The first new policy that the Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs has come up with in the first hundred days of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s tenure is “soundscapes” for the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system. The proposal was thought up by the Idea Taipei Creativity Workshop, with experts and ordinary citizens taking part. A press conference was held on Monday last week in the MRT’s Daan Park Station to show the public what to expect. Ko took part in the event and said that hopefully in the future songs associated with Taipei can be heard in the MRT, such as Sky of Taipei, Fork In The Road and Drifting To Tamsui, which can instantly make people relate to Taipei upon hearing them. Ko also remarked that hopefully every MRT station will have its own theme music, with the public taking part in the music production. The doors-closing sound, alert sounds and background music will all undergo changes.
The Department of Cultural Affairs demonstrated in the press conference what it would be like to change the alert sound for doors closing into “ukulele festival,” “Taiwanese folk music” and “frog croaks in nature” versions. Four Seasons of Blossoming played on a Japanese samisen lute was demonstrated as a theme for Beitou Station, whereas a natural theme of humming insects and twittering birds would be played at Daan Park Station to match the sounds heard nearby.
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Ni Chung-hwa said his department has discussed the soundscape proposal with the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, and it is foreseen that travelers will begin to hear different sounds in the MRT before the end of this year.
Photo: Wang I-sung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者王藝菘
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
柯市府文化局的百日新政,第一個就是「捷運聲音地景」,透過專家與一般市民參與的「Idea Taipei創意工作營」發想,上週一在捷運大安森林公園站帶來成果示範記者會。市長柯文哲出席表示,希望未來能在捷運聽到許多跟台北有關的歌,像是「台北的天空」、「三線路」、「流浪到淡水」等都是一聽就會想到台北的歌曲。他也說,將來希望捷運站都有屬於自己的主題曲,讓居民參與創作,將關門聲、警示音、背景音樂都做出改變。
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者張嘉明
文化局當場示範,將捷運站內的關門警示音轉變成「烏克麗麗嘉年華版」、「台灣民謠風版」、「大自然蛙鳴版」。在北投站體內播放日本三味線彈奏的「四季紅」、大安森林公園站則配合周遭聲音,播放具自然特色、蟲鳴鳥叫的聲音。
文化局長倪重華說,目前已將聲音地景提案與捷運公司討論,預計今年就會讓民眾在捷運上聽到不同的聲音。
(自由時報記者游蓓茹)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110