Assortative mating is the origin of income inequality

門當户對(assortative mating)是造成 貧富不均的最重要原因之一? 前幾天的紐約時報指出 ，這可能是貧富不均 的最長久, 也是最不可能解決的問題。 假如50年前的婚姻配對形態和今天一樣的話，貧富不均的指數(Gini coefficient) 可以由0.43降成0.34。 50年前銀行家要找銀行家配偶，醫生要找醫生配偶，律師要找律師配偶，有實際上的 困難。 門當戶對的比例增加，所造成的影響是，教育小孩的資源的差距增加。 當然第二代在以後工作上的 收入差距也會增加。 這殘酷的社會貧富不均的現象擴大，勢必無法避免。 即使是國家的社會福利制度改善，也無法抗衡門當戶對所造成的影響。 追根究底這還是教育資源的分配差距增加，也許均一教育的這個方向， 是唯一 有可能和門當戶對相抗衡的大方向。 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/upshot/marriages-of-power-couples-reinforce-income-inequality.html

Battle royal in elite high-achieving schools

Battle royal in elite high-achieving school districts roots in Palo Alto, CA and Newton, MA. Now, it is West Windsor-Plainsboro NJ as in the New York Times two days ago. An obvious mindset divide manifests itself along the racial lines between white parents and Asian parents. WW-P school district in which my two sons attended for 13 years has accounted for 65% Asian American students. A recent reform advocated by school district superintendent with the goal to relieve the students' stress has faced a fierce resistance from most of the Asian parents. White parents prefer a more relaxed learning atmosphere without worrying about futuristic job or internship bias against their children. In the same breath, Asian parents ask for stellar academic performances from their children to counter-balance the perceived bias expected in their children's future career. No ending in this ethnic divide. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/nyregion/reforms-to-ease-students-stress-divide-a-new-jersey-school-district.html

You may not reap what you sow

加拿大現在也開始感受到跟台灣同樣的問題: 人才外流. 10年前在多倫多的 Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (cifar) 在加拿大政府的強力支持下，展開了當時很冷門的神經網路人工智慧的研究。 直到三年前矽谷驚覺deep learning的重要, 開始了一連串的神經網路人工智慧的人才獵奪。當時的三位"加拿大黑手黨", Geoffrey Hinton ( 兩年前開始主持Google的AI部門), Yann Lecun ( 兩年前開始主持臉書的AI部門), Yoshua Bengio ( 六個月前宣佈將和 IBM的Watson計畫合作)， 現在都在為美國效力. 此外兩位在加拿大長期任教的 神經網路人工智慧的泰斗，Nando De Freitas ( 現在主持 Google的 AI 臭鼬鼠獨立科技重地的 DeepMind), Ruslan Salakhutdinov ( 現在主持Carnegie Mellon machine-learning部門) 也不再為加拿大效力了。 加拿大政府先知先覺地大量投資在 人工智慧的研究，但是後續 的研究環境和鼓勵創業的環境沒有規劃好，現在人才全被美國搶走了。 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-17/google-raids-threaten-canada-s-lead-in-artificial-intelligence

Tracking of Santa

60年前聖誕夜，一個小孩子嘗試利用Sears的聯絡聖誕老公公的廣告中的電話號碼，結果竟然電話直通北美防衛司令部 (NORAD) 的最高機密的紅色警戒電話，接電話的上校很鎮定地答應那個小孩子，會告訴他聖誕老公公 當晚的行蹤。 從此以後每年的聖誕夜，北美防衛司令部都會24小時連續追蹤聖誕老公公的行蹤 ( 今年是禮拜四美國東部時間清晨兩點到禮拜五清晨)。 兩年前聖誕夜，全世界有兩千萬人在追蹤聖誕老公公的行蹤

Apple being lured by vocational skill and education in China

Just finished watching CBS "60 Minutes" with two episodes dedicated to Apple's products' meticulousness, tax avoidance and manufacturing in China. One assertion claimed by CEO Tim Cook is that Apple shifts basically all the manufacturing jobs to China is not because of low wage in China. Rather, it is because China emphasizes on the training of vocational skills and focuses substantially on educational system. Skill and education rather than low wage in China? Probably just the half-truth. However, the powerhouse of tight-knit manufacturing ecosystem and relentless efficiency in China is surely formidable.   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-apple-tim-cook-charlie-rose/

disruptive innovation to threaten doctors' jobs

兩個月前華爾街日報的一篇報導，使得一家現值90億美金，我也經常注意的公司 Theranos 陷入風暴. 12年前，一個從小自學中文的史丹佛大學二年級的天才少女 Elizabeth Holmes創立了這家公司. 這家公司的目標是用手指的一兩滴血, 就能夠代替好幾筒血才能完成的血液測試，最終的目標是每一個人都可以買他們簡單又便宜的儀器，不需要經過醫生，就能自己在家裡作血液的檢驗，也因此能夠早期知道自己有什麼毛病。 華爾街日報 宣稱他們的測試過程不夠透明，而且數據可能有假，但是Theranos反駁他們的結果都有送到FDA檢驗，而且Thersnos還是有很多知名的財金和科技的重量級人物，一直相信這家公司的革命性的創造能力。 Theranos的網站清楚的公佈他們全部血液測試的價格，這跟美國的Quest 和 LabCorp 兩家主流的血液測試公司的價格比起來，簡直是低的"不像話"。 我一直在想，假如一般民眾在家裡可以用手指的一滴血就能做很多的血液測試， 上傳血液測試結果，然後再上網和 IBM 的Watson Health 人工智慧做醫療諮詢，那豈不是很多的家庭醫師和一般門診的醫師職業就會受到很大的威脅?   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-10/can-theranos-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-fend-off-her-critics-

Neural network to play Mario Brother

很有趣的一段YouTube影片, 教 Mario Brother 電動遊戲在24小時之內, 如何用人工智慧的 Neural Network 來學習如何翻山越嶺, 即使剛開始的時候，人工智慧對怎麼使用 遥控器的八個按鍵都不知道。 人工智慧的Neural Network (所謂的deep learning) 不需要任何人教, 不需要有任何基本的常識，在幾小時之內，就自動演化成了玩 Mario Brother 電動遊戲的專家了.    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6UVOQ0F44

The winners are ... a book seller and a car seller

Legacy space heavyweights, Boeing and Lockheed-Martin and Arianespace, are being left behind a low-key book seller (Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin) and an exhibitionist car seller (Elon Musk of SpaceX). Perfect examples of disruptive innovation.   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-24/jeff-bezos-vs-elon-musk-a-thrilling-new-space-race

top oncologist

IBM Watson, after being taught by top-of-the-world oncologists in Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and combing through more than 12M medical articles and several hundred medical text books, can probably self-claim the top oncologist in this world. Following picture is one of the screens in Watson Health when doctor tried to diagnose patient's cancer treatment plan through consultation with Watson.  

