Junyu's Recommendations

Happy Birthday, Golden Gate Bridge! (from Flickr Blog)

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:43:26 +0800

Happy Birthday, Golden Gate Bridge! (from Flickr Blog):

The Golden Gate Bridge has been a landmark of San Francisco since its completion in 1937. The love affair with the bridge started prior to it even being built. It was desperately needed to alleviate the traffic from the ferries. Despite the Great Depression, the areas surrounding San Francisco voted and passed the bond measure to pay for the bridge by using their homes and businesses as collateral.

Today, May 27th, 2012, marks the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you are in the San Francisco area celebrate the Golden Gate Bridge’s anniversary in person and watch it glow.

If you would like to find other Golden Gate Bridge photos take a look at our beautiful Golden Gate Bridge groups.

Doodle：旧金山金门大桥通车 75 周年 (from 谷奥——探寻谷歌的奥秘)

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:28:45 +0800

Doodle：旧金山金门大桥通车 75 周年 (from 谷奥——探寻谷歌的奥秘):

图片URL：http://bit.ly/KgojD3

金门大桥（英语：Golden Gate Bridge）是美国旧金山的地标。它跨越联接旧金山湾和太平洋的金门海峡，南端连接旧金山的北端，北端接通加州的马林县。金门大桥的桥墩跨距长1280.2米，是世界上第一座跨距超过1000米的悬索桥，宽度27.5米，双向共6条行车线，桥身呈褐红色，金门大桥拥有世界第四高的桥塔，高达227.4米，全桥总长度是2737.4米。

金门大桥的最初的构想来源于桥梁工程师约瑟夫·斯特劳斯。斯特劳斯在此前设计了400多座内陆的小型桥梁。他花了10多年时间游说北加州的居民。这座桥的其他主要设计者包括决定其艺术造型和颜色的艾尔文·莫罗、合作进行复杂的数学推算的工程师查尔斯·埃里斯、桥梁设计师里昂·莫伊塞弗。

大桥于1933年 1月5日开始施工，1937年4月完工，同年5月27日对外开放予行人。斯特劳斯在南桥墩浇筑混凝土之前放入了一块取自他的母校俄亥俄州辛辛那提大学的砖头。翌日，随着罗斯福总统在华盛顿按下一个电钮，该大桥正式对外开放予汽车使用。

旧金山地区的选民们以自己的住宅、农场和公司为抵押，发行了最初的3500万美元的工程债券。1977年，最后一笔债券被付清，其中3500万美元的本金和3900万美元的利息全来自过桥费的收入。

该桥施工时的一项独特的设计是桥下有一个安全网。施工中有11人摔死，而19人则因安全网而获救。这19人成为了一个“去地狱的半路俱乐部”（Halfway to Hell Club）的荣誉会员。

1957年之前金门大桥是世界上最长的悬索桥，两个桥墩在1964年之前拥有世界上悬索桥中最长的跨度。这两个桥墩直到不久之前还是世界上最高的悬索桥桥墩。

Via 维基百科

折叠床 (from 读书马上)

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:58:43 +0800

折叠床 (from 读书马上):

44号病床的老头，比我们早二个小时住进来，三天了，是什么毛病还没有查出来。右边的心电图匣子，显着绿色的数字，这是看不懂的。左边的一台机器推着一支针筒，那支针筒药水推完需要六小时，所以要用机器，这装置极缓慢地用力。就像肉眼看不出时针走动一样，这种注射的速度人看不出来。注射结束时，机器「嘟嘟嘟，嘟嘟嘟」地响，陪护老头的他的儿子不在，我把叫护士的铃帮他按亮，他很警觉地转头看我，他是不知道床头的这些开关用来干什么的。

Nevada (from Flickr Blog)

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:28:46 +0800

Nevada (from Flickr Blog):

Photos from dirk huijssoon, francescadistefano, pixelsrzen, Stephen Oachs, The Family Dog, gsgeorge, and dennisbehm.

2011年上课记：“吃货”的青春 (from 南方周末-热点新闻)

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:28:44 +0800

2011年上课记：“吃货”的青春 (from 南方周末-热点新闻)

班加罗尔的前世今生 (from 莫问回程)

Sun, 27 May 2012 20:28:55 +0800

班加罗尔的前世今生 (from 莫问回程):

到了印度，才发现班加罗尔已经改了名字，为了迎合所谓的本土化，印度政府几年前将“Bangalore”改成了“Bengaluru”，如果要翻译的话，应该称为“本加鲁鲁”了，看上去像个夏威夷某个地方的名字。

这些年随着印度民族主义的加强，一大批耳熟能详的城市名都修改掉了，比如，孟买的“Bombay”改成了“Mumbay”，加尔各答的“Culcutta”改成了“Kolkata”，马德拉斯干脆改成了金奈，英国人的三大总督辖区全部都换了名，表现了印度本土情绪的强化。

这种改名运动也反映了印度经济的特征：经济发展和本土意识并存。班加罗尔这个在印度最开放的城市，同时也是印度传统的宗教中心，在高楼大厦旁边就是狭窄的小巷和最印度化的生活。

一部《世界是平的》，将这座印度内陆的城市置于世界的聚光灯下，班加罗尔迅速成为亚洲科技的麦加，吸引了众多的朝圣者，试图寻找它成功的基因。

然而这座城市却如同谜一般存在，打破了经济发展的许多规律：

一般情况下，经济发展多位于交通便利的沿海地区，但班加罗尔却是居于高原上的内陆城市，距离首都德里很遥远，距离海岸也有数百公里；

在后进国家，经济率先发展的往往是全国政治中心，比如中国的科技多位于北京、上海，以及获得了政治支持的深圳，但班加罗尔只不过是一个地区型城市，印度的大城市首推孟买、加尔各答和金奈三个英国殖民地中心，以及首都德里，班加罗尔只是一个省会城市，地位更像是中国的成都，也没有什么全国性政策优惠。

