Telling identical twins apart is definitely not one of my strengths.

Telling identical twins apart is definitely not one of my strengths. I'm glad Judy and Betty usually wear different clothing, otherwise...

Baking medal cookies (or are they cookie medals?) for a few students who made it to the first rank in a recent exam.

Baking medal cookies (or are they cookie medals?) for a few students who made it to the first rank in a recent exam. I had promised them, so here we go.

This will also be my last "activity" for them, since tomorrow will be my last day there.

This is the first time I used my new alphabet cookie cutters. Not very easy to use, especially letters like A or O, but I need to try again one day with different dough.

Baking medal cookies (or are they cookie medals?

Baking medal cookies (or are they cookie medals?) for a few students who made it to the first rank in a recent exam. I had promised them, so here we go.

This will also be my last "activity" for them, since tomorrow will be my last day there.

This is the first time I used my new alphabet cookie cutters. Not very easy to use, especially letters like A or O, but I need to try again one day with different dough.

So, after having served for 23 years, a veteran gets killed in his own country, because he stood up for his...

So, after having served for 23 years, a veteran gets killed in his own country, because he stood up for his country's Constitution - and his president says nothing.

Something to be proud of...

via Eric Hansen​

Originally shared by Rugger Ducky

He was taking the light rail home on Friday night. Traveling home from his city government job, where he had worked for 2 years. Before that, he had spent 23 years in the Army before finally retiring.  Certainly he was looking forward to spending the long weekend for Memorial Day with his wife and 4 kids. 3 teenage boys and 1 near teen girl must have had him excited to be able to really get some quality family time. Making up for all that lost time on deployments.

Almost certainly in the back of his mind were those that had been lost, those who had given all in service to our country. They are on the minds of every veteran every day, but in the days leading up to Memorial Day they grow louder. Demanding to be heard. There is also the inside wince every veteran instinctively has when a polite but uneducated civilian thanks us for our service on Memorial Day.

Suddenly there was a disturbance on the train car. A man suddenly started screaming at two very small teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a headscarf. The man was screaming racist epithets at them, threatening to harm them.

Surely Rick John Best thought of his own daughter on the train, subject to hostile treatment. Best did not hesitate. He and two other men immediately tried to intervene. To calm the man. The man however, was a known racist and white supremacist, arrested several times for violent acts.

The man continued screaming while he stabbed Best and the other two in the neck. Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche died from their injuries.

If two teen girls can’t be safe from abuse on a train car, we have failed as a nation to actually know what safety is. It is being able to walk around the streets of our hometowns without worrying about being assaulted or hurt for some small otherwise meaningless difference in ourselves. Never having to walk in fear.  

Thankfully we will always have heroes like Rick John Best to remind us that all citizens are worth defending and protecting. This Memorial Day let us remember and salute the brave service and heroism of Platoon SGT Best, and mourn the loss of a fine soldier, husband, and father. RIP SGT Best.

也可以這樣看…

也可以這樣看…

via 人2​

Explanation for those who only learned a few dozen characters: Tomorrow is dragon boat festival, which comes along with certain things to eat etc. The festival and everything around it exist because a disappointed poet and statesman under the name Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into a river more than 2000 years ago.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan

The picture reminds that all the celebration wouldn't exist if he hadn't killed himself that way, so we should probably be grateful that he did...

Originally shared by 人2

謝謝屈原用肉重帶給我們軀圓，端午節快樂 #屈原 #連假 #粽子 #端午節 #肉重 #軀圓 #人2 #People2 #徵女友

I would like to try that...

I would like to try that...

Via Y'un Theymelin

Originally shared by Béryl Nguyên

My neighbour Totoro 😄🍃

I clearly need to work on my charisma, some younger women start to fall asleep when I talk to them...

I clearly need to work on my charisma, some younger women start to fall asleep when I talk to them...


I guess Linda was reading when she should have been sleeping at night...

How much longer until the dear great leader issues a booklet with his wisdoms...?

