sp332 414 days ago | link
You can still set rules. “All first-party Microsoft software will take 5 clicks to install. More than 5 and you need a sign-off from a VP.” Palm had a rule that it should take 3 taps to get anywhere on the system. They had a guy whose full-time job was to count taps for various actions.
2011.10.23 Sunday ACHK
Charlie Kaufman
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Do I have an original thought in my head? My bald head. Maybe if I were happier my hair wouldn’t be falling out. Life is short. I need to make the most of it. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I’m a walking cliche. I really need to go to the doctor and have my leg checked. There’s something wrong. A bump. The dentist called again. I’m way overdue. If I stop putting things off I would be happier. All I do is sit on my fat ass. If my ass wasn’t fat I would be happier. I wouldn’t have to wear these shirts with the tails out all the time. Like that’s fooling anyone. Fat ass. I should start jogging again. Five miles a day. Really do it this time. Maybe rock climbing. I need to turn my life around. What do I need to do? I need to fall in love. I need to have a girlfriend. I need to read more. Improve myself. What if I learned Russian or something, or took up an instrument. I could speak Chinese. I’d be the screenwriter who speaks Chinese and plays the oboe. That would be cool. I should get my hair cut short. Stop trying to fool myself and everyone else into thinking I have a full head of hair. How pathetic is that. Just be real. Confident. Isn’t that what women are attracted to? Men don’t have to be attractive. But that’s not true. Especially these days. Almost as much pressure on men as there is on women these days. Why should I be made to feel I have to apologize for my existence? Maybe it’s my brain chemistry. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me. Bad chemistry. All my problems and anxiety can be reduced to a chemical imbalance or some kind of misfiring synapses. I need to get help for that. But I’ll still be ugly though. Nothing’s going to change that.
— Adaptation.
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2009.06.24 Wednesday ACHK
（安：Paul Graham 的文章中，間中會出現一些我原先不懂，有關寫程式的技術細節。但是，不知何故，我最後也能看懂那些文章。）
主要的原因是，你肯花額外的時間去鑽研。遇到技術細節時，只要肯讀得慢一點，你明白的機會就會非常高。
這個方法，不單適用於「間中出現技術細節」的文章。對於整篇也是技術細節的「文章」，例如電腦程式碼，也同樣適用。Joel Spolsky 講過，一個程式員之所以不能理解其他人所寫的程式碼，往往是因為閱讀得太快：期望以閱讀文章的速度，去閱讀程式碼。
一般文章的一行一句，你可能在十秒內就能讀完。但是，你不能那樣對待程式碼。「程式碼」之所以叫做「碼」，是因為它們是「密碼」：並不是一般人在日常溝通所用的語言。閱讀程式碼，就好像破解密碼一樣。既然是破解密碼，你又怎能期望，十秒內就可以完成到一行呢？
這一點在閱讀數學書時，也要同樣留意。不能期望，可以以閱讀一般文章的速度，去理解數學公式。
— Me@2011.10.22
Ramon Garcia Fernandez writes:
… but it is difficult to read code written by another programmer.
My response:
I think the best way to read somebody else’s code is just to SLOW DOWN… it’s like deciphering a code, not like reading. Most people have trouble reading code because their eyes are used to reading at a certain speed from reading text written in human languages.
— Joel on Software
— by Joel Spolsky
2011.10.22 Saturday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Verification- and falsification-principles
The statements “statements are meaningless unless they can be empirically verified” and “statements are meaningless unless they can be empirically falsified” are both claimed to be self-refuting on the basis that they can neither be empirically verified nor falsified.
— Wikipedia on Self-refuting idea
Verification principle: That meaningful statements should be analytic, verifiable or falsifiable
Falsifiability: The possibility that an assertion may be disproved
— Wikipedia on Verification theory
Strong verification principle (aka verification principle) may or may not be self-refuting, depending on whether your regard it as an analytic statement or not. It can be regarded as an analytic statement (aka tautological statement) in a sense that verification principle defines what “meaningful” means, distinguishing meaningful statement from meaningless one. It is related to the definitions of “analytic statement” and “synthetic statement”.
Weak verification principle (aka confirmation principle) is not self-refuting.
Falsification principle is not self-refuting. Falsification principle is about science statements. Itself is not a science statement. Instead, it is part of the definition of “science statements” (aka synthetic statements). So it should not be applied to itself.
— Me@2011.10.21
2011.10.21 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Themes
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Memory, time, and technology
“Cole has been thrust from another world into ours and he’s confronted by the confusion we live in, which most people somehow accept as normal. So he appears abnormal, and what’s happening around him seems random and weird. Is he mad or are we?”
