冯延巳
谁道闲情抛弃久？每到春来，惆怅还依旧。
日日花前常病酒，不辞镜里朱颜瘦。
河畔青芜堤上柳，为问新愁，何事年年有？
独立小桥风满袖，平林新月人归后。
2009年10月30日星期五
悉尼·印象
“悉尼的生活从晚上开始。”从公司出来没几步，达令港的夜景便如画卷般展现在眼前了。有点儿像上海外滩，但是更小，更精致。静谧的港湾对面，林立的写字楼将自己雄浑的轮廓扩散在黑色天鹅绒幕布般的夜色里，璀璨的霓虹灯斗艳争芳，却还留着一分矜持，不会刺伤人眼。水中的倒影抛弃了一切细节，只留下影影绰绰的印象，和纯粹的、绝对的美，这样的构图必定出自一个不拘的天才。随性的悉尼人惬意地散坐在码头上，笑盈盈的韩国美女三五成群地从他们身后走过。烤肉的香气夹杂着低沉的爵士鼓点传来。这样美丽的风景当然少不了海鸥。这些大海的宠儿时不时从我头顶上空低低地略过，伸手可及，却又遥不可及，仿佛学了巴黎顽童的坏榜样，要戏弄我这个外乡人。它们在码头粗糙的木板地面上急匆匆地跑过，一溜小碎步，浑不似它们肥头肥脑的美国表哥，永远不慌不忙，一步三摇。然后，正如婴儿哭闹之后不多时就会沉入香甜的梦乡，这些顽皮的精灵也突然感到疲倦，它们安静地伫立在简洁的灯柱上，凝固成精致的雕塑，融入这副和谐而恬静的画卷。
2009年8月31日星期一
丑死了
书评：http://www.douban.com/subject/4004812/
众所周知，苏格拉底被雅典人民判处死刑，被迫服毒而死。而在这本书的译者介绍中，我读到一些有趣的细节。我大胆归纳为一句话：苏格拉底是丑死的。推理如下：
雅典人民为何如此仇恨苏格拉底？一个重要原因就是：他们仇恨的其实不只是苏格拉底，而是所有哲学家（或者称为诡辩家），但他们既无心智亦无兴趣去分辨各个哲学家之间的异同，而是把所有脏水都泼向苏格拉底。据柏拉图记载，法庭在审判苏格拉底时，有人指控他相信太阳是石质，月亮是土质，事实上这一观点属于其他哲学家，与苏格拉底毫无关系（108页）。换言之，苏格拉底在很大程度上是作为哲学家群体的代表而沦为雅典人民反智主义的牺牲品。
苏格拉底怎么就这么倒霉，被雅典人民挑中来当这个该死的代表呢？柏拉图认为这与喜剧作家对苏格拉底的长期丑化有关，例如阿里斯托芬的《云》（12页）。也就是说，不是雅典人民选择了苏格拉底，而是雅典的喜剧作家们选择了他，把所有哲学家的奇思妙想、怪异言行乃至种种所谓的罪状统统安插在他一个人身上。《云》的初演是在公元前423年，而苏格拉底被处死是在公元前399年；投票赞成处死苏格拉底的那一代雅典人民，就是在这样的灌输下成长起来的。
喜剧作家们何苦跟苏格拉底过不去呢？其实，他们和苏格拉底本人倒不一定有什么矛盾。以阿里斯托芬为例，根据他和柏拉图的著作来看，他和苏格拉底、柏拉图很可能还称得上是朋友（10-12页）。这样看来，他们脸谱化苏格拉底，不是出于仇恨，而是出于艺术需要，对于“艺术典型人物”的需要。
雅典的哲学家多得是，喜剧作家们为什么偏偏选中了苏格拉底呢？原因很多，其中一条是这样的：在古希腊喜剧中，演员是带着面具来表演的。这个面具必须很有特点，很夸张，要让观众一看就知道演的是谁，就和现在的人物漫画相一样。很不幸，苏格拉底长得很丑，非常的丑，不是一般的丑，喜剧作家挑选他的尊容来制作面具实在是再合适没有了（31页）。如果苏格拉底的学说中庸一点儿，也许就不用喝毒药；而如果他的长相中庸一点儿，也许也不用喝毒药。
苏格拉底的悲惨结局告诉我们：长得丑真的会死人的。
众所周知，苏格拉底被雅典人民判处死刑，被迫服毒而死。而在这本书的译者介绍中，我读到一些有趣的细节。我大胆归纳为一句话：苏格拉底是丑死的。推理如下：
雅典人民为何如此仇恨苏格拉底？一个重要原因就是：他们仇恨的其实不只是苏格拉底，而是所有哲学家（或者称为诡辩家），但他们既无心智亦无兴趣去分辨各个哲学家之间的异同，而是把所有脏水都泼向苏格拉底。据柏拉图记载，法庭在审判苏格拉底时，有人指控他相信太阳是石质，月亮是土质，事实上这一观点属于其他哲学家，与苏格拉底毫无关系（108页）。换言之，苏格拉底在很大程度上是作为哲学家群体的代表而沦为雅典人民反智主义的牺牲品。
苏格拉底怎么就这么倒霉，被雅典人民挑中来当这个该死的代表呢？柏拉图认为这与喜剧作家对苏格拉底的长期丑化有关，例如阿里斯托芬的《云》（12页）。也就是说，不是雅典人民选择了苏格拉底，而是雅典的喜剧作家们选择了他，把所有哲学家的奇思妙想、怪异言行乃至种种所谓的罪状统统安插在他一个人身上。《云》的初演是在公元前423年，而苏格拉底被处死是在公元前399年；投票赞成处死苏格拉底的那一代雅典人民，就是在这样的灌输下成长起来的。
喜剧作家们何苦跟苏格拉底过不去呢？其实，他们和苏格拉底本人倒不一定有什么矛盾。以阿里斯托芬为例，根据他和柏拉图的著作来看，他和苏格拉底、柏拉图很可能还称得上是朋友（10-12页）。这样看来，他们脸谱化苏格拉底，不是出于仇恨，而是出于艺术需要，对于“艺术典型人物”的需要。
雅典的哲学家多得是，喜剧作家们为什么偏偏选中了苏格拉底呢？原因很多，其中一条是这样的：在古希腊喜剧中，演员是带着面具来表演的。这个面具必须很有特点，很夸张，要让观众一看就知道演的是谁，就和现在的人物漫画相一样。很不幸，苏格拉底长得很丑，非常的丑，不是一般的丑，喜剧作家挑选他的尊容来制作面具实在是再合适没有了（31页）。如果苏格拉底的学说中庸一点儿，也许就不用喝毒药；而如果他的长相中庸一点儿，也许也不用喝毒药。
苏格拉底的悲惨结局告诉我们：长得丑真的会死人的。
2009年7月23日星期四
Icebreaker Reloaded
公司成立了一个Toastmasters Club，这给了我一个再作冯妇的机会。我把四年前的讲演稿翻出来，略作修订，又重新用了一遍。（原文在这里。）Word of the day is "pwned"，所以我把一些句子换上了这个词。
讲到一半我就意识到自己正在边讲边晃，但是......止不住了。
