Monthly Archives: July 2012

Number theory

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Lately James Dolan and I have been studying number theory. I used to hate this subject: it seemed like a massive waste of time. Newspapers, magazines and even lots of math books seem to celebrate the idea of people slaving away for centuries on puzzles whose only virtue is that they’re easy to state but hard to solve.

Sure, it’s noble to seek knowledge for its own sake. But working on a math problem just because it’s hard is like trying to drill a hole in a concrete wall with your nose, just to prove you can! If you succeed, I’ll be impressed – but I’ll still wonder why you didn’t put all that energy into something more interesting.

Now my attitude has changed, because I’m beginning to see that behind these silly hard problems there lurks an actual theory, full of deep ideas and interesting links to other branches of mathematics, including mathematical physics.

— January 10, 2004

— This Week’s Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 201)

— John Baez

2012.07.08 Sunday ACHK

缺乏寫作靈感 4

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Writer’s block 4

這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 20 日的對話。

（安：寫作的好處是，讀者可以高速閱讀作品。對話的問題是，聽者不可以高速聆聽。但是，寫作的問題是，由於沒有聽者的即時反應，你很多時也不知道應該怎樣寫下去。）

我已經 transcend 了這個問題。我的兩個網誌，都毋須我的寫作靈感。

我不會在我的 WordPress 網誌編寫長文章，而只會引用他人或者自己精警的一兩句。那些都是靠平日的收集紀錄，尤其是在自己靈機一觸時。

至於我 Blogger 網誌上的長文章，則來自抄錄自己與朋友的對話錄音。間中，我會寫一些不是由錄音抄錄下來的長文章。但是，那些課題，往往都是我和很多不同學生討論過。所以，那些課題中的任何一個，我已經講過無數次。幾乎所有可能的對話劇情，我都經歷過。換句話說，我腦海中早已儲存了全面的完整錄音。

總括而言，「避免」缺乏寫作靈感的最好方法是，令到自己寫作毋須靈感。在沒有必要寫長文章時，一句起，兩句止。

— Me@2012.07.05 

2012.07.05 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Good Old Games

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GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a computer game sale and distribution service operated by GOG Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt RED.

In order to ensure compatibility with newer versions of Microsoft Windows, some games are pre-patched or bundled with Open Source emulation and compatibility software, such as ScummVM and DOSBox. Unlike some other services, the games do not use digital rights management …

Along with purchasing the games, customers are also able to download numerous extra material relating to the game they purchased. Often these extras include the game’s soundtrack, wallpapers, avatars, and manuals.

— Wikipedia on GOG.com

2012.07.04 Wednesday ACHK

雞蛋

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雞蛋，從外打破是食物，從內打破是生命。人生亦是，從外打破是壓力，從內打破是成長。

如果你等待別人從外打破你，你註定成為別人的食物；如果能讓自己從內打破，你會發現自己的成長，相當於一種重生。

–「李嘉誠」

— edited

2012.07.04 Wednesday ACHK

讀書技巧

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這段改編自 2010 年 6 月 2 日的對話。

讀書技巧不應一次過學太多，因為學了一個讀書技巧以後，你要嘗試學以致用，從而把它修改到最適合自己的版本。

一次過學太多的話，你就會來不及測試運用。讀書技巧如果不能充分利用，學來也沒有意思。

— Me@2012.07.03

2012.07.03 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Chrono Trigger 3

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Masato Kato confirmed that Cross featured a central theme of parallel worlds, as well as the fate of Schala, which he was previously unable to expound upon in Chrono Trigger. Concerning the ending sequences showing Kid searching for someone in a modern city, he hoped to make players realize that alternate futures and possibilities may exist in their own lives, and that this realization would “not … stop with the game”.

– Wikipedia on Chrono Cross

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2011.05.02 Monday ACHK

星座運程

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這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 20 日的對話。

星座對你性格的描述，通常也很「準確」。

一來，那些描述大部分情況下，都十分空泛。當你的說話越籠統，錯的機會就越微。

二來，每個人也有「多重自我」。當中總會有一個「自我」，符合「星座性格」的預測。例如，假設你的整體由自我 甲、乙、丙、丁、戊 組成。甲很外向，乙很內向。當「星座性格」預測你很內向時，甲沒有同感，所以不會出聲。但乙會很有共鳴，所以會「跳了出來」同意。整體的效果，就好像星座準確預測你的性格。

「性格心理測驗」會可靠很多，但都有類似的現象，所以不能盡信。

— Me@2012.07.02 

2012.07.02 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Sins of a Solar Empire

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Sins of a Solar Empire is a science fiction real-time strategy computer game developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Sins is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that incorporates some elements from 4X strategy games; promotional materials describe it as “RT4X.”

Much praise for the game has been directed towards the game’s clever blend of RTS and 4X gameplay, the seamless zoom function, and the user-friendly Empire Tree and UI. That the game was designed to play efficiently on older as well as newer PCs has garnered considerable praise.

The game was awarded the title “Best Strategy Game of the Year 2008” by X-Play and GameTrailers, and the title “Best PC Game of the Year” by IGN.

— Wikipedia on Sins of a Solar Empire

2012.07.01 Sunday ACHK

Simple and fun gameplay

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During the late 1970s, video arcade game technology had become sophisticated enough to offer good-quality graphics and sounds, but it was still fairly basic (realistic images and full motion video were not yet available, and only a few games used spoken voice) and so the success of a game had to rely on simple and fun gameplay. This emphasis on the gameplay is why many of these games continue to be enjoyed today despite their technology being vastly outdated by modern computing technology.

— Wikipedia on Golden age of arcade video games

2012.07.01 Sunday ACHK

反破壞教育

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這段改編自 2010 年 6 月 2 日的對話。

我教你們的讀書或處世技巧，不要隨便跟人講。

對方是好人，你才教給他。對方是壞人，就千萬不要教，因為提升壞人的社會地位，等於破壞社會。

— Me@2012.07.01

2012.07.01 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK