Latest on Sars outbreak in HK

Got this from an email just now:

The Hong Kong government reported today 92 new cases of a deadly pneumonia virus at a single housing estate, bringing the total number of infections in the territory to more than 620.

The disease has killed 59 people worldwide and infected more than 1,600 others. The number of cases from Amoy Gardens housing estate in Kowloon has risen to 213, according to the Hong Kong Health Secretary at a news briefing. On Sunday there were 121 cases at the housing project.

A sharp jump in the number of cases at the estate has raised fears that the virus could be airborne rather than spread by droplets from sneezing or coughing as previously thought. The government has ordered residents of one apartment block in Amoy Gardens to be quarantined for 10 days.

Sources: Metroradio

Protests based on peace, not propping up Saddam

Here's an excellent "letter to the editor" by Paul Serfaty, as published in today's South China Morning Post:

Protests based on peace, not propping up Saddam

Anti-war protesters do not believe Saddam Hussein is a nice man. No one disputes Iraq is likely to be better off without him. He is comparable, in his use of chemical weapons and his treatment of minorities, with Hitler. But the parallel stops there.

There were no protests against the war on Hitler in 1939 because he had by then invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland and followed that up by swallowing Denmark and Norway. When he afterwards invaded Belgium, Holland and France, the decision to wage physical war was not exactly a difficult one, and demonstrating against such a defensive war somewhat eccentric.

But the latest anti-war movement doubts the motives of President George W. Bush, doubts the evidence he has presented for war and for the timing of war (it is freezing in the desert at night), and the way he has discarded the agreed disarmament process. It feels that ignoring allies who are physically present in and expert about areas of conflict — in which they have vital interests — may lead to grievous errors. The Arab nations around Iraq and Iran; the Asian nations around North Korea; the Europeans by virtue of their experience of conflict: all are concerned about this friend and ally that now feels it knows our interests better than we do ourselves — enough to dictate to us.

It is concerned that the unilateral abandonment of the accepted constraints on military action destabilises the world further and that the refusal to accept the constraints of multilateralism undermines international due process and takes us backwards to a Bismarckian "might is right". The Bush administration can even break a 50-year taboo to discuss use of nuclear weapons as a tool of modern war.

This reckless passion to dominate is so very far from Winston Churchill's "broad uplands" vision of human progress — progress for which so many died — that the anti-war movement feels the words from Longfellow that Churchill quoted in 1941: "But Westward, look, the land is bright", have been at best sadly compromised, at worst betrayed.

None of these protests are about the legitimacy of Saddam Hussein's rule. They are about building an effective mechanism for controlling the buildup of conflicts, not exacerbating them.

PAUL SERFATY
Mid-Levels

Virus could be airborne

This CNN article supports my thinking in that the virus could be airborne.

When I think back to the initial spread of the virus in the Metropole Hotel and how total strangers staying at or just visiting the hotel got infected, that is good indication that the virus could spread not just by, say, one person talking to another but by people just breathing air where an infected person had been. In that case, it would seem logical that the virus is airborne.

The world had better take notice of this virus!

Thoughts on the war

Bush claims that the war in Iraq will bring about "US security and peace in the world" but that couldn't be farthest from the truth.

As Tony Pitts of Bala Cynwyd, PA (a CNN.com reader who left his comments on the site) put it, "Bush's actions are "spawning another generation of terrorists and turning the entire world against the US".

Indeed, the war is dividing nations and dividing governments and their citizens. The terrorist threat now and for many years to come will be greater than it was before.

The war is only bringing about immense pain and suffering (on both sides), and death and destruction.

War itself is not civilized or humane or ethical or moral.

None of the following reasons Bush gave for justifying the war are worth the death of hundreds of innocents civilians (especially children) and soldiers (American, British, Iraqi, or others).

1. has weapons on mass destruction and will use it against neighboring countries and/or sell to terrorists
2. links to terrorists, Al Qaeda
3. Saddam and his sons are murderers
4. free Iraq, liberate its people
5. peace and security of the world

Bush failed to prove 1 and 2 above. Items 4 and 5 are outright lies, deceiving many.

