最近的美國不平靜⋯⋯
因為一位執法過當的白人警察，
非裔美籍的George Floyd在不斷哀求”I Can’t Breathe!”之中斷氣過世。

全美各州陸續出現抗議、衝突、暴動、甚至劫掠，
美國的政治情勢也因此有所改變。

各方針對該警官的行為嚴加譴責，
Nike罕見把自家的標語”Just do it!”改成”Don’t do it!”，
連對手Adidas也分享認同，
迪士尼發文呼籲抵制種族歧視(racism)，
TED talk及其他有影響力的媒體均團結立場，
捐款、簽名請願活動開始發起，
昨天世界各地也發起 #blackouttuesday 。

謝謝俐媽的學生品萱的整理🙏🏼，
我們來學一些相關新聞英文。
————————————————————
◼️ 俐媽新聞英文—悼George Floyd：

George Floyd: what happened in the final moments of his life

▪️ convulse (v.) (因憤怒)抖動
▪️ arrest (v.) 逮補
▪️ footage (n. ) 影片
▪️ charge (v.) 指控
—> be charged with +罪名
▪️ account (n.) 描述
▪️ witness (n.) 目擊者
▪️ official statement (n.) 官方陳述
▪️ bill (n.) 鈔票
—> fake bill 假鈔
▪️ grocery store (n.) 雜貨店
▪️ counterfeit (adj.) 偽造的(counter-: against)
▪️ bouncer (n.) 看門保鑣
▪️ incident (n.) 事件
▪️ suspicious (adj.) 可疑的
▪️ protocol (n.) 原則
▪️ operator (n.) 經營者
▪️ demand (v.) 要求
▪️ transcript (n.) 筆錄；謄錄(-scribe/-script: write)
▪️ authorities (n.) 當局
▪️ prosecutor (n.) 檢察官
▪️ resist (v.) 抵抗(resist + Ving)(-sist: stand)
▪️ handcuff (v. )(n.) (上)手銬
▪️ compliant (adj.) 順從的
▪️ currency (n.) 貨幣
▪️ squad (n.) 小隊
▪️ ensue (v.) 隨後發生(sue/secu/sequ: follow)
▪️ stiffen (v.) 變強硬
▪️ claustrophobic (adj.) 幽閉恐懼症的(-phobia: fear)
▪️ attempt (n.) 企圖
▪️ distressed (adj.) 沮喪的
▪️ social media (n.) 社群媒體
▪️ restrain (v. ) 抑制
▪️ plead (v.) 懇求
▪️ bystander (n.) 旁觀者
▪️ urge (v.) 促使(urge sb. to Vr.)
▪️ pulse (n.) 脈搏
▪️ wrist (n.) 手腕
▪️ motionless (adj.) 一動也不動的(mot/mov/mob: move)
▪️ gurney (n.) (醫院用的)輪床
▪️ ambulance (n.) 救護車
▪️ pronounce (v.) 宣判(-nounce: report)
▪️ temporary (adj.) 暫時的
▪️ job agency (n.) 就業機構
▪️ forgery (n.) 偽造
▪️ be out of character for sb. 不符合某人個性
▪️ senseless (adj.) 不省人事的
▪️ lawful (adj.) 合法的
▪️ means (n.) 方法

🖊 Source of news:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726
—————————————————————
媒體人范琪斐對此事件的整理及結論，
俐媽十分欣賞，
送上連結：

https://www.facebook.com/fanamericantime/videos/281717229670189/

—————————————————————
#俐媽新聞英文
#俐媽新聞英文種族歧視篇
#俐媽新聞英文goergefloyd
#UntilWeAllWin
#blackouttuesday
#🤲🏻🤲🏼🤲🏽🤲🏾🤲🏿
#⚫️⚪️◾️◽️🖤🤍

麻煩大家幫忙
留下優秀的一家人

他們來自波多黎各
父母親都是名校約翰霍普金大學的電腦碩士
(Master Degree in Computer Science - Johns Hopkins University at Laurel, MD)
他們著五個孩子，到全世界學習
Diego 17歲 Paula 13 歲 Alonzo 12 歲
Felizi 8 歲 Matteo 6 歲

八月，他們到了台灣
發覺這是一個非常適合的生活環境
有好的醫療、中文學習環境、電腦產業、和超好吃的水果
九月，Diego , Paula, Alonzo進入惠文高中寄讀
他們來了之後，學校形成一個很棒的英語學習情境
台灣學生都被迫用英文跟他們互動

