Manchester United are Champions - won 20th Premier League Title

Manchester United are champions yet again!

Manchester United won their 20th title on Monday night (early morning Malaysian time) after beating Aston Villa 3-0, thanks to a Robin van Persie hattrick.


Earlier on Sunday, Manchester City lost to a spirited performance by Spurs, meaning United's 16 point advantage is now unassailable.

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It was a joy to watch in anticipation.

The thing about United is that, every time they lose grip on the trophy to their rivals, they bounce back quickly in the next campaign.
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If you missed the match, this is Robin van Persie's wonder goal against Aston Villa, one that is worthy of a goal of the season.

A stunning strike by the Dutchman - even if you are not a United fan, this is one that is worth watching.

Click on the image to watch it in Hi-Definition.
Source: Stuff.co.nz

GO! GO! CHAMPIONS!

India seeks to double Renewable Energy capacity from 25GW to 55GW

India's 12th 5-Year Plan seeks to do two things to promote Renewable Energy:-

1. Double the RE capacity from 25GW to 55GB by 2017
2. Setting up international R&D centre for solar energy (solar PV and solar thermal)

"It is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25,000 MW in 2012 to 55,000 MW by the year 2017. This would include exploiting non-conventional energy sources such as solar, wind power and energy from biomass."
- Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh

These initiatives were announced as part of the prime minister's presentation of India's 12th Five Year Plan.

Developed countries are the ones best poised to help meet the challenge of climate change, he said, adding that India has set a goal of cutting its energy use by 20 to 25% by 2020 by increasing its energy efficiency.

Another measure the prime minister called for is an international research and development center for solar energy. This National Institute of Solar Energy could be operational by 2015, he said. Research into solar thermal and solar photovoltaic would be part of this initiative.

The price of producing solar power was cut in half over the past two years, he said, going on to acknowledge that fossil-fired power generation, such as coal power, is still less expensive. The difference, he said could be made up for with subsidies.

About 87.5% of India's electricity is generated from non-renewable sources. Coal constitutes 57% of India's installed capacity.

Source: Renewable Energy World


TheGreenMechanics: That's inspiring and it is very much achievable when there is commitment and focus.

Top 10 websites currently blocked in China

I mentioned in my previous post, Hello Shanghai that, Blogger website (or blogspot) which is owned by Google is blocked in China.

There are a lot of other high ranking websites you might be interested in, that are/were blocked there, such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. I found the following sites while in China and tried to 'google' them or simply typed their domain in the address bar.

The search results varied from simply 'invalid URL', to 'server cannot be found', or the browser would just 'hang' with unusually long wait:

1. Facebook

The social website was blocked since 2008 to present.

2. Twitter

I'm not a user of Twitter but as evidenced in my test, this site is currently blocked.

3. Picasa

I occasionally use this site to store images for my blog. It has been blocked since 2009 to present. It is no wonder that many of the images in my blog wouldn't load in that country.

4. YouTube

You wouldn't be able to watch clips and video sharing via YouTube in China.

5. Blogger

Type blogspot or Blogger in the address bar and you know it's blocked. Or, try reading a friend's blog hosted by Blogger and you'll be disappointed.

6. WordPress

The famous blog platform is also not spared. it was blocked since 2011 and it still is, at least so in Shanghai.

7. Technorati

This was said to have been blocked since 2008. Tried accessing and result returned as "This page is not available".

8. Dropbox

Unable to access this site, and search confirmed that it had been blocked by the Chinese government.

9. Wikileaks and Wikipedia

Access to WikiLeaks had been blocked since 2010 and if you like to find information through Wikipedia, you are in for a tough luck, too.

10. Google+

Like many other Google websites, Google+ joined the growing list of blocked websites in 2011.

On why they are/ or were blocked in China, people have different opinion but I wouldn't speculate.