The popularity of social networking Web site Facebook is growing. It has spawned hundreds of games, among those the game Happy Harvest, which has become the favorite of Taiwanese users. In the six months of the game’s existence, a farming wave has swept the Internet as users get up in the morning to steal crops and fruit from their friends’ farms and become the kings of virtual farming.
Facebook users in Taiwan broke through one million in July, by far surpassing Plurk, another community Web site. Online farming, restaurants, pet shops, and fishing games have received an overwhelming welcome among Taiwanese users. Among the games, Happy Harvest has the most user-friendly interface which accounts for much of its popularity.
Happy Harvest is designed in a cartoon style. Users can plant crops, and raise chickens and dogs, and the harvest can be sold and exchanged for points to increase the attraction. Players can log on and sneak into their friends’ farms and steal vegetables and eggs. The more practiced a user gets in planting crops, the more virtual money they can make.
The Chinese version of the game often hangs, and Hsiao Li, who has used Facebook for more than two years, suggests that newbies consider running the game in English. “The interface is the same and the game is played in the same way,” he says. The system also often offers virtual farm money, “That makes it much more fun than just fooling around on the Internet,” says Hsiao Li.
Beginner A-tzu has only been immersed in the game for a month, but he is serious to the point that he sets the alarm for 6am every day, when he boots up the computer and goes farming. “If I sleep too late, my fields turn into a tourist farm where anyone takes whatever they want.” he says. He says he can use a virtual network to plant, water crops, exterminate vermin, harvest and sell his crop, and he can raise chickens and cows, and buy dogs to guard the farm. The whole process is much more interesting than electronic chickens, and seeing the results of his own hard work accumulate in the storage offers some kind of satisfaction in an otherwise boring daily life.(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON)
社交網站Facebook火紅，自行開發遊戲逾百種，其中「開心農場」成為國內網友最愛，啟用半年多來遊戲爆紅，網路掀起一股「務農」風潮，有網友靠著每天凌晨到眾家好友農場「偷菜採果」，成為虛擬農場大亨。
Facebook（臉書）社交網站，七月底在台灣使用會員正式突破一百萬人，大有凌駕另一微網誌「噗浪」的趨勢，網站仿效線上遊戲模式經營的虛擬農場、餐廳、寵物店、釣魚遊戲等，獲得網友熱烈迴響，其中，「開心農場」介面最友善，也獲得最多國內網友捧場。
開心農場畫面採卡通動畫設計，不只能在虛擬網頁上種菜、養雞、養狗，收成了還可以賣錢換網路積分，增加魅力指數，玩家可以利用連線，潛入線上友人農場「偷菜、偷雞蛋」，收成的作物還可以賣錢，愈勤於練功耕種，獲得的虛擬貨幣就愈多。
開心農場中文版頻當機，玩臉書有兩年經驗的小李建議剛入門的網友，可以考慮經營英文版農場，「介面、玩法都一樣，還可以乘機練英文。」系統還會常送虛擬農民幣，「比網路打怪有趣多了。」
農場新手阿姿沉浸在「開心農場」遊戲才一個月，卻嚴重到每天清晨六點調鬧鐘開電腦務農，「太晚起床，我的田會變成任人採收的觀光農場。」阿姿說，透過虛擬網路可以播種、澆水除蟲、收成變賣，還可以養雞、牛，買狗看農地，過程比電子雞更有趣，看著自己辛苦耕作的成果堆滿穀倉，在無聊生活中也獲得某種滿足感。
由於農場登錄人數暴增，更曾出現「維護升級」的掛點畫面，不少瘋狂網友哀嚎：「沒田種，真的生不如死！」（自由時報記者劉榮）
The death of an Oregon house cat and a pet food recall are raising questions about the ongoing outbreak of bird flu and how people can protect their pets. Bird flu has been spreading for years in wild birds, chickens, turkeys and many other animals. It was first confirmed in US dairy cattle in March. The virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people in the US, and nearly all of those infected worked on dairy or poultry farms. When the virus is found, every bird on a farm is killed to limit the spread of the disease. Oregon health officials
A: Guess what’s included in Google Taiwan’s 2024 most searched words. B: Let me guess: Taiwan’s victory in the WBSC Premier 12 championship must be on the list. A: Wow, good guess. “Premier 12” is at No. 10. B: What are the other most popular searches? A: No. 9 to 6 are: Ticketing platform “Tixcraft,” Taiwanese film “The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon,” Olympic gold boxer “Lin Yu-ting,” and the “Yuanta ETF coded 00940.” A: 猜猜看，Google 2024台灣搜尋排行榜，有哪些關鍵詞？ B: 我猜「棒球12強賽」一定超熱門吧。 A: 你好強，12強真的排在第10名！ B: 其他熱門搜尋有哪些？！ A: 第9至6名是︰「拓元」售票、電影「周處除三害」、奧運拳擊金牌「林郁婷」、元大ETF「00940」。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Imagine racing up many flights of stairs, your heart pounding as you ascend a towering skyscraper. Welcome to the thrilling world of tower running, also known as run ups. Unlike traditional marathons on flat tracks, tower running involves climbing skyscraper stairs. Competitors start at the base and ascend to the top, tackling hundreds or thousands of steps, testing their speed, endurance and willpower. The physical demands of run ups are substantial, as stair climbing constitutes a prolonged, weight-bearing exercise. This activity places a significant strain on the body, burning up to four times the calories compared to regular running.
前法國中量級拳王為答謝照護他岳父的醫護人員，教她們打拳擊舒壓，新聞報導刊出的照片底下有一行英文說明： Operating theater nurse Kenza Benour trains with boxer Hassan N’Dam at VSG hospital on the outskirts of Paris on Wednesday. (AP) (May 30, 2020) 說明中的 operating theater 就是指「手術室」，不是 *演出中的劇院。 以下這篇文章，提到 2020 年英國因為新冠肺炎病人多到難以招架，有一家醫院甚至把 all its theaters 都改裝，以容納大量湧入的新冠肺炎病人。 The UK health system is so overwhelmed that a hospital is converting all its theaters for coronavirus patients, and nurses have panic attacks because they can’t cope with the stress. (Mia Jankowicz, Business Insider , April 7, 2020) 文中出現的 theaters，也不是指劇院，而是「手術室」。 之前有不少文章或活動，向新冠肺炎危機期間的第一線醫護人員表達感恩與致意，底下就是一例： Give an “extra clap” tonight for operating theatre staff during Covid-19 crisis (Steve Ford, Nursing Times , May, 14, 2020) 手術室為什麼叫 operating theater？因為19世紀之前，為方便醫學教育，手術室通常都模仿古希臘劇場，設計成階梯狀，方便醫學生觀摩學習，因此得名。 我自己曾經進過手術室，2018 年 7 月我做了一個疝氣修補 (hernia repair) 的腹腔鏡手術 (laparoscopy)。離開手術室兩三個小時後，已經能從輪床 (gurney)
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