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WhiteSockFebruary 15 Java EyeAll technical articles on my space were moved to http://whitesock.javaeye.com/ (RSS: http://whitesock.javaeye.com/rss) which is better for them. Viewership is welcome. February 01 One Hundred YuanMy cousin who has immigrated to Canada and set up her root there came back to China on holiday the other day and she suggested me to immigrate to Canada as well. If I were five years younger I would probably say "Sure, why not." But as a man approaching his thirties, I got a lot to think about because I became to know whatever decision I make, the full responsibility will no longer remain mine. I had thought I lost my goal for years, but fortunately I got the feeling that I can feel myself again recently. Though I am still not clear about where do I see myself in five years, I set myself a goal, that is making as much money as I could. Aside from accommodating my family and the people I care about, I can give a hand to those who needs help. Every time I pass by people asking for money, especially elder women, I am ready to give some without thinking any further. The other day my wife told me that she saw old man collecting bottles out of the rubbish bin down my apartment. She felt so bitter that she wanted to give him one hundred Yuan. I remember I replied "Why not, I would respect you even more if you really did that." December 25 City of HeavenJerusalem, the holly city. No where on earth has inspired such love, hatred and passion. For thousands of years, people have come here to meet with their God. Jerusalem, they believed to be the gateway to heaven. Although they warship the same God, but they do so in different ways. One God has inspired three great religions. All three loves Jerusalem, but all three has claimed it its own. The city has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt over twenty times in thirty centuries. In the Middle Ages there were maps which place Jerusalem as the centre of the world. In some ways, the world has not changed. No city has greater concentration of journalist. The dusty middle-east town can still catch imagination like no where else. December 04 the Psychology of SellingI have just finished the audio book "the Psychology of Selling" by Brian Tracy and I would like very much to introduce it to whoever reads this blog. It tells us some key requirement to become a top sales person without any traces of brainwashing. In my eyes it is not kind of fashion which lost its appealing soon because it does stir my mind and force me to think it over though it is originally devised for sales person (what a pity that Brian did not embark on a career as a software engineer). I don't think it is proper to describe its synopsis here any more because that might spoil your fun. So use your own discretion and enjoy listening. November 30 the GodfatherI got a book, the Godfather, the other day. Though I have watched the movies adapted from it several times, I am still keen to read it over. Besides the attempt to access my general reading ability, I enjoy reading this book because I think it goes to such an extent that it is not simply a matter of telling the story of a Mafia family but also serves as a guide for those who are in conflict with their nature and the reality. Showing no interest in his family's business at first, Michael eventually became a new generation of Godfather who was kind to those who give respect and ruthless to anything that stands against the good of the family. Maybe that is a part of growing up. The following lines are excerpted from the book: "He has long ago learned that society imposes insults that must be borne, comforted by the knowledge that in this world there comes a time when the most humble of men, if he keeps his eyes open, can take his revenge on the most powerful. It was this knowledge that prevented the Don from losing the humility all his friends admired in him." November 26 You're BeautifulI have been wondering why I feel so special about British music. I happened to mention James Blunt, a British singer-songwriter, when talking about the accent with Hope this afternoon. She told me that she can tell the differences between British music and American music even by the beat rather than the accent. I found baffled how she can do it. She also hailed James Blunt despite knowing that it is very hard for a British singer to make a big hit in America. James is a talented singer with unbelievable blue voice and I am fond of his single "You're Beautiful". I am also attracted by his legendary experiences. He comes from a family with a long tradition of military service and he even was born in a military hospital. Following in his father's footsteps, he used to serve with one of the best regiments in the British Army and was sent to Kosovo where he witnessed the bloody war with a gun and a guitar strapped to the side of his tank. Anyway I am settled for its beauty without really needing to know what makes good British music. November 15 Lust, Caution以下四段台词即可表现王佳芝的情感历程
1 (TO 暗杀小组) 我加入
2 (TO邝裕民) 你本来可以, 为什么不
3 (TO易先生) 走啊
4 (刑场, 无语) November 13 TOEFLSometimes, history just repeats itself. I didn't get enough time to get prepared for my first TOEFL six years ago and neither did this time. This morning I was a little bit uptight when checking the score. To my surprise I got 93 (Reading 26, Listening 26, Speaking 17, Writing 24). I had though I could not score more than 80 which is the bottom line for admission. Maybe that is God's way of telling me to continue. Though it is no better than the previous one, I am content with it because I just got two weeks to make preparations after not using English for over five years. Recently I do feel about how my poor vocabulary aches of which I used to be proud. Little do I know whether I can make it except for knowing that there is still a long way to go. Anyway I could take further steps as well as keeping learning. November 10 Turn Swords into Plowshares出埃及的摩西并没能活着到达迦南，但他的目标已经显现，拉宾也是如此。