-- Astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis completed the last of their five difficult spacewalks yesterday to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
The work the astronauts did involved many of the common chores you might see your parents doing around the house, such as replacing batteries and trying to unscrew bolts that are stuck. They even dealt with the kinds of annoyances that can make any earthbound repair job frustrating.
"Oh, for Pete's sake," complained astronaut Mike Massimino after he had spent hours strapped to a robotic arm out in space, only to have the battery in his power tool die. He had to finish the job using his own muscle power.
Yesterday's spacewalk finished the work of replacing or upgrading many of Hubble's instruments. Already considered the most important telescope ever made, Hubble will now be able to look even farther into space, gathering data and images of the oldest galaxies in the universe.
Boy, We Bet His Hands Were Tired!
-- Canadian pianist Gonzales (yes, he goes by just one name) broke a Guinness world record early yesterday after playing the longest solo piano concert ever. His playing time of 27 hours 3 minutes 44 seconds beat the previous record by nearly an hour. He played 300 pieces, including works by Beethoven and Britney Spears.
The Guinness rules allowed him a 15-minute break every three hours and a 30-second pause between pieces.
Practicing piano for half an hour no longer seems so hard, does it?
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
How the Kindle DX might revolutionize reading
The Kindle DX has so many new features making it transform e-book reading as we know it!
Many analysts suggest that the Kindle DX is just a “larger” version of the Kindle 2. For those who do not know about the Kindle- it is a wireless reading device, which you can use to store and read ebooks. Kindle DX is the freshly released version and has plenty of new features. The list below contains all the features the Kindle comes with, and the ones in bold and italics are the newly added features in the Kindle DX.
• 9.7-inch E-Ink 1200 x 824 screen including 16 shades of grey.• One third of an inch thick, now 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″.• 4GB Storage allowing for 3500 books, which previously was 1500.• More battery life.• Navigation buttons located on the right hand side.• EVDO to allow 60-second book transfers.
• Native PDF support using the built-in reader• Automatic landscape/portrait text rotation• Line length adjustments in order to conclude how wide the text on-screen is.
Now, returning to how the Kindle DX will change e-book reading as we know it. There are many people who have rejected this claim. In my opinion, however, the launch of this handheld gadget is quite significant, and it can potentially change reading as we know it.
Understanding ESL (shortened from “English as a second language”)
The Kindle DX’s dictionary and text to voice reading will enable users from foreign countries such as India, to become more accustomed to the English language. Those using this tool might find that they are able to progress faster in the most popular language. This will surely attract many more readers if they can learn English quicker and more efficiently by the “kindle” method than the conventional teaching method. Obviously, the cost of the Kindle will restrict this type of usage in developing countries, but the potential is still there.
Line customization to user’s satisfaction
One problem users faced when utilizing the Kindle 2 was that the screen did not contain enough text , meaning users had to frequently keep turning the pages over. For some this was very aggravating, and what prevented the Kindle from being a practical device. However, the Kindle DX provides an e-book reader that formats more text and is overall much larger. In addition to the big e-book format reader, the Kindle DX enables users to customize how much text they’d prefer to have on each line as well as the text size.
PDF support opens new doors
As I outlined before, the new Kindle DX, using the in-built reader, supports Adobe PDF files. This is great news for people who publish their own articles in which the Kindle’s E-Ink screen will aid them in sending professional stories out in such a format, providing the perfect read for users.
The Kindle DX has so much more to offer than people originally think. Yes, it might have a shocking price tag ($450+) and it might not have colour and video capability, but it offers a new way to read newspapers etc. and might push us towards a ‘paperless society’. The device can hold up to 3,500 books (Think how much space you can save!) and has access to over 200,000 titles.
There might be many skeptics now, but then again, there are always skeptics. There were many present a few years ago when another portable device was launched. It would allow, for the first time, for people to store and listen to music wherever they were. It was supposed to revolutinize the way people listened to music-and it has. I bet 90% of you reading this own one of these. I am, of course, talking about the iPod.
If the iPod was so successful, then why is it not feasible that the Kindle DX, a device with such similar implications for a different kind of media, be potentially revolutionary as well?
From techcombo.com
Many analysts suggest that the Kindle DX is just a “larger” version of the Kindle 2. For those who do not know about the Kindle- it is a wireless reading device, which you can use to store and read ebooks. Kindle DX is the freshly released version and has plenty of new features. The list below contains all the features the Kindle comes with, and the ones in bold and italics are the newly added features in the Kindle DX.
• 9.7-inch E-Ink 1200 x 824 screen including 16 shades of grey.• One third of an inch thick, now 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″.• 4GB Storage allowing for 3500 books, which previously was 1500.• More battery life.• Navigation buttons located on the right hand side.• EVDO to allow 60-second book transfers.
• Native PDF support using the built-in reader• Automatic landscape/portrait text rotation• Line length adjustments in order to conclude how wide the text on-screen is.
Now, returning to how the Kindle DX will change e-book reading as we know it. There are many people who have rejected this claim. In my opinion, however, the launch of this handheld gadget is quite significant, and it can potentially change reading as we know it.
