My RSS output

40 Seriously Funny Print Ads

2009-11-15T04:53:00Z

Though many of them are interesting, and this one is definitely not the top one, but it's the cult things that make us smile.

雖然這篇文章中收集的40個廣告都很有趣，而且這個一定不是最好玩的，不過裡頭有內行人才知道的梗，我更喜歡這種。

23. KISS FM 97.7: Father

via webdesignerdepot.com

Permalink | Leave a comment »

White wine I drank recently

2009-11-14T14:21:00Z

Called "Cordier Prestige", the white wine is semi-sweet with fruity aroma. Not as watery as some others I've tasted; maybe because it's from 2005.

via tweetie

Permalink | Leave a comment »

My dog Oreo

2009-11-14T11:34:00Z

This is the Flickr album of my Golden Retriever called "Oreo", and this post is a test to Posterous's new Flickr album embed function. This should be fun, enjoy.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Fake "Ökogreen"?

2009-11-14T02:43:00Z

Seems like a "copycat" version of the Ökogreen (生態綠, a Fairtrade affiliate) brand.

via tweetie

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Untitled

2009-11-07T18:19:21Z

via tweetie

Permalink | Leave a comment »

電子產業與不可逆的未來

2009-11-13T15:36:02Z

Businessweek網站上登出了一篇題為「Taiwan's New Tech Dreams」的文章，提到台灣的電子產業在先前一段時間的低潮之後，希望趁著景氣逐漸復甦的機會，積極尋找轉型的可能：

Why the urgent shifts? While Taiwan plays a vital role in the global tech industry, it is strongest in low-margin businesses such as PCs and components. That has created a dead end for many manufacturers, which face constant pressure from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), Sony (SNE), and other big customers to cut prices. "The business model is kind of hitting the wall," says Bill Wiseman, a partner with McKinsey in Taipei. So companies are preparing for the post-PC era by diversifying into other, more mobile devices and building up their own brands.

為什麼台灣的電子產業急著轉型？因為台灣廠商所擅長的低利潤電腦和組件業務，在被國際大廠壓迫降價之下，已經讓許多製造商碰到了瓶頸。因此，台灣廠商在這個『PC後』時代都急著找其他出路、做更多行動產品、或是建立自己的品牌。（我的摘要翻譯）

這也就是我先前在「小筆電是產業的福還是禍？」這篇中所擔心的事情。雖然那篇主要講的是小筆電，不過只要是台灣公司代工、價位較低的電子產品，大概都會碰到相同的問題：景氣影響銷量、品牌廠商壓低代工成本、代工廠商再壓縮零組件廠商利潤、零組件廠商為蠅頭小利和維持產能而不得不接單。

從這個角度來看，廠商尋求新的、更具競爭力的、利潤更高的機會是好事；不過Businessweek這篇多半在敘述，而沒有分析的文章中提到了三件事情，是必須注意到背後意思的：

Free Starbucks Wi-Fi Used to the Extreme

2009-11-13T14:20:00Z

Bringing your laptop or netbook to Starbucks occasionally isn't anything special, but lugging all your MS Flight Simulator gear with you as well might be a bit too extreme. Let's just hope this guy has a friend helping him carry all this stuff out later.

via techeblog.com

在咖啡館開飛機？我也很想這樣幹已經很久了，但我只會玩模擬飛行，沒有那麼多高級裝備。

I've wanted to do this for a long time. Though I am quite a fluent flight simulation pilot, I don't have all the high-end gears like this one does.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Jeremy's Boxxx：當權者一點都不在乎我們

2009-11-13T08:14:07Z

在政治立場或情緒上，我應該算是溫和派的，但最近放水球事件、美牛進口與中科四期環評的新聞，實在令人感到不斷累加的憤怒！我的憤怒心情就像是Michael Jackson的經典歌曲《They Don't Care About Us》一樣，他們真的不在乎我們，這裡的「他們」指的就是政府！

...

