For one thing, social networking websites can enhance his information intake, while it can suck away and away his precious time on the other hand.
We have to make the best of that conundrum.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Rain break
(Picture from http://goo.gl/tWh3g)
The other week, when I was sitting out a sudden big pouring of rain in a shopping centre, I thought, why some people tend to curse an occasional break like that from daily routines? For those people who the timing of the breaking rain didn't wreak real inconvenience, what was so bad about it?
People tend to become lonelier and lonelier, in this world with more mobility and less face-time.
When loneliness snipes, how can one gather himself and keep his wholesomeness?
No wonder movies and novels have been selling quite well.
No wonder movies and novels have been selling quite well.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The speaker in the "Subway" sandwich outlet is blasting out loud pop music officiously, right above my ears.
I am deprived of my right of choosing not to listen to it. Gee, consumer rights are hard to protect, especially when they are attacked through the air. :-D
I think statistics is more artificial than arithmetics, or counting. (But maybe I am wrong.)
Consider "1 + 1 = 2" vs. "P(A intersection B) / P(B) = P(A given B)".
The sample space must be big enough, yet controlled and without outside interferences.
The sample space must be big enough, yet controlled and without outside interferences.
The taste of a person being a producer may be on a different route than that the taste of him being a consumer is on.
How to reconcile them?
And Einstein stated that imagination is more important than knowledge.
And Einstein stated that imagination is more important than knowledge.
It suddenly dawned on me that Wikipedia has dominated my conscience and judgement about what is important and what is not.
(Picture from http://goo.gl/015Uh)
If something or someone is not sufficiently mentioned in one or more Wikipedia entries, which means that no one has bothered to write and edit information about that something or someone, it implicitly equals to that that is not important enough, in my mind.
The advancing of the intelligence apparatus of any government is so imperative.
But that must be highly confidential state secrets and I, a civilian, rarely see any information about that in public media.
I've been torn between fully embracing the red hot social networking such as Facebook and shunning it.
(Image via http://goo.gl/9iH2G)
Straight at the beginning, I had researched on that and found Facebook was a waste a time.
And just now, I googled that again. Still, I've found that Facebook, is a waste of time for individuals. (But maybe it's not the case for businesses.) See this article. Moreover, some people have said Facebook is so yesterday. (Man, that opinion makes me feel good. :-)
So, my personal Facebook account will remain dormant, I expect.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Article via web - 伟大的孩子
If you can read Chinese, I would highly recommend this article: 伟大的孩子-心理健康与家庭教育-搜狐博客. Sighing... For the rough-and-tumble callousness which has been permeative in the past and current parenting in the homes in China.
Sometimes, no protestations make any differences.
(Image via http://goo.gl/4ro4Q)
However, making a difference on others may not be the real purpose of the person uttering protestations. Read: cathartic.
Stuff
The marketplace is full of stuff
But much of it is just fluff
Many crowds of people puff
And some other ones bluff
- Initially written in July 2009
- Tried to revise in December 2010 but did not succeed
But much of it is just fluff
Many crowds of people puff
And some other ones bluff
- Initially written in July 2009
- Tried to revise in December 2010 but did not succeed
Europe's sophisticated major transportation hubs, such as Paris and London's Heathrow Airport and St Pancras international railway station, are incapacitated by unexpected wintry treatments.
Here goes a piece of news at NYT: Snow Hampers Travel in Europe.
This mayhem proves that non-private organizations are essentially not good at predicting changes and then taking effective measures accordingly.
This mayhem proves that non-private organizations are essentially not good at predicting changes and then taking effective measures accordingly.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Career vis-a-vis family (Chains of economic values vis-a-vis chains of loves)
(Image via http://goo.gl/OcdMX)
I for one sometimes suspect that the concept of "career" resulted from the combination of the intentional devising by the corporate world's propaganda machines and the somewhat unintentional devising by a small group of really high achievers in the past.