How much longer until the dear great leader issues a booklet with his wisdoms...?
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/president-erdogan-says-arena-will-be-removed-from-all-turkish-stadium-names.aspx?pageID=238&nID=113595&NewsCatID=341

German patriotism must have been eroding slightly for a while, judging from healthcare and tuition, but roughly...

German patriotism must have been eroding slightly for a while, judging from healthcare and tuition, but roughly that's probably it.

Via Franklin Stone​

Originally shared by Thomas Rohde
https://www.facebook.com/angela.bryant.927758/posts/618805258324544

Well, you can't say that we don't have our progressive moments.

Well, you can't say that we don't have our progressive moments. Currently having a DPP president may have helped a little...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/24/taiwans-top-court-rules-in-favour-of-same-sex-marriage

Have a map? I'll show you where they are right now...

Have a map? I'll show you where they are right now...
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN18K15Y

You don't need to read the article, all you need to know to see the madness that is US foreign policy is in the...

You don't need to read the article, all you need to know to see the madness that is US foreign policy is in the headline, you only need to remember a few other things:

1) The US are supporting the SDF, mainly Kurdish troops. While the SDF may not love the Syrian president, they do not fight "the regime".

2) The "Syrian opposition", strictly moderate rebels of course, are fighting "the regime" and apparently the SDF. They also fight each other when they are bored. Sometimes they pretend to fight ISIS. They are supported, among others, by the US.
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-pentagon-isis-20160327-story.html

So, the US are supporting both sides in an armed conflict. I am sure there is a highly sophisticated logic behind this, too sophisticated for me to understand.
http://www.iraqinews.com/arab-world-news/syrian-opposition-repulses-sdf-attack-north-aleppo/

#epic

#epic

I went to Laputa and all I got was a hot chocolate

I went to Laputa and all I got was a hot chocolate

OK, it wasn't Laputa, at least not in English, but the Chinese name was the same as for Laputa (天空之城), which is the main reason I wanted to go there. In English, the place calls itself "Château in the Air". Yes, typical English, I know.

It was still rather chilly up on the top when we went there, so the hot chocolate was a good choice. You need to purchase tickets to get to the Château, which can be used at one of the restaurants/cafés. (Yes, plural. There seem to be three.)

The building in question itself is a slightly artsy mini castle with a small pond in front of it. It is not old or anything, just nice to look at and offering a nice view. There is also a reservoir nearby (the dam can be seen from up there) and a nice park near the entrance to the road up to the Château.

Should you ever come to Taiwan and want to take a look, this is north of Taizhong/Taichung. You will need your own transportation though, no public transport is going there.

Caturday is so exhausting... Wake me on Friday, will you?

Caturday is so exhausting... Wake me on Friday, will you?

Someone please tell me that this is a delayed April fool's article!

Someone please tell me that this is a delayed April fool's article! This sounds as if Theresa May watched "V for Vendetta" way too often, but never to the end. They can't be serious...

A number of companies are relocating already due to Brexit, forcing these new regulations on them could very well increase those numbers and leave the UK a technological wasteland.

Or is she dreaming of a PRC, British style?
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/theresa-may-internet-conservatives-government-a7744176.html

What do Taiwanese pupils/students do after an exam/big test? They go drinking, iced tea for example...

What do Taiwanese pupils/students do after an exam/big test? They go drinking, iced tea for example...

IoT needs ladders

IoT needs ladders

This is ingenious! Revolutionary! Disruptive! Whatever...

The most amazing thing about this idea is probably how detached people can get from reality. This is right up with Sony's music download card, where one had to go to a store to purchase a physical card, take it home and then use data on that card to download music. Incredibly simple and straightforward.