Automated essay scoring

前幾天方大哥希望我能搜尋一下美國大型的考試，有多少使用 電腦人工智慧來評分寫作的成績。下面是我發現的結果 (至2013年10月): 1) 研究所入學考試(包括GRE revised General Test, TOFEL iBT, Graduate Management Admission Test, Pearson Test of English) 2) 專業執照考試 (Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination) 3) 大學分發考試(包括 ACT COMPASS, College Board ACCUPLACER) 4) 各州獨自辦理的學生能力甄試(如 Wyoming Direct Writing Assessment) 如果你有興趣的話，也可以到下列免費的網站，https://www.paperrater.com/free_paper_grader， 體驗一下電腦對你的英文寫作，給多少的成績 和電腦對你的英文寫作給什麼回饋的意見。
寫作用電腦人工智慧來評分，有正反兩極的意見。但像MOOC有成千上萬的學生, 用人工來評分寫作, 工程太浩大也太貴. EdX 在2013年就開始用他們自己發展的 EASE and DISCERN 人工智慧來評分寫作. 人工智慧是否適合對重要考試的寫作來評分, 還有很大的爭論. 但我相信因為電腦評分的回饋速度很快，所以應該還蠻適合學生反覆地從事基礎寫作的訓練。

centennial general relativity

Exactly 100 years ago, November 25, 1915, Einstein presented his general theory of relativity with following "simple" field equation.  

an elixir to be proven

uncanny effects of holy basil (紫蘇葉)
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/holy-basiil-uses-and-risks

enigmatic super-collider

這個長27公里, 造價 60億美金的 Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 證實了僅出現一兆分之一秒的質量形成元素 Higgs boson後, 現在要增強馬力 (每年用電費用3千萬美金), 希望能發現 遙不可測的dark matter, dark energy 和遠超出人類現在能想像的四度空間 (3D+時間)，也就是要解答五度,六度,七度…空間是否存在。 要是有人能夠向一般人解釋 super-collider 在做什麼， 那還是真的有天份。http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_cox_on_cern_s_supercollider

prima donna, a kryptonite at work

Prima donnas, because they outshine your talent at work, may unwittingly make you feel deflated constantly while energizers at work may make you feel rejuvenated all the time.  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/business/finding-ways-to-thwart-the-jerk-at-work.html

You can teach old dog new tricks

IBM, a 104-year legacy company with a collapsing mainframe business in 1990s and being always late to new markets, is fervently embracing design-thinking methodology. This unprecedented scale of customers-empathy campaign together with data-driven artificial intelligence may help IBM ride off the current financial predicament in the future.   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/business/ibms-design-centered-strategy-to-set-free-the-squares.html

tunnel vision

四天前數十名 普林斯頓大學的學生衝進校長辦公室，要求將普林斯頓大學聞名國際的Woodrow Wilson 大樓改名， 理由是Wilson 有種族歧視。Wilson曾擔任普林斯頓大學校長八年, 紐澤西州長和美國第28任的總統。 Wilson在他當總統的八年之內 展現了在內政經濟和外交上的雄才大略，美國聯邦中央銀行在他任內創立，income tax 在他任內開始徵收，反托拉斯法在他任內強化很多， 農民在他任內開始能夠向政府貸款， 還有許多需要高度調解和遊說技巧才能通過的立法，他也能夠全數通過。 難怪普林斯頓大學的政府政策和外交事務的研究中心，會以他來命名。 不過100年前的美國，不像現在有根深蒂固的種族平等的觀念， 出生南部的Wilson在100年前當時容忍他的政府部門有種族隔離的現象，這很可能是他在歷史上的唯一的污點。 這些衝進校長辦公室的普林斯頓大學的學生(大部分是黑人學生)完全不顧 Wilson在 提升普林斯頓大學的聲望， 和大手筆地改革美國的內政經濟外交， 只因為100年前他容忍聯邦政府內有種族隔離， 就完全抹殺他在歷史上其他總統做不到的貢獻。

different college rankings

這一期的經濟學人雜誌有一篇非常有趣的報導， 2001年大一的新生，在2011年的實際收入，跟這個大學所"期望"的應有收入差多少? "期望收入"的計算包括: 1)如果2001年入學考試SAT的分數很高, 加錢 2)學校所在地正確(譬如學校從密西西比州的鄉下地區移到舊金山，很可能期望的收入可以差到一萬四千八百塊美金) 3) 學校可以選擇的科目很多，加錢。4)學校有很均衡的種族混合，加錢 5) 同學的平均家庭收入很高，加錢 5) 主修科目的不同，當然也會有不一樣的期望收入。 在1275個大學，以實際收入和期望收入的差距來排名的話，耶魯大學幾乎墊底，比期望值低了近一萬美金，哈佛排名第4，比期望值多了近一萬三千美金，MIT的實際收入最高， 也比期望值多了8千美金。
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/value-university

too much standardized tests?

Obama called for 2% limit of class time for standardized tests due to political pressure. Other than standardized tests, is there any other more objective approach for academic assessments?   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/obama-administration-calls-for-limits-on-testing-in-schools.html

Brawling tool

Common core, a well-intentioned educational reform, was designed to boost Americans' competitiveness. Initially, it had whopping bipartisan support. Now, it has become a political whipping boy of government overreach. Even education can devolve into an ideological partisanship.  http://www.newsweek.com/2015/10/09/how-republicans-turned-common-core-377346.html

impeccable Google driver-less car?

最近閱讀一篇Google無人駕駛的文章，提到這個汽車的心臟是一種儀器叫做LIDAR( Light和Radar的組合字，用雷射光反射的時間來測試距離). 可偵測的距離約為100公尺， 距離誤差只有兩公分， 一台LIDAR至少要8千美金起跳 。這勾起了我一段不很愉快的回憶，因為我當年設計軍事紅外線的LIDAR pixel array遭遇到很大的困難. 軍事用途的LIDAR, 偵測距離必須要是好幾公里以外，而雷射反射途徑的不可預測性所造成的距離誤差，遠遠超過譬如坦克車的尺寸。 雖然軍事和民間用途的LIDAR有差別，但以我有限的知識, 我還是對Google無人駕駛汽車的安全性有一些質疑. 1) Google從來沒有公佈在惡劣天氣( 下大雨大雪甚至嚴重的空氣污染)的行駛狀況， 空氣中任何超過幾個微米的顆粒，都會影響到波長905奈米的雷射光往返的距離，而影響到偵測物體的距離和形狀 2) 大太陽或是陰天也會影響到雷射光進入pixel的偵測敏感度，而間接影響到偵測距離的準確性 3) 不同的物體表面會有完全不同的反射係數, 這會影響到進入pixel的光電子數量，也影響到pixel的偵測時間，也就是影響偵測物體的距離和形狀。 韓國Hyundai汽車曾經公佈無人駕駛車子的影片，同樣的測試場，同樣的軟體，只是一天是好天氣另外一天下雨，結果安全測試的結果不一樣。 Google的這個無人駕駛汽車的moonshot project賭的真的很大，因為還是有可能最後因無法通過全天候，不同地形，不同突發狀況和 Google地圖不熟悉區域的安全檢測而放棄。