星期五與台北歌德學院簽訂德國「PASCH夥伴學校」時
他們三個和學校弦樂社一起合奏卡農(見影片)
非常非常有教養的一家人

然而他們11月就必須離開台灣
因為他們來台灣的第五天
得到美國總公司的通知
他們收掉波多黎各的公司
爸爸Tommy失業了
所以這幾天，他在台中接一個英文家教
但經濟仍是問題

如果台中的朋友可以提供11月4日前的短期英文、西班牙文家教工作
或是提供長期電腦工程師的工作
麻煩和Tommy聯絡
以下是他的聯絡方式及完整資歷
(願意幫他們申請工作簽證更好)
他們很願意把台灣當成第二個家

PS
覺得政府說要把英文變成第二語言
最棒的方式是吸引國外的學生進入我們的校園
在人才即國力的年代
讓優秀的國際人才留在台灣
如果在台灣就有很好的英語學習環境
我們就不用一窩蜂跑到國外

聯絡TOMMY IRIZARRY-SIKES
Contact Information
Postal: Lane 400, Unit 11, Section 2, Nantun Road, Nantun District, Taichung City, Taiwan 408
Email: tirizar@gmail.com
Phone number: 0908 979 417
LinkedIn Profile: http://pr.linkedin.com/pub/tommy-irizarry/25/16/815

孩子的影片
Diego violin in a quartet:
https://youtu.be/ArkvU8Czmk8?t=37s

Diego violin Doble de Bach:
https://youtu.be/LYvnKwEueyA

Diego plays piano Clair de Lune:
https://youtu.be/CWCQMo5XJEY?t=14s

You can see some other videos in this YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/tirizar/videos?reload=9

履歷
Summary of qualifications
Software developer for private industries and government agencies. Proficient web developer using classic ASP code, standard html, CSS and SQL Server for data storage. Web server administrator and SharePoint Power User.
 Android developer
 Certified Ethical Hacker
 Programming / Markup languages: HTML, XML, ASP, PHP, CSS, JavaScript/AJAX/JQuery, experience with Java, C++ and C.
 Mobile development: Java, Android, Android Studio.
 Technologies / Tools: IIS 6.0/7.5, SQL Server, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Microsoft SharePoint 2007/2010, Microsoft Office suite including InfoPath, Access, Excel, Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Facebook Advertising, Microsoft SharePoint Designer, Inquisite Surveys.
Experience
Since November 2016-current
Enterprise Iron
Principal consultant – Web Developer
 Worked on the redesign efforts of the secure site for an international financial client. Applied responsive design principles using the Bootstrap framework while creating modular, reusable components of the code. Analyzed web page dependencies and identified legacy unused pages in the system.
Since November 2015-current
e-Nabler Corporation
Android developer – Professional Services Contract
 Developed Java code for the eMobilePOS and Tupyx apps for their Android versions.

Since October 2013-November 2014 TEK Systems
Web Developer / Web Master for the Department of Veterans Affairs in DC
 Continued supporting Veteran’s Affairs IT systems, including managing SharePoint 2010 systems and supporting databases. We identified issues with several databases including the management of IIS and SharePoint logs which were consuming many recourses and in a couple of occasions made the systems unavailable.
 Enabled and configured space monitoring tools in the SharePoint server farms.
Since November 2011-September 2013 Centuria Corporation
Web Developer / Web Master for the Department of Veterans Affairs in DC
 Developed a training registration web site that has been tweaked and used multiple times for different registration purposes, including new telephone system training, and scheduling software upgrades of encryption on laptops and upgrades to Apple Mac OS. The system uses a web front end and a SQL back end.
 Performed a routine web server maintenance tasks including monitoring traffic logs, identifying and archiving sites no longer in use, evaluating tools to assist in the management of the web server.
 Administered and migrated the FTP server from Windows 2003 Server / IIS 6 into Windows 2008 R2 Server / IIS 7.5. Configured new sites to support general operations within the VA Intranet.
 Maintained and enhanced legacy sites, modifying forms and reports in needs to be updated. This includes modification and creation of site in the Enterprise Content Management System used at the VA.
 Assisted other team members in various tasks including the creating or modification of surveys in the Inquisite system, and also the migration of some surveys into SharePoint, the modification of an Access application.
December 2001 – August 2011
Systems & System Software Solutions
Web Developer / Web Master for the Department of Veterans Affairs in DC
 Mr. Irizarry developed a web based application for the State Home Per Diem Office, which manages millions of dollars in payments to the state homes, to replace an Access database. The Access database was converted to MS SQL Server database and all data was migrated successfully. He created a web based interface using the standard VA intranet look and feel. He also developed a custom interface for each of the 3 roles (CBO, VAMC and VISN). Tools were built for the administrator to view current reports, view missing reports lists, and configure many parameters in the application. The VAMC report form was heavily automated using jQuery to perform auto calculations, increasing data validation and saving time to the users. After the application was launched users commented frequently about how user friendly is the new interface and about the time savings. Tasks that will take 2 hours to be completed now take 15 minutes. We have close to 12,000 reports in the system.
 There were various requests to the IT office for a web based training registration system of different types. Mr. Irizarry developed a registration system which was later used for the following projects: Take your child to work day, New Telephone system training registration, Laptop Hard Drive encryption software upgrade among others.
 Developed an alternate cascading style sheet for SharePoint 2007, converting the out of the box look and feel to the Department of Veterans Affairs standard website look and feel.
 After one of the VA’s laptops was stolen Mr. Irizarry worked to develop a Risk Assessment web based application. He created an Excel template which management will upload to an FTP server with information and details about remote employee access and the sensibility of the data accessed by those users. He also created VB Scripts to validate those Excel files an upload that information into an MS SQL database. Reports for upper management in Central Office were then created which prompted management to enforce stronger security measures, like hard drives encryption. In total more than 500,000 records were processed for the reports.
 Administration of IIS 6.0 web server and MS SQL Server databases used in our websites.
 Wrote migration scripts to move IIS 6.0 sites into a new IIS 7.5 server
 Designed, developed and maintained multi-tier applications for the Veterans Health Administration. Most of the sites access a MS-SQL Server database, use cascade style sheets and ASP server side processing. The sites were developed using Adobe/Macromedia tools like Fireworks, and Dreamweaver.
 Installed BlackBerry wireless email devices and trained users on the basic device usage.
 Web developer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Redesigned and modified web pages to make them compliant with the Section 508 guidelines. Tested validation tools that verify if web pages are “Section 508” compliant. Section 508 are guidelines that must be followed by all government agencies and points to which government resources must be make accessible to people with disabilities, i.e. blind, deaf, etc.

