Another iTunes but free P2P? The new iMesh 6.0 is totally copying iTunes' GUI...

Yahoo Fantasy NBA

Guess what, it's another year to begin managing a fantasy NBA team on Yahoo. Pure fun, no money reward, nothing, just a possible boast in front of your friends if you win at the end of the season. If you care about sports and NBA, try it. Because I was somehow lucky to win the public league that I enrolled in last season, I was entitled to enter the "winner leagues" that only accept previous winning managers, which, of course, expect to be more competitive than normal leagues.

The live java online draft that started at 9:30 tonight has already finished. One thing I really don't understand is why my team was randomly thrown to the very end of the 12-team list, making my first round pick only Gilbert Arenas, and many picks in later rounds extremely difficult, foooooock…

It's very unlikely to win this league this year, unless I would be making some big deals later on, or some disastrous injuries would take away some big players from my adversaries 8-). Anyhow, this is the player list for my team:

PG G. Arenas (Was - PG) Yahoo O-Rank 11 - - - First round pick, best available pick when it came to my turn, I remembered how much I was hoping the 11th guy may not pick AI…

SG C. Maggette (LAC - SG, SF) Yahoo O-Rank 32 - - - 3rd round pick, the best swingman when draft reached the 3rd round

G J. Nelson (Orl - PG) Yahoo O-Rank 85 - - - 8th round pick, just want to add more strength to PG position, he played well last season when Stevie Franchise was struggling without Mobley

SF A. Jamison (Was - SF,PF) Yahoo O-Rank 58 - - - I felt lucky to get him in the 6th round, he contributed a lot to my last year's team

PF C. Bosh (Tor - PF) Yahoo O-Rank 35 - - - fourth round pick, well, I'm a "Toronto Raptors Insider", so, let me pick one from Toronto, and hope he establish his leadership in Raptors and his stats goes up again in his third year in NBA

F C. Boozer (Uta - PF) Yahoo O-Rank 55 - - - 5th round one, this is a difficult choice, I don't like his style very much, he is also currently injured. Actually 5th round and 6th round came together to me, so, he and Jamison are picked simultaneously, a very close pair

C Y. Ming (Hou - C) Yahoo O-Rank 18 - - - Second round pick, immediately after Arenas, though he is not originally ranked at 13. Without him, I should not had participated in any kind of online fantasy game

C K. Cato (Orl - C) Yahoo O-Rank 161 - - - the last pick, only choose the veteran because I found save Yao no any other big guy was able to play center

Util M. Miller (Mem - SG, SF) Yahoo O-Rank 91 - - - 9th round pick, hope him shoot 3s more often and accurately to boost this category of stats for me

Util E. Boykins (Den - PG) Yahoo O-Rank 106 - - - 10th round pick, I'm just fond of him, a great combination with Yao to exhibit the greatest stature discrepancy in NBA

BN G. Hill (Orl - SF) Yahoo O-Rank 78 - - - 7th round pick, a big former star was once again in my team, though he will not be on the court until at least December, I would be satisfied when he is back and could contribute as much as he did in last season

BN U. Haslem (Mia - PF) Yahoo O-Rank 113 - - - 11th round pick, my bench player to add fuel on rebounds and FG%

BN E. Griffin (Min - SF, PF) Yahoo O-Rank 127 - - - 12th round pick, a quite versatile player I like that can contribute almost in any category when picking up his game, injury and coach's decision on his minutes could be the problem

Yahoo PhotoMail Feature Refreshes Privacy Debate

Just now I wrote a testing Yahoo! Photomail to myself to see what the difference it might have from sending URLs of uploaded pictures. Rather than the privacy issue described in this article, I have another minor technical concern: when I clicked the thumbnail in the email, I was presented the bigger picture on Yahoo! Photo, where I can download and save the full size (the original and biggest) version of the picture that is stored on their server for free to my local machine without having to log in my Yahoo! account. However, if I use the Photomail tool "Save to: My Computer" in the email, I get to the photo list page where I cannot download and save full size versions of these photos to my computer without logging into my Yahoo! account. Access denied. This is inconvenient for email recipients who happen to have no Yahoo! account, 'cause if they don't want to bother themselves about getting a new account, they have to download the photos one by one with more clicks.

Is it just me or is it some kind of ruse Yahoo! used to attract more users, or a defect that needs further improvement in the Beta version of the free service? Nevertheless, the feature that allows only the email recipient to see the photos online even without copying them to the senders' Yahoo! Photo album is very cool.

Personal Interests/Preferences (I)

Finally, I'll realize my promise by talking about my personal interests and hobbies. Let me start it today...

