快速整合论坛到Wordpress的方案 : The sky of Daemon!

快速整合论坛到Wordpress的方案 : The sky of Daemon!


Wordpress是一个强大的工具，Blog是它的一个最基础的应用，另外你也可以用它来打造一个Thumblog，PhotoBlog或者是CMS系统，而也许某些人还会有想在Wordpress中整合一个论坛这样的需求。可能很人首先想到的是bbpress，确实这是个挺棒的工具。不过其实我们有更多的方案可供选择，在”Integrating a Forum with WordPress“一文中就列出了这些方案，这里有中文版：整合论坛到Wordpress。

这篇文章中列出了使用Simple Machines Forum (SMF)、Vanilla、bbPress、phpBB、PunBB这六种使用外部的BBS程序整合到Wordpress中的方案，但个人认为虽然这样的配置强能会显得非常的强大，但安装和整合相对就比较麻烦和费力了。因此，如果你想进行快速整合的话，个人还是建议文中提到的另两个一站式Wordpress论坛插件，分别为RS Discuss及XDForum。

我的最终选择是XDForum，试验性的安装了一下，安装过程非常简单，与安装普通的Wordpress插件一样方便，而且与Wordpress后台及前台无缝结合，缺点在于目前还没有中文语言包。

这里有一个DEMO：http://news.bsdos.cn/forum

而关于这两个插件的详细介绍如下[摘自整合论坛到Wordpress]：

1. RS Discuss
   还在Alpha的测试阶段，RS Discuss就已经被赋予了一整套的强大功能，包括多论坛、搜索、主题、后台管理、聚合等等。因为其本身是个WP插件所无需后台整合。完整的前台/设计整合方法的文档目前还没有（到是有些散碎的信息），不过我觉得通过调试template.css就可以大作文章。也可以通过Forum > Configuration中的”dynamic theming”选项来达到一定程度的前台整合。
2. XDForum
   和RS Discuss相比这个论坛插件更为稳定，并且具备了绝大多数的所需功能。和RS Discuss一样不需后台整合。一样也没相关的前台整合的指南，一样可以自行调试xdforum.css。

PS：关于Vanilla及bbPress的详细安装方法煎蛋有相应的教程，你可以进行参考。Vanilla 杂谈 bbpress 杂谈

9月智慧言论集 - 左岸读书_blog

9月智慧言论集 - 左岸读书_blog

1.中外合作一度发展得很好，但在度过“蜜月”之后，双方的关系开始微妙起来。从目前的一些案例来看，不少外资已经“反客为主”。因为，独资可 以减少交易成本，更有效地实现跨国公司的战略意图。于是，老谋深算的跨国公司便通过一系列资本控制或管理控制的手段，使缺少经验的中方对合资企业逐渐失去 掌控，成为沉默的伙伴，最后，将中方从股东名单中删除。
企业之间的关系，除了利益，还是利益。跨国公司不是雷峰，一开始的不控股、提供技术和管理，放手让中方经营只是权宜之计，最终目的，是要掌控你、拥有你。因此，跨国公司在中国的投资大多遵循“合资－控股－独资”的发展轨迹。 —— 成都商报 《中外企业的跨国婚姻烦恼》

2. 王明夫：我不是品牌管理专家，我是战略咨询专家。我改了一下，因为他现场讲的时候我差点哭了，我刚改过不会忘。一只小蚂蚁在地上爬，在地上爬，太阳升起来 了，太阳下山了，一只小蚂蚁在地上爬，在地上爬，老人远看望着夕阳西下了，他看见一只小蚂蚁在地上爬，眼泪静静地流，静静地流，一只小蚂蚁在地上爬，在地 上爬。我朗诵完了。
(掌声)
你知道我给诗起的什么名字吗？
主持人王小丫：什么名字？爬啊爬？
王明夫：非常简单，叫《大地昌盛》，就是俞敏洪在北大的时候能写出这种诗来，注定了他若干年后比北大同学风光得多。 —— 经济半小时 《财富论坛：2006CCTV经济年度人物候选人俞敏洪》

3. 品牌企业要面对的是消费者，这和代工时期的游戏规则完全不同。要明白，做品牌有大量的钱花出去是看不到回报的。投入产出比和投入产出的时间差也都和以前有 所不同。不了解这一点，很容易在形成良性资金回流之前就支撑不住。而且做代工，相对来说商业环节毕竟简单；一旦做品牌，环节则大大增多：要面对自己的营销 队伍，面对媒体和公众、代理商。没有良好的意志力，也是很难坚持的。
从营销层面上讲，代工的转型是从“三无”开始转变的过程：无品牌、无分销网络、无营销队伍。以前的客户基本归零；以前的队伍因为理念完全不同甚至还会成为阻碍。但这些，恰恰正是做品牌最至关重要的三把利剑。
……
做企业经营，有时不在于先着急把短处全部补齐，而是在于把你的优势发挥到最长。要具备整合和调动资源的能力，让外界的资源来补充自己。 —— 中外管理 《挑战下一个弯道》

4.所谓经济人，有两层含义：一是说人是理性的；二是指人是自私的。既然人是自私的，必定要追求自己利益的最大化；既然人是理性的，就一定会寻求在局限条件下实现利益最大化的办法。 —— 王东京 《中国官场三大定律》

5.一般来说，企业继承人的产生途径主要有三种：内部培养、外部搜寻、子承父业。这几种传承途径孰优孰劣很难绝对评判。
基于东方文化的影响，许多民营企业家早早便认定了“子承父业”的宿命，但“计划生育国策”使得企业传承在人才选择面上受到了极大局限。很多民企“家长”仅仅出于姓氏的“企本”而让不适合的晚辈赶鸭子上架。
而放弃家族传承，选择多年培养与提拔的内部接班人，当然可以很好地秉承前任的管理思路与风格。但在给企业带来稳定的同时，这些谨慎的学徒往往也容易陷入墨守成规的泥沼，对“老掌柜”的忌惮，容易使其在需要魄力时缩手缩脚。
引进外部职业经理人，固然可以大刀阔斧，可以带来新气象，但却难免在鲁莽中伤害企业内错综复杂的关系，在履新中得不到元老信任而举步维艰。更何况在目前的 中国，缺乏信用和有效的制约机制，缺乏具有足够职业操守的经理人群体，“家长”与职业经理人之间的信任关系很难在短期内建立。心存芥蒂、边用边防，变成了 令人尴尬的职场现实。
而在国有企业，一方面，政府任命的形式使许多“老家长”对企业的传承无力左右，而索性疏于考虑，而听任外行人摆布与垂涎者侵占；另一方面，怀揣任命书的外 来继任者往往本能地将“老家长”的痕迹从企业彻底去除，将“老规矩”说得一无是处，于是企业便在革命的动荡与折腾的起伏中元气大伤。 —— 纪亮 《茅台交班》

6.我觉得一个重要的原因，是因为我们抛弃了游戏的全民化基础，抛弃了游戏创意产业的特性，关起门来搞所谓的精英开发，用一个人、一个团队的智慧去迎合或者对抗千千万万用户和竞争对手的智慧，这是成功离开我们的根本原因。
游戏是真正的直击内心的东西。从辩证法来看，形式越是千变万化，越能够直击内心，反过来讲，越是想直击内心，就越不能拘泥于形式。商业模式的变化也是这样，我们什么都可以丢弃，但是不能放弃对人性的掌握。
有人说有钱人花钱买级别买装备，破坏了公平原则。关键是你要理解什么是公平？原来我认为时间是衡量一个人投入唯一的计量工具，但是我把它变成了3个指标： 时间、金钱和智慧，这三点应该可以互相被取代，这个社会应该让富人、勤快人和聪明人都能同时到达终点，才是公平的。 —— 陈天桥
利害！强人爱财不但取之有道，还言之有理。

7. “在一个社区里，我们只记录了他们的虚拟金币，而没有记录他们的经验值。”陈天桥认为，这才是关键。他决定在游戏和管理之间作一次大胆的嫁接。
于是在刚刚进行了历年来力度最大的一次调薪之后，盛大开始在企业内部推出了“游戏式管理”模式。“这将是盛大最后一次手工调薪，今后所有的调薪、晋级都将 由经验值说了算。”盛大高级副总裁张燕梅解释道。这种“游戏式管理”的核心就是所有的员工都将像游戏中的人物一样拥有一个经验值，平时的表现和工作业绩， 将被经验值忠实地记录。经验值区分为“时间经验值”和“项目经验值”两部分，前者就像游戏里面一般的打怪升级，只要不犯错误，经验值就随着时间的推移自然 增长；而后者就如同游戏里面的“做任务”、“做副本”，以项目为单位拿到更多的经验值。什么时候给员工晋升和加薪，原来是上司或者人事部门说了算，现在是 ‘经验值’说了算——级别到了就“自动”得到晋升或加薪的机会。
盛大内部酝酿“游戏式管理”已经有近一年时间，光是建立计算经验值的数学模型就花了半年的时间，目前已经形成了专业岗位和管理岗位的“双梯”发展序列，每 一个级别都对应不同的经验值。同时，为了配合游戏式管理，盛大内部的信息化系统也已经全面和游戏式管理挂钩，所有的员工都可以实时查询并管理自己的经验 值。 —— 刘湘明 《陈天桥的互联网世界观》

8.对于“80后”来说，“说教”俨然已经渐渐失去了意义，他们更渴望“用自己的眼睛去看世界”，他们有自己独立的判断，不需要你去指手划脚。
因此，对于主管来说，不要试图通过“说教”、“思维教育”来改造“80后”。良好的沟通能力、具有感染力的演说、深刻的思想（起码是可以自圆其说的深 刻）、专业的技能，才是领导好“80后”的前提。也就是说，你必须要让他们在某一方面欣赏甚至崇拜你。 —— 子荷/庄文静 《“80后”太自我，怎么管？》

9.柳传志将自己的成功归结为“知道自己应该做什么事，不该做什么事”。柳传志将企业家的失败总结为三点：
一是没有把目标想清楚。有很多企业家做企业，做着做着就想向政治靠拢了，有心参与政治，结果却把企业做死了。
二是一些企业家拿了不属于自己的东西，侵犯了股东的，甚至是国家的利益。
三是把长跑当成了短跑。企业成长犹如跑步，倘若一万米有25圈，有的企业家为了得到眼光追逐，前5圈拼命发力领跑，力气很快用完，5圈之后便退下来。 —— 王晓慧 《离开联想的柳传志》

10. 东方卫视有一档方宏进主持的财经访谈类节目——《中国经营者》，黄光裕在这个栏目作访谈时，有段表述很有些意思，他说：我肯定给家电业带来的影响是正面 的，只不过加速他们进步或者淘汰。应该是大家利润越来越合理，通过提高核心能力，去提高企业自身的竞争力，不管商家还是厂家，你不能说，我付出了，我就要 有所回报，不可能，那就没有能人或者是平凡人之说了。
其实他的这段表述中就提到了三种矛盾显现出的普遍性与特殊性，众所周知，厂商博弈只会使得竞争越来越充分、市场越来越规范，这是一种共性。但黄强调指出， 我（国美）的出现加速了这种变化，这就是特殊性了；竞争的最终结果是使得行业利润趋同，这是一种共性。但通过提高核心竞争力，拥有比竞争对手更强的竞争 力，于是也会有更强的获利能力，这也是一种特殊性；都说“付出就有回报”，这是一种共性。但是能人的特殊性就体现在回报的高收益上。所以我们听听黄光裕的 三句话，句句在自夸。的确他现在有自夸的资本，这既是成功人士的一种共性，又是他这种特别成功人士体现出来的一种特殊性。 —— 黄江伟 《矛盾： 也是一种生产力》

国美是一个十足的家族企业管理模式，黄光裕的家属们多在公司担任高层管理工作。黄是国美大老板，他的妻子杜鹃管 理着香港国美，他的妹妹黄秀虹为华东区总经理，二妹夫张志铭是多个机构的负责人，他的母亲管理着国美投资公司，他的父亲有时也来公司做一些事情。尽管黄光 裕对外拒绝承认国美是他的家族企业，但从股权上看，国美的财富97%以上是控制在他个人手中的。在国美，除了黄光裕及家人外，外姓管理层还不曾分得一股。
财富与职权，这是看得见的，有心想改变为人诟病的现状，对于聪明的黄也不难，难的是企业文化的改造。国美的企业风格是重"勇猛"而轻"谋略"，重"人治" 而轻"法治"，重"控制"而轻"指导"，重"惩罚"而轻"奖励"，重"服从"而轻"沟通"……在国美发展初期，企业在频繁的攻城掠地的战争中形成了现有文 化中的杀斗之气，血腥之味，这种勇猛对于创业企业是有益的，但是对于做到一定规模的国美企业，它的可持续发展需要一种人性化的管理，这种管理做得好，要" 取悦客户，取悦员工"，但是现在的国美，仍然是"单赢"思维占主导。
李嘉诚是黄想学习的企业家之一，但是黄现在还做不到李嘉诚那样的海量与胸怀。"李嘉诚是一个让人敬重的企业家，而到目前为止，黄仍然只是一个商人，只是从 小商人变成了大商人而已。"一位不愿透露姓名的国美员工对记者说。 —— 李平 《黄光裕“黑帮”式用人 揭开一个真实的国美》

黄滨谈小提琴演奏(转贴)

和黄滨谈音乐与小提琴 第二期：演奏小提琴――发音

演奏小提琴怎样才能发出悦耳的声音？这是几乎每一个学习小提琴的人都会问的一个问题，也有很多人问过我这个问题。我反复想过怎样回答，后来发现，这可能是小提琴演奏中最难回答的问题之一。一位演奏家在演奏一个乐曲时，发音好不好，虽然需要从很多方面来评判，但基本还是：声音的穿透力、力度的掌握、音色是否符合乐曲的要求。而这些，都必须掌握在演奏者手中。

其实，小提琴是最有灵气的乐器，如果你掌握得好，它就像有生命一样，能发出你真正需要的声音。一般以为，只有好琴才能发出好的声音，但是如果只有那些价值连城的名琴才算好琴的话，那么，世界上也没有几个小提琴家能自己拥有一把那样的琴。其实，只要不是太差的琴，所用方法正确，也可以发出很不错的声音。用不正确的方法拉琴，很好的琴，也只能发出难听的声音。而且，一个好的小提琴家，经过较长时间，可以将一把一般的小提琴"拉成"一把很不错的琴，而一把很好的小提琴，被不对的方法长期乱拉，可能会变成一把不怎么样的琴，所以，对那些特别好的琴，总要说明它曾经由哪位（些）小提琴家使用。所以，我们说小提琴通人性。

有人问我："你是怎么发出那样的声音的？"其实，我认为没有什么特别的地方。小提琴的发音很奇怪，你得自己先搞清楚，你到底需要发出什么样的声音，你不能只满足于音量、音准和节奏。如果没有好的音色，即使音量很大，它也没有穿透力，声音会显得"混浊"，"涩"和"不透明"。现在的关键问题是，自己想要的声音是不是小提琴应该发出的优美的声音呢？我想，不同的人对什么是美的声音有不同的感受，小提琴家也是一样。如同音准问题，有些人天生有很好的音准判断能力，而有些人不幸没有这种天生的判断力，他们误以为自己发出的音是准的，但实际上却是不准的，他们要经过专门训练，才可能解决音准问题。类似的，可能有些人对音色的判断也会有问题，因此，他们拉小提琴发出的声音别人听来不美，但他们自己以为是美的。对音色的判断能力，或者更准确一些说，对音色的感受，比音准更难训练，因为，不像音高可以用多少赫兹来定量判断，没有一个数据可以作为判断音色美不美的标准。那么，解决判断音色问题的唯一办法可能是多听那些公认发音特别好的演奏家的演奏，仔细感受和体会，逐步形成自己内在的一种品质。这样，你会逐步形成一种自己内在的对一种美的声音的感受和追求，然后，你才有可能通过不断改进自己的演奏技术，去摸索、寻找和找到那种声音。这个过程，有些人很快就可以完成，有些人会慢一些，可能还有一些人永远也体会不到。

一般而言，对优美的声音的描述总是用"有穿透力"、"清澈透明"等形容词，要发出这样的声音，小提琴演奏有一些基本的技术要点，这对每个人都是一样。例如手指按弦，一定要有一定的力度将按弦到指板上（泛音除外），抬起来要干脆利索，要有弹性，弓子的接触点应该根据左手手指的位置进行调整。如果做不到这些，则肯定发不出有穿透力的声音。我们以后再逐步谈这些基本方法。但更多的是必须通过自己摸索找到自己想要的声音。如果老师对学生说，这个声音不好听，要什么什么样的声音才对，其实是没有什么用处的，因为，每一个学生其实都在尽可能发出自己认为好听的声音，而且，一般都认为自己发音的方法是正确的。可能最好的办法是给学生示范，让学生感受应该发出什么样的音，同时说明应该用什么方法拉出那样的声音。

基本技术要点

请参考本网站基础知识栏目中关于持琴、握弓、左手等姿势的图片说明。

从基本技术角度看，演奏小提琴怎样才能发出悦耳的声音。首先，从初学开始，就要牢牢记住，拉小提琴时，身体任何部位，不能有别扭的感觉。所有常见乐器中，只有拉小提琴和中提琴用这种独特的方式，它与人的基本自然姿势很不一样，所以，拉小提琴很容易感到别扭，如果不通过长期专门练习和锻炼，身体总会有某个部位紧张。在这种紧张的状态下，不可能拉出优美的声音。

持琴要点：眼睛正对琴头、在1－3把位，左手手指能垂直按A弦时，左臂应该在琴背的下面，小提琴是放在肩上并用左手大拇指和食指（第1指）的指根关节处托住的，既不要将琴压在肩上，也不要将肩耸起来夹琴。一般应该将琴举高一点，至少应该达到水平位置。很多专业人士都认为，应该用左肩和左下颚将小提琴稳定地夹住，这样才可以使自己的左臂完全自由和和放松，为了实现这一点，很多人都认为需要肩垫帮助。但也有持相反意见的人，他们认为，使用肩垫反而会引起左臂和左肩紧张，因而会影响小提琴的发音，使音质变差。奥厄（Leopold Auer）也是这样的观点。奥厄是小提琴大师顿特和约阿希姆的学生，是历史上最伟大的小提琴教师之一。他的学生包括米夏·艾尔曼（Mischa Elman）和亚莎·海菲兹（Jascha Heifetz）。仔细分析后我们可以知道，要使左手指有力地将弦按到指板上（这对发音十分重要），左手必须将琴托住，所以，演奏过程中，绝大多数时间，并不需要演奏者将琴牢牢夹住，而是将琴放在左锁骨上，用左下颚轻轻夹住它。至于用肩垫还是不用肩垫，并不是关键，应该根据个人情况决定。

左手手形：

拉小提琴左手正确手形可以用下述办法判断：

想想自己是怎样松松地握拳的，一般，大拇指将对着2、3指之间。

再练习下面两种方法，同时用1、2、3、4指在一把位分别按一根弦。

• 方法一：1指按E弦的F音、2指按A弦的C音、3指按D弦的G音、4指按G弦的D音，此时，大拇指应该对着2、3指之间的位置。
• 方法二：1指按G弦的降A音、2指按D弦的F音、3指按A弦的D音、4指按E弦的B音，此时，大拇指应该对着2、3指之间稍靠近3指的位置。
• 每个手指只按一根弦，而不碰到其它弦，按弦的手指都应该差不多与指板垂直。
• 这两种方法练习左手手形时，左臂保持在琴背下面，
• 方法二比方法一，左臂应该更向内（向右）一些。

手指按弦的压力：将弦按到指板上需要有一定的、足够的力度，为了获得美的发音，按下去要果断、结实，抬起来要干脆利索，富有弹性。对绝大多数人，要做到这一点，都很不容易，需要经过长期专门练习，特别在高把位和使用较弱的第4指。因为各人条件不同，每个人应该根据自己的具体情况和老师一起制定练习计划。每天都应该对此进行专门训练，开始时，一次时间不能太长（不超过10分钟），像体育锻炼一样，要有计划耐心地、科学地增加运动量，完全不感到累就停止，将达不到锻炼效果，一次太累，又可能受伤，后果可能是肌肉劳损而不能继续拉琴。这一点，需要特别用心和小心。

握弓：轻松地握弓，逐步练习到好像弓子自己在运动，演奏者只是稍许扶住它，练到这样的程度，弓子就像是自己右手的一部分。过分地用弓子压琴弦，不可能获取大音量，相反，只会将发音变坏。弓子走向要尽可能与琴码平行，可以先用弓子的中部练习，逐步增加长度，直至全弓。

放松：拉琴时，只有自己感到完全舒服，没有任何别扭，才可能发出美的声音，而要做到这一点，在演奏过程中，必须时刻注意放松。无论左手还是右手，用力的时候，必须要有一定程度的紧张，要通过有目的的练习，使自己在演奏进行中，能够抓住很短的乐句中的间隙，放松刚才还在因为发力而紧张的那一小部分肌肉，因而可以有很好的耐力，这一点，也和体育运动很相似。通过这样的练习，即使一次完整地演奏帕格尼尼24首随想曲，仍然可以做到轻松自如。不要以为帕格尼尼的24首随想曲是一般意义上的解决技术问题的练习曲，仅从技术上看，它并不是最难的。其实，它的每一首都是十分优美的音乐，要将里面的音乐表现的很优美，演奏时能做到轻松自如是必须的。

