风萧萧兮易水寒
借问酒家何处有
夜半钟声到客船
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
When Death Becomes a Career Move
I am a fan of MJ. But honestly, he and his songs were forgotten by most of his fans in recent years. Now since he is dead, his career revives. A new documentary about the "this is it" tour will be on screen this week, expecting millions of income together with the following DVD and CD hits.
For most of the artists (e.g., van Gogh), to reach higher in their career, one must first lie down and be buried.
Friday, October 23, 2009
海归博士自杀 浙大发布奇文讣告
九月二十九日上午八时三十分，涂序新老师遗体告别仪式在杭州殡仪馆举行。参加告别
仪式的有学院领导、学校相关部门、部分师生及涂老师亲属与同学，共100余人。
涂序新老师于2009年9月17日凌晨2点因病不幸坠楼去世，终年32岁。(sick suicide?!)
涂序新老师1977年8月生于浙江金华，1995年9月——2001年6月就读于清华大学，2000年6月获水利水电工程专业学士学位，2001年6月获法学学士学位。2001年9月——2007年6月就读于美国西北大学，分别于2004年和2007年获得岩土工程硕士和博士学位。其后在美国西北大学从事博士后研究工作，2009年6月中旬回国到学院工作。
涂序新老师为人真诚善良，对待同事细心周到，受到大家的尊重;对待学生，耐心解答疑问，多次深入新生宿舍与学生交流，受到学生的爱戴。涂序新老师学识渊博、事业心强、治学严谨，对研究工作认真执着，精益求精。
借此机会，感谢学校各部门及学院师生的关心! (What the hell is this "thank-you"?)
附涂序新博士来学院的主要经历
2009年1月，涂博士通过电子邮件与学院岩土所联系，申请教师岗位;
3月24日，由学院提供往返国际机票和住宿条件，涂博士来学院面试;(The school paid for the interview! how generous.)
4月21日，学院将《新进人员聘任通知书》发给涂博士，涂博士于次日通过电子邮件表示“本人愿意接受你们所提供的岗位和待遇”; (Acceptance by Dr.Tu means "not the school's problem")
6月12日，涂博士与浙大签署聘用合同;
7月28日，涂博士租住由浙大提供的位于玉泉校区求是村的教师公寓。公寓建筑面积57平方米(内含独立厨房、卫生间以及电视、冰箱、空调、微波炉、电磁炉、床铺、桌椅等家具和电器设施)。此后，他相继参加了学院组织的留学归国人员座谈会、环境岩土工程国际学术研讨会筹备及会务工作，并担任了 2009级本科新生班主任; (Perfect living place -- is that an ad? The school is so "generous"!)
9月1日到8日期间，涂博士参加了学校在之江校区举行的新教师岗位集中培训;
9月8日，学校启动了下半年专业技术职务评审工作。9月11日，涂博士在学校“专业技术职务聘任系统”中填写了申报副教授的相关信息;(The cause is just too simple to ignore)
9月17日，涂博士于凌晨2点因病不幸坠楼去世。
仪式的有学院领导、学校相关部门、部分师生及涂老师亲属与同学，共100余人。
涂序新老师于2009年9月17日凌晨2点因病不幸坠楼去世，终年32岁。(sick suicide?!)
涂序新老师1977年8月生于浙江金华，1995年9月——2001年6月就读于清华大学，2000年6月获水利水电工程专业学士学位，2001年6月获法学学士学位。2001年9月——2007年6月就读于美国西北大学，分别于2004年和2007年获得岩土工程硕士和博士学位。其后在美国西北大学从事博士后研究工作，2009年6月中旬回国到学院工作。
涂序新老师为人真诚善良，对待同事细心周到，受到大家的尊重;对待学生，耐心解答疑问，多次深入新生宿舍与学生交流，受到学生的爱戴。涂序新老师学识渊博、事业心强、治学严谨，对研究工作认真执着，精益求精。
借此机会，感谢学校各部门及学院师生的关心! (What the hell is this "thank-you"?)
附涂序新博士来学院的主要经历
2009年1月，涂博士通过电子邮件与学院岩土所联系，申请教师岗位;
3月24日，由学院提供往返国际机票和住宿条件，涂博士来学院面试;(The school paid for the interview! how generous.)