If you entirely buy into that popularized notion of "career", my friend, then you risk ignoring the fact that a more powerful force over your prospect as a worker is the iron law of SUPPLY AND DEMAND, which governs the labor market and an individual's work life all the way. When you enter a labor market and work in it, you are entering a system of chains of (economic) values, and you are not entering a system of chains of loves, essentially. As human beings, we need love. So, my friend, when you are still not too old and discouraged to build a family, you want to do that by all means, for the benefit of yourself and the society at large. Think about that. And think hard about why family life is such an entrenched value in the North American culture.
Straight from the heart - Vintage music video - 齐秦 - 柔情主义
Lyrics copied from http://goo.gl/A0rTk :
柔情主義
作詞：王念慈 作曲：齊秦
She Loves me She Loves me not She Loves me....... 哦讓我輕輕地告訴你我的romance baby 我偷偷地愛上了冬天的暖陽 我悄悄地墜入了大海的情網 我不知不覺無可救藥地為愛感傷 濃濃的柔情 是止不住的淚 隱隱的刺痛 是我滴血的心 濃濃的柔情 是止不住的淚 隱隱的刺痛 是我滴血的心 而我卻只能默默迴避你冷冷的眼光 而我卻只能輕輕地 輕輕地告訴你 讓我輕輕地告訴你我的romance baby 我墜入深深的哀傷 (She loves me) She Loves me She Loves me not 柔情是我們的主張 我們說著千篇一律的地久天長
Note to myself:
There's a best live version of the song at http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY2NDkzODgw.html but I couldn't embed it into this blog post. Find a way to do that later on.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
My realization of my own ignorance has gone up a notch.
For one thing, it has dawned on me just now that I still don't really grasp why the U.S. government initiated and kept its war, together with its allies, in Afghanistan, against the backdrop that many civilians in the U.S., Canada and other Western countries seriously oppose it, and how the average people in Afghanistan have lived since the Taliban had assumed significance within the country.
My opinion regarding Intel has dropped some notches over the last few years.
Their technical competence, their relevance, and their handling of suppliers seem to be slipping. Well, their top brass will feel knots of uneasiness, especially against the promising ARM chip technologies and the cheap chips from AMD, in the forthcoming years. Here is some quote from http://goo.gl/FD6ze :
ARM Holdings Plc, the top designer of processors for smartphones, is pushing into chips for server computers and aims to start eroding Intel Corp.’s dominance in that market in 2014.
Server manufacturers are already looking at chips based on ARM’s technology, Chief Executive Officer Warren East said last week in an interview. The designs will help create lower-power computers, which will make data centers more efficient. Still, the effort will take years to bear fruit, he said.
Through douban.com , I reconnected with my past self in some senses.
Tender feelings have been called to drift up.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
My reason adjures me to work harder, while my comforts allure me to meander and slack.
And that is a typical tug of war every single human being constantly deals with.
The fears over nuclear wipe-out of the human kind are scarcely the elephant in the room.
The U.S. military and intelligence units have been scrambling across the world, including Iran, North Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. They must be quite jaded.
As RIM continues notching up a larger market share,
the prospect of it reaches lower. Its inertia will not prolong. It is really badly in need of raising its game vis-a-vis Google and Apple.
Friday, December 17, 2010
I for one don't like very much the fact that the U.S. society condones extreme competition at workplaces.
On a related note, google "逃离北上广" (a new phenomenon in China) if you like.
The works by the marketing and PR arms of Google Inc. are so understatedly elegant and enrapturing.
One of my friends once said I am a Google fan.
In order to compete in and contribute to this globalized world in this era which is post the democratization of computing, English fluency is no longer sufficient,
and a measure of real proficiency in informational apparatus (a.k.a. IT, if you will) is mandatory too, for average Joes and Janes.
The rapid advances or changes of the society can feel nipping sometimes.
That is a piteous conundrum that most of us are put in, I am afraid, my friend.
So far, the lyrics of The Shins are the hardest ones for me to understand, in the pop music of the English world.
But, man, they're such an excellent band. And the music and lyrics created and performed by them are really substantially poetic.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Vial (Part 3)
At the beginning he had not gotten the funds
Although he was a premier intellectual in his field
He had the officials' numbers to dial
To circumvent the paperwork pile
Although he was a premier intellectual in his field
He had the officials' numbers to dial
To circumvent the paperwork pile
European university students have been notching up violent massive protests one after another, such as in U.K. and France.
The tax dollars redistribution measures over distinct societal welfare streams seem to be in need of a serious overhaul, both in the U.S. and the Old World.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The apparition of the conflicts between the North and South Korea must be immensely unsettling in the geopolitical and geo-military landscape of the Yellow Sea.
Extended periods of real peace are hard to come by.
Music video - The Shins - Australia
The lyrics are here: http://goo.gl/3l9kB .
The Shins, is in fact a must-know band in the American Indie Pop scene. Apparently, the band was sheerly bootstrapping on a low budget while making the above music videos. Nonetheless, I really get a kick out of the song. So here I turn it in, hand it in, and kick it in to you. Listen on (albeit the lyrics are a bit clunky).
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Money is a bosom friend that no one should ignore, but
its imperativeness shouldn't be blown up so out of proportion that it chokes up an individual's trains of thought. Otherwise, life wouldn't be wholesome any longer, and greed would thrive unrestrainedly.
Facebook 只是米国的豆瓣，
就象 Twitter 只是米国的新浪微博（饭否会翘吗？），Google Reader 只是米国的抓虾一样。:-) 玩笑玩笑。
种米两国的 information streaming 服务商的发展路径必然会有不同。拭目以待。
种米两国的 information streaming 服务商的发展路径必然会有不同。拭目以待。
Streaks of breaking daylight
Strangely, a new dawn doesn't usher a better day
Will the upcoming hours be star-crossed?
Anticipating the living
A bird starts to flutter its rained wings
Will the upcoming hours be star-crossed?
Anticipating the living
A bird starts to flutter its rained wings
Monday, December 13, 2010
Once, or several times, upon a time, I lived in pained numbness, not mere melancholy, weary of the surrounding and somewhat engulfing world.
Human experience has its highs and lows. And we tend to, occasionally, reflect on what we once were desperate to escape from.
Maple leaves and northern snow, reflected upon flags
(Image via http://goo.gl/e4TVN)
For the most part, I am a man who tends to be numb to colors. But the other day, while in the snow, a national flag of Canada came into my sight, and the dually colorful configuration on it struck me, somewhat surreally. I did a double take. It is red and white.
Coincidentally, in terms of colors, the university flag of McGill U. is also red and white.
My unverified guess is that all those flag color constellations trace back to that maple leaves are red and northern snow is white.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader are three powerful vehicles for people's information streams.
How individuals' own information streams evolve will be quite intriguing to look at.
Keywords: Information stream, filter, discovery, limited time, limited attention.
Keywords: Information stream, filter, discovery, limited time, limited attention.
I miss the rain dropping off roof gutters in my childhood hometown.
The rain and chains of feelings flowed off myriad gutters into rivers of no return.
Information overload over individuals is part of the Zeitgeist.
One must discern over what information to read and what not to. According to what sort of criteria or standards is he able to do that best?
Vial (Part 2)
Some competitors will have some secret bile
But bad luck is not for them a good alibi
I have put in my numerous hours and paid my due
Anyone can see that in my log file
But bad luck is not for them a good alibi
I have put in my numerous hours and paid my due
Anyone can see that in my log file
Blogging has become passe for the better part of the people that have ever tried it out, I suspect.
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks serve them and their lives a lot better.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Mixed Martial Arts fighting has developed into such an idolatry in Canada's pop culture.
Regarding its consumers' psyche, I for one conclude that human nature obviously is really enormously complex.
(Image via http://goo.gl/Grylt)
The death of a classic open-hearted gentleman & "Pavane" of Gabriel Fauré
The death of a classic open-hearted gentleman
Misbelief in feast friends
Misplacement of the money
Misfit in the mercenary society
Mishaps guaranteed by the ungrateful
(Inspired by the tragedy of "Timon of Athens", this plain poem of mine, is plainly in stark contrast to the sublime music unrolled in the videos assimilated in this blog post. Just the same, it serves as one little experiment for me.)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Is cheap gas really passe?
If so, we'll see some really profoundly significant changes in our life and society.
So many contrivances are so artificial and subtle
that they desist from being effective in their places before long, naturally.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Video - Google's brand new Nexus S smart phone marketing video
The Nexus S smart phone has wowed some people. On a related note, I'm waiting to see if Facebook is going to bleed into the smart phone market and compete with Google along yet another front line, given that it already did so with the unveiling of its own email service.
Moreover, here go some interesting quotes from YouTube:
Highest Rated Comments
I for one don't like running the gauntlet of rush-hour transportation.
No wonder more and more people in Canada prefer working from home.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Article via web - 英语专家如是说 - 学英语就得查词典
英语专家如是说
http://www.sina.com.cn 2002/07/29 10:33 《英语学习》
学英语就得查词典。初学阶段也许一本简单的英汉词典就够用了，但是随着学习的进展，单单一本词典往往解决不了学习中所遇到的种种问题。这时候了解不同词典的特点，知道什么样的问题查什么词典和怎样去查就变得十分重要。英汉词典用起来比较方便，但是代替不了英英词典。原因是英汉词典只是用汉语翻译一个词的各种含义，而英英词典则是用英语解释一个词的基本含义。翻译不是解释，具体语境多种多样，词典不可能提供所有可能的翻译。而且由于两种语言之间存在巨大差异，通过汉语去学习英语词汇会造成认识上的误区，导致使用中的错误。英英词典是用英语解释英语，这有助于准确掌握一个词的基本含义，而了解了基本含义，不管语境怎样变化都能结合具体的语境确定一个词的具体含义。例如，英语中insist, persist翻译成汉语都可能是“坚持”，这样的翻译并不能准确表明它们的基本含义，英英词典则不然，它告诉你insist的意思是“to say firmly and repeatedly that something is true, refuse to let anyone say no”，persist的含义则是“to continue to do something, although this is difficult or other people warn you not to do it”。又如“He arrived in New York last January.”这样一句话我们很可能理解为“他去年一月到达纽约。”但是我们查一下英英词典就会发现last在这里的意思是“most recent, the nearest to the present time”。在这个具体语境里last January的正确含义应该是“今年一月”而不是“去年一月”。将一个英语单词和一个相应的汉语单词等同起来在初学阶段是难以避免的。但要想学好英语，要想逐步摆脱汉语的影响，查英英词典，学会用英语解释英语则是必须走的一步。
学习使用英英词典越早越好。幸运的是我们现在有几本专门为初学者编写的英英词典可帮助我们提前实现这个目标。首先，这些词典都是用最简单的词汇来释义。例如Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English释义所用词汇不超过2,000个。例如epilogue的解释是“a speech or a piece of writing added to the end of a book, film, or play”。其次，它们都很注意初学者在使用英语时可能遇到的实际问题。例如，它们都在名词后面标出[C](可数)和[U](不可数)。这就告诉我们象news, information, equipment这样一些词是不可数的，前面不能用不定冠词，也没有复数形式。因此，“一个好消息”就不能译成“a good news”而应该是“good news”；设备数量再多也只是“equipment”而不是“equipments”。另一本常用的这类词典Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English在动词后面用VP (verb phrase) 1, 2, 3……这样的记号标出它的用法。例如在suggest后面它标出VP6A, C, 9, 14。这说明suggest的宾语可以是一个名词、一个动名词、一个名词性从句、一个名词带一个介词短语。像“他建议去看戏。”可以译成：“He suggested the theatre.”，或“He suggested going to the theatre.”，或“He suggested that we should go to the theatre.”。一些初学者容易把这句说成是“He suggested to go to the theatre.”，也许是因为汉语里有“去”字的缘故。
学习使用英英词典越早越好。幸运的是我们现在有几本专门为初学者编写的英英词典可帮助我们提前实现这个目标。首先，这些词典都是用最简单的词汇来释义。例如Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English释义所用词汇不超过2,000个。例如epilogue的解释是“a speech or a piece of writing added to the end of a book, film, or play”。其次，它们都很注意初学者在使用英语时可能遇到的实际问题。例如，它们都在名词后面标出[C](可数)和[U](不可数)。这就告诉我们象news, information, equipment这样一些词是不可数的，前面不能用不定冠词，也没有复数形式。因此，“一个好消息”就不能译成“a good news”而应该是“good news”；设备数量再多也只是“equipment”而不是“equipments”。另一本常用的这类词典Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English在动词后面用VP (verb phrase) 1, 2, 3……这样的记号标出它的用法。例如在suggest后面它标出VP6A, C, 9, 14。这说明suggest的宾语可以是一个名词、一个动名词、一个名词性从句、一个名词带一个介词短语。像“他建议去看戏。”可以译成：“He suggested the theatre.”，或“He suggested going to the theatre.”，或“He suggested that we should go to the theatre.”。一些初学者容易把这句说成是“He suggested to go to the theatre.”，也许是因为汉语里有“去”字的缘故。
