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