以上这些都是一些技术上必须遵循的最基本的原则，但更重要的还是必须形成一种自己内在的对一种美的声音的感受和追求，然后，你才有可能按照这些基本原则，仔细通过自己的听觉去判断，不断改进自己的演奏技术，摸索、寻找和找到那种你认为是美的发音。

我的小提琴老师

看到中国小提琴周刊这个征文题目，想都没有，觉得自己一定要参加，要好好感谢感谢自己的老师的。
于是扳指头一算，自己学琴已经3年半了。逝者如斯夫！
其实认识老师的时间可是比较长的了。应该是上个世纪末，97年左右的样子。一直是老师，给我讲生态、讲摄影、讲进化、讲杂志等等，然后经常在他的院子里面发现独具匠心的小制作、小工具、小发明，比如上压式饮水机解决长久留存病菌的问题等等。那个时候，认为老师是个没有进过大学门的饱学之士，同时还是动手专家。其博学、实践能力、研究精神，往往令我这个赶上好年头的晚辈后生汗颜不已。
再后来慢慢知道了，老师不仅能自己动手在一些科技的东西上，还能自己弹拨各种乐器，那时候，自己还分不清小提琴、中提琴、大提琴等等，分不清马头琴、二胡，看不懂交响音乐会上那么多阵仗究竟怎么运转的。不仅自己弹拨，后来才知道，老师小时候，也是学校里面重点培养的乐队指挥呢。如果不是赶上了那个让一代人唏嘘的年代，今天的老师，哦，年代。再往后还慢慢知道了，老师的音乐是有家传耳濡目染的先天影响的。更让人吃惊的还在后面，不仅自己拨弄乐器，老师常年科考在外，无以为遣的时候，居然能够从一小节儿木头最好只竹管和一小节儿铁丝中缔造一个乐器，然后自娱自乐，同时还能给队友们带来些轻松和快乐。
然而这一切于我何有哉？从小生在小城镇里，就像中国千千万万个普通小镇的普通家庭一样，家里没有音乐的熏染，学校没有什么音乐的教学，也许孩子的天性中有些天然喜欢哼哼歌曲的特性，于是就是学习了一些学校里面课堂上教唱的歌曲，考试还不见得怎样。广播或者电视里面的一些流行歌曲，倒也是学会了几首，自己唱唱而已。
乃至中学，慢慢了解中国古典文化之后，知道了中华古韵的高山流水和唐宋小调词牌的婉转清越，只是这种文字上得来的只能是诗意的想象，于是慢慢开始喜欢中国古乐和民乐的声音。那时候，西洋音乐在我的脑海里恐怕只有那个年代流行的欧美经典，和书本上了解的贝多芬。
因为了这样的“功底”，认识老师很久，也没有敢多说多谈音乐，更不用讲请老师教这样的想法，是想都不敢想的事情。这样的功底，还有人能教会么？
直到2004年的一天，清楚地记得，那是5月31号，老师邀请我和他另外一个同事到他家。多谢老师信任我，是希望我跟那个孩子交流一下职场心得之类。老师自己谦虚，说是自己的知识已经老了，新的很多东西不懂，然后依然尽长辈老师应尽的义务，在自己家里招呼两个后辈学习交流。何等博大的慈悲！
记得那天，说完正事，那孩子好奇得拿起老师客厅里的大大小小琴，试图想要弄明白叫什么？怎么玩儿？我呢还是自卑心理作怪，虽然这曾经是我很早就想做的事情。好在老师那里有不止一把琴，甚至不止两把，于是，老师告诉我，你也拿一把来试试？结果一试之下，我拉一下空弦的声音还不是那么刺耳，老师直夸我。连说不错，第一次接触小提琴，能发出这样的声音，已经很不错了。想不想学习？我可以教你。那一刻，我还能说什么？只觉得自己是天底下最幸运的人！就这样，我开始了我的小提琴之旅。
然而，面对我自己完全乐盲的基础，面对我理工科背景的理性，老师真的能教会我？万一学不会辜负了老师一片好心怎么办？
但是，我却忘记了，老师的理工科背景比我还强！因材施教，老师从物理学的原理开始给我讲小提琴的发音规律和结构和原理，从震动的物理频率本质来讲音的高低、强弱，从材料的物理特性讲音色的或润或亮。。。。。。似乎，音乐这个东西就是这样慢慢进入了我的视野。真不知道，除了老师这样的创意，这世界上还有没有像我一样这么学习小提琴的。
04年底，已经可以拉出来像是提琴的声音了。然后再半年，能够拉几首小曲子了。五线谱？练习曲？咱们先不用那些，用自己感兴趣的东西来学习，岂不是更好？就这样，断断续续地，老师不出差的时候，我周末到老师家里学习、聊天，其乐无穷。虽然，老师工作繁忙，经常出差。虽然，作为忙碌的IT人，我每天最多只有1小时的练习时间。但是05年中的时候，在中国小提琴联盟网络上认识的 莎贝达老师举行了一个小比赛，竟然，我上传了自己拉的曲子之后，还得了奖。我知道，这是专业人士不屑于的这种奖。对于一个成年学琴的音乐门外汉，是怎样一个鼓励？说到这里，不能不感谢沙老师和当年的小提琴论坛，那个论坛上我学到了不少，得到了不少专业指导，结识了些朋友。知道自己并不孤单的学习历程。
再后来，学习了三把位，五把位在自己的音乐感觉不到位的情况下，老师建议开始补充音乐知识和乐理的基础，开始补听乐感觉的欣赏功课。目前自己正在这里慢慢前行，不管进步如何，小提琴已经几乎是在三年不间断的陪伴下成了我生命中不可缺的一部分。很久了，哪怕只有半个小时，只要可能，就要练习，那一刻，一切都远去了，唯有音乐，唯有琴，唯有心中曾经的梦想和艺术的王国。。。
王老师，有您这样一位良师益友，吾生何幸！希望我一直能有这样的福分，能够得到您的指导和引领，在艺术，在科技，在人生！

归去来兮！读《迷失在专注中的Web2.0 》找自己

迷失在专注中的Web2.0 | It Talks-魏武挥的blog

既然不能直接收费，转向间接收费就变得理所当然。
一言以蔽之，就是广告。
于是，问题来了：广告主，是讲受众结构的！
结论就是：豆瓣，是一个很典型的垂直网站，聚焦于读书。
垂直性网站，这是Web1.0中的概念，相对于大而全的门户式水平网站而言，某些网站聚焦于某个行业，且在这个行业中做得风生水起，丝毫不输于甚至更强于门户的对应频道。最突出的例子莫过于中国化工网，一家号称每周都在盈利的聚焦于化工行业的1.0式网站。

你的用户是谁？所谓的三高人群(较大年龄、较多收入、较高社会地位)是没有任何意义的，因为你的广告主不是只需要互联网用户做它的客户。而基本上，互联网 本身就是三高人群扎堆的地方。太多的 Web2.0网站的用户特征，基本上就是互联网全体用户的特征。（想来不少人都是这样，没有想清楚的时候，只能一古脑全部讨好。可是，谁都想讨好的，往往谁都不认你。）于是，在排除了直接收费的生存模式之后，只留下了两条出路：
其一，搞大，要搞到连门户都敬畏的地步。。。对于规模很大实力很强的门户而言，开发几个功能，不是什么难事。毕竟，大部分的Web2.0应用并不需要什么高深的技术。（所以真正能找到好的技术作为起家根本的，大抵都还不错。只是，这种革命性的东西比较难于追求。而应用之巧在中国几乎没有空间）
其二，被收购。很多人都认为某某网站被巨头收购是成功的象征，但我从来不这么看。辛辛苦苦打下的一份基业，被人全盘收购，有什么好值得骄傲的。（深以为然。有什么好骄傲的？辛辛苦苦打下的基业，没有做过的人，可能真的很难体会，甚至只能看到被收购时候的所谓账面价值）

看到这篇文章，刚好结合昨晚上看到Wangtam的一篇文章中摘了一篇分析：育儿网站要web2.0还是权威。
说实话，看了标题之后我就把文章天然当作我自己对这个问题的思考展开了。刚好符合我最近在考虑的一些事情和想法的沉淀。权威可能不好听，但是很多领域，大家是需要专家意见的。虽然专家可能假冒，但是总比听那些不知所名的闲杂人的瞎掰靠些谱。毕竟我们生活中不靠谱的东西太多了。那么在专业领域比较强的地方，才是需要建立生产商和消费者中间专业人士普及和传播作用的空间。而且也是人家产生粘性的必要所在或者进而是付费的所在。
化工上可能瞬息万变的价格和专业壁垒，成就了一个专业的垂直网站，谁说他是大众的？非常小众，非常成功。这样的领域还不少，我选的方向看来有些个类似的特征。验证了自己的琢磨。

谢谢这样的好文章。传递了些信心给自己。

Emergent Business Networks - The Real Enterprise 2.0 Story

Emergent Business Networks - The Real Enterprise 2.0 Story

Written by Bernard Lunn / September 26, 2007 / 9 comments

In Chongquing, China - the world’s fastest-growing metropolis - hundreds of small motorcycle firms are using a radical form of collaboration to triple output to 15 million motorbikes per year, which beats their giant Japanese competitors. That story was told in the book “Wikinomics, how mass collaboration changes everything”. It's is a deeply impressive book, because it relates the flurry of Web 2.0 innovation to real world economics.

The Chinese motorcycle story is not about an online network, but it illustrates a potential for Web 2.0 technologies that goes well beyond today’s relatively simple consumer applications. The motorcycle entrepreneurs build trust through lots of face-to-face time in coffee shops. China has a weak rule of law, making personal relationships even more important.

This is an “emergent” business network, because there is no centrally defined structure. The structure emerges from lots of little interactions that are designed to solve specific problems. There is no “big Daddy” making the rules. These are not markets dominated by say Wal-Mart in retail or Microsoft in PCs.

In the West, these networks can develop online - linking wealthy, sophisticated clients who want a more customized product, with a network of companies who come together to assemble, package and deliver “just in time”. Think of these networks as a distributed, multi-company version of the supply chain network that made Dell a powerhouse.

Personalization and Customization

The coming wave of Online Emergent Business Networks is the real Enterprise 2.0 story. The impact on a large company from using Blogs, RSS and Wikis is not significant when the real guts of the business is locked into legacy ERP, SCM and CRM systems. These companies were built to deliver mass produced products for mass markets, whereas the coming wave is about personalization and customization. A couple of Blogs and Wikis won’t make that transformation happen!

These demanding but wealthy customers want something unique; a custom motorbike, grass fed beef from a farm near their weekend home, custom fit designer clothes, a self-published book of family memoirs, a leading edge solution to a relatively obscure healthcare problem. These kinds of products and services require a massive re-wiring of the current mass-market way of delivering products and services.

Food is one case where the transition to a new, more dynamic supply chain is critical. Reading Fast Food Nation will show that this is an urgent healthcare issue, not just a matter of consumer taste. However as this pioneering local food Diner in Vermont discovered, the supply chain is a massive obstacle.

The current Fortune 500 incumbents will not build these emergent business networks; they are threatened by them. Nor is it likely to be built by the few giant ERP vendors left who cater to those companies. So this sounds like a gap that startups can fill.

Key Elements of the Platform

The technical platform to enable these emergent business networks is non-trivial. It will need enterprise-scale technology for complex transactions that have to be 100% correct and secure. Plus everything has to be real time; this is the kind of technology that powers the capital markets today.

However, the word “emergent” is not one you associate with ERP or banking systems today. We are more likely to think of rigid, monolithic, spaghetti code - chaotic and fragile. These new platforms will need to be much, much more adaptable.

Key elements of the required platform will be:

1. Some elements from social networking, enabling market participants to describe themselves and link to trusted partners.

2. Adaptive personalization for consumers, enabling them to see the network through the prism of their specialized interests.

3. Systems for rating all marketing participants, which avoid ratings spam with authentication.

4. Systems for aggregating many small orders for lots of small producers, via one or more service providers, and arranging delivery just in time.

5. Wireless user interfaces for people who don’t "live on their PC", but who are out and about doing work.

6. Above all, all market participants need access to a common data pool. Even if some data is private, the meta-tags/model must be consistent. It must also be able to evolve as the network evolves.

7. A model based framework where business analysts can make changes to the business logic; and which creates the code (MDA and so on).

The business model for a system like this has to be transaction fees, as no big company plans to spend millions of dollars ripping out their ERP/banking systems any time soon. So the build has to be VC funded. It will be built on a mix of open source tools, industry standard XML models, open APIs and logical models.

In what markets will this happen?

These emergent business networks will evolve first where most of the following conditions exist:

1. A wealthy and discriminating consumer that wants that “little extra special something”. The new money that comes into the network from catering to their extra needs is the fuel that enables the network to grow, without any zero sum disintermediation.

2. Inventory has to be “fresh”; food for example, or even fashion.

3. Manufacturing is light and/or lots of it can be automated. This makes it possible to have production close to the consumer (not half way around the world), so can be delivered very quickly.

4. A network of specialist sub-contractors and service providers.

Let us know your thoughts on this - is this what you want to see in Enterprise 2.0? What other opportunities are there for startups?

Motorbike pic by chrisdrum

# 4

I basically love the article, but suggest these improvements:
* It's not "enterprise-scale technology", it's internet-scale. Different requirements, including loose coupling. Different ideas about how to provide transactional integrity.
* The technology can and most likely will be developed by the same kind of emergent business networks: loosely-coupled open-source collaborators.
* The appropriate logical model is called REA (Resources, Events and Agents): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resources,_Events,_Agents
http://www.aisvillage.com/rea25/haugen/beyondtheenterprise.html

Posted by: Bob Haugen | September 26, 2007 6:51 AM

# 9

After reading the article, I noticed that federated identity was not mentioned. It will be very important for Enterprise 2.0 to be able to track customers in a centralized way. I agree on the point about the value of reputation in any authentication system. However, across the boundaries of Wikis, Blogs, Discussion Boards, and Social Networks customers need to be able to travel with their identity. Companies need to be able to integrate all those touch points with customers into CRM and ERP.

Posted by: Chris Clark | September 26, 2007 10:52 AM

这是个很重要的结合点和关键的生意转化点.零散的用户信息和反馈和意见的表达和声音的表达才能够成为集中的企业决策的依据和基础数据源.How to?用户需要拿走自己的信息么?或者方便迁移走么?不是这样的话,travel with their identity什么意思？

» 说说大型高并发高负载网站的系统架构 俊麟 Michael`s blog

» 说说大型高并发高负载网站的系统架构 俊麟 Michael`s blog: "http://www.toplee.com/blog/wp-trackback.php?p=71"

说说大型高并发高负载网站的系统架构

By Michael

转载请保留出处：俊麟 Michael’s blog (http://www.toplee.com/blog/?p=71)
Trackback Url : http://www.toplee.com/blog/wp-trackback.php?p=71

　　我在CERNET做过拨号接入平台的搭建，而后在Yahoo&3721从事过搜索引擎前端开发，又在MOP处理过大型社区猫扑大杂烩的 架构升级等工作，同时自己接触和开发过不少大中型网站的模块，因此在大型网站应对高负载和并发的解决方案上有一些积累和经验，可以和大家一起探讨一下。

　　一个小型的网站，比如个人网站，可以使用最简单的html静态页面就实现了，配合一些图片达到美化效果，所有的页面均存放在一个目录下，这样的网站对 系统架构、性能的要求都很简单，随着互联网业务的不断丰富，网站相关的技术经过这些年的发展，已经细分到很细的方方面面，尤其对于大型网站来说，所采用的 技术更是涉及面非常广，从硬件到软件、编程语言、数据库、WebServer、防火墙等各个领域都有了很高的要求，已经不是原来简单的html静态网站所 能比拟的。

　　大型网站，比如门户网站。在面对大量用户访问、高并发请求方面，基本的解决方案集中在这样几个环节：使用高性能的服务器、高性能的数据库、高效率的编程语言、还有高性能的Web容器。但是除了这几个方面，还没法根本解决大型网站面临的高负载和高并发问题。

　　上面提供的几个解决思路在一定程度上也意味着更大的投入，并且这样的解决思路具备瓶颈，没有很好的扩展性，下面我从低成本、高性能和高扩张性的角度来说说我的一些经验。

1、HTML静态化
　　其实大家都知道，效率最高、消耗最小的就是纯静态化的html页面，所以我们尽可能使我们的网站上的页面采用静态页面来实现，这个最简单的方法其实也是最有效的方法。但是对于大量内容并且频繁更新的网站，我们无法全部手动去挨个实现，于是出现了我们常见的信息发布系统CMS，像我们常访问的各个门户站 点的新闻频道，甚至他们的其他频道，都是通过信息发布系统来管理和实现的，信息发布系统可以实现最简单的信息录入自动生成静态页面，还能具备频道管理、权 限管理、自动抓取等功能，对于一个大型网站来说，拥有一套高效、可管理的CMS是必不可少的。

　　除了门户和信息发布类型的网站，对于交互性要求很高的社区类型网站来说，尽可能的静态化也是提高性能的必要手段，将社区内的帖子、文章进行实时 的静态化，有更新的时候再重新静态化也是大量使用的策略，像Mop的大杂烩就是使用了这样的策略，网易社区等也是如此。目前很多博客也都实现了静态化，我 使用的这个Blog程序WordPress还没有静态化，所以如果面对高负载访问，www.toplee.com一定不能承受

　　同时，html静态化也是某些缓存策略使用的手段，对于系统中频繁使用数据库查询但是内容更新很小的应用，可以考虑使用html静态化来实现， 比如论坛中论坛的公用设置信息，这些信息目前的主流论坛都可以进行后台管理并且存储在数据库中，这些信息其实大量被前台程序调用，但是更新频率很小，可以 考虑将这部分内容进行后台更新的时候进行静态化，这样避免了大量的数据库访问请求。

　　在进行html静态化的时候可以使用一种折中的方法，就是前端使用动态实现，在一定的策略下进行定时静态化和定时判断调用，这个能实现很多灵活性的操作，我开发的台球网站故人居(www.8zone.cn)就是使用了这样的方法，我通过设定一些html静态化的时间间隔来对动态网站内容进行缓存，达到分担大部分的压力到静态页面上，可以应用于中小型网站的架构上。故人居网站的地址：http://www.8zone.cn，顺便提一下，有喜欢台球的朋友多多支持我这个免费网站:)

2、图片服务器分离
　　大家知道，对于Web服务器来说，不管是Apache、IIS还是其他容器，图片是最消耗资源的，于是我们有必要将图片与页面进行分离，这是基本上大 型网站都会采用的策略，他们都有独立的图片服务器，甚至很多台图片服务器。这样的架构可以降低提供页面访问请求的服务器系统压力，并且可以保证系统不会因为图片问题而崩溃。

　　在应用服务器和图片服务器上，可以进行不同的配置优化，比如Apache在配置ContentType的时候可以尽量少支持，尽可能少的LoadModule，保证更高的系统消耗和执行效率。

　　我的台球网站故人居8zone.cn也使用了图片服务器架构上的分离，目前是仅仅是架构上分离，物理上没有分离，由于没有钱买更多的服务器:)，大家可以看到故人居上的图片连接都是类似img.9tmd.com或者img1.9tmd.com的URL。

　　另外，在处理静态页面或者图片、js等访问方面，可以考虑使用lighttpd代替Apache，它提供了更轻量级和更高效的处理能力。

3、数据库集群和库表散列
　　大型网站都有复杂的应用，这些应用必须使用数据库，那么在面对大量访问的时候，数据库的瓶颈很快就能显现出来，这时一台数据库将很快无法满足应用，于是我们需要使用数据库集群或者库表散列。

　　在数据库集群方面，很多数据库都有自己的解决方案，Oracle、Sybase等都有很好的方案，常用的MySQL提供的Master/Slave也是类似的方案，您使用了什么样的DB，就参考相应的解决方案来实施即可。

　　上面提到的数据库集群由于在架构、成本、扩张性方面都会受到所采用DB类型的限制，于是我们需要从应用程序的角度来考虑改善系统架构，库表散列 是常用并且最有效的解决方案。我们在应用程序中安装业务和应用或者功能模块将数据库进行分离，不同的模块对应不同的数据库或者表，再按照一定的策略对某个 页面或者功能进行更小的数据库散列，比如用户表，按照用户ID进行表散列，这样就能够低成本的提升系统的性能并且有很好的扩展性。sohu的论坛就是采用 了这样的架构，将论坛的用户、设置、帖子等信息进行数据库分离，然后对帖子、用户按照板块和ID进行散列数据库和表，最终可以在配置文件中进行简单的配置 便能让系统随时增加一台低成本的数据库进来补充系统性能。

4、缓存
　　缓存一词搞技术的都接触过，很多地方用到缓存。网站架构和网站开发中的缓存也是非常重要。这里先讲述最基本的两种缓存。高级和分布式的缓存在后面讲述。

　　架构方面的缓存，对Apache比较熟悉的人都能知道Apache提供了自己的mod_proxy缓存模块，也可以使用外加的Squid进行缓存，这两种方式均可以有效的提高Apache的访问响应能力。

　　网站程序开发方面的缓存，Linux上提供的Memcached是常用的缓存方案，不少web编程语言都提供memcache访问接口，php、perl、c和java都有，可以在web开发中使用，可以实时或者Cron的把数据、对象等内容进行缓存，策略非常灵活。一些大型社区使用了这样的架构。

　　另外，在使用web语言开发的时候，各种语言基本都有自己的缓存模块和方法，PHP有Pear的Cache模块和eAccelerator加速和Cache模块，还要知名的Apc、XCache（国人开发的，支持！）php缓存模块，Java就更多了，.net不是很熟悉，相信也肯定有。

