HK$71 million in Mark Six prizes uncollected

Life's a lottery for punters who fail to claim Mark Six winnings

It takes more than good luck to win the Mark Six sometimes - a good memory also helps.

Unclaimed Mark Six wins amounted to HK$74 million last year, up 12 per cent from 2006, as hundreds of negligent winners failed to claim their lucky tickets.

There is still hope if a winning ticket is lost, according to the Jockey Club. Hopeful punters can claim the prize by recalling details about the winning ticket - numbers, time and location of purchase - and convincing betting centre staff that he or she is a real winner.

"We would verify the details and see if nobody else has laid claim to the same prize," a club spokeswoman said.

When betting centre officers are convinced, they will advise the claimant to file an application and pay a HK$50 processing fee - which means any prize smaller than the fee will probably end up unclaimed.

In fact, 250 such applications were filed last year, up 8.6 per cent from 2006, and nearly all applicants successfully collected their cash.

"Only those who can recall convincing details are asked to file applications, so almost all applicants succeeded in the end," the spokeswoman said.

In 2005, about HK$71 million in Mark Six prizes were uncollected, while the number for 2005 was HK$83 million.

Since 2000, the Jockey Club has been transferring unclaimed wins to the Snowball Pool. On selected draws, the Snowball Pool is added to the 1st division prize. These draws are known as Snowball Draws.

The Jockey Club advises punters to open a betting account so they can collect their wins even if they lose their tickets.

Any prize below HK$5 million will be automatically transferred to the winner's account.

SCMP. Feb 16, 2008.

16.4% of all Xbox 360 consoles will fail

A new report from independent warranty provider SquareTrade has found that the failure rate of an Xbox 360 is not as high as critics would have you believe, but it is still much higher than the official number from Microsoft.

The number, 16.4 percent, is much higher than the one cited by former Xbox front man Peter Moore (3 percent), and is about half the number reported by many retailers (approximately 33 percent). The now infamous "Red Ring of Death" was responsible for roughly 60 percent of all claims made to SquareTrade regarding the Xbox 360. Compared to the other two consoles on the market, 16.4 percent is high, as both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii have about a 3 percent failure rate. This number is in line with electronics industry norms.

In comments made to 1up.com, SquareTrade CEO Steve Abernethy said the future could see an even higher percentage. "It is reasonable to believe these failure rates will increase over time, since the Xbox 360 failure issues tend to increase with prolonged use where overheating appears the main culprit," he said.

1up makes note of the fact that the 1,000 Xbox 360 users used for the report sampling were people who had to seek SquareTrade's warranty service out, and therefore the possibility exists that the randomness factor could be skewed, leaning towards heavy system users who are more likely to overheat their 360s. This does not invalidate the survey, but it should be considered while evaluating its findings.

Macworld.

"May God strike me with lightning if …”

This amazing photograph gives whole new meaning to the phrase “May God strike me with lightning if …”Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous statue of Christ the Redeemer was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm over the Brazilian city on Sunday. The statue - which towers over the city as the largest statue of Christ in the world - did not appear too damaged after the strike, according to Brazilian reports. The statue stands 39.6 metres (130ft) tall, is made of 700 tons of reinforced concrete, and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,296ft) Corcovado mountain overlooking the city. It was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Sunday’s lightning storm felled trees and wreaked havoc in several Rio neighbourhoods.

Daily Mail. Feb 13, 2008.

Longest cold weather in 40 years

Hong Kong's has shivered through its longest cold spell in 40 years - and forecasters say the chilly weather will continue for at least another week.

The minimum temperature is expected stay between 9 degrees Celsius and 12 degrees until Sunday.

"A cold winter monsoon will keep bringing cold weather to southern China," Observatory scientific officer Yeung Hon-yin, said yesterday.

By yesterday, the minimum temperature in urban areas had been 12 degrees or less for 20 days. The longest recorded cold stretch was 27 days in February 1968. The second-longest cold period was 21 days in January 1918.

Mr Yeung said the temperature would rise slightly at the weekend - with the maximum nudging up from today's 13 degrees to 15 degrees on Saturday and the minimum forecast to hit 13 degrees on Sunday. But there was no sign slightly warmer weather would continue into next week. "It will get cooler again, with the temperature to remain around 12 degrees. It will not get warmer so soon."

