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Showing posts from January 6, 2013

There's More to Life Than Being Happy

"It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness." Kacper Pempel/Reuters In September 1942, Viktor Frankl, a prominent Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna, was arrested and transported to a Nazi concentration camp with his wife and parents. Three years later, when his camp was liberated, most of his family, including his pregnant wife, had perished -- but he, prisoner number 119104, had lived. In his bestselling 1946 book, Man's Search for Meaning , which he wrote in nine days about his experiences in the camps, Frankl concluded that the difference between those who had lived and those who had died came down to one thing: Meaning, an insight he came to early in life. When he was a high school student , one of his science teachers declared to the class, "Life is nothing more than a combustion process, a process of oxidation." Frankl jumped out of his chair and responded, "Sir, if this is so, then what...

Being Bilingual can Keep Your Brain Young, Sharp

Neuroscientists have been accumulating strong evidence that knowing, and constantly using, a second language starting in childhood can significantly delay a decline in brain power. University of Kentucky in Lexington researchers wanted to know why some people’s brains seem protected. The benefit appears to accrue chiefly in the process of cognitive control.

人物:文坛巨匠--夏洛蒂.勃朗特, 海明威, 狄更斯

夏洛蒂.勃朗特 永不言败--海明威   狄更斯 JustAsked发过的热帖: 吴秀波,海清,吴越: 聊《请你原谅我》 散落的珍珠——凤凰卫视冲绳纪行 《最佳现场》吴秀波 1984 春晚・張明敏 - 我的中国心 从没想过会看爱看这种电影: 孔子 (周润发主演) 《夫妻那些事》探讨情感危机 观众感叹做女人难 光荣绽放:陕西汉子张嘉译 优米实录:姜文对话林青霞 鲁豫有约--- 甄嬛传 我的中国心 天籁美音——蒋英 您的位置: 文学城首页 » 热点讨论主题 » 影视人生 所有跟帖:   •  《老人与海》 - JustAsked - ♀ (395 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 09:13:10 •  《简爱》 - JustAsked - ♀ (467 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 09:14:29 •  《雾都孤儿》 - JustAsked - ♀ (247 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 09:18:27 •  《别了,武器》 - JustAsked - ♀ (121 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 09:25:52 •  《双城记》 - JustAsked - ♀ (365 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 09:52:04 •  谢谢!一个个慢慢看。 - 菲亚 - ♀ (0 bytes) ( ) 1/11/13 11:33:00

That morning cup of coffee can be good for you

LESLIE BECK Special to The Globe and Mail It seems your morning coffee habit may do more than keep you alert at the office. According to scientists in Norway, our most loved beverage can ease the pain of work, literally. Their study, published this month in the journal BMS Research Notes, suggests that drinking a cup of coffee before work can ease computer-related neck and shoulder pain. These new – and surprising – findings add to mounting evidence that coffee has more perks than downsides.

