Free Software Alternatives

I probably will install Windows 7 soon. I'm noting down the software applications I've installed so I remember to install them on the new system. I see I that use some free software programs that are alternatives to Microsoft programs. People who want alternatives may check them out. They're all free.

Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox. Web Browsers. Alternative to Internet Explorer.
OpenOffice.org. An office suite. Alternative to Microsoft Office.
VLC media player. A video player for many types of media files. Alternative to Windows Media Player + RealPlayer + QuickTime Player.
Winamp. A media player that's been around longer than Windows Media Player (WMP). I still use it for playing music files like MP3, even though VLC also plays music too. Alternative to WMP.
GIMP. An image editor. Alternative to Adobe Photoshop.
CDBurnerXP. CD/DVD burning. Alternative to Nero Burning ROM or the very slow CD burning function of Windows Vista.
CDex. CD ripper. Alternative to Windows Media Player.

Yes, I dislike Windows Media Player. I find the user interface confusing.

Getaway Bus

When the bus I rode this morning stopped at a bus stop in the CBD, a policeman came to talk to the driver. He came up to have a look and left. He was probably looking for someone on another bus. I couldn't hear what he said to the bus driver. But I heard what the nearby passengers said. Two ladies said something like:
"Is there a suspect on the bus?"
"A suspect uses the bus as the getaway vehicle?"
"At least it's an express bus. Maybe he saw 'Express' on the bus number."
(chuckles)

閱

我有想過，看完了朋友寫的blog 文章，我也許可以都留個comment表示來看過了，這樣作者知道有讀者而且是誰。可是如果沒意見的話要留什麼好呢？能不能跟老師批作業一樣寫個「閱」就好了？

我印象中只有幼稚園還是小學低年級的老師曾經有這樣在作業上用紅筆批「閱」。而且當時年紀太小還不認得這個字，老師字也寫得草，我一直誤認為老師寫「肉」，也一直不懂是什麼意思。

近來有在寫 blog 的朋友也不多就是了，可能也沒什麼機會留「閱」。Anyway, if you see I leave the comment「閱」in your blog, I just indicate that I've read it.

By the way, 本來就想寫這篇，結果正好碰到無名氏留言，Who was the anonymous that left three comments on some of my old articles on 14/12/2009? I guess leaving an anonymous comment is the opposite of leaving a「閱」. The author knows somebody reads it and responds to the author. But the author doesn't know who's talking. I find it quite baffling. 腦裡浮起「敵暗我明」這個詞. Anyway, if you're the anonymous, let me know.

Hm, should I ask for this?... Alright, let's experiment and see what will happen...
OK. I'm asking everyone who reads this article to leave a comment. You have read this article to this point. Please leave a comment to let me know that you have read this. Don't forget to put your name. Thanks! If you don't want to say anything in particular, just leave a「閱」or "Read".

雜記 20091203

今天想用寫 microblog 方式寫 blog，其實這樣也不錯，比直接寫 microblog 少限制也容易整理。

前幾天看了電視播的一個紐西蘭的紀錄片，這次主題在講邪教，紐西蘭也是有一些奇怪的團體和社區，有些是幾百人住在偏僻隔離的社區。我想恐怖片的情節會不會真的發生，在鄉間路上開一開迷路了，開到偏僻的小鎮，感覺村民怪怪的...

最近作息越來越晚，感覺越來越像去年的同學。九點起床，兩點午餐，七點半離開辦公室。如果都往前移兩個小時應該會正常一些。

辦公室有原本三個碩士生，再加上三個做暑期 project 的學生，總是有人在房間裡，一整天進出都用不到鑰匙。

最近當同學的實驗 participant，試用軟體，在填資料的時候才 realize 自己年紀比想像的大。

咦，褲子怎麼又變緊。

建築上和路邊的有科技感的紅色綠色聖誕燈飾越擺越多，這詭異燈光總是讓我覺得有邪惡的氣氛。

在家裡打死一隻蟑螂，討厭奧克蘭蟑螂變多。

我有幾個 Google Wave invitations，想試用的人跟我說囉。

對誰過敏

我妹走進客廳，指著紅腫的右臉說：「媽，你看我對兔子過敏。」

原來我媽一會兒前抱著兔子，出其不意捧兔子去磨了一下我妹的臉，結果皮膚就紅腫了。

我妹離開客廳，幾秒後兔子就溜進客廳來，在我媽的身邊盤旋。我對我媽說，你看一下兔子身上有沒有腫起來？搞不好他是來跟你說：「媽，你看我對妹妹過敏。」