November 1999 - December 2001
Compaq Computer Corporation
Consulting Associate II
 Design and develop the XOOB (Xevo out of the box) Web user interface. XOOB uses COM+, ASP, XML, XSL and JavaScript to provide a web user interface to the Xevo Workbench Platform based on the role associated with the user. Development was done using Visual Studio tools, IIS and XMLSpy.
 Develop Active Server Pages for the Helpdesk solution for the PrimusASP project.
 Design and code an ActiveX component that serves as the bridge between the Compaq ASP Framework and the Infranet billing system for Primus. Supported integration with other components of our framework.
 Design, code and troubleshoot software for the Primus ASP (Application Service Provider) project. Software includes a DLL and various VB programs that run as NT Services, which are key components of the Compaq ASP framework.
June 1998 – October 1999
National Security Agency
Computer Scientist
 Mr. Irizarry worked for as a software developer for the TOKENEER project. TOKENEER is a test platform for the integration of smart cards, biometrics (fingerprint, hand, iris and facial recognition) and a public key infrastructure. Development was done on Windows NT workstations using Visual C++ and Visual SourceSafe for source control. Mr. Irizarry used an SDK to capture and match fingerprints against a database of fingerprints. He also created software to created some statistics of “False Accepts and False Reject Rates” of the fingerprint. He also worked with other team members to identify which fingerprints characteristics could affect those rates. He then added error detection functions to the fingerprint recognition software to identify corrupted files of fingerprint images
 Conducted research for methods to add security services to an off-the-shelf computer.
 Developed C code to process fax data on an UltraSparc/SunOS station.
 Wrote software to generate a daily report of traffic load in a telephone switch by analyzing the switch logs.
Education
Certifications:
 Certified Ethical Hacker – 03/28/2014
Master Degree in Computer Science - May, 2001 Johns Hopkin

［隨筆］［旅遊］［攻略］［烏茲別克］
烏茲別克簽證攻略

話說以前遊烏茲別克，申請簽證有點複雜，但隨近年開發旅遊業，進入烏茲別克，相對來說比以前容易，尤其最近推出電子簽證，可謂大開方便之門。但話雖如何，烏茲別克的簽證，還是比到訪其他中亞國家麻煩（土庫曼除外）。遊烏茲別克期間，收到好些朋友問題，所以決定寫下生平第一篇攻略文，釐清朋友們的一點疑問。

先說簽證，無論是持特區護照還是ＢＮＯ，做法一樣，暫時收集到的做法有三：

（一）邀請信：昔日傳統做法是，向當地旅行社購買邀請信，信件約六十五美元或不等。除了一般資料，邀請信還需要工作證明，工作證明需向公司人事部申請，注明你的工作資料。至於邀請信裡，亦得寫明計劃在那裡拿取簽證，一般人大抵由空路進入，會在首都機場TASHKENT取簽證。基本上付了錢，一信在手（當然還有其他基本文件，例如相片和錢之類），就可立即拿到簽證，適合有錢（或者無錢被逼交錢）但無時間的遊人。