我们刚出国时的萎缩男生活

--原创by围观生活 在文学城里看到一个女孩的的博客有这样一段话: “觉得国内来的男人很脏很穷也很没修养,去吃自助餐,恨不得清空人家厨房。” 想说的是:新同学们,你们饿了就吃爱谁谁,中国人的脸,早已被我们人穷志短的丢光了,你们不用但心这些了。 十几年前刚到美国时,我们新生认识的人里只有一位老生有车,下周的吃喝问题能否有着落,全看汽车人星期五晚上的心情。这老印比老中还惨,都是行者, 不会骑车,住的离学校更近,好奇他们如何SHOPPING,结果学来他们祖传的绝活。我们一行八人去SHOPPING,买完东西出来后,叫个出租,几十个 白塑料袋塞的满满的,出租车变成垃圾车。浩浩荡荡半英里,花两美元,每人摊两毛五,但我们每次都很慷慨的给司机50%小费,然后说您甭客气,我们日本人就 爱多给小费。 日子久了,觉得这样下去,把日本人的脸都丢尽了,挺不厚道的。还是自己凑钱买车吧,找到一个物美价廉的黑色雪佛来,一打电话,人家说我给你开到家门口看。美国雷锋把车开来了,满头大汗地,打开驾驶车门等着,感动之余,当场成交。 几百美元的车擦的锃亮后,大伙西装革履,轮流拍照,随便往车上很倦懒的那么一靠,大款的造型就出来了,在照片背面要炒做一下:“这就是当年军统中将司令的坐驾名车雪佛来”,照片寄回国内后,都被父母显摆出毛边了。 用这破车学车,第一位就手忙脚乱,踩住闸,拧方向盘,一把就把方向盘拧下来了,拿在手里像个锅盖。一看这样下去,车没学好就得报废。赶紧凑钱租车买 好全保险,三班倒着24小时可劲造,有一位一天深夜打盹把车冲到路边,撞倒了路边竞选市议员的大广告牌子,后来那人少了几百票没选上,让我们很不好意思。 还车时租车行的说你们是不是横穿美国刚回来?怎么开了这么多?我们说你们美国太好玩了,玩不够,怪不得我们日本人老想占领呢。 买来车后发现美国雷锋大大地狡猾。司机一边的门无法从外面打开,要从乘客一边进去。出去泡妞,给女孩拉开车门,女孩大喜,以为国男有了绅士风度,却 见国男吱溜一下,自己先钻进去了,撅着屁股往司机座位上爬,萎缩男形象大暴光。这车还有个毛病,发动机没热时,加不了速,每次出门要开车在家门口溜哒十分 钟才能上路,女孩说你原来是不是开出租的,故意绕道落下毛病了。这车夏天容易过热,所以天一热,车里就要把热气开到最大散热,人过热没事,身上出点粉...

Buffers and Synchronization

When we operate with file streams, these are associated to an internal buffer of type streambuf . This buffer is a memory block that acts as an intermediary between the stream and the physical file. For example, with an ofstream , each time the member function put (which writes a single character) is called, the character is not written directly to the physical file with which the stream is associated. Instead of that, the character is inserted in that stream's intermediate buffer. When the buffer is flushed, all the data contained in it is written to the physical medium (if it is an output stream) or simply freed (if it is an input stream). This process is called synchronization and takes place under any of the following circumstances: When the file is closed: before closing a file all buffers that have not yet been flushed are synchronized and all pending data is written or read to the physical medium. When the buffer is full: Buffers have a certain size. When...

Binary files

In binary files, to input and output data with the extraction and insertion operators ( << and >> ) and functions like getline is not efficient, since we do not need to format any data, and data may not use the separation codes used by text files to separate elements (like space, newline, etc...). File streams include two member functions specifically designed to input and output binary data sequentially: write and read . The first one ( write ) is a member function of ostream inherited by ofstream . And read is a member function of istream that is inherited by ifstream . Objects of class fstream have both members. Their prototypes are: write ( memory_block, size ); read ( memory_block, size ); Where memory_block is of type "pointer to char" ( char* ), and represents the address of an array of bytes where the read data elements are stored or from where the data elements to be written are taken. The size parameter is an integer value that...

Checking stream state flags

In addition to good() , which checks whether the stream is ready for input/output operations, other member functions exist to check for specific states of a stream (all of them return a bool value): bad() Returns true if a reading or writing operation fails. For example in the case that we try to write to a file that is not open for writing or if the device where we try to write has no space left. fail() Returns true in the same cases as bad(), but also in the case that a format error happens, like when an alphabetical character is extracted when we are trying to read an integer number. eof() Returns true if a file open for reading has reached the end. good() It is the most generic state flag: it returns false in the same cases in which calling any of the previous functions would return true. In order to reset the state flags checked by any of these member functions we have just seen we can use the member function clear() , which takes no parameters.

Predefined macro names

The following macro names are defined at any time: macro value __LINE__ Integer value representing the current line in the source code file being compiled. __FILE__ A string literal containing the presumed name of the source file being compiled. __DATE__ A string literal in the form "Mmm dd yyyy" containing the date in which the compilation process began. __TIME__ A string literal in the form "hh:mm:ss" containing the time at which the compilation process began. __cplusplus An integer value. All C++ compilers have this constant defined to some value. If the compiler is fully compliant with the C++ standard its value is equal or greater than 199711L depending on the version of the standard they comply.