Outbreak update - Mar 30, 2003

• Death toll in HK: 13
• Total infected in HK: 530
• New cases in HK on Sun, Mar 23: 25
• New cases on Mon, Mar 24: 18
• New cases on Tue, Mar 25: 26
• New cases on Wed, Mar 26: 30
• New cases on Thu, Mar 27: 51
• New cases on Fri, Mar 28: 58
• New cases on Sat, Mar 29: 45
• New cases on Sun, Mar 30: 60
• 121 of those infected live in the Amoy Gardens housing estate in Kowloon Bay (quite alarming is the fact that they don't all live on the same floor or building — 70% are in one block)
• Italian doctor Carlo Urbani who first identified the virus that causes atypical pneumonia has himself died of the disease
• Revised figures for mainland China are 792 infected and 31 deaths, up from the 305 infected and 5 deaths originally reported on February 10 (Guangdong officials had released lower, false figures to protect their economy!)
• Cases of those infected indicate to me that the virus is not just highly contagious but "super contagious" and may possibly be airborne, not just spread by droplets
• What's scary is realizing that people being confirmed of having aytpical pnuemonia today actually got infected 3 to 7 days ago (the virus' incubation period)
• By health officials and "experts" saying the the virus is only spread by "close contact", not strongly advising the public to wear masks, and not enforcing strict quarantine measures, they risk the virus striking down many more people and prolonging the outbreak
• Common sense tells me that the more people who wear masks the better the chance we have of quickly curbing the outbreak

Why I wear a mask

Despite health experts claiming that the virus is only spread via "close contact" the recent spread of the disease to the general public is clearly evidence to me that it can be spread with only "casual contact" or even just breathing in an area where an infected person has sneezed or coughed. Even in the initial outbreak at the Metropole Hotel in Mongkok, some of the seven people who got infected merely visited the hotel or stayed on the same floor as Doctor Liu Jianlun who brought the disease with him from Guangdong. None of them knew Doctor Liu so they were unlikely to have come in close contact with him unless they shared an elevator together. OK, so that is a possibility. But the spread of the virus to 5 families living on different floors of a housing estate, a librarian, a bank staff, a bus driver, a subway (MTR) worker, and 2 police workers indicates that the virus can spread through more casual contact.

Previously, I had thought that wearing a mask only in crowded areas or where I could see someone nearby looking sickly or coughing or sneezing would be sufficient. Now, however, I am wearing a mask outside my home at all times because there is the possibility that, for instance, an infected person sneezes in an elevator and gets out. When I catch the elevator it is empty but end up breathing in the virus and get infected.

There are 3 big reasons why I'm not taking any chances and am wearing a mask out and am washing hands often:

1. Virus is highly contagious
   
2. Virus is deadly
   
3. I don't want to infect Gwen, Pina, and especially our little Justin
   

Other evidence that the virus is highly contagious: doctors and nurses who know best how to avoid contracting the virus and have access to safety gear like masks and gloves got infected and several of them have died.

I am also following other recommended precautions — building up immunity by eating right (lots of fruits, vegetables, and proteins), getting adequate rest, and avoiding crowds.

Sure, the mask looks stupid and is very uncomfortable but it is better to be safe than... dead! People who aren't wearing masks are ignorant.

Latest pneumonia outbreak developments

In the news:

1. HK Government has invoked the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance so, among other things, people who have had close contact with those infected are required to be quarantined for 10 days or face prosecution, and immigration checkpoints will carry out screenings (Singapore has invoked a very similar ordinance, but they did this several days earlier)
   
2. 51 more people infected today — out of the 51, 6 healthcare workers and 22 from a residential area
   
3. 1 Filipino domestic helper has died of the disease this past Monday
   
4. Virus spreading to the general public, not just medical personnel
   
5. 5 families living on different floors of a housing estate (Amoy Garden in Kowloon Bay) have come down with the disease
   
6. Spreading to transport workers — an MTR subway worker (Wanchai station) and a bus driver (Long Win bus company, a division of KMB) have been infected
   
7. All schools (excluding universities) will be closed for 10 days starting from Saturday
   
8. Jockey Club is requiring all staff in betting outlets to wear masks after an employee got infected
   
9. Yesterday, the Central Library (in Causeway Bay) and a Bank of East Asia branch office were closed because staff contracted the disease
   
10. Rolling Stones concert scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights postponed
    
11. In Singapore, from yesterday, all schools (excluding the universities) have been closed for 10 days, affecting over 500,000 students
    
12. In Singapore, over 800 people have been quarantined and 2 have died
    

Personal observations and experiences:

1. Many more people wearing masks today — my guess is around 30-40%
   
2. Masks and Isopropyl Alcohol sold out at all Watson's and Manning's stores
   
3. Some restaurants (including Yung Kee) and SmarTone (mobile phone service provider) are requiring all staff to wear masks
   

This article in today's Washington Post covers the outbreak developments well. It includes these alarming statements:

1. Worldwide, 1,323 cases have been reported, including 49 deaths.
   
2. SARS has been identified in 13 countries plus Hong Kong and has infected 45 people in 20 U.S. states, including three in Virginia.
   
