How many of us, stargazers, were the lucky few to view the total lunar eclipse last evening despite the cloudy skies?

A total eclipse of the moon was slated to occur on Tuesday evening, between 5pm and 8pm. The best places to view this phenomenon cited by scientists were namely Eastern Asia, Australia and America.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through a portion of the earth’s shadow. For this to be possible, the moon, earth and sun have to be in-line. 1

During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.

An eclipse of the Moon can only take place at Full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through some portion of Earth's shadow. The shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other.
The outer shadow or penumbra is a zone where Earth blocks some (but not all) of the Sun's rays. In contrast, the inner shadow or umbra is a region where Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

If only part of the Moon passes through the umbra, a partial eclipse is seen. However, if the entire Moon passes through the umbra shadow, then a total eclipse of the Moon occurs. For more information on how, what, why, where and when of lunar eclipses, see the special web page lunar eclipses for beginners.

Sequence of the total eclipse of the moon

Apart from being a scientific rarity, which occurs only once in a few years, many cultures associate with the eclipse and have various beliefs.

In Mesoamerica, eclipses were believed to be extremely dangerous and threatening. Eclipses were seen as the biting of the Sun or of the Moon. To the Maya, solar eclipses imported more danger than lunar eclipses. Predicting both solar and lunar eclipses was essential, because such knowledge allowed the Maya to engage in rituals to avert crises. The Maya, especially in the Yucatan, viewed eclipses as the "biting of the sun" or the "biting of the moon, " usually by celestial ants.

Maya astrologers were able to predict such events. The local populace took protective measures to avoid what were believed to be related catastrophes, such as birth defects. In the Aztec tradition, eclipses were terrifying events during which demons might roam the earth. During such times the Aztec created noise to banish the demons and to bring back the sun. 2

For those who want to catch the next lunar eclipse, you would have to wait till August 2008, according to the Singapore Science Centre. However, it will not be a full eclipse but rather a partial eclipse of the moon.

1.Foster, Lynn V. "astronomy, Maya." Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On
http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

Images taken from Factiva

Posted by digitalk team at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

News is out that Jack Neo, locally acclaimed director known for his colloquial brand of madcap humour, is busy preparing for his upcoming movie about Singapore-Malaysia underworld triads. You should have guess by now that the movie will probably be released during the Lunar month.

Think ‘Raintree Pictures’ and we immediately think of Jack Neo! Neo’s movies have been a constant Chinese New Year fixture: Homerun (2003), The Best Bet (2004), I Do I Do (2005), I Not Stupid Too (2006) and the very latest Just Follow Law (2007). His movies always contains the right blend of humour and catch phases usually in Singlish.

How many of us are aware that ‘HomeRun’ was an adaptation? Yes, it was a local remake from the widely acclaimed Iranian movie Children of Heaven, directed by Majid Majidi. The movie was nominated for the Best Foreign Feature Film in the Academy Awards (2003). Similarly, it even won Neo several accolades ranging from the Golden Horse Awards to participating in a number of international movie festivals.

For those of you who still have not had the opportunity to catch the movie, we provide a synopsis. Children of Heaven tells the story of two siblings, Ali and Zahrah. Ali takes his sister Zahrah’s shoes for repair but loses them on his way home. The entire movie revolves around their attempts to manage their lives with a single pair of sneakers. The family is poor and cannot afford to buy a new pair of shoes, so they hide the loss of the footwear from their parents. They come to an agreement where Zahrah wears Ali’s sneakers in the morning while attending school and Ali uses the same pair in the afternoon to attend noon classes.

There is a running competition in the area for kids and the third prize is a pair of shoes. The climax of the film is based on whether Ali participates in the race or does Zahrah manage to get a new pair of running shoes.

The movie appeals to our heart because it manages to blend realism and beauty – something that people think is difficult to find. There are a few scenes that stand out like when Ali and his father go to the city in search of work and are wonderstruck by the urban life. The scene also shows the two disparate Irans that exist- one in the high rises and the other in the lanes and by lanes. His father fails to get work because of his communication skills (or rather lack of it) but Ali manages to get his father work by talking smartly.

