七夕节的简介与由来传说

农历七月初七的夜晚就是人们俗称的七夕节，也有人称之为“乞巧节”或“女儿节”，这是中国传统节日中最具浪漫色彩的一个节日。

在晴朗的夏秋之夜，天上繁星闪耀，一道白茫茫的银河横贯南北，争河的东西两岸，各有一颗闪亮的星星，隔河相望，遥遥相对，那就是牵牛星和织女星。

七夕坐看牵牛织女星，是民间的习俗，相传，在每年的这个夜晚，是天上织女与牛郎在鹊桥相会之时。织女是一个美丽聪明、心灵手巧的仙女，凡间的妇女便在这一天晚上向她乞求智慧和巧艺，也少不了向她求赐美满姻缘，所以七月初七也被称为乞巧节。

七夕节始终和牛郎织女的传说相连，这是一个很美丽的，千古流传的爱情故事。

相传在很早以前，南阳城西牛家庄里有个聪明．忠厚的小伙子，父母早亡，只好跟着哥哥嫂子度日，嫂子马氏为人狠毒，经常虐待他，逼他干很多的活。一天，天上的织女和诸仙女一起下凡游戏，在河里洗澡，牛郎在老牛的帮助下认识了织女，二人互生情意，后来织女便偷偷下凡，来到人间，做了牛郎的妻子。织女还把从天上带来的天蚕分给大家，并教大家养蚕，抽丝，织出又光又亮的绸缎。

牛郎和织女结婚后，男耕女织，情深意重，他们生了一男一女两个孩子，一家人生活得很幸福。但是好景不长，这事很快便让天帝知道，王母娘娘亲自下凡来，强行把织女带回天上，恩爱夫妻被拆散。

牛郎上天无路，还是老牛告诉牛郎，在它死后，可以用它的皮做成鞋，穿着就可以上天。牛郎按照老牛的话做了，穿上牛皮做的鞋，拉着自己的儿女，一起腾云驾雾上天去追织女，眼见就要追到了，岂知王母娘娘拔下头上的金簪一挥，一道波涛汹涌的天河就出现了，牛郎和织女被隔在两岸，只能相对哭泣流泪。他们的忠贞爱情感动了喜鹊，千万只喜鹊飞来，搭成鹊桥，让牛郎织女走上鹊桥相会，王母娘娘对此也无奈，只好允许两人在每年七月七日于鹊桥相会。

-- 取自 http://www.china.org.cn/ch-jieri/qixi/1.htm

What a tiring...

...and frustrating time the past two weeks had been. I had been trying to set up a testing environment similar to that of a client. But no matter how many times I install the client's software and test packages, or how I tried to mimic the configuration of the client's, even close to the point of transplanting everything, just short of taking over the client's computers. I already don't know what else I can do now. So disheartening and feel like giving up. But I don't want to give up...

Merlot

Read off a bottle:

This varietal wine grows very well in Southern France. Its taste is fruity, its suppleness and its delicate bouquet make a very pleasant and enjoyable wine to drink.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

Just came back from watching this movie and what a movie. Definitely a blockbuster to me. Action-packed swashbuckling at its best. You still get Captain Jack Sparrow and the cursed ship The Black Pearl. And this time round, you also get the legend of the famous ghost ship The Flying Dutchman and its captain Davey Jones. If you think the special effects are excellent in the first installment, then you won't be disappointed in this installment. I simply love Johnny Depp, with his usual portrayal of strange characters. Captain Jack really comes alive because of him, giving the movie a soul. Really can't wait to see the third installment...

Phishing

I have received a phishing email yesterday and I nearly clicked on the link masquarading as a Citibank site. Thank goodness suspicion hit me and I checked the URL. It was close and phishing emails are really dangerous. Then this got me thinking. Isn't there a way that we can make the browser protect us? Can we have a warning system of sort?

I am reading this paper titled The Battle Against Phishing: Dynamic Security Skins and it gives me some ideas as to how to design a security alert system. However, nothing concrete yet. I am wondering whether it is possible to have 1) a standalone Firefox extension without any server change, or 2) a client-server alert generated on the webpage itself.

Extra: Red wine goes well with CSI...

What a letdown!

Le Bleus has fallen, and they have fallen in a bitter manner. What was Zidane thinking? I don't know what insult the Italian player had thrown at him but I am sure it must had been something extremely awful, judging from the reaction. However, it still doesn't warrant a violent action which is out of plain stupidity. Eight more minutes and he could have shown that Italian who's boss by winning...

Can English has simpler spelling?

What if the English we know today undergoes a revolutionary reform? Whut if we all rite like this and spel wurdz the wae thae sound? Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about the shorthands we used in actual abbreviations, SMSes and emails. I am talking about spelling English words phonetically. Allow me to point you to this interesting article by CNN.com, "Puush for simpler speling perzists".

Note: You may get a headache reading that article but you will applaud the effort the writer put in to use a totally new spelling system for a third of the article.

Ghost Whisperer

Just watched the new series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. It was not bad and I kinda like it. The story was heart-warming and the pace not too slow. Not too scary too, at least not many of those scenes where the director would try to shock you. And unlike the series Lost, I actually can follow the story here and am not lost. Anyone can give me a summary of what was going on in Lost 2?

Don't forget to catch the movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' on Channel 5 this Sunday before going to the cinema to catch 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest'.