婚姻與網際網路 Marriage and Internet

My favorite TV show is a Taiwanese Show called News Wa Wa Wah. I watch it everyday on Youtube thanks to Frank, who uploads many Taiwanese shows on his "fengshuimaster0" channel. Two days ago, Frank posted that his father had gotten ill suddenly, so he wouldn't be able to upload more videos until his father gets better, probably in a week or two. All the subscribers wished his father well and waited patiently for Frank's return. Then a day ago, Frank posted another message saying that he will no longer upload anymore videos on his Youtube channel and we should email him for the new channel name. We were all stunned, not sure what happened there. Will I have to look for other sources for my favorite show now?! 6 hours later, Frank posted another message saying his new Youtube channel is called "TaiwanTalks". So I immediately looked up TaiwanTalks and it seemed legitimate, so I am a bit relieved and decided to wait until Frank uploads new shows in a week or so. Then today, Frank posted a message on TaiwanTalks and explained what happened. Apparently, he got a divorce and "fengshuimaster0" was his ex-wife's account and she was the one posted a message telling everyone that Frank will no longer be uploading videos onto this account.

Apparently, Frank's ex-wife is Master Lin's (the fengshuimaster) relative. Although Frank cared a lot about this Youtube channel, he had no choice but to switch to another channel. In his blog, he even hinted that this channel may have something to do with his divorce. In the end, a divorce, because of the nature of the cyber world today, actually affected the lives (viewing habits) of thousands of people around the world.

Although I don't know who Frank is, I wish him well in his new life as a single person and that his father recovers soon from his illness. Thank you, Frank!

我最愛看的電視節目是台灣的新聞挖挖哇。自從美國東森在一年前取消了新聞挖挖哇的播出,我都是上 Youtube 看 fengshuimaster0 版主 Frank 所上傳的台灣節目,包括新聞挖挖哇。每天晚上我都很期待小孩子睡覺後,可以輕鬆的觀看 Frank 所上傳(好看又即時)的新聞挖挖哇。久而久之,習慣就成自然了。直到兩天前,Frank 告知大家:

“各位同學們, 昨夜家父急病住院, 可能要待一到兩周, 小弟只能盡量先錄好節目存檔, 等我回來再上! 事發突然, 特此向大家致歉.“

頓時覺得生活少了個什麼,不過我相信版主有空一定會在上傳新的節目,所以準備耐心的等待。 可是一天前,在大家的祝福聲中,突然又出現 Frank 的一個留言:

"★ 本頻道版主將轉址(不再以林正義老師專欄服務大家，會再上傳更多不同類型節目)！若想要知道新網址請來信!或是搜尋以下信箱！ＭＡＩＬ：frank.yow@gmail.com 此頻道將不會再上傳節目！感謝大家多年來的支持！"

天啊!發生了什麼事?!大家頓時錯愕! 不確定以後是否還能看到自己喜歡的節目。好在六小時之後,Frank 再留了一段話:

"大家好, 我是Frank. 在此先向大家報告新頻道username為TalwanTalks. http://www.youtube.com/TaiwanTalks 請先加入訂閱, 好友, 並請密切期待新片上映! p.s. 謝謝大家的祝福, 家父復原狀況良好, 預計一周內應可出院, 再次謝謝大家, 想念各位! "

我趕快跳到 TaiwanTalks 去看看。雖然還沒有上傳任何節目,但是至少還有希望看到 Frank 上傳的節目,也就於心不少。 今天在上 TaiwanTalks 的時候,竟然看到 Frank 所寫的自我介紹:

" 版主Frank原建置林正義老師youtube頻道, 因為該頻道的帳號信箱屬於前妻所有, 在前妻的堅持下, 版主只好另闢此一新youtube頻道 TaiwanTalks, 相信在不久的未來, 即將與舊雨新知重新見面!

版主的第一篇網誌文章已經發表, 僅獻給所有關心與支持我的朋友!
Name: Frank
Country: Taiwan
Website: http://franktheyoutuber.blogspot.com/ "

原來這一切的變化都是因為 Frank 離婚的關係,也因為 Frank 的前妻是林正義大師的親戚,她不希望 Frank 繼續使用“fengshuimaster0”這帳號。 最近,台灣的新聞是充滿了很多名人的負面離婚消息,苦主爭的不都是為了錢或小孩的監護權。再看看大家的朋友 Frank。他因離婚而必需離開他所經營已久的 Youtube 頻道,另闢新的頻道,從新開始,讓人婉惜。 真沒想到在二十一世紀的網際網路虛擬世界裏,一個台灣男人的離婚,竟然會直接影響到國外數千人(可能更多人)的起居生活。在此,祝福 Frank 的父親早日康復,也希望 Frank 在不久的將來創造出新的人生方向! 感謝他!