==============================================================
Good afternoon. I'm glad to have this chance to share my stories with you.
Who am I? I was born in Hubei province of central China. I spent my teens in a small town of Yichang. As you all know, Yichang is famous for its hydroelectricity generators. Unfortunately most of its electricity was conveyed to Shanghai and other industrial cities of eastern China, and I had to spend many nights in the dim light of candles and oil lamps. Sometimes my hair got pwned. That was a bitter sweet memory to me.
When the time came for me to go to college, I had no idea which major I'd like to pick. A family friend recommended electronics engineering, and that became my first preference. My second preference was materials science. My third preference was hydroelectricity. My eighth, railway transportation. My sixteenth, ocean agriculture.
Fortunately, I was able to pick my first preference, that is, electronics engineering. Unfortunately, less than two years later I got pwned by it. I *hate* circuits. Professor says: theoretic analysis shows that a *moderately small* resistance should be inserted bla-bla-bla. But doesn "moderately small" mean? One, one tenth, or one hundredth? I have no idea at all. If I don't like circuits, what do I like? Computer, that was my answer. I was so excited with this finding that I wrote an essay titled "Marrying a Computer". So many years passed and I'm still a
bachelor. Sometimes I wonder perhaps I made a curse upon myself... Still, I am an honest man, and an honest man has to tell the truth: computer is better than girlfriend. It's cheap, it's
rational, and it never argues with you.
Yeah, I enjoy programming in front of a computer. They say women have good intuition. Engineers have it, too. I can catch a spelling error in a twenty-two inch screen at the first glance. How does a programmer feel like? Just *Imagine*. Imagine you are a wizard, summoning spirits from beneath the earth. Imagine you are a king, whose will is law. Imagine you are an angel, free from gravity. Imagine you are God, and into dust thou breathe life.
After I received my degree I went to a small company of a friend. Six months later I joined
Nortel. Given all its difficulties and disadvantages, that telecom giant was a good employer. For the first time in my life I wanted to settle down. But I can't. Companies are changing. My industry is changing. The world is changing. I've got no choice. I must move on.
