Monthly Archives: November 2010

學問急症室 1.4

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天才省略 4.4

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 8 日的對話。

你不懂省略的話，你不會在有限的時間中，溫習到可以拿到自己想要成績的程度。

任何一科中的任何一個課題，例如電磁學，你花一生的時間，也不能讀得完。就算只是「中學會考」程度的電磁學，你起碼要花一年時間，才可以達至「溫完書」（讀完所有東西）的程度。你不會有那麼多的時間。所以，你的目標不應是「要溫完書」，而應該是「要溫至可以拿到 A 級成績的程度」。兩者完全不同。再以中學程度的電磁學為例，後者只需要少於一個月的時間。

我有沒有講過「急症室比喻」？

— Me@2010.11.09

2010.11.09 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

開山祖師牛 2

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* I believe there is no philosophical high-road in science, with epistemological signposts. No, we are in a jungle and find our way by trial and error, building our road behind us as we proceed. We do not find signposts at crossroads, but our own scouts erect them, to help the rest.

o Experiment and Theory in Physics (1943), p. 44

— Max Born

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If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

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2010.11.08 Monday ACHK

Firing customers

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Firing the customers you can’t possibly please gives you the bandwidth and resources to coddle the ones that truly deserve your attention and repay you with referrals, applause and loyalty.

— Seth Godin

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2010.11.06 Saturday ACHK

故事連線

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你知不知寫博士論文的最大困難是什麼？

最大的困難，在於要把幾項未必有直接關係研究工作，寫成一篇三百頁的博士論文。寫不成的話，就不能成功畢業，不能取得博士資格。

整個博士學位課程，會維持四至七年不等。在那幾年中，理論上，博士研究生要鑽研出有用的東西。問題是，因為「研究」的本質是「提出前人未提過的理論」和「做前人未做過的實驗」，所以大部分的「研究」都會失敗收場。

假設，你的博士研究工作（幸運地）只需四年。再假設，你第一年所提的理論碰釘；第二年所做的實驗撞牆；第三年所砌的機器爆炸。到第四年，你終於提出了有用的理論，執行了可信的實驗，建構出不會爆炸的機器。問題是，真正值得寫在博士論文的，只有最後一年的東西。那樣，你怎樣跟別人解釋，頭三年你在做什麼呢？

不作解釋的話，別人會質疑，為何只需一年的工作，你總共花了四年。一個可行的「解釋」方法是，把那四年中，那四項原本沒有直接關係的研究工作，串成一個故事，寫成博士論文。那個故事，要令人覺得頭三年的失敗，都是為了第四年的成功而舖排：第一年的「碰釘」，為第二年的實驗設計帶來「靈感」；第二年的「撞牆」，為第三年的機器設計帶來「線索」；第三年的「爆炸」，為作者帶來「勇氣」。憑著那些「勇氣」，作者終於在第四年成功了。

— Me@2010.11.08

If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

2010.11.08 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

How To Win Friends and Influence People

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The one book we encourage startup founders to read is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. It’s critically important for anyone in business. Try to get a used copy printed before the 1960s; after Carnegie died, the book continued to be “updated” by a committee, and the changes were not for the better.

— Paul Graham

I read this book in 1997, when I was 17. I cannot survive without this book.

— Me@2010.11.06

2010.11.06 Saturday ACHK

學問急症室 1.3

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天才省略 4.3

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 8 日的對話。

而且，溫習了後，你只要「計時間、計分數」做另一份 past paper，就可以直接知道自己新的分數，新的成績等級。

Past papers –> 溫習課文 –> Past papers –> 溫習課文 –> …

記住，「書」是不會溫得「完」的。千萬不要企圖等自己「溫完書」，才正式開始做 past papers（歷屆試題）。

（CN：我知。但是，我都仍然想「溫完書」，才開始做 past papers。我總是覺得，不先溫習的話，我不會懂做這類題目。）

你可以先溫習，但千萬不要打算溫「完」所有東西，才開始做題目。而且，你並不需要懂做所有題目，才可以拿到自己想要的成績等級。

你要拿到 A 級成績的話，幾乎什麼東西都要讀。但是，如果你只要拿 B，而又不夠時間溫習的話，你有權暫時省略最花時間的課題，或者省略每個課題中，最深的部分。大概地說，最淺的八成內容，只需要頭兩成的溫習時間；最深的兩成內容，卻需要尾八成的溫習時間。溫習付出與成績收入不成比例。

你不懂省略的話，你不會在有限的時間中，溫習到可以拿到自己想要成績的程度。

— Me@2010.11.06

2010.11.06 Saturday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

First priority, 2

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Startup 3

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Consulting is where product companies go to die.