subdued rhythmic pulse to multiple crescendos

The newly built Broad Museum in LA, sitting next to the Frank Gehry's legendary Disney concert hall, are all due to the generous largess of billionaire philanthropist, Eli Broad. Quote from the architect of the museum: "The basket-weave surface of Broad Museum creates a subdued rhythmic pulse that plays a counterpoint to the multiple crescendos of the Disney concert hall". 

Values of SAT/ACT

最近一期的時代雜誌提到, 到底美國的大學入學考試成績SAT和ACT, 是否可以代表學生的學習能力和進入社會的表現 。有些大學已經不再考慮SAT或ACT的成績, 而是由高中成績的整體表現和課程的難易程度，以及課外活動的項目和多寡 ，來決定入學的標準。兩年前MIT的入學委員會，開始接受學生自己投到MIT網站的各種才能的表現，像Maker Portfolio 就可以顯現學生做任何課外活動的傑出程度. 但要elite大學放棄SAT 和ACT的入學標準. 幾乎是椽木求魚，因為elite大學的學生, 覺得自己高人一等, 而且大學排名可以名列前茅，就是因為整個學校的SAT和ACT的平均成績非常高。http://time.com/4057309/standardized-testing/

MET (Measures of Effective Teaching)

比爾蓋茲基金會從2010到2013三年內，動員了三千個志願幫忙的老師，來研究"如何衡量有效的教學", MET (Measures of Effective Teaching). 有效教學的衡量參數有三個, (1)考試的成績，(2) 教室錄影教學的評鑑，(3) 學生學習的反應記錄(就是方大哥這篇文章所提到的). 這三種教學衡量參數的重要性, 蓋茲基金會以不同的比例混合，假設四種模式如第一圖所示。 蓋茲基金會又以三種測出的結果， (a) 一般考試成績 (b)需要高度思考能力的考試成績 (c)同一個老師年複一年的教學成績穩定性， 來衡量哪一種模式比較正確，也就是這三種衡量參數的相對重要性，那一個比較正確？ 第二圖顯示這三種測試結果和四種模式的相關性，數值越高模式就越正確， 也就是這模式的三種參數的混合比例，比較能預測這個測試的結果。 蓋茲基金會似乎偏向第二種模式, 可能比較能預測教學的效果 。 第二圖是七年級學生的語言測試，第三圖則是四年級和七年級學生的數學測試 的四種模式的結果。
資料來源  http://metproject.org/downloads/MET_Ensuring_Fair_and_Reliable_Measures_Practitioner_Brief.pdf 

The Great Gatsby Curve

最新一期的Newsweek雜誌有一篇文章, 深切分析家庭收入不均的問題, 其中的Great Gatsby Curve引起我的注意. 這張圖表是2012年，白宮經濟顧問委員會提交給總統的報告之一。 這張圖表顯示，收入不均越嚴重的國家，那父母的財富就是決定下一代財富的非常重要因素，不管下一代是不是真的很努力。 雖然我們都知道收入不平均，會影響到下一代的財富。但是小孩子生長在智利巴西秘魯這些國家，努力的程度跟收入的高低不會絕對性地成正比，但在北歐國家的小孩子，努力程度跟收入高低就會有很強烈的關係   

behemoth Fannie and Freddie

Intrigued by the interview of the author, Bethany McLean, in Charlie Rose program, I bought the kindle version of the book about the saga of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the 2008 Great Recession, nine days before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, U.S. government injected $200B (yes, B not M) to both Fannie and Freddie mortgage insurance companies to try to stanch the debacle of subprime crisis. Seven years after, all other companies under government's bailout such as AIG, CitiBank, GM and Goldman Sachs are all back to sound financial footing except for Fannie and Freddie. Reason: US government totally controls Fannie and Freddie, takes all the profits and does not allow any profit left to build the capital of either Fannie or Freddie. Next housing market crisis will likely repeat the saga and plunge Fannie and Freddie into the abyss and ripple through all the mortgage market.   http://www.amazon.com/Shaky-Ground-Strange-Mortgage-Giants-ebook/dp/B0110IBKHM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442631104&sr=1-1&keywords=saga+fannie

Temporary ignorance of Hippocratic oath

California passed the physician-assisted suicide lawast two weeks ago, following Vermont, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico to become the 5th state to allow for this fiercely debated medical practice. It should be a wrenching moment for doctors who may need to temporarily deviate their Hippocratic oaths.    http://time.com/4038096/meet-the-doctors-fighting-to-grant-patients-the-right-to-die/

Experienced teacher, a perfect candidate for millionaire

很難想像在課堂上兢兢業業上課的老師，可以因為傳授他(她)的實際教學經驗(不是補習班老師)，而有超過100萬美金的額外收入。 昨天紐約時報的一篇報導，介紹一個付一點錢，就可以得到其他很多經過實際驗證的上課教學經驗的網站， teacherspayteachers.com (九年前創立)。 這個網站有一百七十萬個教學經驗和計畫，三百萬個用戶，超過五萬個老師提供教學經驗，至今為止已經有十二個老師超過100萬美金的收入，300個老師有10萬塊美金的收入。 這個網站所以會這麼樣地受老師歡迎，我想是因為根據美國的統計資料，87%的老師相信其他老師的教學經驗，只有不到三分之二的老師相信教育專家的經驗，更只有38%老師相信教科書和書商的教學課程。 用額外的收入來鼓勵老師將教學的經驗，精心整理成其他老師可以立刻使用的資料，上網和大家(付費)分享，我想這應該是有利於整體教育。 而且老師也不可能因為這樣子就辭掉工作，因為這些教學經驗有價值，是因為有實際的驗證，而不是紙上談兵。http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/technology/a-sharing-economy-where-teachers-win.html