Experts have urged competitors in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon on Sunday to pay special attention to keeping warm.

The Observatory also revealed yesterday that the cold snap has set a record for the longest cold weather warning since the alert system began in December 1999.

The latest warning was issued at 3pm on January 24 and by 8pm yesterday had lasted for 19 days, or 461 hours - more than double the second-longest record of 205 hours, set in 2004.

Scientist Tse Shuk-mei declined to predict if the warning would remain in force until next week.

The Senior Citizen Home Safety Association has received more than 25,983 calls from the elderly seeking help since the warning was issued. Nearly 2,000 people have been admitted to hospital, most for respiratory problems.

SCMP. Feb 13, 2008

South Korean Gate Destroyed in Fire

SEOUL, South Korea — The destruction in a fire of the 600-year-old southern gate to what was once the walled city of Seoul, a landmark that survived foreign invasions and wars to be designated South Korea’s top national treasure, has shocked the nation.

A 69-year-old man suspected of setting the fire was arrested Monday night on Kanghwa Island, west of Seoul, The Associated Press reported the police as saying. The man was identified only by his family name, Chae.

The suspect “has confessed his crime,” said Kim Young-soo, chief at a police station handling the case in Seoul, The Associated Press said. The police have a letter from the suspect complaining about a land dispute with a development company, Mr. Kim was quoted as saying, adding that the suspect maintains he did not get enough compensation from the developer for his land in Kyonggi Province near Seoul.

Mr. Kim said the man had been charged in 2006 with setting fire to the Changgyeong Palace in Seoul, which caused $4,230 in damage.

“The Republic of Korea could not even defend its national treasure No. 1!” one front-page newspaper headline lamented, using South Korea’s formal name.

The fire destroyed Sungnyemun, better known to Koreans and foreign tourists as Namdaemun, or Great South Gate. “With this fire, our national pride was burned down as well,” said Lee Kyung-sook, top aide to President-elect Lee Myung-bak, who rushed to the scene of the blaze on Monday.

Namdaemun, made of wood and stone with a two-tiered, pagoda-shaped tiled roof, was completed in 1398 and served as the main southern entrance to Seoul, which was then a walled city. It was the oldest wooden structure in the country, an iconic reminder of old Korea in this modern Asian city, the capital of South Korea, and a major tourist attraction. The site is surrounded by a bustling commercial district. Lately, homeless people had sought shelter there.

The gate survived the Chinese and Japanese invasions that devastated the city. It was repaired several times, most recently after the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. When the South Korean government cataloged its national treasures in 1962, it gave the gate the No. 1 ranking.

Some historians opposed that designation because Japanese invasion forces had passed through it in the late 16th century to destroy Seoul.

The fire was first reported Sunday evening. By late Sunday night, firefighters said they believed that they had contained it. But the fire roared out of control again after midnight and finally destroyed the structure, despite the efforts of more than 360 firefighters.

Cheon Ho-seon, a spokesman for President Roh Moo-hyun, called the loss “an utterly unfortunate and unspeakably deplorable incident.”

“The gate has been our representative cultural asset that has been with us for 600 years,” Mr. Cheon said in a regular news briefing. “All Koreans were shocked and hurt when they saw the gate crumbling in flames.”

The Cultural Heritage Administration said it would take three years and $21 million to rebuild the structure.

Namdaemun succumbed to the very thing it was designed to fight off, according to Korean legend: fire. Korean kings chose the site in the belief that the gate would protect the capital from the fiery spirit of a mountain south of Seoul, historians say.

New York Times. February 12, 2008

Sony Ericsson's answer to Apple's iPhone

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1

It's here, the XPERIA X1 QWERTY from Sony Ericsson. Yes, full QWERTY to make the most of that Windows Mobile 6 operating system. SE's new XPERIA brand will focus on multimedia and mobile web communication. The X1 then, brings a 3-inch wide VGA (800 x 480) touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera (with photo light), A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, WiFi, and microSD -- just 400MB on board. On the phone side you've got quad-band GSM/EDGE, and 900/1700/1900/2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (or 850/1700/1900/2100MHz in what must be a US-bound model). Navigation is accomplished via touch, arc-sliding QWERTY, 4-way key and optical joystick. Now just replace that Internet Explorer Mobile browser with Opera Mobile 9.5 or Skyfire and the 110 x 53 x 16.7-mm X1 is ready to live up to its potential. You know, when it ships in "select markets" in the second half of 2008.

