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"China on Thursday denied involvement with an engineer on trial in the United States on charges of attempting to steal US military secrets and called allegations of Chinese espionage "groundless".

"We have reiterated many times that the so-called stealing of US military secrets is groundless and the accusations are due to ulterior motives," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing, without elaborating.

Prosecutors in the trial of Chi Mak, a US citizen born in southern China, said Wednesday he attempted to smuggle out information on a secret technology to make US submarines silent.

China wanted the data to help in its drive to retake Taiwan, assistant US attorney Greg Staples said as the trial got under way in Santa Ana, California.

Staples said the sensitive data on a computer disk Mak tried to provide China through his brother included information on under-development Quiet Electric Drive technology to make submarines silent.

China's navy "is supportive of the re-taking of Taiwan (and) the chief impediment to retaking Taiwan is the 7th fleet of the US Navy," Staples said as the trial got underway.

The Chinese navy particularly needs to be able to find US submarines, he said.

"And that is why the Quiet Electric Drive is important."

But Mak's lawyer said he was only sharing information with other scientists and engineers.

"It's a case about technology exchange," Marilyn Bednarski told the jury.

"Scientists and engineers get information from each other and work in a sharing way," she said.

"If someone shares something that's not export-controlled or if someone does and doesn't know it, it's not a violation of the law."

The 66 year old engineer, born in Guangdong, China, was arrested in 2005 with his wife at his California home.

He had given an encrypted disk with the submarine and other data to his brother Tai Mak, who was arrested with his wife at the same time as they tried to board a flight in Los Angeles to China carrying the disk.

Tai Mak's son Billy was then indicted last year related to his help in encrypting the disk.

Chi Mak is charged with illegally acting as an agent of China in the United States in exporting weapons-related technology without an appropriate export license. He is also charged with making false statements.

But Mak, who has denied the charges, has not been charged with espionage, because the information on the disk was not officially classified.

In the trial Wednesday, prosecutor Staples said Mak, who worked at engineering firm and defense contractor Power Paragon in Anaheim, California, rejected the defense claim that because the data was not classified, Mak was free to exchange it with Chinese.

Staples said that Mak had been given intensive instruction in how to handle both classified and sensitive information, and that he should have applied first to the State Department for an export license.

He said Mak admitted he had been passing technology to China for over 23 years, explaining that he "wanted to help China."

The prosecutor painted a picture of China's strategy to collect vast amounts of US information bit by bit, like "a thousand grains of sand."

To do so China depends "on the loyalty and patriotism of Chinese who live here or come here to study or teach," he said.

But Bednarski said the government was exaggerating the Chinese threat.

"The case is about an alarmist over-reaction. The case is about misconceptions and prejudice," she said.

Bednarski said Mak worked only on the earliest phase of the quiet submarine system, that it has never been tested, and that he planned to retire before the system design was completed.

"He was not an agent for the Chinese government.""

The above was an article I read just now on !Yahoo news! Damn interesting man!!! I definitely believe the act of espionage has been committed. Man, if there were no intentions of smuggling classified information, why should the disk be encrypted??? Or rather, as Mak claimed, it is a sharing of information, has been been providing information of China's Navy to the US??? Hmmm, though this has not been published in the article, I am pretty sure the answer is "no".

But can one say the US is not at fault as well??? Well, probably I would not because they did not list a classification on it! So it a lil kind of their fault for not safe keeping the knowledge! But man, I can argue on it at all... What one can argue from this lil knowledge is on moral issues.

It is definitely morally wrong to try to pass information to another country, or rather your mother country! I remember when I was in UK for training, I was very careful with the things i said, just as I am in Aus now, there are just somethings that cannot be discussed openly... Ya, i mean though i was discussing the salary issue, that does not have much classification because I was discussing it with other Officers! Hmmm, maybe I am wrong... But it is definitely true that our military forces are so underpaid in comparison with other countries' navies. But oh well, cest la vie...

-ciaoz-

UQ helps to keep an eye on the state of coral reefs


The University of Queensland is backing a program aimed at tracking the health of coral reefs around the world.

CoralWatch is a program based around a cheap, simple and non-invasive method for the monitoring of coral bleaching, and assessment of coral health.

Initially funded by UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC, through his Strategic Initiatives Fund, Professor Hay has allocated more funding this year to increase the reach of the project from the Great Barrier Reef to reefs around the world.

Developed by Professor Justin Marshall, from UQ's Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre, he said CoralWatch had grown into an important resource of coral health data since the organisation was established in 2001.

“Our Coral Health Chart is basically a series of sample colours, with variation in brightness representing different stages of bleaching or recovery, based on controlled experiments,” Professor Marshall said.