5、镜像
　　镜像是大型网站常采用的提高性能和数据安全性的方式，镜像的技术可以解决不同网络接入商和地域带来的用户访问速度差异，比如ChinaNet和 EduNet之间的差异就促使了很多网站在教育网内搭建镜像站点，数据进行定时更新或者实时更新。在镜像的细节技术方面，这里不阐述太深，有很多专业的现 成的解决架构和产品可选。也有廉价的通过软件实现的思路，比如Linux上的rsync等工具。

6、负载均衡
　　负载均衡将是大型网站解决高负荷访问和大量并发请求采用的终极解决办法。

　　负载均衡技术发展了多年，有很多专业的服务提供商和产品可以选择，我个人接触过一些解决方法，其中有两个架构可以给大家做参考。另外有关初级的负载均衡DNS轮循和较专业的CDN架构就不多说了。

6.1 硬件四层交换
　　第四层交换使用第三层和第四层信息包的报头信息，根据应用区间识别业务流，将整个区间段的业务流分配到合适的应用服务器进行处理。　第四层交换功能就 象是虚IP，指向物理服务器。它传输的业务服从的协议多种多样，有HTTP、FTP、NFS、Telnet或其他协议。这些业务在物理服务器基础上，需要 复杂的载量平衡算法。在IP世界，业务类型由终端TCP或UDP端口地址来决定，在第四层交换中的应用区间则由源端和终端IP地址、TCP和UDP端口共 同决定。

　　在硬件四层交换产品领域，有一些知名的产品可以选择，比如Alteon、F5等，这些产品很昂贵，但是物有所值，能够提供非常优秀的性能和很灵活的管理能力。Yahoo中国当初接近2000台服务器使用了三四台Alteon就搞定了。

6.2 软件四层交换
　　大家知道了硬件四层交换机的原理后，基于OSI模型来实现的软件四层交换也就应运而生，这样的解决方案实现的原理一致，不过性能稍差。但是满足一定量的压力还是游刃有余的，有人说软件实现方式其实更灵活，处理能力完全看你配置的熟悉能力。

　　软件四层交换我们可以使用Linux上常用的LVS来解决，LVS就是Linux Virtual Server，他提供了基于心跳线heartbeat的实时灾难应对解决方案，提高系统的鲁棒性，同时可供了灵活的虚拟VIP配置和管理功能，可以同时满 足多种应用需求，这对于分布式的系统来说必不可少。

　　一个典型的使用负载均衡的策略就是，在软件或者硬件四层交换的基础上搭建squid集群，这种思路在很多大型网站包括搜索引擎上被采用，这样的架构低成本、高性能还有很强的扩张性，随时往架构里面增减节点都非常容易。这样的架构我准备空了专门详细整理一下和大家探讨。

总结：
　　对于大型网站来说，前面提到的每个方法可能都会被同时使用到，Michael这里介绍得比较浅显，具体实现过程中很多细节还需要大家慢慢熟悉和体会， 有时一个很小的squid参数或者apache参数设置，对于系统性能的影响就会很大，希望大家一起讨论，达到抛砖引玉之效。

铂程斋--优秀创业者的人的基础

铂程斋--优秀创业者的人的基础:

我们可以从70年代出生的创业者身上去寻找一些相似性，我这里所说的成功创业者，指的是那些可以把自己的公司做到十亿美金以上价值的创业者，虽然公司市值不是一个绝对的衡量标准，但是作为一个相对的衡量标准还是比较可以让人信服的。

这些人包括，分众的江南春、盛大的陈天桥、网易的丁磊、百度的李彦宏等企业家（创业者），也包括岁数再大一点的史玉柱、俞敏洪等，甚至包括大名鼎鼎的盖茨、乔布斯、佩奇等，我们来寻找一下他们的共同点。

1、他们都是内心充满激情但是又非常理性的人，追求结果的同时享受过程，而不是单纯的享受过程；

2、他们做的都是自己最爱的事情，所以早起晚归，每天工作10个小时以上，甚至超过15个小时，一周六七天的工作；

3、他们始终关注自己的产品和服务，并且是产品和服务最好的质检员和改进者；

4、国外的最成功的创业者往往是人生第一次创业，他们可以打破传统，因为他们有很好的法律制度做前提；

5、国内的最成功的创业者往往是先有过工作经历，或者二次创业，他们需要尝试中国商业的“潜规则”。

如果作为一个创业者，我们可以具备以上的条件并几十年如一日的坚持，我想，我们至少具备了60%的成功的要素了，如果创业者按照这样的标准要求自己，我认为想要失败都不太可能（前提是选对了行业）。

IT和互联网的老一辈优秀创业者出生在10月和11月的占据了60%以上，也就是天平座和天蝎座，这也是一个有趣的概率。

提醒：我所说的创业者，除了那些创办企业的人以外，还包括那些希望在企业中实现自己事业梦想的优秀人才。

来源： 李想

阅读笔记:无依无恃-胡因梦 - 新浪BLOG

无依无恃-胡因梦 - 新浪BLOG

选自《转逆境为喜悦》（佩玛·丘卓著，胡因梦译，简体字版已由中国藏学出版社出版）

修行就是要发展出对所有的情绪、处境和人全然接纳的开放心性，也就是毫无阻隔、毫不保留地体验每一样事物，而永远不退缩到自我之中。
——顶果·钦哲仁波切（Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche)

　　佛陀有一次和他的弟子们聚集在灵鹫山，当时他传了一则非常具有革命性的法教——我们存在的本质里有一个开放而无所依恃的境界——传统称之为空性或无量菩提心，又称为般若波罗蜜多。
　　佛陀传授空性的法教有一段时日了。当时在灵鹫山法华会的大弟子之中，有许多人对无常和无我的道理——任何事物包括我们自己在内，都不是坚实的或可以预 料的——已经有了深刻的了悟。他们了悟到执著和贪吝必定导致痛苦。他们从佛陀身上学到了这则真理；他们透过禅定深刻体悟了这件事。但是佛陀知道，我们想找 到坚实立足点的倾向是根深蒂固的。自我会利用任何事物来保有安全感，包括对无常和无实体的信念在内。
　　因此，佛陀做出了一件震撼人心的事。他传授了般若波罗蜜多的教诲，他把弟子们踩在脚下的地毯突然抽走了，于是弟子们进一步地体悟了无依无恃的境界。他 告诉闻法的人，无论心中相信的是什么，都必须彻底放下，因为执著于任何一种对实相的描述，都可能落入圈套。这个讯息对闻法者而言，可不是什么令人欣慰的 话。
　　这件事令我联想起克里希那穆提——这位被通神学会择选出来的救世主。学会的长老们不断告知其他学生，有一天当这位救世主的化身证悟时，他的教诲将是惊 世骇俗而又具有革命性的；他将撼动学生们的信仰根基。其结果确实被长老们料中，但并不完全如他们想像的那样。当克里希那穆提成为“世界明星会”的领袖时， 他召集了全世界的会员，正式宣布解散“世界明星会”。他告诉他们，这个组织对他们是有害的，因为它提供了过于坚实的立足之地。
　　对佛陀的弟子而言，灵鹫山的经验和克氏的学生们所体验的十分类似。佛陀当天传达的主要讯息就是，执著于任何事物，都会障碍住心中的智慧。任何一个被我 们所接纳的论断，都必须彻底放下。全然体悟或修炼菩提心法的方式，就是安住在般若智无量的空性中，耐心地突破我们所有的执著倾向。
　　灵鹫山的法华会上佛陀传授了世人所熟知的《心经》，但事实上他一个字也没说，他进入了甚深禅定，所以当时的传法者其实是观自在菩萨，又称为观世音菩 萨。这位精神勇士代表佛陀，宣讲了自己对般若波罗蜜多的体证。他的洞见并不是以智力作为基础的，而是来自于亲身的体悟。他了了分明地照见万法皆空。接着舍 利子开始向观自在菩萨发问。这才是真正的重点，因为就算佛陀当家作主，大菩萨代为弘法，真理的奥义仍然得透过问答才能厘清。弟子们并不是一味顺服或盲信。
　　舍利子是我们这些为徒者的楷模。他并没有一味接纳自己所听闻的一切，他想亲自探寻真相，因此他问观自在菩萨：“我如何才能将般若智运用在身、口、意之中?这项修持的关键是什么?我应该抱持什么样的观点?”
　　观自在菩萨的回答是佛法中最著名的悖论：“色即是空，空即是色。空不异色，色不异空。”当我第一次听见这句话的时候，完全不知道他要说的是什么。我的 心一下子落空了。他的解说如同般若智的本身，是无法表达、无法言传、无法想像的。如果不投射任何信念于事物之上，那么所谓的“色”只是“如是”罢了。般若 波罗蜜多象征着完全清新而无拘无束的心，它具有无可限量的潜力。
　　般若乃是开放的眼、耳、身、意不经过滤的展现。一行禅师将其诠释成“领悟力”。那是一种流畅无阻的运作过程，而不是可以度量或概括说明的具体事物。
　　这份般若智慧，这个无法言传的东西，是人类共有的经验。它并不是一种安祥的心境或烦扰的心态。它是一种开放、质疑而又毫无偏见的根本智。无论它是以好 奇的、慌张的、惊讶的或放松的形式展现自己，都不是关键所在。因为不论我们的人生是处于手足无措或悬在半空中，我们都要发挥般若智慧。
　　我们要按照创巴仁波切所说的：不要害怕自己像个傻子一样来进行修持。我们要学习与自己的存在直截了当地相处——以爱和恨直截了当地感知血、汗及鲜花。 我们首先要抹去自己的成见，甚至必须放下所有的信念，直截看待所有事物。我们要一直不断地抽走脚下的地毯，如果能观照到色即是空而毫无障碍或遮掩时，便了 悟了事物圆满的本性。但是我们很可能会对这样的体悟上瘾，因为它会让我们从犹豫不决的情绪里解脱，而误以为自己可以凌驾于日常生活的混乱之上。
　　然而“空不异色”又让情势翻转了过来。“空”仍旧持续不断地示现成生、老、病、死、战争与和平、苦恼与喜乐。于是我们又必须面对活着的那份悸动人心的 本质。基于这个理由，所以我们必须修习四无量心中的相对菩提心法，以及自他交换的观想。它们能帮助我们以开放无碍的心全神贯注于活生生的当下。事情有好有 坏，我们无需再添加什么额外的东西了。
　　想像一下自己正在和佛陀交谈。他问道：“你如何观照实相?”我们很诚实地回答：“我将其视为一个坚实的、与我有别的东西。”他的答案是：“不对，再深入地看一看。”
　　于是我们定到一旁开始打坐，很诚恳地深思默观起这个问题。然后我们回到佛陀身边，对他说：“我现在终于知道答案了。万事万物都不是坚实不变的，它们都 是空的。”他回答道：“不对、再深入地看一看。”我们答曰：“不可能再深入了。事物非空即有，只有这两种可能性了，不是吗?”他的答覆仍然是：“不对。” 因为回答问题的人是佛陀，所以我们不得不想一想，“也许我应该再深入一点，才能突破这份不满足感所带来的烦扰。”
　　于是我们再坐下来深思默观这个问题，接着又去参访佛陀，我们告诉他：“我想我现在可以答覆你的问题了。万法皆空亦非空。”他的回答仍然是：“不对。” 可想而知我们一定会觉得无所依恃，甚至有点不知所措。脚下无立足之地是一种非常不舒服的感觉。然而这个过程最重要的就是摘下面具：即使我们感到烦躁不安， 也要贴近地看一看心性固著的本质。既然从佛陀的口中只能得到“不对”的答覆，我们不妨回家花上一年的时间亲自去解开这个谜题。这就像是一则禅宗公案。
　　最后我们一定会回到佛陀身边，并且告诉他：“好了!现在只剩下最后一个答案了。实相的本质是既非存在，亦非不存在的。它是非空非有的。”我们对自己的 答案非常满意。但是佛陀的回答仍然是，“不对，你的了悟太有限了。”就在这个时刻，那一句“不”突然把你的心震开了，你因而体悟到般若波罗蜜多的滋味，而 不再满足于有所住留的状态。
　　观自在菩萨告诉舍利子“色不异空，空不异色”之后，又继续指出，即使是佛陀的教诲也不能执著：无三法印，无苦谛，无灭谛，无无常，亦无解脱。据说佛陀 的弟子们听闻此法之后，有许多人吓得目瞪口呆，甚至心脏病突发。某位西藏老师认为，比较可靠的说法是弟子们纷纷离开了会场，正如通神学会的会员们不接受克 里希那穆提的话语一般。我们都不愿意自己抱持的基本结论遭遇到挑战。
　　不过，假设佛陀当时没有在背后支持观自在菩萨讲法，弟子们还可能为自己的恐惧找到合理的借口：“他只是一名道途上的精神勇士罢了，他跟我们没多大的差 别。虽然他很有智慧、很慈悲，不过还是会犯错。”然而当时佛陀在场，他进入了甚深禅定，了了分明地乐见般若心法被观自在菩萨宣讲了出来。对弟子而言，那真 是一场进退两难之局。
　　受到舍利子的激励，观自在菩萨继续宣讲下去，他教导我们一旦了悟无终极证悟、无究竟解脱、亦无住留之处，我们的心一旦解脱争斗不休的情绪以及人我之分 的信念，就不再恐惧了。多年以前当我第一次听闻此法时，我对任何灵修之道都还没产生兴趣，不过当时心中有一盏小小的灯突然熄灭了：我非得了解一下“没有恐 惧”是什么滋味。
　　般若波罗蜜多从某个层面来看，其实是一则有关无惧的教诲。也就是要我们不再对抗未知和生命的暧昧性，直到恐惧完全消解为止。彻底的无惧就是彻悟的同义 词——亦即全心全意敞开心胸与我们的世界互动，同时训练自己耐心地朝这个方向迈进。我们学着安住于无依无恃的状态，逐渐就能体尝到无惧的滋味了。
　　然后观自在菩萨宣讲了般若波罗蜜多的精髓。也就是无惧的精髓，或是开放之心的精髓。它是以咒语的形式呈现的：唵揭谛揭谛 波罗揭谛波罗僧揭谛菩提萨婆诃。如同种子可以长成大树一般，此咒包含了安住在般若波罗蜜多、安住在无惧境界的整个法教。
　　创巴仁波切将其诠释成“唵，超越，超越，彻底超越，觉醒，如此而已。”这句咒语描述的是永远更加超越的一趟旅程。我们也可以说：“唵，无依无恃，无依无恃，更加无依无恃，甚至超越无依无恃，彻底觉醒，如此而已!”
　　不论处在菩萨道的哪一个阶段，也许是刚开始起步，或是已经修持多年，我们永远都在进一步地涉入更无依无恃的境界。开悟并不是终点。开悟这种彻底觉醒的状态，只是另一个我们一无所知的境界的开端罢了。
　　当这位大菩萨讲完《心经》之后，佛陀从甚深禅定中出定，然后说道：“好极了!好极了!观自在菩萨，你表达得完美极了!”那些没有走出会场或心脏病没发作的人，都感到欢欣鼓舞，他们为自己能听闻无惧之法而感到欢喜万分。

OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications

OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications

Open source software is booming: here we round up over 480 open source applications for you to use or build upon.

Feel free to add more apps in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe to Mashable for the latest web news and resources. Also see the other entries in this series: ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY GOD, WORDPRESS GOD, ONLINE MEDIA GOD and FIREFOX GOD.

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Accounting

Adaptive Planning Express - An open source solution enabling medium sized companies to automate budgeting and forecasting by moving beyond traditional applications like Excel.

Buddi - A simple budgeting program for users with no financial background.

CheckItOut - A Ruby on Rails application to manage personal money accounts.

FrontAccounting - A professional web-based accounting system for ERP chain; written in PHP with use of MySQL.

GFP - A free java based personal finance manager with the ability to run on any operating system.

GnuCash - Open source financial accounting software to manage personal and small business expenses and incomes.

Gnumeric - A free spreadsheet program for the GNOME desktop providing several customization features and import/export facility from other spreadsheet programs.

Grisbi - Grisbi is an open source personal finance manager developed to run on any platform and suit the needs of all users.

jGnash - jGnash is an open source personal finance manager that will help you monitor and keep track of your accounts, including investments.

KmyMoney - Easy to use, accurate open source personal finance manager built to suit the needs of non-technical users. It provides all the features available in a commercial application.

Librepos - A multi-user POS application designed for touch screens, customer displays and barcode scanners.

NOLA - An integrated, all-in-one package for an organization’s inventory, POS, accounting, contact management, billing etc.

TurboCASH - Flexible small business accounting software fulfilling the major needs of any business.

Content Management Systems

80 + Open Source Content Management Systems - A complete roundup of Open Source CMSs from Mashable.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Anteil - Cost effective open source solution for managing and improving customer relationships.

CitrusDB - CitrusDB is a PHP & MySQL based open source customer database solution.

CiviCRM - The world’s first downloadable constituent relationship management system; fund raising software that allows users to manage information about donors, volunteers etc.

Compiere - Offers integrated ERP and CRM suite that enables users to automate the financial, distribution and other needs of their businesses.

Daffodil CRM - Organized and effective way of managing cost-effective customer relationships.

Hipergate - Serving developers, consultants and enterprises to assist them in project management, sales force automation and customer relationship management.

IGSuite - A web-based integrated CRM suite that includes solutions like mailing lists, calendar, contact management and task lists.

Keen CRM/ERP - An advanced, feature packed, comprehensive customer relationship management solution for small companies.

Ohioedge CRM - Ohioedge CRM is an enterprise level open source CRM solution.

OpenCRM - OpenCRM is an open source CRM solution for tracking clients and project management.

OpenCRX - A cross platform professional CRM solution with bug tracking and activity management features.

SellWinCRM - An open source CRM project giving a high level of customization for customers.

SourceTap CRM - SourceTap CRM is a flexible sales force automation solution developed to meet the requirements of sales managers and representatives.

SugarCRM - An open source CRM solution allowing users to track opportunities and manage existing customers while keeping a check on other activities.

Turquoise CRM - Lightweight CRM software built over LAMP with Business Intelligence functionality.(LAMP=Linux+Apache+MySQL+PHP)

Tustena CRM - Tustena is an enterprise level open source CRM solution written in C#.

vtiger CRM - Built over LAMP/WAMP, Vtiger provides excellent business enhancement utilities and is compatible with multiple platforms.(Wamp就是Windos Apache Mysql PHP集成安装环境)

XRMS CRM - XRMS is an advanced level open source CRM solution that includes a Business Intelligence suite and advanced plugin architecture.(BI整个体系架构中包括：终端用户查询和报告工具、OLAP工具、数据挖掘（Data Mining）软件、数据仓库（Data Warehouse）和数据集市（Data Mart）产品、联机分析处理 (OLAP) 等工具)

Desktop Environments/ Shell replacements

bbLean - A new version of Blackbox for Windows.

BlackBox For Windows - An alternative shell for Windows that is based stylistically on the Blackbox window manager for the X Window system.

Blueberry 3D-Desktop - Made using Delphi; its main objective is a 3D OPENGL engine in replacement of the Windows desktop.

CyGNOME - A nice tool which ports GNOME desktop to Windows.

DM2 - Provides useful enhancements for Windows in daily work like minimizing windows to floating icons, freeing the taskbar etc.

Geoshell - A shell replacement for Windows that replaces the standard desktop interface items like start menu, taskbar, system tray etc.

KDE-Cygwin - KDE’s port in Windows desktop environment.

LiteStep - A powerful Windows shell replacement under GPL and inspired by AfterStep.

SharpEnvironment - A tool that enables users to personalize every pixel of visible space and customize a single theme in multiple ways with real-time wallpaper effects, icon sets etc.

Virtual Dimension - A fast and fully featured virtual desktop manager that acts as an enhancement to the Windows manager.

xoblite / Blackbox for Windows - An advanced level Blackbox for Windows that is integrated with a system bar.

Email Clients

Columba - A java based email client featuring a user friendly graphical interface.

Daffodil Organizer - Highly flexible way to organize emails; includes import facility from Microsoft Outlook.

Evolution - More popularly billed as the Outlook of Linux, its calendar, address book and other features make it a good option as an email client.

ICEMail - Open source java client with support for the latest email standards.

Mahogany - Cross platform email client supporting UNIX and Win32 platforms.

Mutt - A small and powerful text based email client for UNIX operating systems.

Penelope - The open source version of Eudora currently under beta and planned for full release by this year.

Phoenix Mail - One of the older open source email clients developed using Borland Delphi.

Sylpheed-Claws - An open source email client with an interface similar to Outlook Express; works as an RSS feed reader too.

Thunderbird - A secure email client with several customization options to fit the user’s needs.

Zimbra - Zimbra is currently one of the biggest names in open source, and is the future collaborating and messaging software. Now owned by Yahoo.

Encoding, Conversion & Ripping Tools

Alba Extractor - Alba Extractor is a useful utility for wrapping various mp3 files into one unit for ease of sharing on programs like NapShare etc.

Audacity - Audacity is an open source, cross platform audio editor and is a good solution for creating and editing podcasts.

Avidemux - A free video editor for tasks like cutting and filtering; has support for file types like AVI, DVD etc.

AviSynth - A powerful tool for editing and processing videos.

BonkEnc - A useful application for ripping CDs, encoding and converting audio files to various formats. Users can produce mp3, mp4, FLAC files to name a few.