Source file inclusion (#include)

When the preprocessor finds an #include directive it replaces it by the entire content of the specified file. There are two ways to specify a file to be included: 1 2 #include "file" #include The only difference between both expressions is the places (directories) where the compiler is going to look for the file. In the first case where the file name is specified between double-quotes, the file is searched first in the same directory that includes the file containing the directive. In case that it is not there, the compiler searches the file in the default directories where it is configured to look for the standard header files. If the file name is enclosed between angle-brackets <> the file is searched directly where the compiler is configured to look for the standard header files. Therefore, standard header files are usually included in angle-brackets, while other specific header files are included using quotes.

Exception specifications

When declaring a function we can limit the exception type it might directly or indirectly throw by appending a throw suffix to the function declaration:   float myfunction ( char param) throw ( int ); This declares a function called myfunction which takes one argument of type char and returns an element of type float . The only exception that this function might throw is an exception of type int . If it throws an exception with a different type, either directly or indirectly, it cannot be caught by a regular int -type handler. If this throw specifier is left empty with no type, this means the function is not allowed to throw exceptions. Functions with no throw specifier (regular functions) are allowed to throw exceptions with any type: 1 2 int myfunction ( int param) throw (); // no exceptions allowed int myfunction ( int param); // all exceptions allowed

Templates and multiple-file projects

From the point of view of the compiler, templates are not normal functions or classes. They are compiled on demand, meaning that the code of a template function is not compiled until an instantiation with specific template arguments is required. At that moment, when an instantiation is required, the compiler generates a function specifically for those arguments from the template. When projects grow it is usual to split the code of a program in different source code files. In these cases, the interface and implementation are generally separated. Taking a library of functions as example, the interface generally consists of declarations of the prototypes of all the functions that can be called. These are generally declared in a "header file" with a .h extension, and the implementation (the definition of these functions) is in an independent file with c++ code. Because templates are compiled when required, this forces a restriction for multi-file projects: the i...

Operators new and new[]

You could be wondering the difference between declaring a normal array and assigning dynamic memory to a pointer, as we have just done. The most important difference is that the size of an array has to be a constant value, which limits its size to what we decide at the moment of designing the program, before its execution, whereas the dynamic memory allocation allows us to assign memory during the execution of the program (runtime) using any variable or constant value as its size. The dynamic memory requested by our program is allocated by the system from the memory heap. However, computer memory is a limited resource, and it can be exhausted. Therefore, it is important to have some mechanism to check if our request to allocate memory was successful or not. C++ provides two standard methods to check if the allocation was successful: One is by handling exceptions. Using this method an exception of type bad_alloc is thrown when the allocation fails. Exceptions are a p...

django start

$ sudo easy_install django $ mkdir django-proj $ cd django-proj/ $ django-admin.py startproject myproject ~/django-proj/myproject$ python manage.py runserver Validating models... 0 errors found Django version 1.4.3, using settings 'myproject.settings' Development server is running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/ Quit the server with CONTROL-C. [10/Jan/2013 16:56:14] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 1960

Building a blog in 30 mins with Django

奋战ICC之虎口探险

近两个星期接触了不少ICC. 总结一下. 风险最高的 eDynamic, Sharppath, XcelTech, NPS Technology 比较黑的 HD Dimension, Aequor, TAJ Software 过的去的 Marlabs, OSR solutions, Techgene, Allied Informatics, MediTech 比较好的 Wipro 还有些不记得了.选择ICC的原则是: 一定要以前办成过比较多的H1B. 办h1b不收钱的(加急的钱除外). 没有违规记录的,aequor就有. 有technical interview的,不interview的就要人,too good to be true,陷阱必然有地. 还有就是要适合自己找项目的.

HEB

Hemispherx BioPharma Inc (AMEX: HEB) surged up 4.86% to $0.279 on a traded volume of 761k shares. The Rosen Law Firm reminds investors of the important February 22, 2013 lead plaintiff deadline in the class action filed on behalf of investors who purchased the securities of Hemispherx Biopharma Inc from March 19, 2012 through December 17, 2012. Hemispherx Biopharma is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the clinical development of new drugs therapies based on natural immune system enhancing technologies for the treatment of viral and immune based chronic disorders.