“The charts can be used by anyone – scientists, school children, tourists even politicians.

“In the field, people simply compare colours of corals with colours on the chart and record matching codes.

“It is our aim to both provide a scientific tool and increase awareness about global warming by demonstrating one of its devastating effects.”

Professor Hay said the CoralWatch program was a great example of university research that could be applied in a simple way to benefit the wider community.

“Reefs around the world are a valuable asset that needs to be monitored and cherished,” Professor Hay said.

“By supporting such an important program we hope to help, in small way, to preserve these natural wonders for future generations.”

Professor Marshall said there were already 650 groups involved in monitoring reef around the world and he hoped to get the educational kits out to 15,000 schools in the near future.

The CoralWatch program is also supported by Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre and recently formed a partnership with Project AWARE, a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action.

Project AWARE works in partnership with PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the world's largest diver training organization, and will distribute the CoralWatch kits to divers and dive centres around the world to further develop awareness of reef issues worldwide.

-ciaoz-

Oh, another week went by... This weekend no clubbing! Not good for health! In fact, the whole week I been sleeping about 3am, cos doing readings preparing for assignments. I think I should finish each assignment in about a day now, since I have most of the information. Anyway, went out for supper last night! Haha, DIM SUM!!! Actually was not too enthusiastic cos Dim Sum for Supper??? Sounded kinda weird, but went anyway. Haha! It was located at Logan, erm, somewhere quite far from where I am. Eh, but Mr Nice "Zander" drove us there! Haha! I WAN A CAR TOO!!! :(


Zander - I think he is a photo whore! HA


Me! arghz...


Erm, someone who wanted to be anonymous


haven had chinese tea for a while!!!


Char Siew Siu and Egg Tart!!! Both damn good!


Chicken Feet, a lil not too cooked! Quite tough


He is enjoying it, i had a picture, but not as nice as Zander's


All served together... Red bean pancake and siew mai


Siew Mai... Hmm not too good...


Har Gao (prawn dumpling) eh, aint too good... very bland


Beancurd skin with prawn - good but oily...


Century Egg porridge, two bowls


Cannot finish, ended up bringing it back

yupz, tts about it for supper, very full... And I managed to get jessie number! Haha, spoke to her on the phone last night, very funny!!! Haha, missed her man! Alright... going to the gym shortly to burn all of those food from last night! :)

-ciaoz-

Its been a while since I last posted I think. Yupz, things going on a lil well... Cant say it aint going well can I since I am still alive and kicking. All the admin things are done, meaning that I just got the money from MINDEF and my reimbursements. Haha... I got shocked when I went into my bank account and saw a $**,*** amount. Wah, I haven seen such a huge amount of money for a long time. However, haha, of which, at least $10,000 goes to the next semester school fees. Sigh... So sad eh!!!

How I wish all these money is for my living expenses and just for spending!!! Wah, sure damn happy, be out shopping almost everyday!!! BUT STUDENT!!!! Must study... Hmmm, trying to keep in mind. That meaning that I am trying very hard not to be tempted to buy the coming release of PS3... So uber cool man. I played it at a store the other day, the graphics and everything... Wah, so nice!!!

Well, the silicon key pad protector on my keyboard makes me type damn slow! So not used to it... But den I dun wan my keyboard to be out of colour and with gross shiny layers that is grime and all... Yaya, i noe this is so not related to the top 2 paras.

Talking about paras, i already have like 4 assignments due before 18 apr... Sigh... I feel quite miserable cos of which, one I totally do not understand it... Am actually here waiting for the lecturer to begin his lecture. A lil bit miserable... Not used to being a student!!! I envy working back home. Haha... Life is damn cool when u work, money comes in, u feel a sense of achievement, and ya, i noe, u get the sense of achievement when u do ur assignments and get ur results back.

I was just at my poly classmates engagement party on sat and she showed me her academic transcipt. Wah, makes me feel quite pressurized... I duno if i can do as well as she did... Haha... Did not calculate her avg gpa or prob i did not see it, but am sure she should be able to qualify for honours!!! I wan my honours though I do not wan much to stay here. Everyone was like its so fun and all, its alright. Livable. I think UK was so much better... Oh well... Beginning life I guess. Things be fine.

So back to assigments, hmm, just worried about it already! Haha!!! Alright, better stop writing already. Think lecturer should be in here any time soon.

