Consulting interview

Funny stuff

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker -- A Wall Street Musical from Leveraged Sell-Out on Vimeo.

More than just being sarcastic

Sometimes it makes sense.

Ubuntu 8.04 調整指南

雖然名曰指南，但其實比較接近筆記。

在諸多開放原始碼大老的共襄盛舉下，使用Linux作為日常生活的作業系統似乎再也沒那麼困難，其中又以Ubuntu所帶動的風潮最受世人矚目。然而，再先進的技術，少了跨國的人力資源配合，讓Ubuntu這個套件仍然有那麼一點美中不足。對一個繁體中文的使用者來說，裝完Ubuntu卻仍然無法使用中文輸入法實在是很麻煩的事情。

所幸，台灣的Linux前輩們開發了Lazybuntu。這個懶人包套件除了能夠幫忙設定中文化環境之外，甚至還包括了許多桌面和字型美化的套件，讓你透過選單溝選的方式，就可以輕輕鬆鬆的享有一個完整美觀的Ubuntu環境。坦白說，如果不是有Lazybuntu，安裝一個完整可用的Linux環境可能要花一整個禮拜在環境設定和微調。

在字型的方面，雖然Lazybuntu已經安裝了給個相當美觀的字型，但整體來說還是微軟的正黑體最好看。安裝方式非常容易：將正黑體相關的Truetype檔案全部都Copy到/usr/share/fonts/truetype底下即可；我還另外Copy了Windows底下的Arial字型，配合反鋸齒說有多美就有多美。
另外，Ubuntu預設安裝總是有點少東少西的。只要你有安裝夠強大的Nvidia/ATI顯示卡，CompizFusion預設就可在，「外觀設定」選項當中就可開啟預設的特效，但如果你要客製化這些特效，則又得去安裝CompizConfig。還沒完呢！還記得Openoffice 2.4人所稱道的3D投影片特效嗎？那也是要另外去安裝openoffice.org-ogltrans套件才能夠生效的。

對常要出門作簡報的朋友來說，新的nvidia-settings讓人驚艷。 新版的nvidia-settings讓你能夠在不需重開XServer的狀況下直接使用雙螢幕，並且能夠過將設定寫入/etc/X11/xorg.conf的方式讓這些設定能夠永久有效。唯一需要注意的是，預設開啟的nvidia-settings並沒有root的寫入權限，因此建議用指令的方式開啟nvidia-settings: sudo nvidia-settings。

Evolution and genetics | The misfits | Economist.com

Evolution and genetics | The misfits | Economist.com

Interesting. So there is no such thing as "Free Will". What we tend to do, and what we tend to want, are decided by DNA.

Since the presumption of Democracy is that "Everyone is born equal", which kind of effect will DNA decoding bring to our political landscape? Or is Democracy itself an excellent playground for evolutional forces?

Nvidia: Nvidia Tegra All-in-One Mobile Processors Aim to Nuke Intel's Atom, Promise 30 Hours HD Playback

Nvidia: Nvidia Tegra All-in-One Mobile Processors Aim to Nuke Intel's Atom, Promise 30 Hours HD Playback

This is all-out-war. If I were a graphic artist, I would draw a nice map with clashing CPU armies on it..... but I'm not.

While Tegra is quite appealing from technical point of view, the hostile tone that Nvidia has used might not be that appropriate. Atom, despite all its optimization, is still a x86 CPU. Intel's plan is obviously to court current application developers that are already familiar with x86 instruction set. ARM-based CPU is another story, and requires another introduction strategy. By making people comparing Apple to Oranges, Nvidia might have wasted a perfect chance to surprise Intel on Device marketplace. The old saying says: keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer.... remember?

Openbook: Is Via's OpenBook the Next (Little) Big Thing in UMPCs?

Openbook: Is Via's OpenBook the Next (Little) Big Thing in UMPCs?

VIA is the only Taiwanese Semiconductor Company that dares to compete with Intel & AMD on PC CPU/Chipset arena. While VIA has been fighting this losing battle for a long time, the Sub-Notebook market has indeed opened another door for VIA.

OpenBook concept is VIA's strategy to capture new entrants of Sub-Notebook marketplace. By offering layout design free of charge, any company entering this field will be able to build their own Sub-Notebook/UMPC in relatively short time. But why would any company enter this market? It's already crowded. Without significant innovation on human interface design, Sub-Notebook market segment will step into the unavoidable price war.

Now, if I own the capital to spend on this venture, I would collaborate with Ubuntu, VIA and nVidia to produce a Multi-Touch UMPC aimed at aged people. What they need is just a beautiful device that can allow them to browse internet easily, store photos and perform conference call. Sadly, no company has paid enough attention to this market yet.