英英词典的数量和种类都比英汉词典多。学会使用上述为初学者编写的英英词典是最好的过渡。一旦开始使用英英词典，你在学习上就会有一种豁然开朗的感觉。这说明你的学习到了一个新的阶段。俗话说，多个朋友多条路，我们可以说：多一本词典多一位老师。如果说英汉词典是中国老师的话，那么英英词典就是英国老师。
作者介绍：
张载梁：北京外国语大学英语系教授，1932年生于宁波。1954年北京外国语学院英语系本科毕业，1957年研究生毕业。留校工作后历任英语系副主任，联合国译员训练部主任，首创中国同声翻译课程。
除教学工作外，曾任中国人民志愿军停战谈判代表团翻译队翻译(1953)、阿尔巴尼亚地拉那大学英语教学顾问(1963-1966)、联合国教科文组织第18届大会中文同声翻译组组长(1974)、联合国日内瓦办事处首席中文翻译(1988-1993)等职。主要著作有《同声翻译的培训》、《同声翻译的断句技巧》等。
- Recycled in December 2010
Music video - Dr.Dre & Eminem - Forgot About Dre (From "The Up In Smoke Tour" DVD)
I for one have got problems with the typically offensive lyrics of this song. There's nearly always some pissed-off or angry undertow in hip hop music.
But I really like Dr. Dre's music. I really do.
Bay Street of the U.S.A. (Part 5)
(Image from http://bit.ly/9Bgp7q)
You can't say all pretended are my scruples
Just some of my staff will try to screw
The clients who should know better than
Sheerly trusting snug and luxurious offices
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The divulgence of Wikileaks cables has made so much top brass nervous.
This whirlwind of Wikileaks, which has been inflicting crushing impacts on multiple fronts, is a watershed from where the environment that politicians operate in will be enormously different than before. Tread the water very carefully, guys and girls.
Sublime - Music video - Espiritu – Giorgia Fumanti
The song's name, "Espiritu", is a Spanish word that means "spirit".
Sublimely beautiful music, innit? It's poetry, innit? Give it up for poetry in life.
For my money, the singer's even better than Enya. Suave. In fact, I'm proud that she's a Canadian. Such an ode.
Black funeral and white wedding
The wretched apothecary sold the potion
Nuptials was white and funeral black
Unseasonably denizens desisted from
Passing their time sitting in Café Verona
Monday, December 6, 2010
Two brief articles - 陶杰 on "BBC的大裁员"
BBC rules the roost when it comes to top-notch world-oriented media. The being of BBC is definitely one of the major reasons that U.K. is likable and has been innovative all these years.
Quote (Touche!):
大裁员
&
货架和货
Quote (Touche!):
世上没有了BBC，毕竟就像人类史上少了一座金字塔。Here go two brief pieces by 陶杰 on the massive lay-off at BBC in around 2007:
大裁员
&
货架和货
Vial (Part 1)
Staring in his hand at the phial
A pink flush appeared on the researcher's face
I have found it, he thought
I have found the pleasant molecular pile
A pink flush appeared on the researcher's face
I have found it, he thought
I have found the pleasant molecular pile
Dichotomy
(Image via http://goo.gl/aYU2C)
December's white snow dissembles the black soil
And soft soil covers up the beneath hard rocks
Actions feigning time walk the benighted monkey
Through the dichotomy between winter and spring
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