关于推荐信

发信人: muser (负尽千重罪,练就不死心), 信区: AdvancedEdu 标  题: Re: 关于推荐信,请问 发信站: 水木社区 (Mon Oct 11 09:09:00 2010), 站内 推荐信嘛...不用那么紧张。 天下牛人不是少,而是多,太多。所以,能给别人留个不错的印象,已经不错了。 除非你拿了诺奖啊菲奖呢,或是非常的天才,别人看来,也就那么回事。 读博是个持久战,你能不能、愿不愿静下心来好好做学问,这才是关键。 几年前和一个正在招assistant的系主任聊了聊,问他们看什么。 他说:新人嘛,你怎么可以上来指望是泰山北斗?叫几个看上不错的,来吃吃饭,聊聊 天。打电话问问推荐人,别说什么怪话就是。 所以,人不好挑啊。好多地方招人,一招就很久。最后烦了,谁最后面试,就是谁了。 hehe...所以,有点看运气。 除了那些牛的不能再牛的学校,天天盯着既是天才又肯吃苦做学问的 以外,其他的, 个人以为,颇为看重你的勤劳、执着、与谦虚。 天才多的是。没几天找个高薪的工作,走人了。这种例子也是多的数不胜数。 不用紧张。努力考试与准备。 【 在 casseto (casseto) 的大作中提到: 】 : 过来短期讲学认识的一个牛导。今天他把推荐信发给我了。写的比较空。 : 第一段介绍短期讲学的情况。第二段说对我的分析能力,专业背景,技术能力留下深 刻印 : 象。第三段说好学生能够得到最好的机会。

Facebook股价走高五大原因:即将发布新品

  导语:美国《福布斯》杂志网络版今天发表署名罗伯特·霍夫(Robert Hof)的文章,分析了Facebook股价周三突破30美元的五大原因,将于下周召开的新品发布会成为首要原因。   以下为文章全文:   尽管去年5月的IPO(首次公开招股)失利,但Facebook股价近期却一路走高,周三上涨5%,自去年7月以来 首次突破30美元大关 。投资者为何突然对去年资本市场最失败的案例感兴趣了呢?   1、新品发布   我和很多记者都受邀于1月15日参加Facebook的新品发布会。他们并未披露详细信息,只是说:“ 来看看我们在开发什么 。”   有很多可能,或许是新型广告(尽管Facebook工程师在谈论他们正在开发的产品时,很少涉及广告),或许是手机(可能性不大,因为马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)曾经否认过这一传言),也有可能是搜索引擎、音乐服务或范围更广的电子商务项目。   但最有可能的,应该还是一些截然不同的产品。无论如何,这都足以激发投资者的兴趣,让他们在可能引发大量媒体报道的重大产品发布前抢先买入该股。    2、广告收入再度加速   去年第三季度,Facebook凭借36%的广告收入增速给投资者带来了惊喜,第二天股价就大涨20%。尽管移动广告收入是主要看点,但新的广告交易市场和Custom Audiences精准广告项目也在步入正轨。    3、移动广告问题逐渐解决   移动广告是Facebook IPO期间最关键的问题,该公司在解决该问题的过程中已经开了一个好头。去年第三季度的移动广告收入突破1.5亿美元,约占总收入的14%。仅仅6个月 前,这一数字还是零。正如扎克伯格在第三季度财报电话会议上所说:“我希望打破Facebook无法从移动市场赚钱的神话。”   4、通过新品和收购保护自家领地   Facebook收购Instagram最终的实际价格并未达到10亿美元,但仍然表明,Facebook对这一领域投入了巨资。这也表明,扎 克伯格愿意花费重金购买他手下的工程师无法开发出的产品。最近推出的Poke虽然因为山寨了Snapchat而备受争议,但却释放出一个明确的信号:它不 会允许行业新秀轻易进入自己的领地。   5、第四季度业绩发布在即...