3. Leung Pak-yin, the deputy director of health in Hong Kong, said at a news conference: "If you are on the plane and an infected person is sitting either behind or in front of you and he coughs, you can get infected."
   

Pneumonia outbreak is very serious

The atypical pneumonia outbreak here in Hong Kong and now in many other countries is very serious. The new virus actually originated from mainland China, in the Guangdong province. Currently, in Hong Kong only, almost 300 people have been infected and 10 have already died from what has been termed "Sars" (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) by the WHO (World Health Organization). Singapore has 700 people quarantined and 1 has died. They've also closed all their schools. Hong Kong has ordered only 100 schools closed for a week.

What's eerie is seeing so many people (myself included) on the streets, in the subway, and in offices wearing masks to breath through. My guess is that 5-10 percent of the pubic here are now wearing masks. You see a whole assortment of masks — some surgical, some for the construction industry. I've been using the 3M 8210 model mask which I've heard is one of the best.

Just upgraded to MT 2.63

I just upgraded Movable Type to 2.6.3 (from 2.51). I made sure I backed up all my files (db folder, mt folder, blog folder) first using Transmit 2.3, my choice for best Mac OS X FTP client. I also exported all my entries.

I'm also attempting to duplicate my Movable Type and Gallery (hosted on a US-based Linux server) on my local machine, a (company-owned) PowerBook G4/400 running OS X 10.2.4. I got Movable Type already installed and working but getting all my existing entries, categories, and templates over and working is proving difficult. We'll see.

I was plesantly surprised at how easy it was to get Movable Type running on OS X. All I had to do was activate Apache by ticking the Personal Web Sharing checkbox in the Sharing => Services preference pane. Perl 5.6.0 was already installed. I then installed Movable Type as normal but this was much easier because I was doing it locally — no FTPing and issuing commands via SSH. Oh, I even got ImageMagick 5.5.4 and PHP Apache Module 4.3 installed very easily by using Marc Liyanage's free UNIX Ports Packages. Thanks, Marc!

My posts on Macintouch.com

My favorite site about the Macintosh is Macintouch.com. I visit it almost every day and I also enjoy sharing my thoughts and opinions on it by submitting emails which most of the time are published in various "Reader Reports". Lately, I've brought up issues and submitted comments on Mac OS X. Here was my latest submission as it was published here (2nd from the bottom):

I'm no usability expert but as an ordinary user, I find that with Column view, navigating to a file or folder is slower and more difficult — even after having been forced to use it in Open/Save dialog boxes for 8 months now.

I've tried to analyze why and here's what I've come up with:

1. Once you start scrolling horizontally to move up or down the folder hierarchy, you easily lose track of which column and folder is currently selected
2. Too many focus areas for navigation: (1) 'From' or 'Where' pop-down menu, (2) left column, (3) right column, and in Open dialog box (4) 'Go to' field
3. Layout is too busy and cluttered — user sees lists of files and folders of at least 2 hierarchical levels at all times


4. Even with the new ability to type to jump to items beginning with whatever was typed, the result is often not as desired because determining where you're at is difficult and confusing and/or the focus is on, say, the 'Go to' field instead of the dual columns

All of these work to impede the user's ability to efficiently navigate to a desired file or location.

In contrast, with List view there's only 1 focus area so you instantly know where your keyboard and mouse actions take place — you don't have to first figure out where exactly you are, then take action. Also, when navigating up the hierarchy in List view, you only see the path back up to the root which aids navigation by clearly showing you your organizational structure (and not all the files and folders at each level). List view is the way that all computer users, even Windows users, for over a decade have been accustomed to — seemingly for good reason.

I propose that Apple add the option to use the traditional List view instead of Column in Open/Save dialog boxes.

Am I the only one that feels this way about Column view?

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, JUSTIN!

Hooray! Happy Birthday dear Justin — you're exactly 1 year old today! We're just having a quiet celebration at home with Auntie "Pina". Mommy and I baked a chocolate yogurt cake for you last night. It didn't turn out quite as we expected so we'll probably bake another one for you on Saturday and celebrate again!

