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MP4 market in the past two years, the joint efforts of domestic and foreign firms, has been developed to its peak stage, in order to further tap the market capacity, major brand has employed every means, any RM / RMVB live models are nothing new gadgets, big-screen MP4 flooded the market, the wave of the Olympic Games through high-definition, manufacturers MP4 HD elements into them, in order to attract the attention of consumers, and further open the market. MP4 market, competition is fierce, and especially the Chinese MP4 market, more and more companies to launch its own high-definition MP4 products, over time, high-definition has been the desire of consumers can not wake up, MP4 market seems to be caught up in a stagnation.

Google global vice president Kai-fu Lee made a vivid metaphor: banks, the first people to just put the money on pillow, then with banks is safe, but to honor them too much trouble. Now developed to the banks to withdraw money to any network, even through the ATM, or foreign channels. "Cloud computing" is such a change brings - from Google, IBM this company to build a professional network of computer storage, computing center, the user through a network cable through the browser can easily access the "cloud "As data center storage, and application services.

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To realize the cloud video program, the client must have network interface, that the KSD V8 get a good reflection, KSD V8 core with a Chinese HD CC1600 flight program, which integrates a 100M network interface, with the development of the network , KSD will consider the opening of these interfaces, with the network interface of this "infrastructure" development through firmware upgrades, web browsing, video sharing and on-demand and other exciting applications will become a reality.

KSD in the proposed "cloud video" concept, while the client in the cloud video also spared to prepare, where not least the client products, including audio and video KSD V8 is the cloud of material products, with 720P HD video playback, super strong rate of 10M bit stream decoding, 4.3-inch WVGA display, 800 × 480 resolution, more 16 million true color output, professional audio decoding options, support for dual lossless audio, which are audio and video programs for the cloud lay a solid foundation.

"Cloud Video" for the MP4 market pointed out the direction, the network will be the MP4 market share trends that change from the consumer electronics market can be seen, high-definition flat-panel TV into a network functions, digital cameras equipped with network interface, you can share resources, MP4 as personal entertainment devices, to achieve a network share is a matter of time. Before long, we can experience the epoch-making "video cloud" products KSD V9 bring our unique charm, and the KSD will lead the players in China market has entered a new development track!

HD CC1600 chip core Fei Hua

Is MP4 the market was so stagnant it? MP4 is the development of people, when questioned, "Cloud video" turned out to, and often friends who are concerned about the MP4 market somewhat familiar with that word, then the "cloud video" in the end What is it? Cloud video is MP4 KSD cutting-edge brand a concept put forward in the cloud on video before, or start it say "cloud computing" because "cloud video" is based on "cloud computing" principle. Cloud Computing (Cloud computing), is Internet-based super-computing model, that is stored in personal computers, mobile phones and other devices, processors, large amounts of information and resources together to work together. Enterprises and individual users no longer need to purchase expensive hardware investment costs, only through the Internet to purchase the leased computing power, "to your computer as access ports, all that to the Internet bar."

Exchange in a group of portable digital enthusiasts, the one on the KSD will soon release a true sense of the cloud message loud and clear audio and visual products. According to the mysterious sources, KSD KSD V9 internal R & D, code-named machines is legendary cloud audio and video products. In order to prove a reliable source, the person said, this is an epoch-making significance of the history of portable digital audio and video products will cloud a comprehensive listing of early April. According to its introduction, the first audio-visual end products cloud KSD V9 hardware configuration is extremely luxurious, ultra-high resolution screen machines, all-touch operation and support of virtual keyboard input. Ordinary portable digital audio players, or MID, UMPC different, in addition to the current mainstream owned MP4 possess all the features, KSD V9 also supports include phone extensions (According to sources, KSD V9 phone extensions are quite useful, as long as the ordinary phone card <such as SIM card> into the appropriate expansion slot, KSD V9 instantly become the embodiment of a smart phone), CMMB mobile TV free channel reception, CMMB mobile TV channels to receive encrypted (encryption cards required to install CMMB CA), Wireless Internet access, OFFICE office, business assistant and so on. Easy access through the wireless network "cloud" end of vast amounts of resources.