By which I mean not that it has to make something physical, but that it has to have one thing it sells to many people, rather than doing custom work for individual clients. Custom work doesn’t scale. To be a startup you need to be the band that sells a million copies of a song, not the band that makes money by playing at individual weddings and bar mitzvahs.

* “How to Fund a Startup”, November 2005

— Paul Graham

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2010.11.05 Friday ACHK

大世界 2

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假設你是一個程式員。你學了 Lisp 這種程式語言後，未必真的會在上班時用它來寫程式。但是，Lisp 會為你帶來很多嶄新的思考工具，大大改善你寫程式的風格，即使你維持使用其他程式語言。

（安：即是話，未用過 Lisp 的話，你不會知道你平日用的程式語言，有什麼限制。）

無錯。

（安：你要學習和領悟新的知識或技能，才能真切體會到自己原有的知識體系，有什麼不足之處。）

— Me@2010.11.05

Programming in Lisp is like playing with the primordial forces of the universe. It feels like lightning between your fingertips. No other language even feels close.

— Glenn Ehrlich

2010.11.05 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Hackers & Painters 3

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1. How to Start a Startup.
  Build something users love, and spend less than you make.

2. Startups in 13 Sentences.
  Above all, understand your users.

3. Hiring is Obsolete.
  The market is a lot more discerning than any employer.

4. How to Make Wealth.
  To get rich you need to get yourself in a situation with two things, measurement and leverage.

5. You Weren’t Meant to Have a Boss.
  Startup founders seem to be working in a way that’s more natural for humans.

6. Why to Not Not Start a Startup.
  All the reasons you aren’t doing it, and why most (but not all) should be ignored.

7. Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy.
  It’s the people that matter.

8. A Student’s Guide to Startups.
  Starting a startup could well become as popular as grad school.

9. Ideas for Startups.
  The initial idea is not a blueprint, but a question.

10. Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas.
  A hacker who has learned what to make, and not just how to make, is extraordinarily powerful.

11. Be Relentlessly Resourceful.
  You have to keep trying new things.

12. The 18 Mistakes that Kill Startups.
  If you avoid every cause of failure, you succeed.

13. The Hardest Lessons for Startups to Learn
  Some things about startups are kind of counterintuitive.

14. How to Fund a Startup.
  Venture funding works like gears.

15. The Hacker’s Guide to Investors.
  Hackers don’t know how little they know about this strange world.

16. How to Present to Investors.
  Explain what you’re doing and why users will want it.

17. The Equity Equation.
  You should always feel richer after trading equity.

18. A Fundraising Survival Guide.
  Founders have to treat raising money as a dangerous process.

19. The Venture Capital Squeeze.
  Why not let the founders have that first million, or at least half million?

20. The Other Road Ahead.
  You may not believe it, but I promise you, Microsoft is scared of you.

21. How Not to Die.
  Startups run on morale.

22. What Business Can Learn from Open Source.
  There may be more pain in your own company, but it won’t hurt as much.

23. What the Bubble Got Right.
  Even a small increase in the rate at which good ideas win would be a momentous change.

24. The High-Res Society.
  The economy of the future will be a fluid network of smaller, independent units.

— Y Combinator Startup Library

2010.11.04 Thursday ACHK

Easy 2

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The secret to making things easy: avoid hard problems

That may seem obvious, but in my experience most engineers prefer to focus on the hard problems. Working on hard problems is impressive to other engineers, but it’s not a great way to build successful products.