CD-DA X-Tractor - An open-source CD ripper for 32-bit windows platforms that offers extremely high quality.

CDex - A popular open source digital audio CD extractor.

DivFix - DivFix is a utility for watching partially downloaded DivX movies.

DivXRepair - Based on the VirtualDub model, it cuts off the bad parts and re-assembles the AVI file.

Dr. DivX - The goal of Dr. DivX open source project is to create a portable application with the capability of transcoding many video formats.

DScaler - The DScaler project is an effort to receive top quality videos from Windows computers.

DVD2AVIdg/MPEG2DECdg Decoding Fix - An MPEG decoder suite used for decoding MPEG1 or MPEG2 streams from sources such as DVD VOBs.

DVDx - Popular DVD backup software that converts DVDx movies to high quality DVD movies.

FFmpeg - A complete recording, conversion and streaming solution for audio and video.

GiantDisc - GiantDisc is an open source software package designed to manage thousands of audio tracks.

GNUMP3d - Open source server for streaming mp3s and media.

Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot is an integrated Bit rate calculator package tool for Divx/XviD encoding.

GramoFile - A CD recording utility running on Linux and some other operating systems like UNIX. It enables users to put sounds from gramophone records on CD.

HGRip - A one click solution for converting DVD to XVID files.

JMAC - JMAC is an open source Java implementation library of Monkey’s Audio compression decoder.

LAME - LAME is an MP3 encoder.

Mixere - Mixere is a free, open-source application for mixing audio files. It runs on Windows NT/2000/XP, and supports WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and Mod audio files.

MMConvert - A multimedia format converter useful for converting media files from one format like AVI/WMV to another format.

mpgtx - A command line MPEG audio/video toolbox useful for joining audio and video files which include MP3, MPEG1, MPEG2 etc.

Mp3splt - A terrific utility to split MP3 and Ogg files from anywhere without decoding.

Mp3Wrap - A useful alternative to wrap two or more mp3 files into a single large mp3 without the loss of file names and other information.

Musepack - A high quality audio compression format.

MusicBrainz Tagger - Provides a database to create a comprehensive music information site. It can be accessed via the client or the internet.

NanDub + BRC - NanDub+BRC includes a bitrate calculator and offers users several advantages as their need for opening separate pieces of software is eliminated.

Open Sound World - A scalable programming environment allowing musicians, researchers and sound engineers to process sound.

OptimFROG - OptimFROG is a zipping utility for audio compression programs; used to reduce the size of audio files.

ShrinkTo5 - A cross platform open source DVD copy engine; allows users to create copies.

SmartRipper - A useful utility for extracting DVD VOB files; loaded with nice features for splitting VOB files, angle processing etc.

Taksi - Taksi allows users to take screenshots and record videos of favorite games and 3D-graphics applications.

Virtual VCR - A compact video capture application designed to work with TV tuner and video capture cards.

WavPack - WavPack is a high quality audio compression format and provides lossless compression.

YAAI - One of the best tools to display information about AVI files; enables users to see data like framerate, used codes, author information etc.

ERP

ADempiere Bazaar - Adempiere is a community for open source developers contributing improvements of various applications like Compiere, Helpdesk and Supply Chain etc.

JERPA - JERPA is a Java based advanced level architecture model for ERP software.

JFire - An exchange platform including ERP, CRM and accounting written in Java.

Openbravo ERP - A web based ERP for small and medium enterprises; built on proven MVC architecture facilitating code maintenance and customization.

opentaps - An open source ERP and CRM suite including eCommerce, inventory, warehouse, ledger etc.

Postbooks - A fully integrated ERP solution for small and medium businesses; features a graphical client which runs on Linux, Mac and Windows.

Plazma - Plazma is a Java based ERP and CRM solution.

Sequoia Open Source ERP - The flexible ERP software from Sequoia brings advanced features and scalability for enterprise software along with low TCO.

Tiny ERP - Packed with features like GTK2 client, distributed server, dynamic GUI.

Value - Value is an open source ERP/CRM system and features modular capabilities along with seamless integration.

webERP - webERP is flexible integrated business management software that covers accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory management and other accounting requirements.(侧重财务方面)

Wyatt - Wyatt is a cross platform ERP package written in Java with J2EE compliance.

Filesharing & FTP

ABC - An enhanced client for the BitTorrent file sharing protocol.

Ares - A file sharing utility enabling users to share digital files like images, audio, video, software and documents.

Azureus - Java enabled BitTorrent protocol packed with special features for beginners and advanced users.

BT++ - An advanced version of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol with cross-platform support; written in Python.

Cabos - Cabos has an intuitive user interface and is a Gnutella file sharing program based on Limewire.

CoreFTP - A FTP program that enables uploading/downloading/deletion of files and directories, integration with browser, file permission handling etc.

cURL - A command line utility allowing file transfer via FTP, LDAP etc. Users can also use the GET and PUT methods for file downloading and uploading.

Cyberduck - An open source FTP client with support for drag and drop, uploading and downloading, remote file transfer etc.

DC++ - Windows based open source client for unrestricted file sharing over the internet.

eMule-Project.net - A reliable and trusted peer-to-peer file sharing application allowing users to connect from different clients.

FileZilla - FileZilla is a free, fast and reliable open source FTP solution for Windows.

Freenet Project - A free and secure decentralized network of information publishers and consumers.

FrostWire - A completely open source peer to peer client; features community chat room and iTunes integration.

Fugu - An open source graphical front end for secure file transfer; provides support for Mac operating system.

G3 Torrent - A BitTorent client written in Python.

Gnucleus - One of the oldest Windows based open source peer to peer file sharing clients related to Gnutella.

HeavyMole - An advanced level peer to peer file sharing application with features like distributed chat, filtering of answers and advanced query language.

iFTP - i.FTP is a Windows FTP client that comes with source code. There is also an earlier version for BeOS that works with portable media like USB keys.

JFtp - JFtp is a graphical Java network and file transfer client.

KazaaSearch - Search for music, software, images & video with this powerful peer to peer file sharing client.

KCeasy - The windows version of giFT filesharing system that also offers support for other filesharing networks.

Krimpy - An IRC based (internet relay chat) open source file sharing client enabling users to share music, pictures, videos and other files.

Lime Wire - A multi-platform Gnutella file sharing client enabling users to share their files, download MP3s and other audio files.

MLdonkey - 100% open source cross-platform P2P client running on Linux, UNIX, Windows and Mac.

MUTE - A secure, peer to peer file sharing network with easy search and download functionality.

MyNapster - Comes with connection capability to Gnutella for file sharing, IRC for chatting and supports resumption & multithreading of downloads.

NetMess - Has the ability to detect clones and work through HTTP proxy and firewalls.

Prozilla- An open source Linux download accelerator that provides download support via HTTP and FTP protocols.

Shareaza - A flexible file sharing system consolidating features from four different networks: EDonkey2000, Gnutella, BitTorrent, Gnutella2.

TAC2 - Expanded as Tango & Catch 2 (TAC2), works as a search engine independent client for searching on Linux and Windows.

TorrentSpy - Gives BitTorrent power-users all the information in one place along with real time ability to monitor the number of live users.

Waste - Secure collaboration tool allowing idea & data sharing between users through a chat interface.

WinSCP - Another open source SFTP & FTP client for Windows; provides safe file copying between local and remote computers.

XNap - Written in Java, XNap provides a plug-in enabled framework and client for P2P applications.

Graphics-Design & Modeling Tools

Ajax Image Editor - Open source image editor using PHP.

ArgoUML - ArgoUML is a popular open source UML modeling tool compatible with any Java platform.

Avidemux - A simple video editor with support for DVD/DivX conversion and editing.

Blender - 3D animation and modeling suite with various tools for modeling.

Bluefish - A powerful editor for programmers and web designers enabling them to write websites, scripts and programming code.

BRL-CAD - An open source CAD system centered on constructive solid geometry (CSG) modelling.

Cinelerra - A professional open source video editing tool with features for capturing, editing and compositing.

CinePaint - Professional graphical editing application targeted towards the movie industry.

Cornice - Cross platform image viewer initially developed for Linux; similar in functionality to ACDSee.

Dia - Open source drawing tool for UML diagrams, similar in functionality to ‘Visio’.

Flowchart Studio - Allows the user to draw a flowchart through graphical editor.

F-Spot - A feature rich personal photo management application for GNOME desktops.

Gaphor - Simple modeling environment that enables users to create intuitive UML diagrams for documentation purposes.

Gimp - The oldest, and most famous, open source graphic application with over 100 plug-ins and powerful paint tools.

Gimpshop - Gimpshop changes menus and dialogs in a manner similar to its competitor, Photoshop.

GQview - A lightweight image viewer with easy navigation, zoom and thumbnail preview features.

i.Mage - i.Mage is a handy graphics editor featuring easy pixel & image editing.

ImageMagick - Allows for the creation, editing and composition of bitmap images.

imgSeek - imgSeek is a photo management and viewing application with search support.

Imgv - An open source, feature rich image viewer providing support for a variety of image formats.

Inkscape - An open source vector graphics editor similar in functionality to Illustrator. It provides support for all drawing features like any commercial product.

Inquisitor - A fast visual web picture ripper, downloader and offline browser.

Jahshaka - Powerful open source movie editor with real time media playback and visual effects.

Karbon - Part of the open source KOffice suite, makes a great choice as a vector drawing application.

Kino - An open source non-linear video editor that comes with easy importing of DV video and provides video and audio transition effects.

khtml2png - A command line utility for creating PNG and JPEG images out of web pages.

Krita - An open source image editing and painting program with advanced features.

KToon - 2D animation toolkit with focus towards animation industry.

NVU - A complete cross platform web authoring system which makes it very simple to create web pages and manage a website without any technical expertise.

OpenLaszlo - An excellent development environment for web applications as it can generate Macromedia and AJAX files for webpage use.

Paint.NET - .NET based open source bitmap application with an intuitive user interface for drawing and editing.

Page Scavenger - A simple Windows application useful for downloading images from free hosting services via webpage links.

Pixie - Open source RenderMan renderer.

Potrace - An open source project useful for converting bitmap images to raster or vector drawings.(adobe illustrator?)

QCad Community Edition - A simple, easy to use open source 2D CAD application.

Quanta Plus - A feature rich web development environment.

Seashore - A basic open source image editor with simple functionality and features.

Scribus - Open source cross-platform desktop publishing application.

Skencil - A flexible open source, interactive vector drawing application for illustrations, diagrams and other purposes.

Synfig - An open source 2d vector animation program for artists to assist them with making cartoons.

UFRaw - Unidentified Flying Raw is an open source photo converter that can be used as a standalone application or as a plug-in.

VirtualDub - An open source video capture and processing utility with basic features.

Violet - Violet is an easy to learn and use open source UML editor.

Xara Xtreme - Powerful, general purpose graphics application for Linux and other UNIX platforms.

Media Players

AlsaPlayer - AlsaPlayer is a new type of PCM player for Linux/Unix featuring fully pluggable framework for various media types.

Amarok - Audio player for Linux.

Cog - Quite often referred to as a potential iTunes alternative; an interesting open source audio player with support for various formats.

Coolplayer - A fast audio player for the Win32 environment.

Delphamp - Delphi based open source media player. Like a Winamp clone, also features support for Winamp skins.

DigitalDJ - DigitalDJ is a front-end MP3 player based on SQL. It can create playlists and manage CD databases in MP3 format.

Foobar2000 - Advanced level Windows based audio player with support for Unicode and popular audio formats.

Gamp - Gamp is a Gnome audio player written in C and includes support for MP3, Ogg, vorbis etc.

Grip - Grip is a CD-player and ripper for the Gnome desktop, and features an automated front end for MP3 encoders.

Guliverkli - Its interface is similar to Windows media player, however it also offers advanced features like switching of audio streams in mp4 files.

HelixPlayer - An open source media player for various operating systems like Linux, Solaris and Symbian.

Juice - Juice is a premier podcast receiver and allows users to capture and receive podcasts anytime.

Media Player Classic - An advanced version of Windows Media Player 6.4; offers features like real time zoom, support for AVI subtitles and support for QuickTime and Real video.

Mixxx - An open source DJ mixing tool, very useful for professional and amateur DJs.

Miro - The only video player which provides you with the option to download YouTube videos, play video files and play live Internet TV.

MPlayer - Written in Python; one of the best media players under the GNU-GPL license.

MP3Gain - MP3Gain assists users by normalizing the volume of mp3 files; it also does statistical analysis to determine the loudness of a file to the human ear.

musikCube - MP3 player based on embedded SQL database engine and packed with innovative features.

NotifyCD - NotifyCD is a small system tray based CDDB supporting CD player for Windows 9x/NT/2000.

OggPlay - OggPlay is an open source audio player for smart phones.

Plainamp - Plainamp is an open source media player for Microsoft Windows.

SnackAmp - A music player running on multiple platforms; features a web server and powerful playlist.

Songbird - Songbird is a multi-utility open source application; acts as a desktop web player, a jukebox, and a web browser.

SysTrayPlay - Also known as STP, ths is a small MP3 player program with a grey button in the taskbar that occupies very little memory.

VLC media player - Highly portable cross platform multimedia player & streaming server with support for variety of audio and video formats.

Vorbis.com - Open source professional audio encoding and streaming technology.

XboxMediaPlayer - XboxMediaPlayer is an open source multimedia player from Microsoft useful for viewing various video/audio/picture files like VOB, AVI, MP3 etc.

xine - Xine is an open source multimedia player for playing CDs, DVDs and streaming multimedia over the internet.

Zinf - Powerful and effective audio player for Linux and Windows. Supports various file formats such as MP3, Ogg and WAV and also features a download manager and a music browser.

Messengers & Communication Clients

Adium - Mac OS X open source instant messaging client that aggregates the popular IM networks.

aMSN - MSN Messenger’s open source clone for Linux users.

Ayttm - Ayttm is an instant messaging client with all-in-one chat functionality for major instant messaging services.

Coccinella - A Jabber client with integrated whiteboard features; includes features like file transfer, multi-user chat etc.

Kopete - Part of KDE desktop; a wonderful instant messaging application with voice and video capabilities.

Gaim - A very flexible instant messaging application compatible with Linux and Windows offering support for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and others.

Ineen - Ineen is a feature loaded open source audio and video conferencing desktop tool.

IRSIM - Uses PHP and mySQL and provides interaction with multiple messaging clients.

Java Jabber Server - A nice open source Java implementation of Jabber instant messenger.

Kopete - Kopete is a flexible instant messenger and multi protocol system with support for AIM, Yahoo, IRC and MSN.

Licq - A C++ based multi-threaded ICQ clone; uses an extensive plug-in system.

MIMP - Mobile version of IMP; functionality includes mailbox viewing, message viewing, deletion or composition of new messages.

Miranda IM - Fast and handy multi-protocol messenger for Windows.

Openfire & Spark - Real time cross-platform IM client and server based on Jabber protocol.

Pidgin - Covers multiple protocols including AIM, ICQ, MSN, IRC, Jabber etc.

PlanetaMessenger.org - Java based open source instant messenger offering plug-in support for various IM networks.

Psi-im - An open source instant messaging client developed for Jabber. Has communication capabilities with AIM, MSN and ICQ etc.

SIM-IM (SIM Instant Messenger) - Free software package providing plug-in based messaging with support for various protocols.

Spark - Open source instant messenger with integrated support for group chat, telephony and security.

TjK - A portal based open source version of AOL Instant Messenger, originally developed for UNIX users.

Tkabber - Open source client for Jabber instant messaging and works on many platforms e.g. Linux, Windows and Mac etc.

WengoPhone - WengoPhone is a popular VOIP soft-phone client for making free PC-to-PC calls over the internet.

XChat - An IRC chat client for both Windows and Linux.

Yafumato Web Messenger - A web-based open source client allowing users to connect to AIM, Gtalk, MSN and Yahoo.

PDF drivers & Tools

CC PDF Converter - Enables users to convert Word, Excel, IE and any other file formats to PDF.

Evince - Evince is a document viewer with support for multiple document formats including PDF.

Jarnal - Jarnal is an open-source application enabling annotation of a document.

okular - A universal document viewer based on KPDF for KDE.

PDFCreator - Create PDF files from just about any Windows utility.

PDF Download - A Firefox extension for improving your surfing experience. A click on a PDF file link enables you to view it inside or outside Firefox.

Pdftk - Pdftk is a command line utility allowing users to merge PDF documents, split PDF documents and do many other things.

qvPDF - Windows based PDF creator implemented as a printer driver.

Sumatra PDF - A simple and fast application to view PDF files.

Xpdf - An open source PDF viewer for the UNIX operating system. Also works under Windows as a command line tool.

Personal Information & Task Managers

Aethera - Aethera is a PIM application with communication features like send/receive email, send/receive tasks and appointment requests etc.

Chandler - Turns your inbox into a task list.

KAddressBook - An address book application for the K Desktop environment.

Kontact - Supports news, email, calendars, to-do list; a personal information manager for KDE.

KOrganizer - A personal organizer of the KDE desktop environment; has the ability to manage calendars and to do list.

Nag - Nag is a task list manager for multiple users and allows them to create many task lists which can be shared between users and groups.

OneOrZero - Easy to customize cross platform, enterprise level task management and help desk solution.

OpenSync - Open source synchronization framework for managing PIM data such as contacts, calendar, tasks and notes.

PTM - An open source time tracking tool.

Task Blocks - A simple task scheduling application to ensure that user tasks do not overlap.

Task Coach - Task Coach is an open source personal task manager providing features to deal with complex tasks.

TaskFreak - Simple web-based task manager written in PHP.

Total Text Container - An open source information manager; stores notes, passwords, images, calendar events etc.

Project Management

Achievo - Easy to use and customize open source web-based project management application for business environments.

AgileTrack - Java based application for monitoring and tracking activities in a software development environment.

ASTS - A set of web based management tools for recording project activities and tasks.

Austin - A command line utility for manipulating project timelines in XML.

dotproject - Open source Project Management application developed and supported by a group of volunteers.

Double Choco Latte - A basic project management application used to track the history of work orders, projects, accounts etc.

eHour - User friendly web-based tool for keeping track of time based activities; ideal for consulting companies.

FreeMind - A mind mapping application useful for brainstorming sessions.

FUTURe - A time management application for individuals and groups.

Ganttproject - Written in Java, and using XML file format; enables project planning through a Gantt chart.

JIRA - JIRA is a project management & task achievement application for making team processes easy.

jxProject.com - Cross platform project management tool with sharing options.

IPM - A simple project management application built in PHP4 and requiring Apache 1.3x and MySQL.

Memoranda - For users handling multiple projects on a daily basis Memoranda is an ideal tool.

NetOffice - An online project management application for managing tasks, projects, team tracking and collaboration between teams.

Open Workbench - Excellent Windows-based application providing project scheduling functionality for enterprise users.

Planner - Project management tool for the Gnome desktop that is useful for project scheduling, planning and tracking.

phpCollab - An open-source internet-collaboration tool for project teams allowing them to share information amongst each other.

project-open - A web-based project management system for small consulting and service companies. Covers sales, project planning, collaboration and CRM.

Projectory - Projectory is an open source web based project management tool for tracking software projects through development phases.

Projman - A project management tool for reading project descriptions and their scheduled tasks.

Rapla - Highly configurable event and resource management application primarily targeted towards universities.

Taskjuggler - A powerful tool with redefined approach towards project planning activities, taking it far beyond the commonly available tools for Gantt charts.

Trac - Wiki and issue management system for software development projects.

TrackIt - An open source web based project tracking tool to maximize flexibility and customization.

TUTOS - Organization management tool for satisfying the requirements of small groups, teams and departments.

User Story .NET - A tool for extreme programming projects in user story tracking.

WebCollab - An easy to use collaborative project management system enabling users to work together.

WebPBC - Web-based project management tool for small businesses to do budget allocation of projects.

XPlanner - Another web-based project management tool for eXtreme programming (XP) software development practices.

Reporting Tools

BIRT Project - An Eclipse-based reporting system.

DataVision - A reporting tool that works with any database and generates customized reports.

Jasper Reports - A leading open source reporting engine delivering rich screen content and printer into various file formats: PDF, HTML and XLS etc.

JERT - JavaEye Reporting Tool is a web-based database reporting tool with sharing features. It enables users to create flexible reports without any programming knowledge.

iReport - iReport is an easy to use visual report builder designed and written purely in Java.

openi.org - Pronounced as “open eye”, this is a web-based open source OLAP reporting tool enabling organizations of different sizes to manage and organize their data.

OpenSMART - Similar to Tivoli, a monitoring and data reporting tool for servers.

Pentaho - Open source business intelligence tool enabling organizations to operate more effectively by providing reporting, analysis, workflow capabilities.

Rapid - I - Offers all types of data mining services (from analysis to customization) helping customers to improve their profitability and efficiency.

SpagoBI - Focused business intelligence solution for the enterprise providing complete set of analytics (e.g. reporting, data mining, dashboards etc.)

xTuple - Open source SQL report writer compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac.

RSS

Aggie - Aggie is a desktop based open-source news aggregator that downloads the latest news in a webpage.

AmphetaDesk - A cross platform, open source news aggregator that downloads news items on the user’s desktop.

BlogBridge - A powerful and flexible desktop based open source feed reader for Windows, Linux and Mac.

BottomFeeder - RSS news aggregator client written in Smalltalk and compatible with Linux, Windows, Mac and Solaris.

Gregarious - A web-based RSS/RDF/Atom feed reader designed for users to run on their own web server.

