「其小者不能奪也。此為大人而已矣。」

「耳目之官不思，而蔽於物。物交物，則引之而已矣。心之官則思，思則得之，不思則不得也。此天之所與我者。先立乎其大者，則其小者不能奪也。此為大人而已矣。」
--《孟子‧告子上》

By being presumptuous, some people lose their potential opportunities.

Respecting others and their labor is a deep lesson to be learned.

How effective are the express signs "No loitering" which we tend to see here and there?

When a conversation is put into a book, it becomes a dialogue. When an idea is put into execution, it becomes an endeavor.

Oh, the modern seeming of the Shanghai city.

("Old Shanghai in New Hong Kong" By PAPYRARRI / http://www.flickr.com/photos/papyrist/3223211398/ / CC)

Too many people, especially the Chinese, are riveted by investing, or speculating, their spare moneys in the securities markets.

They are being too proud and actually looking down on formidable yet largely invisible Western investment firms, hedge funds, and the like, whose sophistication reaches far beyond the imagination of mom and pop investors, I suppose.

Manufacturers even weave 20% polyester into baby wash cloths, the other 80% of which is cotton. Gee. I guess the polyester industry has been booming in the past decade.

I've sifted through the newsletters of the Future Shop and decided to unsubscribe them. There's too much mundane advertising stuff in them.

The almost new fridge's door voices squeaks while it turns and closes.

In theory, the dialogues and negotiations between Israel and Palestine should occur on the platform of UN. But why has it been the U.S. which provides that sort of platform instead?

The No. 1 country on the Earth possesses inherited interests in allying with Israel, mainly for two reasons:
1. Many influential Jewish people and Zionists live and work in the U.S.
2. Christianity, the de facto religion of the U.S., has a very closely knitted relationship with Judaism, which is the religion of Israel.

If Palestine were much more powerful, which platform of dialogues would it choose? The U.S., UN, or an influential Arab country?

Do you like listening to singers who have squeaky voices? I don't, I think.

What's going to be caused by the groundswell of the Chinese people who hold PhD degrees from Western universities?

Sourcing good technologies takes many years.

Always figuring out sales channels.

I don't know if I can trust George Soros as a fount of philosophical wisdom, which he apparently has promoted as the silver bullet for his financial investments successes.

Willfulness is a double-edged sword.

I kind of suspect that Mr. Obama may personally be more interested in social justice, disseminating democracy across the world, Israel vs. Palestine, and so on, than he's interested in the economy.

As the holder of the top job in the U.S., he's got to manage the most important issues.

Maybe he's not naturally interested in managing the economy. But when the recession has been making nearly everyone frown for several years in a row, man, he's got to remember that for average American voters, "it's the economy, stupid."

Text and pics - Vulcan

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_Mantegna_045.jpg)

Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking.

(By rhiannonstone / http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhiannonstone/5213808680/ / CC)

Quote: "Vulcan, the bare-assed god of the forge, is the largest cast-iron statue in the world and a beloved symbol of the city of Birmingham(, Alabama, U.S.A.)."

(By IvorF/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivorf/3878904096/ / CC)

Quote: "Vulcan bomber in silhouette at the Shoreham Airshow 2009."





"
Vulcan is the patron God of the English steel making city of Sheffield. His statue sits on top of Sheffield Town Hall.

A Vulcan Statue located in Birmingham, Alabama is the largest cast iron statue in the world.

The word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn originates from Vulcan.
"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(god)#Legacy

When a person puts out the foreword of a book, does he have on his mind the best interests of the readers, the author(s), or himself?

Understatedness is a fine art.

It seems that U.S. presidents only with education background in Law are no longer sufficient to act as capable leaders of the very important nation.

They need to get some education background in Finance in order to REALLY UNKENNEL the finance industry which tends to hijack the American economy, as well as the world economy, from time to time.

Much occulted information can be eventually reflected in the futures market.

So speculation has its merits.

In the Buddhism of China and Taiwan, eating no meat has been held as a piety.

What about the Buddhism in Japan, India, Thailand, and other countries? What about that in the ancient era in which Buddha lived?

There must be something good about the Canadian way of life. Otherwise, all talents would have siphoned out of it into the great United States of America.

Japanese products typically look elegant in their own subdued way, which I guess coincidentally match Anglo Saxon consumers' tastes.

Something must be afoot in the online payment industry.

Canada is apparently blest with its vast reservoir of natural energies.

Well, High-Speed Rail, a.k.a. HSR, seems to be an up-and-coming industry, however, the 7.23 fatal HSR collision in Wenzhou, China has terminated China's undue ambition of competing and exporting along that line of industry.

I threshed the material at hand, and developed several further questions. Constantly thrashing concepts and ideas.

Once upon a time, in the business world, Microsoft out-Heroded Herod.

And maybe, Yahoo! has never really walked out of its shadow.

For an individual, freedom of will, mitigated and balanced by pragmatism, is pivotal to happiness.

If he gives up that invisible yet precious freedom of will for a mortgaged house or a steady salary, then he gives up some of his possible happiness, as a consequence.

Prefaces are usually less interesting than prologues by people other than the author.

Every man holds at most ten friends in his heart of heart.

Shallow yet headstrong people don't admit failures. They always think those as buffets.

I don't know. Out there in this world, there're so many people who talk or write about some real entities, which are people or companies, but those talks and writings are just fictitious or imaginary. On the other hand, there're some talks and writings which are fictions or fables, about animals or imagined figures, but they are so truthful.

(By My Standard Break From Life / http://www.flickr.com/photos/mystandardbreakfromlife/4524182838/ CC)

民眾的 “兔死狐悲” 的心理驅動

此次 7.23 溫州動車追尾事故，死幾十人，傷數百人（據目前的政府公佈數據），引起了中國人的公憤。另一方面，中國的煤礦礦難常常也死亡數十人，ms往往不能引起如此大幅度的公憤。為什麼？

我猜測，客觀地講，驅動此次關於 7.23 溫州動車追尾事故的大幅度公憤的主要力量是一種 “兔死狐悲” 的心理，也就是這種事故有可能找上任何一個人；而煤礦礦難卻沒那種可能，有多少人會下井採煤？

There are so myriad people who constantly parse the stock market. It's too much of a good thing. Beside predicting and speculating, you also need to build.

The Chrome app of Personal Blocklist by Google is a policing act to filter out unworthy content farms on the web, I suppose. Well, since my daily Google searches normally don't encounter that kind of content farms, I don't need to keep it installed in my Chrome browser.

I guess that many women think that crooking a finger at a man works. You can see that in a lot of movies.

My baby daughter was squealing with excitement, scrambling on the couch.

Our baby daughter has become to like thrashing a baby spoon in her dinner bowl. Well, how industrious she is.

Some financial debts are never expected to be anted up, e.g. those held by poor African countries. On the other hand, some other financial debts are expected to, e.g. those held by Greece, Spain, and the like, I suppose.

How many fawners are in corner offices?

We can see a lot of spaniels in Montreal.

I don't know much about the case of Americans' piety to their parents.

Law of the Hammer, Maslow's Hammer, or Golden Hammer:

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

"I'm very sorry. I was absent-minded," J apologized after having spilled some coffee on a bystander. "It's Okay. Stay out of trouble," she said nicely and left.

Our baby daughter likes candied peaches which are baked in oven with brown sugar stuffed inside.

When you see a company thrashes its competitors, it's usually because it has become to know better than others.

"They (the customers) are arriving very soon," Z said over the phone, with his voice trembling a little and squeaking a bit, which exposed something about his character.

The design of the drainage in Southeastern Asian cities must be quite different than that in Canadian cities.

Can time sift out incapable business leaders? And, can time thresh out wonderful ones?

Pursue your dream in your allowance. Get closer to it step by step.

"Please relay my congratulations," said J. ""Relay" is a perfect word for this," Z complimented.