在更多的人看来，这座城市如同一夜间从默默无闻到举世瞩目，仿佛是中了彩票一般让人摸不到头脑。难道这座城市真的是靠命运的偶然性而突然崛起的吗？

不是。

实际上，班加罗尔的崛起是一种必然，它已经积淀了几百年，它一直在准备，直到有一天，经过了足够积累的它震惊了世界……

本文就谈一下班加罗尔的前世今生，看一看几百年里，它怎么从一个排外的民族主义城市一步步成长为世界的中心的。

激烈的民族主义城市

班加罗尔崛起的历史，就是一部抵抗入侵的历史。

在西方人入侵印度之前，印度经历了一波一波伊斯兰教的入侵，阿富汗人、蒙古人、突厥人先后侵入了印度，并在印度建立了一个个的伊斯兰教国家。

在伊斯兰入侵的时候，本土的印度教抵抗最为激烈的地区在南印度，班加罗尔同样在南印。在班加罗尔的北面，有一个叫维查耶纳加尔的印度教国家一直充当着南方中流砥柱的作用，与它北面的伊斯兰教国家对抗。班加罗尔城堡也就是在维查耶纳加尔统治时期建立并成长的。

维查耶纳加尔取得过无数的胜利，最终却被敌人打败了，在一个叫做汉皮的地方（班加罗尔北面），几乎保留着一座完整的石质古代城市，这就是维查耶纳加尔当年的首都，穆斯林联军攻破首都后，将其洗劫一空，居民纷纷逃走，剩下了一具城市的尸体，也恰好由于没人居住，这座空城得以逃脱了历史的侵蚀，保存到了今天。

【配图： 01. 汉皮的维查耶纳加尔空城。】

在印度教国家尸体上站立起来的，是一群伊斯兰教的国家，最为著名的有两个，一是海德拉巴，二是迈索尔。他们成为了整个南印最强大的政权，不过此刻的王公贵族都已经是伊斯兰人，底层还是印度教的。

随后，一个成吉思汗和帖木儿（两个最伟大的中亚屠夫）的双重后代巴布尔在中亚和北印掀起了一阵旋风，建立了庞大的莫卧儿帝国。莫卧儿帝国的信仰也是伊斯兰教的，但为了统一，与南方的海德拉巴、迈索尔开战，并有过短暂的统治，可是，一旦莫卧儿帝国影响力下降，两个地方乘机独立，继续统治。

班加罗尔也一度被莫卧儿帝国占领，但被莫卧儿的皇帝转移给了迈索尔，成为了南部王国的一部分，并建立了牢固的防御工事。

这时，英国人来到了印度。英国东印度公司在东北方的加尔各答、西海岸的孟买、东海岸的马德拉斯建立了三个总督辖区，开始对整个印度进行渗透。在北方，他们打败了孟加拉和北方邦的土邦主，又控制了莫卧儿的皇帝，成为了北部的主人。

然而，他们在南印的扩张却屡屡受挫。

南印此刻已经成了伊斯兰教政权的天下，统治者与下层信奉印度教的臣民有着一定的矛盾，但是，当英国人到来之后，伊斯兰教和印度教发现英国人才是最大的威胁。由于南印度有着抵抗入侵者的传统，使得它成为了抵抗英国人最为激烈的地区。

此时的班加罗尔只是迈索尔邦国的一个普通城市，迈索尔的首都在班加罗尔南方一两百公里的地方，城市名字也叫迈索尔。班加罗尔只不过是邦国的夏都、有一座当地君主的夏宫。此刻，还看不出班加罗尔有什么特殊之处。

在迈索尔之虎的统治下

在印度民族主义史上，有一对无法绕过的父子，在抵抗英国人的历史上最具深谋远略，也屡屡取得胜利。这对父子极端排斥英国人，推行民族主义，保持印度本土的生活方式，这一点很像中国清政府的保守派。但是，同样是这对父子，又强烈地主张变革和接受英国式的科技和教育，甚至他们在对科技的利用上，从某些方面还超越了英国人，这一点又很像中国清政府的洋务派，并且比任何一个洋务派都走得更远。他们在战略眼光上还独具慧眼，虽然只是印度本土的一个土邦，却选择了在世界范围内合纵连横牵制英国人，虽然失败，却更让人扼腕叹息。

这对父子就是海德尔•阿里和提普•苏丹。

海德尔•阿里出身于印度南部的一个穆斯林家庭，他的父亲是一位武将，曾经指挥过炮兵部队。年幼的海德尔耳濡目染，培养起了对于炮兵作战的终生兴趣。在他的巅峰时期，他的炮兵战术和制造火炮的技术在全世界都是领先的，甚至西方人也承认海德尔炮兵部队的优势。

成年后，海德尔成长为迈索尔的军事领袖，并篡夺了迈索尔的王位。

在海德尔时期，南部印度是本土政权三分天下的局面，西南部是迈索尔，东北部是海德拉巴，北部是强大的马拉塔联盟。前两者是伊斯兰教政权，后者是印度教政权。关于马拉塔，可以简单说一句，随着莫卧儿帝国的衰落，在孟买所在的马哈拉施特拉邦，一位叫做希瓦吉（也有翻译成湿婆军）的印度教徒突然间崛起，建立了马拉塔联盟。

这三个国家互相攻伐、互相侵占，与此同时，英国人守着孟买和马德拉斯两个据点，在中间合纵连横，攫取利益。三个国家打得越厉害，英国人获得的利益越大。

海德尔•阿里一开始把印度教的马拉塔联盟当做主要对手，后来突然间醒悟：英国人才是印度最大的敌人。于是他的后半生一直致力于打击英国人，与海德拉巴和马拉塔联盟。可惜的是，他的两个盟友往往因为蝇头小利而出卖海德尔•阿里，被英国人算计。

