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eric zhou

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如果有人给你一个可执行文件,你如何找到它的功用?
你只能不断的给它不同的input, 然后记下它的output。

这个blog就是我的output trace. 我记下它,用来不断反省,以期发现自己存在的意义。

Seeking the true meaning of life.
Answers I have collected and got convinced of so far:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
---William Blake

至人无己,神人无功,圣人无名 --- 庄子<逍遥游>

Live in order to die the way you wanted.
-- Sigmund Freud

修身,齐家,治国平天下。
--孟子

知者不惑,仁者不忧,勇者不惧。
--孔子

The answer lay in the attempt.
--Celine in <Before Sunrise>

傲不可长,欲不可纵,志不可满,乐不可极。

——春秋·孔子

爱情就像苹果籽,在你不注意的时候发芽。
--<Tekkonkinkreet>

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Trace

Be well, do good work and keep in touch
June 30

占便宜和吃亏

同样是得到10分的肯定,如果只付出了7分的努力,那么心里一定会觉得自己占了便宜。
如果付出了12分的努力,则会觉得吃亏了。

考试复习,追女朋友,职场晋级,都会触动这架心理的天平。

但是换一个角度来想,那个付出7分而得到10分的人,如果愿意付出10分,或许可以得到更多回报。所以最后的决定,不在于从某一项事情中得到多少回报才足够,而在于如何分配自己的时间和精力,去maximize total return。
June 21

How to measure the value of a research paper

Today at lunch, I heard stories of people publishing 15 papers a year, or submitting 5-6 papers to CVPR each year. That's very astronishing to me, because I can't see how an idea after less than 30 days of incubation would worth what people pay for the papers: expensive hotel, long flight, conference registration. Or maybe they are not paying all those to present their ideas, maybe they just need to prove to the outside world that they have the resource to do all that.
June 18

Google the innovator

After they announced cutting "dark matter" projects last Dec, Google has launched more new products/features than ever. Offline GMail and Outlook Synch, Android for netbooks, Java support in App Engine, Mobile BookSearch.
Most recently, they added some nice navigation features to the main book search site.
Comparing with Google, Amazon is not moving forward, but merely lingering around along its previous trajectory. Sure, Kindle2 and Kindle DX are nice devices, but they are contracted job based on well-known and widely used parts. Where is the true innovation?
 It's time to wake up from the complacency and look beyond the excel sheet.

Or maybe I am expecting too much. Maybe surviving the Great Depression is already the largest feast one can hope for.
June 17

老板家的烤肉

老板家的烤肉聚会,想想看是最没有道理的聚会。一群同事本来只是因为工作才在一起,现在却要假装不谈工作,于是开始明的暗的互相叫劲。特别是同级别的,没有合作关系的人,更是要在老板面前一争高下。
而这个时候的老板,则乐得扮演一个慈祥的Family man,一边和家眷和睦的共享幸福时光,一边看手下人在自己面前争风吃醋,比比谁的段子更黄,谁去的国家更Exortic,同时还不忘声明,这些都是Personal Travel,不是借公司出差之机的。

June 15

社会革命的失败

今天我删掉了克鲁泡特金的《告青年》,因为我发现不要说别人,就是我自己都不能相信其中的用社会主义革命去拯救劳苦大众的理论。可以说,社会主义试验的失败,是对人类所有美好理想的永久性否定。就好像一个纯洁的婴儿,长大成人,突然发现自己和所有人一样都为着私利而存在。而那些曾经相信社会主义,并且为之牺牲的人,则成了没有意义的悲剧注脚。 如果真的是一个美好的社会,为什么还要用种种手段去愚弄民众,控制媒体,保持信息的不平衡呢? 所以一切现状都只是各方利益妥协的产物,没有什么惊天动地的革命能带来真正的改变,暴力革命带来的,只是改朝换代和既得利益集团的更替。
June 13

设立目标

如果你设立的目标,最终都达到了,就说明你设立的目标还不够高。
这个道理,是今天我做完一个binary search的小练习之后领悟到的。注: 在binary search里面,你要控制一个上限和下限,不断缩小它们之间的距离。当然2D的binary search就更有趣一些。
June 06

读书摘录:李昂 《告少年》

ZT from http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=236172


李昂《告少年》

胜利出版社 中华民国三十一年十一月初版

 Rec’d thro Dr. Fairbank (费正清)

P2-3

我要说明的是,就是这本小册子命名为“告少年”的由来。其实也很简单,因为我认为克鲁泡特金的那篇“告少年”,无疑是这一百年来世界上最美丽的和最有价值的文章之一。

一九四一年冬于重庆郊外

P6

一个革命青年在他的品质上应该具有三个必要的因素:人格、意志、学识。

一个革命青年的全部生活应该只限于这三个领域:学习、奋斗、创造。

P11-21

先说学习。我们的口号是:“向每一本书,向每一个人,向每一个事件和每一个现象去学习。学习,学习,学习!”