• E-commerce
  People always start introducing themselves with their professions and education background. I'll copy that. Ecommerce is my major in university, so I have to say, I love it. The knowledge in this area is profound and broad enough for anyone to study for his whole life time. Simply put, it is by far a rather attractive integration of the most advanced technology – internet – that you never know which direction it would develop to tomorrow, the most common human activity – business – that needs extensive administration skills and ingenious wisdom to survive and prosper, and the most crucial infrastructure of a modern society – law – that has coherently extended its foot over the www domain.
• E-shopping
  Unless the retailers still insist on their strategic decisions to stay only in brick-and-mortar, or show me no sign of enough online security measures, I'll rather try doing some B2C on the Internet. Fast and easy, safe and clear, nice and fun…There are no doubt many other types of business models out there, only exploring their amazingly tremendous/fancy and intricately designed websites, and using my limited knowledge to make several guesses of how on earth their online business work, are a fun.
• Sports, especially NBA
  Basically, I prefer watching a World Cup soccer match or a NBA Final game without having to go to the washing room now and then. I hate being interrupted when I was on something so addictive to me. I remembered I comprehensively familiarized myself with NBA when Jordan was about to retire from the Bulls for the last time. Nevertheless, I'm a still a big big fan of him, though we would no more see him play. I know NBA inside out, not only because of the numerous superstars and their ability to shoot, dunk, dribble, pass, or rebound the ball well, but also because of the sports spirit that you may perceive from several outstanding players and teams. Players' perfect skill and passionate heart, coaches' 随机应变 (I forget and can't find out the word, a French one) and "guiles", and the sweaty and fierce competition during the buzzer time, that's all I expected from the court. I do play sports myself, I know I'm a good jumper and runner, but obviously I would have much more time for that if I were 10 years younger.
• Classic Chinese literature, especially the four classic
  I can write the same content in Chinese significantly faster and nicer than in English, even in verse, if you do demand, save the content is literally unique in one language and the translation turns out to be too lossy and touchy. Of course, I experience more of that when C2E than E2C. Chinese culture is the biggest and longest continuation in human history, so does Chinese literature, which best skeletonize the immense and intensive culture. What we call "four classic" is constant reading material for me, as well as their CCTV & diverse audio book editions. Every time I flipped one or two out of the numerous pages I unearthed different/undiscovered meanings and philosophy between the lines and had the urge to make some individual comments, despite the fact that I was already quite familiar with every little story in each episode and every single character delineated in each book. My personal favour so far of the four ordered from strong to weak is "The Dream of The Red Chamber" – "The Romance of Three Kingdoms" – "The Journey to the West" – "Water Margin".
• Maths and physics
  This is the interest and habit that was developed when I was only a tad. I like the feeling of cracking an extra-complicated mathematic riddle after hours of logic deduction and proving. There definitely had no dearth of maths & physics puzzles everyday for me to figure out when my little life was all about tests and examinations on them. This is also the reason why Newton and Einstein are still my favourite idols. Unlike what American children are learning in high schools, the basic science stuff I learned in China was far far trickier but far less capable of cultivating a child's creativity. The puzzle could easily perplex a prestigious American professor, but its purpose was only limited to perplex you, which, you can see, reflects one of many fallacies in child education in China that could have many conflicts with its occidental counterpart.

(to be continued...followed by many, too many to tell in one time :-))

Karaoke

Yesterday I went Karaoke with another friend. Once again a familiar query arose: "Have you ever muffled the original singing sound?" so once again I put the microphone far away from my mouth and proved that the voice she just heard was indeed from my throat, ha!

Later when the list of the picked songs went through a song "她来听我的演唱会" (She came to listen to my live concert) from 张学友 (Jacky Cheung), though a very old one, its well-written lyrics plus my improvising, still moved us into tears, unbelievable…

I don't sing much in usual life, because I usually can't find anything in common between art and science and don't have enough energy to comfortably switch between the two worlds. When you are pondering over a programming code or scratching your head on initiating a business plan, the most beautiful music in the world from the radio is merely the most annoying noise. "拳不离手, 曲不离口", as a result, I was able to easily detect my diminishing singing skills after two hours' continuous howling.

In fact many people have potentials in various fields. But either because you even did not notice them or you chose something else that you feel is more suitable for your career, you have forsaken them as your lovely avocation. If I had not been occupied by e-commerce and so much computer stuff but had been sent to a conservatory to learn more musical theories and practices, I probably would have become a singer, an instrumentalist or something, who knows…

Network Network Network

These days I experienced some problems with my high speed internet connection. ISP can offer no more assistance because a vast array of speed tests seem always be running at an expected level when we telephoned them. I came across some very familiar network terms when I tried to figure it out by myself. Truly, only after something went wrong did I notice the necessity to always prepare oneself with all kinds of expertise, more or less, for the unexpected.

Some Network Terms for Relearning:

Adapter (network) - A circuit board that plugs into a computer to let the computer connect to a network.

Beacon interval - A beacon is a periodic broadcast by the router to keep the network synchronized. The interval indicates how often the router broadcasts the beacon.

Broadband - When multiple signals or channels (such as voice, data, and video) share the bandwidth of a single medium.

Browser - A program running on a computer which makes it possible to view and interact with the Internet.

Cable modem - A broadband device that uses a coaxial cable to connect to an ISP to access the Internet.

CAT 5 - The minimum standard of twisted-pair cable suitable for data transmission over a computer network

Data packet - A unit of transmitted data. For more information, see "packet."

Default gateway - A routing device that forwards data over a local network.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - DHCP lets a router or access point router temporarily assign an IP address to a computer on the network.

DMZ (demilitarized zone) - DMZ hosting lets a single computer on your LAN expose all of its ports to the Internet. When you set up DMZ hosting on acomputer, you bypass the security provided by a router. Consider port forwardingas an alternative to DMZ hosting.

DNS - A database that translates and stores domain and host names as IP addresses.

Domain - A set of IP addresses usually "owned" by a company. For example, in an e-mail address the name of the domain comes after the @ symbol.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) - A broadband Internet connection that uses an ordinary telephone line to provide a fast, "always on" connection to the Internet.

DTIM (Delivery Traffic Indication Message) - A message sent by the router to a wireless network device to indicate when the next broadcast or multicast message will be sent. This parameter is necessary to accommodate devices using power save mode.

Dynamic IP address - An IP address that is temporarily assigned by a DHCPserver. Many ISPs use dynamic IP addresses. When a computer connects the Internet, an ISP provides an IP address. When the computer disconnects from the Internet, the ISP reassigns the dynamic IP address to another computer requesting Internet access.

Dynamic routing - In dynamic routing, a router is configured to automatically generate routing information and share the information with neighboring routers.

Encryption - The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have the encryption key (code) associated with the encrypted data. Encryption is especially useful when you are using a wireless network because it prevents outsiders from accessing data. Each computer on a wireless network must use the same encryption code.

Ethernet - Ethernet is a common technology used to create computer networks.Wired Ethernet uses cables to link computers, hubs, switches, routers. Wireless Ethernet uses radio waves to create links.