【配图： 02. 塞林伽帕坦，海德尔父子时期的首都遗址。】

甚至他派出了使团前往阿拉伯和波斯，试图与外界建立直接的贸易和外交联系，以取代英国人。海德尔也因此成为了印度最早拥有世界眼光的政治家。

此刻，控制印度的英国人仍然是英国东印度公司，由于总督常常换，每次新总督来了，就不承认旧总督签订的合约了，这一点给三个国家造成了严重的影响。三个国家仍然信奉的是“国王的承诺”，即国王一旦签订了合约，就会终生信守，除非对方合约到期或者被对方打破。当然，这主要是因为政治制度造成的，任期制虽然是一种更加灵活的制度，却容易让承诺失效，显得更反复。

不过，海德尔仍然发动了两次英迈战争，并在第二次战争中痛击了英国人，一直打到了马德拉斯，若非他的突然逝世，那么很可能会使得英国人在印度失去至少三分之一的领地，撤出东海岸。但海德尔的死亡给了英国人以喘息。

1782年12月，他病逝于营帐之中。他的儿子提普•苏丹被从远方召来，继承了他的职位。48小时后，英国人听说了他的死讯，指挥官詹姆士•史都华沉吟良久，得出结论：英国人无法把他的死亡利用在军事上。

【配图： 03. 提普•苏丹为父亲建立的陵墓，父子二人均埋葬于此。】

他的儿子提普•苏丹与海德尔本人相比，受到了更好的教育，显得温文尔雅，但在战争中又不失英雄本色。

在外交上，提普•苏丹也显示了他的全局观，为了牵制英国人，他想到了与大革命之中的法国人联合，他强烈支持法国人进军埃及，切断英国人前往亚洲的主要据点。如果法国人真的能够占领埃及，从中间切断英国人的通道，那么或许对英国的印度殖民地会是一个致命的打击，提普•苏丹也会将印度本土的英国人一一消灭。

可惜的是，法国派出了一位矮个子将军去征服埃及，这个将军却对法国本土更感兴趣，在埃及惨败之后，乘船回到法国发动政变，当上了皇帝，他就是拿破仑。

也许提普•苏丹拥有着一流统帅的天分，却没有一个最重要的因素：天时。在他的时代，英国人已经成了世界霸主，小小的印度即便拥有亚历山大和成吉思汗，也未必能与英国人抗衡，加上英国人善于撕毁和约，合纵连横。

马拉塔人和海德拉巴人在英国人的联合下，开始向迈索尔进军，并在两次战争中打败了提普•苏丹，在死前，提普痛心地说：“你们的敌人不是我，而是英国人。”

【配图： 04. 提普战死之地。】

提普死后，马拉塔人和海德拉巴一个个被英国人收拾掉，成为了英国的附庸。

提普•苏丹的首都在迈索尔附近的塞林伽帕坦，如今这里是一个坐落在废墟中的小镇，早已经失去了当年的繁华。

班加罗尔是提普•苏丹的重要堡垒之一，担任着反抗英国人的重任，至今，在班加罗尔还保留着海德尔和提普父子留下的印迹。在旧城区，提普城堡的城门被保留下来，不远处则是他的宫殿遗址。

【配图： 05. 班加罗尔城堡，提普时期的堡垒。】

【配图： 06. 班加罗尔，提普的宫殿。】

在班加罗尔的南部，有一个著名的拉鲁巴赫公园，这里是年轻人谈情说爱的场所，也是周末印度家庭休闲之地，形同城市中的绿肺。最早时，拉鲁巴赫公园是海德尔阿里的私人花园，后来被改为公园，直到如今仍然造福着班加罗尔的人们。

【配图： 07. 班加罗尔，拉鲁巴赫公园。】

在大王公的统治下

海德尔•阿里和提普•苏丹对于迈索尔的塑造还在于，他们意识到了科技的重要性，于是开始大力引进科学技术。他们虽然抵抗英国人，却没有让迈索尔成为民族主义和保守主义的大本营，反而让迈索尔成为了全印新思潮的中心之一。

他们的成果被后来的大王公所继承。

提普死后，迈索尔国家四分五裂，英国人占领了一部分，海德拉巴和马拉塔人各分走一块，剩下的一块被英国人送给了海德尔•阿里篡权之前的迈索尔君主家族，于是，经过了几十年的中断之后，伍德亚家族在迈索尔复辟了。

伍德亚王公们在政治上已经变成了英国人的附庸，然而，这个家族秉持了开明治国的传统，保持着开放的心态，将迈索尔建设成了印度最具现代感的城市。

【配图： 08. 迈索尔的宫殿，建于伍德亚时代。】

也许是因为经过了与英国人的战争，反而使迈索尔人更加知道技术的重要性。这一点与日本人很相似。在明治维新之前，走西化道路最坚决的两个诸侯是萨摩和长洲，这两个诸侯的武士阶层也成为了明治维新的主力。

萨摩和长洲为什么坚决要西化？答案是，他们曾经是民族主义最强、最闭关的两个诸侯，为此，他们早在明治维新之前就和西方人有过两次短时间的战争。战争中它们双双失败，被西方人武力的强大所震惊，义无反顾地从极右转向了极左，开始了令人耳晕目眩的现代化历程。

迈索尔也是如此，正因为惨败国裂的命运，使得这里的人们最早进入了现代化。

历代伍德亚大王公都特别注重发展教育和科技。工程师维斯卫斯瓦拉贾（Visweswarajah）在1910年左右被任命为首相，在他的努力下，迈索尔创建了自己的大学、并成为了全国第一个供应电力系统的邦国，以至于在那时，迈索尔已经成为了全印度最令人羡慕的国度。虽然经历了国裂，但经过历代王公的经营，迈索尔邦的财富仍然仅次于海德拉巴邦，而它的土地也仅次于海德拉巴和克什米尔。