4月21日，学院将《新进人员聘任通知书》发给涂博士，涂博士于次日通过电子邮件表示“本人愿意接受你们所提供的岗位和待遇”; (Acceptance by Dr.Tu means "not the school's problem")
6月12日，涂博士与浙大签署聘用合同;
7月28日，涂博士租住由浙大提供的位于玉泉校区求是村的教师公寓。公寓建筑面积57平方米(内含独立厨房、卫生间以及电视、冰箱、空调、微波炉、电磁炉、床铺、桌椅等家具和电器设施)。此后，他相继参加了学院组织的留学归国人员座谈会、环境岩土工程国际学术研讨会筹备及会务工作，并担任了 2009级本科新生班主任; (Perfect living place -- is that an ad? The school is so "generous"!)
9月1日到8日期间，涂博士参加了学校在之江校区举行的新教师岗位集中培训;
9月8日，学校启动了下半年专业技术职务评审工作。9月11日，涂博士在学校“专业技术职务聘任系统”中填写了申报副教授的相关信息;(The cause is just too simple to ignore)
9月17日，涂博士于凌晨2点因病不幸坠楼去世。
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Peer review
Just a few days ago, if you were to receive an SMS saying that “Barack Obama wins the Nobel prize”, you would definitely think it’s a joke. Now, who is the laughter?
Back in my life in academia, I understood a term called “peer-review”. Essentially, it means that your works will be judged by your peers after you submitting them. It sounds quite strange at first. Most of us tend to believe in “authorities” or “professionals”, but “peer” is just lack of emm… scientific ground as well as power. Later on, I got used to it and comprehend the true meaning behind. In academia, all men are equal (as almost everyone is a Ph.D) and no one could be the real authority or professional. Besides, the true spirit of research is not to believe what you have been told but to approach the axiom in your mortal life. Therefore, although there are still hierarchies in the academic world (such as big names, professors, associate professor, assistant professor, senior researcher, fresh graduate students, etc), the term “peer” sounds much elegant here.
The next question is how to get your work (say, a paper) pass a peer-review. From my understanding, there are three options:
1, your work is really good – which is possible but still how could you define good?
2, you are very famous – because famous is an alias of good.
3, you know the peers who review your work – either you know the person or you know what the person likes (to see from your work).
It sounds not tricky, isn’t it?
Now let’s turn to the beginning and look at the question – what have Obama done to be awarded the Nobel peace prize, (unless you really think he deserves the prize despite that even the US government think otherwise). Not tricky, the key is the “peers”. The award selection committee is composed of five Norwegians appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Their representativeness is like five politician from a mid-sized county in a mid-sized province in China. Without any disrespect, Mr. Obama is a very peaceful say-much-do-nothing person. In this case, I guess it falls into the 2nd "very famous" category for his Norwegian fans.
For more informaiton about the fellowship of the Obama's peers:
The chairperson is a guy named Jagland who had featured in a televised breast-grabbing incident 11 years ago. The other four include a left-inclined ex-prime minister, a current member of the Labor Party, an environmentally-concerned socialist, a former conservative parliamentarian turned serial board member and a member of an anti-immigration party. This isn't an exciting bunch of peers, I'd say. I have to be wondering what kind of peace they have in their mind. Anyway, the result has been announced, and memorized.
Back in my life in academia, I understood a term called “peer-review”. Essentially, it means that your works will be judged by your peers after you submitting them. It sounds quite strange at first. Most of us tend to believe in “authorities” or “professionals”, but “peer” is just lack of emm… scientific ground as well as power. Later on, I got used to it and comprehend the true meaning behind. In academia, all men are equal (as almost everyone is a Ph.D) and no one could be the real authority or professional. Besides, the true spirit of research is not to believe what you have been told but to approach the axiom in your mortal life. Therefore, although there are still hierarchies in the academic world (such as big names, professors, associate professor, assistant professor, senior researcher, fresh graduate students, etc), the term “peer” sounds much elegant here.
The next question is how to get your work (say, a paper) pass a peer-review. From my understanding, there are three options:
1, your work is really good – which is possible but still how could you define good?
2, you are very famous – because famous is an alias of good.
3, you know the peers who review your work – either you know the person or you know what the person likes (to see from your work).
It sounds not tricky, isn’t it?
Now let’s turn to the beginning and look at the question – what have Obama done to be awarded the Nobel peace prize, (unless you really think he deserves the prize despite that even the US government think otherwise). Not tricky, the key is the “peers”. The award selection committee is composed of five Norwegians appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Their representativeness is like five politician from a mid-sized county in a mid-sized province in China. Without any disrespect, Mr. Obama is a very peaceful say-much-do-nothing person. In this case, I guess it falls into the 2nd "very famous" category for his Norwegian fans.