-ciaoz-

This song is not the best to describe my feelings now... But I duno, some self reflection i guess... Self reflection with tears... sigh

Have you ever loved somebody so much
It makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so bad
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever

Have you ever been in love
Been in love so bad
You'd do anything to make them understand
Have you ever had someone steal your heart away
You'd give anything up to make them feel the same
Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart
But you don't know what to say
And you don't know where to start

Have you ever loved somebody so much
It's makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so bad
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever

Have you ever found the one
You've dreamed of all your life
You'd do just about anything to look into their eyes
Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to
Only to find that one won't give their heart to you
Have you ever closed your eyes and
Dreamed that they were there
And all you can do is wait for that day when they will care

Have you ever loved somebody so much
It's makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so bad
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever

What do I gotta do to get you in my arms baby
What do I gotta say to get to your heart
To make you understand how I need you next to me
Gotta get you in my world
'Cuz baby I can't sleep

Have you ever loved somebody so much
It's makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so bad
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever

-sighing-

There are many things that i dun wanna noe. I think the recent days has been a turmoil. Ya, emotionally unstable. I dun wanna believe some things tt i am to know or hear. I just dun wanna noe things. Can i take the opportunity to just forget everything and just forget that some people even exist??? Can I??? I asked myself this months back, but i know till now, i could not. I cried.... It sucks crying man! A fren said to me just now, "DRAMA". Ya, i noe drama, but when ur heart breaks and u start to tear, u just cant help it can u??? IT SUCKS!

The best remedy, brain wash, or just give the brain some electrical stimuli like house did to make his patient forget about the woman he loves. I need this electrical stimuli from house. I need a new beginning. Can i really get it???

-crying-

Ok, i saw this article on someone's blog. Damn hilarious!!!



Well, i got so many things to highlight about this article!!!! Firstly about the marketing executive Melissa Sim. I think her comment would bring about many many social and political implications. Firstly she mentioned tt obese guys sweating is smelly and off putting. Does this means that obese guys should not be part of the society and have no contribution to the society??? If i am an obese male, this would definitely have me bringing both the press and the interviewee for emotional distraught!

If I am fat, this means that i would have to be smelly??? Cant obese ppl maintain proper hygiene by using proper deodorant so as to not produce sweat that is "smelly". You may have a fit guy perspiring, does this means that his perspiration would smell nice??? He may not be the type of males who bother showering properly and using deodorant and probably have a body odor problem. Does this still means tt his perspiration would smell nice???

2ndly, the term "smelly" is so subjective. Can one define what is smelly and what would smell nice to another person??? Its just like me hating fish, but yet many ppl find fish tasty and appealing. Does this means that I have to like fish as well???

And of course she being a female, sees a fit male body clad in perspiration, would definitely set her heart racing. Thoughts would be running through her mind, which if I put myself in a female shoes, I would be thinking about how he would look like if he is naked and is having sex, perspiring and working that body. If I cant see his body, I would be thinking how he would look like, but if he has a not so pleasing face to me, I would be turned off and think tt his perspiration smells.

3rd, being in the print industry, why cant the editor and the reporter use proper words??? Worse, research being done at University of California. Why do they use the term sweat and not perspiration??? Do they not understand that sweat is used for animals and perspiration humans?? Is this an implication that humans are animals??? So this means that we may be allowed experiments on???

Eh... this is damn wrong man... The whole article. If perspiration were to be bottled up, would it have the same effect on women??? Do they not understand that stale perspiration is damn bad??? It is unhealthy and can carry bacteria that may cause other sicknesses and illness... Yikes...

Its just a food for thought anyway... Sianz

-ciaoz-

Ok, here goes. Today was supposed to go out for roast pork rice, however, haha, lets call this person "the thing" cos this person asked me to say "the thing". WEll, "the thing" was late, haha, so very late, but oh well, being mr nice, i was alright with it! :) i should be nice to the thing anyway. haha!

So we walked to the shop and it was closed for renovations and the thing called me a jinx! Arghz... how nice eh!!! So we walked into the grocery shop to shop for some erm, asian stuffs. As we put more shopping into the basket, i actually thought it would be stupid to lug em around should we go out for lunch somewhere. So, we stopped and placed everythign back and went for lunch!

CRAVINGS!!!! DIM SUM CRAVING! haha!I guess its something I missed most so far besides "ba kua" which the thing nv bring back for me! Sigh!!!! Oh well, went to this so called "not bad" place for dim sum, and ahem, i thought the only palatable one was the congee... Oops.... Ok la, was not too bad. here are some feedback, i missed out some dishes though.