当1930年代甘地来到迈索尔时，发现在印度竟然存在着一个由印度人治理，保持着印度传统，但又如此现代化的邦国，甘地欣喜地将之成为“罗摩之国”。罗摩是印度史诗罗摩衍那的主人公，是湿婆的化身，也被认为是国王的典范。

与此同时，整个邦国的行政权都掌握在伊斯兰教徒手中，底层人则信奉印度教，这两种宗教都是相对保守的，强调礼仪。

这种既保守又开明的统治，使得班加罗尔具备了科技发展的硬件条件，又保留了足够的传统特征。

从这里也可以看出，一个地方的成功往往不来自于革命，而来自于对传统的继承和改进。迈索尔之虎提普•苏丹代表了印度的骄傲，那么他的继任者则代表了印度的未来，从这个角度说，提普可以瞑目了。

共和国的和平演变

伍德亚家族给班加罗尔留下了最好的教育、城市设施、城际公路。也给班加罗尔留下了一座美丽的夏宫。他们正式的王宫仍然在迈索尔，但班加罗尔已经慢慢地担任起经济中心的角色了。

【配图： 09. 班加罗尔夏宫。】

不过，这时候对班加罗尔影响最大的还是印度共和国的建立。

中国改朝换代是靠暴力社会革命完成的，比如，1949年中华人民共和国成立，实际上完成了两个任务，第一，取代了原来的全国性政权，第二，在社会组织上，将原来的地主阶层用暴力灭绝掉。

但印度却采取了另外的方法。一方面，印度政府取得全国性政权，是从英国人手中“禅让”的，属于非暴力。

另一方面，当时的印度境内还有着数百个土邦的邦主，这些邦主相当于小国的国王一样，他们依附于英国人，却在自己的统治区域内拥有统治权。现在印度共和国成立了，要把这些土邦的邦主拿掉，让他们把权力让出来，交给中央政府和地方议会，难道也要靠暴力从他们手中夺权？

没有采取暴力。

实际上，印度中央政府利用谈判的方式，从这些土邦邦主手中拿到了权力。比如，在迈索尔，印度政府承诺每年给予迈索尔的大王公一笔年金，换取他的统治权。与此同时，大王公在社会上仍然拥有着崇高的地位，受人尊敬，他的财产和地位仍然可以继承。

这样，土邦邦主家族大都成为了印度的社会名流，他们有的跻身于选举政治，有的开始经商，也有一些坐吃山空衰落了。

不管怎样，通过和平的方式，印度也达到了重构社会的目的，并且是非暴力的。

迈索尔的大王公们如今仍然居住在班加罗尔的夏宫之中，展现出城市的连续性。这种连续性也使得城市的历史没有割裂，没有文革那样的灾难。

在英迪拉•甘地总统实行社会主义的时候，班加罗尔一直是印度主要的科技城市。只不过当时印度科技并不算发达，班加罗尔虽然在印度知名，还没有获得全球名声。

拉奥革新和软件腾飞

印度独立后，经济曾经走过很长时间的社会主义阶段。尼赫鲁、两位甘地都倾向于走社会主义和计划经济道路，结果印度的发展速度提不上去，官僚制横行。

一个印度人要办一个工厂，往往会在官僚的互相推诿和腐败中被磨碎，这也就是许可证制对于经济的残害。

到了1990年代，甘地们终于暂时退出了历史，英迪拉•甘地和他的儿子拉吉夫相继被刺杀，以至于一位非甘地家族的人——纳拉辛哈•拉奥——担任了总理。

拉奥是如今的国大党最不愿提及的一个人，因为他上台后废除了许多尼赫鲁和甘地们制定的社会主义政策，大力实行了自由化，这实际上是对于前任们的背弃。更令人尴尬的是，印度经济真正的腾飞恰好是在拉奥革新后爆发出来的，这等于说拉奥在抽前几任总理的耳光。

拉奥任上还大力提拔了一位财政部长，这位财政部长叫辛格，也就是现任的印度总理。辛格是一个技术官僚，在政治上唯甘地家族马首是瞻，随着2000年后拉吉夫•甘地遗孀索尼娅•甘地掌握了政党领导权，国大党再次回到了甘地家族手中，他们也知道拉奥革新对于印度经济腾飞所起到的作用，就是气不顺，不想提他，所以，现在印度国内提起1990年代的改革，都说是财政部长辛格的功劳。

那么，拉奥革新为什么会让印度经济腾飞？原因很简单，就是放松了管制。让印度人做生意不需要这么多审批了，同时减少了国家资本主义，鼓励私营资本。另外就是开放市场，不再封闭。这和中国的改革是一个道理，只要实行了自由化和开放，都会有一波浪潮。

班加罗尔恰好这时开始腾飞。可以说，从提普•苏丹开始，它在科技上就处于领先地位，这时候只不过抓住了时机罢了。

不过，班加罗尔为什么最先发展的是软件业，而不是比如电子加工等等的其他科技产业？

这是拉奥革新的不彻底造成的。

革新一方面释放了生产力，但是，许可证制只是削弱了，并没有完全消失，所以，要办一个实体工厂，对于印度人来说还是很困难，土地需要审批，消防、建筑、安全等等莫不需要审批，又常常卷入腐败。这样，对印度人来说，开办工厂的成本还是很大。