— Director Terry Gilliam
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12 Monkeys studies the subjective nature of memories and their effect upon perceptions of reality. Examples of false memories include:
* Cole’s recollection of the airport shooting which is altered each time he has a dream.
* A “mentally divergent” man at the asylum who has false memories.
* Railly telling Cole “I remember you like this” when a barely recognizable Cole and Railly are seen in disguise for the first time.
References to time, time travel, and monkeys are scattered throughout the film, including the Woody Woodpecker “Time Tunnel” cartoon playing on the TV in a hotel room, The Marx Brothers movie Monkey Business (1931) on TV in the asylum and the subplots of monkeys (drug testing, news stories and animal rights). The film is also a study of modern civilization’s declining efforts to communicate with each other due to the interference of technology.
– Wikipedia on 12 Monkeys
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2011.01.23 Sunday ACHK
這段改編自 2010 年 5 月 18 日的對話。
（HYC: 那你會不會繼續讀博士？）
我本來想讀下去，但是讀不下去。
如果在香港讀博士的話，通常都不會在香港的大學做到教授。不信的話，你明年讀大學時，可以留意一下教授們的學歷。你會發現，他們大部分也是在外國讀博士的。
其實，我申請了去荷蘭升學。那只是另一個兩年制的碩士，而不是一個博士課程。但是它可以被視為博士課程的預備班。可惜，我只受到取錄，卻沒有獎學金。我財政上負擔不來。
第一，那兩年的學費和生活費等，需要超過五十萬港元。
第二，那兩年我將要讀書而不會工作。我潛在收入的損失很大。假設我原本的收入是每月二萬港元。兩年不工作，就相當於放棄了四十八萬港元。
第三，那兩年並不是真的只是「那兩年」。如果我要完成博士課程的話，我需要再花多四年的時間。
一般而言，一個學士要將自己升格為博士，前後要花六年左右。六年並不是一段短的時間。試想想，六年前，你們小學還未畢業；現在，你們就已經要準備考大學了。
— Me@2011.10.19
2011.10.19 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
The correct meaning of Hugh Everett’s thesis should not be “many-(different)-worlds interpretation”. Instead, it should refer to the fact that the whole universe is described by a single wavefunction, which is a superposition a lot of eigenstates. Also the wavefunction of the universe can never collapse since there is no “environment” for it to have decoherence with.
Macroscopically, a lot of, if not all, the eigenstates are corresponding to one single classical reality, e.g.
1 + 1 + 2 = 4
1 + 3 + 0 = 4
So there are no multiple (different) universes. Even if the universe is a superposition of several distinct macrostates, the wavefunction cannot collapse to a single macrostate, because there is no “environment” for it to lose information to.
— Me@2011.10.06
— Me@2011.10.18
2011.10.18 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
神來之筆 1
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…, knowing it is the light that is driving me. I used to think I was the artist when I was painting. I now see, since my NDE, that I am only the brush, my life experiences are the paint, my life is the painting, and the world is the studio with love as the subject.
— Lessons from the Light, p.48
— Kenneth Ring
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2008.12.19 Friday ACHK
Curiosity 2.2 | 原地踏步
（安：我十分欣賞 Paul Graham 的文章。他的其中一個講法是，工作經驗的所謂「多少」，其實並不重要。真正重要的是，那些工作經驗，為你的想法帶來多少改變、為你的思考帶來多大提昇。在看 Paul 的文章之前，我從未聽過，有人對「工作經驗」，有這類的見解。）
Stephen Covey 和 Paul Graham 對「工作經驗」這個詞語的用法不同。Paul Graham 的「工作經驗」，是指工作年資，亦即是時間的長短。而 Stephen Covey 的「工作經驗」，是指對工作經驗的個人體會，亦即是 Paul Graham 所講，想法的改變 和 思考的提昇。雖然他們用字有別，但這一點上，有相同的見解。
Stephen Covey 都講過，你工作了 29 年，並不代表你真的有 29 年的「工作經驗」。如果你在那 29 年裡，都以同一個心態，用同一個處事方式，在同一個崗位，做同一類工作的話，你實際上只有一年的工作經驗。你有的，就只是第一年的工作經驗。其餘 28 年的所謂「經驗」，只不過是將第一年的經驗不斷重複。
— Me@2011.10.17
Another popular explanation is that wisdom comes from experience while intelligence is innate. But people are not simply wise in proportion to how much experience they have. Other things must contribute to wisdom besides experience, and some may be innate: a reflective disposition, for example.