However KSD brand will introduce the concept of cloud computing MP4 field, that "video cloud" concept, to remove obstacles to the development of high-definition MP4. "Cloud Media" will be cloud and the client component, where the "cloud" refers to the mass of the resource sharing center, the client refers to all in the hands of MP4, mobile phones and multimedia entertainment terminal, through the client network interface to achieve cloud resource sharing, the clouds not only high-definition video, and more all the resources needed.

"Cloud video" is also based on this principle, the arrival of video cloud to break the current market development in high-definition MP4 ice, a lot of buying high-definition MP4 friends have found themselves in after purchasing the high-definition MP4 is an ornament, although the hardware Standard 720P HD video playback support, but no film can suffer up, stood holding a general MP4 MP4 HD video can be put, really did not face ah! This of course has some relations firms, in order to increase the selling point, quickly enter the market, MP4 manufacturers tend to ignore the high-definition MP4 supporting the progress of HD film sources is the most critical issue.

Thousands of spectators descended on Tokyo’s Big Sight International Exhibition Center on Wednesday to enjoy a series of spectacular displays presented by the Tokyo Fire Department.

The annual New Year event, known as “Shobo Dezome-shiki” in Japanese, was held on the edge of picturesque Tokyo Bay. The festive event comprised parades of dapper firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, fast-response disaster teams and a host of high-tech vehicles and appliances, including helicopters and boats.

Some 12,000 spectators of all ages were treated to a feast of firefighting spectacles including aerial ladder acrobatics, earthquake rescue demonstrations and a particular thrilling demonstration that involved multiple firefighters abseiling down a40 meter building and expertly extinguishing a raging fire.

Other crowd pleasers included the fire department’s helicopters that circled and hovered over the bay, dumped gallons of water to put out a mock fire on a boat and then swooped fast and low over the delighted audience, who showed their appreciation by way of rapturous applause.

As the event reached its climax, with the fire brigade bands providing magnificent music, firefighters being elevated in buckets to dizzying heights by their fire trucks and fire boats on the bay spraying plumes of multicolored water, the spectators were on their feet in delight and amazement.

“The helicopters were so cool,” said 14-year old Taiki Yoshiro, a junior high school student, after the event. “I’m glad there are so many people, like firefighters, to help us if anything bad ever happened in Tokyo.”

“The displays were truly amazing, the (Tokyo) fire department has some very dedicated and talented individuals,” commented Keiko Murakami, a senior citizen, as her husband nodded enthusiastically in agreement. PREPAREDNESS: THE BURNING ISSUE

However the Tokyo Shobo Dezome-shiki, or New Year’s Fire review in English, is more than just a high-octane, fun-filled festival.

Such events are held by regional fire departments all across Japan during the New Year period and through the performances and the showcasing of high-technology equipment in action, in numerous prescribed rescue scenarios, comes an important message, one of fire safety, prevention and community awareness and solidarity.

“These performances and the exhibitions on display send a message to the local community and the wider society about the importance of fire safety and prevention,” Masashi Imai, a senior officer based at Nogata Fire Station in the Nakano district of Tokyo, told Xinhua.

“We want to promote disaster preparedness to the public and ensure people know what to do in case of an emergency such as an earthquake or fire. Providing this information to the public is the real issue today — and if the event is exciting then more people will be interested,” he said between parades.

Yuji Arai, the 22nd Fire Chief of the Tokyo Fire Department, also points to the importance of disaster preparedness.

“With Japan’s economy facing hardships, the Tokyo Fire Department sees many challenges lying ahead. Given the situation, we need to better prepare for major disasters like devastating earthquakes, step up fire and emergency services including (Emergency Medical Services) EMS, push forward fire prevention measures to cope with the new threats surrounding our building environment,” the Fire Chief is quoted as saying on the department’s website.

“As for our immediate issues, we are promoting home fire safety by encouraging communities to have fire alarms in the home, while continuing our efforts to make Tokyo resilient to all types of disasters, so that residents can feel secure living in the capital. Together with the 18,000 personnel of my department, I will keep on going and carrying out measures to realize people’s desire for greater safety,” Amai has resolved.

