The year before last, a woman surnamed Lin and a man surnamed Chang in New Taipei City were short of money, so they dishonestly claimed to have ownership of a plot of Aboriginal reserve land, further claiming that it was in an advantageous location that was suitable for commercial use. In this way, they succeeded in defrauding a buyer surnamed Wu of a deposit of NT$100,000.
Lin and Chang, who were both unemployed with no income, knew perfectly well that the plot of land next to Sinwu Road in Sindian District was state-owned land reserved for use by Aborigines and that the Aborigine surnamed Ruan who had ownership of any buildings on the land had no intention of selling them. In spite of this, in May of the year before last, they stealthily mounted a for-sale sign outside the door of the house that attracted the buyer surnamed Wu to come forward and negotiate.
When Lin and Chang saw that they had hooked a big fish, they not only claimed to have property rights to the house and land, but also boasted about how well built the house was and how suitable the location was for doing business. Finding it hard to resist the pair’s persuasive sales pitch, Wu forked out NT$100,000 on the spot to pay the deposit.
Photo: Chiang Hsiang, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者姜翔
Later, when chatting with friends, Wu heard that a for-sale board had once more been set up on the site, upon which he went there to check. Only then did Wu realize that he had been tricked, and he angrily took Lin and Chang to court. Following a trial at the Taipei District Court, the judges found that both Lin and Chang had no income and that they had reached a settlement with the buyer. On July 28 the court sentenced each of the two defendants to three months imprisonment suspended for two years, with leave to appeal.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
新北市林姓女子與張姓男子,因缺錢花用,前年間竟謊稱擁有新店區一處國有原住民保留地的所有權,並強調該處地段優、適合經商,藉此向一名吳姓買家詐得十萬元訂金。
失業、無收入的林女與張男,明知新店區新烏路旁一塊土地是國有的原住民保留地,擁有地上建物所有權的阮姓原住民也無意賣掉屋子,卻於前年五月間私自在房屋門外張貼出售廣告,吸引吳姓買家前來商談。
林、張兩人見大魚上鉤,不僅自稱擁有房屋及土地的產權,更極力鼓吹該處房子堅固、地段適合做生意,在兩人的慫恿下,吳姓買家果然難以抗拒,當場掏出十萬元支付訂金。
吳姓買家後來與朋友聊天時,聽聞該處又再度貼出出售廣告,前往確認後才得知受騙,氣得向林、張兩人提告。台北地院審理後,審酌林、張兩人均無收入,且已與買家達成和解,七月二十八日判兩人各三個月徒刑,緩刑兩年,仍可上訴。
(自由時報記者黃欣柏)
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)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
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