只有软件业最简单，不需要多大的土地建设工厂，只需要在城市里有一间办公室，就可以聚几个人对着计算机编程了。这其中的审批是最简单的。

就是这个原因，让软件业首先在班加罗尔爆发。至于其他的产业，还需要等待更进一步的自由化。

辛格总理上台后，继续了自由化改革，却显得举步维艰，大概这和他的技术官僚背景、缺乏魄力有关，也和甘地家族重新得势，控制了国大党有关。一个弱势总理总是很难改革的。从这个角度，也反证了拉奥总理的伟大。

班加罗尔不是唯一

在我印度旅行过程中，常常发现印度人对于世界只提班加罗尔感到不满。

一位在海德拉巴的工程师告诉我，海德拉巴就对班加罗尔很不忿。海德拉巴在历史上与班加罗尔很相似，也都相对开化，到现在也是印度科技的重镇。

海德拉巴比班加罗尔也更大，实际上由一对双子城构成，分别叫做海德拉巴和塞坎达巴，其中塞坎达巴更是印度科技业的大本营之一。这里还号称赛博拉巴（也就是网络城的意思），可见他们对自己的期许有多高。

【配图： 10. 海德拉巴的高康大城堡遗址，也是最早的海德拉巴城市所在。】

海德拉巴的人认为：从技术含量上，到产值上，他们比班加罗尔都不差，却因为一本畅销书的炒作，让班加罗尔脱颖而出了，这是不公平的。

有这样感觉的除了海德拉巴，还有印度传统的几大城市，比如孟买、加尔各答和德里，他们也认为班加罗尔被过度吹捧了。另外，由于地理位置的劣势，班加罗尔是否还能吸引众多的高级智力人才，这也是值得考虑的。

这一点很像中国的深圳，曾经震惊了世界，但上海、北京等地始终不服气，至于最后到底谁胜出，现在或许还没有到做定论的时候。

秀萌宝照片，酷赢“拉比盒子” “警告：您的主城已被占领！！” 发现兴趣所在，玩转新浪Qing！

谢霆锋：我比从前快乐 (from 读书马上)

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:59:09 +0800

谢霆锋：我比从前快乐 (from 读书马上):

入行十几年，我除了多了两个孩子，其他都没变。有人说，你演《逆战》真拼命。我说，你可以看1997年的《古惑仔》、1999年的《特警新人类》，我他妈的一直这么拼命。只是你们一直在聊王菲，一直在聊张柏芝，你们忽略了我根本十几年他妈的没变过。一直到现在，我断了这么多根骨头，你们才开始说，原来你这么拼命。去你的

Facebook Camera vs. Instagram (from Daring Fireball)

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:43:57 +0800

Facebook Camera vs. Instagram (from Daring Fireball):

What I think happened: It was clear soon after Instagram launched that it was a hit, and Facebook was savvy enough to realize that an integral part of Instagram’s appeal was that it came in the form of a well-designed, well-engineered native iPhone app. Not just Instagram, either — I think Zuckerberg saw that for mobile, the HTML/CSS/JavaScript web is not enough. Native apps are essential, thus the talent acquisitions of superstar outfits like Sofa and Push Pop Press. I bet Facebook has more native mobile apps on the way.

So the Sofa team got to Facebook a little under a year ago, and I’m guessing, soon started work on Facebook Camera. A year ago, building a Facebook version of Instagram sounded like a good plan. “We should have an app like Instagram for taking and sharing photos on our social network”, more or less. But after another year of growth, I think Mark Zuckerberg saw that an app was not enough. Instagram’s own fast-growing social network was a threat. That their own well-made, well-designed Instagram-like app was on the cusp of release made no difference.

Yahoo had a chance to buy Google in 2001 but then-CEO Terry Semel didn’t pull the trigger. I don’t think Instagram is the next Google, but Zuckerberg sure as shit doesn’t want Facebook to be the next Yahoo.

★

★ iOS Low-Hanging Fruit (from Daring Fireball)

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:28:21 +0800

★ iOS Low-Hanging Fruit (from Daring Fireball):

iOS has evolved in a fairly predictable manner over the years. Apple has done a good job tackling the lowest-hanging fruit on the to-do list, year after year. They crossed off a lot of big obvious features over the first few years: third-party apps, cut-copy-paste, enterprise support, push notifications, better multitasking. Last year brought a few more: over-the-air software updates, cloud-based backups and wireless syncing, and a much improved notification interface.

Another good source for iOS feature predictions has been to survey the competition and identify the areas where iOS was lacking. Those items from last year, for example, were areas where Android was ahead.

iOS is by no means feature-complete. But it’s getting harder to identify the low-hanging fruit — the things you just know Apple has to be working on, not just the stuff you hope they are. The biggest one left is mapping. Today brings a report from 9to5Mac that Apple is set to switch the back-end data in iOS’s Maps app from Google to its own mapping services; John Paczkowski confirms it, quoting a source who claims the new Maps will “blow your head off”.

Here’s the thing. Apple’s homegrown mapping data has to be great.

Mapping is an essential phone feature. It’s one of those few features that almost everyone with an iPhone uses, and often relies upon. That’s why Apple has to do their own — they need to control essential technology.¹ I suspect Apple would be pushing to do their own maps even if their relationship with Google were still hunky-dory, as it was circa 2007. (Remember Eric Schmidt coming on stage during the iPhone introduction?) But as things actually stand today between Apple and Google, relying on Google for mapping services is simply untenable.

This is a high-pressure switch for Apple. Regressions will not be acceptable. The purported whiz-bang 3D view stuff might be great, but users are going to have pitchforks and torches in hand if practical stuff like driving and walking directions are less accurate than they were with Google’s data. Keep in mind too, that Android phones ship with turn-by-turn navigation.