For more informaiton about the fellowship of the Obama's peers:
The chairperson is a guy named Jagland who had featured in a televised breast-grabbing incident 11 years ago. The other four include a left-inclined ex-prime minister, a current member of the Labor Party, an environmentally-concerned socialist, a former conservative parliamentarian turned serial board member and a member of an anti-immigration party. This isn't an exciting bunch of peers, I'd say. I have to be wondering what kind of peace they have in their mind. Anyway, the result has been announced, and memorized.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
“再不回中国就来不及了”
李开复做广告一定也是一流的；这么朗朗上口的一句广告词这么轻易就诞生了。
中国，房价不会跌，工资不会涨，马路上人不会少，关系不会简单，物价不会降，服务不会升级，政府不会给笑脸……
想来想去，这句广告词的言下之意是：人民币要涨了。
中国，房价不会跌，工资不会涨，马路上人不会少，关系不会简单，物价不会降，服务不会升级，政府不会给笑脸……
想来想去，这句广告词的言下之意是：人民币要涨了。
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Evolution of the Cell Phone
Benj Edwards, PC World
Sunday, October 04, 2009 05:00 PM PDT
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,173033/printable.html
From enormous, 80-pound, car-mounted beasts to tiny terminals in our back pockets, mobile phones have come a long way. What once cost thousands, weighed 2 pounds, and packed 60 minutes of battery life now costs $99, weighs 4 ounces, and packs 5 to 10 hours of battery life--and also includes a full-fledged computer, a video camera, audio/video playback, and high-speed Internet access.
How did we get from there to here? Let's take a brief tour through the history of the cell phone. The following phones don't necessarily reflect the first or best of each type, but instead represent certain phases in mobile phone evolution over the last 50 years.
SRA/Ericsson MTA (Mobile Telephone System A)
Year: 1956
In the days before cellular phone networks, the world's mobile phones lacked a unifying standard. Instead, they used varying communication methods defined on a company-by-company basis.
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era. Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle. Very few people owned, used, or even encountered such devices; for example, the service for the model shown here existed in only two Swedish cities and served a mere 125 subscribers from 1956 to 1967.
Notable qualities: The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line)
Photo: Ericsson
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
Year: 1983
Though Motorola announced the world's first handheld mobile phone--a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above--in 1973, it took ten years for the DynaTAC to reach the market. In those ten years, engineers squeezed more capability into less space, and Motorola built much-needed infrastructure--the towers necessary for cell phone service.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3995 retail price--$8657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities: Small size, light weight; the first handheld mobile phone
Photo: Motorola
Nokia Mobira Talkman
Year: 1984
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries--such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here--could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities: Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time
Photo: Nokia
Motorola MicroTAC
Year: 1989
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities: First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut
Photo: Motorola
Motorola 2900 Bag Phone
Year: 1994
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range. Thanks to heftier batteries, bag phones could afford to transmit a cell signal with greater power, allowing the phone to be used farther away from a receiving tower. This was especially important in the days when cellular coverage wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now.
Notable qualities: Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range
Photo: Motorola
Motorola StarTAC
Year: 1996
In 1996, Motorola further shrank its line of pocket cell phones, producing the 3.1-ounce StarTAC--which immediately proved popular and influential. The StarTAC expanded on the partially collapsible design of its precursor, the MicroTAC, by allowing users to fold the phone in half when they weren't talking on it. We now call this design "clamshell," for its resemblance to the way a clam opens and closes. The StarTAC's general design was widely imitated, and a large percentage of mobile phones still use it today.
Notable qualities: First fully "clamshell" mobile phone design; smallest and lightest mobile phone at its release
Photo: Motorola
Nokia 9000i Communicator
Year: 1997
Though the Nokia 9000i wasn't the first-ever smartphone (many people give that honor to the IBM Simon), it marked the real beginning of our modern smartphone era. The 9000i truly was a pocket computer and a cell phone rolled into one, with an Intel 386-derivative CPU and 8MB of RAM. The phone's physical configuration was novel at the time: Users could open the 9000i in a horizontal clamshell fashion to reveal a wide LCD screen and a full QWERTY keyboard. When folded, it resembled an ordinary cell phone.