這三則新聞都不是藍綠的核心爭議，無關統獨，但卻是一再再地無法傾聽小老百姓的聲音，讓人怒不可遏，就如同Michael歌詞裡的一段「告訴我我的權利而今何在/Tell me what has become of my rights，因為我的渺小讓你視而不見就可以忽視我嗎Am I invisible because you ignore me ? 」

via blog.roodo.com

這篇文章也是我想說的話。最近沒有時間和能力整理這方面的想法，所以直接推薦這篇文章，請關心這些基礎民生議題的朋友去看看。

The Taiwanese government is deceiving people, especially who are in the agriculture prefectures, on issues such as importing potentially hazardous American beef and internal organs, passive attitude to illegal gamling on professional baseball leagues (similar to the Black Sox Scandal in the US) and using farmlands in central Taiwan to assist highly pollutional manufacturing industries (called "Science Park"). We care about these, but the incapable, selfish government doesn't seem to.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Make Milk Foam in Your Microwave for Gourmet Froth at Home

2009-11-13T08:12:48Z

Wish you could get a good froth on your coffee but don't want to shell out for a frother? Cooking weblog The Kitchn details how to make your own gourmet froth at home with your microwave and a mason jar.

You can save a ton and still make amazing coffee at home, but if you miss the finer elements of your coffee shop brew—like, say, a good, frothy foam—you're not out of luck.

via lifehacker.com

自己做咖啡奶泡的簡單方式：

把要用份量的牛奶放進有蓋的罐子裡。
把罐口盡量轉緊，然後用力搖30秒，讓牛奶起泡、變成原來的兩倍體積。約需30秒時間。
打開蓋子，把罐子放進微波爐加熱30秒；此時泡泡會浮上表面、並透過加熱定形。
將牛奶用湯匙舀進咖啡裡，最後再將泡泡舀到咖啡表面。

前兩天還看到凱洛提到一種方式，是將一片鋁箔揉成球，丟進罐子裡，然後再搖。也許這樣會產生更多泡泡，不過之後的加熱應該是個重要的步驟，讓泡泡不會消散。

Except the steps mentioned in the quoted article, my buddy Carol taught us a tip for making more milk foam: take a piece of kitchen aluminum foil and rub it loosely into a ball; put the ball into the milk then shake.

I think this should produce more bubble then just shaking the jar, but the heating process is an essential step to keep the bubbles in shape. Will try next time. :)

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Jeremy's Boxxx：當權者一點都不在乎我們

2009-11-13T03:44:00Z

在政治立場或情緒上，我應該算是溫和派的，但最近放水球事件、美牛進口與中科四期環評的新聞，實在令人感到不斷累加的憤怒！我的憤怒心情就像是Michael Jackson的經典歌曲《They Don't Care About Us》一樣，他們真的不在乎我們，這裡的「他們」指的就是政府！

...

這三則新聞都不是藍綠的核心爭議，無關統獨，但卻是一再再地無法傾聽小老百姓的聲音，讓人怒不可遏，就如同Michael歌詞裡的一段「告訴我我的權利而今何在/Tell me what has become of my rights，因為我的渺小讓你視而不見就可以忽視我嗎Am I invisible because you ignore me ? 」

via blog.roodo.com

這篇文章也是我想說的話。最近沒有時間和能力整理這方面的想法，所以直接推薦這篇文章，請關心這些基礎民生議題的朋友去看看。

Permalink | Leave a comment »

RSS發瘋，抱歉！

2009-11-13T02:37:07Z

如題。因為最近在調整RSS輸出內容的關係，所以發生暴走的情形，噴出了一堆舊的內容，造成您的不便，非常對不起！ m (_ _) m

Oreo愛跳霹靂舞

2009-11-12T18:28:30Z

這天Oreo雅興大發，跟著音樂就跳起1980年代流行過、在地上轉來轉去的霹靂舞（是說音樂不太對就是了）。為了表演也顧不得遮掩，就直接真空上陣吧！

其實，真正的原因是秋高氣爽狗兒癢，下個週末該帶它去洗澡了。（數錢心痛貌）

參考閱讀：模仿Oreo滾動的跳法：

Bathroom Fails Around Fail Nation

2009-11-12T12:06:00Z

Picture by: Kramerica Industries Submitted by: dunno source via Fail Uploader

via failblog.org

They call this FAIL? They should have been to the public bathrooms in China. Those are WORLD WONDERS.