The asking prices of many good private childcare facilities typically range between $38 and $65 per day. Compared to those, the wages of the people who do menial jobs look like chicken feed.

Many Chinese parents debit their bank accounts enormously to send their children to study overseas, especially into the U.S, Canada, U.K. and Australia. But many cases among those will turn out to be lousy deals, in terms of eventual financial payouts, I suspect.

Over the years, there's been pretty much censure on George W. Bush's administration. I know little about politics, but I can be nearly sure that the guy's depth isn't unfathomable.

The traditional two-week construction holidays begin today in Quebec. It's no coincidence that they largely concur with the hottest summer days.

But boy, the last day preceding them, i.e. yesterday, was excruciatingly hot. I don't know how construction workers could manage to do some work in yesterday's weather.

(matt.hintsa / http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_hintsa/2509009203/ / CC)

A day recurs after a night. To where did my hours fly?

Ray-Ban, the prominent brand name of sun glasses, was developed and owned by Bausch & Lomb, the eminent American eye wear and health company.

The emotional pangs stroke inwardly.

關於 risks 的一對一的交易，通常是零和遊戲。例如 期貨 (futures) 市場。

關於 risks 的 n 對 n 的交易，其實也是零和遊戲。例如 保險 (insurance)。

In those cases, which party is the consumer, and which one is the seller? And how to calculate the consumer surplus and the like?

任何一個新加入者能否不受限制地參與自由競爭，是一個體制好不好的重要標誌之一。

It's been said that in Silicon Valley, some promising start-ups are siphoning off talents from the big companies.

It grieved me to live my life the way that that university required. I had my own way and plans. Life is short, and time was limited.

Does a company always really have to worry about a miserly growth rate in sales?

There IS a business cost of crime, terrorism (either by the domestic government or the outside forces), and corruption!

And in addition, think about the Western companies having entered the Chinese market.

Option one: "Well, we're busier than she is," J said.

Option two: "Well, we're busier than her," J said.

Both must be correct. But the option one looks more natural to me.

Interestingly, the Chinese versions of the two most prominent business newspapers in the world, which are the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, have been competing quite a lot in China.

And also interestingly, on a related note, an author may get his articles published often at cn.WSJ.com , but never gets them onto WSJ.com .

Some SNS users' recommendations chime with my need to be on top of important things. But they put out dense information too frequently. Sigh.

I've never come to really understand why so many classic music lovers are so Mozartian.

A person's judiciousness usually takes another's wisdom to appreciate. And not only what he's done, but also what he hasn't.

In Montreal, sort of unskillful are some, or many, cooks in Chinese food restaurants and outlets.

The temperance never ceases to amaze me which Americans and Canadians show in their expression of sadness of losing one or more of their dear ones.

It's nearly obvious that even if RIM will manage to survive in the face of the challenges put out by Apple and Google, it will only squeak through, even in the overseas markets.

Well, I've begun to doubt the competence of some economists or analysts on the Bay Street. They're still voicing that RIM's market shares in emerging markets economies have been improving although that in the U.S. has been sagging, and hence RIM is a buy.

Well, isn't it obvious that the consumers in the above mentioned emerging markets will get informed and become to know better and then follow the suit of savvy American consumers and choose iPhone and Android devices over Blackberry?

Gee, those economists / analysts. Were they speaking their personal true opinions?

The two Co-CEOs of RIM have been sidestepping tough questions from investors.

Will Libya's Gaddafi voluntarily observe the West's claim that his regime is no longer legitimate? We can safely bet he won't, can't we?

But we can bet that he will eventually bow his head under the mounting pressures from the West, because Lybia is so strategically important: "Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world and the 17th-highest petroleum production" (excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya ).

You sift every information stream which attracts your attention and then decide whether to subscribe to it by some means or not.

I have always been curious about the societal effects which have been caused in the West by the continuous decline of observance of Christianity, coupled with the uprising of sex revolution in the 1960s.

