Categories
珀先生 菲先生

Religulous – by Bill Maher

这是一部访谈录,由Bill Maher制作,下载链接在此。感谢牛的推荐。

标题就够火药味的了,内容更是劲爆,当然,是对美国这样需要把手按在圣经上做总统宣誓的国家而言。而且全片贯穿着各式各样的黑色幽默,包括语言和剪辑手法。比如38:17处那个Senate失败的自嘲,我反复看了10遍才舍得继续播放。如果对这个话题并不抗拒,真的是值得一看(以及二看,三看……)的好片。

Bill Maher的问题是,为什么人需要有宗教信仰。然后对可能的答案逐一证伪。最后,是一个令人恐惧的推论:宗教可能就是导致世界末日的原因。

The irony of religion is that, because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end.

宗教间的仇视,宗教对”Faith”的过度崇尚和对理性的扼杀,加上足够炸翻地球无数次的核武器,也许那就是人类的末日。

Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do.
Most people would think it’s wonderful when someone says, “I’m willing, Lord. I’ll do whatever You want me to do.” Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions,
The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions
is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that’s what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.

Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do.

Most people would think it’s wonderful when someone says, “I’m willing, Lord. I’ll do whatever You want me to do.” Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions,

最后,试图说服人们以质疑精神取代宗教中的盲从。

The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions, is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that’s what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.

当然,这个世界上也存在很多人由于质疑太多以至于需要一些盲从来缓解头痛。那么,又要如何限定这个”big question”?  搬出老祖宗的中庸之道吧,信仰终归是自由,莫走极端,拿捏好分寸。用胡core的话说,就是不折腾,要和谐。

ps. 最近伊朗真是很不和谐,Youtube也很不要脸的在页面顶端打出”Breaking news: For the latest videos from Iran, visit youtube.com/citizentube”,煽风点火唯恐他国不乱。可是美帝国主义的民主自由幌子真是好使,身边的伊朗同学们随着大旗都要刀山火海在所不辞了。

Categories
Once in Canada Tech

2眼

刚刚搞定了对reacTIVision的改造,实现了两个PS3 eye同时采集图像,分辨率翻倍~用现在的代码理论上还可以扩充到4个摄像头,只要USB总线不堵塞,CPU不烧掉。现在两个头就已经把macbook pro 2.4G的CPU跑满了,其中一个头的FPS还掉到了30以下。明天开始看看能不能做点优化。

还算高效,只花了6天。之间也走了不少弯路,比如尝试用UDP进行摄像头驱动和reacTIVision的通信,结果延迟严重,貌似还丢包。接下来就等老板出差回来批钱开工。

心情大好啊,可是天都黑了,没地方庆祝,郁闷。

Categories
珀先生

伊朗大选

原来和我八杆子打不着的一件事,放在新浪首页上估计也不会点击展开阅读,现在却因为一帮伊朗同学的存在而变得不同。Facebook上每天都能看到他们大量的波斯文的更新,夹杂着Where is my vote的抗议。

其实从63%对34%的结果来看,内贾德的当选已经较大幅度地超过了法定的半数票,作为一个局外人,我怀疑提前关闭投票点这样的伎俩能在多大程度上影响结果,毕竟这次的投票率已经超过了80%。许多分析也倾向于对结果表示认同,因为内贾德的支持者主要在农村,而城市知识分子才支持穆萨维。不知道身为知识分子的我的伊朗同学们,是不是考虑到了他们的对手也同样人数众多?选举毕竟是选举,不可能让所有人都如意。作为一个面临内忧外患的国家,用动荡和冲突去抗争他们想要的结果,是不是太理想化了?

咱们虽然没有这样的困扰,但是……家家都有本难念的经。

Categories
珀先生

南京1937

今天看到的一段MV,个人感觉理性且有力。于是花了三个小时翻译了英语字幕传到Youtube上,希望让更多人了解到这段历史。同样的罪行,德国人可以认错,日本人有什么理由躲在角落里支支吾吾。

如果Youtube被盾的话,国内的朋友们可以看优酷上的。

Categories
德先生

Beijing lesson unlearned(zz)

Chai Ling现在的所作所为,实在讽刺。

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/07/beijing_lesson_unlearned/

Beijing lesson unlearned

By Yvonne AbrahamGlobe Columnist / June 7, 2009

You’ve heard a lot about Tiananmen Square lately, since Thursday was the 20th anniversary of the Chinese government’s brutal crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators.

What you might not have heard about is how a leader of that crushed movement is trying to put the boot into a pillar of democracy right here in Boston.

Ling Chai, sometimes called commander in chief of the 1989 demonstrations, now lives in Massachusetts and heads a successful software company, Jenzabar Inc. In the years since she fled China, she has spoken passionately about the importance of free speech.