But that was yesterday, today we have the cloud and IoT. Btw, a device is "smart" if you can control it with your phone, touching a virtual switch on your phone instead of a physical one. Don't let anyone tell you anything else. IoT is smartphone. And cloud. And brain damage. Which leads to the disastrous problem of not remembering which app can switch on which light. Luckily for all of us, there is an academic solution:

You just take your phone to the device you want to control, let both touch and voilà: Your phone will show you the controls for the device! Simpletons like me may think "I'm touching the thing, why don't I touch its switch right away?" But that is so 20th century...

I wonder, would I need to climb a ladder to touch each light separately or may I just touch the switch? For diehard IoT fans that switch would probably just be a power on/off switch, controlling those wonderful WiFi bulbs requires a phone, of course.

So, ladder?
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/09/how-a-tap-could-tame-the-smart-home/

Elementary physics, dear Watson, elementary physics...

Elementary physics, dear Watson, elementary physics...

It's funny when people ignore very basic physics, like with this battery. When I say this is impossible, I'm sure there will be plenty of people pointing out that this battery uses new materials of which I have no knowledge, that they may use a new structure of which I equally have no knowledge etc. However, they miss the point.

The point is to get about 85kWh ("300 miles") through a cable within five minutes. Tesla is using batteries with 375V. Let us assume we charge directly with 400V (Hello Europe!), not 270V or even less. Let us also assume 100% efficiency, since we are dreaming anyway.

At 400V the 85kWh pack needs 212.5A for one hour to be charged. They want to do it in five minutes, so we need 12x the current, which is 2,550A. I searched for a gauge calculator that would accept this current, but I couldn't find any. Even assuming three "phases" (Let's stick to DC for simplicity.) we still have 850A, which for a cable with 1m length (rather short for charging) require 300mm^2. That is a block of 20x15mm copper. Plus insulation. And you need three pairs of those.

So, this marketing dream fails at something as simple as a cable. It isn't the first to do so. And neither will it be the last. Because, who needs physics?
http://gas2.org/2017/05/13/elecrtric-car-battery-300-mile-range-5-minute-charging-time-israeli-company/

Oha...

Oha...

Available in most countries, sturdier than regular roof tiles, allegedly cheaper than regular roofs, plus that warranty - anyone wants to bet on how many roofs will be electrified in the next five years?
https://futurism.com/elon-musk-just-announced-that-teslas-solar-roofs-will-have-an-infinity-warranty/

Should I laugh or cry?

Should I laugh or cry?

The investigation against Stephen Fry was dropped only because too few people complained. Scary...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stephen-fry-blasphemy-ireland-probe-investigation-dropped-police-gardai-not-enough-outrage-a7725116.html

Hahaha!

Hahaha!

Via Eric Hansen​

Originally shared by Laura Manach

If you like to make the acquaintance of this lady you need to go to the Botanical Garden in Taizhong.

If you like to make the acquaintance of this lady you need to go to the Botanical Garden in Taizhong.

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia!

I had to do rather extensive exam practice with my pupils the last two weeks, something they didn't really like. One form of protest was to exclaim "Mamma Mia" when I handed out another set of test forms. Someone probably saw it in a film and liked it.

What they didn't expect was a song with the same title. So when I scheduled a short break after another test run I plugged my tablet into the amplifier wreck in that room and regretted not having taken photos of their faces then. Thanks, ABBA...

https://youtu.be/unfzfe8f9NI
(Sorry, it's Vevo...)

Come again?

Come again?

The law prohibits people from publishing or uttering "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion".

Burn those school books! Burn 'em! They insult my superstitious believes!

Seriously, sometimes I need to check to make sure it is indeed 2017, doesn't always feel that way.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39830447

Cuteness overload

Cuteness overload

#ghibli

Originally shared by gefen malihi

doodle kawaii!!

What would you say if I boarded your ship?

What would you say if I boarded your ship?

Star Wars Beatle-ized, absolute gold!

#beatles

Originally shared by Gordon McIntosh

Brilliant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYD3QtyEGGM&feature=share&list=PL8s6sSjUyaxUk3mCUqiNuJiMNxs9QdthO