Just because I can…

It seemed high-time that I got around to joining the "What’s In Your Bag" bandwagon and contributing my own collection of curios to the mix.

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom:

1. Belkin NE-MS 12" Laptop Messenger Case (Website) - Recently purchased during a trip to Hong Kong.

2. Friendly Bunny - An as-yet nameless but exceedingly friendly bunny who recently found his way to Beijing from Taipei.

3. Shanghai Tang Writing Case (Website) - One of the few decent Chinese fashion brands out there, Shanghai Tang contribues one of the more garish things in the bag.

4. MacBook Air (Website) - A fairly frivolous purchase during my last trip back to Japan, the MacBook Air is now the prize jewel of the collection.

5. Sony Reader (Website) - Sony’s second attempt at an eBook reader makes a fairly good paperback replacement.

6. Ray-Ban Sunglasses - Slightly practical. Mostly for posing.

7. Victorinox - A seemingly more heavy-duty gunmetal equivalent of the Leatherman as made by Victorinox.

8. British Passport - A must when living abroad - "Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary."

9. Shure SE310s - Using a pair of these is like hearing your music collection for the first time all over again.

10. Security Pass - Two RFID cards, an RSA keyfob and various other miscellanea.

11. Pen & Glass Marker - While it may be straight out of a scene in A Beautiful Mind, carrying a glass marker is perfect for anyone who finds themselves with an idea but without a whiteboard. Thankfully there is no shortage of windows!

12. Business Cards - No self-respecting business-man-in-asia should be without a set.

13. Wallet - A chinese knock-off bought in the Silk Market, Beijing. The wallet came with a choice of either Gucci or Armani branding. Less than 100 RMB and genuine leather to boot!

14. iPhone (Website) & Moshi iPouch (Website) - The battery life may be terrible and the telephony questionable, but I cannot cope without this one. The iPouch is the best I’ve found so far.

15. Seiko Watch - A 20th birthday present which has suffered more than its fair share of war wounds.

16. Mints - A box of ‘National Embarassmints’ sporting a picture of our good friend Mr. George W. Bush. Some things never get old.

17. Taiwanese Pebble - An exceedingly thoughtful gift from Junko, hand-picked from the shores of a Taiwanese beach.

Looking at the various offerings, it seems I’m not the only one with a bunny in the bag.

As I am currently residing in China, I tend to try to hold my tongue — at least on the internet — when it comes to Chinese politics. Politics which, so oft, gives me what might be described as “The Willies“.

I must allow myself one miner digression, however, to highlight the irony in CCTV — a Chinese TV news network — showing people protesting about the reliability of BBC news coverage, whilst CCTV’s own record in such matters is somewhat… interesting:

Now, after much thought (and a regular changing of the mind), I am of the opinion that Beijing should certainly be given the oportunity to host the Olympics and we - in the rest of the World - must embrace China. China should be given every chance possible to continue to prosper [though perhaps it is arrogant to assume we have much choice in the matter now].

However, as part of this, it is time for the establishment to realise that, as China takes an ever increasingly prominent role on the World-stage, even its internal politics will come under greater scrutiny. The traditional solution of smoke-and-mirrors will no longer suffice.

As a side-note, I’m interested to see if my digression gets my website blocked by the Great Firewall or not.

Update: Thanks go to Mike, my self-appointed editor, for his re-wording of paragraph 2.

Last Sunday we had a lovely evening attending Chisa and Densuke’s wedding.

I’d like to wish them all the best in for the future and hope that their partnership brings them a lifetime of happiness.

I’ve recently had a paper posted on the Symbian Developer Network. While it might not be one of the journals my academic friends so keenly pursue, I was rather pleased to be published for the first time.

The document itself presents a somewhat involved discussion on the use of Leaves and Exceptions on Symbian OS. If you’re at all interested, feel free to cast your eye over it here.

Obviously, the usual caveats apply in that this site expresses my personal opinions and is not affiliated with any way with Symbian Software Ltd.