I'm up front about this; I own a Huawei phone. This according to a US Congressional Committee report now makes me a contributor to the global security risk. What a lot of rubbish!
Even the US media seem to have cottoned on the the idea that this pronouncement might have more to do with trade protectionism than any actual risk. According to the Wall Street Journal Huawei are routinely shut out of the US takeover market on one pretext or another.
It seems to me this is all about politics, especially with the lead up to the US Presidential elections which are taking place in a few weeks time.
I have no plans to change my mobile on the basis of shonky evidence and I suspect that there are many others just like me.
Meanwhile in the "Land of the Free" people's minds have been taken of the subject of unemployment, poverty and pestilence by the introduction of novelty events such as the South Florida Roach eating contest.
The winner, one Edward Archbold, consumed dozens of the live bugs as well as an entree of worms and is not surprisingly now deceased.
No one spared a thought for the cockroaches, which according to the report were from an inventory of insects "that were safely and domestically raised in a controlled environment as food for reptiles".
You may well ask, what prize would motivate a presumably sane human being to participate? The grand prize was....a Python.
The deceased only other 'claim to fame' was a prior arrest in 2004 on a charge of indecent exposure. He now has even more exposure but didn't live to see it.
I can't see this style of event catching on in Singapore any time soon given the size of cockroaches one finds in the tropics. Those that manage to secrete themselves in the back of a Hawker stall are particularly rotund, as was the one that ran across my legs in an eatery off Orchard Road a few years ago.
Fortunately the NEA is rather strict about such matters so I can't really see the Great Singapore Roach Contest ever rivaling the Great Singapore Sale.
Still I would love to have been there to have taken a photo of the contest action using the camera on my Huawei phone. But of course that would never have happened as it is potentially 'bugged'.
Showing posts with label cockroaches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cockroaches. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Friday, 15 April 2011
Diamond-Tipped Mandibles
It is the change of season here in Auckland; one day it is cool and the next a balmy 23 degrees with an autumnal sun.
This seasonal variation has triggered a number of metamorphic responses in the garden and also it would appear, in the pantry.
There is a report in today's online news about the increasing number of bugs being found in stored food. Here I was thinking that the extra crunch in my morning muesli was a new ingredient dreamed up by Hubbards Foods, but perhaps I was mistaken?
Entomologists have been most reassuring describing the caterpillars of the Indian meal moth, warehouse moth and Mediterranean flower moth as "perfectly edible" . I am still not convinced that I want them in my diet.
Insect infestations are nothing new and in tropical climes such as Singapore the challenges of keeping food stuffs and household commodities pest-free are equally daunting.
Spraying for cockroaches was an ongoing exercise and according to a Singapore pest control service there are some 35 'greeblies' that are honing in on your food and furniture at any one time.
The aptly named Larder Beetle for example has a penchant for cheese. I can't help but think that this must be a rather anorexic bug as cheese does not figure highly in the Singaporean diet.
I also observed the dogged persistence of a very small ant on the then Tanglin campus of UNSWAsia. This creature was so small that it could get inside through the screw top of a sugar jar.
While I can't pinpoint this species it was a surprise to discover that I had a namesake in the Singaporean ant world. Roger's Ant, or Hypoponera punctatissima as it is known to its friends, wanders around aimlessly leaving no trails; an aptly named creature!
According to the bug scientist quoted in the article today, these insects can "chew straight through any packaging - they've got diamond-tipped mandibles. Once you've got them, you've got them"
So this autumn, or Fall as my friends in North America call it, we shall keeping a close eye on the pantry to ensure that no such infestations occur.
This seasonal variation has triggered a number of metamorphic responses in the garden and also it would appear, in the pantry.
There is a report in today's online news about the increasing number of bugs being found in stored food. Here I was thinking that the extra crunch in my morning muesli was a new ingredient dreamed up by Hubbards Foods, but perhaps I was mistaken?
![]() |
| Larder Beetle - cereals with extra crunch? |
Insect infestations are nothing new and in tropical climes such as Singapore the challenges of keeping food stuffs and household commodities pest-free are equally daunting.
Spraying for cockroaches was an ongoing exercise and according to a Singapore pest control service there are some 35 'greeblies' that are honing in on your food and furniture at any one time.
The aptly named Larder Beetle for example has a penchant for cheese. I can't help but think that this must be a rather anorexic bug as cheese does not figure highly in the Singaporean diet.
I also observed the dogged persistence of a very small ant on the then Tanglin campus of UNSWAsia. This creature was so small that it could get inside through the screw top of a sugar jar.
While I can't pinpoint this species it was a surprise to discover that I had a namesake in the Singaporean ant world. Roger's Ant, or Hypoponera punctatissima as it is known to its friends, wanders around aimlessly leaving no trails; an aptly named creature!
According to the bug scientist quoted in the article today, these insects can "chew straight through any packaging - they've got diamond-tipped mandibles. Once you've got them, you've got them"
So this autumn, or Fall as my friends in North America call it, we shall keeping a close eye on the pantry to ensure that no such infestations occur.
Related articles
- Online 3D insect sleuth tells friend from foe (newscientist.com)
Labels:
2011,
auckland,
beetles,
bugs,
cereals,
cockroaches,
Economy of Singapore,
Flora and Fauna,
food,
Hubbards Foods,
Insect,
Pest control,
pests,
Roger Smith
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