— Paul Buchheit

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2010.11.04 Thursday ACHK

學問急症室 1.2

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天才省略 4.2

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 8 日的對話。

現在的重點，並不是研究如何令到自己「在考試前溫完書」，而是研究如何令到自己不再需要「溫完書」。換言之，你要 transcend 了「溫完書」。你要設計一個方法，令到自己無論在有沒有「溫完書」的情況下，都可以達致最佳成績。

（CN：但是，未「溫完書」，又怎能拿到好成績呢？例如，我覺得以我現有的知識，不能拿到理想的成績等級。）

什麼等級？你有沒有試過「按年份、計時間、計分數」做 past papers（歷屆試題）？

（CN：還未。）

你要試過「按年份、計時間、計分數」做 past papers，才可以知道以你現有的知識，可以拿到什麼成績等級。

所以，你要盡快開始做。即使，不幸地你發現你現時的分數只足夠拿到 C，至起碼，那個 C 是確實的。然後，你可以在 C 的基礎上，再努力溫習，拿得一分得一分。

而且，溫習了後，你只要「計時間、計分數」做另一份 past paper，就可以直接知道自己新的分數，新的成績等級。

Past papers –> 溫習課文 –> Past papers –> 溫習課文 –> …

— Me@2010.11.04

2010.11.04 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

蜘蛛絲 4

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X-Men 2

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

你試試觀察這些商業戰爭，你會發現很有趣。參戰各方，原本生存於互不相干的勢力範圍。第一方在水星、第二方在冥王星、第三方在祝融星 … 例如： Amazon（網上書店）的根據地是「網絡銷售圖書」市場；Apple 的根據地是「高檔電腦」市場；Microsoft 的根據地是「作業系統程式」市場；Google 的根據地是「網絡搜尋器」市場；Nokia 的根據地是「流動電話」市場。

但是，不知怎樣，它們加入了同一堆戰團。Amazon 透過它在「網上書店」的優勢，推出「電子圖書閱讀機 Amazon Kindle」；Apple 透過它在「iPod（隨身音樂播放器）」的優勢，推出「流動智能電話 iPhone」，與 Nokia 一較高下；Google 透過它在「網絡搜尋器」的優勢，推出 Google Phone，與 Apple iPhone 一決雌雄；Apple 透過它在 iPhone 的優勢，推出「平板電腦 iPad」，與 Amazon Kindle 高手過招。

— Me@2010.11.03

There’s an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone.

— Bjarne Stroustrup

2010.11.03 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

美貌與智慧

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Beauty 7

美貌同智慧，又點會o係同一個女人身上出現？

— 許冠文

A particularly beautiful woman is a source of terror. As a rule, a beautiful woman is a terrible disappointment.

— Carl Jung

以上內容純粹講笑，請勿當真。

— Me@2010.11.03

2010.11.03 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Life is easy

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There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

— Warren Buffett

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Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

— Ralph W. Emerson on Art

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2010.11.03 Wednesday ACHK

學問急症室 1.1

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天才省略 4.1

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 8 日的對話。

（CN：昨晚我做了一個溫習計劃時間表。但是，感覺上，我還有很多東西未讀。我不會有足夠時間，在考試前溫完書。）

你千萬不要有這個心態。很多人有相同的錯誤想法。他們以為考試前溫習的目的，是「溫完書」，讀完所有東西，然後才可以去考試。其實不是。「試前溫習」的真正目的，是「考試拿到好成績」。而要拿到好成績，並不需要「在考試前讀完所有東西」。

有很多時候，「解決問題」的最好方法，未必是「直接解決」，而是「把問題 transcend 掉」，令到原本的問題不再重要。換句話說，有很多時候，「解決問題」的最好方法，是令到自己毋須再解決那個「問題」。

現在的重點，並不是研究如何令到自己「在考試前溫完書」，而是研究如何令到自己不再需要「溫完書」。換言之，你要 transcend 了「溫完書」。你要設計一個方法，令到自己無論在有沒有「溫完書」的情況下，都可以達致最佳成績。

（CN：但是，未「溫完書」，又怎能拿到好成績呢？）

— Me@2010.11.02

2010.11.02 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Principles 4

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25 I started to be able to organize my information.

27 I started to be able to get rid of my OCD 80%.

28 I started to able to understand “principles”, i.e. “follow the natural laws”.

— Me@2010.02.23

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2010.11.01 Monday (c) ACHK