Tokyo itself sits upon two tectonic plates and the land that many of the buildings have been constructed upon is considerably soft, according to seismologists. Approximately 1,500 earthquakes hit Japan on average every year; of varying magnitude, and experts believe that Tokyo is long overdue to be hit by a major quake, experts have said.

Contrary to many beliefs, collapsing buildings and falling debris aren’t the major cause of serious injuries or death when earthquakes hit an urban area, it’s fire — and for this reason the effort, skills and techniques seen by the Tokyo Fire Department on Wednesday, and the message they are promoting, is sovery relevant to the megalopolis’ inhabitants. EDO ABLAZE

The very first Dezome-shiki took place on Jan. 4 1659 at Ueno Toshogu Shrine in Edo (old Tokyo). Two years earlier a ferocious fire decimated much of Edo, with its wooden buildings and houses turning ashes and tens of thousands of people losing their lives. The iconic Edo Castle Tower was also destroyed in the blaze.

The Dezome parade held by the fire brigade a couple of years later was a source of great encouragement to the people of the town to unite as a community and rebuild their lives, as well as remember those who were taken by the inferno.

This marked the beginning of fire safety and awareness in Japan and the Dezome parades have been an annual event during the New year period across the nation since then.

The ladder acrobatics enjoyed by thousands on Wednesday, which included firefighters in traditional costumes performing hand-stands with their legs spread, at the top of tall bamboo ladders, reveals how the fundamental skills, strength, dexterity and fearlessness of Japanese firefighters, have remained largely unchanged over the centuries.

The application of these fundamentals, by firefighters and emergency services personnel, in today’s environment and the evolution of the technology would no doubt make those involved in the first Dezome parade in 1659 very proud indeed.

A marimba solo concert was held at the Middle School Affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Tuesday, December 29, 2009. The performer Zhang Zimo brought his percussion to us by performing a variety of marimba music in traditional and contemporary styles.

“Empire State of Mind” has been a chart-topping hit for Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, spending five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. The No. 1 anthem is also responsible for reigniting the singing aspirations of songwriter/producer Angela Hunte, who penned and produced “Empire” with writing partner Jane’t “Jnay” Sewell-Ulepic. It all started with a bad case of homesickness.

“My writing partner and I were in London, missing home,” Hunte says. “We said to ourselves, ‘We complain so much about New York — about the busy streets, about the crowds and the pushing, about the subway system — but I would trade that for anything right now.’ Before we left the hotel that night, we knew we would write a song about our city.”

The pair sent the song to entertainment company Roc Nation in hopes that its founder, rapper Jay-Z, would record the song. But when that attempt failed, they became convinced it was the end of the line for the track.

Eight months later, Big Jon Platt, president of North American Creative for EMI Music Publishing, heard the song and fell in love with it. He suggested to Hunte and Sewell-Ulepic that it would be a perfect fit for Jay-Z. Despite the women’s hesitance given the results of their first pitch, Platt sent the song to the rapper, who, Hunte says, “recorded it that night.” Jay-Z wrote all new verses inspired by the original lyrics and left Hunte’s words in the song’s hook. At Hunte’s recommendation, Alicia Keys was recruited to sing the hook.

“We were so happy he wanted to honor our work,” Hunte says. “For him as a rapper to take a song by two female writer/producers? That’s not a combination you see a lot. And Alicia has my same vocal tone. She made the song sound so close to the original. She just nailed it.”

FROM BROOKLYN TO EUROPE

A Brooklyn native, Hunte — who grew up at 560 State Street, the address Jay-Z mentions on the track — launched her music career as a singer. But eventually she began studying production alongside mentor/producer Salaam Remi because, Hunte says, she found music becoming more “commercial. I just felt there was no place for me (as a performer) in music at that time.”

In 2001, she signed a deal brokered by Remi with EMI and moved to Europe, where she began writing for Ms. Dynamite, Mis-teeq and British R&B singer Beverly Knight, among others. Hunte received her big break when she wrote the track “Do Somethin’” for Britney Spears. The song appeared on Spears’ “Greatest Hits: My Prerogative” compilation and was released as the second single off the 2004 set.