The 9000i could send and receive faxes, text messages, and e-mail, and it also had (extremely) limited Web access through 160-character SMS messages. And like any self-respecting smartphone, it shipped with a full complement of PDA-like organizer capabilities.
Notable qualities: First Nokia smartphone; first modern PDA/cell phone combo; mobile Internet connectivity
Photo: Nokia
Nokia 8810
Year: 1998
In the earlier years, all cellular phones shipped with external antennas that stuck out in aesthetically unpleasing ways. Nokia engineers found a way around that problem by designing a flat, plate-like antenna that could hide inside the body of a cell phone. The result was the Nokia 8810, the first true "candy bar" phone in the modern sense. This small, compact, non-clamshell design soon became standard for many Nokia handsets; you rarely see an external cell phone antenna these days.
Notable qualities: First cell phone without an external whip or stub antenna; first "candy bar" phone
Photo: Nokia
Nokia 7110
Year: 1999
Not too long ago, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) was a huge deal. The mobile phone industry designed WAP to allow Web access on simple devices with limited processing power and displays, like cell phones circa 1999 to 2002. Instead of a rich graphical experience, users would see a stripped-down, typically text-only subset of the Web. Nokia was the first company to bring WAP browsing to a mobile phone with the 7110, released in 1999.
In our present age of smartphones with full-featured browsers, large screens, and beefy CPUs, WAP has quickly become a relic of the past. Web browsing has most assuredly not.
Notable qualities: World's first WAP-capable mobile phone; nifty sliding keypad cover
Photo: Nokia
RIM BlackBerry 5810
Year: 2002
The BlackBerry brand began in 1999 as a simple two-way pager, but it morphed into a line of full-fledged smartphones in 2002 with the BlackBerry 5810, the first of the series to include integrated cell phone support. Thanks to top-of-the-line mobile e-mail and text messaging (the QWERTY keyboard didn't hurt either), BlackBerry phones soon became indispensable tools for businesspeople and other professionals.
Notable qualities: First BlackBerry with an integrated voice cell phone; push e-mail support
Photo: Research in Motion
Sanyo SCP-5300
Year: 2002
Who would want a camera in their cell phone? When news of such combination devices trickled over from Japan in the early part of the decade, the idea seemed silly and excessive to some people. In 2002, Sprint and Sanyo released the first American cell phone with a built-in camera, the SCP-5300--and the public went crazy for it.
The camera phone became a bona fide cultural phenomenon, allowing the average Joe to quickly and personally share both mundane and earthshaking events with the rest of the world. Today, camera phones are so common that we don't call them "camera phones" anymore.
Notable qualities: First U.S. mobile phone with an integrated camera; color screen, clamshell camera phone design
Photo: Sanyo
T-Mobile Sidekick/Danger Hiptop
Year: 2002
At the time of its release in the United States, the T-Mobile Sidekick (also known as the Danger Hiptop) quickly became the text-messaging addict's dream machine. This innovative smartphone incorporated a novel design with a large LCD screen that rotated and flipped to reveal a generous QWERTY keyboard. The Sidekick line, with its distinctive full-reveal keyboard, persists today, having influenced many similar hide-and-reveal keyboard designs since its emergence in 2002. These clever and attractive designs helped fuel text messaging's popularity beyond the tie-and-Frappuccino BlackBerry set, extending it to the youth of the world.
Notable qualities: Large, flippable screen; relatively uncramped and full-featured QWERTY keyboard
Photo: T-Mobile
Motorola Razr V3
Year: 2004
At a time when most cell phones were starting to look the same, Motorola decided to break the status quo with the Razr V3, a slim, slab-like clamshell phone with a large screen, a stylish and flat keyboard, a built-in camera, and multimedia capabilities. Impressive technical features aside, you have to admit that the Razr simply looks cool (especially by 2004 standards), a fact that contributed significantly to its wide popularity.
Notable qualities: Stylish design, slim form, and a full set of features
Photo: Motorola
Apple iPhone
Year: 2007
Apple's ability to rock our world through nifty gadgets should not be underestimated. Between the Apple II, the Macintosh, and the iPod, Apple is responsible for more trend-setting consumer technology than most companies. In the same vein, the iPhone goes far beyond being just a mobile telephone: It's a powerful pocket computer, a game machine, and a multimedia-playback device. Better yet, it gives you instant, high-speed access to the Web, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, wherever you can find mobile phone coverage. In short, it's a revolutionary device, and other companies are already coming up with imitators.