Firmware - Firmware is programming that is inserted into programmable read-only memory (programmable ROM), thus becoming a permanent part of a computing device. Firmware cannot be modified by a user. Updating firmware requires a special program usually provided by the hardware manufacturer.

Fragmentation - The process of breaking data into small segments for transmitting. When the segments are received, the data is defragmented and returned to its original format.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - A simple method of transferring files from one computer to another.

Gateway - A system that joins two networks together.

Hardware - Physical equipment as opposed to software. A router is a hardware device.

HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) - A system that lets Web browsers and Web servers communicate.

Hub - A hardware device that joins multiple computers to create a network.

IP address - A a number that uniquely identifies a computer on the network.

IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) - A standard method for providing data confidentiality, integrity, and the authentication between participating hosts.

ISP (Internet service provider) - A company that provides access to the Internet. Most ISPs also provide e-mail addresses.

LAN (local area network) - A LAN uses network hardware, such as network adapters, hubs, cables, and wireless devices, to link multiple computers for sharing resources, such files, printers, and an Internet connection.

MAC (Media Access Control) Address - A unique number assigned to networking hardware, such as routers, hubs, and network interface cards by the manufacturer.

Mbps (MegaBits Per Second) - Transfer speed of 1 million bits per second.

Network - Two or more computers linked together for the purpose of sharing resources, such as files, printers, or a Internet connection. Routers are often used to link the device, especially if the network includes more than two computers.

Packet - A unit of transmitted data. When a server sends information, such as e-mail messages and files, through the Internet, the server divides the information into packets that contains identifying information called headers and footers. The system receiving the information uses the headers and footers to reassemble the information.

Passphrase - Similar to a password, a passphrase is a sequence of characters used by the router to create encryption keys.

Ping (Packet INternet Groper) - A network utility that determines if a remote device, such as a server, can be reached on the network.

Plug-and-play - If a device is a plug-and-play device, a computer can automatically detect and configure the device and install the appropriate software called a device driver.

Port - A computer program using TCP/IP sends information to another computer through a port. Ports are assigned numbers that come after a standard IP address. Many programs hide these port numbers to reduce the complexity of TCP/IP.

Port forwarding - Port forwarding, unlike DMZ hosting, lets a single computer on your LAN expose only one of its ports to the Internet. This type of port exposure has more security than DMZ hosting.

PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) - A communications protocol that combines the Ethernet and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) standards. PPPoEis sometimes used with broadband modems.

PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) - A protocol that lets a private network connect securely to another private network through private "tunnels" over the public Internet. This kind of interconnection is known as a virtualprivate network (VPN).

Protocol - A set of communication rules. When two computers or networksuse the same protocol, they can communicate with each other.

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) - A protocol used by a router to maintain routing tables of configuration information to filter incoming and outgoing traffic based on the IP addresses of the senders and receivers.

RJ-45 - RJ-45 jacks connect a computer to a router. In a wired network, one end of a network cable is plugged into the RJ45 jack on a computer. The other end of the cable is plugged into an RJ45 jack on a router. Data is passed to and from the computer and router through the RJ45 jacks.

Router - A hardware device that connects devices in a network. A router can also provide Internet access to the networked devices.

RTS (Request To Send) - A signal sent by a receiving device, like a router, that tells the sending device to begin transmission.

Server - A computer that provides shared network service to a network. For example, a server can provide file and printer sharing between networked computers.

SSID (Service Set IDentifier) - In a wireless network, the SSID identifies a network. All computer in the network must use the same SSID.

Static IP address - An IP address that is permanently assigned to a device.

Static routing - The routing of network information through a single, set path.

Subnet mask - This number identifies what subnetwork the computer is located on. This number is the same on all computers on a home network.

Switch - Like a hub, a switch is a hardware device that links computers to createa network. A switch provides better data routing than a hub.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) - A protocol used in connection with Internet Protocol (IP) to let computers communicate over the Internet.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - A combination of two protocols (TCP and IP) that lets computers communicate with Web servers.

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) - UDP is a simpler, faster protocol than TCP.UDP is used with IP. Unlike TCP, UDP drops packets without retries and packetsare received in a different order than they were sent. UDP is often used in videoconferencing applications or games where speed is preferred over guaranteed message delivery.

Upgrade - An addition or update to a program that provides additional features or "fixes".

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - A standard method of specifying a Web location. Also called a Web address.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) - A private network link that lets a computer communicate with another network over the Internet. VPNs usually use encryption to provide secure communication.

WAN (Wide Area Network) - A network that provides data communications to a large number of independent users spread over a large geographic area. A WAN often links several networks. The Internet is a WAN.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - A protocol that adds security to wireless local area networks (WLANs). WEP uses encryption to provide security.

This photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency shows Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong, left, and Nie Haisheng hold flowers in front of the re-entry capsule of China's second manned spacecraft, Shenzhou 6, after landing in Siziwang Banner County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday, Oct. 17, 2005. The space capsule carrying two Chinese astronauts landed by parachute in the country's northern grasslands before dawn Monday following a five-day mission meant to affirm China's status as an emerging space power. Astronauts Fei and Nie were 'in good health' and 'feeling good' after their Shenzhou 6 capsule touched down at 4:32 a.m. (2032 GMT) in the Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua News Agency said. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhao Jianwei)

New Sony VAIO Laptop

I get a Sony laptop. I admit that its outside looking rather than its overall functionality served as a big factor when I last year pondered upon whether to buy it or try some other competing type and brand. One reason may be that I'd been using some more practicality focused ones before I got Sony, and just want to switch to the fancy. Nevertheless the quality of the laptop proves to be pretty good, after over a year's continuing use by a heavy user like me...so far so good. Sony has built one of its strong brand traits with its unique design to differentiate its products from others. Many people that happened to catch a glimpse of the laptop were very likely to get quickly attracted only by its appearance. After the attention, the scarcest and most precious asset that any company strives to dig from its potential customers in this digital economy era, comes the deeper exploration…a very similar process when you are going on a date with a pretty girl... The standards one concisely or subconsciously uses to pick a laptop, amongst many other things, actually to some extend reflect one's thoughts on life, because life is random, and is all about making choices.