Three years later, Hunte returned to the United States. Netting a writing gig with girl group Danity Kane, she wrote the act’s first single, “Show Stopper.” The track reached No. 8 on the Hot 100. Since then, Hunte has worked with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and newcomer Melanie Fiona. She’s slated to go into the studio to collaborate with Young Jeezy, Roc Nation artist J. Cole and up-and-coming rapper H 2-0.

Hunte is also at work on her own as-yet-untitled album, which she describes as a “pop, electronic set.”

But Hunte will always remember the impact that “Empire” has had on her career. Although the singer/songwriter/producer declined to reveal more details, she promises that the original version of “Empire State of Mind” will be released one day.

“The original is so powerful,” Hunte says. “It’s only a matter of time until you will hear it down the line.”

2009 is finally taking its last bow before it is quietly pushed aside by the next decade. In almost ritualistic fashion most newspapers across the globe are assembling various lists about the biggest events of the last 12 months. So I decided why not make my own list.

Of course, it will be a little bit different than usual. As a foreigner, life in Beijing offers me so many up and down experiences. So without further adieu I will share with you the top three things that bring a frown and a smile to my face.

First the frowns.

Every time I ride the subway I see them. It really bugs me, sometimes even infuriates me. No, I am not talking about the crowds. I am talking about those girls who just wear the frames of glasses because for some reason they think it is cool.

A friend of mine once told me, “I swear next year I am going to walk around with a pointy stick and poke their eyes.”

I hate to complain about it, but I must. The pay for university teachers in Beijing is horrendously low.

Just to give you an idea, consider that I know a PhD who teaches at a high level university in Beijing and only makes 6,500 yuan a month. I know Chinese secretaries that get paid that much.

Snot rockets and luggies…need I say more. In the winter these little bad boys freeze and it’s quite disgusting. Every time I walk down the street I feel like a solider picking his way through a mine field. Beijing has no excuse.

Tissues are a dime a dozen and there has been repeated public service announcements trying to reduce this bad habit. It’s time people should listen…or at least spit into the bushes!

Now the smiles!

Beijing has something for everybody. I really like this about the city. There are cultural events, music, bars, movie theaters, historical sites, and just about everything else.

Whatever your desire you are sure to find it somewhere in this megalopolis. Just browse the Net or pick up one of the numerous city papers, you are bound to find something you are interested in.

The subway in Beijing can create a love/hate relationship. But for me love wins out most of the time. There really is no better way to get around the city in a timely manner.

Sure a car could be faster, but given Beijing’s traffic I would take the subway any day. It’s crowded and sometimes stinky, but riding it is the best way to feel like a real Beijinger.

I’m from Philadelphia so comparatively Beijing is a walk in the park safety wise. I know there are criminals in Beijing, but compared with my home city I rarely find myself looking over my shoulder while walking the streets at night.

I know people that have been robbed, but at least the thief didn’t riddle them full of bullets so they can steal $20 to score some drugs.

So that’s my two cents about the things that bug me and make be enjoy my life in Beijing.

Hopefully by this time next year I will have fewer complaints and more things to bring a smile to my face. Happy New Year everybody!

Individually designed music therapy may help reduce noise levels in people suffering from tinnitus, or ear ringing, German scientists said on Monday.

The researchers designed musical treatments adapted to the musical tastes of patients with ear-ringing and then stripped out sound frequencies that matched the individual’s tinnitus frequency.

After a year of listening to these “notched” musical therapies, patients reported a distinct decrease in the loudness of ringing compared with those who had listened to non-tailored placebo music, the researchers wrote in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Tinnitus is a common hearing problem in industrialized countries and the ear-ringing can be loud enough to harm quality of life in between one and three percent of the general population, the researchers said.

A European Union (EU) health panel raised the alarm in January about the potential hearing damage caused by young people playing their MP3 players too loud.

The EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks warned that listening to personal music devices at high volume for long periods could cause hearing loss and tinnitus, and their warning prompted the European Commission to issue new safe volume standards for MP3 players.

The German researchers said the precise cause of tinnitus is not known, but the auditory cortex — the region of the brain that processes sound — is often distorted in those who have it.