Metaphor of tadpoles applicable to Silicon Valley

Interesting theory regarding the nagging conundrum: "Why other countries have difficulties to copy Silicon Valley?" Frogs lay 20,000 eggs but only a few survive to evolve into adult frogs to enjoy mosquito dinners. In the same token, only 1% of startups become viable companies and less than 0.1% become the so-called unicorns. Only in Silicon Valley does it have the chance and will to fall over each other in this massive battlefield. If the population of startups is statistically significant, it is always true that a few will emerge with flying colors.   http://www.newsweek.com/silicon-valley-failing-succeeding-367179

mania in Taiwan's stock market

Take the advantage of "borrow for free" feature in my Kindle Paperwhite, I spent the weekend to read the following interesting book about the Taiwan stock market bubble in the years around 1990. The mania of the herd mentality was staggering. In 1989, every outstanding share was changed hands, on average, for every 15 days in Taiwan. By contrast, in NY stock exchange, it was every 16 months.   http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Taiwan-Bubble-Emerging/dp/1881896188

Crispr-Cas9

Genetically engineered baby with any traits to which parents prefer may not be a science fiction a few decades from now. With the breakthrough genome editing technology, Crispr-Cas9, genes can be deliberately altered and modified. It may be a very potent tool to ward off diseases or cancers; however, renegade scientists may target this Crispr-Cas9 for the incarnation of Frankenstein at which you cannot thumb your nose any more.   Crispr-Cas9   

GDP makeup

中國最近的經濟成長消退, 對台灣的影響可能最大. 因為台灣的出口佔GDP的70%, 而台灣的出口有40%銷往中國. 中國假如不能像美國一樣，轉型成以家庭消費為GDP的最大宗, 那中國經濟成長就很難穩定和長久。

Warren Buffett's wrecking ball

全球競爭和生活習慣改變，已經使的幾年前還是牢不可破的美國食品業，起了重大變化。 兩年多前，Warren Buffett 和3G (一家以"高效率"財務整頓聞名的投資公司)以280億美金買下Heinz食品公司. 兩年之內，公司員工裁掉20%, 九成的高階主管離職, 營業額降了5.1%, 市場佔有率掉了65%, 但是投資人的獲利增加38% Warren Buffett 和3G，上個月再以500億美金買下Kraft食品公司和Heinz合併, 這個月就宣布要裁公司員工5%, 連續三年,每年要省下15億美金。 在這個資本掛帥的時代，沒有任何一個工作(公務員除外??)是穩穩當當的。  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-20/kraft-warren-buffett-3g-capital-may-push-cost-cutting

Serendipity makes a big difference

Sometimes, technology breakthrough needs to wait for serendipity. In the near future, it may be possible to have battery lifespan four times as much as today's Li-on battery; thanks to the fortuitous misstep during the research by a MIT/Tsinghua team.   http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21660963-nanotechnological-accident-may-lengthen-battery-lives-tiny-balls-fire

helpful watchdog

Never in my imagination did a US government agency have such a benevolent service to ordinary Americans while intimidating many predatory financial institutions. Within five years, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), stemming from Frank-Dodd bill, emerges as the center that any ordinary American can effectively get the help if you feel you have been exploited by unscrupulous financial institutions.    http://time.com/3995779/the-agency-thats-got-your-back/

Only workaholics survive in Amazon

一個員工超過10萬人的公司, 中間(median)員工的年資只有一年，85%的員工年資少於五年，公司強烈地信奉"目標性達爾文理論" (purposeful Darwinism)來淘汰員工，員工不肯日以繼夜的工作，或是不肯尖銳批評同事的意見，就會面臨自己遭殃的困境，大部分離職員工反而是其他公司網羅的對象(因為在亞馬遜被訓練的刻苦耐勞的理念)。這就是今天紐約時報描述的亞馬遜(Amazon)工作環境. 亞馬遜總裁 Bezos 對他這個雇人裁人，再雇人再裁人，最後僅保留最耐操最能幹的員工的理念深信不疑，而亞馬遜公司在前十幾年，一直在顧客和華爾街的地位居高不下， 而且一直在擴充他的公司規模，不斷地挹注市場創新的理念和創新的產品。這種完全不同於其他公司用人的理念，真的非常特別。  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html

wind direction in Tienjin after explosion

Wind direction in Tienjin on Aug. 15 calculated by the "HYSPLIT Trajectory Model" in US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.http://www.ready.noaa.gov/hypub-bin/trajtype.pl   

Typical Lake-Wobegon effect

 http://news.2redbeans.com/2603238395/2015 

Patent system, beneficial or encumbered?

如果完全廢棄專利制度, 真的可以不會影響創新嗎? 而且還有可能創造更多的公共利益? 甚至大家公認最需要受專利權保護的製藥公司的藥物研發， 這一篇文章認為，假如沒有專利權保護，新藥的研發不會受影響，而且因為競爭的關係, 藥物還會更便宜。 不過全世界任何國家的議員，絕對不敢提出完全廢棄專利制度的提案。http://www.economist.com/node/21660559?zid=317&ah=8a47fc455a44945580198768fad0fa41

Sesame Street and HBO, strange bedfellows

Sesame Street, a popular children's educational programming, cannot escape from the yoke of economic concern. From this fall, all the children from disadvantaged families have to wait for nine months before they are able to watch the new episodes on PBS. Economic class divide has made inroads into every sector, including the pedagogical Sesame Street.  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/business/media/sesame-street-heading-to-hbo-in-fall.html?_r=0

hype cycle for emerging technologies

Big data has been descending toward the trough of disillusionment of hype cycle for emerging technologies. "Internet things" is at the top of hype cycle in 2014.    http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2819918

3D Xpoint memory

Memory 10 times denser than DRAM but at the same speed, non-volatile, bit-addressable (rather than block-addressable as in NAND) and no transistor in each bit cell (therefore, low-power) seems a holy grail. Intel and Micron announced this memory structure, 3D Xpoint, this week and will start shipment in 2016.http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/intel-and-micron-announce-revolutionary-memory

Walter Cronkite, that is the way it is

Just watched a PBS documentary about Walter Cronkite, a legendary TV anchorman. His composure and the moral fiber of a journalist to cover the assassination of JFK in 1963 is still vividly remembered by most of the Americans. After Bob Schieffer retired two months ago, there is no well-respected old-school TV anchormen left in America's TV networks.   http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/jfk-one-pm-central-standard-time-watch-the-full-episode/1091/

Kids at age 4 can start to program robot

Scratch Jr is designed for kids aged 5 and up and is basically restricted to the 2-D screen. If parents are eager to train their kids under age 5 with the critical sequencing logic concept, a necessity in coding, there are a lot of choices on the market. Children can learn coding by programming, e.g., a cute robot to tease or scare an unwitting family dog. However, these programming robotic kt still costs $200-400 and may not be affordable to a majority of families.    http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21660077-how-teach-computer-science-nursery-school-no-assembler-required

Elephant in almost every room

中國在全世界的影響力，已經越來越明顯了。 去年(2014) 中國在海外的投資(FDI,Foreign Direct Investment) 已經超越日本, 僅次於美國 (世界各國對中國的投資,在去年已經超越美國, 高居聯合國貿易發展協會的首位)   

Behemoth AliPay

支付寶 (AliPay) 在2014年的第三方支付營業額，幾乎已經是美國最大的第三方支付公司Paypal的四倍多. 甚至有可能Paypal 是以後支付寶收購的對象. 