无疑的,每一本书都可以给我们一点东西,甚至是一门最无聊的书也不例外。

向 每一个人学习。学问这东西本来是需要学而且问的,所以先哲有言“猥学而无友,则孤陋而寡闻”。向每一个人去学习,和向每一本书学习同样的重要。我们固然应 该向学问、经验比我们丰富的人学习,而且也应该向知识程度不及我们的人学习。因为学问、经验、知识是多方面的,往往一个虽然比我在各个方面都不及的庸人, 独有在一个部分却超过了我。所以古人有云“三人行必有吾师”,谚语曰“三个臭皮匠,赛过一个诸葛亮”,都是有至理的。

向每一个事件学习也有重要的意义,我们自己或者别人,在某一件事情中成功或失败了,都是值得我们研究(学习)的,他为什么成功?或者为什么失败?我们可以在这里面得到教训与经验。

向每一个现象学习是一种更高深的学问。这里包括着每一个运动或者一种制度,或者其他,范围很广的。

单是学习当然是没有意义的,我们并不是为学习而学习,而是为奋斗和创造而学习。

关于奋斗的口号是“对自己的一切弱点和不良倾向奋斗,对恶劣的环境奋斗,对一切革命的敌人和社会进化的障碍物奋斗。奋斗,奋斗,奋斗!”

关于创造,我的口号是:创造新的运命,创造新的环境,创造新的社会和新的时代。创造,创造,创造!“

P44-68

革命战争中的武器与战术

第一,永远不要离开群众,和群众生活在一起,尤其是和青年群众生活在一起,直到你停止呼吸为止;而且,你要时时刻刻向群众学习。

第二,得意的时候不要忘形,失意的时候不要颓废。我们要能够处顺境,也要能够处逆境。我们的真正的伟大与真正的价值,是在于我们不做环境的俘虏,而是要做环境的主人。

第三,要使你的脑筋极端的民主化,以最高的诚意去倾听大众的意见,虚心地接受别人对于你的一切批评,甚至别人对于你的恶意的攻击,你也应该细心地去分析。千万不要固执你自己的偏见,千万不要以为地球上只有你是伟大的,因而只有你的意见是正确的。

第四,计划的科学化和指导的民主化,是革命斗争中最有力的武器,你应该在这一点上,加工学习。不过对于这两点,都是实用政治学上的最高的艺术,学习是不容易的,谈起来更加困难。

第五,当你的权利能够用人的时候,你千万不要引用同乡、亲戚或其他的私人。

第六,你应该随时随地地去物色人才。你要精细清楚一个人的优点和缺点,使他们能够尽量的发挥他们的才能。

第七,我们不仅要学习如何领导别人,同时也要学习如何受别人领导。你千万不要处处以领导别人自居,但环境需要我们接受别人的领导时,我们应该虚心的受别人的领导;但当客观条件需要我们来领导别人时,我们就应该坦然负起领导的责任来。

第八,你要以最高的警觉性来注视你的周围(大至整个的地球,乃至地球以外的天空;小至你的卧室或者你的床铺的四面);你要以最镇静和沉着的能度来对付一切意外的事变;你要以最高的忍耐力来迎接一切不幸和危难;你要以斩钉截铁的决心来处置一切艰难的事情。

第九,你应该随时检讨自己——不仅应该虚心接受别人对于你的批评,而且应该时时刻刻去发现你自身的缺点。你必须以最大的勇气,在群众面前承认你的错误,并且以同样的勇气来克服和纠正这些错误。