Christo Pantev of the Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis at Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Germany, who led the study, said his findings on targeted listening suggested that tinnitus volume could be “significantly diminished by an enjoyable, low-cost, custom tailored notched music treatment.”

In the antique store run by Luo Zhuqing, a porcelain badge with the portrait of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong is sold at around 40 yuan apiece.

“The most expensive ones in my store are worth of more than 10,000 yuan,” says the 59-year-old collector in Leshan, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, who has 30 years in the business.

But for the once Mao badge makers Guo Zhiquan and Wen Jiyan, they are priceless

Guo and Wen, both 67 and form Leshan, an inland city noted for its world’s tallest stone Buddha, have known each other since they became workers of the state-run Leshan Qinghua Porcelain Factory in 1962.

Guo was assigned to make porcelain blanks, while Wen became a painting worker. The two youngsters, both lovers of art and literature, soon became good friends, but it was the national icon Chairman Mao who brought them more closely.

In 1966, when Cultural Revolution broke out, which Guo called “an era of political illusion”, they both became Red Guards, Mao’s loyal soldiers.

“We believe Chairman Mao was sent to change the world then, so were we,” says Guo.

His background from a worker’s family and the rebellious spirit helped Guo thrive amid the social turmoil. Soon he became a leader of a Red Guard faction and took over the management of the factoryin March 1968.

With the power in hand, Guo was eager to find a breakthrough in his work — he locked his eyes on Mao badges.

It’s a fashion to wear and collect Mao Badge after Mao met the Red Guards for the first time in Beijing in August 1966. The badges, with Mao’s head portrait and his quotations, were carried from Beijing by enthusiastic Red Guards to other parts of China ever since.

“First come the metal badges and then those made of plastic, or bamboo. Porcelain ones are regarded as the best for their delicacy,” says Guo. “I thought that’s our opportunity.”

Guo wanted to conquer all, but he knew the limits of his factory, which mainly produced daily utensils. So he turned to the Jianxiang Porcelain Factory in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, also Mao’s hometown. It is among the country’s first group of Mao badge manufacturers.

In July 1968, Guo led a team, including Wen, for Jianxiang and they brought back with badge-making crafts and some samples about 20 days later.

During their apprenticeship, Guo and Wen didn’t forget to visit Mao’s birthplace in Shaoshan County. The two pilgrims took a picture in front of Mao’s home. Wen even brought back a bottle of earth and small rubbles he scooped up from the courtyard.

Qinghua set up a special team called “badge platoon” dedicated to making badges, with more than 30 elites recruited.

Political record accounted much in the recruitment. Any one recognized to be politically wrong was likely to be rejected.

Wen was fired from the team after passing on what he learned from Hunan to his fellow colleagues, only because he was born to a family doing salt business. Businessman was regarded as capital is toxic then.

The arrangement was no surprise to Wen. “Mao badge is holy article and allows no stain,” he says.

Yet, the pity of the denial was sort of paid back as Wen found his love Xie Huirong from another team. Xie eventually became his wife.

It took more than 20 procedures, like crushing, grinding, mud-washing, molding, polishing, decaling and firing before a piece of stone became a badge.

A qualified badge should be “as thin as paper, white as jade, bright as a mirror, and sending out musical sound when flicked” –a standard for a certain porcelain articles used by royal families in ancient China.

To show their love to Mao, all the badge team members performed “the Loyalty dance” before and after their work everyday.

The postures were simple and identical across the country: holding both hands high towards the sky to show faith in Mao, making bow steps to indicate determination to follow him and clenching fists symbolizing their revolutionary fervor. They also sang songs like “Long Live Chairman Mao” while dancing.

“Our work is a serious political task,” says Guo. “We don’t say’ make’ badges, but ‘produce badges with full respects’, and people don’t say “get a badge’, but ‘greet’ a badge’. The wording is all honorifics related to Buddhism.”

The high-spirit workers produced about 40,000 badges for the first time in September 1968, however, more than 80 percent of which were defective because of the work place pollution.

“Small sands were mixed into the badge mud and caused the pinhole-sized pores on the surface,” says Guo. “I was dumfounded, and some women colleagues even went to tears, not for fears but for regrets. It’s a sin to distort the leader’s image.”