And yet Jenzabar is using the courts to bring two filmmakers to near-ruin because their website contains excerpts from, and links to, articles critical of Chai and her firm.

First, some background. In the years since she arrived in the United States, debate has surrounded Chai. Some of her contemporaries, as well as some historians, say that Chai and other student leaders made mistakes in the last hours of the standoff with the Chinese government and that their decision to remain in Tiananmen Square led to more deaths. It’s an allegation bolstered by Chai’s own words, according to a translation of an interview she gave in those chaotic final days.

The interview is included in an award-winning documentary, “The Gate of Heavenly Peace.” In it, Chai says: “How can I tell [our followers] that we actually are hoping for bloodshed, the moment when the government is ready to butcher the people brazenly. Only when the square is awash in blood will the people of China open their eyes.”

Chai has long said that comment was mistranslated and taken out of context, and some other student leaders support her view.

Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon stand by their film, and other Chinese leaders support them. They also maintain a website, with updates on Chai that refer to stories and columns on Jenzabar, some unflattering, including one published in the Globe.

Jenzabar sued the filmmakers’ company, Long Bow Films, for defamation – just for directing readers to the articles Chai and her company say are offensive and inaccurate. A Suffolk Superior Court judge wisely threw the defamation charge out. The First Amendment guarantees the people’s right to say – and cite – even things you don’t like, after all.

But the case has dragged on because Jenzabar is also contending that just by using the company’s name as a tag on its website, Long Bow is guilty of trademark infringement – that somebody googling Jenzabar might land on the Long Bow site and get confused.

That’s bosh.

“The idea that somebody would be confused is so remote as to not pass the giggle test,” said Harvey Silverglate, a lawyer who specializes in First Amendment cases. Even the judge said Jenzabar is unlikely to win. And yet Chai perseveres.

Why? There is more than one way to skin free speech. Jenzabar has buckets of money. Hinton and Gordon don’t. Chai’s suit has cost them 70 grand so far. Even though she will probably lose the court battle, she could win the war by shutting Long Bow down.

“It has drained a lot of our resources,” Hinton said. “We may be driven into bankruptcy before we see our day in court.”

There’s more. Last week, Jenzabar attorneys asked a judge to prevent Long Bow from updating their website on the continuing court case. On Thursday, the judge knocked them down, saying “fear of bad publicity” isn’t grounds for a gag order.

Lawyers for both sides declined comment.

“Long Bow has gratuitously maligned Ling Chai for decades, ” said Rob Gray, spokesman for Jenzabar. “And now that she has the resources to fight back, they don’t like it.”

But the problem isn’t that Chai is fighting back. It’s how she’s fighting back. She’s using the justice system to attack the very freedoms for which her fellow students gave their lives.

Yvonne Abraham is a Globe columnist. Her e-mail address isabraham@globe.com.

Categories
德先生

绿坝续

这真是个神奇的软件,批评不得,质疑不得。

lvba

Categories
德先生

绿坝相关

这是6月12日新华网的一篇文章。

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/12/content_11532769.htm

“过滤软件之争”争的是什么

新华网北京6月12日电(记者颜秉光)工业和信息化部要求计算机预装“绿坝-花季护航”上网过滤软件一事近日引起广泛关注,其中一个现象很有意思,即支持意见大多来自用户,反对意见主要来自少数媒体和商家。

表明用户支持政府这项举措的信息来自两个渠道:一是有关方面对已使用“绿坝-花季护航”软件的260多万个用户开展的满意度抽样调查,结果显示“普遍满意”,而且认为这项举措是“公益行为”;二是网上论坛征集到的1813份有效用户反馈意见,92%的用户表示支持,70%以上用户对软件产品质量和技术支持服务表示满意。

一种大众消费品是好是坏,广大消费者最有发言权。大多数用户支持“绿坝-花季护航”上网过滤软件,至少说明一个问题:净化互联网环境在我国的确是一项紧迫任务。进而言之,与那些持反对意见的人对互联网信息的需求相比,保护未成年人健康成长更重要。撇开未成年人这个因素发表意见,是有失偏颇的。

为使未成年人免受网上低俗信息影响,近年来各级政府有关部门相继开展多次依法整治互联网低俗之风行动,最近一次为期一个月的全国行动中关闭严重违规网站1911个。工业和信息化部推广过滤软件,不过是整治行动的另一种方式。这种举措应该不是需要不需要的问题,而是如何做效果才会更好的问题。

人们注意到,对工业和信息化部的举措,一开始质疑很多,但在该部有关负责人作出详细说明后,质疑声逐渐减弱。这说明,舆论质疑主要源于缺乏了解和信任。它提醒我们,政府在推出涉及公众利益的举措时,一定要充分尊重公众的民主权利,在法律许可的范围内开展工作,同时应尽早就相关情况公开作出说明,解答公众疑虑,这样才能获得公众的支持。