Here's Justin at home 3 days ago:

Bush the world's dictator?

Bush is supposedly going to war for global "peace and security". The truth is the exact opposite is happening. The terrorist threat is increasing all over the world and anti-American sentiment is growing not only in the Muslim world but in major countries like France, Russia, Germany, and China. The war is inciting more terrorists to take arms against the US and Americans. Bush and his administration are acting "above the law" by bypassing approval by the UN Security Council. Indeed, the majority of the global community does not want a war against Iraq, at least not now. I seriously question whether Bush is any better than Saddam. I'm saddened that as an American I can do nothing to prevent the war and I'm extremely disappointed in my country's government.

Hasn't Bush effectively become the world's dictator? He's able to invade another country even though failing to convince nowhere near the majority of the global community that such action is justified. Even in countries whose governments support Bush, the majority of its citizens are against the war. Again, how democratic are Bush's actions? Listen to the way he talks too — everything is on his terms, no matter what anyone else says.

Bush is a hyprocrite

I am normally not political at all but the Bush administration is pissing me (and millions of others around the world) off because its intentions and actions are unjust and immoral. CNN reported here that President Bush said, "Tomorrow is the day we determine whether or not diplomacy can work." So he is saying that if he doesn't get his way, diplomacy doesn't work? How democratic is that?

He went on to say, "Many nations have voiced a commitment to peace and security, and now they must demonstrate that commitment in the only effective way, by supporting the immediate and unconditional disarmament of Saddam Hussein." Of course, by "immediate and unconditional disarmament..." he means "authorization for war." So Bush is asking nations to support "peace and security" by authorizing war. Uh, isn't that a bit contradictory?

Bush, tell me this: why is the need to go to war so critically urgent right now if progress to disarm is being made? How are Iraqis an increasing threat with all the UN inspectors in their country and the whole world watching? You say war should be the last resort but clearly this is not how you actually feel.

While I am for the pressure — through the US military build-up in the region — on the Iraqi government to disarm I am against the Bush administration's bullying and aggressive yet unjustified push for war.

And while I hate Saddam because he's a cruel and evil dictator, innocent Iraqi people and millions of others in other Middle Eastern countries (Kuwait, Jordon, Turkey...) shouldn't have to suffer, directly or indirectly, because of an unnecessary war. Indeed, the whole world will suffer because of this war that Bush has been set on starting for some time now. Thousands of innocent civilians will most certainly die. Hundreds of thousands will have their lives ruined in other ways. Is it worth it? Bush does not care. Sadly, no one can stop him.

71 new photos up in our gallery!

Today we had a fantastic time with Seung Ah, Leonard, and their daughter Shiu Shu at Ocean Park. Well, the weather was pretty hot and Justin was very cranky but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. I really enjoyed the cable car ride up to the "Headland" area and the Atoll Reef Aquarium. Will be putting up photos of this outing soon. We also had a nice, casual, home-cooked Thai dinner at Pattra's apartment in the evening.

What I really meant to write about are the 71 new photos (in 4 new albums) that I just put up in our Gallery section. Please go check 'em out!

Justin's waking at night again!

Aiya! He woke up at 3:30am and kept on wailing unless mommy either patted him on his back or carried him. It's past 5am now and he only went back to sleep about 20 minutes ago. Oh boy, I hope this doesn't mean we'll have to "sleep train" him again! Well, time now for me to try get some sleep before I have to wake up for work!

Purchased Keyboard Maestro

I just purchased the US$20 Keyboard Maestro, a system-wide utility for Mac OS X that allows you to create new "Hot Keys" (keyboard shortcuts) or remap existing ones. I had been using the free Keyboard Maestro Lite for many months so I figured it was about time I paid the author, Michael Kamprath, what he deserves!

Here's how I've used Keyboard Maestro's features:

1. Remapped Command-N in the Finder back to the traditional "New Folder" command
   
2. Ctrl-Option-Command-H hides all running applications and shows me my Desktop
   
3. Ctrl-Option-Command-Q quits all running applications

Of course, I can do much more with it and for just for these features I didn't need to buy the full version but since I use it so much every day, I felt the author should get compensated for it.

If you use OS X and have not tried Keyboard Maestro, go check it out!