All the workers, even the canteen chief, were organized to have meetings to examine each procedure, which was followed by a weeklong cleaning work.

Qualified badges were produced in 10 days, featuring Mao’s head portrait in different ages. Best samples were selected and stuck onto a wooden board in the shape of Chinese character Zhong — loyalty. Guo led a team, carrying the board, to show their works to the Leshan county government.

“It’s such a sensation as nobody had ever seen a porcelain Mao badge before. People across the county talked about it and thrilled. The same situation only happened once in 1964 when China had its first successful atomic bombing,” says Guo.

The county government took the badges as a great merit of Guo and he was later selected as a delegate of Sichuan to watch the celebrations in Beijing for the National Day in October. The Qinghua’s badges were among the gifts to Mao and Guo was among delegates to be received by the leader.

Guo remembered clearly the moment he saw Mao in Great Hall of the People.

“He was much taller than I expected and his hands were very soft,” Guo recalls. “I was so nervous that I can’t stop trembling when shaking hands with him, as if I was sick.”

The demands for the Qinghua’s badges soared after Guo’s Beijing trip and the worker’s number increased from 300 to more than 500 as the factory’s territory expanded. The varieties of the factory’s Mao badges exceeded 30 in 1969. Mao’s images and quotations also appear on its other products.

“Even the jars for pickles were painted with slogans like ‘with Helmsman, to sail on the seas, with Mao Zedong Thought, to undertake the revolutionary’,” says Guo.

However, the badges were not for sales, but mainly for praising “heroes from different fields”. A special office under the local government, known as “Mao’s office”, took in charge of the badge distribution and Mao’s works printing. Qinghua was allowed to keep a small amount to reward outstanding workers.

“No corruption. Even our relatives asked for one, we didn’t violate the rules,” says Guo.

However, the factory’s prosperity came to the end with an order from the central government in June 1969 to stop producing Mao badges to avoid waste of materials, especially metals.

Qinghua altogether produced more than 100,000 badges before the order. And nationally, the number hit over 8 billion.

Now, Guo had to face the problem of dealing with the storage and the defective badges.

“Mao’s portrait was on them, so we can’t either bury or abandon the badges casually. That’s a political mistake,” says Guo.

After his repeated asking for instructions from the Mao’s office on how to deal with the rest badges went unanswered, Guo ordered several workers to put all defective badges in several big bamboo baskets and loaded them on a small boat.

“They secretly poured all the badges into the Dadu River nearby. at night. Only a few factory officials knew it. That’s best solution we could figure out,” says Guo.

However, Guo’s history can’t go that easily. The Red Guard rebels like Guo and Wen began to recede from the center stage of the Cultural Revolution since the 1970s.

The two men were put in jail twice from 1968 to 1972 in the struggles among different Red Guard cliques. They began to fell tied of the endless political struggles.

“It’s dangerous. You are in heaven now, but maybe in hell next second,” says Guo.

Guo decided to end his political ambition and become an artist in 1974. He was recommended to study Chinese painting at the Sichuan Academy of Arts.

“My families couldn’t understand, but I knew only those who had skills survived at any time,” he says.

Guo came back to Qinghua after graduated from the academy in 1977. He became a painting worker as Wen.

However, he wasn’t reconciled to a life of painting worker. The next few years were critical in China: Mao’s successor Deng Xiaoping began to steer the country toward reform and greater openness since the late 1970s, which gave Guo an opportunity to change his fate.

“Intellectuals regain respects since the 1980s and talents are needed everywhere. My college diploma has changed my life,” says Guo.

A college friend invited Guo to have his first painting exhibition in Luoyang, in Henan Province in 1983. The exhibition turned a thriller and brought another opportunity for Guo — He was invited to establish the art department of the Luoyang University.

Guo became the first chair of the university’s arts department in 1986 and his whole family moved to the city later. “I didn’t change the world. It changed me,” he says.

To pursue his art dream, Guo moved to Beijing to become a professional painter after his retirement from the university in 1999. His works of landscapes were selected as the gifts from Chinese Foreign Minister to foreign guests.

In 2004, Guo returned to live in Leshan, which the old man describes as “falling leaves returning to their roots”. His home was set at one of the city’s most expensive area.