Hmm, chicken ball in honey and lemon - Not bad


Erm, tot it was char siew but got cheated... I think some seafood stuff - BAD


Siew Mai - Passable less the skin or the pastry

Oh, missed out the chicken feet! Not nice at all! And the thing did not tell me it does not eat chicken feet! Arghz... Had to forcemyself to eat it all! And some fried prawn in seasame pastry... Was alright, but cant eat too much of the pastry, makes one nauseas.

Yupz, finished lunch and went grocery shopping. Met my poly course mate at the shop. he called the thing "bai bai nen nen"! haha, how hilarious man! And den i remembered this phrase which i used to make fun at female fren in the past. "xiao mei mei oh, ni de pi fu you bai you nen oh". Haha, so hilarious man! The thing said i sounded exactly like a pervert! Haha!

Oh, it was madness as 2 "aunties" (being us) went shopping. I took forever to choose the vegetable (cannot waste money mah buahahahha) and the thing had this auntie bag on the shoulders! Ooooh... and mop! wahahha, so damn hilarious!




These pictures do not show the face to protect the privacy of the thing. A special request which I cant say no right??? I dun wanna die in the future anyway!

yupz, weird and full day man! I mean physically full! Too much food again for the 2nd day in a row! Alright till den

-ciaoz-

Hmmm, something seems wrong with my firefox... Damn... But well, i was chatting with a few people just now and somehow the topic of communication came out. Hmmm, was it cos I am doing a degree in communication or is it simply because of the physical environment and the experience i went through? I guess its a combination of both. Communication has evolved because of the experiences of the human race (note this is not a persuasive statement or any form of thesis, its just my deep thoughts)

Well, lets see what seemed to be the problem. Well some people whom you might consider close frens, and you actually treated them as one. However, do they see you as one? Well, this seriously depends on how it was communicated or how was it seen by the other party. But lets say in my case, I think it has been reiterated time and again someone was my close fren, however, such feelings cannot be one sided right? It takes 2 hands to clap just as in, it takes a pair to make a pair of close fren.

Or has it been my own negligence to understand the reaction and actions of the other party, which gave me a misconception of whether the person actaully regarded me as a close fren? This communication loop is not close, which means that there are missing elements in the communication cycle. Its feedback and the information which has distortion in them. The media which was used to transmit these messages are not clear enough for on to understand the other.

But this brings another issue of the growing era of the new media. The new media has arrived in many forms i.e. wikipedia, blogs, youtube and whatsnot. These are messages being transmitted from one to the other. And many a times, how often do we receive feedback?? things that have been posted on it are thought to contain some form of communication or thoughts both emotionally and psychologically. Why is this so??? A person do not post their thoughts without the intention of not receiving feedback, excpe tmaybe for a handful like yours truly who wants no reader to contact me regarding the blog, except frens who have access to me.

These form of feedback may vary from just leaving comments on sites, by tagging, emailing and so many other channels. But are we using these media effectively??? Say maybe the older generations may not understand a single damn thing that is being projected... Language would thus be the problem... these jargons are just incapable of making the uneducated to be enlightened about these new technology. But jargon is not just the only language. Lets put language on the academic term, or the normal language i.e. english, mandarin, berhasa and whatsnot.

These langague proves to be a problem. I remember being in the library when i arrived in australia, and this PRC gal was unsure about the technology. She did not realise or understood that her school wireless access only had 150mb limits. she spent hours watching youtube clips and actually exceeded the data allocated to her. Well, firstly, english language proved to be a problem cos she seeked my help and could not understand the simplest english that I used to explain to her. And next, i doubt she has much of a technology knowledge as she was pretty unsure of the whole setup and system. Her thoughts were, if its wireless and its in sch, it should be free, why do 1 have to pay more for more data???

Well, i am actually writing with no head and end in plan. I was writing this after a conversation with a fren, discussing my life issues, and haha.... certainly brought me to maybe start thinking deeply like i did in the past. A regret though of all the poems and thoughts that i deleted years back. Oh well, cest la vie...

-ciaoz-

Hmmm, school has started officially for a week already! Am excited... Cant wait to begin on assignments and all. Well, went out for "lunch" and movie today with someone, but, oh well, pretty sure we would remain as friends. :) I think today is the worst day so far, i feel the most sinful!!!! Had kebab for lunch and a chocolate milkshake! Damn the calories must be rising like mad. And I had some beef fried rice and crisp just now! Arghz!!!!!

My plan on removing all my tummy fat is gone man!!!! I feel damn depressed, after a month, i think the tummy has reduced a lil bit, and i dun think it is going to reduce further! Sigh!!! Wanna cry already! Tmr going for lunch with tt someone again! Think am going to chinatown to get some groceries! I kinda miss "mee soto". So gotta get some ingredients to cook it for next week.

-ciaoz-