Email retrieval problems caused by Trend antivirus solutions

Had a situation where Outlook Express users (Japanese version) in our Japan office were not able to retrieve any POP3 emails. Our HTML-based newsletter, BBDO AsiaNews, triggered the problem. If the newsletter was deleted from the server (using Webmail or by manually telnetting to port 110) messages were immediately retrieved, as usual. In Outlook Express, the retrieval of messages would simply get "stuck". Error on the server was "Connection timed out". The server and the clients were on the same LAN. Troubleshooting was difficult not only because I was in Hong Kong and the users were in Japan, but also because both the Windows system and the Outlook Express program were entirely in Japanese! I ruled out the newsletter as being the problem because none of the 800 or so other recipients had any problem. I also doubted that Outlook Express was the problem because users of Outlook Express in our Korea and Taiwan offices who were also using localized versions didn't have the problem either. I recalled that many antivirus packages intercept data between mail servers and clients so that viruses can be caught before actually hitting the clients' Inboxes. With the help of "Junko" in our Japan office helping to change settings and do tests, we determined that the "Mail Search" (or "POP Trap") component of Trend Micro's "PC-Cillin" (and "Virus Buster" on some of their PCs) antivirus software was causing the problem.

Tooth root removal - Anesthetic = Torture!

Just got back from my 3rd visit to my dentist for root canal treatment. My God, that was definitely the most pain I ever had to endure! It was so painful that many muscles in my neck and upper body trembled during the process. If I knew the pain would be that severe I would have gladly taken an injection for local anesthetic. The dentist told me AFTER that the treatment is extremely painful because for each of the FOUR roots, you get an electric charge (and contact with a rotating twisted-wire thingy) directly on your nerve! Thank God that the nerve under one of my roots was already dead. I'm told that I can expect pain for another 48 hours but boy am I happy the worst is over (I hope!).

Need to catch up!

There's a lot more I want to write about but don't yet have the time. I really need to catch up on Justin news (and photos and videos). Here are other things I will (hopefully) get around to writing about as well:

1. Great products I purchased from Logitech (cordless keyboard and mouse, USB webcam)
   
2. Great KVM switches from ATEN
   
3. Fantastic e-newsletter mailer software for Mac OS X, MaxBulk Mailer
   
4. Cool, tiny USB flash drives
   
5. How I reconfigured my PowerBook's system from scratch (reformatting/partitioning the hard disk...)
   

I really, really want to redo this layout template too. Will use at least 1 table, less bright colors, and different fonts. Will get rid of the calendar and move the search button to the top. Need to upgrade Movable Type to version 2.6.3 too!

It's almost 1am here so I'll play catch-up later! Good night.

My work on BBDO AsiaNews

My company just started doing a monthly e-newsletter named "BBDO AsiaNews" and I just finished working on our second issue last Friday. I work with colleagues, Jörg Dietzel, who manages the whole project and does most of the copywriting, and Paul Lau, who does most of the coordination and gathering of material. My job in the project is the most laborious (I'm pretty sure!). I have to layout and format the newsletter in HTML (separate email and Web versions!), go through numerous last-minute revisions, test the newsletter on various email clients, scale pictures (of our print work) into standard resolutions, convert videos (of our TV commercials) into Windows Media and QuickTime formats, load our work (using FTP and browser configuration) into a Gallery-based Web album (thanks to Jörg for handling the captions!), manage the list of addresses, and finally send the darned thing out! The little details are what's so time-consuming and tedious. All in all though, when the newsletter goes out, it's extremely satisfying!

Oh, the difference between the email and Web versions, is that for the Web version all mailto: links are specially encoded (using the free Enkoder for Mac OS X) to prevent "spambots" from harvesting email addresses off our Web pages. Also, for the email version, in the intro, we have a little note with a link to our Web version for our recipients whose email client doesn't render HTML email very well (e.g. Lotus Notes users).

If you're interested, here are our first 2 BBDO AsiaNews newsletters:

1. BBDO AsiaNews - Issue 1 (Jan 2003)
   
2. BBDO AsiaNews - Issue 2 (Feb 2003)

Yes, this last issue, we just barely made the deadline!

I should also note that for Issue 1, I formatted the newsletter in Microsoft Word 2000 (with a bit of hand-editing using BBEdit on my Mac). The HTML code that Word produced was far from optimal — included a lot of Microsoft/Word-specific stuff). I did Issue 2 in Macromedia Dreamweaver MX and the results were far better all around — "cleaner" code and better typographic control using CSS. In Issue 2's email version, all graphics (and the CSS stylesheet) were Web-based links (better because the email is smaller) whereas with Issue 1's, a GIF picture was embedded in the message itself.