Sunday, January 30, 2005

花東之旅後記~回家後第一天

1/29, 星期六
回家後有些許空虛感。

前幾天每天一早起來就是騎車,這下突然不用騎了,覺得渾身不對勁。於是把車子調了調(之前五天坐墊明明是個不舒服的角度,卻一直沒調),從家裡(基隆)騎到了瑞芳,走縣道106往平溪方向。這下背上沒有背包,覺得輕得有點詭異。

在花東真是被平路慣壞了,回來騎山坡竟虛到用最輕檔速度還只有個位數...比之前騎學生車爬山時還虛。但到了半山腰時,體力又來了,開始加速。當天早上霧 超濃的,可見度只有幾公尺吧,但我還是只開那家樂福的超虛後燈,繼續無腦的往上爬,到山頂後算算離平溪只有3~5公里吧,就開始往平溪滑下去。山上超冷 的,跟花東可說是天攘之別。在進入106時,路牌寫著「平溪 12」,結果看著路邊的里程標示,明明騎了13.5公里,平溪還是連個影子都沒有,這些路標有一定的欺騙性,12大概是水平距離吧。看看快中午了,只好回 家吃飯了。

很後悔沒報南橫,龜在家中真的很無聊,但現在就算想報,也沒錢了。買新車真的很傷。

花東之旅心得/遊記 part 2

27號早上,我們在關山再度塞暴一家早餐店。之後往關山自行車道走。那些租車行進步不少,上次來時是一堆鏽得快解體的爛車,煞車還不一定能用。現在每台車 都閃閃發光,只不過都是量販店才會出現的那種。只有一家例外,提供Giant AT100﹔但這些捷安特也很神奇,有前變速器,卻只有後變把,原本的十速剩五速,前變只是裝飾而已。關山自行車道風景不錯,只不過跟前幾天的沒差多少, 路面品質卻較差(凹凸不平的水泥地),還要買票咧(還是一個月前才開始收費的)。

鹿野的麵店非常神奇,我們一群人坐進去半小時後,來了15顆水餃,之後又來了幾盤炒飯。一小時後湯出現了。兩小時後才開始拿出麵皮和碎肉,準備要包我們點的剩下的60顆水餃。喂,我看你乾脆牽來一隻豬,告訴我們現在才要開始殺豬算了!

之 前在關山時,先殺到知本探路的智誠就已經打電話回來說路上有很機車的坡道,還叫我跟冠宇要好好照顧小隊員。這下終於在下午給我碰上了。但我也不覺得有多 機車,因為一直在後面推人,一直保持在非常輕的檔位輕鬆的慢慢踩。只是,到後來,先投車隊已離我們相當遠,再推也追不上他們,索性放輕鬆慢慢的推。在這過 程中,非常佩服種馬和團長一直在後面照顧人的耐心,也讓我打消了往前衝的衝動。半路智誠回來跟我們會合,幫忙押後,真是強者我學長orz

到 了下坡路段,不推人了,改用騎到前面幫他擋風阻的方式,發現效果也不錯,呵呵,帶後面的人能帶到時速30還頗有成就感的。只是,以後有相關的活動,體力 較差的人請主動要求要藉好一點的車﹔不要在那非常辛苦的騎著比各個幹部都還重,變速還很難用的車。對自己好一點吧。開始帶人下坡追大隊時,卻發現宇潔自己 在那悠哉的買釋迦!真是服了你。

在蔴薯賣場收隊後,隊伍不再拖那麼長,我也把握最後的機會開始飆速度。到了台東市,智誠跑到前面帶隊,看 了看,說:「啊怎麼幹部全部都擠在前面?」對了, 後面又沒人照顧了,於是我又滑到了後面了。一路上一直思考要如何讓後面跟上時,竟完全沒發覺我們正在其一段很長的緩上坡,完了,我竟騎車騎到有點無腦了。 到了熟悉的知本,開始興奮起來了,管他什麼坡,都給他狂踩上去,我真的瘋了。

溫泉旅館,當然不能太差。不但設備不錯,門口還有歡迎台大單車社的牌子。我們的車子一整排擺在大廳,還圍了繩子和兩塊「請勿觸摸,損壞照價賠償」的告示,活像單車展覽一般。旅館的溫泉很機車,還要泳帽才能進去,只不過我們也沒時間去。

晚 會還頗high的,各個主持人都超強的。圖騰柱尤其是經典。各組的表演也都很精采,我最喜歡的是「瘋狂種馬」,衝進來擺個很帥的姿勢然後滑倒。本組自己 的戲我都放不開,實在要跟大家道歉。小天使小組人很難猜,尤其像是到第四天還會把兩個人搞混或忘記別人名字的我,就算有別人提示還是掛了。不過倒是見識到 了大家如何耍心機片小主人或小天使。雖然只是個遊戲,但能被人照顧,還真是讓我感動了一下子,尤其是那兩封信,小天使謝啦^^