Lucky cancer patients with Lazarus-like recovery

For some unsuccessful cancer drugs, there are some few patients with Lazarus-like recovery. Why the same type of cancer can lead to drastically different treatment results? It turns out that same cancer originated from the same organ can be hailed from different mutated genes. A lucky patient with the specific mutated gene that can be blocked by the experimental drug will have remission and even be cured. Iceland already has one-third of its population have genome sequencing. That genome database may be the treasure trove for the future cancer curing.    http://www.newsweek.com/2015/07/31/linkedin-cancer-354877.html

paradise for children in Lake Wobegon?

All children are living in the Lake Wobegon and every child is aspired to be among the top one-percenters. With the crushing blow of middle class in the last two decades, this Lake-Wobegon mindset in the parents has accentuated ever since.
http://time.com/3969237/in-praise-of-the-ordinary-child/

hopeful P-Tech education

今年6月，紐約布魯克林有6位學生從第一屆的 P-Tech 高職(Pathways in Technology Early College High School)畢業。他們在四年之內完成四年高中(美國高中4年) 和兩年大專的學業和實習經驗, 而且學費全免。 有三位要去IBM工作,年薪至少5萬美金.(另外三個選擇上4年制的大學)。 這個P-Tech教育， 假如能夠成功, 將很可能對社經地位不高的家庭，產生非常正面的影響.
(1) P-Tech是由有前瞻性的公司(如IBM)贊助，州政府也願意撥款補助 (紐約州在7年之內要補助2100萬美金)。(2)布魯克林P-Tech的學生要到IBM實習，而且IBM也會對每個學生指定一個IBM員工當導師. (3) 美國大學生，平均學生貸款是3萬5仟美金， 但P-Tech的學生等於是免費讀大學 (4)紐約布魯克林P-Tech的學生, 96%是黑人和西班牙裔。 但他們的四年級高中生有79%，已經達到州政府定的讀大學的能力。 全纽約市也只有39%的學生達到這個讀大學的標準。
IBM希望在2016年前,全美國能夠有100個P-Tech學校和十萬個學生, 因為這些P-Tech的學生, 在畢業時已經擁有科技公司所需要的技能。 台灣要複製這個P-Tech的經驗, 不知道有沒有任何可行性?  http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21657842-companies-struggling-find-talent-are-looking-teenagers-business-high-school

Hippocratic Oath is eclipsed by Midas touch

Not all physicians adhere to Hippocratic Oath and some actually revel in Midas touch. Last week, a Lebanon-born Michigan physician, Farid Fata, was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Over 6-year span, he administered unnecessary 9,000 chemo to at least 553 patients and raked $35M. In the last 10 years, more students gravitate toward medical schools but how many still keep Hippocratic Oath years after they graduate?    http://www.newsweek.com/farid-fata-farid-fata-sentenced-farid-fata-medical-fraud-oncology-cancer-352317

daddy race (拼爹) in China

一個只能容納一張床，一個衣櫥，一個書桌的簡陋小房間, 沒有衛浴設備，沒有廚房，竟然叫價一坪585萬新台幣 (幾乎就是美國紐約Park Avenue的頂級公寓的價格)。理由就是因為 這個房子非常靠近北京最好的第二實驗小學。 中國政府 要均衡教育資源，規定中小學只能夠招收附近的學生。 結果富有的家庭擠破頭，轉戶口，也要將小孩擠進權貴家庭和富有家庭小孩讀的中小學。   http://www.economist.com/news/china/21657421-how-pushy-chinese-parents-get-their-kids-best-schools-rigging-daddy-race

kindergarteners' social-emotional skills

今天在美國公衛期刊發表的一篇文章提到，在20年前在美國三個地區，對753個5歲的小孩子(已經盡量排除家庭社經能力的差異),進行長時間的追蹤研究，20年以後的現在，得到的研究結果是，如果5，6歲的小孩子的社交情緒能力 (social-emotional skills)很強, 不論他(她)們的教育結果和智商如何，以後進入大學和找到工作的概率，比在5，6歲時候的社交情緒能力差的小孩，要強很多，可能高達4倍之多。  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/want-your-kids-to-go-to-college-and-get-a-job-make-sure-they-learn-how-to-share-in-kindergarten/2015/07/16/4c30726a-2b4e-11e5-a250-42bd812efc09_story.html

competition in globalization

最近一期時代雜誌報導, 在2009年，經濟衰退的最高峰時候，希臘政府因為缺錢，和中國政府簽下35年的賣身契，將Piraeus這個有兩千五百年歷史的港口，三個碼頭中的兩個租給中國經營，一個留給自己用。 結果這幾年來，這兩個中國經營的碼頭，吞吐量增加一倍，而希臘經營的碼頭卻縮減了三分之二的吞吐量。 全球化的激烈競爭， 使得我們這一代 "以前是這樣,現在為什麼不可以" 的觀念, 已經完全不適用了。http://time.com/3951187/greece-tempts-the-fates/

sequel of "to kill a mockingbird"

On this coming Tuesday, a sequel to the magnum opus, "to kill a mockingbird", will be published. I still remembered vividly, even after 50 years, the touching scene when the upright lawyer, Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck), despondently walked out of courtroom while all black people on the gallery stood up to show their respect. Now, this sequel totally upends this indelible image since Atticus Finch was a racist as revealed in this sequel. Though this is a fiction, "to kill a mockingbird" is a book that all U.S. school children have been required to read in the last 50 years, its impact will be enormous, especially in this era of racial conflicts.

income substitution rate

最近看到很多年金改革的新聞，大部分退休人員的所得替代率都超過5成，甚至超過八成。這在美國是很難想像的。 在美國每次的薪水都一定要扣6.2%的社會福利金和1.45%到65歲以後才能享受的老人醫療保險. 62歲以前不准拿退休金，66歲又兩個月才能夠拿全額退休金，而且要工作滿35年。 如果只有工作25年，那剩下十年的薪水全部以零計算。即使像這樣的社會福利基金制度，也將在不久的將來破產。 下面兩張圖表是根據美國社會安全福利局的公式算出來的。(美國去年的國民所得平均五萬五千美元)  

Superbugs resistant to all antibiotics

Value of human life is always eclipsed by the concern of profit. No pharmaceutical companies have done serious R&D on the new antibiotics to attack the two superbugs, NDM-1 and KPC. In 2011, KPC bacteria killed 12 patients inside the state-of-the-art NIH clinical center in Maryland, USA. NDM-1 and KPC are still lurking all around the whole world and prepare to launch another bout of outbreak.   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/

plutocratic dog with two gold Apple watches

Perks enjoyed by dogs in the super-rich Chinese family? Two gold Apple watches owned by this "lucky" Alaskan husky (愛基斯摩狗).  dog wearing two gold Apple watches

wealth distribution in Taiwan and U.S.

