Week 11 : Alan Turing

The Riddle Who Unlocked the Enigma

‘The Imitation Game’ Dramatizes the Story of Alan Turing

Alan Turing, the figure at the center of the already much praised film,“The Imitation Game,” which opens Nov. 28, is probably better known to computer scientists than he is to most moviegoers.  Turing, a British mathematician, is now widely credited with helping to develop the theoretical underpinnings for  modern computing. He was also a war hero of sorts, largely responsible for cracking the notoriously difficult Enigma code, which the Germans used for virtually all their military communication in World War II. Churchill believed that his was the single biggest contribution to Allied victory.  

But Turing, obsessed with ciphers all his life, was himself a puzzle and a bundle of contradictions.  He was famously eccentric and antisocial, more at home with numbers than with people. He was also forthrightly gay at a time when homosexual activity was illegal in Britain, and in 1952, he was convicted on charges of indecency.  Instead of prison, he chose to be chemically castrated, and two years later, at the age of 41, miserable over the changes the hormones had wreaked in him, he bit into an apple laced with cyanide.  His death was almost certainly a suicide, possibly even a re-enactment of a scene in his favorite movie, “Snow White,” though his mother insisted that he was just sloppy with chemicals, and to this day there are conspiracy theorists who believe that he was assassinated by MI6, fearful that he was a security risk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/movies/the-imitation-game-dramatizes-the-story-of-alan-turing.html?_r=0

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Alan Turing

   WHEN- World War II

WHAT- helped to develop the theoretical underpinnings for modern computing

WHY- to crack the notoriously difficult Enigma code

   WHERE- not given

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

1. underpinning: 基礎

   2. Allied: 同盟國

   3. cipher: 密碼

   4. antisocial : 不善交際的

   5. indecency: 猬褻

   6. castrated: 閹割

   7. conspiracy: 共謀者

Week 10 : Uber

Uber’s ‘outrageous behavior’ blasted

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said this week that mobile-app-based ridesharing service Uber should stop its “outrageous behavior challenging the government’s authority” in Taiwan, adding that it would continue cracking down on Uber drivers if the firm continues to operate illegally.

The ministry said that earlier this week it received more than 600 e-mails from individuals alleging to be supporters of the Uber service.

The subject lines of the e-mails varied slightly, but the content of each was exactly the same, it added.

The ministry said it was told by sources that Uber sent the e-mails using the addresses of its registered users, adding that these fake e-mails were meant to paralyze the government’s e-mail accounts.

The ministry also said that the action was an act of public defiance of governmental authority and could constitute a crime, adding that it is considering taking legal action against the company.

“We ask Uber to cooperate with the Taiwanese government in the investigation. The company should also inform its management in Taiwan to terminate actions that challenge the authority of the government,” the ministry said.

The ministry reiterated that it has never opposed how Uber has applied technology to the transportation industry or any of the benefits the firm said might emerge from such an application.

However, Uber still has no intention of applying to become a legal transport business operator, the ministry said.

While Uber has claimed that it has a stricter screening process to select drivers qualified to offer transportation services, the ministry said that was not case.

“The Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act ( 道路交通管理處罰條例) says that any person convicted of criminal acts stated in Article 37 of the act, such as homicide, robbery or pillaging, will be prohibited from applying for a taxi driver business registration. Even though Uber said that the drivers it hires all have proof that they have no criminal record, those records would not show convicted criminals who are on reprieve or paying fines instead of spending time in jail. The company’s screening process is not superior to the nation’s standards for qualified taxi drivers,” the ministry said.

In response, Uber denied that it launched the e-mail onslaught, adding that the e-mails were all sent voluntarily by Uber users and drivers getting assignments from it.

It further asked the ministry to listen to the public.

The company has so far racked up NT$8.25 million (US$260,600) in general fines and NT$3.75 million for allowing drivers without a commercial driver’s license to operate in the transportation industry.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/01/02/2003608171

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- The Ministry of Transportation and Communications

WHEN-earlier this week

WHAT- mobile-app-based ridesharing service Uber should stop its “outrageous behavior challenging the government’s authority.”

        WHY- Uber sent the e-mails using the addresses of its registered users and these fake e-mails were meant to paralyze the government’s e-mail accounts.

       WHERE-   in Taiwan

       HOW- The ministry received more than 600 e-mails from individuals alleging to be supporters of the Uber service.

Keywords：

1.crack down on 制裁

2. defiance 反抗

3. terminate 使終止

4. reiterate 重申

5. pillage 搶劫

6. reprieve 緩刑

7. onslaught 襲擊

Week 9 : National Taichung Theater

National Taichung Theater brings performance venue to central Taiwan

2014/11/23 21:00:17

Central Taiwan's first opera house opened Sunday with a grand ceremony to inaugurate what Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai called "the pride of Taichung."

Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the eye-catchingly modern National Taichung Theater boasts a 2,014-seat grand theater, a 800-seat theater and a 200-seat black box.

The architecturally complex theater was an engineering challenge constructed entirely without beams or columns and relying instead on 58 curved wall units. It is believed to be the first theater in the world to employ such a construction technique.

