quickly. Check email manually using WiFi instead of having emails downloaded to your iPhone automatically. This way you can control the flow of data coming to your iPhone. |
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To turn off the Auto-Check functionality tap on Settings>Fetch New Data and select Manually |
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Consider Purchasing an International Data Package: If you are traveling outside the U.S., purchasing a Data Global Plan will significantly reduce the cost of using data abroad. |
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Reset the Usage Tracker to Zero: When you arrive overseas access the usage tracker in the general settings menu and select reset statistics. This will enable you to track your estimated data usage. |
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| To reset Usage Tracker to Zero tap on Settings>General>Usage>Reset |
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Award-winning director ahdri zhina mandiela returns with her acclaimed interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Dream worth celebrating…[ahdri zhina mandiela] directs with lightness and a sure sense of comedy. Shakespeare’s tangled tale of four lovers who wander into an enchanted wood near Athens becomes a spicy, hip story of love delayed, misdirected and restored.”
-Robert Crew, The Toronto Star
“Director ahdri zhina mandiela delivers a refreshingly diverse cast in a production that brings a bit of urban attitude to Shakespeare’s enchanted forest.”
-Jon Kaplan, Now Magazine
“mandiela’s greatest success is allowing the cast to take risks with the text, urban or otherwise – the gamble pays off, from Titania’s fairies as a would-be girl group to the hysterically funny hip-hop performance of Pyramus and Thisby.”
-Meghan Harrison, Eye Weekly
“The audience laughed riotously over the slapstick antics, even bursting out in enthusiastic applause at the end of the scenes. This production will certainly have wide appeal”
-Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail
“CanStage’s Dream is quite kid-friendly and a lot of fun to look at”
-Meghan Harrison, Eye Weekly
Toronto, ON (May 6, 2007) -The Canadian Stage Company welcomes back two-time Dora Award-winning director ahdri zhina mandiela and her popular interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her colourful, hip-hop twist on the Bard’s tangled tale of mischievous fairies and mismatched lovers who wander through an enchanted forest-meets-industrial-wasteland is part of the 26th annual CanStage TD Dream in High Park.
CanStage TD Dream in High Park is the oldest annual outdoor theatre event in Canada. An estimated 1.3 million people have enjoyed the tradition since its inception in 1983.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the best-loved Shakespearean comedies of all time and the very first play ever produced at CanStage TD Dream in High Park. A hip, urban interpretation featuring a multi-racial cast and colourful hip-hop influenced costumes and rhythms was produced last summer in tribute to the 25th anniversary of the CanStage TD Dream in High Park. The production makes a comeback this summer as it proved to be popular with reviewers and theatre-goers, so much so, that audiences were beyond capacity and patrons had to be turned away during the final weeks of performance.
Joining the cast this season are Xuan Fraser as Oberon/Theseus (Canadian Stage’s Much Ado About Nothing), Cara Ricketts as Titania/Hippolyta (Judas Iscariot), Monica Dottor as Hermia (Canadian Stage’s The Overcoat), Rebecca Northan as Egeus/Starveling (The Second City, This Hour has 22 Minutes), and Ijeoma Emesowum and Laura Burns as fairies. Returning cast includes Maev Beaty (Canadian Stage’s Palace of the End) as Helena, Matthew Brown (CTV’s Instant Star) as Snout, Antonio
M. Cayonne as Lysander, Emberly Doherty as Snug, Steven Gallagher (Showtime’s Queer as Folk) as Quince, Richard Harte as Demetrius, Colin Heath (Canadian Stage’s The Overcoat) as Robin Goodfellow/Puck, Matthew Kabwe as Bottom, Andrew Kushnir (CBC’s This is Wonderland) as Flute and Jajube Mandiela (CTV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Fairy.
The creative team includes set & costume designer Julia Tribe, lighting designer Steve Lucas, sound designer Nicholas Murray, stage manager Marinda De Beer and assistant stage manager Andrea Schurman.
| DATE: | August 2008 |
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| TIME: | 8 p.m. Gate opens at 6 p.m. |
| LOCATION: | High Park at Bloor St. W. and High Park Ave. Near High Park subway station. Enter from Bloor St. and follow the road to Grenadier Café. Continue east along the path opposite the parking lot and follow the signs.
The group will meet at the ticket booth of High Park subway station at 6PM and walk to the stage together. The walk takes about 20 minutes! |
| TICKETS: | PWYC. Suggested minimum donation $10 – $30. Children 14 and under free thanks to TD! |
| INFO: | |
RAIN POLICY: Cancellations based on weather conditions at 8 p.m. If the show is cancelled, tickets are valid for free admittance on another, drier night. Refunds not offered as tickets are issued as anonymous cash donations.
DOGS AND SMOKING ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE DREAM SITE