JRssReader - A fast, Java based RSS & RDF reader; offers compatibility with multiple platforms.

NewsFeed - Flexible RSS/RDF/Atom aggregator for different operating systems like Linux, MacOS and FreeBSD.

NRss - an “open source Microsoft .NET Framework / Mono class library for reading a RSS feed into a tree of objects mapped to elements in the RSS feed.”

RSSOwl - Java-based open source news reader.

Syndirella - Syndirella is an open source desktop information aggregator providing a user friendly environment for reading information from multiple sources or feeds.

ThinFeeder - Very powerful and tiny open source aggregator for RSS/Atom developed in Java language.

System Utilities

7-Zip - High-compression open source archive utility for Windows with support for 7z, ZIP, GZIP, TAR files etc.

Amanda - Network backup solution.

Bacula - Set of open source computer programs for managing network backup system for Linux/Unix, Mac and Windows clients.

BiGZip - Free compression utility based in Java.

Burn - An open-source CD and DVD burning application allowing users to create audio, data and video disks in different file formats.

CamStudio - Open screen casting application allowing users to capture audio and video and store it later for playback.

CDRDAO - Open-source tool with advanced features for recording audio or data CDs.

coLinux - Cooperative Linux allows users to run Linux parallel to Windows on any machine.

Cream - An open source text editor with interactive user interface, pull-down menus etc.

G4U - Open source cross-platform hard disk image cloning application.

GrenEye - A file slicing and compression utility.

GNU zip - A compression utility.

GParted - Fantastic open source partition manager with direct boot facility option from CD or USB.

Handbrake - A multiplatform DVD to MPEG-4 converter/ripper with ability to process unencrypted and whole DVD files.

InfraRecorder - A freeware CD/DVD burning application for Windows.

Info-ZIP - Provides high quality, portable versions of zip files compatible with DOS.

Inno Setup - Another open source installer for Windows applications with integrated Pascal scripting engine.

InstallJammer - Useful for creating self-contained cross platform installation packages.

jEdit - A cross platform open source text editor written in Java with consolidated features from major editors.

Emacs - An extensible, customizable, self-documenting open source text editor.

K3b - An open source application for creating/burning CDs and DVDs; packed with features like DVD encoding, copying and audio CD creation.

Launch4j - An open source wrapper for jar files that supports Mac, Linux and Solaris.

Nagios - An open source network monitoring service for hosts, networks and services which use plug-ins.

NeDi - Open source network discovery, inventory & management framework utilizing scheduled discovery for network examination.

Notepad++ - An open source alternative to Microsoft Notepad with features well suited to development and design.

NSIS - A flexible open source tool for developing Windows installers.

Open-source ARJ - A cross-platform open source implementation of the popular ARJ archiver.

OpenNMS - A network management platform for monitoring services and their hosts.

OpenVZ - A terrific alternative to any commercial visualization offering; offered only on Linux.

Pandora FMS - Complete network and node monitoring solution composed of three parts: agents, server and console.

Partition Image - Disk cloning Linux utility helping users to create an image of partitions. The image file can be compressed, split and it is compatible with Linux and Windows.

SciTE - An open source text editor enabling developers to edit code.

UPX - A high-performance packaging utility with a high compression ratio for different executable formats.

VirtualBox - A high performance, feature rich, open source visualisation product for enterprise as well as home use.

Wireshark - Top quality network protocol analyser enabling users to capture LAN packets.

Xen - A high performance open source enterprise visualisation solution.

Xming - X-Windows server for Windows; has all the features of a commercial product.

Xvidcap - Linux based screencast application allowing users to capture portions or the entire screen of a Linux desktop.

Zenoss - A top class network and system monitoring solution with all the features of a commercial monitoring system.

Zzip - A compression tool with the ability to compress files with a high compression ratio.

Office

AbiWord - Has an interface that is very similar to Microsoft Word for easy migration; also allows importing and exporting from Microsoft Word.

Agnubis - The PowerPoint of GNOME; comes with easy integration options with other packages in GNOME office suite.

Andrew User Interface System (Andrew) - A popular graphical user interface system integrated with word processor, an html editor and browser.

AxPoint - Presentation tools from the developers of Apache AxKit.

Bruce - Presentation tool for Python programmers allowing them to code and create interactive PowerPoint sessions.

Imposter - Imposter is a standalone viewer for viewing presentations created by Impress software.

Impress - Fantastic tool for creating multimedia presentations with 2D and 3D effects.

Kivio - A part of KOffice suite; helps users in flowcharting, network diagrams and other graphics needs.

KPresenter - The presentation package bundled with KDE project; powerful and fully featured.

KWord - A word processor with a frame-based layout capability; part of the open source office suite KOffice.

MagicPoint - A presentation tool based on X11; very useful for making simple presentations which can be easily edited by any text editor.

NeoOffice - A special version of OpenOffice for the Mac.

S5 - A simple slideshow system having easily accessible markup. It can easily adapt to user themes and enables you to create your own slideshow themes.

WebHuddle - An open-source web conferencing and presentation tool with support for VOIP, chat and PowerPoint.

Web Browsers

Browser3D - An interactive web browser enabling users to interact with a real 3D environment and add their own 3D environment.

Camino - The functionality and features of this powerful browser match the capabilities of Safari.

CxBrowser - A useful open source web browser implemented under Mozilla Activex control component and written entirely in C#.

Epiphany - Developed for the GNOME computer desktop; competes with KDE for Linux.

Galeon - The first web browser for GNOME computer desktop; now comes as an extension to Epiphany.

K-Meleon - Perfect web-browser for operating systems which are incompatible with Mozilla or Firefox suite of browsers.

Konqueror - Part of the K Desktop Environment (KDE); a great browser for Linux with similar features to Firefox.

Lynx - Cross platform browser compatible with UNIX, Windows and Mac.

Mozilla Firefox - Fast, powerful and secure web browser compatible with Linux and Windows.

Platform Power - "Show Me The Money!"

Platform Power - "Show Me The Money!"

As Dilbert knows, everything is a platform today. The trouble is, some very smart people are trying to figure out the definition of what makes a platform. Although a lot of the discussion has been technical, perhaps the best definition of a successful platform is that it makes real money for their “community”.

According to a 2005 survey, close to sixty percent of Americans reported that they dreamed of starting their own business - both to increase their income and their independence. That is an awful lot of people that have no ambition to build the new, new thing; but who do want to put food on the table without having to work for “da man”. Call it a lifestyle business or a “Mom & Pop”, the difference is only about lifestage.

This is a critical social and economic issue today. Family farms still exist, but in the world of agribusiness this is definitely a hardscrabble life. Wall Mart is steamrolling all over the traditional Mom & Pop retail shop. This leaves a huge hunger for Franchises, but many have been exposed as rather cynical exploitation - with lots of money upfront and all the cream to the franchise owner. We need more real money-making opportunities for the small scale entrepreneur and self-employed free agent, particularly in smaller towns and rural communities.

Online Platform Franchises: Amazon, eBay, Google, Facebook

The new online Platform 'franchises' don’t require upfront money, but many of them are way too opaque about how revenue is split and about how much money can really be made. Most of the Affiliate schemes that promise lots of money for doing nothing (”work from home” spam) are worthless and scammy. Amazon is clearly in a different league, but even there it is hard to get good data on how much money is made by how many people. Anecdotal evidence suggests that even reasonably well-trafficked sites are getting peanuts.

There is a difference between a purely sideline revenue generator and something that is core to both parties. Affiliate revenue is not the primary income for many people and is not core to Amazon’s business. eBay is different. Around 750,000 people see eBay as their primary source of income and double that – 1.5 million – see it as a significant contribution. eBay does not have a business if these people don’t make money, which certainly makes them listen to their community.

In an earlier generation, Microsoft created a platform that enabled lots of smaller vendors to ride in their slipstream. These varied from very small to large partners. Whatever ill-feeling people may have about Microsoft, it created real income for thousands of people.

Today, lots of small-scale publishers/bloggers make money from Google Adsense. Athough many publishers think the revenue split is unfair, Adsense has enabled a lot of bootstrapping in the Web 2.0 world. On the other side of the transaction, Google has enabled many significant start-ups to get to market using search engine marketing. Done right and for the right type of venture, it is as close as you can get to a “revenue tap”. So Google is definitely a platform.

You cannot write about platforms today without mentioning Facebook. The best way to put it is that the jury is still out. The jury in this case being the hundreds of entrepreneurs who plan to make a lot of money from their web apps on Facebook. At the moment there is a fair amount of money sloshing around the Facebook ecosystem, with lots of people paying for eyeballs - but without clarity on who is finally making money from those eyeballs and how.

The Key to Platform Success

The key to platform success is the size of the revenue opportunity within the community that you can tap into, through the platform. The size is growing with each generation of technology:

1st Generation: Minicomputer vendors such as DEC, Wang, Data General. As a partner you had access to the companies who had bought just that particular brand of computer with its proprietary operating system. That was a bit limiting.

2nd Generation: PC. If you built on top of Windows and you could gain access to everybody who had a PC. Now that’s a big market.

3rd Generation: Internet. Now through one platform, you get instant access to a couple of billion people. Is that big enough for you?

At this point it clearly is absorbing to talk about a platform (other than the open Internet) that will have that form of power. We have to be looking at niche opportunities. At the same time, the infrastructure created by Amazon S3/EC2 is really game-changing. You can really pay for your infrastructure on a credit card and the Adsense revenue probably pays the credit card bills! In addition, as Alex Iskold pointed out, when web sites become web services there is tremendous capability to rapidly create new “higher level” services.

Abstraction: the Goal of Platforms

What we are seeing today is a level of abstraction that is beyond what we traditionally think of as programming. Abstraction has always been the goal of platforms, from Assembler to Fortran to Visual Basic to Ruby or whatever. Today we are finally getting what has been talked about for decades, development without the need for a traditionally trained programmer.

In the past we used terms such as “4th Generation Language”. This betrayed a bias that it was still a “language” that was controlled by technical people. It was probably inevitable that just when the dream of “programming for the masses” emerged, that it wou

ld look nothing like programmming and might even seem a bit threatening to traditionally trained programmers. A Computer Science degree is no longer needed to create meaningful applications. Its all about a) the idea and b) access to the people formerly known as audience and c) the nerve and hard work to make it happen.

Conclusion

The opportunities may be niche, but they are global and the number of people online is so mind-bogglingly large that even niches that were considered ridiculously small, now become viable.

It is possible that the real money-makers will be the platforms that enable people to make money based on things that they do offline (that’s what eBay does). These platforms will enable self-organizing business networks to grow, providing a secure and trusted environent for this to happen.

Tell us what you think about how businesses and individuals alike can earn money via online platforms. What have been your experiences?

Stumbleupon mathematics for stumblers « The Venture Skills Blog

Stumbleupon mathematics for stumblers « The Venture Skills Blog

true or false, it's a kind of useful example for personalization algorithm.
should try to modify it to suit special scenario.

Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web

Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web

Earlier this week we wrote about the classic approach to the semantic web and the difficulties with that approach. While the original vision of the layer on top of the current web, which annotates information in a way that is "understandable" by computers, is compelling; there are technical, scientific and business issues that have been difficult to address.

One of the technical difficulties that we outlined was the bottom-up nature of the classic semantic web approach. Specifically, each web site needs to annotate information in RDF, OWL, etc. in order for computers to be able to "understand" it.

As things stand today, there is little reason for web site owners to do that. The tools that would leverage the annotated information do not exist and there has not been any clearly articulated business and consumer value. Which means that there is no incentive for the sites to invest money into being compatible with the semantic web of the future.

But there are alternative approaches. We will argue that a more pragmatic, top-down approach to the semantic web not only makes sense, but is already well on the way toward becoming a reality. Many companies have been leveraging existing, unstructured information to build vertical, semantic services. Unlike the original vision, which is rather academic, these emergent solutions are driven by business and market potential.

In this post, we will look at the solution that we call the top-down approach to the semantic web, because instead of requiring developers to change or augment the web, this approach leverages and builds on top of current web as-is.

Why Do We Need The Semantic Web?

The complexity of original vision of the semantic web and lack of clear consumer benefits makes the whole project unrealistic. The simple question: Why do we need computers to understand semantics? remains largely unanswered.

While some of us think that building AI is cool, the majority of people think that AI is a little bit silly, or perhaps even unsettling. And they are right. AI for the sake of AI does not make any sense. If we are talking about building intelligent machines, and if we need to spend money and energy annotating all the information in the world for them, then there needs to be a very clear benefit.

Stated the way it is, the semantic web becomes a vision in search of a reason. What if the problem was restated from the consumer point of view? Here is what we are really looking forward to with the semantic web:

• Spend less time searching
• Spend less time looking at things that do not matter
• Spend less time explaining what we want to computers

A consumer focus and clear benefit for businesses needs to be there in order for the semantic web vision to be embraced by the marketplace.

What If The Problem Is Not That Hard?

If all we are trying to do is to help people improve their online experiences, perhaps the full "understanding" of semantics by computers is not even necessary. The best online search tool today is Google, which is an algorithm based, essentially, on statistical frequency analysis and not semantics. Solutions that attempt to improve Google by focusing on generalized semantics have so far not been finding it easy to do so.

The truth is that the understanding of natural language by computers is a really hard problem. We have the language ingrained in our genes. We learn language as we grow up. We learn things iteratively. We have the chance to clarify things when we do not understand them. None of this is easily replicated with computers.

But what if it is not even necessary to build the first generation of semantic tools? What if instead of trying to teach computers natural language, we hard-wired into computers the concepts of everyday things like books, music, movies, restaurants, stocks and even people. Would that help us be more productive and find things faster?

Simple Semantics: Nouns And Verbs

When we think about a book we think about handful of things - title and author, maybe genre and the year it was published. Typically, though, we could care less about the publisher, edition and number of pages. Similarly, recipes provoke thoughts about cuisine and ingredients, while movies make us think about the plot, director, and stars.

When we think of people, we also think about a handful of things: birthday, where do they live, how we're related to them, etc. The profiles found on popular social networks are great examples of simple semantics based around people:

Books, people, recipes, movies are all examples of nouns. The things that we do on the web around these nouns, such as looking up similar books, finding more people who work for the same company, getting more recipes from the same chef and looking up pictures of movie stars, are similar to verbs in everyday language. These are contextual actuals that are based on the understanding of the noun.

What if semantic applications hard-wired understanding and recognition of the nouns and then also hard-wired the verbs that make sense? We are actually well on our way doing just that. Vertical search engines like Spock, Retrevo, ZoomInfo, the page annotating technology from Clear Forrest, Dapper, and the Map+ extension for Firefox are just a few examples of top-down semantic web services.

The Top-Down Semantic Web Service

The essence of a top-down semantic web service is simple - leverage existing web information, apply specific, vertical semantic knowledge and then redeliver the results via a consumer-centric application. Consider the vertical search engine Spock, which scans the web for information about people. It knows how to recognize names in HTML pages and it also looks for common information about people that all people have - birthdays, locations, marital status, etc. In addition, Spock "understands" that people relate to each other. If you look up Bush, then Clinton will show up as a predecessor. If you look up Steve Jobs, then Bill Gates will come up as a rival.

In other words, Spock takes simple, everyday semantics about people and applies it to the information that already exists online. The result? A unique and useful vertical search engine for people. Further, note that Spock does not require the information to be re-annotated in RDF and OWL. Instead, the company builds adapters that use heuristics to get the data. The engine does not actually have full understanding of semantics about people, however. For example, it does not know that people like different kinds of ice cream, but it doesn't need to. The point is that by focusing on a simple semantics, Spock is able to deliver a useful end-user service.

Another, much simpler, example is the Map+ add-on for Firefox. This application recognizes addresses and provides a map popup using Yahoo! Maps. It is the simplicity of this application that precisely conveys the power of simple semantics. The add-on "knows" what addresses look like. Sure, sometimes it makes mistakes, but most of the time it tags addresses in online documents properly. So it leverages existing information and then provides direct end user utility by meshing it up with Yahoo! Maps.

The Challenges Facing The Top-Down Approach

Despite being effective, the somewhat simplistic top-down approach has several problems. First, it is not really the semantic web as it is defined, instead its a group of semantic web services and applications that create utility by leveraging simple semantics. So the proponents of the classic approach would protest and they would be right. Another issue is that these services do not always get semantics right because of ambiguities. Because the recognition is algorithmic and not based on an underlying RDF representation, it is not perfect.

It seems to me that it is better to have simpler solutions that work 90% of the time than complex ones that never arrive. The key questions here are: How exactly are mistakes handled? And, is there a way for the user to correct the problem? The answers will be left up to the individual application. In life we are used to other people being unpredictable, but with computers, at least in theory, we expect things to work the same every time.

Yet another issue is that these simple solutions may not scale well. If the underlying unstructured data changes can the algorithms be changed quickly enough? This is always an issue with things that sit on top of other things without an API. Of course, if more web sites had APIs, as we have previously suggested, the top-down semantic web would be much easier and more certain.

Conclusion

While the original vision of the semantic web is grandiose and inspiring in practice it has been difficult to achieve because of the engineering, scientific and business challenges. The lack of specific and simple consumer focus makes it mostly an academic exercise. In the mean time, existing data is being leveraged by applying simple heuristics and making assumptions about particular verticals. What we have dubbed top-down semantic web applications have been appearing online and improving end user experiences by leveraging semantics to deliver real, tangible services.

Will the bottom-up semantic web ever happen? Possibly. But, at the moment the precise path to get there is not quite clear. In the mean time, we can all enjoy better online experience and get to where we need to go faster thanks to simple top-down semantic web services.

Semantic Web: Difficulties with the Classic Approach

Semantic Web: Difficulties with the Classic Approach

Summary: The original vision of the semantic web as a layer on top of the current web, annotated in a way that computers can "understand," is certainly grandiose and intriguing. Yet, for the past decade it has been a kind of academic exercise rather than a practical technology. This article explores why; and what we can do about it. Update: Part 2 is available now Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web

The semantic web is a vision pioneered by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, in which information is expressed in a language understood by computers. In essence, it is a layer on top of the current web that describes concepts and relationships, following strict rules of logic.

The purpose of the semantic web is to enable computers to "understand" semantics the way humans do. Equipped with this "understanding," computers will theoretically be able solve problems that are out of reach today.

For example, in a New York Times article, written earlier this year, John Markoff discussed a scenario where you would be able to ask a computer to find you a low budget vacation, keeping in mind that you have a 3 year old child. Primitively speaking, because the computer would have a concept of travel, budget and kids, it would be able to find the ideal solution by crawling the semantic web in much the same way Google crawls the regular web today.

But while the vision of a semantic web is powerful, it has been a over a decade in making. A lot of work has been done at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifying the pieces needed to put it together. Yet, for reasons ranging from conceptual difficulties to lack of consumer focus, the semantic web as originally envisioned remains elusive. In this post, we take a deeper look at the issues and wonder if the classic bottom-up approach can ever work.

Classic Semantic Web Review

In our post earlier this year, The Road to the Semantic Web, we discussed the elements of the classic semantic web approach. In a nutshell, the idea is to represent information using mathematical graphs and logic in a way that can be processed by computers. To express meaning, the classic semantic web approach also advocates the creation of ontologies, which describe hierarchical relationships between things.

For example, using such ontologies it would be possible to express truths like: dog is a type of animal or Honda Civic is a type of car. It would then also be possible to describe the relationships between things like this: dog is eating food and John is drivng a Honda Civic. By combining entities and relationships and expressing all content on the web in such a way, the result would be a giant network, or, the semantic web.

The W3C has mapped out a set of tools and standards that are needed to make it happen, two of which are the XML-based languages RDF and OWL that are designed to be flexible and powerful. To accommodate for the distributed nature of semantic web, documents are made self-describing - the meta data (meaning) is embedded in the document itself. The entire stack, as it was envisioned by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was presented in 2000 (see image below), the rest of the post will focus on the difficulties with this approach.

The Technical Challenges

1. Representational Complexity: The first problem is that RDF and OWL are complicated. Even for scientists and mathematicians these graph-based languages take time to learn and for less-technical people they are nearly impossible to understand. Because the designers were shooting for flexibility and completeness, the end result are documents that are confusing, verbose and difficult to analyze.

2. The Natural Language Problem: People argue that RDF and OWL are for machines only, so it does not matter that people might find them hard to look at. (Though as a side note, the advantage of XML representation is precisely that people can look at it, mainly for debugging purposes.) But even assuming that RDF and OWL are for machines only, the question arises: how are these documents to be created?

There are two possible ways, one is automated, where an algorithm takes a piece of text and produces RDF, another approach is for people to annotate existing documents using visual tools that then generate RDF from those annotations. Both approaches have problems. If there is already an algorithm that can take a piece of text and generate RDF, then this algorithm should be smart and AI-like. Why do we even need the RDF if we already have such an algorithm? The issue with manually annotating documents is exactly that: it is manual. Having people annotate things for computers to process is at the least inefficient and at the most offensive.

3. The Bottom-Up Assumption: Because there are vast amounts of existing information that need to be transformed, the classic semantic web approach is a bottom-up approach. Annotating information on the web-scale is a daunting task. If it is to be done be a centralized entity, then there will need to be Google-like semantic web crawler that takes pages and transforms them into RDF. This comes back to the issue we just discussed - having an automatic algorithm that infers meaning from text the way humans do. Creating such an algorithm may not be possible at all (and again begs the question of the need for RDF if the algorithm exists).