While the outside walls appear to be smooth surfaces thanks to the installation of glass windows, the basic structure itself is a series of tubular voids connected together.

President Ma Ying-jeou, who attended the inauguration ceremony, expressed hope that the theater will help his administration reach its goal of "rejuvenating the country through culture."

He gave credit to Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, who is up for reelection next week, for turning the daunting architectural challenge into a reality.

Culture Minister Lung, meanwhile, thanked the workers who helped construct the building along with city government employees.

A series of performances by prominent local groups will take place at the opera house starting this month to celebrate its inauguration.

The National Taichung Theater is part of the government's efforts to strengthen support for and improve the quality and international competitiveness of Taiwan's performing arts.

It is being touted as a leg of the "golden triangle" for the performing arts in Taiwan, alongside Taipei's National Theater and Concert Hall and Kaohsiung's Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts, the latter of which is set to be completed next year.

The Ministry of Culture will take over the operation of the National Taichung Theater starting in January next year. 

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aedu/201411230024.aspx

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai

   WHEN-Sunday

   WHAT- Central Taiwan's first opera house opened

   WHY- Not Given

   WHERE-Taichung

   HOW- with a grand ceremony

Keywords：

   1. inaugurate: 開幕

   2. beams : 橫樑

3. void : 空隙

   4. rejuvenate : 使改觀

 5. daunting : 使人畏縮的

  6. tout : 宣傳

Week 8 : Eric Garner

Choking case in US declared a homicide

AFP, NEW YORK

Medical examiners on Friday ruled that a New York man wrestled to the ground and choked to death in a police arrest last month was a homicide.

Eric Garner, 43, a father of six, died on July 17 after being tackled by officers for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes in the New York borough of Staten Island.

An autopsy revealed that Garner suffered “compression of neck [choke hold], compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police,” New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner spokeswoman Julie Bolcer told local media.

In a video captured by a local resident, Garner cried out repeatedly that he could not breathe as an officer gripped him in a choke hold.

Garner, who was wearing shorts and unarmed, was shown arguing with two officers before one grabbed him around the neck and wrestled him to the ground, while another pressed down his face.

Three other uniformed police officers were also shown arriving to help subdue Garner in the video.

Following the medical examiner’s announcement, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio promised “to ensure a fair and justified outcome.”

He said his administration would continue “to work with all involved authorities,” including the district attorney’s office.

“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Eric Garner,” De Blasio said.

“We all have a responsibility to work together to heal the wounds from decades of mistrust and create a culture where the police department and the communities they protect respect each other,” he added.

The case spotlights the racial tensions in New York, and has sharpened calls for police reform under De Blasio.

African-American civil rights activist Al Sharpton led hundreds of mourners in demands for justice at Garner’s funeral last week.

Police in the US are not allowed to employ choke holds because of concerns over potential deaths.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/08/03/2003596578

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Medical examiners

   WHEN- on Friday

   WHAT- Garner choked to death in a police arrest last month was a homicide.

   WHY- He was tackled by officers for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes

   WHERE- in the New York borough of Staten Island.

   HOW- Garner was shown arguing with two officers before one grabbed him around the neck and wrestled him to the ground, while another pressed down his face.

Keywords:

1. homicide : 殺人

2. autopsy : 解剖驗屍

3. subdue : 壓制

4. attorney : 律師

Week 7 : gutter oil

Taiwanese ‘gutter oil’ scandal spreads to Hong Kong, Macau

Tue, Sep 09, 2014

Pineapple buns and dumplings have been pulled from the shelves in Hong Kong as authorities check whether they contain what media are referring to as “gutter oil” that has sparked a growing regional food safety scare, officials said yesterday.

An investigation was launched after oil from a Taiwanese company accused of using illegally recycled products — including fat collected from grease traps — was exported to the territory.

Taiwanese authorities say a factory in Greater Kaohsiung illegally used 243 tonnes of tainted products to mix with lard oil in a case that has reignited regional concerns about food safety.

The lard oil — a clear oil pressed from pig fat — was supplied to at least 900 restaurants and bakeries in Taiwan. The owner of the factory was arrested on Sunday.

The scare has now spread to Hong Kong, with local chains forced to pull products from their shelves and experts ramping up spot checks.

Philip Ho, an officer from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, told Radio Television HK yesterday that dozens of food samples had been taken, with results expected in the next few days.

The government’s Centre for Food Safety is also conducting tests on mooncakes from retailers across the territory. The pastries are consumed in vast numbers during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Popular bakery chain Maxim’s Cakes removed pineapple buns from its shelves over the weekend after confirming it had used oil from Chang Guann Co (強冠企業), the Taiwanese oil manufacturer at the heart of the scandal.

Macau’s Food Safety Centre said 21 bakeries and food manufacturers had bought oil from Chang Guann through a local importer.