YouTube most viewed video top 5

昨天跟朋友聊起YouTube上的most viewed video of all time, 今天查了一下,这是前 5名: 5. Charlie bit my finger, again! 4. Love the way you lie 3. Jennifer Lopez - On the floor 2. Justin Bieber - Baby 1. 没有悬念,Gangnam style, 1.15 billion view counts! --

《我这五年的事》-化学wsn的破事

在这里潜水多年了,现在有了空儿,把一些事写出来。不是为了什么,也没有什么目的 ,就当是个树洞吧。因为写的事情多多少少和化学有些关系,就发在这里了。 ======================================================================== 听说,人生最悲剧的就是放弃了不该放弃的,坚持了不该坚持的。 博士毕业了,我也离开了化学这一行。我觉得有些事,不是我们这一行的人很难理解, 所以把一些多余的话写出来,纪念一下似水流年。回过头来我觉得我们这些人都可以说 ,我这一生最好的几年都是在hood里度过的,所以似乎也应该写下来。 我对化学,似乎有一些家庭渊源。我的父亲是做化工的,母亲也曾在化学实验室里工作 。小的时候就经常到我母亲工作的地方去,看到玻璃的瓶瓶罐罐,还是颇有神秘感的。 作为小朋友,现在想,我对科学的热情还是很高的,小学生的时候就在家里电解盐水( 可不是PS上的胡扯)。本科的时候也不知道怎么弄的,最后学了化学。应该说我对 quantitative的东西应该更擅长一些,本科时,物化的成绩一直比有机要好,但是因为 有一位非常inspiring的有机化学的老师,好像一切繁杂的东西,在他那里都make sense。所以我想,最后决定来美国,读PhD,读有机,和这位老师也不无关系。记得当 年收到几个不错的offers,还曾经到版上咨询过前辈。Steve Mason教授当年刚刚把他 的组挪到了新学校。可能是比较缺人把,还主动打电话和我联系。受宠若惊之余,便从 了。于是2007年我便来到了这个东海岸还有些名气的学校。 想起来当时真是踌躇满志,斗志昂扬。拉着两个箱子在机场,真的觉得一切皆有可能, 只差没有大喊veni, vidi, vici了。其实到了系里报道,心里还稍稍有些波澜。看得出 ,这个化学系的规模其实没有我本科的化学系大。这个系里中国人向来不多,系里另一 个中国师姐当时已经五年级了。她个子很高,怀着新生对老生的崇敬,我仰望着她,清 楚的记得她说,“化学?你想想吧,能转赶紧转吧。”现在想,这真是金玉良言啊。怎 奈年轻人永远是最乐观,最大无谓的。总觉得你倒霉是你能力不行,我的路必是金光大 道,我定会与众不同的。五年后,当我因为找工作的事焦头烂额时,又想起来联系这位 师姐...

HTML Helpers (Plug-ins)

A helper application is a small computer program that extends the standard functionality of the browser. Helper applications are also called plug-ins. Plug-ins are often used by browsers to play audio and video. Examples of well-known plug-ins are Adobe Flash Player and QuickTime. Plug-ins can be added to Web pages through the tag or the tag.  Most plug-ins allow manual (or programmed) control over settings for volume, rewind, forward, pause, stop, and play.

Sound Formats

MP3 is the newest format for compressed recorded music. The term MP3 has become synonymous with digital music. If your website is about recorded music, the MP3 format is the choice. Format File Description MIDI .mid .midi MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a format for electronic music devices like synthesizers and PC sound cards. MIDI files do not contain sound, but digital musical instructions (notes) that can be played by electronics (like your PC's sound card). Click here to play The Beatles . Since MIDI files only contains instructions; they are extremely small. The example above is only 23K in size, but it plays for nearly 5 minutes. MIDI is supported by many software systems/platforms. MIDI is supported by all the most popular Internet browsers. MP3 .mp3 MP3 files are actually the sound part of MPEG files. MPEG was originally developed for video by the Moving Pictures Experts Group. MP3 is the most popular format for music. The enc...

Video Formats

         MP4 is the new and upcoming format for internet video. It is supported by YouTube, Flash players and HTML5. Format File Description AVI .avi AVI (Audio Video Interleave) was developed by Microsoft. AVI is supported by all computers running Windows, and by the most popular web browsers. It is a very common format on the Internet, but not always possible to play on non-Windows computers WMV .wmv WMV (Windows Media Video) was developed by Microsoft. WMV is a common format on the Internet, but it cannot be played on non-Windows computer without an extra (free) component installed. Some later WMVs cannot play at all on non-Windows computers because no player is available MPEG .mpg .mpeg The MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) format is the most popular format on the Internet. It is cross-platform, and supported by all major browsers QuickTime .mov QuickTime was developed by Apple. QuickTime is a comm...