An alternative is to have web sites themselves generate and maintain meta data. While this is certainly a much more scalable approach it raises questions. First, what benefit is there for web sites to do this? Second, what tools are out there to get it done? Assuming that these questions are answered this would be the more viable alternative.

4. The Standards Issue: A distributed or self-organizing approach to the problem seems the most promising, but it runs into the classic technology issue of standards or the even more ancient human problem of common language. The history of technology is full of Tower of Babel examples - separate distributed systems that do not talk to each other. A common solution is to build an adapter or translator that maps concepts from one system to another.

For example, suppose there are representations of a book defined by Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Each has common fields like ISBN and Author, but there maybe subtle differences, i.e., one of them may define edition like this: 1st edition and the other like this: edition 1. This seemingly minor difference, one that people would not even think twice about, would wreak havoc in computers.

The only way to have interoperability is to define a common standard for how to describe a book. So having self-describing documents is not enough, because there still needs to be a literal syntactic agreement in order for computer systems to interoperate. The bottom line is that there needs to be a standard and an API.

The Scientific Challenges

1. The Godel and NP-completeness: The technical issues seem to be steep, but even if these issues are addressed there are much deeper and more fundamental problems. A famous mathematical system proved by Kurt Godel in 1933 states: No logical system can ever be both consistent and complete, which means that there are things that can not be proved by logic. That essentially means that not all problems can be solved.

Godel's work was extended by British mathematician Alan Turing and later led to modern computational complexity theory. There is a class of problems, known as NP-complete, that basically can not be solved efficiently by a modern computer. The reason is that the solutions are not algorithmic and requires exploration of all possible paths.

2. Dealing with Uncertainty: You may not understand Godel or NP-completeness, but you are familiar with the consequence - living with uncertainty. Uncertainty is something that computers can't deal with but that we can handle very well. In fact, we thrive on it. Everyday we make decisions without knowing all the facts. We do this by utilizing iteration.

Here is a simple example of how we get around uncertainty: When someone speaks to us and we don't understand, we say: Excuse me, but what do you mean? After the person explains what they're trying to communicate using slightly different words we typically get it. But this is something that computers built on principles of the classic semantic web would not be able to do. They require infallible logic. They require precise representation of the facts. This is certainly not true in our lives, and it is unlikely to be possible on the web.

3. Replacing Humans With Machines: Going back to John Markoff's example of a computer booking a perfect vacation, one can't help but think of a travel agency. In the good old days, you would go to the same agent over and over again. Why? Because just like your friends, your doctor, your teacher, the travel agent needs to know you personally to be able to serve you better.

The travel agent remembers that you've been to Prague and Paris, which is why he offers you a trip to Rome. The travel agent remembers that you're a vegetarian and orders the pasta meal for you on your flight. Over time people learn and memorize facts about life and each other. Until machines can do the same, knowledge of semantics, limited or full is not going to be enough to replace humans.

The Business Challenges

Perhaps the worst challenge facing the semantic web is the business challenge. What is the consumer value? How is it to be marketed? What business can be built on top of the semantic web that can not exist today? Clearly the example of instant travel match is not a "wow." It's primitive and, in a way, uninteresting because many of us are already quite adept at being our own travel agent using existing tools. But assuming that there are problems that can be solved faster, there is still a question of specific end user utility.

The way the semantic web is presented today makes it very difficult to market. The "we are a semantic web company" slogan is likely to raise eyebrows and questions. RDF and OWL clearly need to be kept under the hood. So the challenge is to formulate the end user value in ways that will resonate with people. This is particularly important, if the bottom-up approach is to work. If people can see the value, then so will businesses and that might prompt them to start annotating and transforming their information. Yet, it's difficult to see how this will happen, given the current, rather academic focus.

Conclusion

The original vision of the semantic web as a layer on top of the current web, annotated in a way that computers can "understand," is certainly grandiose and intriguing. Yet, for the past decade it has been a kind of academic exercise rather than a practical technology. The technical, scientific and business difficulties are substantial, and to overcome them, there needs to be more community support, standards and pushing. This is not likely to happen unless there are more clear reasons for it.

We will discuss an alternative approach that we call the Top-Down Semantic Web in our next article. Please tell us what you think about the prospects for the classic semantic web approach in the comments below.

Update: Part 2 is available now Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web

漓江夜话 -> 图灵奖获得者

漓江夜话 -> 图灵奖获得者:

" 1982年图灵奖获得者：斯蒂芬.库克

———NP完全性理论的奠基人


加拿大多伦多大学教授斯蒂芬.库克 （Stephen Arthur Cook）因在计算复杂性理论方面的贡献，尤其是在奠定NP完全性理论基础上的突出贡献而荣获1982年度的图灵奖。但库克实际上是美国科学家，1939 年12月14日生于纽约州布法罗（Buffalo），他的父亲是一名化学家，在著名的联合碳化物公司工作，同时在布法罗大学任教，有一份不错的收入。但库 克的父亲喜欢农村的恬静生活和清新空气，因此在库克10岁时全家迁居到纽约州克拉伦斯的一个奶牛场。 在这里，少年库克可以与牛羊为伴，还学会了挤奶。在乡村中学，库克的数学成绩比较好，但那时他并没有梦想当数学家。库克的另一个爱好是下棋，这帮助他发展 了逻辑思维能力。在克拉伦斯，当时出现了一位传奇式的英雄，那就是威尔逊.格莱特巴赫(Wilson Greatbatch)，他发明了可植入式心脏起博器，挽救了世界上无数人的性命，使他远近闻名。库克对这位发明家也很敬仰和崇拜，暑假时曾到他手下去打 工，帮他焊晶体管电路板。当时晶体管问世不久，是新鲜事物，库克对神奇的晶体管也很有兴趣，想当个电气工程师。1957年中学毕业后，库克离开克拉伦斯去 上密歇根大学，专业是科学工程。一年级时他选了一门新开设的课程——程序设计，第一次接触计算机。作为作业，他编了一个Algol程序以验证哥伦巴赫猜 想，在机器允许的范围内，每个大于3的偶数都是2个素数之和。这使库克开始对计算机科学发生兴趣。1961年库克获得学士学位以后，转入哈佛大学研究生院 深造，第二年就取得了理科硕士学位。他接着攻读数学博士学位，原先的打算是研究代数学。然而这时他遇到了一些教师，对他产生了很大的影响，改变了他的兴趣 和方向。首先是哈佛大学研究生院对新兴学科十分重视。虽然计算复杂性理论这一学科分支其时还处于萌芽与初创时期，它就邀请了这方面的一些先驱与奠基人，其 中包括拉宾(M. Rabin，1976年图灵奖获得者)、哈特马尼斯（J. Hartmanis）和斯坦恩斯（R. Stearns,这两人是1993年图灵奖获得者）等人前来讲学或作报告。库克对他们所研究和探索的问题产生了极大的兴趣，从而把自己的研究也定在了这个 方向。他的博士论文“论乘法的最小计算时间”（On the Minimum Computation Time for Multiplication）就是他涉足这一领域的初步尝试，但这个课题局限性太大，无法从中找出一般规律。这时，在哈佛大学应用科学研究所任教的美籍 华人学者王浩的研究工作引起了库克的注意和启发了他。王浩是国际知名的数理逻辑专家和计算机科学家，他曾对图灵和计算理论进行深入研究并提出了图灵机的一 种变形叫B机器（Bmachine）。B机器的特点是总共只有4条指令，机器不能自我修改，即不能抹去带上的记号。B机器比图灵机更加接近于实际机器，它 能计算的函数正好是部分递归函数。当时王浩正致力于研究自动定理证明，即由计算机自己去证明定理，具体而言是证明谓词演算中的定理，这就涉及到可满足性问 题（Satisfiable），即是否存在一个真假值的赋值，使得给定的公式成立。如果存在，那末就称这个公式是可满足的，否则就是不可满足的。一般谓词 演算公式的可满足性问题，图灵早就解决了，他指出，甚至在无限的时间里，要想确定谓词演算中的某个公式是否可满足，在计算上都是不可能的。因此，王浩是从 复杂性的角度去研究谓词演算的可满足性的。王浩的研究工作给了库克以极大的启发，他认识到，自动定理证明可以作为研究计算复杂性问题的一个很好的突破口。 但是由于谓词演算涉及个体与群体，公式中包含所谓量词（quantifier），即全称量词all（universal quantifier, 用“V”表示）和存在量词exists(existential quantifier,用“З”表示)，使研究变得复杂而困难。因此库克改从比较单纯和简单的命题演算公式的自动证明入手研究计算复杂性，果然获得成功： 1971年5月，他在ACM于俄亥俄州的 Shaker Heights举行的第三届计算理论研讨会上发表了那篇著名的论文：“定理证明过程的复杂性”(The Complexity of Theorem Proving Procedures)，在这篇论文中，库克首次明确提出了NP完全性问题，并奠定了NP完全性理论的基础，所谓“NP完全性”（NP- completeness）问题是这样一个问题：由于P =？NP问题难以解决，库克就另辟途径，从NP类的问题中分出复杂性最高的一个子类，把它叫做NP完全类。库克证明，任取NP类中的一个问题，再任取NP 完全类中的一个问题，则一定存在一个确定性图灵机上的具有多项式时间复杂性的算法，可以把前者转变成后者。这就表明，只要能证明NP完全类中有一个问题是 属于P类的，也就证明了NP类中的所有问题都是P类的，即证明了P=NP。库克的这一研究成果为研究P=？NP的科学家们指明了一条捷径和一个方向，不必 再像大海捞针似地去盲目探索了。虽然科学家们沿着库克指明的这条“捷径”仍在艰难地前进，至今没有达到光辉的终点（P=？NP的问题至今仍未有结论），但 学术界公认库克的NP完全性理论是对计算复杂性理论的一个重大贡献。库克的论文只证明了命题演算的可满足性问题是NP完全的，但在它的启发下，卡普（R. Kap，1985年图灵奖获得者）在第二年就证明了21个有关组合优化的问题也是NP完全的，从而加强与发展了NP完全性理论。

库克在建 立NP完全性理论时，为研究复杂性类之间的关系提出的方法,叫“复杂性归纳”（complexity reduction）,用以比较问题的计算难度。库克所用的归约方法是多项式时间图灵归约,有时直接把它叫做库克归纳。其要点如下：假设所考虑的问题都已 编码成字母

表Σ上的语言（实例的集合）。设L1、L2是Σ上的两个语言，若存在以L2为oracle集的多项式时间图灵机M，其接受的语 言为L1，则称L1多项式时间图灵机约到L2，记为L1≤prL2。这时，对X是否属于L1的判别可转化为至多|x|的多项式个元素是否属于L2的判别， 因此，l2εp便导致L1εp。从这种相对的意义上说，L1的计算不比L2难。≤Pr可以是定义在任何言类@上的一种二元前序关系，如果存在Lε@，对于 任何L1ε@，都有L1≤PrL，则L就是@中（在多项式时间图灵归约下）“最困难的”，称其为@-T完全的。

在库克归约的基础上，其化计算机科学家又用其化各种计算模型定义了其他一些复杂性归约，如多一归约、对数空间归约、r-归约、随机归约和真值表归约等。但库克归约仍然是最常用的归约方法之一。复杂性归约除了用于判定问题外，还可以用于函数和搜索问题。

库克取得博士学位以后，在加州大学伯克利分校工作了几年，1970年转至多伦多大学。

向 库克颁发图灵奖的仪式是1982年10月25日在达拉斯举行的ACM年会上进行的。库克发表了题为“计算复杂性综述”（An Overview of Computational Complexity）的图灵奖演说，演说全面而系统地回顾了计算复杂性理论从萌芽到发展到成熟所走过的历程以及面临的新的挑战，还给出了上百篇有价值的 参考文献，值得关心这一学科的人细细阅读。演说全文刊载于1983年6月的Communications of ACM, 400-408页，也可见《前20年的ACM图灵奖演说集》（ACM Tuning Award Lectures——The First 20Years:1966-1985,ACM Pr.），411-432页。

库克的电子信箱为：

sacook @ cs.Toronto.edu.ca
"

Six Apart Releases Statement About Opening the Social Graph

Six Apart Releases Statement About Opening the Social Graph

联合前面关于social graph,需要些更加深入的思考和纵横。

还有原文：
http://www.sixapart.com/about/news/2007/09/were_opening_th.html

阅读笔记--菩萨的行动-胡因梦 - 新浪BLOG

菩萨的行动-胡因梦 - 新浪BLOG

选自《转逆境为喜悦》（佩玛·丘卓著，胡因梦译）

菩提心法源自于三世诸佛，后来他们依止这些方法而发展出菩萨道。为了利益众生，我也传授菩提心法，并按照它们来锻炼我自己。
　　——寂天菩萨
　　
　　传统的大乘佛法通常以六种慈悲的方法来锻炼菩萨：布施、持戒、忍辱、精进、禅定以及智慧——无量的智慧。传统上称之为六波罗蜜，梵文的意解为“渡到彼 岸”。
　　透过六波罗蜜的修持，我们学会安住在未知。“渡到彼岸”具有一种无所依恃的品质，一种前不着边后不着地的中间状态。我们如果乘着木筏漂回此岸，就会在 对错的概念里挣扎不已，忙着固化有所依恃的幻觉，不断寻找可以预期的事物。但如果渡到彼岸，我们便从狭隘的心态和二元对立的思想中解脱。以上是传统大乘佛 法赋予六波罗蜜的意像。
　　下述的意像是我所偏爱的：我们划到了河流的正中央，两岸已经不在视界里，但木筏却解体了，我们发现自己竟然没有东西可抓了。从保守的观点来看，这种情 况是非常恐怖和危险的。然而，只要观念稍微变一下，就会发现没东西可抓其实是非常自由而解脱的状态，我们还是有信心自己不会溺毙。不抓住任何东西，意味着 可以放松地活在这个变化多端而又活力十足的世界里。
　　这项修持的关键就在般若智慧。缺少了般若智慧——又称为无量菩提心——其他五种波罗蜜可能会造成有所依恃的幻觉。般若智慧的基础就在正念——以敞开的 心胸来探索自己的经验。然而我们的探索或质疑，并不是要找到永恒不变的解答。我们要培养的是一个追根究底的心，它对于有限或偏执的解答是不会感到满足的。
　　譬如破晓之前躺在床上聆听屋顶的雨声。假设当时心里想的是如何准备野餐这件事，雨声就会显得单调而碍事。但是园子里的土壤很干燥，所以雨声听起来又令 人感到开心。然而一颗富有韧性的般若之心，是不会妄下对错论断的。它在聆听雨声时绝不添加任何额外的观念，也没有快乐或哀伤的评断。
　　抱持着这份不执著的般若之心，我们修习布施、持戒、忍辱、精进和禅定，将狭隘的心态转化成韧性和无惧。
　　布施的精神就是放下。痛苦向来是执著的征兆之一。每当我们感到不悦或是不安时，就会变得小心眼起来，我们会紧抓不放。布施则是一种放松的行动。不论我 们拿出任何东西给别人——一块钱、一朵花、一句鼓励人的话——都是在训练自己放下。铃木禅师曾经说过：“给予就是不执著，不执著任何事物就是给予。”
　　练习布施有许多种方式。但主要的重点并不在给出什么东西，而是要放松执著的习性。传统的修炼只要求我们将心爱的东西送给别人。我认识的某位女士决心将 她所执著的东西全部送出去。某位男士在他父亲过世后花了六个月的时间，每天布施一些钱给街上的乞丐。这是他对治哀恸的方法。另一位女士则经常观想将自己最 怕失去的东西送给别人。

　　布施的练习会突显出我们的紧缩和执著。我们一开始总想规划好一切，但是无常永远会打破你的计画。从诚挚的布施行为中将演化出真正的放下。我们所抱持的保守观点将因此而开始改变。
　　我们很容易把六波罗蜜视为僵化的道德律，或是一系列的准则。但是菩萨的境界可没有这么简单。六波罗蜜并不是什么圣戒，它们真正的作用是在挑战我们的惯 性反应。尤其是持戒波罗蜜。持戒是一种不助长痛苦的行为。

　　六波罗蜜的修持可以使我们谦卑、保持真诚。布施能够令我们意识到自己的执著。抱持不伤害他人的戒律，就会发现自己的僵固和自以为是。我们的修持就是要依循慈悲的行动方针，抱持着伸缩自如的般若之心——不以“应该”或“不应该”来看待事物。
　　我们并不是在依循什么道德律而行事，也不是要谴责那些违规的人。假设我们在一间屋子的中央划一道线，要这间屋子里的人分别站在“道德”与“不道德”的 两边，我们会因为选择了“道德”的一边而真的感到解脱吗?我们可能会感到更傲慢、更自大。在小偷、妓女和杀人犯之中，照样可能出现菩萨勇士。
　　传统佛法有一则故事，里面讲的是一位名叫悲心的船长，带着五百个乘客，在海上遇见了绰号愤怒枪手的海盗。海盗上船威胁着要杀掉全船的人。船长意识到如 果他真的这么做了，将播下生生世世受苦的种子。出自于对船上乘客与海盗的悲悯，他杀了愤怒枪手。同样地，我们有时必须要说一点谎，为的是不伤害到某些人。
　　没有任何行为天生就是道德或不道德的。精神勇士虽然抱持不伤害他人的戒律，但也懂得善巧地随机应变。如果我们的持戒富有韧性，就不容易变成假道学，而晓得宽以待人。
　　练习忍辱波罗蜜，首先要对自己有耐心。要学习以放松的心情面对自己焦躁不安的能量——譬如愤怒、乏味或兴奋。忍辱是需要勇气的，那并不是一种理想的平静状态。事实上，当我们修炼忍辱之后，会更清楚地看到自己的躁动。

　　如果对六波罗蜜抱持野心，是注定要失败的。一旦放弃想把事情做好的那份期望，也放下了怕事情会做错的恐惧，我们就会发现成功或失败都可以被接纳。任何一种情况都没什么好执著的，每一时每一刻我们都在渡到彼岸。
　　精进波罗蜜往往与喜悦相连。修持这项波罗蜜，就像小孩学走路，虽然急于学会，却没有任何目的。这股喜悦、振奋的能量并不是靠运气得来的。你必须持续练 习正念和发慈悲心，才能打破心中的藩篱，敞开自己的心胸。如果学会安住在无依无恃的境界中，这股热情的能量就出现了。这就是所谓的三种纯净的动机——不强 调精进者，不强调精进的行动，也不强调精进的成果。
　　这趟快乐的远足既没有期待，也没有想要达成什么的野心。我们只是很渴望一步又一步地学走路，即使摔得灰头土脸也不气馁。我们的行动中没有暗自庆幸或自我责难，也不怕被人批评或是得不到掌声。

　　三种纯净的动机乃是禅定波罗蜜的精髓。当我们静坐时，要先去除想变成禅定高手或达到某种境界的意图。我们只是训练自己安住于当下这一刻。我们敞开心胸 面对人生的苦受和乐受。我们用精确的觉知、温柔的态度和放下的精神来训练自己。我们以慈悲心来观察自己的思想和情绪，所以不再和自己抗斗。我们觉察自己何 时陷入了苦恼，并信赖自己有放下的能力。如此修行下去，由于习性和偏见所创造出来的障碍，就会自动瓦解。如此修行下去，便能重新发现被我们所遮蔽的般若智 慧。
　　因此，精神勇士的六波罗蜜如下：
　　l、布施：给予就是在练习放下。
　　2、持戒：以胆识和韧性来实践不伤害他人的行动。
　　3、忍辱：训练自己安住在焦躁不安的能量中，让事物按照自己的速度来演进。如果觉醒需要一辈子的时间，我们仍然要一步一步地修行，放弃所有的成就欲，享受过程中的喜悦。
　　4、精进：放下我们的完美主义，觉知每一个活生生的当下。
　　5、禅定：以坚定和温柔的心态训练自己回到当下。
　　6、智慧：培养一颗开放而又能追根究底的心。借着菩萨的六波罗蜜，我们学会如何渡到彼岸，同时也要尽力帮助那些我们能帮助的人。

王通：高调赔钱，沉默赚钱！--艾瑞网专家王通的专栏

王通：高调赔钱，沉默赚钱！--艾瑞网专家王通的专栏:
"王通：高调赔钱，沉默赚钱！ [ 2007-9-15 0:29:00 ]

　　上周，一个朋友找我聊天，问我如何正规的把alexa排名搞上去，然后我告诉他，如果你想赔钱，就继续关注alexa排名吧，如果你想赚钱，就应该把Alexa排名忘记掉！　　

　　朋友问我，为什么呢？

　　我回答：因为，目前那些整天关注Alexa排名的网站，基本上大部分都是赔钱的网站，而赚钱的网站根本不关心这个玩意。
　　最好的站是那些alexa排名超级差，而猛赚钱的网站。我见过非常多的很赚钱的网站，故意把自己的流量分散给自己的很多站，然后把网站做的让很多所谓的精英人士看了不肖一顾，但是他们却都是在猛赚钱！

　　为什么会有这样的网站呢？他们为什么要如此做？

　　因为这些站长很聪明，他们很赚钱，但是让一般人看不出他们如何赚钱，这样他们才能长久的做。一旦他们的alexa排名太漂亮了，肯定会引来很多人的关注，关注的人多了，竞争对手自然就多了，就做不了几天了。

