Hong Kong from a techie's eyes: photos

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    Technology is big here, really big. You could, on face value, sum up the city's shops in three words: Gadgets, Gucci and Gourmet.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    Techies spruik HTC Android phones in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay station. Outside, hawkers flog somewhat spurious Apple products, such as iPhones and iPads. They were disinclined to permit a product test.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    "It's our best tech export" is how one local IT professional described Hong Kong's Octopus travel card, which comes in flavours sure to please professionals, pragmatics, and girls and boys. The watches pictured above come with an embedded Octopus RFID chip.

    Photo by: Octopus and Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    The Octopus card takes milliseconds to read, meaning commuters can walk straight through the subway gates. Those without an Octopus card can purchase a ticket. We saw a rather elderly man swing his RFID wrist watch over the scanner and hop through the gates like it's nobody's business — which it was: he didn't want to talk.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    The Octopus terminals (this is a close up of the card) are scattered throughout Hong Kong's transport system and are also used in businesses as an attendance system. They can also be used to purchase a myriad of goods and services.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    Hong Kong's humble train maps are digitised and use touchscreens. Prod your station, pay and ride. Similar panels on-board trains illuminate approaching stations and inform passengers when they can change to an intersecting line.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    Victoria Park offers city-dwellers an oasis of respite, exercise and free wireless internet.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    Wi-Fi access points are tastefully nestled around the park, creating a would-be treasure hunt for those seeking them out.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    There may be a download limit nestled in the long terms of use, but despite trying it didn't seem possible to go over it — at least in a short time.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    This access point was located in the beautiful Kowloon Park, several kilometres away across the Victoria River.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    The Hong Kong Government offers a secure Wi-Fi connection with 802.11x. Visitors should use the secure option.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    The road to the Hong Kong University of Technology is lined with gardens and ends here, with flags of China and Hong Kong.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    A sundial is the centrepiece of the university's entrance, a symbol of the university's strength in geometry and design.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    ZDNet Australia met with Professor Pedro Sander who has snapped the world's highest resolution photograph at a mind-boggling 150 billion pixels. It was taken from the Statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro's Sugar Loaf Mountain and overlooks his home, somewhere on the right. The resolution is so high, he can nearly check to see if anyone is home. See our coverage here.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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    Sander's photo was taken with this, a Canon EOS 550D, for sale on eBay for $1200. However, it's the lens that is important. It's a 400-millimetre lens with a 2x extender, creating an effective 800 millimetres. The robotic arm it lies on allowed it to take the 6000 photos required for the large photo to be created with Sander's custom open-source software.

    Photo by: Darren Pauli/ZDNet Australia

    Caption by: Darren Pauli

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Hong Kong's humble train maps are digitised and use touchscreens. Prod your station, pay and ride. Similar panels on-board trains illuminate approaching stations and inform passengers when they can change to an intersecting line.

Caption by: Darren Pauli

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