Echo.2

See Wired News

有點可怕的故事，看來就是一種洗腦的過程。由 MPAA 決定怎麼樣的行為是 “a good digital citizen”? 這就像是由一個集權政府告訴你怎樣是『正確的思想』。 MPAA 不思索如何去因應因科技帶來的挑戰，卻像一個末日極權，經由各種荒謬手段來保有其獨大的地位，努力的保護其獨占發行管道所帶來的利益。

Quote form the news:

The program presents a “tremendously one-sided view of copyright,” says Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “There’s no balance; it’s entirely corporate driven. If anything, it’s an exercise in how efficiently you can brainwash students.”

A BBC News talks about how a study shows that students are getting loyalty to certain computers in computer labs. Well, I guess it is simply that all computers are not built equally. Some are certainly more reliable to others. However, it seems that it is human nature that one needs to believe in something, including computers.

Well, I do hope my computers to be loyalty to me. Don’t break down when a what seems to be a harmless update is applied.

When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.
— Harry Truman
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連結最近兩則與 postdoc 有關的新聞。

Link 1

Link 2

剛剛看人討論提到 “純量” 這個字眼，突然間覺得怪怪的，因為有 “純量” 就好像有 “不純量”。『純量』在數學上的英文是 “scalar”，字源是 “scale”，所以 “scalar” 是表達『尺度』的東西， 也許翻成『尺度量』比較能表達其原意。順便查了一下 “Vector” 的字源，找到 “Latin, carrier, from vehere, vect-, to carry”，突然間了解了生物裡用 “Vector” 的原因。以前對 “Vector” 的字義都是從數學角度來看，所以一直不懂生物裡用 “Vector” ( defined as “A bacteriophage, plasmid, or other agent that transfers genetic material from one cell to another”.) 的原因，看過字源後就豁然貫通了。

I wrote a small application for Mac OS X with Applescript and Python. The application allows you to send a note to store on SonyEricsson T610/T616 phone. It should work with other phones that use similar protocols. The applicaiton can be downloaded here.