For those of you who still have not caught this movie, run to your nearest DVD rental store. We assure you it will be worth it.

Images taken from Factiva

http://www.cinemajidi.com/

Posted by digitalk team at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Image fron Factiva.com

Blue has been always associated with men, and pink to women. As sexist as it may seem, this old adage has been scientifically proven to be true. It is official everyone, men’s preferred colour is blue, while women tend to gravitate towards the colour pink. (By the way, blue is also the most popular colour.)

This was found in a research led by Professor Anya Hurlbert of Britain’s Newcastle University. She mentioned that women’s preference for pink was due to evolution. She explained that in primitive times “when women were the primary gatherers, they would have benefited from an ability to home in on ripe, red fruits.” (1)

The British researchers, to come to a conclusion, studied 208 young adults’ colour preferences. (2)

Just how did they go about with this study?

Volunteers were asked to select, as quickly as possible, their preferred colour from each of a series of paired, coloured rectangles (1,000 of them). Professor Hurlbert and her colleagues then plotted the results along the colour spectrum and discovered that while men prefer blue, women gravitate towards the pinker end of the blue spectrum. (2)

Apparently, women had a very clear pattern. Their choices were low in the yellow and green regions and rises to a peak in the purplish to reddish region. This shifted their colour preference slightly away from the blue towards the red. The differences were so substantial that experienced researchers were able to predict the sex of a participant by checking their favourite colour. (4)

Whether it is really true that gender-based colours exist, it still looks like this ongoing tradition of "pink for the girls and blue for the boys," is here to stay for a long time.

Direct Links:
(1) “Girls really do prefer pink.” The Gold Coast Bulletin. 21 August 2007. From Factiva.com

(2) Dayton, Leigh. “Division of sexes is colour coded.” The Australian. 21 August 2007. From Factiva.com

(3) “Women really do prefer pink, researchers say.” Reuters News. 21 August 2007. From Factiva.com

(4) Wainwright, Martin. “Pink for a girl and blue for a boy – and it’s all down to evolution.” The Guardian. 21 August 2007. From Factiva.com

Posted by digitalk team at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Image taken from Factiva.com

A poll done on Americans reflected that one in four adults read no books in 2006. As shocking as it may seem, the polls reveals the truth, that there are indeed people all over this globe who have hardly ever read.

It was also reflected in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll that amongst those who read, women and seniors were most avid. Top choices for books were mostly religious works and popular fiction.

How about Singaporeans? Do we read? Share your views with us.

Direct Links:
(1) Fram, Alan. "Poll: 1 in 4 U.S. adults read no books last year." Associated Press Newswires. 22 August 2007. Data from: Factiva.com

Posted by digitalk team at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Image taken from Factiva.com

Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
~ J.K. Rowling, "The Beginning," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

Posted by digitalk team at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“My doctors told me this morning my blood pressure is down so low that I can start reading the newspapers.”
Ronald Reagan, US President, 1987

Newspapers have come a long way since their putative beginnings in Rome with Acta Diurna, appearing around 59 B.C., which is generally considered the earliest recorded “newspaper”. The point, just like our newspapers, was to let the people know about important social and political happenings and they were posted on walls in public places (such as baths) in the major cities. The Romans used large white boards whereas in 8th century China, the first newspapers appeared as hand-written newsheets in Beijing. But of course the real catalyst for the newspaper was the invention of the printing press invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1447. Since then the evolution of the news has been swift The first modern newspapers came out of Europe e.g. Germany ("Relation" in 1605), France ("Gazette "in 1631), Belgium ("Nieuwe Tijdingen" in 1616) and England (the "London Gazette"). These tended to look outside of their country of origin for uncomplimentary events to highlight about France, Britain or whichever. The shift in focus to more local news is reckoned to have begun at the end of the 18th century.