— Paul Graham
2011.10.17 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Everett’s thesis introduction reads:
Since the universal validity of the state function description is asserted, one can regard the state functions themselves as the fundamental entities, and one can even consider the state function of the entire universe. In this sense this theory can be called the theory of the “universal wave function,” since all of physics is presumed to follow from this function alone.
The universal wave function is the wavefunction or quantum state of the totality of existence, regarded as the “basic physical entity” or “the fundamental entity, obeying at all times a deterministic wave equation”.
Criticism
Ray Streater writes:
The idea of the wave-function of the universe is meaningless; we do not even know what variables it is supposed to be a function of. […] We find the laws of Nature by reproducible experiments. The theory needs a cut, between the observer and the system, and the details of the apparatus should not appear in the theory of the system.
Hugh Everett’s response
If we try to limit the applicability so as to exclude the measuring apparatus, or in general systems of macroscopic size, we are faced with the difficulty of sharply defining the region of validity. For what n might a group of n particles be construed as forming a measuring device so that the quantum description fails? And to draw the line at human or animal observers, i.e., to assume that all mechanical aparata obey the usual laws, but that they are not valid for living observers, does violence to the so-called principle of psycho-physical parallelism.
— Wikipedia on Universal wavefunction
2011.10.16 Sunday ACHK
時間管理 4
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Be a selector, not a collector.
– Me@2010.03.05
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2011.10.16 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
這段改編自 2010 年 5 月 18 日的對話。
其實，我喜歡的科目有很多。只不過是，我最喜歡的是物理。
很多時，你不喜歡某一個科目的原因是，對它不熟悉。當你掌握一門學問到一定的程度，開始感到游刃有餘時，你就自然會愛上它。
例如，如果你對 probability（機會率）一竅不通，十題有九題做錯的話，你每多做一題，就好像否定自己的智力和人格多一次。那樣，你哪有可能會喜歡它？相反，如果你十題有超過九題做對，以後但凡聽到「probability」這個字，你就會立刻笑出來。
— Me@2011.10.15
2011.10.15 Saturday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Coherent states 6.2 | Quantum coherence, 6.2
Every-day electromagnetic radiation, such as radio and TV waves, is also an example of near coherent states (macroscopic quantum coherence). That should “give one pause” regarding the conventional demarcation between quantum and classical.
— Wikipedia on Coherent states
A laser is a device that emits light (electromagnetic radiation) through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The emitted laser light is notable for its high degree of spatial and temporal coherence, unattainable using other technologies.
Temporal (or longitudinal) coherence implies a polarized wave at a single frequency whose phase is correlated over a relatively large distance (the coherence length) along the beam. A beam produced by a thermal or other incoherent light source has an instantaneous amplitude and phase which vary randomly with respect to time and position, and thus a very short coherence length.
— Wikipedia on Laser
The amplitude of the EM wave does not have an a-priori well-defined value. The photon number must follow a Poisson distribution. The coherent states provide the most well-defined magnitude and phase. They come closest to the classical notion of a wave.
— Dr. Michael A. Parker
The amount of quantum noise in the electric field is completely independent of the phase. As the field strength, i.e. the oscillation amplitude α of the coherent state is increased, the quantum noise or uncertainty is constant at 1/2, and so becomes less and less significant. In the limit of large field the state becomes a good approximation of a noiseless stable classical wave.
— Wikipedia on Coherent states
Classical electromagnetic wave can be regarded as coherent states of photons, not because the photons are coherent with each other, which is not well-defined, but because each photon is in a coherent state, which evolves around the classical trajectory, providing a near definite classical electromagnetic wave amplitude.
— Me@2011.10.12
2011.10.13 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
缺乏寫作靈感 2
[At a seminar, Charlie Kaufman has asked McKee for advice on his new screenplay in which ‘nothing much happens’.]
Robert McKee: Nothing happens in the world? Are you out of your mind? People are murdered every day. There’s genocide, war, corruption. Every day, somewhere in the world, somebody sacrifices his life to save someone else. Every day, someone, somewhere makes a conscious decision to destroy someone else. People find love, people lose it. For Christ’s sake, a child watches her mother beaten to death on the steps of a church. Someone goes hungry. Somebody else betrays his best friend for a woman. If you can’t find that stuff in life, then you, my friend, don’t know crap about life. And why are you wasting my two precious hours with your movie? I don’t have any use for it. I don’t have any bloody use for it.
Charlie Kaufman: Ok, thank you.
— Adaptation.
— Charlie Kaufman
2011.10.13 Thursday ACHK
I’d always supposed that all smart people were curious — that curiosity was simply the first derivative of knowledge.