Guo is satisfied with his life now — painting, practicing calligraphy or writing art critics, but he is reluctant to talk about the past. He has almost abandoned everything that can remind him of his youth experience.

“There are many sad memories behind,” says Guo. “Thirty years ago, I thought my values was to make Mao badges, but now I have found it in helping others and being useful to the society. That is enough.”

Different from Guo, Wen Jiyan didn’t leave Qinghua except a three-year training of Chinese Language at a local college in the 1980s. He retired from the porcelain factory as a general affairs manager in 2002 and then became a freelancer.

He plans to write a book on the modern history of Leshan, which begins with the history of Qinghua plant and its badges.

“The history needs be recorded, the past should not be forgotten. I hope people will read my book,” he says.

Wen still keeps the bottle of sand and stone taken from Mao’s birthplace, though its rusty cap can no longer open.

In what he called the “memory box” keeps several Mao badges he used to wear and a few paper badge bags.

The Mao badge has been popular again in China since the 1990s, not as amulets, but collections. It’s estimated that 200 to 300 million badges survive from times and more than 2 million badge collectors are in China’s mainland. The badge study associations and related websites were also established across the country.

“People today are more practical. The badges mean belief for us, but money for them,” says Wen.

A team of U.S. scientists have made a major discovery in how the brain encodes memories, thus becoming the first to uncover a central process in encoding memories that occurs at the level of the synapse, where neurons connect with each other.

The report, made by scientists at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and published in the Dec. 24 issue of the journal Neuron, could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to aid memory.

“When we learn new things, when we store memories, there are a number of things that have to happen,” said senior author Kenneth S. Kosik at UCSB’s Neuroscience Research Institute, who is a leading researcher in the area of Alzheimer’s disease.

“One of the most important processes is that the synapses, which cement those memories into place, have to be strengthened,” Kosik said.

“In strengthening a synapse you build a connection, and certain synapses are encoding a memory. Those synapses have to be strengthened so that memory is in place and stays there. Strengthening synapses is a very important part of learning. What we have found appears to be one part of how that happens,” he noted.

Part of strengthening a synapse involves making new proteins. Those proteins build the synapse and make it stronger. Just like with exercise, when new proteins must build up muscle mass, synapses must also make more protein when recording memories. The regulation and control of that process was uncovered in this study.

The production of new proteins can only occur when the RNA that will make the required proteins is turned on. Until then, the RNA is “locked up” by a silencing molecule, which is a micro RNA. The RNA and micro RNA are part of a package that includes several other proteins.

“When something comes into your brain, a thought, some sort of stimulus, you see something interesting, you hear some music, synapses get activated,” Kosik said.

“What happens next is really interesting, but to follow the pathway our experiments moved to cultured neurons. When synapses get activated, one of the proteins wrapped around that silencing complex gets degraded,” he added.

When the signal comes in, the wrapping protein degrades or gets fragmented, and then the RNA is suddenly free to synthesize a new protein.

“One reason why this is interesting is that scientists have been perplexed for some time as to why, when synapses are strengthened, you need to have proteins degrade and also make new proteins,” Kosik said.

“You have the degradation of proteins going on side by side with the synthesis of new proteins. So we have now resolved this paradox. We show that protein degradation and synthesis go hand in hand. The degradation permits the synthesis to occur. That’s the elegant scientific finding that comes out of this,” he said.

The scientists were able to see some of the specific proteins that are involved in synthesis. Two of these, namely CaM Kinase and Lypla, are identified in the paper about the findings.

One of the approaches used by the scientists in the experiment was to take live neuron cells from rats and look at them under a high-resolution microscope, which ena

Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” has become Britain’s 2009 Christmas No. 1 after being pushed to the top of the charts with the help of a Facebook campaign.

“The Climb”, a song performed by Joe McElderry, the winner of British talent show X Factor, had looked set to take the No. 1 spot until a husband and wife team from Essex in England set up a Facebook campaign to root for the Rage Against the Machine song. The online fan campaign to push the Rage song to the top of the charts was described as “one of the biggest shocks in chart history” by BBC News entertainment reporter Colin Paterson.