Between 1890 to 1920, the “golden age” of print media was born, spawning the first media barons - William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, and Lord Northcliffe who built huge publishing empires in a mode that Rupert Murdoch(1) would relate to today. Over the years they have had to respond to the threat posed by radio and television, and, on the whole have survived, giving rise to the titillating tabloids and full colour in the process.

The "new technology" as it was referred to back in the days of Wapping (2)and the Internet presented different challenges to traditional media. Their response was to move house to the WWW - there are now thousands of newspapers with their own websites offering public or premium content. But it seems that people still can't resist the touch, feel and smell of newsprint since estimates say that one billion people in the world read a newspaper every day!

Singapore has had it's own newspaper, the Singapore Chronicle, since 1824 (the first one in Chinese was 1881) and it was to bring this into a modern focus that NLB and SPH recently signed an landmark agreement which enabled NLB to digitise "The Straits Times" way back to its beginnings. When it comes on stream at the end of 2008, a little bit more of the history and evolution of Singapore as a country will be readily accessible through the Internet. For the purposes of the signing event NLB gave a "sneak preview" of what goodies are in store by featuring an issue from 1845 and one from 1981.

The 19 August 1845 issue has many fascinating insights into Singapore life way-back-then including: a census dated July 1845;

An alarming story of a child drowning in a pail ; a story from the Irish press(!) involving a magistrate and a dispute regarding a cow; an account of shipping arriving in Singapore referring to barques, schooners, corvettes and brigs; a description of "a patent machine for the manufacture of teeth, gums and palates" and the published "will of a millionaire" bequeathing to each of the deceased's eight(!) sons the sum of 40,000 British Pounds.

Fast forward to January 3, 1981 which brings us firmly into the crisis mode of modern life with the Iran hostage crisis and the then startling statistic of 1,787 murders in New York City. Locally speaking, a two-day blackout at Clementi, the roundup of 80 youths at Jurong (pointing out that Jurong had 11 murders in the previous year) and an outbreak of tyre puncturing in Paya Lebar grabs the headlines. "Across the Causeway" speaks of flash floods in Seremban, rampant beef smuggling (!) in Penang allied to Volkswagen smuggling in Johore, the shortage of blue collar workers despite high wage offers, an mysterious escape from "death row" of an notorious gunman
What is startling is the exponential increase in advertisements and overseas news. In 1981 there are well over a hundred advertisement (classified and commercial) compared to 1845 when there was a modest dozen of both.

So we look forward to the end of next year when the full glory of the archive will be revealed in the meantime the video below gives you a little taste of what is to come..

DIRECT LINKS
All clippings courtesy of The Straits Times
Video with kind permission of Singapore Press Holdings and Straits Times Online
1. "Bancrofts bring to an end four months of Dow Jones talks" :[LONDON 2ND EDITION]. (2007, August 1). Financial Times,p. 22. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1313519821).

2. Ben Fenton (2007, July). Newspapers' revolution in London's East End. FT.com,1. Retrieved August 2, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1300504101).

Posted by digi.talk team at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fireworks explode over the Marina Bay stage and city skyline during the National Day Parade in Singapore August 9, 2007. Singapore celebrated the 42nd anniversary of its independence on Thursday. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

National Day’s over, and we have to wait in vain for another year to pass, before we can catch those beautiful fireworks again, a visual treat for all in Singapore when the nation celebrates its birthday in a large scale and grandeur manner.

Well that’s not exactly how it is this year. Surprise surprise, you are in for a treat this weekend.

Expect a fascinating display of fireworks at Marina Bay, on both Friday (17 August 2007) and Saturday (18 August 2007) at 9pm. Organisers of the Singapore Fireworks Celebration will be unleashing the pyrotechnics, which costs a whooping $1 million. It was mentioned in The Straits Times today that viewers could expect a visual feast of over 130 different types of fireworks, which will be synchronized to a music score.

Speaking of fireworks display, we searched and picked out some amazing photographs from the eDatabases, that captured moments during some spectacular displays in Singapore.

