動漫

Platonic Heart 絕對衝激

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Platonic Heart

看《絕對衝激》很自然讓我聯想起《一騎當千》﹐兩套動畫的賣點也是美少女格鬥﹐同樣也是越打越少布。其實要為這套動畫寫評論實在有點難度﹐基本上開首第一句已經把重點說清楚明白﹐其飾篇幅說的只是可有可無的配菜。《絕對衝激》一共五集OVA﹐除了動畫外還有一系烈週邊商品﹐當然包括電腦遊戲了。故事行貨到不能再行貨﹐主角是武功天下無敵的高中女生﹐因機綠巧合參加了美少女格鬥比賽。每個參賽者都像是玩cosplay﹐主角是女學生﹐她的對手有巫女﹐空姐﹐女警﹐護士﹐教師﹐要什麼角色有什麼角色﹐要什麼制服有什麼制服。為什麼要參加比賽的原因並不重要﹐比賽背後的陰謀也可以不用理會﹐最重要是每集也有美少女打格鬥戰。

雖然美其名這套是格鬥動畫﹐但打鬥只是掛羊頭賣狗肉﹐動作招式十分生硬﹐決勝過程甚至牽強得很離譜。每次總是女主角先挨打﹐待給揍到吐血差不多半死﹐就會忽然大發神威一招KO對手。她的復原力出乎意料地極強﹐上個鏡頭才血花四淺﹐下個鏡頭可以完全沒有受過傷。最神奇是明明身前挨打﹐身後的衣服卻無故暴烈。更加神奇是不論衣服如何破損﹐內衣褲總是完整無缺﹐令我想起以前《星矢》的動畫名物鐵壁內衣。女主角的對手可沒有神奇內衣保護﹐那便由她們負責犧牲色相大灑鹽花。除了打鬥賣肉可以外﹐任何可以賣肉的機會也不放過﹐故事加插很多出浴和水著鏡頭﹐簡直是服務大放送。

開頭四集的劇情十分公式化﹐到了結局卻來個一百八十度轉彎。為了解開格鬥比賽的謎團﹐編劇前後連扭四次橋﹐一浪緊接一浪越扯越遠﹐真係完全無可能估到。最讓人驚喜的是最後一戰﹐竟然女主角媽媽代女出征﹐超級腹黑的結尾也有別於一般大團員結局。不過從開始對劇本已沒有任何期望﹐故事能否自圓其說並不影響動畫的可觀性﹐反正只是找個藉口來打鬥爆衫。這套動畫明顯鎖定是特定觀眾群﹐善歡看的人會大呼過癮﹐不喜歡看的人應該連看也不會看。

Daily Scribble

How to display Chinese mp3 tag in iPhone

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Pat got a new iPhone, so it is my job to load it up with mp3. When I import my Chinese mp3 into iTune, the mp3 tag of some songs are displayed as funny characters. The iPod song list in iPhone suffers the same problem. It is very inconvenient if you don’t know what singer and song you are listening. The best you can do is trying to guess the song from the album art and track number. My friends who has an iPhone and copy mp3 from me also has the same problem. It seems they simply rename the mp3 tag manually or tolerate the occasion corrupted song name.

After praying to the Google God, asking it to help me solve the problem, I got an answer. The cause of the problem is that the mp3 use big5 or GB code in the mp3 tag, which is incompatible with the Unicode used in iTune and iPhone. The solution is pretty straight forward, all I need to do is to translate the characters inside the mp3 tag to Unicode using Convertz 8.02. The interface of the program looks a bit dated (or should I say it is ugly?), but it get the job done. I have to pre-process the mp3 files before I import them to iTune. The two steps process is a bit inconvenient, but better than no knowing what song is playing. Why don’t iTune have a built-in mp3 tag code convention feature?

Daily Scribble

The two extreme of children

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I read two news article about children today. One talks about children in Canada, the other talks about children in India. One talks about the problem of having too much, the other talks about the problem of having next to nothing. The article on Globe and Mail is about Why are children starving in a booming India?. The article on National Post is about The Perfect Child. It is quite unsettling to read the extreme contrast to the fate of children in two places.

The problem for Canadian parent is how to raise a perfect children. The dilemma is having the life of the child too well planned so he cannot learn from trail and error or his own mistake. On the other side of the world, the Indian children are struggling to stay alive. Children malnutrition in India is twice worse than in Africa and five times worse than in China. The problem of teaching children to read and write in China seems like a piece of cake.