　　道理很简单，有句老话：闷声发大财！

　　这些年来，一直游荡在各种互联网的圈子中，进入每一个圈子，都会结识这些圈子中的高手，

这些高手，可能在IT圈的主流人士都不知道，但是他们的收入绝对可以放很多IT圈内混了多年的知名人士感到自卑。

　　2003年我写了hao123李兴平，曾让太多人吃惊，而这篇文章习惯了低调的李兴平烦的把每年能够赚上千万的hao123仅仅5000万就卖给了百度，后来和一个著名的投资人一块吃饭聊天，他给hao123估价1亿美金。

　　像李兴平这样的低调的高手我还认识很多，但是不敢再写出来了。写了一个hao123，就给李兴平带来了很多烦恼，同时也让中国多了无数的网址站。如果再写其他高手，那些高手非派杀手把我干掉不可。呵呵！

　　在互联网圈，我比较佩服一个人，那就是蔡文胜，佩服的是他能够有比较高的知名度情况下，低调的去做事，沉默的去赚钱。这是很少有人能够做到的。

　　所以在此很想给众多互联网创业者分享一个经验：
　　对于做网站而言，概念、表现形式、这些都不重要，最重要的就是赚钱！

　　要想赚钱，你就需要忘记这些概念和形式主义的东西，以及面子问题等等。然后从本质去考虑如何赚钱。

　　比如在看待B2B和搜索引擎而言，虽然他们的模式、概念、表现形式不同，但是他们赚钱的目标是相同的，那就是企业，同时他们帮助企业做的事情也是相同的，就是帮助企业做网络营销赚钱。虽然它们一个是收年费，一个是按照点击付费。虽然一个叫搜索引擎，一个叫B2B。

　　赚钱，永远是建立在解决需求上的！

　　这些需求可以是已经存在的，也可以是创造出来的，只不过后者难度更大一些！

　　所以我将所有的赚钱模式总结成三种：

　　1、卖产品（自己的产品，别人的产品）
　　2、卖服务（个性化服务，标准化服务）
　　3、搞投资

　　大部分将选择前两种模式，选择前两种模式，就离不开一个“卖”字，所以要赚钱，营销非常的关键，固营销大师科特勒说：商务的核心是营销！所以王通说：电子商务的核心是网络营销！

　　你该如何赚钱？

　　首先，请忘记掉那些媒体忽悠出来的那套互联网成功模式：搞个新鲜概念，拉个风险投资，烧钱砸人气，跑海外上市！

　　现在你要明白，这种模式是错误的，是媒体忽悠出来骗小孩的，因为这个模式忘掉了很关键的一个环节，那就是赚钱。要赚钱，不能靠做梦，需要实实在在帮某一类人群或企业赚钱，或者满足他们的某种强烈的精神需求。

　　请沉下心来思考思考……

　　（欢迎转摘，转摘请著名作者和出处！作者：王通，首发：网络营销策划网）

　　

Thinking in web 2.0 again - 重审web 2.0

经过一年半来的全身心的web2.0摸索，结合自己曾经争论的、曾经规划的、正在做的一起走旅游社区上的事情，慢慢对于web 2.0有了些别样的认识，或者说是回归本来的认识，尤其是在整个互联网业界的web 2.0热慢慢归于平静的时候。

1. 好的数据挖掘的算法和设计是深层竞争优势的关键。但是在没有大量数据累计的情况下，任何数据挖掘的效果都是不可靠的。
2. 进而，任何网站开始完全依赖于用户的行为是不可行的。
3. 进而，传统的分类管理、内容审核、原始数据积累、标准化数据的整理和迁移管理等常见的后台管理系统是不可能没有的。但是可以放在后面去做，在基本用户功能具备的情况下去做。
4. 前后台的设计侧重点完全不同，一个是用户友好，一个是速度和安全性（帐号防止攻破、内容单独部署、按钮和链接权限的严格控制等等）。后台因此就可能会舍弃一些视觉上的效果。
5. 因此，web 2.0的编辑也还是需要些素质门槛的。
   
6. 所谓的真正大众主宰的web 2.0美好世界是没有的。2005年，那些叫得天响、叫得理直气壮的所谓的“乱”才是真实写照和热闹人气前提的人，已经悄悄开始了他们的领地“治理”之途，其专制程度甚至连传统站点都有过之而无不及。这种完全自由的理想国在真实的世界上是不可能存在的，历史上已经有过很多失败的乌托邦的尝试的。
7. 实际上，大众主宰即便是在游戏这样的网络虚拟世界中，也是不存在的。因为这些虚拟的世界依然寄生于一个现实的载体，而这个现实的载体是受制于方方面面驱动的，不可能做到全然自由的。
8. 既然web 2.0并不是像当初想象的那样，建立了一个什么样功能特性的网站，用户就蜂拥而至地喜欢上你，那么传统站点积累所需要走的路，你一步也不能少。所以，真的是像詹膑所说的那样，互联网创业的成本真的不低的。
9. 然后，然后呢，我要继续想想了。。。

阅读:WordPress.com 的数据量 - DBA notes

WordPress.com 的数据量 - DBA notes

作者: Fenng | 可以转载, 转载时务必以超链接形式标明文章原始出处和作者信息及版权声明
网址: http://www.dbanotes.net/review/wordpress_dot_com_bandwidth_data.html

今天从 Alexa 上看到的 WordPress.com 的流量排名是 68. 这个 68 下面隐藏的数据都有哪些呢?

从 WordPress.com 的 Matt Mullenweg 的 这篇文章可以了解不少有趣的信息(非常幸运的是这两天刚好解除了阻尼).

数据是针对 2007 年 8 月份的. 整个月有 220 万新文章发布. 相比 Livejournal 的数据 还差一点, 如果 6A 透漏的数据没有水分的话, Livejournal 一个月的将有 1200 万新文章发布. 当然, Livejournal 的流量排名也的确比 WordPress.com 好那么一点点.

其他数据: 17 万新注册用户创建了 15 万个 Blog. 总共有 70 万的活跃 Blog. 类似的数据, LiveJournal 有接近 1000 万注册用户, 200 万活跃用户.

收到 300 万次留言, 屏蔽掉的垃圾留言倒有 2500 万个. 每秒平均需要 260M 带宽, 而峰值的时候有 820M. 还是苹果吸引眼球.

通过这些数据,大致能衡量出国内这些视频/SNS 网站的运营数据.

阅读笔记:Fotolog.com 的技术信息拾零 - DBA notes

Fotolog.com 的技术信息拾零 - DBA notes

作者: Fenng | 可以转载, 转载时务必以超链接形式标明文章原始出处和作者信息及版权声明
网址: http://www.dbanotes.net/review/fotolog_arch.html

在前不久的 MySQL Con 2007 上, Fotolog 的 DBA Farhan Mashraqi 披露了一些技术信息.（PPT下载)

与其他大多数 Web 2.0 公司普遍用 Linux 不同的是, Fotolog 的操作系统用的是 Solaris . Solaris X86 也是免费的, 估计是维护人员更熟悉 Solaris 的操作系统而作出的选择吧.

数据库当然是使用 MySQL. 有32 台之多, 最开始的存储引擎是 MyISAM ,后来转向 InnoDB. 对于 DB HA , 使用 DRBD (介绍)， 在 Solaris 上用 MySQL ,有个优化技巧是关于 time(2) 系统调用的，通过调用比 gethrestime() 更快的 gethrtime(3C) 来提高性能。可以通过设置 LD_PRELOAD (32位的平台) 或 LD_PRELOAD_64 来做到。详细信息可以参考Sun 站点上的这篇 MySQL 优化文章，很有参考价值。

存储也是值得一说的，Fotolog 用的是 SAN，还是比较贵的 SAN: 3Par. 这个产品可能绝大多数 DBA 是比较陌生的，该产品原来主打金融市场，现在也有很多 Web 公司使用，一个比较典型的客户代表是 MySpace。3Par 的最大的特点就是 Thin Provisioning。Thin Provisioning 这个词有的人翻译为"自动精简配置"，在维基百科的定义：

Thin provisioningis a mechanism that applies to large-scale centralized computer disk storage systems, SANs, and storage virtualization systems. Thin provisioning allows space to be easily allocated to servers, on a just-enough and just-in-time basis.

说白了就是对空间分配能够做到"按需分配"。有些扯远了。

Reading: Social Network Types, Motivations, and the Future

Social Network Types, Motivations, and the Future

比较有见地的一篇文章。

The best way to start is by looking at the different types of human networks and the motivations that drive them. I see two distinct types of motivation. One is, "I want to communicate better with the people that I already know and trust". The other is, "I want to increase my visibility so that I can connect with more people".
两大网络互动动机：

1. 更好的维持已有的信任关系；
2. 增加曝光，扩展尽可能的新关系；

This also fits in with classic consumer marketing theory around lifestage/lifestyle patterns (which simply says that you sell different things in different ways to students, new parents, retirees and so on). The danger in a lot of the current talk about Facebook is that it is all written by and about two consumer types - students and web 2.0 entrepreneurs, who seem to have forgotten that there are other people out there!
这符合一般的产品周期模式：用不同的手段卖给不同人群同样的东西。facebook的问题在于，只有学生和2.0的创业者被提及，其他人都被忽略了。

Open Networks vs. Gated Communities

开放的网络和有门槛的沟通
Students and web 2.0 entrepreneurs are much more motivated by increasing visibility;

In other networks, trust is more critical and these will therefore be more like "gated communities." Recently TechCrunch panned and ridiculed a gated community for models (geeks and models don't mix well?). However, I completely get why models might want a gated community and don't want other people lurking around. Is that a huge media play? No, but it does fulfill a basic need and it could be a viable niche business. This is classic "specialty enthusiast publishing" and that is a multi-billion dollar market.
在真实的网络中，信任是非常关键的，因而是有门槛的。（让我想起了数位之强的搭讪是需要理由的。）
The most obvious gated community/trust based network is the family.
But families don't want the whole world looking in while they communicate. I don't see a business here -- families will hack together what they need from existing tools; email and phone work pretty well, for example, even without blogs.
最明显的关系门槛时家庭。但是家庭的沟通不希望外人知道。所以我在这里看不到商机。传统的方式已经能够很好满足这种沟通要求了。

如果说模特群体的沟通没有意义，那么医生群体呢？他们占据1/4美国GDP的大市场，而且信任对彼此非常重要。他们需要能够不被药监和保险行业监听地自由沟通。

Trust vs. Openness

信任和开放性

Viewed from this perspective, companies are just one more example of a gated community.
Companies are now far more "porous" (open to the external world) at every level and so in our work life we may be part of many networks - not just the network defined by the organization chart.
从这个角度看，公司之间也是另一种有门槛的沟通。
今天的公司和外部的世界更为广泛，因此我们生活在各种各样的网络中，远远超过了组织结构图所定义的网络。

However, the trust issue for companies remains very real. You cannot simply allow everybody to see everything. The rollout of web 2.0 tools within the enterprise will be all about the push and the pull of these two forces. Technically this is all about security, rights and permissions control; which has been around in different ways for a long time. So this looks less like a technology opportunity than an implementation, consulting, professional services type of opportunity.
然而公司之间的信任问题依然真实存在。你不可能允许任何人看到任何东西。企业内的web2.0的工具无非是“推”和“拉”两种方式。从技术角度看，无非是安全、权限、访问控制之类，这些东西早已经以不同形式存在很久了。由此看来，这些机会更可能是实施、咨询、专业服务类型商业的机会，而不是技术商业的机会。

A lot of the debate about Facebook vs. MySpace or any other social network is just a question of choice. It's a question of "where do you want to hang out?" That's why the students in Facebook will move on if Mom & Dad join. This is simply an update to the old prviate club, which may mean that we see more club type rules emerging online. The two principle rules are a) a new member has to be proposed by an existing member and b) through some form of voting arrangement a member can be "blackballed" (thrown out of the club). These type of exclusivity rules help ensure trust through member/peer pressure.
关于facebook和myspace以及其他社会网络的争论无非是：你愿意在哪里呆着的问题。
这不过是传统私人俱乐部的一种形式。这意味着我们会看到更多类型的俱乐部主宰着新出现的在线社区。
这里有两个基本的原则：

1. 新成员必须由老成员推荐
2. 通过某种投票机制，能把某个成员扫地出门。

这种排他性规则保证了用户中间的信任和对等的压力。

Looking Ahead

Looking at all these types of social networks, I see 4 questions that will drive the evolution of net-based social networks:

前瞻

通览所有这些类型的社会网络，我认为4个问题的解决将驱动网络社会关系的发展：

When will the novelty of the medium recede and let the basic motivations come to the forefront?
The evolution of consumer behavior on the Internet has tended to go from "wow I can do that, way cool" to "so what, what does that do for me?"

何时新鲜劲儿过去，而让最根本的动机浮出水面？
相应的，用户行为的变化将会是从“哦，我可以这么玩？酷”到“然后呢？这东西能为我做什么？”

At what point do visibility and trust collide?
I think this is the critical question determining the business value of social networks.
曝光度和信任之间的冲突到什么程度？
我认为这是判断社会网络商业价值的关键问题。
There is an implicit assumption that Metcalfe’s Law applies. However if trust erodes, what’s the point of a network? The social network is valuable because it is exclusionary; MySpace is cooler/more valuable because older folks are not there, and that implies some optimal network size. However if this is true, it is a reverse network effect and that will have a crushing effect on social network valuations (but it may do wonders for social network enablers like Ning). So count me a skeptic on the Facebook "social graph" theory; it is a great pitch but I don’t buy it.
这里有个暗含的假设-梅特卡夫法则。但是如果信任没有了，网络还剩下什么？社会网络的价值在于它的排他性。MySpace越年轻越有价值。这也就意味着存在着最优的网络规模。如果这个成立，意味着网络价值的相反的决定性因素。因此我会怀疑Facebook的社会图形理论，他很大，但是我不会买账。

How can we be members of multiple networks?
我们如何在多个网络中存在？
Most of us need to be members of multiple networks and these change as we get older (school to college to work to parenthood, etc.). Something like OpenID is part of the answer, but also tools to transfer our digital stuff between networks and decide what stuff goes in what network. This is where Alex's recent article describes the issues very well.
我们中的大部分人在一生中会作为不同网络的成员存在。OPenID是一种解决办法，但还需要工具来在不同网络中进行数字化身份转化和决定谁能进入什么样的网络中。
How do we preserve the "strength of weak ties?"

我们如何保持弱连接的优势？

A network that is only strong ties (everybody knows everybody very well) is not valuable on its own. Genetically that can lead to birth defects, in companies it leads to stagnation, in social circles it can lead to snobbery/prejudice. The outsider with a new perspective is valuable. This is why blogging comments are so effective and some of the innovation around rating comments is interesting; it is porous rather than exclusionary, but the new tools may filter out the noise.

一个只有强连接（每个人都知根知底）的网络本身是没什么价值的。通常它会停滞不前，并且带有很强的小圈子偏见。而外部新视点是有价值的。这就是为什么博客评论如此有效，而很多针对评论评级的创新应用非常有趣。和排他性相比，这种机制更加开放，但是需要新的工具来过滤噪音。

Wangtam: “明日会” WordPress 自助建站推广活动

Wangtam: “明日会” WordPress 自助建站推广活动

国内刚刚能够访问wprdpress没多久就有被封了。
刚刚参加了“WordCamp Beijing 2007”的聚会，很想再继续很早以前曾经尝试的Wordpress.
正在琢磨自己在Blog.com上的东西应该找个国内能访问，而且功能还比较好的地方存放。
最关键的时候，就看到了Wangtam推荐的明日会" WordPress 自助建站平台.

本来是打算试用一下72松的,但是因为一直看Wangtam的文章,对他还是有些信任的,不妨先这里来看看.
更不用说,奖励中间国外主机空间的诱惑还是不小的.

体验一下国外的同类服务,也算是一种尝试,比较一下各种环境在国内环境风云变幻情况的生存能力.

同时还关心一下：我在blogspot上的文章能自动导过去么？以后的发布，能同时发布到两个空间上么？

希望自己能够赶上奖励的好运气。

阅读笔记:Social Graph: Concepts and Issues

Social Graph: Concepts and Issues:

Key Elements In Digital Social Graphs

With the recent rise and proliferation of social networks, the social graph comes into the spotlight. Unlike the one that scientists have been studying, this one is digital and defined explicitly by connections in all social networks. Let's revisit the main issues that Brad and others have been talking about:

1. People Identity Each one of us participates in multiple networks, but we want to be identified as the same person in all of them. Brad describes this as a multiple login nightmare. He calls for having a way to map IDs onto each other, via Node Equivalence:

"Given a single node, say "brad on LiveJournal", return all equivalent nodes: "brad" on LiveJournal, "bradfitz" on Vox, and 4caa1d6f6203d21705a00a7aca86203e82a9cf7a (my FOAF mbox_sha1sum)."

思考:OpenID是一种解决办法.但是国内信任危机的情况下,OpenID的出路在哪里?

2. Type of Relationships The links between people in social networks are of different types. Crudely, different types of relationships are a friend, a co-worker, a family member. There are more fine grained relationships defined in Facebook (see picture above) and Spock, which uses tags to identify how people are related.

思考:关系的类型.Tag当然有效.但问题是,如果跨网络的话,不同站点中间的Tag如何对接?甚至考虑不同站点可能对于同样的关系采用近似的Tag,但不是相同的tag,那时候谁按照谁的标准来统一呢?

3. Relationships Identity Similar to having node equivalence, there is an issue of edge equivalence. Although, this issue is more complicated. If two people are connected in one social network, should they automatically be connected in all of them? Consider an example of a LinkedIn and Shelfari. Just because two people work together does not mean that they share the same book interests. However, the crux of the issue is not that - it is actually discoverability. As Brad pointed out, there needs to be a way for a new user who joins a network to be able to find friends who are already using that network.

思考:这是目前各个SNS站上可能都比较弱的地方.关系的标识和识别.每个人都处在不同纬度的多个关系中,那么要不要把所有的关系自动关联合发现给用户呢?其中多少有意义?比如,虽然同在一间公司上班,但不意味着你们喜欢同一本书.而在兴趣方面,又的确有部分是相关的.在工作领域,也有部分是相关的.这种依据不同关系类型和场景的背后的关系发现可能是未来的比拼点.

阅读笔记 -- GSeeker: 神秘视频揭示Google Reader重大秘密：中文版本周发布？！

紧跟一篇解读,仔细琢磨琢磨:
个人甚至在想，是不是该把豆瓣九点中的东西全盘转移到这里来了。虽然英文的阅读早已经放在reader中了。如果中文和中文标签解决了，社会性特征加上了，再没有理由不这样了。
相关资料：
“RSS is an XML-based document format for the syndication of web
content so that it can be republished on other sites ”
http://www.rssboard.org/rss-mi.....cation.txt


原文链接：GSeeker: 神秘视频揭示Google Reader重大秘密：中文版本周发布？！

由. Ken Wong 将文章归档于 G源共享

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Google Video上面的一段被标记为"Google机密"的神秘视频，看起来就像是无意中有Google员工将它公开了，因为一小时后，这段视频被删除了。不过幸好一位名为"fanboy"的网友看过了这段视频，并且把其中提及的内容详细写了出来。在这段视频里，Google工程师Ben Darnell向一批Google新进员工讲解Google Reader的工作原理及未来计划，因此它揭示了很多与Google Reader相关的秘密。下面是其中一些（GSeeker意译）：

1.Google将制订一种新的标准，以允许feed发布者告诉feed阅读器关于feed的改变。比如当你的blog的RSS feed里的某篇文章被删除了，现在的RSS阅读器依然会自动保留被删文章，而Google正在想办法把控制权交给你，允许你用特定的办法告诉RSS阅读 器别再抓取被删除的文章。（补充：Google当前正在Blogger及MT平台上进行这个工作）

（不仅更新和删除，自己最初甚至设想，如果提供评论，应该把评论等事情都一并告诉原作者。）

2.据Google统计，三分之二的feed都只拥有一位订阅者，而这些feed在Google Reader里的更新频率是每3小时一次。

（这个统计数据很有参考价值，比例、具体数值的参考价值，同时作为一种筛选标准的参考价值。）

3.拥有超过一位订阅者的feed，在Google Reader里的更新频率将会是每小时一次。

（这个计算策略相对于国内的不少站点来说，都是一个偏高的设计。也许正是吸引用户的地方。但是小公司肯定还是会考虑投入产出的问题。我们自己采用按需获取策略）

4.Google Reader目前抓取了800万个feed，用了10TB空间来储存原始数据。Google Reader的索引数据量每周会增长4%，尽管这个数据可能不太准确。

（亦即：800个feed/G，在考虑2/3的比例，应该是还是能够承受一定更新频率检查的。这个数据给了自己系统实施的信心。但是如果进一步考虑评论、推荐等互动特性，此数据需要更新）

5.Google Reader当前最常用到的分布式数据库名为BigTable。Mustang是Google的基础搜索库，用于创建Google的各种搜索引擎，包括网 页搜索及Google其它产品的搜索功能。但Gmail由于需要即时更新及对每位用户都创建特定的索引，因此并不使用Mustang。当前Mustang 每秒钟处理1至2次搜索查询，但它的能力足以应付数千次（每秒）。

（国内的同类站点，有已经发展到需要分布式数据库的部署的了么？）

6.Google Reader将增加多种社会化特性。Google当前在社会化方面的项目代号为"Mocha-Mocha"，这个项目也将会成为Google所有应用上的 社会化特性的基础。作为"Mocha-Mocha"的一部分，Google Reader今季将会加上一个名为"Activity Streams"（活跃流）的新社会化特性，并且会和Gmail的地址薄及联系人名单整合。