HTML Useful Character Entities

Note: Entity names are case sensitive! Result Description Entity Name Entity Number   non-breaking space     < less than < < > greater than > > & ampersand & & ¢ cent ¢ ¢ £ pound £ £ ¥ yen ¥ ¥ € euro € € § section § § © copyright © © ® registered trademark ® ® ™ trademark ™ ™

Styling HTML with CSS

CSS was introduced together with HTML 4, to provide a better way to style HTML elements. CSS can be added to HTML in the following ways: Inline - using the style attribute in HTML elements Internal - using the < style > element in the <head> section External - using an external CSS file The preferred way to add CSS to HTML, is to put CSS syntax in separate CSS files.

谈生物农业

问题一:买农业股票能不能对抗经济危机和通货膨胀 “很担心美国经济,再次发生危机,或者发生通货膨胀,那么可不可以通过现在投资农 业股票来对个人财产进行保值。”这是一位网友之前在版上问过得问题。我当时就回答 了我的看法,结论是,不能。有以下几个原因。 1、农产品的价格是波动的,大多以半年或一年作为周期。这个时间是大部分农产品生 长的周期。由于南北半球季节相反的效应,使得一些一年一季的农产品也会产生半年期 的价格波动。简言之,当一种农产品价格升高后,必然激发农场和农民在半年内产出更 多的相应农产品,从而实现价格的稳定和回落。除非经历全球性的气候危机,否则农产 品的价格很难持续保持高位。而全球性的气候危机是十分罕见的。 2、农产品的价格并不独立于世界经济形势。举例说,油用大豆(Soybean (oil)),小 麦(Wheat)和玉米(Corn)这三种指标性农作物的价格曲线(附图一至三)相比于Dow 指曲线(附图四)。当Dow Jones从2007年底的14000点跌落到2009年初的7000点时; Soybean,Wheat和Corn也无一例外的在2009年一月跌幅达到或超过50%。纵观历史,粮 食和经济作物的价格和全球经济是一体的,因此,对农作物的投资并不能达到抵抗通货 膨胀,经济萧条的目的。 3、农业相关的公司的盈利和农产品价格直接相关,因此决定了他们的收益也往往存在 季节性的波动并和全球经济形势相关(参照ADM,BG的图线)。而且,经济危机带来的 直接影响往往是食物总体消费的下降,所以这些公司的股票也是难以抵抗经济危机和通 货膨胀的。 问题二:现在能不能买农业股票 对于这个话题,我准备多讨论一些。为了方便,暂将大部分的农业公司分为两类:一类 包括从种植到运输直至经销的这整条产业链公司,另一类包括提供种子化肥农药相关的 公司。第一类中,具有代表性的目前四大粮商可以简称为ABCD,分别是ADM(Archer Daniels Midland),邦吉(Bunge),嘉吉(Cargill)和路易达孚(Louis Dreyfus) 。这四大粮商目前垄断了全球80%的粮食交易量。他们操纵着全世界粮食的进出口买卖 、食品的制造与包装,以及价格的制定。这几个公司被认为与各国的政治集团之间有着 千丝万缕的联系,并形成了一个...

杂技狂人的跑酷!极限与杂技的混合!