台灣最富有的5%佔全國財富的25.3% 美國更嚇人, 全國最富有的1%就佔全國財富的39.8%

choice of much lower medical testing cost

We always complain the steep medical testing cost. Yet, if you check the site of https://www.theranos.com/test-menu, its cost is only 8% (more expensive ones) to 15% (less expensive ones) of the leading player, Labcorp, in the U.S. Founder of Theranos and a Stanford dropout, Elizabeth Holmes, deserves respect for her dedicated mindset to help people stay healthy.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21656193-theranoss-boss-says-her-mission-extends-beyond-making-fortune-holmes-where-heart

melliflous remix

First remix done by Andy.  He tried to pick up his musicality learned in his childhood.   Enjoyable remix with synchronized video and mellifluous audio.  

corollary of Blanche Dubois economy

The "Blanche Dubois" economy in Greece is teetering on the brink of collapsing. Yet, no leadership is accountable but manages to pass the buck to the masses by calling for irresponsible referendum.   
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/world/europe/for-eurozone-a-day-of-dueling-agendas-on-greek-debt.html?_r=0

Adult skill retention vs. PISA score

South Korea has enjoyed a commanding lead in PISA (國際學生評估測驗) in the last few years. However, according to a recent 2014 report, their skill retention is pretty short-lived. Reason: "many university graduates training for white-collar jobs that don't exist"     source:  http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/reports/the-learning-curve-report-2014  

Borrow for free

Just realized that Amazon allows its Prime account owner to have free download of one of its 960,000 books every month to Kindle eReader with no specified return date. This is very generous. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, himself loves reading and his behemoth bookstore, with aggressive and generous sales pitch, helps to pique Americans' reading interest substantially.  

a sine qua non for millennials

The latest issue of BusinessWeek devoted the whole issue, 43 articles and 30 thousand words to articulate the dominance and ubiquity of coding. Programming skill has become a sine qua non for all millennials.   http://www.bloomberg.com/company/announcements/bloomberg-businessweek-releases-code-issue-special-multi-platform-package-demystifying-code/

entrepreneurship vs. PPP

生活越優渥，越沒有創業精神。 美國人最富創業精神，日本人最怠懈, 台灣則是跟著世界潮流。在新創業公司工作的員工, 佔全體人口(18到64歲)的比例, 美國13.8% 日本3.8% 台灣8.5% 新加坡11%   

Brevity is the soul of the wit

今天看到因車禍去逝的諾貝爾獎得主 John Nash的一則軼事。 1948年，卡內基大學教授在給John Nash申請普林斯頓大學數學研究所的推薦信裡面，只有短短的一行，"他19歲，今年6月畢業，他是數學天才" John Nash的博士論文也只有短短的27頁. 法國科學家 De Broglie的博士論文雖然"長達"70頁, 但這70頁的博士論文已經足夠讓他在短短的五年之內, 就得到諾貝爾物理獎. 這似乎歸結到莎士比亞的一句名言，簡潔是智慧的靈魂 (Brevity is the soul of the wit)。 學習過程中,要是不能把複雜的觀念簡化成易記的直覺觀念， 那這個複雜的觀念,就不太可能存在腦海裡太久; 甚至永遠不存在.

To be or not to be?

To be or not to be (cramped by the reclining seat in front of you)? With a pair of $22 "knee defender" clips, you can revoke the sacred right of the passenger in front of you to recline the seat. Caveat: prepare for the forthcoming dogfight.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgsWgYeyvw

trompe l'oeil robot

A humanoid robot, Aiko (愛子), dressed in kimono and cheerfully welcoming shoppers in honorific Japanese in front of Mitsukoshi department store(三越百貨) in Tokyo.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-28/japan-unleashes-a-robot-revolution

Last old-school TV anchor retired

Just finished watching the last episode of CBS "Face the Nation" on every Sunday morning. For journalism, I only prefer watching the old-school TV anchors, starting from Walter Cronkite when I came to this country to Bob Schieffer today.

No more serendipity

Never until this morning did I learn that John Nash, the "beautiful mind" Nobel Prize laureate, was a regular customer in this Subway eatery in West Windsor NJ on every Wednesday at 2pm in this small and serene mall that I constantly patronize in the last 15 years. It is impossible to have serendipity any more. RIP  

crowd-sourcing medical advice

Bereft of hope when your medical problem could not be diagnosed by your doctors for years? The collective wits from Crowdmed, like kickstarter for financial crowd-sourcing, may trump over your doctor's credentials. Sound like too good to be true; however, some patients got their problems solved by Crowdmed that their doctors could not.   http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21651765-many-hands-make-diagnosis-work-crowd-will-see-you-now

magnet for young rocket scientists

Read an article on the airplane about how Elon Musk fulfilled his dream of space exploration. After being spurned by Russians, Elon Musk was determined to build the first-ever spaceship by a commercial company without any government support, a mission-impossible undertaking viewed by many veterans in the space field. To my surprise, during 2008, he went through the wringer that he might cede ownership of Tesla since he even could not afford to pay the employees' salaries for one more day. His perseverance made him ride the adversity out in 2008. Now, both SpaceX and Tesla are extremely profitable. Elon Musk might be the only Silicon Valley whiz-kid that dares to challenge the big incumbents such as Boeing, Martin-Lockheed, GM and Ford.  http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/

white-collar workers in the dole queue by AI

One day your smartphone can be an articulate translator (like future Skype), a competent diagnostician (like future Watson Health), a well-versed writer (like future Narrative Science) and a stock analyst (like future Kensho), When that day comes, don't worry that machine may take over the world, worry about the prospect that you, as a high-paid white-collar worker, may be in the dole queue.    http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21650526-artificial-intelligence-scares-peopleexcessively-so-rise-machines  