第十,除了我们在第二章所述的几个根本条件之外,你的最主要的武器,还是在乎你的博学。

革命政治家的真学问最低限度要包括下列几点:(1)必须有社会科学的基本知识,尤其是经济学。我们要知道我们这个社会是究竟怎样构造起来的?他的进化和演变是怎样的?(2)必须有哲学上的基本知识,知道人生的意义。(3)必须熟悉本国的历史和现状,尤其是本国的革命史和经济现状。(4)必须熟识世界各国,尤其是主要各国的近代史和革命史;必须熟识世界各国,尤其是主要各国的现状,特别是经济情况或革命情况。(5)必须有最丰富的各方面的常识。(6)必须有组织上和宣传上的技能。(7)必须有明于观察,精于设计,确于判断,勇于应付的技能。(8)自然科学上的常识,尤其是生物学,物理学,天文学等等。

May 30

Google Streetview (with a time dimension)

Hearing that Greece opted out of Google Streetview, I decided to take a virtual tour of Italy. Strolling down the streets of Milano reminds me of my trip there 6 years ago.
Aside from nostalgia, I came to realize that Google Streetview could be used to present a 4th dimension, Time. How cool it would have been if I can render a time-lapse animation of the Streetview  from 2003 to 2009, see all the small/big changes, experiencing different seasons at the same the location.
Technically, it adds 3 challenges:
1) The central of the camera array needs to be aligned across all different trips that the Google car took during the years.
2) The image dataset will grow at least linearly overtime, even if Google just want to cover the locations that they already covered today. With their ever increasing reaching, the dataset will grow much faster.
3) Economically, the cost of driving around all these street every 3 month is hard to justify by the free web traffic Google Streetview generates. So the business might not like the idea.

Still, even if Google only covers a few landmarks, e.g. Eiffel Tower, Rome Colloseum, Duomo Cathedral, Kaminarimon (雷门) over time, it would make quite an impressive application.



May 20

Ten Lessons In Bootstrapping (a startup company) (ZT)


Ten Lessons In Bootstrapping

By Daya Baran at May 17, 2009

http://images.ientrymail.com/webpronews/article_pics/urbanspoon.jpgThe founders of Urbanspoon built their business with no venture capital, recently they sold Urbanspoon to IAC. They shared ten principles that other bootstrappers might find useful:

1. Start with savings. The math here is pretty simple. Assume you and your cofounders will have to go a minimum of two years without meaningful salary. Can you do it? Just as importantly, can they? Prepare to tighten your belt.

2. Found with good friends. The founding team will be slogging it out together in the trenches for years, and then heading out after work for beers. Remember that you can still be friends long after your company is only accessible in the Internet Archive.

3. Spend nothing. Nobody gets a salary. Don’t attend conferences, don’t travel, and don’t throw office parties. That stuff is for companies with investors or cash flow. Use Google Apps and Ubuntu. Buy everything at Costco and Newegg. Our only marketing expense was t-shirts, and we hoarded them like gold.

4. Ship quickly, and often. If your team is strong and your idea is manageable, ship a crappy version of your product in two months. Then keep shipping every few weeks. If something catches on, double down. Companies that don’t ship for years tend to fail.

5. Buy a big whiteboard. Don’t use calendaring, bug tracking or project management software. Put it all on the whiteboard. At the start of each week, erase and start over. Worried about losing something? If you erase it and forget, it wasn’t that important in the first place.

6. No time for pri-twos. In project parlance, a “pri-one” is a work item that is essential to the success of the project. Bootstrapped companies don’t have any pri-twos. Once you determine that a task is a pri-two, forget about it forever. Sadly, this is why Urbanspoon still doesn’t have “hours of operation” for our restaurants.

7. Outsource. Hire contractors carefully and treat them well. Find a great lawyer who doesn’t work at a firm. Deploy your product on ServerBeach or EC2. Use AdSense, but don’t plan on getting rich with it. For real leverage, discover new ways to use Mechanical Turk.

8. Follow the money. At a certain point in your company’s timeline, even the pri-ones may need to get tossed in favor of following the money. No amount of features can compensate for a lack of cash.

9. Hitch a ride. Bootstrapped companies can hitch a ride on larger companies with deep pockets. For example, we hitched rides with Apple (iPhone), Facebook (Connect) and Google (SEO).

10. Live your dream. Focus obsessively on what you’re good at, and ignore or outsource the rest. Don’t be afraid to enter a crowded market if you think you can compete. Dream of being Markus Frind of PlentyOfFish, with 1 billion page views and no employees. If he can do it, why can’t you?

May 13

What makes us happy?

A recently published Harvard Study (Grant Study) tries to decipher this life-long question by tracing 268 successful male Harvard students from 1937 to 2009.
The full article is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200906/happiness

Incidentally, JFK was within this selected 268-person group, but his files are classified until 2040.

 
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