对舆论关注的几个主要问题,工业和信息化部的回应是清楚明了的,能够解除公众的疑虑。至于过滤软件应用中还可能出现什么问题、需要如何完善等,最好的办法是留给实践去检验。

再看看这篇。

http://www.ccw.com.cn/fortune/news/online_media/htm2009/20090611_637780.shtml

四大门户调查显示:超八成网友“拒绝”绿坝

新售电脑将一律预装绿坝一事引发网民热议,尽管工信部解释称这一软件不强制安装、可关闭、可卸载、不控制网民,不搜集个人用户信息,目的是为了保护青少年免受不良信息影响。但多家媒体调查结果显示,超过8成网友仍对此类上网过滤软件心存疑虑。据悉,截至6月10日18点,共计81804名网友参与新浪科技“是否考虑使用该软件”的调查,其中84.8%的网友表态不考虑使用。在网易科技的同类调查中, 91.5%的网友表示不愿意使用绿坝。

另外两家著名门户网站腾讯及搜狐调查的问题则各有侧重,在腾讯科技关于“新购电脑需要装上网过滤软件”的调查中,投票网友中74%选择“没必要”。搜狐IT则调查了网友对于绿坝功能的观点,在一项关于“安装上网过滤软件能否有效预防未成年人浏览不良网站”的调查中,选择“不能”的比例高达75.56%。

已经连续两三天在水木十大上看到绿坝的贴子,很不幸,几乎都是在Joke版。所以当我看到第二篇文章的数据时,丝毫没有怀疑,况且这四大门户的调查还都明晃晃的挂在网页上,怀疑者查便是了。可是第一篇的数据呢?门户网站上近90%反对,网上论坛的用户反馈却有92%的支持?我善意的推测,是因为绿坝这个软件如此的优秀,以至于原先在网上投了反对票的网友们在实际使用之后立刻为之倾倒,投下满意的一票。可是为什么这个揣测听起来白痴得可笑?那么是谁编纂出这个解释不通的结果?

其次,颜秉光记者所说的“很有意思”的现象:“支持意见大多来自用户,反对意见主要来自少数媒体和商家。”也就是说,她赤裸裸的无视了亿万尚未成为用户的网民们的声音。

光损别人没意思,我也来模仿颜记者的文章,抒抒愚见吧。

“过滤软件之争”争的是什么?

1. 我国的法律向来禁止淫秽暴力内容的传播,而美国等西方国家则允许成人音像制品公开发售。所以,理论上来说,要在中国保护青少年免遭色情暴力的侵害要简单得多,境内违法网站一律取缔,境外的用GFW屏蔽了事。倒是美国人才需要头疼如何在保护青少年的同时又让成年人能光顾成人网站。既然我们有从源头上控制的能力,又为什么需要兴师动众的强制安装客户端监控?

2. 为什么偏偏是绿坝?微软早在十几年前就在Windows中嵌入了家长控制的功能,相信国内外也有众多同类产品(关于这点我懒得调查),为什么政府在2008年1月14日-24日短短10天的招标之后,就把4170万支付给了绿坝?在花掉这4000多万的时候,是否应该给纳税人一份有力的说明,证明绿坝是同类中出类拔萃的?恰恰相反,怀疑其质量的文章早已铺天盖地,比如“屏蔽加菲猫”,丑陋的界面,粗暴的关闭整个浏览器导致用户丢失工作进程等等。

3. 工信部强制要求所有计算机在销售时都预装该软件,为什么不把决定权交给用户?或许是因为有些用户不知道如何下载安装,但假设1年后,政府不再继续为个人用户买单,或者采购其他过滤软件,又有多少用户能够将绿坝彻底卸载干净而不危害系统安全(从网上已经发布的各种民间测试报告来看,这是值得怀疑的)?或许,绿坝已然是工信部心中一辈子的真爱所以不用考虑卸载问题?……

最后,我同意颜记者文中的最后半句,实践会检验出这4170万买来的是什么。目前看来,买来的是政府和民意对立的又一个山头。

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post

《我的青春谁做主》

强烈推荐。这是一部没有顶着奋斗旗号的小人物奋斗的片子。花了两三天看完,被钱小样和方宇的爱情和奋斗感动得眼眶湿润……相信一定有不少蹉跎青年和折腾情侣看完之后学会振作学会珍惜。一部好片所应有的社会价值便是如此。

希望赵宝刚能再接再厉,多出这样的片子。在这部剧中,我想我看到了Chinese Dream的雏形,虽然还有大富豪之流的插手,但它至少贴近了现在的年轻人,奋斗的目标不再是假大空,不再是铜臭十足,而是很简单的──亲情,友情,爱情。