Fireworks explode as part of the opening ceremony for the 117th IOC session in Singapore July 5, 2005. Paris, London, Madrid, New York City and Moscow are competing to win the right to host the Games in the vote, which will be held on July 6 in Singapore. REUTERS/Luis Enrique Ascui

Fireworks mark the start of the New Year at Marina Bay. A special lighting display transformed the night sky into an explosive visual arts presentation at the stroke of midnight in Singapore, as part of the New Year celebrations. REUTERS/Luis Enrique Ascui

Fireworks explode over National Stadium during the National Day Parade in Singapore August 9, 2006. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Directs Links:
(1) Wei Chean, Lim. “Fireworks synchronized to music at Marina Bay.” Straits Times, The (Singapore). Retrieved from Factiva.com.

Posted by digitalk team at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs,” said Seth Godin, reporter for an Israel newspaper. (1)

There are currently nine million blogs, with 40,000 new ones created every day. 25 percent of Internet users say they read blogs, and 9 percent say they've created one. (2)

Most of us are aware of the massive number of blogs written in English from the online blog communities. Similarly, an increasing number of people all over the world are beginning to blog on a wide range of topics, in their mother tongue language. Technology has made it possible to display international language fonts be it Arab, Hebrew, Chinese, Tamil, etc. Now many can enjoy their multi-lingual freedom of expression!

We introduce a few Tamil blogs that showcase an individual’s thoughts, opinions, random ramblings, short stories, poems, book reviews…and the list goes on. This is the first blog post on our series of reviews of local language blogs.

Here are a few of the more interesting blog links reviewed:

1. http://singaimurasu.blogspot.com/

Authors: Jayanthi Shankar & Group, Singapore
A splendid display of what is new at the Tamil Literary front in Singapore.

2. http://annakannan-kavithaigal.blogspot.com/

Author: Anna Kannan, Chennai, India.
For those of you looking for inspirational poems of all genres.

3. http://truetamilans.blogspot.com/

Author: “True Tamilian”, Chennai, India
An individual eloquently expresses views on varied subjects ranging from Tamil literature, sports and general knowledge to short stories.

4. http://imohandoss.blogspot.com/

Author: Mohan Doss, Bangalore, India
A humorous insight to almost everything the blogger experiences in his life.

5. http://siragugal.blogspot.com/

Author: Thara, Washington DC, USA
Strong opinions of an Indian expatriate on social issues and more in excellent Tamil.

It is encouraging to see people getting back to their roots through blogging even though English is the ‘lingua franca’ of the world.

For those of you who are clueless about how to start a blog of your own, fret not! The eBook below will help you on your way to becoming a blogger yourself.

Blogging For Dummies
By
Brad Hill

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Subjects: Computer Technology
Non-Fiction

This book walks people through what they need to know to launch a blog, maintain it, publicize it, syndicate it, and even make money from it. The topics covered include choosing a Weblog host such as Blogger.com or TypePad, hosting a blog on one's own, solving blog problems, working with blogging software (Movable Type, Greymatter, Radio Userland), and delving into RSS syndication. It also offers tips from veteran bloggers, a rundown of Blogosphere protocol, savvy pointers on earning revenue from a blog, and advice on specialized blogs such as podcasts, vlogs, and photo and MP3 blogs .

To access this title! Click on Overdrive

Look out for our reviews on Chinese and Malay language blogs soon.

Direct Links:
1. Godin, Seth. 25 July 2007 http://www.schipul.com/en/quotes/search.asp?category=blogging
2. Hill, Brad. Blogging for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Taken from Overdrive.
3. http://www.channelventures.com/channelprofessional/channelglossary.html

Posted by digitalk team at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the Hiroshima bombing took place. Yes it’s been that long since this unfortunate bombing occurred. Many of us may have forgotten this aspect of history. So to commemorate today, we figured we might enlighten you on what exactly happened on the 6th of August 1945.