The news presents a typical poor Indian family with malnourished child. The dad in the family makes merely US$5 a month, but he spent half of what he earn in cigarette instead of buying food for the children. The family income cannot support a big family but they are having six children. Babies are not breastfeed once he is born, the mother ask the astrologer to pick an auspicious day to start breastfeeding, sometimes the baby is not fed for days or even weeks. Foreign aids agency wants to provide vitamin pills to the poor children, but the Hindu fundamentalist protest the capsule is made of gelatin, a product made of cows.

I feel sorry for the children in India, but their misfortune cannot blame anyone but their own stupid culture. If a culture don’t treasure their next generation, this culture has no future. If a culture treasure cows more than the life of their children, this culture should simply go extinct. It can go extinct naturally with its population die slowly and painfully. Alteratively we can help the culture extinct sooner and better by liberating its people. We should help them move on to a more enlightened culture, even we have to force the liberation. People with a stupid culture has no rights to cling on their culture.

Product Reviews

iPhone

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iPhone

iPhone has become the new de facto standard of cell phone. Almost everyone I know who bought a new cell phone since iPhone 3G released got an iPhone. I estimate over half of my friends is already a iPhone user. I am pretty late to the iPhone bandwagon. Actually, I am not really part of the iPhone crowd, the new iPhone belongs to Pat. Her old cell phone dropped in water and totaled. Given the popularity of iPhone, it is quite obvious which phone I should buy her as replacement.

I spent the night setting up her new iPhone. I am never a fans of Apple, but I must praise its elegance. The iPhone is well integrated with iTune, the user interface is intuitive and easy to use. The only hassle I had is calling up Fido customer service to disable the data service in the cell phone plan. It took me awhile to get the customer service agent do exactly what I asked. Pat is using a very cheap $17 monthly plan that does not come with any data package. Data is charged per kbyte, so monthly bill would be quite expensive if Pat turned on iPhone’s 3G data features by accident. It is safer to disable all data services from the carrier side. Pat can still go online with her iPhone using Wi-Fi, just like go online with a laptop.

The iPhone is as powerful as a mini-computer. Probably more powerful than the first laptop I own many years ago. The phone is also a very good deal, the 16GB version only costs $199 after rebate. The cost of the iPhone is heavy subsidized by carrier. The carrier’s plan to turn a profit is using the lucrative data plan come with the contract, which costs $30 a month plus surcharge if the bandwidth usage is over the limit. It is more economical to stay away from the 3G data plan, use iPhone as a phone, a mp3 player and only use its online features at coffee shop with free Wi-Fi. I wonder why people pay extra for the data plan. How often do you need to go online while on move? I don’t think I can surf the web and driving at the same time. If you want to check up something quick, there are Wi-Fi coffee shop every where.

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Mental Wellness

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Tonight I went to a talk about schizophrenia and bipolar disorder hosted by Chinese Mental Wellness Association of Canada. The association invited a UBC psychology professor to give some general information about the two mental problem. The speaker talked about the symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and corresponding treatment options. The speaker talked in English and a volunteer translate the talk to Cantonese and Mandarin in real time.

The information in the talk is very general, probably less than what is in the Wiki. But the information sinks in much better from a live presentation than reading dry text. Let alone that I probably won’t read the information on my own. Today I learned that mental problem is partly genetic and partly environmental. Mental problem can not be cured, it can only be controlled or maintained. The treatment always begins with the psychiatrist, get some pills to stabilize the problem, then consult with psychologist to work on mental therapy. The hardest part is to get the patient aware of the problem and willing to accept treatment. Many audiences asked questions relate to how to treatment the problem in the Q&A session. Too bad that I forgot to ask the speaker whether smoking will make schizophrenia worse.

In addition to the content of the talk, I have some inspiration about volunteer works. It is the first time I have first hand experience about grass root charity organization. Unlike the big volunteer program, like the Red Cross or charity run by churches, the CMWAC has a total different aura. It is more like a support group for Chinese families with mental problem. The founder and chair person also acted as the translator for the talk. Juxtaposing her side by side with the psychology professor, I can see two difference kind of volunteers. The professor is the technical expert and gives credibility to the talk. The chair person knows a lot about hands on knowledge and very enthusiastic in her volunteer work. It is not that one is better than another, but rather the kinds of two volunteers make a good complement to each other. It is like scientists and research assistants, engineers and technicians, doctor and nurses, it takes two to get the job done.