Shoppers in Hong Kong said they were increasingly concerned about the safety of food, especially imported products.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/09/09/2003599324

Structure of the Lead:

WHO-officials

WHEN-yesterday

WHAT- Pineapple buns and dumplings have been pulled from the shelves

WHY- whether they contain what media are referring to as “gutter oil” that has sparked a growing regional food safety scare

WHERE- Hong Kong

HOW- authorities check

Keywords

1.tainted 受污染的

2.lard 豬油

3.reignite 再點燃

4.ramp 動怒

Week 6 : Mount Ontake eruption

Mount Ontake eruption difficult to predict: CWB

Tue, Sep 30, 2014

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said that a steam explosion caused the eruption on Japan’s Mount Ontake and that the eruption had been difficult to forecast due to a lack of signs, adding that a similar event hit the Datun Volcano Group (大屯火山群) 6,000 years ago.

As of press time, the eruption of Japan’s second-highest volcano on Saturday had killed 36 people and injured 63.

Though Ontake is one of 47 active volcanoes on the Japan Meteorological Agency’s watchlist, the agency did not issue a warning about a possible eruption.

Retired Tokyo University professor Shiego Aramaki, a highly regarded expert on volcanoes, said in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review that the eruption might have been caused by steam, rather than by the explosive eruption of lava.

CWB Seismology Center Director Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋) said that these are two different types of eruptions.

“Before an explosive eruption of lava occurs, there would be an increase in minor earthquakes. Because of the signs, seismologists in the Philippines were able to issue warnings 68 days before Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1992,” Kuo said.

Kuo said the signs for eruptions caused by steam explosions are less obvious, making them more difficult to forecast.

He said that the Japanese agency recorded 85 earthquakes in the vicinity of Mount Ontake on Sept. 11, but the activity then gradually declined from Sept. 12 onward. As such, the agency did not escalate its warnings, he said.

Steam explosions happen when groundwater is heated by surging lava and the steam’s pressure blows open the Earth’s crust, Kuo said.

A similar event happened in the Datun Volcanic Group 6,000 years ago, he added.

“Eruptions produce rocks like andesite. However, what geologists find on Datun is granite, which is produced through the cooling and solidification of lava below the Earth’s surface,” he said, adding that the discovery of granite rather than andesite is seen as evidence of steam explosions.

Lava explosions can cause much more damage than steam explosions. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, for example, destroyed the city of Pompeii, Kuo said.

While Japan monitors 47 volcanoes closely, Kuo said Taiwan’s weather bureau mainly monitors the Datun Volcanic Group and volcanoes in the sea near Kueishan Island (龜山).

The bureau has been closely monitoring the nation’s active volcanoes and none of them shows any signs of erupting, Kuo said.

“Mud volcanoes” that emerge occasionally in southern Taiwan are not really volcanoes, he said, saying the phenomenon is simply muddy water gushing from under the ground.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/09/30/2003600934

Structure of the Lead:

WHO- The Central Weather Bureau (CWB)
WHEN-yesterday
WHAT- a steam explosion caused the eruption on Japan’s Mount Ontake and that the eruption had been difficult to forecast
WHY- a lack of signs
WHERE- Japan’s Mount Ontake
HOW-Not given

Keywords:
1.lava: 熔岩

2. seismologist : 地震學家

3. vicinity : 附近地區

4.crust : 外殼

5. andesite :安山石

6. granite : 花崗石

7. gush :湧出

Week 5 : Michael Brown

Police investigate Brown’s stepdad over comments

Thu, Dec 04, 2014

AP, ST LOUIS, Missouri

Police are investigating Michael Brown’s stepfather for angry comments on the streets of Ferguson after a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who fatally shot his unarmed stepson, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Officials are looking into Louis Head’s comments as part of a broader investigation into the arson, vandalism and looting that followed the grand jury announcement on Monday last week, St Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said. Twelve commercial buildings were destroyed by fire.

Brown, 18, who was black and unarmed, was killed on Aug. 9 by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white. Wilson, who resigned from the Ferguson department over the weekend, had told the grand jury his life was being threatened, but some witnesses said Brown was trying to surrender.

Brown’s killing sparked weeks of unrest and reignited debate over race relations in the US.

Video widely circulated after last week’s grand jury announcement shows Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, on top of a car and breaking down as the decision blares over a stereo. Head, her husband, comforts her then yells angry comments, including “Burn this bitch down.”

Family attorney Benjamin Crump has called the reaction “raw emotion,” but “completely inappropriate.” He did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

Head has not yet been interviewed by police, and there is no timetable for when the investigation will be completed, Schellman said.

He declined to discuss what specific charges Head could face. A message left with a spokesman for St Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch was not immediately returned.

Ferguson police spokesman Jeff Small said the department is not conducting a separate investigation of Head.

Most of the violence occurred in the first two days after the announcement. Peaceful protests have continued, including one on Tuesday involving students who walked out of classes from three Ferguson-area high schools.

On Monday, similar walkouts were staged across the US.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/12/04/2003605977

Structure of the Lead:

WHO- Michael Brown’s stepfather
WHEN-Tuesday
WHAT-angry comments
WHY- a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who fatally shot his unarmed stepson
WHERE- on the street of Ferguson

HOW-Police are investigating

Keywords:

1.indict : 起訴

2.arson : 縱火

3.vandalism : 破壞文物的行為

3.reignite : 再點燃

4.break down : 崩潰

5.attorney : 委託代理人

6.walkout : 罷工

7.stage : 上演