Things are changing everyday and I got pwned a lot. However, I can always take one thing for sure: wherever I go, whatever I do, my passion and happiness stay with me. Thank you.
讲到一半我就意识到自己正在边讲边晃，但是......止不住了。
==============================================================
Good afternoon. I'm glad to have this chance to share my stories with you.
Who am I? I was born in Hubei province of central China. I spent my teens in a small town of Yichang. As you all know, Yichang is famous for its hydroelectricity generators. Unfortunately most of its electricity was conveyed to Shanghai and other industrial cities of eastern China, and I had to spend many nights in the dim light of candles and oil lamps. Sometimes my hair got pwned. That was a bitter sweet memory to me.
When the time came for me to go to college, I had no idea which major I'd like to pick. A family friend recommended electronics engineering, and that became my first preference. My second preference was materials science. My third preference was hydroelectricity. My eighth, railway transportation. My sixteenth, ocean agriculture.
Fortunately, I was able to pick my first preference, that is, electronics engineering. Unfortunately, less than two years later I got pwned by it. I *hate* circuits. Professor says: theoretic analysis shows that a *moderately small* resistance should be inserted bla-bla-bla. But doesn "moderately small" mean? One, one tenth, or one hundredth? I have no idea at all. If I don't like circuits, what do I like? Computer, that was my answer. I was so excited with this finding that I wrote an essay titled "Marrying a Computer". So many years passed and I'm still a
bachelor. Sometimes I wonder perhaps I made a curse upon myself... Still, I am an honest man, and an honest man has to tell the truth: computer is better than girlfriend. It's cheap, it's
rational, and it never argues with you.
Yeah, I enjoy programming in front of a computer. They say women have good intuition. Engineers have it, too. I can catch a spelling error in a twenty-two inch screen at the first glance. How does a programmer feel like? Just *Imagine*. Imagine you are a wizard, summoning spirits from beneath the earth. Imagine you are a king, whose will is law. Imagine you are an angel, free from gravity. Imagine you are God, and into dust thou breathe life.
After I received my degree I went to a small company of a friend. Six months later I joined
Nortel. Given all its difficulties and disadvantages, that telecom giant was a good employer. For the first time in my life I wanted to settle down. But I can't. Companies are changing. My industry is changing. The world is changing. I've got no choice. I must move on.
Things are changing everyday and I got pwned a lot. However, I can always take one thing for sure: wherever I go, whatever I do, my passion and happiness stay with me. Thank you.
2009年4月22日星期三
2009年4月12日星期日
爱情·手机
同事X在公司内部消化了一个mm，我们对其严刑逼供，责令交代作案经过。据X坦白，他和mm是在公司电梯里认识的，一来二去，发生了感情。
我思考了一下，认为X说的是实话。第一，公司男女比例还算平衡，只是楼层分布严重不均，要见mm，除了餐厅，也只能是电梯了。这个地点是合乎逻辑的。第二，X在10层──顶层上班，在电梯里呆的时间显著长于在3、4层上班的其他工程师，机会自然也要比他们高得多得多得多。这就增强了这一情节的可信度。
接下来一个自然而然的问题就是：我也在10层上班，怎么就没有这样的艳遇呢？
我思考了一下，发现原因如下：自打从4层搬到10层之后，我很快就意识到”浪费“在电梯里的时间显著增加，因此养成了在电梯里上网的习惯。从开始等电梯，一直到从电梯出来，我都会拿着iPhone读我的Google Reader或Gmail，目不斜视。没想到iPhone带给我的只是芝麻，X捡到的却是西瓜。
我把这些分析和X说了，他嘿嘿一乐，掏出他的手机往桌上一放，小屏单显，赫然是上世纪90年代经典款式。
我思考了一下，认为X说的是实话。第一，公司男女比例还算平衡，只是楼层分布严重不均，要见mm，除了餐厅，也只能是电梯了。这个地点是合乎逻辑的。第二，X在10层──顶层上班，在电梯里呆的时间显著长于在3、4层上班的其他工程师，机会自然也要比他们高得多得多得多。这就增强了这一情节的可信度。
接下来一个自然而然的问题就是：我也在10层上班，怎么就没有这样的艳遇呢？
我思考了一下，发现原因如下：自打从4层搬到10层之后，我很快就意识到”浪费“在电梯里的时间显著增加，因此养成了在电梯里上网的习惯。从开始等电梯，一直到从电梯出来，我都会拿着iPhone读我的Google Reader或Gmail，目不斜视。没想到iPhone带给我的只是芝麻，X捡到的却是西瓜。
我把这些分析和X说了，他嘿嘿一乐，掏出他的手机往桌上一放，小屏单显，赫然是上世纪90年代经典款式。
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