這就叫做「失敗」？老美未免也太大驚小怪了，有空應該到中國大陸的公廁去參觀一下，那個才叫做「奇觀」。:P

Permalink | Leave a comment »

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3"

2009-11-12T11:37:36Z

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks

I am a loyal player of the "Call of Duty" series of games, but no, I am not becoming a violent person shooting real people for fun. I have been expecting the Modern Warfare 2 episode for some time, and I would go buy a copy when it's available here. However the parodied Modern Warfare 3 also looks fun and should be a good time killer (why I would have so much time to kill?).

我是「決勝時刻」系列遊戲的忠實玩家，從第一代開始，每一代遊戲大概都從頭到尾玩過50次左右；最近新出的「現代戰爭2」看起來不錯，應該會去買一套。不過網路上搞笑媒體Onion做的「現代戰爭3預告片」看起來也不錯。和平總是比較無聊的，不過這樣也好。據說這個版本拿來殺時間不錯，但我好像沒有那麼多時間可以殺。:P

Permalink | Leave a comment »

China’s 2009 Military Recruitment Propaganda Posters

2009-11-12T09:53:00Z

via chinasmack.com

各國都有徵兵海報，沒什麼稀奇，不過會看門道的人就可以從裡頭看到很多東西。舉個簡單的例子，裡頭的武器（尤其值得注意的是單兵武器）都是新的：新型的、剛貼過開箱文的。另外，不同的文化和建軍風格也會有不同的展現方式。最簡單的道理：能刊出來的設計，都是大頭們看過點頭的。

原文刊出的一系列中國徵兵海報，雖然構圖、色彩、攝影都稍微比較現代化了，但基本上仍然不脫蘇聯式大艦巨砲、人海戰術的格局。

不過這張海報就有趣了。一票看起來都是女性的飛行員，後面一排看起來應該是「殲8」的戰鬥機，中間一位跳起來做出好像日本卡通片中的萌動作。我相信這個畫面拍了很多次才成功抓到那個瞬間，不過一來沒什麼意義、二來實在是太超現實了一點。

Every country has its variations of recruitment poster for armed forces, no big deal. But if you're into military stuff, you might be able to read between the "lines". For instance, the weapons (especially individual gears) are mostly brand new in terms of model and cleanliness.

The design and appealing angle also demonstrate the country's cultural and attitude toward the military force. Simply put, the posters must have been approved by the high-rank stars.

The image, color and photography of the Chinese posters in the original article are relatively modern, however they are still showing strong influence from the traditional Soviet style of big guns, goose steps and "it's an honor to repay our motherland".

The photo above is the most interesting one to me: a group of seemingly female pilots in front of a line of fighter jets (look like J-8), but the one in the middle makes a Japanese anime-style hop to show her energy and cuteness. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and that's quite surreal.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Terms and conditions of software localization

2009-11-12T04:17:27Z

Translators are Volunteers

By participating in the Translator Program you are volunteering your time and efforts to the promotion of the Evernote service and, we hope, expanding the enjoyment and value of the Evernote service to those for whom language might otherwise be a barrier. We hope that the benefits others obtain due to your contributions will be appreciated by you as well as by them, and thank you for your efforts. We must make clear that, whether or not Evernote utilizes your work in the Translator Program, Evernote is under no obligation to pay you any sum of money or otherwise provide you with any compensation. Evernote also retains complete discretion to select any or none of the translations and other contributions you may provide in the Translator Program, or otherwise.

via translate.evernote.com

I have nothing against utilizing the community or volunteer effort for product localization; I am just wondering how it benefits the software maker, the volunteers and the software users. Are they well balanced? How would the overall quality be? Will this approach benefit the industry?