7.Google Reader将进一步与Gmail及Orkut整合，比如出现直接指向Google Reader的链接。

（先把各项基本应用做深做透，而不是马上求大求全。这种屡屡被国外公司真名有效的战略在国内为什么总是不太见效呢？我相信这种状况，也不能简单一句指责各种创始人贪大求全。如果成为集体行为，可能需要考虑是否有某种更加深层的东西在作怪。同时看看是不是可以找到某种应对的方法。）

8.Google有可能允许Google Reader用户对自己所分享的feed内容进行评论，但这个当前并不是首要任务。

（节奏感，并不是凭空说来的。是想清楚了自己的方向之后的理性路径选择。）

9.Google自己也承认在Google Reader里硬是把tags称为"labels"是一种历史失误及不必要的混乱。

（很好。那么他们打算改善么？）

10.当前Google并不打算将Google Reader与通用搜索整合。

（有所为有所不为。选择的智慧。）

11.当你在Google Reader里搜索时，搜索结果里也会包含你之前曾订阅过但现在退订的feed内容，这是Google有意设计的，不是很多人所认为的bug。

12.当前一共只有四个Google员工为Google Reader工作，其中后端三人，而前端只有一人，并且他/她还只是一位实习生。

（这一点我很自豪，我们这一块只有一个人。当然PM和产品规划不算的话。）

13.Google Reader将很快就会加上推荐功能，基于用户所订阅的feed内容及在其它Google产品里的活动状况，自动向用户推荐feed。

（他太有资格做这个事情了。我们想要这个很久了，但是还没有实施的支持，虽然设计思路比较清晰了。）

14.下星期，Google Reader将推出多国语言版本！一个月后，Google Reader将支持40种语言！！（LOL）

15.根据FeedBurner的统计，Google Reader已经是世界上最大的全文阅读器，而My Yahoo!是最大的标题阅读器，iGoogle也差不远。尽管Google Reader逐步抢占feed阅读器市场，但老牌的Bloglines的使用率却并没有大幅下降。

16.Google Reader的用户忠诚度在所有Google产品里排第三，仅次于Gmail及Orkut。70%的Google Reader用户均使用FireFox浏览器（注：包括我），可见feed阅读仍然只是非主流阅读方式。

（当然，也包括我。问题是，这部分用户是比较注重功能和实用的一群。一旦取悦了他们，就不愁没有人给你免费帮你病毒或者口碑营销了。同时，似乎这部分人也是不太容易取悦的，也是不太容易直接获得金钱收益的？）

17.Google Reader将来可能允许用户（同时也是AdSense用户）直接在feed里投放广告，并且想办法令在feed里输出全文的blog及站长能更好地获利。

（也许这里需要一个很好的平衡。这种计算也许会改变很多人的行为以及各内容站同Reader站之间的关系格局。）

（完。）

　　如果这段视频是真的（极有可能），那么毫无疑问，这将会是有史以来最详尽的一次泄密，因为Google Reader的内内外外及将来计划都被揭露了。对于国内用户，最兴奋的应该是第14点了，因为这段视频是9月6日即上周四（美国时间）被首次公开的，所指 的"下星期"就剩这几天啦。如无意外，本周我们将会看到多国语言版的Google Reader。至于有没有中文版，听天由命吧，因为李开复先生上个月在谷歌上海研究院的媒体见面会上曾表示，对于Google Reader的中文版，并没有发布的具体时间表。 但当然一切皆有可能，有可能后来Google又有了时间表，有可能Google看到这段视频被泄露后更改了原定计划（=.=）......不管怎样，我们 从上面的信息都可以看出Google的大体方向，即在跨产品整合的同时，会注意社会化元素的加入。Google并不只有一个Orkut，到最后， Google所有产品的整合就是一个社会化网络。

　　11:50补充："fisio"在留言里分享了一条重要的线索，很可能意味着繁简体中文版的Google Reader即将会成为事实。在Google Reader的共享JS文件链接里，已经出现了语言代码。比如英文版的是：

　　google.com/reader/ui/publisher-en.js

　　我试了不同的语言代码，结果发现繁简体中文都生效，即：

　　google.com/reader/ui/publisher-zh-CN.js
　　google.com/reader/ui/publisher-zh-TW.js

　　这意味着中文版的Google Reader已准备好了。同样地，如果你输入其它常见语言的代码，这个链接同样有效。不过如果输入一些比较不常用的语言代码，比如汤加语（to），链接就会失效，因为相应的JS文件并不存在。

Google系列新特性-高兴的同时，于我心有戚戚焉

Google准备提供commend等特性了。

Google May Add Comment Feature On Shared Reader Feeds

这个功能是我很早以前就一直希望自己做的.只是限于时间精力问题.今天果然这个特性就来了.说明自己在产品方向上的把握还是靠谱的.更加证明了自己再早以前认定RSS是个好的大方向的眼光也是大致不错的.但是合作的事情,总是要说服方方面面,而且有时候,早期可能不一定有很清晰的脉络可以说得分毫不差和遍历所有逻辑.

然后准备出中文版了。看到车东分享出来的报道:神秘视频揭示Google Reader重大秘密：中文版本周发布？！

慢慢似乎看到自己原来的某些想法在慢慢被大鳄变成现实.

先扔下自己设计想法不说,这种情况我相信不少人有过. 一个好的想法或者创意,也许它的市场先机时间就是那么几个月,或者再多一点,加上你的执行得力,能有一年,但是又如何呢? 草根创业时候，往往没有很好的市场资源进行推广的，那么一年积累下来也不会有太可观的用户积累。那么，像google这样的携众多忠诚用户杀将过来的时候，这种小创意的小草根们，如何立足呢？

更不用说，在国内，抄袭成风的情况下，似乎创业的成本其实并不低的。

想远了，再说点现实的。如果Google做到了在share的条目上进行comment而且允许用户把他们连同自己的share条目一起输出的话，那么其实是一个不错的个人发布平台了。每个人可在这个平台上再次发布自己筛选、评价过的内容给大家了。这是一个无形无象可能包罗万象的CMS平台了。如果再有合适的API开放出来进行整合，这里面还是有不少东西可以想象的呢。

写完标题，再说一句给自己：君子坦荡荡，小人常戚戚。所以没有什么心有戚戚焉的了。
用自己能够把握的资源，做自己能够把握的事情，坦然接受自己和周围的环境。

DM tools

Christian Borgelt's Webpages

正在苦心寻找相关资料。正巧就碰上车东收藏的这个东西，赶紧自己收过来，慢慢研究。

从Twitter说开去

再次重新读了两个饭否的比较 | It Talks-魏武挥的blog，觉得很有必要把自己在这个问题上思考记录整理下来。其实，是个总结，也许已经超越了Twitter本身。

1. 发布的成本并不必然提高质量。中国有钱有闲的人不少。反倒是真正的所谓理性人士才会考虑这个成本问题。拦住的可能是他们。
2. 再有才的人也需要唧唧歪歪的出口，都是人。只是看他把这个出口放在了哪里，对着什么人唧唧歪歪。
3. 再无才的人都有认真看中的几个小圈子。只是看，他把这个小圈子放在了哪里。当然，圈子寄生的网络环境本身的气质可能是决定了他是否展示他对应一面的关键。但是，更加关键的是，那个小环境中，他有些什么样的虚拟或者现实的人脉在那里。
4. 不同圈子的交流，需要不同工具特性的支持。也许这个才是决定了他是否把某个圈子的人拉到某个应用上的一个比较关键考量。这样他的人脉在某个圈子的广泛程度就大致确定了。
5. 所以回到根本：想吸引什么人、上来做什么事情、贡献什么样的内容，决定了产品的特性组合。
6. Twitter本身算是一个包容力或者兼容性比较强的工具。严肃的人可以用来记录思考；随性的人可以用来分享唧唧歪歪的琐事。这是作为工具设计本身的灵活性；但是作为社区经营可能要尽可能精准。那么架构在这个上面的社区需要对内容进行识别和聚类。这应该是这个看起来没有技术门槛的产品真正用活了的门槛所在。以我的知识判断，这个门槛着实不低。也许还有更为巧妙的办法我没有想到的，请明者指点。
7. 人的沟通欲望或者讲性格本质，对这个事情也有很大影响。但是显然不是线下开朗活跃，线上就活跃开朗，或者线下内向的往往线上非常活跃等等简单的描述。复杂了说，我说不清楚，希望知者指教。

写完了这些再看看文章下面的评论，再补说两句：

8、内容要建立门槛，关系其实也要建立门槛，因为本来关系就是有门槛的。这一点我是看了数位之墙的说法后才真正把以前脑子里面不明确的想法明确下来的。
9、至于内容，我想，可能不是要建立门槛，而是要建立独立的空间。又回到了上面说的聚类了。

铂程斋--韩国人的反思与中国人的妇人之仁

铂程斋--韩国人的反思与中国人的妇人之仁

同样的道理,可以用在国民素质这样的大话题上,也可以用在个人的修身养性上,也可以用在公司治理上,也可以用在日常事务中.
相信不少人都有过这样的困惑,自己不是没有反思,但是为什么效果不过尔尔?看来同样是反思,不同的深度,不同的较真程度,结果是不同的.
这里面最关键的,恐怕就是下面文中提到的"思考"二字。似乎慢慢对小时候就背诵的“学而不思则殆”有了更深一些的理解。而且这个思的广度和深度是很有讲究的。这又让我想起了it talks曾经谈论过的一篇关于主管反思的问题，事实上，就是思的广度和深度的具体定义问题。

请看韩国人怎么反思这个问题。55岁的刘庆植代表获释人质在机场发表了简短的声明，另外两人怀抱两名遇害人质的黑框照片站在他身边。刘庆植说：“我们是为了分享爱心而前往当地，但没想到令国民如此担心，并给政府带去负担，非常抱歉。”这是人质的反思。

随着危机的过去，韩国人把注意力转到这样一些问题上：错在什么地方，责任在谁，应该吸取什么教训。韩国人在感到欣慰的同时，很快就转为对受害者的愤 怒，批评他们无视不要去阿富汗的警告。无视警告使政府付出了很高代价，迫使政府违反不与恐怖分子谈判的国际原则，直接与塔利班谈判。

韩国是个很较劲的国家，一点屁事都很认真，所以他们的反思非常务实和深刻。在惹出这么大的祸之后，他们看到了权衡利弊之后的问题根源，这种反思显然是推进国家的动力。

央视一直干的就是这个勾当，随便什么事，在它那里都是喜事。那些主持人在现场报道都特兴奋，整 天歌颂的就是一些妇人之仁，使得老百姓也失去了思考的脑子。我敢说，在中国，最有影响的学校不是北大清华，不是全国的中学，而是央视。在央视的引导下，国 民正变得弱智。除了懂得感动流泪，懂得一些所谓的仁爱，就是不懂思考，不懂得反思根源，不懂质问责任。央视的法则:一些妇人之仁就可以建造和谐社会。

我们反思灾难,反思足球,反思种种不尽人意的东西,因为不敢责难,不敢承担,不敢直面,最后往往无果,以悲怆与绝望收尾。中国人老会在同一个地方摔 倒，韩国人也许不会，因为他们会反思。中国人正用自己的妇人之仁代替韩国人的深刻反思，国民素质高下立分。国民当自强，要学会思考，要推动国家，得向韩国 人的较劲学习学习，别整天把一些感情话煽情泪当饭吃。

比特海日志18月8日，三个问题

比特海日志18月8日，三个问题

这篇文章是在写得好.认真读完了,忍不住认真想想,再忍不住贴在这里,重点的地方划一划,算是自己的一些心得.

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一位叫Xu Felix的学生哥来信，说他在念高中，最近在课堂上引用了我对《秦腔》的评价，在一片叫好声中立即遭到孤立。因此问我三个问题：

（1）为什么你总能找到志同道合的朋友，而我却时常觉得孤独？
（2）你觉得成为一个完整的不讨人厌的人应该怎样为人？
（3）成为一个写手需要怎样的知识结构？

首先我很抱歉，如果我知道有高中的小朋友在读我的Blog的话，我可能不应该在帖子里写那么多XX、XY、XXY以及XXXX。其次，我还是很抱 歉。虽然我不是故意的，但是因为我的观点而使得一位小朋友遭受压力，还是非常过意不去。最后，我依然要抱歉。因为人生如同算术题，也许我能给你分步计算的 技巧，但是无法降低题目的整体难度。现在回答如下：

（1）其实，与其说我能找到志同道合的朋友，不如说我能发现朋友闪光的一面。在我所有的朋友里，无论是在网络上还是现实生活中，还真没有什么人称得 上是“志同道合”。去个书店或者KFC，都可能存在线路是ABC还是ADC的争议，何谈在价值观之下对大多数事物拥有类似的判断？当自己的观点和大众不同 的时候，人难免觉得孤独，觉得需要有朋友能站在自己一边，觉得有个人理解自己多少都值得欣慰。但是，谁活在这世界上不是孤独的呢？孤独不是一种变态，而是 人生的常态。承认并接受这一点，那么很多时候就会好过些。毕竟乐是你一个人乐，苦是你一个人苦，痛是你一个人疼，最后火化的时候也没有双人位。

不大可能有什么心意相通的朋友，因为这个时代里没有什么真正称得上是敌人的人。敌人降格了，朋友也就变成了一个称谓而已。你看《斯巴达300勇 士》，波斯人如同潮水一般涌来，包围了斯巴达军团。斯巴达人缩成一个圆圈，彼此背靠着背，这是朋友。敌人有多么强大，友谊就有多么伟大。那么，反过来呢？ 十年前，去朋友家是不用通报的，直接去敲门就好了。五年前，去朋友家需要事先打电话通报，获得许可才能拜访。现在，打电话前都要犹豫，是否电话会构成某种 骚扰。在这种时代里，朋友之间也仅只是维持一种疏离而松散的关系，并不存在那种古典意义上的“志同道合”。

既然没有这种希望，所以只看朋友好的一面。有的朋友是用来吃饭的，有的朋友是用来讲故事的，有的朋友是用来鞭策自己的，有的朋友是用来思想交流 的。。。。。。不可能希望一个人方方面面都很好，而且你也确知他转过来的某一个面可能很狰狞，所以大家努力争取用自己最好的一面对住对方，如此就构成了大 家熟悉的一个平台，大家在上面各安其位。比如说我和王佩之间，我们经常讨论最近在读什么书，正在学点什么，但是不可能讨论股票和房产。但是和我从小玩到大 的朋友一起的时候，我们则绝对不会去谈读什么书，学什么东西，而是去讨论最新的游戏、电影、饭馆以及旧事。当然，我也希望我的老友们可以如同王佩一样读点 普利策获奖新闻报道，大家在饭局上谈一谈新闻写作。问题是他们不会那么做，我们之间的平台更多地建筑于生活之上，理论学习不是我们的重点。但这不等于说我 一定要王佩，或者一定要老友。他们都平行存在，彼此永远没有认识的机会，但是我等同地需要他们，他们也等同地需要我。可以想像，王佩也有谈房子谈股票的对 象，但是那绝对不是我。对此，我没有任何不满意的地方，相信他也一样。

具体到《秦腔》这本书，因为贾平凹是著名作家，他的书有很多人推荐，所以大众可以不看都觉得是好作品。又或者阅读过的文本里，的确以《秦腔》为最高 妙，这是完全可能的事情。我觉得不好，那么我就说我的理由。大家不认可，这是很正常的事情。如果大家没有提出很有力的反驳，而是以因为鄙视，所以鄙视的态 度出现。那么，我可以确信其实大家彼此之间不应该谈论文学，应该换个大家有共同感觉的话题，比如汽车、兵器、女人。我并不会坚持要讨论下去，而且试图证明 我是对的，大家全错了。不是因为我心虚，而是因为我有礼貌，因为这么下去只会激怒大众，构成一种冒犯。觉得《秦腔》好，我并不损失什么。反而是我证明了 《秦腔》是本烂书，大众会随即转变态度，从抗拒变为敌意，认为我自恃聪明，故意用哗众取宠的方法获得声望，或者用这种方式侮辱了他们的审美情趣。一个人无 论如何都不应该和狂奔的兽群对抗，否则会死得很难看。唯一要弄清楚的，是你必须理解他们为什么欣赏的原因，他们的视角如何。你可以不希望他们能理解你，但是你要能理解他们，否则就可能发生在公牛面前毫不知情地舞动红布这样的事情。同时，也不至于让自己成为一个孤芳自赏，不通人情世故的怪物。

（2）完整的人都讨人厌，这是毫无疑问的。海明威是个完整的人，但是他也在自己的战争经历上吹大牛。毕加索是个完整的人，但是他玩女人的成就和他的 艺术水准可以等量齐观。完整的人要求个性得以伸张，坚持个人的原则，这种人怎么不会让人觉得讨厌呢？他要他想要的东西，做他想做的事，很少顾及到别人怎么 想。也没有妥协、斡旋、折衷、退让的习惯，不识大局，不识抬举，没有规矩，多少人会因为他做的事情而觉得心烦意乱啊。完整的人意味着绝少阉割自己的想法和 欲望，而且还是坚定的行动主义者，是和老虎跳舞的人。

如果我们承认这个世界处于变动之中，一切事物都只是暂时聚合，最后不免于毁败。那么，今天你所目睹感受的一切，无非是幻梦一场，只是你不觉得是在梦 中而已。你手拿房契存折，觉得那是坚固的。但是，等你死时不能带走一寸一毫。你拥抱着妻子儿女，觉得那是坚固的。但是，等儿女长大飞远，你死去妻子改嫁， 又有什么是如你当初感觉一般坚固的？而你在这场大梦中，有诸多欲求恐惧，看到各种条条框框，就如同在梦中见到老虎一样，心存畏惧。可如果你明白自己现在是 在做梦，那么你就可以和那头老虎一起玩。你可以揪它的胡须，拉它的尾巴，揉它的皮肤。我的朋友黄章晋，他曾经冲进主编室，按翻了痛打他的主编大人。在那一 刻，他就是在玩老虎。我的另外一个小朋友暴暴蓝从北京辞职，去泸沽湖开了一家小客栈，她就在客栈里玩老虎。

世界上总有这种人，他们破坏了所有的规矩，挑战了所有的底线，让所有人都觉得心碎，也让所有人都觉得恼怒和焦虑。但是，隐隐约约之中，大家又从心底 里羡慕他们。这种人或许可以被称为完整的人，老虎是他们的纹章。而人人都喜欢的人，鲜有不是大奸大恶之徒。一个人做到人人都喜欢，这本身就是可疑的。

（3）成为一个写手之前，不需要任何知识结构。需要的是一门安身立命的手艺，养家糊口的本领。正如进入股市之前应该先买房子一样，因为房产在增值， 同时占用了你大量的资金，如此你即便在股市里大亏，你也不至于赔到哪里去。巴尔扎克一生贫寒，拼命写出来的作品成为经典，但是世上只得一个巴尔扎克而已。 其它的类巴尔扎克，早就不是改行就是饿死了。所以，写作只能是个爱好，而一个人能有爱好，他一定得有点钱。把写作当作业余爱好，那么它是世界上最廉价的个 人爱好，仅次于睡觉和白日梦。把写作当作专属事业，那么它是世界上最奢侈的事业，因为不是所有人都自愿把自己降为忍饥挨饿的奴隶。

如果安身立命没有问题，可依然决定写点什么，所谓知识结构依然是极为次要的东西。关键在于你有没有表达的欲望，以及你是否找到了合适的方法来表达你 自己。如果说知识结构能够成就写手，那么著名写手都应该顶着七八个博士的帽子。没有表达的欲望，而是单纯地想作写手，写出来的东西摧枯拉朽，那不如打网络 游戏，记得弄个外挂。如果有表达的欲望，但是提起笔来，都是别人的成句，说别人讲过的故事，那么倒不如买一台复印机来。可是，即便如此，写作也依然是私人 的事情。全世界都不欣赏你，你觉得其中有快乐也成。前提是你不希望你的写作得到点什么，那么最后你可能还真能得到点什么。

三个问题回答完毕，最后要多说几句。我个人觉得高中时代想这些问题都太早太早了，我就是因为想得太早，所以满脑门抬头纹，可怜未老头先白。看一万本 书，读一万个人的心路，不如自己走一步。每个人都希望自己的人生美好，因此要从别人那里得到些意见和见解。可每个人的人生路都只自己走出来的，以前我也觉 得有借鉴能避免很多错误，但是现在我不那么想了。在我看来，不是你选择人生，而是人生选择你。在人生的路口上，早已经安排了那些人，那些事，决定你向左走 还是向右走。既然如此，那就随便走好了，想那么多干什么呢？

Session丢失的解决办法小结 - RedSoft - 博客园

Session丢失的解决办法小结 - RedSoft - 博客园

系统迁移到别人的虚拟空间上的时候,原来工作好好的session经常丢掉。
找了上面的文章参考，除了配置就是代码。
问题在于，同样的代码在自己的主机上工作好好的，这还是代码问题么？

方家请指导。谢谢。

王建硕的开发文档和方法论方面文档-My Notebook

My Notebook

原本在网络上搜索相关内容的时候搜索出来的。还曾经询问王建硕中间有些文档哪里可以找到。
今天在车东的Blog输出中在再次看到，看来我的眼光还不算差，呵呵。

今天顺便看看google的blog this功能，看来有点方便，但还不是那么方便，为了防止网络地址以后不可访问，要是能够把内容直接拷贝过来，同时给出出处，将非常方便。而且自己可以方便在其中加上自己的阅读笔记之类的注释。