基础科学系列(2)-罗马困局

作为本系列的第二篇,笔者在这里将要探讨世界上唯一的超级大国---美国的科研情况 和发展趋势。不可否认的是,被称为“新罗马”的美国作为世界上唯一的超级大国,在 绝大多数科研领域都占有绝对优势。目前来看美国科研经费较充足,人民的生活水平也 在发达国家中算不错的。同时美国还采取了较为积极的移民政策。这使得美国有机会吸 引全世界最优秀的人才。但是美国目前的基础科学科研也出现了严重的可持续性发展问 题。对美国科学发展的历史现状和未来进行分析,是对我国的科研规划和发展有相当的 借鉴作用的。 在19世纪末期,美国成为世界上第一大工业国,庞大的工业生产能力催生了巨大的工程 学研究需求,而工程学水平的提高又依赖于基础科学的发展。在强大工业增长的刺激下 ,美国的工程学和基础科学研究开始高速扩张。20世纪初,迈克尔逊和莫雷成为第一个 获得诺贝尔奖的美国科研小组,这标志着美国科学正式走上了世界舞台。在一次世界大 战之前,美国的工业产值已经超过了排名第二的德国的一倍(美国工业占世界比重的38 %,德国占15.7%)。一战和经济危机并没有导致美国工业比重的严重下降。二战期间, 美国的工业比重更急剧上升,一天下水一艘的自由轮运载着打不完的坦克和飞机奔赴欧 洲和太平洋战场。最终美国依靠强大的军事工业生产能力和苏联一起用蛮力推平了德国 和日本。在此期间,大量欧洲一流科研人才西渡美国,“如过江之鲫”,极大地加强了 美国的科研力量。战后,美国又挑起了和苏联的全面军事对抗,对于基础科学的投入大 大增加。1958年,美国通过了国防教育法,以法令形势加强数学物理教育。冷战期间, 在阿波罗计划、航天飞机、全核舰队和ATF等强大的国防项目牵引下,美国的基础科学 全面开花。美国在重工业,生物医药业,高科技农业等方面缺乏大型国有企业,其工业 生产依赖于私营公司。在私营公司和大学的游说下,美国于1980年通过了Bayh-Dole Act (拜杜法案),允许大学等受联邦经费资助的科研单位作为专利的持有人。这相当于 由国家承担全部研发费用,而学校、院系和研究人员获得全部收益,是化公为私的终极 形势(http://news.sohu.com/20100826/n274491110.shtml)。该法案极大地刺激了美国科研界的热情,也顺便 将滥用经费牟利的行为降低到最低。当全...

廖康:音乐剧《悲惨世界》——大众和英语的胜利

音乐剧《悲惨世界》的电影破了票房纪录,几乎场场爆满。而且几乎场场结束时观众都 对着空无一人的银幕鼓掌,这在电影史上是少有的。当然,电影仅仅是进一步普及了这 出音乐剧,原剧本身就非常受大众欢迎。从1985年问世以来,在伦敦已经连续演出了27 年,至今仍旧不衰。在纽约百老汇也曾连续演出16年,停了三年后,又于2006年重新上 演至2008年。音乐剧《悲惨世界》在英语世界的成功几乎让人们忘记它原本是法国人勋 伯格(Claude-Michel Schönberg)作曲,布伯利(Alain Boublil)和纳泰勒(Jean- Marc Natel)作词的轻歌剧。可是在法国,这出剧于1980年问世,只演了三个月。在英 美大获成功后,经过改编的作品于1991在巴黎再度上演,命运仍不见好,只演了很短一 段时间就收场了。这个奇怪的现象让我想到原著作者雨果的命运。他因反对拿破仑三世 独裁而被迫流亡海外,从1851开始侨居法国旁边的英属岛屿长达19年之久。小说《悲惨 世界》就是在此期间(1862年)完成的。当然,这出轻歌剧在法国受到冷遇的原因绝不是 政治。甚至还不能说它受到冷遇,毕竟也演过一百多场,只不过它不像在英美这么成功 罢了。这“墙外香”现象应该归功于英语大众的喜爱和英语本身的强势。 法国人在艺术上是比较挑剔的,尤其对改编法语名著特别敏感。《悲惨世界》是法国文 学经典中的经典,无论谁来改编,无论把它改编成什么,都遭到过严厉的批评和无情的 讥讽。评论家们不仅对删繁就简十分厌恶,而且对破坏语言的优美尤其愤怒。但对读翻 译的人来说,凡是与我交谈过的读者都一致认为,这部鸿篇巨制如果删掉一半,文学价 值可能更高。小说里有太多游离于故事之外的议论和轶事。那些鞭挞时政的批评也好, 对历史事件的评论也好,惊动巴黎的绯闻也好,当年的读者看着热闹,就像我们今天在 网上打架差不多,但与后世读者没多大关系。现在我们关心的只是小说人物的命运,除 了研究历史的学者以外,谁还关心那些陈芝麻烂谷子?而且真正研究历史的学者要去史 册典籍里钩沉,小说最多就是用来参考而已。至于语言美,《悲惨世界》毕竟是用法语 写的。其中的美妙在翻译中难以完全再现出来。改编成音乐剧,也许会让法国文学评论 家们非常不满。但对于外国人来说,反正以前也没有充分领略到原文的妙处,我们能感 到...