Smoke billows from the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima August 6 1945. At the time this photo was made, smoke from the blast billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima and spread 10,000 feet over the target.
Image courtesy of Reuters from Factiva.com

On the 6th of August 1945, then United States (U.S.) president Harry S Truman issued a shocking statement, announcing that the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. President Truman’s decision to use the lethal weapon in the war against Japan was targeted early in the morning at 8:16 a.m. U.S. local time.

This deadly bomb was described to be a “revolutionary new force for destruction, harnessing the basic power of the universe and having more force than 20,000 tons of TNT (yellow crystalline compound used as a high explosive)” (Dictionary of Historic Documents, Revised Edition).

The bomb supposedly detonated hundreds of feet above Shima Hospital, with a yield of 12,500 tons of TNT, which is equivalent to a jaw-dropping 12,500,000 kilograms of explosive.

Inevitably, there were thousands of casualties. Early estimates reported the death toll to be about 100,000, while estimates that included those dying by the end of 1945 as a result of the bomb effects to be about 140,000. Most of the casualties were civilian rather than military unfortunately.

The aftermath:

Immediately following the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese physicians not only provided care for as many survivors as they could, but they began to gather data on the number of people killed and the type and extent of injuries.

Scientists and military officials view the base of the steel tower on which the first atomic bomb was tested at the Trinity Site near Alamagordo, New Mexico, July 16 1945. The intense heat of the bomb melted the tower. According to Los Alamos Laboratories, this photo was made two months after the explosion. Image courtesy of Reuters from Factiva.com

When American medical teams arrived in September 1945, the Japanese had already started preparing reports based on their findings. An American military commission followed up on the Japanese studies with examinations of 7,000 survivors.

The Atomic Energy Commission (created by Congress in 1946) set aside $100,000 in 1947 to support preliminary surveys but ended up spending much more in the subsequent years of research.

Eventually, the commission spent $450,000 in 1948, and its budget rose to $1.4 million in 1949, and to $1.5 million in 1950. Radiological and medical field teams, which involved about 50 Americans, several Australians and about 150 Japanese, studied conditions through 1946 and 1947.

By 1950, the commission had collected data on over 150,000 victims in the two destroyed cities. The studies revealed an increase in the occurrence of leukemia, and 40 cases of eye cataracts among 800 people who were situated within close proximity to the detonations.

For more factual information regarding Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings, check out History Database Center.

It has been a long time since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened. Let’s take a moment of silence and pray for those who lost their lives on this unfortunate day.

Image courtesy of Reuters from Factiva.com

Direct Links:
(1) Kohn, George Childs. "Truman's Announcement of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." Dictionary of Historic Documents, Revised Edition. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2003. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=hisdc02577&SingleRecord=True (accessed August 5, 2007).

(2) Carlisle, Rodney P. "Truman’s decision." Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=atomic00521&SingleRecord=True (accessed August 5, 2007).

(3) “Powerful re-telling of Hiroshima bombing.” Western Morning News. 8 August 2005. (accessed August 5, 2007 at Factiva.com)

(4) Carlisle, Rodney P. "Atomic destruction of Hiroshima." Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=atomic00233&SingleRecord=True (accessed August 5, 2007).

(5) Carlisle, Rodney P. "Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission." Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=atomic00031&SingleRecord=True (accessed August 6, 2007).

Posted by digitalk team at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"From error to error one discovers the entire truth."
- Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychologist, 1856 - 1939

Reuters Pictures - Taken from Factiva.com

Sigmund Freud...

"Austrian physician, founder of psychoanalysis. He was appointed to an extraordinary professorship at Vienna University in 1902. His extension of the ideas of unconscious desires, beliefs, etc., required and involved the introduction of a new criterion of the mental, challenging the established Cartesian identification of the mind with consciousness. His work is often seen as in a special way emancipatory, since his psychoanalytic therapy was supposed to put more of the total psychic energy at the disposal of the deciding agent: Where Id was Ego shall be."

Read more in xreferplus Philosophy & Psychology.

Posted by digitalk team at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)