Now here arrives the newest VAIO update from the balloon reminder of the RSS reader, Sony VAIO VGN-S480 Notebook Review. No idea on how the hardware technology may have dramatically changed in the past year, just take a look :-P

"The Sony VAIO S480 is the perfect notebook for people that don't want to compromise on performance when it comes to their lightweight laptop. With a 2.13GHz processor, 100GB hard drive, DVD+/-RW dual layer drive, and integrated GeForce Go 6200, the S480 has the power to replace a modest desktop PC. But, with a 13.3” XBRITE widescreen display and a weight of just 4.3 pounds, this powerhouse just barely misses a classification of an ultra lightweight laptop. While the battery life could be better, and this first class package comes at a first class price, the VAIO S480 is a top contender all around."

Full Review >>

Email to Aunt, Child Education

Excerption from email sent out to my aunt some time ago...damn, when the hell will I get a child from a woman, spend my time educating her and watch her grow. Unimaginable, unreachable…

写水是写什么？最普通的最重要？中国教科书上的的政治历史就是扯，这改不了，小孩子都死背，其实根本不懂，不过还好是开卷。数学英语好就行，理化如果以后不学理就没什么用，考得好不好无所谓。女吖本就不擅长这个。至于高中到底学理学文我是倾向理的，到大学再学文。虽然说生理化的东西本身没什么用，但是一个培养理性逻辑思维的的过程，是对这个大自然的基本规律的认识，对以后她形成自己的世界观有帮助，比那些学共产党政治、马克思理论、死背历史的文科基本课我觉得有用得多，那些东西大人都没几个人真正懂真正相信又何必逼着小孩子去学，反而从小培养了中国人特有的“奴性”。到了她大了如果有可能的话自然会对中国历史和政治感兴趣，到时其实就根本不用人去教了。

愿望凑合，就是不要太钱钱钱就好，钱只是个人和人类发展中的一个必备的工具而已，任何情况下钱多了就是泡沫，一种失衡状态，都有瞬间破灭的高度危险。

考完就疯了，还担心我的事情来，笑煞人也，那娃儿啥也不懂，叫她记住这顿打，哈。

Integrate RSS Reader Into MS Outlook to Read Feeds

intraVnews
Use it before Office 12 comes out...
Description from about.com:

• intraVnews lets you read RSS and Atom feeds in Microsoft Outlook.
• Feeds can be downloaded to separate folder automatically or all collected in one intraVnews folder.
• Internet Explorer integration, drag-and-drop and an online RSS feed database make subscribing easy.
• intraVnews can automatically download linked web sites for offline reading inside Outlook.
• You can specify update schedules per feed or let intraVnews determine the perfect schedule.
• Old items can be cleaned up using Outlook AutoArchive or intraVnews' own cleanup schedule.
• intraVnews can alert you about new items using a news balloon.
• intraVnews subscriptions can be exported to and imported from OPML files.
• You can post to your blog from within intraVnews using IBlogExtension plugins.
• intraVnews supports Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/3/XP and Outlook 2002/3, requires .NET Framework 1.1.

New iTunes & iMac (Stream Videos From ZDNet)

I'm still not afraid to say that, he seems more like a salesman than a CEO...ha!

Video comes to iTunes
Five weeks after iTunes 5 comes iTunes 6

Steve Jobs unveils latest iMac
Thinner model with Front Row remote

Steve Jobs shows off iPod with video
Announcement ends video speculation

Offline Browsing

I know offline browsing is not something new, it's actually quite ancient, as ancient as the browser itself, because it is basically just using the temporarily downloaded cache in your machine to display the web content that you previously viewed.

Several friends told me that they simply cannot see my weblog site in China, no matter how many times they've refreshed the page or how many browser alternatives they've tried to use…So, it is a further confirmation of the inaccessibility of Blogger.com in China. This really sucks…

Although I can tell them to use particular proxies which I cannot name one, or on my side, I can save every page of the site in my computer and wrap them up by compression, and send it right away to them, but in terms of the latter, what is missing is the structure of this site that is enough clear online. When they open every page in the package, though with every entry's publishing date on it, they may still feel without clickable hyper links and many missing pictures and Flashes it's just as messy as hell. This is but a simple weblog site, what if it is a site with an extra tanglesome infrastructure?

Well, I find the freeware "WinHTTrack Website Copier", a pretty old one, but simple and fast. I didn't use it before because with high speed internet jacks or Wifi connection everywhere nowadays I didn't see the necessity. But after I used it, I found it has done an excellent job, especially for its ability to restructure the site and group the downloaded files in respective folders created locally, and its ability to intellectually update (detecting the new website structure, deleting the content that no longer exists online, adding content newly uploaded, etc.) the mirrored local website when you simply click "update". Sending the package that is created by the software is much easier and more efficient, and most importantly, your friends are now able to view your site just as if they were visiting from the real domain.

Do You Get NBA Live 06?

Just found out that NBA.com has used video clips from EA Sports' NBA Live 2006 to "officially" preview and illustrate each team for the coming 05-06 season, man. What a perfect business alliance that has been becoming more and more seamless each and every year. I've been playing this game series for six years – that's to say, an old enthusiast that still uses keyboard stroke combination to get into the action, but still has the strong feeling that, a video game was just a video game and a real NBA game is a real NBA game, the huge gap between them is actually unfillable, no matter how advanced the animation technology is going to be, how realistic the salesmen claim the games are, or how drastically the AI of your rival will be improved when you connect to EA Online. Using a video game illustration to promote the video game was commercially acceptable but cognitively misleading for those who want to know NBA and real basketball. However, it's still quite exciting to see some familiar crossovers, dunks and freestyle moves.

Why I Prefer Blogger over MSN Space

Windows 95 prevailed, thereafter IE has been bound; Hotmail was acquired, integrated into Outlook Express, Windows Messenger and the .Net framework. Then MSN was established, MSN Messenger prevailed. Afterwards MSN space came out, set into the contact card of your MSN Messenger account. Then followed by many other upcoming integrated products...Let me talk about my preference of Blogger to MSN Space:

• Many people just get fonder of Google than Microsoft. Based on whatever fantastic products and services that Google has offered to internet users, it has conveyed some psychological suggestion to many people that, when something is under the flag of Google, it won't be overshadowed by Microsoft, on the contrary, it has a better odds to prevail. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer vows to "kill" Google "in its honeymoon", then Google and Sun shook hands to start deploying their plot against Microsoft, it's just fun to watch them compete, and the third party – the customers – will benefit from the tussle.
• Editable template with HTML code. When I see the word HTML, I associate it with the word Hotmail. But neither in your Hotmail mailbox nor in MSN space can you do some HTML code editing. Some people suggest MSN space create some options with the option values "tenderfoot, light users", "adept, middle users", and "expert, power users" for all their users so that they can maximize the customization for their web presence, but those Microsoft staff may just get so overwhelmed by their new product Windows Vista and Office 12. I happened to click through some blogger's weblog sites, and found them do not look like weblog sites at all after lots of nice and smart editing.
• Free speech. This doesn't apply to Americans. Anyone in MSN space can post denouncing words or amusing photos of George Bush, but not for Chinese words "Jiang Zeming", even only the name itself, as well as many other "sensitive" words that are quite normal but the government deems as "subversive". MSN learns to be submissive to Chinese Government in this matter, like what many other big companies have manipulated to their products – automatically filter political words or even sell China specialties to do the filtering, all of which make me sick. Unfortunately I'm not the kind of person that just totally ignores politics in China, so sometimes I have the need for some space to express myself. This could also be the reason why the Blogger, a pretty normal weblog site, is inaccessible in Mainland China.
• Unlimited photo uploading. What amazed me and many other people first, back to last year, was Gmail's gigantic capacity – now keeping increasing every second – and its integrated fast searching ability, then comes the photo hosting on Blogger. There are millions of personal weblog sites out there therefore there should be thousands of pictures, big or small, uploaded onto photos.bloggers.com per second. What a titanic servers' hard drive stack network that Google has to establish to meet the needs!
• Many other ins and outs

Well, those are little personal thoughts in post-purchase phase, not in the pre-purchase phase. When I started to create this blog site I really didn't have as much thinking as these.

A Guess of How iTunes' "Smart Shuffle" Might Be Designed to Work

iTunes 5.0 has a feature which enables users to "control how likely you are to hear multiple songs in a row by the same artist or from the same album". This is an easy guess on how it works:

When you drag the slider right in the middle, it is set to true "random", absolutely a random calculation by the CPU and thereafter the corresponding choice, every item gets the same possibility of being chosen as the next one to be played, no matter how you may feel it is not. When you drag it to the right, depending on the distance percentage of how much you move to the right end, the algorithm deducts a same percentage number of songs with the same artist or same album name (including the song right in playback) from the library, and then makes a true-random calculation in the remaining library. When you drag the slider to the end of the right, the percentage reaches 100% thus all the songs from a same album or artist are all put away from the choosing pool, so you won't hear any of these songs immediately following the current song, unless in your library you just don't have any two songs that have different artist name and album name. The same method applies when you drag the slider to the left, what is different is the objects of deduction – they are the songs with a different artist name and (not or) different album name from the song currently being played.

Just a random guess. It is very likely that they have used a much simpler/more complicated means. But even after I have adjusted the slider exactly to the right end, I still hear two songs from Andy Lau in a Row, freak! This is not right…

A Little Tip

I found that that after I intalled Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 I cannot play stream video files in Windows Media format embeded in a web page (not the type that with one click to directly open Windowa Media Player and play the video in the player itself), either in Firefox or IE. In IE I just don't get nothing and in Firefox I get the message box shown above. Don't know why, maybe Firefox just steals some .dll files from WMP or has some software conflicts...weird..I reinstalled WMP 10.0 and the videos now start running, all fixed.

Ok, I got it: Game: Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge
Scheduled For: late 2005
Game Type: 3D Action / 3D Strategy
Developer: Spellbound Software
Publisher: Atari
Homepages: http://www.spellbound.de/web/en/sb.php?m0=p_d2&r0=p_d...
FAQs: None listed by 3D Gamers
Requires: Windows / Direct3D
Supports:
Multiplay: None
Keywords: third-person / real-time / Historic / tactical
ESRB Rating: Unavailable

When will the next instalment of this game series come out? The original one was just fabulous! Gamespot somehow runs so slowly under its new shell...it's said the second one will be totally 3D engined, like a FPS.

Art

有人说一个人如果爱权，爱钱，爱色，都行，如果真正爱上艺术，这个人就完了，不可救药了，因为他的生命感悟从此进入了一个无底洞，美不胜收得让你永远目不暇接，从而变得痴，变得傻，逃不出，跑不开。我不是搞艺术的，没学过艺术，学的东西更是和艺术毫不搭界，博大精深的艺术门类我都说不上来，但就是那么一点点感悟，也足以让我说出一段道理来。

艺术之所以迷人是因为他和科学有一个本质的区别：不管你读过什么科目的博士硕士，除非你有惊人的智慧、想象和创造力，能在所学之上发展出一个似乎没有道理，但事后能证明，让人折服的理论来，你所做的不过是采前人之所长为己用，在你的脑袋里多装了一堆既定的事件和道理以备后用而已。但艺术则不同，在很多情况之下，艺术是没有道理可讲的。一件伟大艺术品往往不会和你谈道理讲逻辑，你只能静静地去感受领悟它的美。所谓只可意会不可言传，如果用语言来表达也不过是“好美啊”，“的确有美感”之类的话，再多的话写出来似乎也显得肤浅和多余，因为人的思维能力远远超出语言文字这种表达工具所能覆盖的范围。这就像数学极限里的一种说法，说这个自然数大到什么程度？答曰大到不能说，一说，就不大了。若非要用一种科学的解释来解释审美的原理来，比方说世上万物都有一种对称性，这是一个基本的审美观，为什么会有这种感觉呢？是因为通过视觉或者其他感官产生一种生理神经系统上的愉悦。那又问为什么这种产生愉悦的生物物质会在人体里产生呢？是因为有外界刺激，万物都有一种保持原来状态的特性，有外界刺激就有相应程度的反应。那再问为什么既然万物都有这种“懒惰”的惯性但是这个世界却一刻没有停息呢？如此如此，絮絮叨叨，刨根问底，永远也不可能探究出原委来，也显得根本没有必要，虽然，这种刨根问底的毛病是一个伟大的科学家必备的品质，因为只有那样他们才能在看似再简单不过的理论构架的最底层推翻或演绎出根本不为众人接纳的基本观点而重塑整个理论体系。真正艺术的美正是有这种不可言传、雾里看花、超凡脱俗的特性让学惯了“科普知识”的人似乎完全避开了“逻辑”的束缚，抄最近道与有着无穷未知的宇宙基本法们来了个亲密接触，用一种截然不同的“不在理”的方式来理解这其中的无穷奥妙，这也是艺术的最大魅力所在。

随便写写

红楼梦第三十二回写道：

正说着，有人来回说：“兴隆街的大爷来了,老爷叫二爷出去会。”宝玉听了便知是贾雨村来了，心中好不自在。袭人忙去拿衣服。宝玉一面蹬着靴子一面抱怨道：“有老爷和他坐着就罢了，回回定要见我。”史湘云一边摇着扇子笑道：“自然你能会宾接客老爷才叫你出去呢。”宝玉道：“那里是老爷，都是他自己要请我去见的。”湘云笑道：“主雅客来勤，自然你有些警他的好处，他才只要会你。”宝玉道：“罢罢，我也不敢称雅，俗中又俗的一个俗人，并不愿同这些人往来。”湘云笑道：“还是这个情性不改，如今大了你就不愿读书去考举人进士的，也该常常的会会这些为官做宰的人们，谈谈讲讲些仕途经济的学问，也好将来应酬世务，日后也有个朋友，没见你成年家只在我们队里搅些什么！”宝玉听了道：“姑娘请别的姊妹屋里坐坐，我这里仔细污了你知经济学问的。”袭人道：“云姑娘快别说这话，上回也是宝姑娘也说过一回，他也不管人脸上过的去过不去，他就咳了一声，拿起脚来走了，这里宝姑娘的话也没说完，见他走了，登时羞的脸通红，说又不是，不说又不是。幸而是宝姑娘，那要是林姑娘不知又闹到怎么样，哭的怎么样呢。提起这个话来，真真的宝姑娘叫人敬重，自己讪了一会子去了。我倒过不去，只当他恼了，谁知过后还是照旧一样，真真有涵养心地宽大。谁知这一个反倒同他生分了，那林姑娘见你赌气不理他，你得赔多少不是呢。”宝玉道：“林姑娘从来说过这些混帐话不曾？若他也说过这些混帐话，我早和他生分了。”袭人和湘云都点头笑道：“这原是混帐话。”

无意中随手抄了一段，很直接的反映出宝玉的叛逆性格和他和黛玉在“仕途经济”上看法的不谋而合，是一个当时社会里俗人中的哲人。我喜欢宝玉这个人物不是因为他帅，更不是因为他群花拥簇，可以和众MM谈谈情跳跳舞，倒是因为他在那个环境中有一种他自己无名的迷失和困惑，有着与其年龄不符的痴，傻，疯。我不想说现代人多半活在这个世上很迷失，因为我自己也很迷失，甚至有时都不觉得有何迷失，活得好好的嘛。但无论古今，在一个混沌俗世里的确很难保持高度清醒，无意识中全身心的就被一些东西占据了，跳不出来。来随便说说我的迷失。

迷失之学无止境

虽然20过了一半，在国外也混了个高科技类的“时髦”硕士，懂得的东西不少，学过的知识不乏，英语可以说得一溜一溜的，啰里八嗦的也可以好好的做个presentation，头头是道的教一教自己的弟弟妹妹个理儿。但之所谓学无止境，回头仔细看来我所知道的，就算是每个知识技术细节我都了如指掌，与认识这个世界比起来简直不值一提，整个人类的有限见识对于苍茫宇宙也是沧海一粟。人们信奉各种自然和社会科学，各门科学可以在其范围内直接的解决问题，属于智力范畴；科学遇到阻碍就求助于哲学，哲学可以在各科学的大层面上更渗透地窥探道理，属于类“舨若智慧”范畴；还不能解释的就崇拜宗教，希望能在似幻非幻的禅佛基督阿拉面前寻求未知。毫不懂神学的科学家不会是一个好专家，因为他的思想局限在了人类有限的智力范围内，跳不出如来的手掌；毫不懂科学的神学家也不会是一个好神父，因为他的思想会没有对物质的基本认识而空洞和异化，变得毫无意义。世界万物都是一个高度统一又极度多样化的矛盾体，永远猜不着摸不透的本质让这些追求变得无止境，否则我想到了头的话一个宇宙的永恒真理“求变”也就失效了，人类和万物的也就荡然无存了。

一个个体一生所能做的，就只是希望在追求中的某一领域做出点不同于他人的成绩，得到各种形式的回报以满足自己各种形式的心理和生理上的欲望。这种追求的过程和手段在多数人眼里是崇高的，它就是崇高的，在多数人眼里是丑陋的，它就是丑陋的。然而抛开这些有约定俗成的法律和道德约束的手段方法暂且不谈，这种追求的无止尽性就很易让人走入类似“因空见色，由色生情，传情入色，自色悟空”的虚无处境，因为到头来肯定就是一大圈回来悟得“一场空”，就像孙悟空先头取回一堆无字真经，除非你有爱因斯坦的智商，黑格尔的头脑，耶稣的圣洁，否则你很难在你有生之年用净毕生心血做出一番推动整个人类世界观发展的事情来。也许这个要求实在太高，但一旦你认识达到这个高度，带给你的不是压力和动力，更多的确是无尽的挫折和无奈。有道是“知足常乐”，限定一个尚可达到的目标，造福他人，满足自己，体验过程，悟人生这本无字经，那倒也是一个庸俗却很实用的处世哲学。驻足迷失在此，未可知也。

迷失之文化冲突

不要简单理解成吃不惯西餐，说不好英语，这里要说的，是一些更深层次的东西。不同于千年文明始祖的东方哲学，近代西方的概念哲学之“终极识度”以数学为知识的形式典范，以逻辑为理性的标志，创造出了伟大的科技物质文明。出国的中国人多半是不满足于国内的种种状态，来求得一个更好的物质文明的状态，说得白话一点就是追求物质享受和精神自由。瞧瞧高度现代化的ecommerce，各式各样没有欲望节制的花花大世界，无人约束的“百花齐放”，信马由缰，这种反差引起的吸引力对过惯了水深火热的政治生活的中国人毫无疑问是强大的，远远超越了一种民族感情和文化熏陶后的约束力，所以很多人出来之后就实际上就已经不自觉地把自己血液里的精髓也一并放弃了。顶多“回头是岸”地回觑一下，心里其实已是义无反顾了。我不想说这样下去的话会在民族精神的终极层面上亡国的大道理，那样也不会有人听，毕竟还是屈原的那句话“世人皆浊”。多数的人可以去好好的去做一个“明哲保身”的炎黄子孙，做一个美国人，加拿大人，甚至让你的子子孙孙都留在国外，不会有谁去贬低，反而连我自己都觉得在目前是一种崇高的人生追求，孝顺父母爱老婆的表现。但我要说的是我毕竟是土生土长的中国人，我不想做一个生得黄皮肤黑眼珠却不会欣赏东方文明古国璀璨文化的人，一个试图抛弃血统盲目崇洋在老外面前酸不拉叽的人，一个装出憎恨反华非常爱国却根本不知道自己爱什么的人，正所谓有爱才有恨，不爱就不要装恨。

这里有很多政治问题，很多人是由于政治迫害来到国外的，我想这些人也是中华儿女，其中不乏各界精英，强烈的爱国人士和民主人士，看到他们的有关民族命运深入剖析的文章我不得不佩服，这样的网站很多，我不想展开谈了。

对于这种物质文明西方哲学的追求，引用一句“禅话”：这种科技文明在给人类带来各种物质方便和享受的同时，也带来了“缘在”的异化，诗意的枯竭，“人与世界相互缘发构成的存在论关系被平板化、逻辑化为主体自我与客体对象之间的认识论关系，以至于‘存在’变成了一个无家可归的、最空洞的概念。很多海外的华人不得不承认在其奋斗的过程中深层的精神世界反而会变得更空虚，停下了手中的活儿，精神上就会变得无所寄托，只想变着方的发泄。正所谓天地本不全，事无巨细均有缺陷，如果说任何一种文化都有其发展积累过程中不可避免的缺陷的话，西方的这些文化范畴绝对有其不为人道的抑制弊端，不管你是爆炸型发展的因特网，还是NASA里头最玄乎的秘密，肯定总有月盈圆缺此消彼长的大趋势，只是生在其中却不知庐山真面目，当世甚至下世下下世看来，是一种大趋势罢了。若是千八百年前，你会这样认为么？自认为现存的西方文明绝不是对东方文明的全盘否定，异质文化精神的弘扬不一定要以抛弃传统的美为代价。很多少有积累的空泛意识形态在东方文明世界里简直不值一提，而是应该寻求东西优秀哲学和文化的互补融通作为一条海外华人回归中华传统文化，弥补精神思维沟壑的道路。

迷失之色即是空
欲知后事端的，写看下文分解。（歇歇，累了：））

Pilot

Excerption from The X-Files Season 1, Pilot Episode, 12 years ago...The first meeting of Scully & Mulder, sweet memory.

(Note: The characters, plotlines, quotes, etc. included here are owned by Chris Carter and 1013 Productions, all rights reserved.)

(The elevator rings and the door slides open. Scully steps out into the basement and comes to an office secluded in the back. She knocks on the door.)

MULDER: Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted.

(She opens the door to see Agent Fox Mulder sitting at his desk, going over some slides. Walking slowly to him, she sees various pictures of UFO's and a poster that reads "I Want to Believe" with a UFO on it. He looks at her.)

SCULLY: Agent Mulder. I'm Dana Scully, I've been assigned to work with you.

(He shakes her hand.) MULDER: Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded? So, who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail, Scully?

SCULLY: Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot about you.

MULDER: Oh, really? I was under the impression...that you were sent to spy on me. (He smiles.)

SCULLY: If you have any doubt about my qualifications or credentials, th...

(He stands and takes out a paper from a pile with his telephone as a paper weight.) MULDER: You're a medical doctor, you teach at the academy. You did your undergraduate degree in physics. (He takes off his glasses and looks at the paper.) "Einstein's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation. Dana Scully Senior Thesis." Now that's a credential, rewriting Einstein.

SCULLY: Did you bother to read it?