Notable qualities: Everything--but particularly the excellent software, the large and sharp screen, the multitouch interface, visual voicemail, the App Store... (Need I say more?)
Photo: Apple
Sunday, October 04, 2009 05:00 PM PDT
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,173033/printable.html
From enormous, 80-pound, car-mounted beasts to tiny terminals in our back pockets, mobile phones have come a long way. What once cost thousands, weighed 2 pounds, and packed 60 minutes of battery life now costs $99, weighs 4 ounces, and packs 5 to 10 hours of battery life--and also includes a full-fledged computer, a video camera, audio/video playback, and high-speed Internet access.
How did we get from there to here? Let's take a brief tour through the history of the cell phone. The following phones don't necessarily reflect the first or best of each type, but instead represent certain phases in mobile phone evolution over the last 50 years.
SRA/Ericsson MTA (Mobile Telephone System A)
Year: 1956
In the days before cellular phone networks, the world's mobile phones lacked a unifying standard. Instead, they used varying communication methods defined on a company-by-company basis.
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era. Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle. Very few people owned, used, or even encountered such devices; for example, the service for the model shown here existed in only two Swedish cities and served a mere 125 subscribers from 1956 to 1967.
Notable qualities: The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line)
Photo: Ericsson
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
Year: 1983
Though Motorola announced the world's first handheld mobile phone--a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above--in 1973, it took ten years for the DynaTAC to reach the market. In those ten years, engineers squeezed more capability into less space, and Motorola built much-needed infrastructure--the towers necessary for cell phone service.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3995 retail price--$8657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities: Small size, light weight; the first handheld mobile phone
Photo: Motorola
Nokia Mobira Talkman
Year: 1984
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries--such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here--could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities: Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time
Photo: Nokia
Motorola MicroTAC
Year: 1989
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities: First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut
Photo: Motorola
Motorola 2900 Bag Phone
Year: 1994
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range. Thanks to heftier batteries, bag phones could afford to transmit a cell signal with greater power, allowing the phone to be used farther away from a receiving tower. This was especially important in the days when cellular coverage wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now.
Notable qualities: Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range
Photo: Motorola
Motorola StarTAC
Year: 1996
In 1996, Motorola further shrank its line of pocket cell phones, producing the 3.1-ounce StarTAC--which immediately proved popular and influential. The StarTAC expanded on the partially collapsible design of its precursor, the MicroTAC, by allowing users to fold the phone in half when they weren't talking on it. We now call this design "clamshell," for its resemblance to the way a clam opens and closes. The StarTAC's general design was widely imitated, and a large percentage of mobile phones still use it today.
Notable qualities: First fully "clamshell" mobile phone design; smallest and lightest mobile phone at its release
Photo: Motorola
Nokia 9000i Communicator
Year: 1997
Though the Nokia 9000i wasn't the first-ever smartphone (many people give that honor to the IBM Simon), it marked the real beginning of our modern smartphone era. The 9000i truly was a pocket computer and a cell phone rolled into one, with an Intel 386-derivative CPU and 8MB of RAM. The phone's physical configuration was novel at the time: Users could open the 9000i in a horizontal clamshell fashion to reveal a wide LCD screen and a full QWERTY keyboard. When folded, it resembled an ordinary cell phone.
The 9000i could send and receive faxes, text messages, and e-mail, and it also had (extremely) limited Web access through 160-character SMS messages. And like any self-respecting smartphone, it shipped with a full complement of PDA-like organizer capabilities.
Notable qualities: First Nokia smartphone; first modern PDA/cell phone combo; mobile Internet connectivity
Photo: Nokia
Nokia 8810
Year: 1998
In the earlier years, all cellular phones shipped with external antennas that stuck out in aesthetically unpleasing ways. Nokia engineers found a way around that problem by designing a flat, plate-like antenna that could hide inside the body of a cell phone. The result was the Nokia 8810, the first true "candy bar" phone in the modern sense. This small, compact, non-clamshell design soon became standard for many Nokia handsets; you rarely see an external cell phone antenna these days.
Notable qualities: First cell phone without an external whip or stub antenna; first "candy bar" phone
Photo: Nokia
Nokia 7110
Year: 1999
Not too long ago, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) was a huge deal. The mobile phone industry designed WAP to allow Web access on simple devices with limited processing power and displays, like cell phones circa 1999 to 2002. Instead of a rich graphical experience, users would see a stripped-down, typically text-only subset of the Web. Nokia was the first company to bring WAP browsing to a mobile phone with the 7110, released in 1999.