--唐师曾 It has been 12 years since Yitzhak Rabin, 11th Prime Minister of Israel, was assassinated by a gunman in central Tel Aviv after attending a peace rally on November 4, 1995. His untimely death triggered an outpouring national grief and shocked Shizeng Tang, a journalist of Xinhua news agency. I read two of Tang's books, I Came back from the Battle Field and I Went into the Pyramid, when I was in university. In the book I Went into the Pyramid, there is a chapter named Turn Swords into Plowshares depicting Rabin's legendary life and his several acquaintances with Rabin. As a battle-scarred commander, Rabin thought it is a shame to wear bullet-proof vests and there was a blood-stained piece of paper containing Song of Peace lyrics in Rabin's hand as he was killed. Jerusalem is one of the places I'd like to travel most. If I had a chance, I would lay some flowers for Rabin. November 09 American History XThe day before yesterday I watched the movie American History X which was recommended by Hope. This is a tale of racism and brotherhood. After his father being murdered by a black guy, Derek (Edward Norton) vented all his rage on the minorities and became a white supremist. He gained respect of local neo-NAZI skinheads by his personal charm and led a series of white power movements such as robbing a local super market which hired some illegal immigrants. His orgies of hatred culminated in a brutal murder of two black guys who tried to steal his car one night. Ironically, the judge sentenced him to three years in prison for aggravated battery. There Derek met Lamont, a black guy who got six years only by stealing a TV set, and forged a friendship with him. Under the help of Lamont, Derek's view towards the minorities changed and he was ashamed of his past. After returning back from prison, he found out his younger brother Daniel was deeply influenced by himself. He was reluctant to see Daniel becoming a skinhead and tried to save him up before it was too late. Unfortunately Daniel ended up dying under the gun of one of his schoolmates. Until finished watching this movie, I never really got so vivid impression of racism (KKK, Zionist). If you think it is just a movie and not a big deal, you could just try googling "the Jenna six". November 06 Die WarmYesterday when Hope, my personal tutor, and I were walking home from class as usual, Hope saw some people gathering on a bridge and looking down at the river. It seemed something interesting was going on and we decided to join the fun. Actually the river dried up and there is a sewer at the middle of the riverbed. Hope found out that there was a little dog drowning in the sewer in which the water is very dirty and smelly. People were talking about the dog and it seemed that nobody was about to help it. Finally I made up the mind to do something, so I got down to the sewer and picked the dog up. To be frank, though it was not difficult, it was disgusting. Before long we realized that this recently born dog must be homeless and he was dying. Hope mentioned the Animal Control and I told her there is no such kind of organization to turn to in Dalian. We were depressed, knowing that we could do nothing more. Hope said that anyway we made a difference; at least he can die warm. Today I passed through the bridge, found the dog lying on the ground and dead. It cuts like a knife, quick and painfully. October 25 TV SeriesIt was until recent did I realize that watching TV series for the hearing's sake is as highly exemplary a thing as it is held to be by those who practice it. Though it is not in a systematic way, it is helpful and in some way enjoyable. I have watched several TV series during the past two weeks, including Prison Break, Friends (an aged sitcom) and The Office. The Office is a BBC academic comedy and it is boring. Comparing to Prison Break, Friends is much easier and funnier. As to Prison Break, unfortunately I was too busy catching up with the plot to focus on hearing. October 22 Do It Step by StepI had the first class with my personal tutor this afternoon and started to pick up my oral things, struggling to express feelings and convey information. Though my tutor said my spoken English is pretty good, I wanted to kill myself during the class. I have to say that my spoken English is awful and I am worrying about the impending TOEFL. Last time I take TOEFL is six years ago and I scored 613. But at that time the test, though hard, was relatively simple because it did not have the speaking part. With the coming of the speaking part, the difficulty of TOEFL was suddenly raised as far as I am concerned. What I can do now is to continue to work hard and submit to the will of Heaven. October 15 TractabilityThe programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures. The above paragraph is excerpted from The Mythical Man-Month, a famous book about software engineering. This might be plausible were it not for two factors. First the whole life cycle of software development consists of several phases, such as developing and maintaining. Developing a program is different in every respect from maintaining a program, as different as butter from bread. Developing a program is creative and exciting. On the contrary, maintaining a program involves almost no creativity, fearing that modifications can cause more bugs. The second is more frustrating. Not only the programmers but also the software users enjoy the tractability of software development. Software users always have no conception of what they exactly want, but they are good at describing requirements without giving any consideration to the feasibility of implementation, and good at pinpointing the shortcomings of a prototype. It is not fun for programmers to listen to their customers' complaint about this or that not working or how they wish the program could solve world hunger. October 12 Software EngineeringThe fact that we are not sure what "Software Engineering" actually is does not prevent us from placing a certain amount of reliance on it. |
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