A suburban house can fit more people than its urban counterpart. But the problem is, the number of the people who want to live there has been declining.

They say that kids' sweat glands aren't fully developed so that their body temperatures climb more quickly than those of adults.

Judo (柔道) is derived from Jujitsu (柔術) of the ancient Japan.

What is the relationship, if any, between Jujitsu and Tai Chi Chuan, a sort of Chinese martial arts?

Well, the American people are pious to their country, and many Chinese are pious to the Chinese mentality and people. So when the two countries' interests collide, what will happen?

It will be interesting to watch the sequel of Obama's administration to unfold.

Keep your fingers crossed, Mr. Obama.

Well, Herod the Great, a famous ancient blustering tyrant of Judea, was actually only a client king who submitted to the Roman Empire.

("Idealized, undated portrayal of Herod" / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HerodtheGreat2.jpg)

真理、真相往往要通過 溝通 才能得到。

"Tweetstream" is such a nice word.

Spinoza, the famous ancient Dutch philosopher and a Jewish, intrigues me. For example, how does he view pleasure? And, how does he explain "mind and matter being two incommensurable ways of conceiving the one reality"?

See http://www.google.com/dictionary?source=dict-chrome-ex&sl=en&tl=en&q=spinoza    and    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinoza .

Well, I have to admit that when the Canada Post's unionized workers squealed recently, they did it in a peaceful way. Am I wrong?

It's crucial for men to be capable of recognizing termagants and staying safely away from turning those women into their wives, for the sake of their life.

Some people missed potential opportunities for themselves, big and small, because they knew no better. Anyways, adults are responsible for teaching themselves better ways.

Well, I haven't met a dumbshow that my patience can stand.

It seems that many Canadians live cheque by cheque, no matter how high their incomes are. Why don't they shift their behavior patterns and take EXTRA care of their personal spending?

Don't let popular entertainment drain you of your precious time. Will ya?

Given the finiteness of human beings' life spans, higher education or advanced education is not always an unmitigated good for all individuals.

Boy, in some moments, I really love living in Montreal.

Being sophisticated and eclectic means acknowledging many elements and letting them to mitigate and balance each other. Being doctrinaire means the opposite.

Ideals are best when they are balanced by pragmatism. And vice versa.

Canadians below the age 45 sleep for around 6 or 7 hours per day, on average. At any rate, people don't get enough sleep because there's too much information that costs their time to consume in their daily life.

J's slippers squeak against the kitchen floor during these humid summer days.

Maybe the media and entertainment industries in the U.S. have bred too many groundlings in the world.

In household finance, being illiquid is Okay once in a while, but being insolvent, especially in your late forties or older ages, is just not good at all.

My baby daughter bumped her cheek on the couch frame.

學歷以外的東西才是實力。

In Canada, some Chinese immigrants improve their English skills quite sluggishly, some ASAP, and some posthaste.

I belong to the last category.

How much area does a baby's fontanel overlap with her pate?

On a related note, "fontanel" in English corresponds to "顖門" in Chinese. (“心門” 是民間對 “顖（漢語拼音第四聲）門” 的誤傳。)

I missed that cup of morning coffee. Well, my mind and body are just not as energetic as they should be.

Temperance is an interesting character. It seems that Canadians have it, and Japanese have it.

The clogging up of information channels looks terrible.

It seems that Americans and Canadians dislike generalizations quite a lot.

Well, it would be interesting to see the familial piety is clearly defined somewhere.

I wonder if the legal professionals in Hong Kong still wear periwigs in courts nowadays.

(Photo by ellenm1 / http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenm1/4294807128/ / CC)

Quote:

M. Bachelier, Director of Customs at Lyon 

by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1715
Oil on canvas 

Pierre Bachelier directed the collection of taxes in the city of Lyon, France. Oudry's portrait recalls the official "portrait d'apparat" of his teacher, Nicolas de Largillière, that surrounds the sitter with emblems of his rank and profession. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenm1/4294807128/

Actually, what you don't see behind some entrepreneurial endeavors is that they are already in tatters and just waiting for the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Will the Olympics torch relay include some space shuttle trips in the future?