caste system in nail salons

Rampant exploitation in almost all the nail salons in NYC as in the headline of today's NY Times. This article has 4 language versions including Chinese. Manicurists in these sweatshops have caste system with Koreans on the top tier, Chinese on the 2nd rung and all others on the bottom tier. Korean owners drive Mercedes and live in multi-million mansions while their employees earn $3 an hour (or earn nothing in the first few weeks and are required to pay owners $100-$200 for training).    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html

lousy performance, astronomical pay

The balance between pay and performance in Wall Street is totally out of kilter. In 2014, the S&P 500 index gained 13.6% while average gain of hedge funds was only 3%, 6th straight year below broad stock bench index. However, the top 5 earners in hedge funds still had astronomical incomes, ranging from $900M to $1300M in 2014.    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/business/dealbook/top-25-hedge-fund-managers-took-bad-14-all-the-way-to-the-bank.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0  

more IVF babies in the future

Interesting article in TIME about increasing the success rate of IVF ( in vitro fertilization, 試管嬰兒). By injecting the mitochondria (線粒體, energy-producing organelle) from the mom's own ovary, it can rejuvenate an aging woman's eggs and increase IVF rate substantially. This approach is so new that US FDA still has not approved it.  http://time.com/3849964/the-incredible-surprising-controversial-new-way-to-make-a-baby/?pcd=hp-magmod

adaptive learning

個人化教育在美國是khan Academy首居其功，在台灣當然就是均一了。 AltSchool則是將個人化教育精緻化, 全攬個人化教育的前段跟後段。 前段包括在教室裝設中多感測器， 即時偵測學生在學習時候臉部表情的變化，人際關係的互動，上課的專心程度。 後段則包括分析每一個學生的數據，老師教學過程的半自動化，以及建議如何提高每一個學生的學習效率。 這個工程太浩大，而且非常貴，所以大概只能嘉惠於政經地位不錯的家庭(雖然這個市場仍然是非常大)。 不過紐約市在2009年開辦的School of One(SO1), 至今已有15個學校參加, 比較能夠嘉惠於政經地位不高的家庭. SO1的個人化教育結果很不錯，在這個教育系統下的學生， 平均數學一年的學習效果，相當於全國平均的1.2年(如附圖)。 據估計在美國的高中學生，到2019年幾乎有一半會接受線上教育。 也許就像是哈佛的教授 Clayton Christensen 所預測的，以後的學校只是訓練德體群的場所，而學習就大部份交給Internet了.    

fatty coffee

Coffee with butter and triglyceride oil is healthy and can make you invincible? This so-called Bulletproof Coffee is a typical fad diet and many people are actually spreading the gospel of this fatty coffee. Though BusinessWeek has other balanced report in this article but it almost looks like a canard.   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-04-21/buttered-coffee-could-make-you-invincible-and-this-man-very-rich

TPP: a double-edged sword

Obama is going to sign TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) with the HELP from Congress. Ten days ago, Congressional leaders granted him "Trade Promotion Authority" which allows Obama administration to negotiate a deal and then submit it to Congress for a yes-or-no vote, without any amendments. TPP is expected to increase the average household income but, in the same breath, increase the unemployment rate for workers with lesser skill. This cruel consequence is inevitable when globalization prevails.  http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21649613-america-inches-towards-big-trade-deal-asia-barack-obama-faces-showdown

Desired class stratification in cruise

Class distinction on a cruise ship? In the U.S., cruise ship is an egalitarian world irrespective of the fee you pay. Many wealthy Chinese taking cruise vacation complain that it does not give them any privilege to cut in line or choose the premium seat to watch show since they pay more. I had a good time reading the recent issue of BusinessWeek but was amazed by the mindset of the economic "upper crust" in China.   http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-china-cruises/

like a shark

It may be a hard act to follow that a foreigner strives to have English as good as highly educated native. Today in a meeting, I was the only one at sea when someone mentioned "Wow, you are like a shark". After googling for a while, it dawned on me that since sharks always swim and never sleep, "like a shark" is a metaphor of "always going forward without losing any momentum". It is almost a weekly routine to encounter this kind of phrases that do not exist in any dictionary. 

Watson Health

IBM announced "Watson Health" 4 days ago and IBM's CEO Ginni Rometty articulated it in Charlie Rose program last night in PBS. Watson has been trained by top-notch doctors in Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. Watson has already stored 90 million patients data for its cognitive analysis. In the future, this cloud-based medical service may render some doctor's services moot since Watson can use natural language to explain the evidence-based medical cases it stores from myriad of patients.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46MYhalt7EU

Don't be evil

Google has a famous corporate motto, "Don't be evil". Ironically, if you search "antitrust" today, the first article appears is EU charges Google of violation of antitrust law.

Why is rent-seeking so costly to growth?

NY Times today has a sobering article about the concern of talented students flocking to finance sector. Influential economists in both Uni. of Chicago and Harvard Uni. found an interesting impact on GDP from the majors of college students. 10% increase of engineering majors will lead to 1.25% increase of GDP. 10% increase of law majors will incur 0.65% decrease of GDP. (Table VI inhttp://www.nyu.edu/e…/user/bisina/murphy_shleifer_vishny.pdf)    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/upshot/why-a-harvard-professor-has-mixed-feelings-when-students-take-jobs-in-finance.html?abt=0002&abg=0   

Lake Carnegie

I always treat it a blessing that I can enjoy the natural beauty of Raritan Canal close to my neighborhood. Only recently did I learn that Lake Carnegie, a lake located in Princeton University and connected to Raritan Canal, was dredged and totally funded by Andrew Carnegie in 1906. The reason: Princeton rowing varsity team needed a lake to practice and Carnegie was happy to oblige the team's request. Princeton, the university with highest per capita endowment in the whole world, has its own train station and an immense lake with stunning beauty.   

Hands-off may be better than hands-on

If you use the flip-the-coin approach to buy stock, your chance to beat the Wall Street stock fund managers is very high. The U.S. market benchmark index, S&P 1500 beat 81% of all the actively managed stock funds in the last five years. Out of 2863 active stock funds, only 2 can stay in the top 25% for consecutive four years and 0 in five years. This sobering NYT article may be another story of hands-off (無為而治) approach sometimes is better than hands-on course of action.   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/your-money/measure-for-measure-index-funds-rule.html

classdojo

On my way home today, I heard from radio that a free app, classdojo (www.classdojo.com) has made a splash in the educational landscape in the last three years. One-third of US schools (probably not every teacher) use this app to track students' behavior. This app is among the top 25 of all downloads. Advocates claim that this app takes the game-like feature to help students' learning. Dopamine may be released when students with positive behavior are rewarded by teacher on the classdojo app (accumulating points or visual tokens), which, in turn, may enhance long-term learning motivation. Opponents voice their privacy concerns of the students' behavioral information stored in classdojo.comsite. (Classdojo announced last year that they would only keep students' data for one-year starting from 2015)    
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/technology/privacy-concerns-for-classdojo-and-other-tracking-apps-for-schoolchildren.html?_r=0

Polio virus, benevolent or virulent?