What else remains hanging low on the iOS new-features tree, though? I can think of a few:

Clever inter-application communication. Seems crazy that iOS, the direct descendant of NeXT, doesn’t have anything like Services, which were one of NeXT’s most touted features (and rightfully so). It’s also worth noting that Android has a pretty good Services-esque system in place, called “Intents”, and Windows 8 has an even richer concept called “Contracts”.
Third-party Notification Center widgets. Like the Stocks and Weather ones from Apple — information at a glance, without launching an app.
Third-party Siri APIs. Let other apps provide features you can interact with through Siri.

But that’s about it. And even the Siri API idea seems more like a “nice to have” feature idea than a low-hanging “Apple really has to do this sooner or later” idea. Again, I’m not saying Apple’s iOS to-do list is empty; I’m just saying the list of obvious they-gotta-do-it stuff is getting short.

Tim Cook, back in January 2009: “We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.” ↩

John's Tumblr: Computers = Trucks (from parislemon)

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:13:41 +0800

John's Tumblr: Computers = Trucks (from parislemon): John’s Tumblr: Computers = Trucks:

lilly:

I picked up a phrase some time ago that I think applies: “The next big thing is always beneath contempt.” Implication being that it is, of course, until it isn’t. Until it’s too big to ignore. This has happened over and over again in our society. In the middle ages, people assumed that no serious discussion could happen in anything but Latin — the so-called “vulgar” languages had no merit. And writers assumed that nothing interesting or lasting would come from this new medium of television. And, I think, people assume right now that nothing important will be created from a 10” touch screen without a keyboard (let alone a tiny 3.5” screen)….

Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Four types of mobile apps (from Chris Dixon)

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:26:19 +0800

Four types of mobile apps (from Chris Dixon):

If you are a founder trying to create a new mobile app or an investor trying decide whether an app has enduring value, it is helpful to separate the ways that people use apps into four categories.

1. Time wasters: Apps that can be used for short bursts when you are waiting in line, etc. The most popular time wasters are games. Some apps are used sometimes as time wasters and sometimes as utilities – e.g. Facebook is both a time waster (checking status updates few minutes) and a utility (sending Facebook messages).

Time wasters tend to be faddish. It is easy to get hooked on new games and also easy to tire of them. If you want to build a big company that builds time wasters, you need to build a machine that builds, markets and monetizes apps, as Zynga has done.

2. Core utilities: As a rule of thumb, core utilities are the apps on your home screen: camera, phone, contacts, texting, calendar, etc. Core utilities map to deeply engrained use patterns that usually existed before modern smart phones. In the past people might have carried around a paper calendar, a standalone camera, etc. Core utilities tend to be very sticky – if you gain widespread adoption for a core utility you can build long-lasting value.

One entry strategy for a startup is to replace a core utility. This is what Instagram did to the built-in camera app. It is unclear whether the “Instagram for video” companies are core utilities (video app replacements) or time wasters. Creating a new core utility that doesn’t replace an existing core utility is very hard. Foursquare seems to have done this for the users who regularly check-in.

3. Episodic utilities: Episodic utilities are apps that typically aren’t on the home screen but are extremely useful in certain situations. Some examples: Hipmunk when buying plane tickets, Uber when you need a car, and OpenTable for making restaurant reservations. Successful episodic utilities target a well-defined situation and then become deeply associated with that situation. Making an app that is too broad or has multiple use situations can hurt you. Because many of these situations involve purchasing, these apps tend to be monetizable.

4. Notification-driven apps: This is an emerging category. Android has had a good notification system for a while, but the iPhone only made notifications useful in IOS 5. People tend to enable notifications for communication apps like email, texting etc. Thus far, notifications for other apps haven’t gotten widespread adoption because, among other things: it is easy to annoy users by over-notifying them, and running non-communications apps in the background tends to drain battery life. Expect this category to grow as apps get smarter about when to notify, and battery life improves dramatically over the next year or two.

Creating the Windows 8 User Experience (from Daring Fireball)

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:43:19 +0800

Creating the Windows 8 User Experience (from Daring Fireball):

At over 11,000 words, it’s more like a small book than an article, but there’s fascinating insight into Microsoft’s design thinking in this piece by Jensen Harris, their lead UI designer.

Their top two design goals are, I think, shared with Apple:

“#1 Fast and Fluid”

Fast and fluid represents a few core things to us. It means that the UI is responsive, performant, beautiful, and animated. That every piece of UI comes in from somewhere and goes somewhere when it exits the screen. It means that the most essential scenarios are efficient, and can be accomplished without extra questions or prompts. It means that things you don’t need are out of the way.

Followed by, at #2, “Long Battery Life”. But clearly, they also see something very differently:

Windows 8 imagines the convergence of two kinds of devices: a laptop and a tablet. Instead of carrying around three devices (a phone, a tablet, and a laptop) you carry around just a phone and a Windows PC. A PC that is the best tablet or laptop you have ever used, but with the capabilities of the familiar Windows desktop if you need it. You may choose to carry a tablet, or you may choose a laptop/convertible, but you do not need to carry around both along with your phone. You never think about a choice, or fret over your choice of what to carry. Things just work without compromise.

Overall, Windows 8 continues to strike me as ambitious, different, and carefully considered. Microsoft clearly sees why the iPad has been so successful, and they’re being smart: they’re learning from iOS and adapting, not copying.

★

"Why was upside down from the user’s perspective an issue? Because the design group noticed..." (from parislemon)

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:43:35 +0800

"Why was upside down from the user’s perspective an issue? Because the design group noticed..." (from parislemon): “Why was upside down from the user’s perspective an issue? Because the design group noticed that users constantly tried to open the laptop from the wrong end. Steve Jobs always focuses on providing the best possible user experience and believed that it was more important to satisfy the user than the onlooker.”

- Joe Moreno, formerly of Apple, talking about why the company made the call to go with a logo that was upside down (from an onlooker’s perspective) on older Apple laptops.