Understanding ESL (shortened from “English as a second language”)
The Kindle DX’s dictionary and text to voice reading will enable users from foreign countries such as India, to become more accustomed to the English language. Those using this tool might find that they are able to progress faster in the most popular language. This will surely attract many more readers if they can learn English quicker and more efficiently by the “kindle” method than the conventional teaching method. Obviously, the cost of the Kindle will restrict this type of usage in developing countries, but the potential is still there.
Line customization to user’s satisfaction
One problem users faced when utilizing the Kindle 2 was that the screen did not contain enough text , meaning users had to frequently keep turning the pages over. For some this was very aggravating, and what prevented the Kindle from being a practical device. However, the Kindle DX provides an e-book reader that formats more text and is overall much larger. In addition to the big e-book format reader, the Kindle DX enables users to customize how much text they’d prefer to have on each line as well as the text size.
PDF support opens new doors
As I outlined before, the new Kindle DX, using the in-built reader, supports Adobe PDF files. This is great news for people who publish their own articles in which the Kindle’s E-Ink screen will aid them in sending professional stories out in such a format, providing the perfect read for users.
The Kindle DX has so much more to offer than people originally think. Yes, it might have a shocking price tag ($450+) and it might not have colour and video capability, but it offers a new way to read newspapers etc. and might push us towards a ‘paperless society’. The device can hold up to 3,500 books (Think how much space you can save!) and has access to over 200,000 titles.
There might be many skeptics now, but then again, there are always skeptics. There were many present a few years ago when another portable device was launched. It would allow, for the first time, for people to store and listen to music wherever they were. It was supposed to revolutinize the way people listened to music-and it has. I bet 90% of you reading this own one of these. I am, of course, talking about the iPod.
If the iPod was so successful, then why is it not feasible that the Kindle DX, a device with such similar implications for a different kind of media, be potentially revolutionary as well?
From techcombo.com
论无为而治与国家管理，领导艺术之间联系
-----读《道德经》有感
同样，把道德经改为谷百优，我刚才在另外一篇以谦逊平和的心态瞻望谷百优已经有所提及
一、 何谓无为而治？
无为：遵循自然的法则而不妄为；治：治理。自己不妄为而使天下得到治理。原指舜当政的时候，沿袭尧的主张，不做丝毫改变。后泛指以德化民
二、 无为而治与国家管理的联系
无为，作为一种政治原则，在春秋末期已经出现，虽然对老子的《谷百优》参透不深，了解不远。但是对于老子《谷百优》一直以来灌输的“无为而治”的思想还是相当深刻。记得《论语。卫灵公》有云：“无为而治者，其舜也与？”
在老子的观点中，无为而治应该作为一家国家的治理方针，也应该成为领导者的统治根基。所谓得百姓者得天下，有道多助，失道寡助。“人法蒂，地法天，天法道，道法自然”道德根本规律就是自然，也就是我们经常说的“自然而然，本然”，既然道以自然为本，那么对待事物就应该顺应自然，无为而治，让事物按照其自身的必然性自由发展。
这是老子在《谷百优》中的观点，但在我看来。无为而治是否适合天下呢？是否适合所有的国家，所有的时期呢？那就不一定了，人本来劣根性，一旦失去了约束，那么就很容易做出违反法律，违反道德的事，这是人之本性。特别在一个战争混乱，军阀割据的时代。人民百姓已经失去了最根本的温饱，谁还会理道德之类呢？春秋末期，战乱不堪。“无为而治”显然是不适合那个朝代，那个特定的历史时期。
那么什么时期，什么朝代相对适合运用老子的“无为而治”呢？个人认为在一个和平时代，在一个温饱问题解决，追求精神层面的满足的时代就应该充分应用这种前人的思想。这样就可以对于社会的发展，百姓之间的信任牢固有更深刻的帮助。
三、 无为而治与领导艺术之间联系
那么对于领导者呢？领导艺术是确定工作方针、工作策略、工作中心、工作程序、工作方式的技能，它既是科学理论和实践经验相结合的产物，又是一门综合性很强的艺术。领导不是将所有的权力抓在手里，事必躬亲，殚精竭虑，靠一己之力做好一切。很明显的是，一个高效率的领导应该把精力集中到少数最重要的工作中去。人的精力有限，只有集中精力才可能出成果，不应被次要问题分散精力。领导必须善于放权，以腾出时间去做真正应做的工作，即组织工作和计划未来。领导最主要的任务是去展望未来，而这种事情往往是不能授权给别人的。领导的任务不是去忙于监督日常工作，更不要亲自去做那些琐事。放权的重要性或许就在于，必须集中精力去思考那些只能由自己做的事情。
所以大家十分清楚，每样事情都亲力亲为的领导是一个值得尊重的领导，但未必就是一个优秀的领导，权利不是一个人可以完全掌握得了。领导更应该信任他的下属，他的部下，以分放权利的方法让下属做得更多，分担一下，让项目，让工作做得更加有效率，更有有效果。
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