Polio virus to kill malignant brain cancer instead of causing paralysis? Too good to be true. It seems like Duke Uni. is making a miracle according to CBS "60 Minutes" tonight. In the US, 12,000 patients died of glioblastoma (惡性膠質腦瘤,12% of all primary brain cancers). Now, doctors can inject re-engineered polio virus into the brain and let polio virus fight with glioblastoma cells during which the dormant human immune system awakes and continues to do the majority of glioblastoma cancer eliminations. This immunotherapy has a stunning success rate with 50% of patients showing the continuous cancer cell shrinkage, even at phase 1 without knowing the appropriate dose, . Cancer is usually dubbed as "emperor of all maladies". Now, there is a slight glimmer at the end of tunnel to fight with cancer.   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/

Efficacy of Common Core State Standards tests

Before the end of next month, 5 million 3-to-11-grade students in 10 states in the U.S. will take standardized tests of CCSS (Common Core State Standards) which are designed to reform the US education and, most importantly, to spur the critical thinking. It's not surprising that many students complain that the tests are too hard since some of them lack the long-term training of critical thinking. Time will tell the efficacy of these national standardized tests since schools and teachers are partially held accountable for these testing results. Taiwan has no such accountability-embedded national standardized tests.   

most expensive shipping?

This 0.3M-pixel camera costs US $16,900 plus US $1,762 shipping. Who wants to pay US $1,762 for shipping even this is ITAR-controlled product and only US citizens are allowed to purchase it?  http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-Systems-ThermoSight-640x480-P66000-030000/dp/B00NBW88US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426816809&sr=8-1&keywords=flir+640

cognitive peak

From the recent article in http://newsoffice.mit.edu/…/brain-peaks-at-different-ages-0…, it seems like only the vocabulary that I have not reached the peak. All others have been on the slippery slope.   

Take a nap in the work time

Google offers one perk that FB does not have, napping pod. I wonder how many perks that can satisfy whippersnappers.  

Princeton Uni. Art Museum

The donation, endowment and bequest of the powerful alumni of Princeton Uni. make Princeton Uni. Art Museum among one of the 15 best small-town museums. The collections of this art museum span globally and into 5,000 years of history. To be the No. 1 university in the whole world is really privileged.
http://photos.nj.com/the-times/2015/03/princeton_university_art_museu_3.html

God is fair

God is fair. If your CAG (genetic C,A,G letters) repeat in DNA segment is more (average is 17), you are smarter. However, if your CAG repeat number is more than 35, you are at the risk of developing Huntington's. Faustian bargain has never been free.  http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21645713-could-key-evolution-human-brain-be-found-dreadful

mellifluous melody "Love to You Taiwan"

Mellifluous melody "Love to You Taiwan" with idyllic video that evokes nostalgic memory of the beauty of Taiwan   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5m5ql7JDV4

garbled patent disclosure

I start to wonder how solid the engineering background that patent lawyers have. Today, I need to change at least one-third of the patent disclosure. Lawyers may be versed in legalese but do not seem to have any obvious electrical engineering background. Probably IC designers have no motivation to become patent lawyers.  

carcinogen-carrying floor panels in many US households

CBS 60-Minutes has an alarming episode tonight, the laminated floor panels in many households made by Lumber Liquidators contain formaldehyde (甲醛), a carcinogen. It seems like Lumber Liquidators only has sales channels in US and none in Taiwan. All these carcinogen-carrying floor panels were made in China to "save cost".

Income equality in public transit system

If you are poor, you pay less when taking bus or train. That is the benefit enjoyed by the poor residents in King County in Seattle starting from today. One of the approaches to battle income inequality?   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/us/targeting-inequality-this-time-on-public-transit.html

Product Hunt

台灣似乎也應該有像 producthunt.com 的這種網站(成立才一年,但似乎已經很轟動), 可以結合投資者和創新者。 這個網站每天將有一點點價值的創新產品，公佈在他們的網站，由經過初步篩選的人來評價，而且也讓投資者和創新者能夠有交流的機會，並且也讓創新者能夠為自己的產品辯護。 這個網站似乎有點公信力，因為禮拜二的Pebble Time已有765個人說讚，而且在同一天的 Kickstarter，Pebble Time創新 Kickstarter 的紀錄, 在49分鐘之內籌到100萬美金.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/why-startups-want-this-28-year-old-to-really-like-them

Economic growth or income equality?

上個星期剛出爐的白宮經濟顧問委員會給美國總統的年度報告, 提到"如果1973年到2013年的經濟成長和1948年到1973年一樣地快速的話, 美國每個家庭中位數的收入可以增加3萬美金. 如果1973年到2013年貧富不均和1948年到1973年差不多的話, 美國每個家庭中位數的收入可以增加9千美金" 下列這張圖似乎在提示美國總統，經濟成長還是最重要的？

Elementary my dear Watson

"Elementary, my dear Watson", a famous saying by the fiction character, Sherlock Holmes, probably should only apply to humans. For computers, the "elementary" stuffs are not that elementary any more. Chinese version is in   http://technews.tw/2015/02/27/ibm-computer-ai-cat/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-18/even-the-smartest-ai-can-mistake-zuckerberg-for-a-cardigan

A snarky put-down that needs to do a double take

I came across a sentence, "A modest man but then he has so much to be modest about (他是一個謙卑的人，但他還有很多卑微之處)" regarded as a "high-class" put-down attributed to Winston Churchill. Churchill used this sentence to deride his political rival in which many people may need to do a double-take before understanding its true meaning. Political dogfight does not need to be in-your-face; rather, a more euphemistic way as in this sentence may have the same effect. 

Schools closed in observance of Chinese New Year

I start to be convinced that "new blood is a more capable enabler than old guard."  On 2/19, the public schools in my township were unprecedentedly closed in observance of Chinese New Year. This is accredited to a 26-year-old Chinese young upstart who was elected into local school board last year. Jews always enjoy time-honored days off for the whole local public schools during their new year holiday. Now, because of the political clout in school board, Chinese are now on the same standing as Jews.

mentor-mentee relationship in entrepreneur course

An article in NYT yesterday piqued my interest to browse through the following site for entrepreneurship course in Stanford Uni. Stanford Uni. is in the catbird seat since it is located next to Silicon Valley. Students in this course can enjoy the privilege that no other schools can provide, one-to-one mentor-mentee relationship for the experience from successful entrepreneurs.   http://e145.stanford.edu/