Similar with Mathematics, the field of Computer Science is largely a mental construct by human beings. But what are the relationships between them and the nature?

怎樣從 文摘 整理出 情報，是重要的一件事。

很奇怪的是，不管你小時候多麼地不愛表達，在長大後，你必須表達，因為，言 和 思 在這個階段變得如此地密不可分。

Expressing precisely, and profoundly on some occasions, is a way to drive the train of thought further into the unknown.

好吧，我認為，寫程序之所以困難，很大一個原因是 computer memory 裡面的情形我們是看不見摸不著的。

Seriously, I want to know what's going on in the memory. For instance, Java's "class loading" intrigues me.

In a certain programming language, different data types correspond to different memory arrangements.

"Here he comes," J, at the elevator, spoke to F at her door.

Well, the recurrence of the failures of Canadian tech giant companies must be discouraging.

Adieu, you cold-blooded News of the World tabloid newspaper of Britain.

How many thoughts are harbored in people's minds?

Quote: "Our ability to produce media has outstripped our ability to consume it. The average photograph now gets looked at less than once simply because there is almost zero cost and effort to producing one."

(By David Carr at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/business/media/06carr.html?scp=1&sq=unwatched&st=cse )

Sigh. The solvency issues in Europe have been such a great mess.

Temperance in eating is a virtue needed by many people.

Just take one less bite, please.

There's one thing conspicuous about Japanese action cartoons. In the fights, the figures typically saw the air elegantly and suavely. Well, why do they have to entertain their enemies' eyes so diligently? :-)

Video - Jig by Riverdance - Eurovision Song Contest 1994 Dublin

Jig dance, a.k.a. clog dance, is a type of Irish folk dance.



"
Riverdance was first performed during the 7-minute interval of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Point Theatre, Dublin on 30 April 1994. It received a standing ovation. Later that year, the BBC commissioned a repeat performance of the act for the 1994 Royal Variety Show, when it was introduced on stage by Sir Terry Wogan. At Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest it was named as one of the most popular interval acts in the history of the contest.
"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdance#Success

The birth pangs of a capable and mature man take many years to complete.

Well, we don't know how Greece can stay solvent, do we?

Hours and hours escape trippingly.

More and more information goes unwatched. What people really need is intelligence, in lieu of information.

Well, can a person provide intelligence, instead of information?

"How're you doing?" G said. "As usual. Nothing much." J replied.

I'm positive that some people won't succeed, and some other will.

This thought may make people slightly out of sorts. An employee doesn't own the job. Instead, he just occupies it, according to the mutual consent of the employer and the employee.

Is the almost fire-sale prices of labor going to last long?

In terms of philanthropic engagement, the rich in the U.S. whop their counterpart in China.

什麼是高階人力? 博士學位擁有者就是嗎?

產業界、商界、和 知識界 的標準是不一樣的。

Love your friends? Some people's feelings don't tend that perfect way.

Sometimes people tend to brood over things whose importance gets blown out of proportion in their own minds, which makes them pennywise yet pound-foolish.

Why would someone challenge the pious Muslim people by burning Quran? That's not a wise revenge, even looking from the burners' side.

科舉文化氛圍下的歷代中國讀書人，大都是用青春來 買櫝還珠。我不要也和他們一樣，做一個 還珠樓主。盡量用年華來買一些 學問和 know-how 的珠 吧。

You know better than to throw money into sitting expensive ESL classes, don't you?

Many Chinese immigrants in Canada want to parlay their positions in and knowledge of Canada and China into commercial, particularly in international trading, successes.

You must judiciously choose to read less and think more.

"Come on, Mr. dopey," the white man said, dragging the neck belt on one of his two dogs.

Tim Hortons seems to have always been in favor with Canadians.

By the way, "Tim Hortons" is a smarter choice of brand name than "Tim Horton's", which had been the preceding one, I think.

Relatively speaking, your possession of fundamental knowledge, such as Literature, Math, and human languages, is your illiquid assets, while your possession of applied knowledge, such as your trade skills, is your liquid assets.

How do you combine them and manage them?

Among female entertainment stars, there are two levels of wantonness. Nicole Kidman is one level, and Britney Spears the other.

Coffee is provided at no extra charge at that little Greek restaurant.

"Her gum is all bumpy. Her teeth are coming out," D said.

You saw those satellite dishes on top of house roofs? English literacy is like those, but in a person's head, hardly clearly visible but advantageous.

(billrdio / http://www.flickr.com/photos/billrdio/3973362866/ / CC)

OOP is just a layer, or dimension, of software creation. So are other whatever-oriented programming methodologies.

They are models, obviously. But are they also theories?

Our life is short. Amble along the beck, though.

In the future, what will possibly drain the massive wealth accumulated by China's government over the past decades? Wars?

So they'd better not to be involved in serious wars.

"Jack and Coke. Simple drink. There's nothing to it." the bartender said.

It must feel bitter for a CEO to be dismissed from his or her job. Given that CEOs get sacked quite often, why do so many people want to climb the corporate ladder and become a CEO or something? :-)

To go and work / study in a better place, be it Canada, the U.S., Harvard U., Princeton U., Stanford U., Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, or Google Inc., doesn't automatically turn a person into a successful one.

Thinking that it would automatically happen is a pious hope, or even a pipe dream.

Sometimes knaves are fools because they think others are fools.

Faye / Fay is an interesting name.

Some flicks are more cerebral than others. And some books more cerebral too. Which ones do you choose?

How much goodwill in the world does China have at its beck?

Through hubbubs created by journalists, the negative sides of public figures get to be learned by the public.

Those public figures need to discipline themselves well and develop a pretty good sense of risk.

Recent examples include Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anthony Weiner.

When will the inherited craze for real estate of Chinese bottom out? In ten years?

And when will it begin to fade away? In twenty years?

Pics - Struts

(Kaptain Kobold / http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/2531797176/ / CC)

(Aaron Webb / http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronw79/2528697060/ / CC)

Challenges and failures break you down to build you up, if you know how to let them to.

There are many levels of friends, many of whom slide into oblivion.

其實，生活是一個謎。你用什麼心法來解謎？

In ancient China, some poets cast their feelings into bawds.

Probably there's going to be a superfluous supply of Chinese financiers.

Some Canadian small businesses have been reluctant to invest more in technology. Well, that sort of kicking the can down the road just won't help them at all.

In certain degree, in the U.S. and Canada, flexibility is what the recursion of cutting the funding of cultural, social, and academic research programs during economically hard times reflects.

When the interest of all taxpayers and that of the groups whose interest gets harmed by the cutting collide, it is the latter who loses.

Rearing an infant is like attending a longish boot camp. And, you'll appreciate your free time greatly more after that.

Which man doesn't have pangs in his young years?

People relay messages about opportunities from the front line.

你過分繁複卻又不夠精深、過分感性卻又不夠理性的舞步，讓我終於在了解後放手。

擦肩而過，一期一會。我們共舞過一次。我盡力地和你共舞過一次。

For my part, I think many of Google's efforts have been pious.

A harlot knows how to sell herself.

J sugared his coffee, a spoon in his hand.

Coffee drinking is an atmosphere. A culture.

Long time ago, I already sensed that in the U.S. and Canada, first-generation Chinese immigrants are typically jadedly clogged in their own career advancements by their typically quite insufficient English skills.

It seems that a PhD degree in Science, Math, Engineering, or Business is no longer an open sesame.

Because the English language is so vastly versatile, people's wonted ways of expression can be drastically different, I feel.

Manage your points of espial. And manage them well.

It's intriguing that accounting professionals in North America are sort of dismissively called "bean counters". Is that a popular misconception?