（二）直接到大使館：其實特區護照還是ＢＮＯ，可以不需要邀請信，直接到大使館申請簽證。不過問題是香港沒有大使館，要麼就飛到我們偉大阿爺首府，北京裡的三里屯；要麼就在遊中亞途中，在哈薩克或吉爾吉斯等國的烏茲別克大使館，申請簽證。申請文件不需要邀請信，也不需要工作證明等奇怪文件，唯一要的，就是時間和耐性。如果沒有記錯，工作天兩至三天就可拿到，不過大使館並非星期一至五皆開門，要注意時間。適合有時間有耐性的遊人。

（三）電子簽證：燈燈燈燈！這才是我想說的重點。烏茲別克大半年前宣布，二零一八年七月一日將推出電子簽證，不用邀請信或工作證明，而且收費不過廿蚊美金，申請後三天會收到。我們旅程七月二十日出號，正當七月一號超級緊張，打算申請電子簽證時，當局將計劃延到七月十五日。除了忐忑的多等半個月，別無他選。

到了七月十五日，電子簽證網頁試用版正式推出，程序看似不難，除了填寫基本資料，就是上傳相片及護照資料頁。怎料到輸入驗證奇怪英文字母一頁，一直出現錯誤，例如是UPDATED PHOTOS ARE NOT COMPLIANT TO THE ICAO STANDARDS/ ERROR./ CHECK THAT THE DATA IS ENTERED CORRECTLY AND TRY AGAIN等等，這是令人抓狂的步驟。

研究了兩天，結論是相片的問題。首先相片一定要注意閱讀網頁及ICAO的要求，例如有300 DPI的像素，證件相是最難纏的一步，最後我厚著臉皮，請公司ＩＴ部同事幫忙，弄了好久終於成功。相片成功的要素，這是我一點點的心得：

無論是用證件相ＳＣＡＮ還是再用ＩＰＨＯＮＥ影都沒有所謂，用ＰＨＯＴＯＳＨＯＰ調校至所須要求會更容易過關；嘗試調相片的光暗或對比，另外我的頭像，放大得幾乎不見頸，也許這樣系統會更容易辨識五官。反正就是多試調校相片，因為好多時候，都是卡在這一步，我推測想，是因為系統實在太新，還未成熟，所以要求相片非常精準，系統才懂得繼續下一步。

當電子簽證成功後，正常會收到電子郵件通知，但說明正常，即是有不正常的時候，例如我個多星期後，沒有收到半封郵件通知，嚇得我像熱鍋上反肚的螞蟻。正當我絕望得打算放棄吉爾吉斯天山雪水，乖乖留在首都，申請簽證時，突然想起申請時有個連結，可以登入看看情況。原來我的申請早已成功，只是該死的沒有收到電子郵件通知。

電子簽證本適合所有人，但因為系統不穩，所以適合有無比耐性，或電腦技術（尤其ＰＨＯＴＯＳＨＯＰ）高超的遊人。

（四）過境簽證：對，還有第四，特別鳴謝朋友分享，親身用錢和時間買了教訓。話說朋友得悉以ＴＲＡＮＳＩＴ　ＶＩＳＡ，就可以獲得落地簽證。（題外話：聽途中美國遊人分享，去土庫曼也可以用這招）怎料到達烏茲別克一刻，卻遭到遺返。問題在於，ＴＲＡＮＳＩＴ　ＶＩＳＡ只供過境之用，所以得出示到另一個機票的才放行，兩國原地來回機票是行不通的。例如我有香港－＞哈薩克－＞烏茲別克－＞香港／哈薩克的往返機票，就會失敗；要成功的話，就得買香港－＞烏茲別克－＞吉爾吉斯（反正隨便任何國家都可），證明烏茲別克，只是由某國到另某國過境之用。

朋友遭遣返時，由烏茲別克飛回哈薩克，「被」用了預先購買的回程機票，而非免費遣返，所以這也是朋友強調的教訓之一。

過境簽證其實只有五天逗留時限，適合真的只是在烏茲別克過境，或只打算極速走馬看花的旅人用。

說完簽證，順帶說一點烏茲別克近來旅遊的改變。首先，首都地鐵站，可任意拍照；另外換錢，政府開放外匯，所以黑市跟銀行換錢，匯率相差無幾。除了銀行，旅舍或商店，還是可以偷偷換錢，匯率相若。

終於完成生平第一篇攻略文，希望電子簽證以後會愈來愈方便，大家遊烏茲別克，就不用再走冤枉路了。