從美國看台灣 Watching Taiwan television shows from the States

Ever since I discovered that I can watch Taiwanese shows on Youtube, my own spectrum of entertainment has expanded even more. I am partial to talk shows and variety shows that involve lots of talking, especially talking about current entertainment gossip and political events. My favorite show is News Wa Wa Wah! ETTV America used to broadcast it on our local television channel, but since January 2008, they have not aired it citing copyright issues. I think it was more a political decision than anything else (that was right before the
Presidential election). In any case, the program was sorely missed by myself and many of my friends. ETTV used to air News Wa Wa Wah at 10pm and it was the perfect time to watch this show because my kids would be asleep and I can relax and unwind by watching this show. With its cancellation, my daily routine was a bit off-kiltered, that is until I discovered that some kind soul had uploaded News Wa Wa Wah on Youtube.

There are other Taiwanese variety/talk show that I enjoy. As my TV watching time is limited, I have began to watch less American and Korean shows, so I can watch more Taiwanese shows. Whenever I read about a show on the Taiwanese newspapers, I would search for it on Youtube. More than half of the time, the show would be uploaded already. I will provide a list of the shows and its Youtube links below.

Happy watching!

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Youtube link of Taiwanese shows (remember to use the Playlist function so you can watch a show continuously as most episodes are divided up into many segments. Just click on "Play all"):

http://www.youtube.com/user/TaiwanTalks
新聞挖挖哇
國民大會
WTO姐妹會

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在美國住久了, 對臺灣的很多時事都很陌生。不過偶爾看看台灣的電視節目還蠻有趣的。在 2008 年之前,東森北美台在每晚十點就會播出新聞挖挖哇。那個時段很受我們這些熟媽的歡迎, 最主要是因為晚上十點時, 小孩子都入睡了, 熟媽們可以趁看新聞挖挖哇的時間來放鬆心情。在睡覺前可以輕鬆開懷而笑實在是件不錯的事情。在東森北美台取消新聞挖挖哇的播出之後, 還真的亂了我們這群熟媽的生活步調。有一陣子我還覺得有點失落感。直到有一天我發現有人把所有我愛看的台灣節目PO 到 Youtube上。現在的生活真的活得蠻充實的。生活忙碌, 但是我知道在夜深人靜時, 我還有好多好看的節目在等著我去看。對於一位從小就愛看電視的我, 這真是一項福旨。在此介紹給大家收看。

言論自由 Making fun of classmates and teachers=suspension?!

I heard a story today from a friend who told me about something that happened at her son's elementary school. Apparently 2 girls were suspended for uploading videos which made fun of 3 of her classmates and teachers onto Youtube. Needless to say I was shocked and amazed! First of all, how can grade 4 kids know how to produce a skit making fun of someone, videotape it, and post the videos on Youtube. Secondly, what happened to the freedom of speech?! Thirdly, does making fun of people constitute a school suspension?

As we all know, kids make fun of each other all the time--sometimes the comments are hurtful (bullying) and sometimes less sinister; and yet, I haven't heard of anyone getting suspended for making fun of their friends. Now I have, with this case. The principal of that school also gave a speech to fourth graders about the dangers of internet and how predators are everywhere on the internet and that kids should be careful. What the principal said is very true, but it really doesn't explain why their peers would get suspended for posting a video on Youtube.

I am guessing that there must be a rule in that school's by-laws which prohibited bullying (or lack of respect), otherwise, the principal really don't have any grounds to suspend any student, especially when the right to the freedom of speech is so valued in the United States. However, if I am the parents of those students targeted as the butt of their jokes, then I may not have been so lenient on the 2 students who have been suspended.

It's obvious that the kids involved in this "prank" didn't try to hide their "actions" by using pseudonyms when they posted the videos on Youtube. They just did it without realizing that what they did would warrant a school suspension. These are regular kids, just like my kids. They are not even precocious. I do think the kids need to be held responsible for their hurtful actions, but I also think school suspension is a rather harsh punishment. In any case, I'm sure the kids have learned their lesson, but most likely not the kind of lesson we want them to learn. I'm sure they will learn to disguise themselves better the next time they want to make fun of someone else, especially on-line.

今天下午一位朋友來電聊了一下大家的近況也順便聊了小孩子。她告訴我一件讓我蠻震驚的事。她說她兒子班上(國小四年級)有兩位同學被停學,因為這兩位同學自拍了四個短片然後 po 到 Youtube 上給同學們觀賞。當然不是每位同學都看了這些短片,只是有同學在討論這些影片時被老師聽到。那老師立既上網點閱。不看還好,這一看就不得了。這兩位同學 po 的短片都在取笑別人。有三位同學及數名老師都是片中被取笑的對相。校長知道後,確認了這兩名同學的參與,當天就請這兩位同學回家,然後再下了停學的指示。

我一直覺得這校長對此案學生的處份有點太嚴厲了。但是言論自由畢竟還是這個案件的主軸。不管怎樣,學校一定要保持中立,決對不能忘記言論自由的重要性。但是話又說回來,如果我的女兒是短片批評、嘲笑的對象,我恐怕不能理解這兩位同學的作為,而要求她們一定要登門道歉。