Of course, Apple eventually corrected this problem. As Moreno notes:

Opening a laptop from the wrong end is a self-correcting problem that only lasts for a few seconds. However, viewing the upside logo is a problem that lasts indefinitely.

Developer Spotlight: Tumblr (from Facebook Developer Blog)

Mon, 21 May 2012 22:04:51 +0800

Developer Spotlight: Tumblr (from Facebook Developer Blog):

Tumblr is a blogging platform that lets people post content – including images, videos, links and audio – to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Tumblr integrated Open Graph into their web and mobile apps to make it easy for people to post Tumblr content to their timelines.

Tumblr web app

Tumblr mobile app

What Tumblr Does Well

Tumblr associates a photo with each post published to timeline and news feed, creating more attractive stories for friends. Tumblr uses the message property for personal messages on the Post, Reblog and Reply actions to show more relevant content to friends.
Tumblr provides clear messaging about what activity is posted to timeline and simple controls to help users determine what is shared on Facebook.

Implementation Profile

Actions - Objects

Post - Entry, Photo, Photoset, Video, Audio, Link, Quote, Conversation:
“Jeff Sherlock posted an entry”
Reblog - Entry, Photo, Photoset, Video, Audio, Link, Quote, Conversation:
“Chris Ackermann reblogged a photo”
Like - Entry, Photo, Photoset, Video, Audio, Link, Quote, Conversation:
“Andy Mitchell liked a link”
Reply - Entry, Photo, Photoset, Video, Audio, Link, Quote, Conversation, Question:
“Jillian Stefanki replied to a question”

Aggregations

Most Recent Post
Likes
Recent Likes
Recent Posts
Recent Reblogs

Result
Since launching with Open Graph in April, Tumblr has seen referral traffic from Facebook increase by more than 2.5x.

Businessweek on Apple’s Dominance in Hollywood Product Placement (from Daring Fireball)

Mon, 21 May 2012 22:04:50 +0800

Businessweek on Apple’s Dominance in Hollywood Product Placement (from Daring Fireball):

You can’t fake cool.

Update: I’m not sure what Businessweek’s headline means, though: “Apple, the Other Cult in Hollywood”. I think they’re comparing Apple to Scientology, but who the hell knows.

★

IE 时代终落幕 (from 爱范儿 · Beats of Bits)

Mon, 21 May 2012 21:47:40 +0800

IE 时代终落幕 (from 爱范儿 · Beats of Bits):

根据 Statcounter 提供的监控数据，Google Chrome 过去一周全球使用量超过 IE，正式成为市场占有率最高的浏览器。这也是过去十三年来 IE 第一次整周平均使用量被其它浏览器所超越，在此之前 Chrome 周末所占份额有时已经超过 IE。

1998 年第四季度，IE 4.0 浏览器在微软的积极研发以及 PC 市场垄断地位的推动下挑翻网景成为市场占有率最高的浏览器。可惜微软之后并未积极推动浏览器技术进步，2001 年推出 IE 6 之后的五年里未曾提供一次升级，成为 Web 开发者的噩梦。

相对主要竞争对手来说，Chrome 来得很迟。2008 年推出第一版。但就像 1998 年微软主宰桌面操作系统一样，Google 同样主宰着一个平台——搜索引擎，或者说互联网的入口。此外，“快”也是 Google Chrome 一直以来最显眼的特征。从实际速度体验到版本号升级速度都走在竞争对手前面——Chrome 19 本月已经发布。

从营销的角度来看，快是最好的宣传点。科技新闻读者很早就开始抛弃 IE，就拿爱范儿来说，Chrome 早已成为第一大浏览器访问来源，两倍于 IE。IE 用户中还有很多是由于公司 IT 政策不得不用。但相对科技用户关心的种种技术细节，快更能吸引普通用户，Google Chomre 的宣传恰好就抓住了“快”。

现在全球三分之一的用户已经转向 Chrome，IE 时代已经落幕。不过浏览器的门槛没有打造搜索引擎或打败 Facebook 那么高，Windows 8 所搭载的 IE 10 已经是真正现代的浏览器，体验远远好过 IE 9，专注于平板市场的 Windows RT（ARM 架构 Windows 8）也将会把第三方浏览器挡在外面。

不过微软真正的挑战很可能还是用户对 IE 的固有印象。记得前年 Bing 搜索引擎研发人员在一篇博文里感慨说，把两组相同的搜索结果给用户看，一组打上 Bing 标识、另一组打上 Google 标识，用户都会觉得 Google 标识的那组更好。或许给 IE 10 换个名字，重新包装后推出会是不错的选择，就像 Windows 8 用微软账号代替 Windows Live 一样。

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How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet [Exclusive] (from Gizmodo)

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:28:54 +0800

How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet [Exclusive] (from Gizmodo):

Web startups are made out of two things: people and code. The people make the code, and the code makes the people rich. Code is like a poem; it has to follow certain structural requirements, and yet out of that structure can come art. But code is art that does something. It is the assembly of something brand new from nothing but an idea. More »

Day After IPO, Mark Zuckerberg Marries Longtime Girlfriend Priscilla Chan (from TechCrunch)

Sun, 20 May 2012 20:28:39 +0800

Day After IPO, Mark Zuckerberg Marries Longtime Girlfriend Priscilla Chan (from TechCrunch):

What a week. After eight years, Mark Zuckerberg takes Facebook public at a $104 billion valuation. His longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan gets her medical degree from the UC San Francisco. He has his 28th birthday.

And to top it all off, they get married today! Mazel tov.

Apparently, the wedding had been in the works for four to five months, according to a source authorized to speak on behalf of the couple. It wasn’t tied to the IPO, but rather Chan’s graduation from medical school on Monday.