這是某個軟體公司徵求志工，為旗下產品進行介面翻譯的部分啟事內容。現在似乎利用這種方式「省錢」的廠商越來越多了；只要召募得到夠水準的志工，這樣做可以節省成本、提昇相關社群的向心力、造福外語程度不足的使用者。

然而，這樣的手法之下，廠商、志工、以及使用者各能有多少獲益呢？這三者之間的獲益是否能夠均衡呢？廠商本身用在管理專案和品質控制方面的努力，會不會其實高過找傳統的專業翻譯廠商呢？如果這種手法廣泛使用，對於軟體業、以及所謂「軟體本地化」產業又會有什麼影響呢？我很好奇。

Permalink | Leave a comment »

技術譯者的基本功

2009-11-12T05:04:51Z

讀者sweetmorning在我昨晚的文章之後留言問了個問題；因為問題和那篇文章關係不大，而且我希望可以好好回答，所以拉出來另外寫一篇。

sweetmorning說：

……我在科技公司做翻譯。我的英文能力還夠用，但是資訊科技方面的知識卻非常貧乏。雖然公司裡的人都很好，在工作上會盡量幫我解答，不過我還是希望有天能獨當一面，不要麻煩他人，所以一直在想辦法增進自己對於資訊科技的認識。

每天上網看文章，好像只是讓我比較熟悉一些名詞，我還是沒有半點基本概念。例如我說不出處理器、繪圖晶片、匯流排...這些東西是做什麼用的，因為沒有概念，翻譯時常常卡住。

……能不能請您推薦一些能幫助我建立基本概念並加強相關知識的書籍或網站呢？（自己搜尋感覺像是亂槍打鳥，也不知道看到的是對或錯，品質好或壞）或是有什麼建議的作法，能幫助我更紮實地累積自己的工作實力？！

雖然我很想快速幫上忙，不過想了想之後還是只能說，幹這一行沒有捷徑，您需要的就只是努力和時間。

以下所說的不是在炫耀什麼資歷；相反的，只是在證明我沒什麼了不起、也不是天才，還是得花時間一步一步慢慢走。

惡搞的復古作業簿

2009-11-12T03:44:24Z

via vawlog.blogspot.com

"Hasta la vista, school."

Elementary school notebook parody.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Symbian還有機會嗎？

2009-11-11T20:06:32Z

OStatic網站在今天刊出的「Symbian基金會已經掛了嗎？」（Is the Symbian Foundation DOA?）這篇文章中提到：

當Nokia宣布該公司成立Symbian基金會的時候，引起外界的不少注意；透過這個基金會，Nokia迅速掌握了機會，主導這個目前市佔率最高、已成為開放原始碼的行動通訊平台。然而在短短一年半之後，Nokia似乎已經將這個地位拱手讓給了Android；該公司不僅沒有認清來自Android的威脅、並且想出因應策略，甚至還先批評Google對Android的開發「閉門造車」，而沒有想到本身連一行程式碼都沒有放出來。Nokia要刮別人的鬍子之前，應該把自己的先刮乾淨。
（以上是我的摘要意譯）

其實，這篇文章可以當作我一年多前所寫「Nokia收購Symbian，然後呢？」這篇的「續集」來看。我那時候提到對Symbian系統前景的看法是：

如果Nokia之外的47%手機市場或多或少都玩起Android，用這個原本就開放、而且有Google背書的系統，當作一顆好大的備胎，這時候守著Symbian的Nokia、以及賣Windows Mobile的微軟將會是受傷最多的兩家。

GO: Google Launches Its Own Programming Language

2009-11-11T05:32:00Z

Today the search giant released Go, an open-source development language that Google believes will combine performance with speed, and one that the company probably hopes will reshape the development and software industries in its favor.

Go is based on the C programming family, one of the most widely used programming language trees in the world. However, the twist is that incorporates elements of Python (a preferred development language within Google) and the Pascal/Modula/Oberon family to make faster and more dynamic programs.

via mashable.com

用自己的程式語言，一方面可以最佳化自己的開發環境、一方面可以綁程式設計師和軟體規格，是個聰明的作法；當然，沒有相當雄厚的資金和經濟規模是做不到的。

It's smart to develop a "private" programming language (well, in fact it's open-source), since this optimizes Google's own development environment as well as encompasses future app specs and even programmers' direction. Smart.

Of course, this takes a deep pocket and economic scale to do so, which Google has them all.

Permalink | Leave a comment »