“The Climb” is a feel-good anthem about overcoming adversity, while “Killing in the Name” is a distinctly angry tirade by a band known for its protest songs that contains the repeated line “F*** you, I won’t do what you tell me.” Its win is considered a major upset in the competition for the top song of Christmas week, a battle that Britons take very seriously. “Killing in the Name”, first released in 1992, sold 500,000 downloads, compared to 450,000 for “The Climb”.

“Killing in the Name” has been described as “a howling, expletive-driven tirade against the ills of American society.” The song repeats six lines of lyrics that focus on racism in security agencies with the refrain, “Some of those who work forces, are the same who burn crosses,” an allusion to cross-burning by the Ku Klux Klan. The song lyrics reference the allegation that some members of U.S. police forces are members of the Ku Klux Klanorganization, whose symbol is the burning cross. The BBC News website refers to it as railing against “the military-industrial complex, justifying killing for the benefit of, as the song puts it, the chosen whites.”

“The specifics of the song have to do with race and race relations and a racist police department in the United States and how sometimes the biggest racist thugs are the ones in office and not necessarily the ones wielding batons on the street corners,” says guitarist Tom Morello, “But the premise of the song, that still resonates 17 years after its initial release, is the spirit of resistance to authority.”

For the past four years, a song from Simon Cowell’s talent show X Factor has achieved the No. 1 spot on Christmas week. Winners have include Alexandra Burke singing “Hallelujah” and Leon Jackson singing “When You Believe”. But this year Jon and Tracy Morter set out to stop the X Factor juggernaut in early December with their Facebook campaign.

“We really love music and remember when we were young the charts were really exciting,” Tracy Morter told BBC. “We just thought, wouldn’t it be funny if that song [Killing in the Name] got to Number 1? It took something really strong and forceful to get people behind it.” More than 1.5 million people signed onto the Facebook campaign, a huge grassroots movement motivated mainly by dislike for the dominance of X Factor on the British entertainment scene.

It is the second year the Morters have attempted to skew the Christmas hit list. Last year they promoted Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” against X Factor winner Burke. The battle between Rage Against the Machine and McElderry drew an unusual amount of attention to the British charts this year, with five million tuning in to hear the chart results on Sunday.

Meanwhile Zack de la Rocha from the Los Angeles-based Rage Against the Machine promised a British concert in 2010 to celebrate the win. “We are very, very ecstatic about being Number 1,” he told BBC, expressing admiration for the “incredible grassroots campaign.” As for 18 year old McElderry, he said he didn’t take the campaign against him personally. He thanked fans who bought his single and said success on X Factor was already more than he had expected.

So Kamat’s isn’t technically new, but did anyone living on the east side really trek all the way out to Zhongguancun to eat at the previous location? We didn’t think so. And we’re glad Kamat decided to come to us, moving from the Haidian wasteland to the heart of urban civilization, right above Paddy O’Shea’s. In contrast to the dark bar downstairs, the second-floor restaurant is brightly lit and plays Bollywood music videos, not rugby matches. Paddy’s patrons can order the curries from the bar, though, as well as a range of standard Western bar food also made in Kamat’s kitchen.

The food is definitely spicy, even dishes like saag paneer (spinach and cheese, ¥42) and vegetable biryani (vegetables and rice, ¥38) that are usually safe, mild bets. We didn’t mind the spice, though, as our friendly waitresses were always on call to bring another round of lassis. The mango lassi (¥25) is perfectly thick and naturally sweet, but we were really won over by the salted lassi (¥22), which also boasts an ideal consistency and pleasurable, slightly sour flavor that douses any flames from the food. Our favorite dish was the mild lamb nargisi kofta (¥48), tender balls of ground lamb and cashews, beautifully served with two “chef’s secret” sauces, one nutty and one more spicy and tangy. Order some naan (¥8) and paratha (¥10) breads to wipe your plates clean.

For dessert, don’t miss out on the gajian halwa (¥20). It’s made mainly from grated carrots, so you can convince yourself easily that you’re ordering something healthy. The almost disconcertingly bright orange dish is beautifully aromatic and delicately sweet—far exceeding our expectations for a vegetable.