About 100 of their closest friends and family showed up at the backyard of their Palo Alto home, thinking they were going to celebrate Chan’s graduation. When they arrived, they were told it was a wedding. “It was a surprise,” the source tells us.

Zuckerberg gave her a ruby ring he designed himself, which Chan had never seen until today. The food came from their two favorite restaurants, Palo Alto Sol and Fuki Sushi, and they shared it family style. For dessert, they served Burdick chocolate mice (which is what the pair ate on their very first date!)

Chan and Zuckerberg met more than nine years ago while at Harvard. In this cute story from the Harvard Crimson seven years ago, Zuckerberg asked her, “Hey Priscilla, do you want a job at the Facebook?”

“I’d love a job at Facebook,” she responded, offering him a Twizzler.

How things have changed. What an amazing ride for the pair and for the company, and hopefully a lot longer to go too.

And The First Facebook IPO Hackathon Photos Roll In (from TechCrunch)

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:13:20 +0800

And The First Facebook IPO Hackathon Photos Roll In (from TechCrunch):

Hundreds of Facebook employees congregated at ‘Hacker Square’ at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters this evening ahead of the company’s insanely-hyped initial public offering. Now, some of the first photos are starting to trickle in. There was a standing ovation for chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who gave a talk before several long-time engineers bounced in while wearing capes or bringing boomboxes.

Tonight Facebook is having its 31st Hackathon to celebrate the IPO. Hackathons are a company tradition. They’re a place where engineers and other non-technical employees get to stay out all night building concepts into real products that sometimes eventually get shipped. Some of the big products that have come out of earlier Hackathons include Facebook chat and an early version of Timeline.

The company got its employees together around a big yellow crane that’s in the center of their ‘Hacker Square.’ The crane came from their old Palo Alto headquarters where it was originally put in by Agilent Technologies (the company that spun out of Hewlett Packard, which is arguably, the company that made Silicon Valley more than 70 years ago).

Here are some of the photos that have come in so far! The best photos are actually from Facebook product designer Francis Luu. But because we are trying not to be super lame, like various slideshow-addicted blogs that shall not be named, here is the link to his photo album. There are also photo albums from other Facebook employees Brian Zeitler, Jasper Hauser and Chris Kalani here.

If you are a Facebook employee and are not living in ungodly fear of having your RSUs, options, etc. revoked on this special day, feel free to send us more photos at tips@techcrunch.com.

Here’s the crowd that gathered before Zuckerberg’s talk:

Here’s a photo that YouTube’s Hunter Walk posted of the standing ovation for Zuckerberg:

Here’s the set-up before the event started in a photo from Blake Ross, a director who was brought in through Facebook’s very first acquisition:

Here’s the commemorative T-shirt for the Hackathon:

More people hacking:

How Facebook Hacked The NASDAQ Button (from TechCrunch)

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:51:02 +0800

How Facebook Hacked The NASDAQ Button (from TechCrunch):

Editor’s note:Some savvy Facebook engineers rigged the NASDAQ button to automatically post “Mark Zuckerberg has listed a company on NASDAQ – FB” to the CEO’s Timeline as he rung the bell to open the NASDAQ’s day of trading. David Garcia, a senior software engineer at Facebook, explains how they turned the NASDAQ on to Open Graph.

It was a normal Monday. Nothing out of the ordinary other than that Facebook was set to go public at the end of the week. Camera crews were beginning to appear and NASDAQ was coming to campus so we could ring the opening bell together. Other than that, it was like any other Monday.

During lunch, some us started talking about how cool it would be if the second Mark rang the bell a story would post to his timeline to let his friends and subscribers know.

I was so excited about this idea that when I got back to my desk, I posted on Facebook: “We should totally hack the button so it pushes an open graph action, “Mark Rang the NASDAQ bell”.

The first person to comment? Zuck: “It would be epic if you pulled that off.”

I got to work that night.

The solution: connect the NASDAQ button to a mobile phone logged into Facebook to generate an open graph action. While this seemed simple, it would prove to be a little more complex in practice.

Step one was to hack the headphones of my mobile phone. Just like you use headphones to play or pause music, I wanted to get them to publish an action on Facebook. I grabbed a soldering iron and soon enough we had a way to trigger the phone to publish an open graph action.

Step two was to see how the actual NASDAQ button worked. By the time NASDAQ arrived on Wednesday, a few other engineers caught wind of the project and offered their help. So five of us headed over to the conference room to check out the button. NASDAQ was game and allowed us to dismantle the button, with only one rule: don’t break it.

As we unscrewed the cover and poked around inside, we discovered that it looked quite different from what we were expecting. While the system wasn’t too complicated (a touch pad, a light, and grey box containing some relays connecting to the power supply), our hack was going to prove a bit of a challenge. We plied open the gray box to test the various circuits and figure out exactly how they worked. After some delicate tests with a voltmeter, we came up with a solution.

A couple of us then headed off to Radio Shack to pick up a couple relays, capacitors, and resistors. A couple of hours later, we had built our hack. The finished product wasn’t exactly the prettiest thing, but hacks aren’t supposed to be. They’re just supposed to work.

We ran back to the conference room with the button to make sure it did.

We hooked up our hack to run at exactly the same time as Mark pushed the button to turn on the light and ring the bell. Then we attached a wire that hooks to the hack and into the headset jack of a cell phone. When the button was pressed, it sent a signal through the hack, and the phone got the signal that triggered the custom action through our Open Graph API, posting a story onto Mark’s Timeline. It worked.

“Mark listed a company on NASDAQ – FB – with Chris Cox (VP of Product) and 4 others [Sheryl Sandberg (COO), David Ebersman (CFO), Cipora Herman (Treasurer), and Dave Kling (Deputy General Counsel)”

In less than 3 days, an idea became reality, something that would be seen by people all around the world. So, like I said, it was just a normal day here at Facebook.