Camera

• Auto focus
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Photo light
• Video recording

Music

• Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
• Media player
• Music tones
• PlayNow™
• Windows Media Player Mobile
• 3D games
• FM radio
• Java
• Video streaming
• Video viewing

Internet

• Internet Explorer® Mobile
• RSS feeds

Communication and Messaging

• Polyphonic ringtones
• Speakerphone
• Vibrating alert
• Video calling
• Email
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Predictive text input
• Text messaging (SMS)

Design

• XPERIA™ panels
• Optical joystick navigation
• Navigation key
• Picture wallpaper
• Touch navigation

Organiser

• Alarm clock
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Document editors
• Document readers
• Flight mode
• Handwriting recognition
• Notes
• Phone book
• Tasks
• Touchscreen

Connectivity

• aGPS
• Bluetooth™ technology
• Modem
• Synchronization
• USB support
• WLAN

Windows® Mobile® Operating System

• Microsoft® Outlook Mobile: email, contacts, calendar, tasks
• Microsoft® Office Mobile: Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Internet Explorer® Mobile
• Windows Media™ Player Mobile
• Windows Live™
• Exchange ActiveSync®
• Voice control
• Utility Applications: file explorer, calculator, pictures & video, notes

Facts and Figures

• Size: 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm
• Weight: 145 grams

Available colours

• Black
• Silver
• Main screen: 65,536 color TFT
• Resolution: 800 X 480 pixels
• Size: 3 inches

Memory

• Phone memory: up to 400 MB
• microSD™ memory card support
• Availability and versions

Networks

• GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 900/1700/1900/2100 MHz
• UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 850/1700/1900/2100 MHz

More photos available at Engadget.

'World's biggest' UFO convention descending on HK

A still from an infrared Mexican Air force video of
seven bright objects flying over eastern Mexico in 2004

Non-believers, you have been warned. The world's biggest UFO conference is set to be held in the city next year.

Hong Kong alienophiles and their global brethren who believe we are not alone will come together at a yet-to-be confirmed venue on November 9, 2009 for the summit and exhibition.

Organiser Neil Gould - who claims to have first been contacted by aliens as a nine-year-old, said there was no cosmic significance to the date. However, he said Hong Kong had always been a popular place for extraterrestrial visitors, and expects the conference to attract thousands of experts and curious citizens from across planet Earth.

The Hong Kong Observatory has been logging reports of UFO sightings since 1984 and receives as many as 40 such reports a year. One of the most famous alleged alien encounters in the city occurred in 1987, when callers flooded the Observatory with reports of a spaceship the size of six football pitches hovering over the Wah Fu Estate in Aberdeen.

Mr Gould said the study of UFOs and extraterrestrial life is a serious academic pursuit these days, known as exopolitics. The conference would present the latest research from academics as well as photographs, video footage and other evidence of the existence of aliens.

"This planet is being engaged by extraterrestrials, there is no doubt about it, and we want to show the evidence to Hong Kong and the people of the world," he said.

"One of the focuses of the conference will be to demand the US intelligence services open up their UFO files. There is a vast conspiracy by the industrial-military complex to hide some of what they have learned, such as vacuum energy and an anti-gravity flying device. Imagine how this could help Hong Kong and the world.

"There is qualitative and quantitative validation and verification of the fact aliens and UFOs exist."

Mr Gould runs a website promoting "exopolitics awareness" in Hong Kong and intends to release a book on the conspiracy-laced topic this year.

The conference next year will be hosted by the Hong Kong UFO Club, which claims to have 500 members, many of whom claim to have seen an alien spacecraft or to have had experiences with aliens.

The club's co-founder and chairwoman, Moon Fong Chung-moon, said negotiations were still in the early stages but they expected next year's event to attract top experts from around the world. The event would be the biggest of its kind ever held, Ms Fong and Mr Gould claimed.

Ms Fong said club members recorded sightings of UFOs in and around Hong Kong every month.

"We have been talking about having a conference like this in Hong Kong for a decade," she said.

They hoped to attract "government whistle-blowers" from the mainland to reveal what is known about UFOs across the border.

SCMP. Feb 10, 2008