Drift

同個實驗室的學弟來信談到未來以 concept drift 為基礎的新研究方向，附件裡計畫書的品質，比印象中他原先的水準要好許多，已經隱然有大將之風。拿到學位的前一年，還覺得這位老弟仍然「嫩」的很，距離獨立作業還有段距離，離開學校半年，赫然發現除了停滯不前的自己，每個人都在成長。

新題目很有意思，距離我原本在校期間想嘗試推動的研究方向很接近，和網路界實務上關注的角度也更靠近了。不過，自從三個月前回到產業界任職，這些都距離我益發的遠了，在人生的時間線（timeline）上，我 drift 到原先並沒有想過的軌道上來。

2010 年的最後一天，和同事談起以前曾經用心關注的話題，忍不住多說了幾句，還留下一個恍若隔世的感嘆，當晚就被學弟們在網路上好生調侃了一番，這可是一百年前的天寶舊事了，可不正是隔世麽？

其實倒也不是一味的傷春悲秋，只是對人生的詭譎和瑰麗的讚歎罷了。

回到產業界雖然偏離了五年前的規劃方向，公司產品的技術方向，也不是原先比較擅長的領域。但現在的日子實在挺有趣味的，在過去江湖這麼多年的經驗裡，從不曾在一個這麼「和諧」的環境裡工作，技術的掌握和趨勢的領會，也每日都有新的刺激，雖然總會有這些、那些職場上免不掉的噪聲和行政責任，但人生就是這麼回事，不是嗎！？



後記：

• 因為青春期某些不愉快的經歷，每到年底心情都會陷入低檔，在發過想找人喝酒、想找人打架、想找人 #$%&*!..... 的牢騷之後，有位童鞋慷慨的願意提供他的 iPad 讓我發泄，Jing，我一定不會辜負你的好意的。

• 文棟、向量，下回去北京出差，一定會提前通知你們地

• 我現在越來越適應在黑豹的歌聲中寫東西了 XD

[Video] 7Billion, Living on Earth

到 2011 年底，地球上約莫有兩百個國家，將有 70億人口，用超過七千種語言彼此溝通。

[Video] Super heroes

Hooray，搞資安、稽查的都是 super heroes....

[Video] 正面思考

在 Blog of the Rants 看到這個影片，表現的手法很有意思，如果換成由渾厚的男中音旁白，可能更好一點。

比開發推薦系統更好的賺錢方法

上周末，資訊科技和財經類媒體紛紛報導，Paul Allen (微軟的共同創辦人，地球上最有錢的人之一），控告（起訴書）各大網路及資訊廠商侵犯了他所投資公司 Interval Research 所擁有的專利，被告苦主包括：Aol, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, Officemax, Staples, Yahoo, and YouTube，有人說除了微軟之外，所有人都是他的標的。

依照 Wired 的報導，其中兩個專利和推薦系統有關，一個專利是根據消費者這正在閱覽的頁面來決定向用戶推薦物品，另一個則是根據讀者正在閱讀文章的內容和超連接，向讀者推薦新聞故事。

Forbes 的專欄作者 Lee Gomes 對這則新聞的反應很直接：

This is yet another example of the cynical use of the American legal system to extort money out of successful companies — in the name of protecting innovation and innovators. Shame on Paul Allen for being part of it.

顯然 Paul Allen 瞄準的對象口袋深度都很夠，這齣戲的劇本很簡單，一個有錢人，伸手到其他有錢人的口袋撈錢。我不知道保羅大哥，除了賺更多錢之外還有什麼其他不可告人的深意，層次不到，無法揣測超級有錢人的心意。不過這時候回頭看看 Wired 1999 年底的文章Think Tanked，滋味很特別。

Resys 諸君，有沒有人想去念個法律學位呢！？

（明日）黃花

相逢不必忙歸去，明日黃花蝶也愁

Get used to it

ted 在 Friendfeed 上分享了據說是比爾蓋茲在一所高中所發表的演說，提出學子們在學校學不到的十一件事。雖然天下雜誌網站上用令人誤會的排版和行文說『專輯精采重點：原文時代雜誌十大最成功的大學輟學生』，但是時代雜誌的Top 10 College Dropouts 文中並沒有這一段演講摘要，不過這十一點的原文Some rules kids won't learn in school可在網路上找到（感謝谷歌），事實上這不是比爾蓋茨說的，而是 Dumbing Down Our Kids 一書作者 Charles J. Sykes 於1996年9月19日發表在 San Diego Union-Tribune 上 op-ed 專欄的短文。根據 About.com，原文共有十四點，不是十一點：

• Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase, "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.
• Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)
• Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school.
• And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.
• Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.
• Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grand-parents had a different word of burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
• Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.
• Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
• Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4)
• Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interesting in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)
• Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.
• Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
• Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
• Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
• Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.

對於已經過了 n 個 25 歲生日的你（妳），抽煙還是禁果之類的忠告早就失去失效（expired）了。但每吹熄一次生日蛋糕上的蠟燭，你（妳）益發明白生活是不公平的，實在太XD有道理了。不幸地，對於這點，唯一的對策就是習慣它吧！