In our present age of smartphones with full-featured browsers, large screens, and beefy CPUs, WAP has quickly become a relic of the past. Web browsing has most assuredly not.
Notable qualities: World's first WAP-capable mobile phone; nifty sliding keypad cover
Photo: Nokia
RIM BlackBerry 5810
Year: 2002
The BlackBerry brand began in 1999 as a simple two-way pager, but it morphed into a line of full-fledged smartphones in 2002 with the BlackBerry 5810, the first of the series to include integrated cell phone support. Thanks to top-of-the-line mobile e-mail and text messaging (the QWERTY keyboard didn't hurt either), BlackBerry phones soon became indispensable tools for businesspeople and other professionals.
Notable qualities: First BlackBerry with an integrated voice cell phone; push e-mail support
Photo: Research in Motion
Sanyo SCP-5300
Year: 2002
Who would want a camera in their cell phone? When news of such combination devices trickled over from Japan in the early part of the decade, the idea seemed silly and excessive to some people. In 2002, Sprint and Sanyo released the first American cell phone with a built-in camera, the SCP-5300--and the public went crazy for it.
The camera phone became a bona fide cultural phenomenon, allowing the average Joe to quickly and personally share both mundane and earthshaking events with the rest of the world. Today, camera phones are so common that we don't call them "camera phones" anymore.
Notable qualities: First U.S. mobile phone with an integrated camera; color screen, clamshell camera phone design
Photo: Sanyo
T-Mobile Sidekick/Danger Hiptop
Year: 2002
At the time of its release in the United States, the T-Mobile Sidekick (also known as the Danger Hiptop) quickly became the text-messaging addict's dream machine. This innovative smartphone incorporated a novel design with a large LCD screen that rotated and flipped to reveal a generous QWERTY keyboard. The Sidekick line, with its distinctive full-reveal keyboard, persists today, having influenced many similar hide-and-reveal keyboard designs since its emergence in 2002. These clever and attractive designs helped fuel text messaging's popularity beyond the tie-and-Frappuccino BlackBerry set, extending it to the youth of the world.
Notable qualities: Large, flippable screen; relatively uncramped and full-featured QWERTY keyboard
Photo: T-Mobile
Motorola Razr V3
Year: 2004
At a time when most cell phones were starting to look the same, Motorola decided to break the status quo with the Razr V3, a slim, slab-like clamshell phone with a large screen, a stylish and flat keyboard, a built-in camera, and multimedia capabilities. Impressive technical features aside, you have to admit that the Razr simply looks cool (especially by 2004 standards), a fact that contributed significantly to its wide popularity.
Notable qualities: Stylish design, slim form, and a full set of features
Photo: Motorola
Apple iPhone
Year: 2007
Apple's ability to rock our world through nifty gadgets should not be underestimated. Between the Apple II, the Macintosh, and the iPod, Apple is responsible for more trend-setting consumer technology than most companies. In the same vein, the iPhone goes far beyond being just a mobile telephone: It's a powerful pocket computer, a game machine, and a multimedia-playback device. Better yet, it gives you instant, high-speed access to the Web, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, wherever you can find mobile phone coverage. In short, it's a revolutionary device, and other companies are already coming up with imitators.
Notable qualities: Everything--but particularly the excellent software, the large and sharp screen, the multitouch interface, visual voicemail, the App Store... (Need I say more?)
Photo: Apple
Friday, October 2, 2009
Windows Spotlight
It has a very cool interface; looks like a professional hacker tool, and indeed it is! As you may see, my PC suffers CPU and RAM problem -- the yellow parts in the figure. Well, I am currently using P4 (not even Multi-Threaded!), with 1G memory, approximately 6 years old. It is a good training tool for people who need to improve their patience.
The software is free and unsupported, with a one-year license key. It can be downloaded from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Server-Tools/Spotlight-on-Windows.shtml
Developed by http://www.quest.com/spotlight/overview.aspx
Thursday, October 1, 2009
National Day
Click to enlarge.
Today is the National Day of P.R.China, the 60th aniversary. Combined with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese have a week of public holidays. which makes it a perfect period for travelling.
As for me, I am waiting the Christmas holiday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)