MULDER: I did. I liked it. (He takes a slide canister and puts it into the slide projector.) It's just that in most of my work, the laws of physics rarely seems to apply. (He walks past her and turns off the lights. She glares at him slightly.) Maybe I can get your medical opinion on this, though. (He presses a button on the control and a slide comes up on theviewscreen of Karen Swenson, face-up.) Oregon female, age twenty-one, no explainable cause of death. Autopsy shows nothing. Zip. (He changes the slide to that of the two bumps on her back.) There are, however, these two distinct marks on her lower back. Doctor Scully, can you ID these marks?

SCULLY: Needle punctures, maybe. An animal bite. Electrocution of some kind. (She walks up to the viewscreen. He changes the slide to that of a molecular diagram.)

MULDER: How's your chemistry? This is the substance found in the surrounding tissue.

SCULLY: It's organic. I don't know, is it some kind of synthetic protein?

MULDER: Beats me, I've never seen it before either. (The next slide is of a boy face-down on railroad tracks, his shirt liftedin the back.) But here it is again in Sturgis, South Dakota. (The final slide is of a close-up of another set of bumps.) And again in Shamrock, Texas.

SCULLY: Do you have a theory?

MULDER: I have plenty of theories. (He walks over to her.) Maybe what you can explain to me is why it's bureau policy to label these cases as "unexplained phenomenon" and ignore them. Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials? (He whispers the last few words eerily and she smiles.)

SCULLY: Logically, I would have to say "no." (He nods, having expected that answer.) Given the distances needed to travel from the far reaches of space, the energy requirements would exceed a spacecraft's capabilties th...

MULDER: Coventional wisdom. You know this Oregon female? She's the fourth person in her graduating class to die under mysterious circumstances. Now, when convention and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?

SCULLY: The girl obviously died of something. If it was natural causes, it's plausible that there was something missed in the post-mortem. If she was murdered, it's plausible there was a sloppy investigation. What I find fantastic is any notion that there are answers beyond the realm of science. The answers are there. You just have to know where to look.

MULDER: That's why they put the "I" in "F.B.I." See you tomorrow morning, Scully, bright and early. (He walks back over to his desk and sits down.) We leave for the very plausible state of Oregon at eight A.M. (She smiles and walks out.)

Myth III: The Wolf Age, Episode 2

I really like the language the game script uses, leading readers to the exciting mythologic world of civilization, let me make an exact copy here:

May 23rd, 1430 A.E., At the edge of the Dire Marsh

The story of Yursgrad spread throughout the Gower townships, and the bells of victory were sounded. Yursgrad became a rallying cry for the townships. The young warrior who led his clansmen to victory was heralded as the Savior of Gower. The elders of Yursgrad bestowed upon him the name Connacht-meaning 'deliverance'.

In the years that followed, other battles were fought and won against the Myrkridia. The name of Connacht the Devil Slayer spread throughout the lands, bringing hope with it. With this dream, the isolated clans of Gower began to unite for the common defense, and a unified Nation of Gower was born.

The clansmen, led by Connacht, decided to do the unthinkable. More than defending their villages from the Myrkridian horde, they would bring the battle to the Myrkridia themselves. Using daytime assaults, the men of Gower began a counter-attack that did eventually push the nightmarish devils back into the Dire Marsh from whence they came.

All of Gower rejoiced at their army's victories. But, the Myrkridian threat was far from over. The murky lands of the Dire Marsh were dangerous enough to travel through, let alone wage battle in. The perpetual gloom of that cursed swamp meant that the regularly nocturnal devils were constantly active. The Myrkridia made their warren-like nests from the very rock and muck of that vile swamp. If left unmolested, they would repopulate their losses with terrible speed.

While marching along the outskirts of the marsh, a scout returned bearing news. He had laid eyes on a large cave, piled high with skulls, and adorned with pendants of rotting skin. The army had found their first Myrkridian nest. With great trepidation, a small force was dispatched to exterminate the devils from their lair. It would be the first time that the eyes of a living man were to look upon the horror of a Myrkridian lair.

Learn to Relinquish

In my next blog I'll talk about my personal interest and philosophy, that is, some critical and ultimate thinking, Weltanschauung, like that ;P

Organizational Culture

Ok, let's get away from most of the entertainment stuff posted below and plagiarize some more academic words here talking about "organizational culture", a very familiar phrase that I ever took a MPA course to study but hardly can now recollect the details. I wrote a report of a cultural analysis on a public library after some observation and several interviews with the managers asking about the answers to the questions that were previously prepared. The paper is based on the so called "artifacts", "espoused values", and "assumptions". Here follows some concept reviews that look to some extent friendly to me:

(From "Introduction to E-commerce", 2/e, by Jeffrey F. Rayport, Bernard J. Jaworski)

Understanding a company's culture is complicated by the fact that culture resides in the background; member of an organization tend not to be consciously aware of it. A further complication is that many elements of culture, including underlying values and assumptions, are not directly observable but rather must be inferred from the "feel" of an organization and its patterns of action, communication, relationships, and so forth. For these reasons, deciphering and interpreting a particular culture is perhaps most easily accomplished by referring to generic culture types.

A number of models of organizational culture propose four or five generic culture types. One such model differentiates cultures along two dimensions: the degree to which the organization is outwardly versus inwardly focused and the degree to which the organization relies on highly specified roles, processes, and routines. The four resulting culture types are called adaptive, committed, bureaucratic, and entrepreneurial. Keep in mind that the an organization may not fit precisely in any one category; although one generic type is likely to best describe the culture, elements of each of the other cultural types are also likely to be found.

Orientation – external, specificity – low: Entrepreneurial
-Unbounded by rules and precedents
-Willing to take risks
-Flexible
-Innovative

Orientation – external, specificity – high: Adaptive
-Proactively identifies issues
-Good at planning and setting goals
-Responsive to market changes
-Outcome-oriented

Orientation – internal, specificity – low: Committed
-Emphasizes internal cohesion, participation, teamwork, and loyalty

Orientation – internal, specificity – high: Bureaucratic
-Emphasizes stability, established routines, and formal authority