— Paul Graham
你智力的高低，取決於你知識的多少。
你知識增長的快慢，取決於你好奇心的大小。
— Me@2011.10.12
2011.10.12 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Coherent states 6.1 | Quantum coherence, 6.1
Every-day electromagnetic radiation, such as radio and TV waves, is also an example of near coherent states (macroscopic quantum coherence). That should “give one pause” regarding the conventional demarcation between quantum and classical.
— Wikipedia on Coherent states
In laser, all photons are in-phase with each other.
In other electromagnetic waves, the photons are out of phase. However, they still have constant phase difference (aka coherence), unless the photons are emitted by thermal radiation (thermal light).
— Me@2011.10.06
However, such a picture is incorrect.
— Me@2011.10.12
In classical optics light is thought of as electromagnetic waves radiating from a source. Often, coherent laser light is thought of as light that is emitted by many such sources that are in phase. Actually, the picture of one photon being in-phase with another is not valid in quantum theory.
— Wikipedia on Coherent states
2011.10.12 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Future present 3 | 專家博士（製作特輯）2
Writing transcends time.
Writing preserves thoughts of the past, receives thoughts from the future.
寫作 = 接收來自未來的訊息
— Me@2010.11.28
— Me@2011.10.10
2011.10.11 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
這段改編自 2010 年 5 月 18 日的對話。
照亮他人，毋須燃燒自己。
燃燒自己的話，你幫到的人會很少。
— Me@2007.10.17
— Me@2011.10.11
這個社會有一個很奇怪的結構。從事某個行業，往往會令你做不到你加入該個行業時，原本想做的事情。例如，如果我做歌星的話，大部分時間會被迫花在宣傳工作上。真正可以用來 鑽研音樂、練歌 和 唱歌 的時間會很少。又例如，我以前做中學教師時，有太多非教學的工作要處理。而那些非教學工作，太部分是損己不利人的。
還有，另一個問題是，有太多學生，導致每個學生所分到的時間很少。有部分學生，我只記得他們的名字。我從來沒有跟他們對話過，甚至從來未聽過他們的聲音。那樣，我由始至終，也不知道他們的想法。教學時，我就沒有辦法「對症下藥」。
「教育」並不如一般人所想，可以「大規模生產」。比喻說，一個醫生如果要同一時間幫助很多人的話，他可以搞一些大型的講座，傳授健康知識。但是，「診症」本身，並不可以「大規模生產」。同一個醫生，在同一個時間，只可能為同一個病人診症。
試想想，如果我現在還是在中學教書的話，我哪會有時間，詳細解答你們的數學問題？
— Me@2011.10.11
2011.10.11 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Quantum coherence, 5
Every-day electromagnetic radiation, such as radio and TV waves, is also an example of near coherent states (macroscopic quantum coherence). That should “give one pause” regarding the conventional demarcation between quantum and classical.
— Wikipedia on Coherent states
classical electromagnetic radiation (coherent states)
versus
laser (macroscopic quantum coherence)
Coherent states and quantum coherence are two different concepts, not directly related to each other.
Coherent states is a kind of states of a particle or a system. It is about the evolution of the wavefunction of a single particle or a system.
Quantum coherence is another concept. It is about pure state: all the particles in the system are in the same pure quantum state. The particles in that system have definite phase relationships. A special case is that all the particles in a system are in-phase. Then the whole system can be represented by a single quantum wavefunction. Such phenomenon is called macroscopic quantum coherence.
Although coherent states and quantum coherence are not directly related, they are indirectly related. If most of the particles in a system are in their own coherent states, which means that each evolves with minimum uncertainty, they are more likely to be quantumly coherent with each other.
— Me@2011.10.06
— Me@2011.10.10
2011.10.10 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK
Certainly the growing rigidity of scientific organizations is a real and serious problem. I like to remind young scientists of examples in the recent past when people without paper qualifications made great contributions. Two of my favorites are: Milton Humason, who drove mules carrying material up the mountain trail to build the Mount Wilson Observatory, and then when the observatory was built got a job as a janitor, and ended up as a staff astronomer second-in-command to Hubble. Bernhardt Schmidt, the inventor of the Schmidt telescope which revolutionized optical astronomy, who worked independently as a lens-grinder and beat the big optical companies at their own game. I tell young people that the new technologies of computing, telecommunication, optical detection and microchemistry actually empower the amateur to do things that only professionals could do before.
Amateurs and small companies will have a growing role in the future of science. This will compensate for the increasing bureaucratization of the big organizations. Bright young people will start their own companies and do their own science.
— Freeman Dyson
2011.10.10 Monday ACHK
辛亥革命一百週年
Physics Town 
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