從沒想過我們小隊能拿下那麼多獎,尤其當我們小隊輔是非常忙碌的協辦人時還能表現的那麼好。但這最要感謝的就是宇潔。前一天討論時一走進來竟然就一口氣把劇本完整的說了出來。那樣的東西若要我這國文特爛的人寫,大概要一個禮拜才生的出來吧。

當 天晚上,開始和"強者我學長"討論第二天的落跑計畫。到櫃檯問了火車時刻,到火車站的路怎麼走,考慮了各種可能性,還跟櫃檯要了3個包車的垃圾袋。在跟 哈比人說好後,我在約2:00am去睡,設好鬧鐘要在2小時後起床。結果非常烏龍的,智誠3:40才去睡,然後兩個人都一覺睡到七點。吃完早餐後,哈比還 問我們怎麼還沒走XD

猶豫了一陣子後,還是決定不想做上那班10幾個小時,半夜過後才到台北的地獄遊覽車。於是我們2個狂人於9:40上 路。智誠卻因行李過重,又帶著10幾灌 啤酒,快不起來。學長前幾天太操了啦。好吧,拿出前一天幫助芳諭的招數,到前面幫學長擋風阻。這下才發覺昨天傍晚騎了多長的緩坡。約一個小時後,到了火車 站,卻發現前一班莒光號才在2分鐘前走掉...等下一班下午1:17的。後來在站前發現遊覽車司機,他說因為一點多才出發,還要去海邊玩玩,大概凌晨1, 2點才能到台北。

車子拆一拆包一包就準備上車了。此時還有另一位學長也來搭車了(糟糕,又忘了一個人的名字),我們3人每人不同車廂,剛好一個車廂放一台車。

在 火車上,發現我們前幾天所騎的台9線幾乎都在鐵路旁。一邊往窗外看風景,一邊回味這五天來的點點滴滴。我們在哪裡吃飯,在哪裡休息,在哪裡有人摔車,在 哪裡又做了什麼...那些畫面隨著火車的前進,每看到一段路,就想起我們在那作過什麼。經過池上站時還看到全美行的人在月台上叫賣,有點後悔之前已經買了 7-11的國民便當。到了花蓮站,一堆人擠上車,火車駛離我們所熟悉的地方,算了,睡吧!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
這次活動,學到了關懷,摸熟了台9線,增加了耐力,也交了一些朋友,但還是有一堆人沒混熟。第一天不該耍自閉的XD另外,這次我在整群人中也算是小朋友(才大2),明年若有時間,再來一次吧,下次當個有經驗的老人好了^^

花東之旅心得/遊記 part 1

(照片在此)
禮 拜一凌晨3點半被好幾個鬧鐘叫醒, 有點對不起室友, 但不希望睡過頭. 前晚打包完的東西拿一拿, 扛著車衝到宿舍門口. 換上重檔, 全力往大門口衝刺. 一開始人不多, 但幫種馬把幾輛單車抬上車後發覺人越來越多了, 而且大部分都不認識. 不錯, 這次會認識很多新朋友.

當 然, 真正的旅程是從下遊覽車, 上單車開始的. 第一天的其車速度爆慢的(當時的感覺), 比我在校園內騎車都還慢. 但隨著天色變暗, 瀚葵(沒打錯吧, 社上的老人真是多到認不完...XD)帶隊的速度也越來越快, 隊伍越拉越長, 尤其每過一座橋, 後面的人又更遠了. 這下我才發覺, 其實這次大修推有很多第一次參加的人, 應該體諒一下他/她們.

在東華大學自介時, 其實我有點怕怕的, 怕自介完, 又要玩什麼記別人的名字的遊戲. 我最不在行的就是記別人的名字, 每次玩這種遊戲, 玩大冒險的一定是我. 好險沒有玩, 但我還是依照慣例, 在一個小時內, 把大家的名字忘得精光. 後來還一直把抽小主人的那張紙條拿出來複習, 因為我連小主人的名字都忘了(不知道名字怎麼叫別人送東西?).

第 一晚的民宿是個有趣的地方. 老闆娘說:"你們以後幾天不會住到比這個更好的了!" 若從老闆親切的程度和建築的美觀來看, 可以這麼說吧. 真的有"家"的感覺. 到了之後, 一直聽說有個人晚上要坐火車過來(聽說還一度坐錯車北上去了), 一直想說是何方神聖, 還要留"2人份"的晚餐...原來, 是映涵, 又是一個我在社上見過, 名字又被我遺忘的人...

夜遊, 一不小心就到了巴黎凱旋門, 真是神奇. 只不過此門小了點, 前面的噴水池還有一隻牛. 兆豐農場也未免華利的誇張了點. 除此之外, 其遊客中心還是個閃爍著燈光的皇宮.

第二天, 是車禍特多的日子. 一大早就有人因為別人碼表掉了而摔車. 只是我還是飆在最前頭, 不是很清楚後面的狀況. 但親眼看到這種事也不是什麼好事啦.

台糖是個神奇的公司, 他們做的冰, 硬是比別人好吃, 也說不上來為什麼. 我們這次的天氣實在是棒極了, 雖然是冬天, 但鋒面剛好遠遠的在我們後面追著我們南下. 結果, 我們感受到的天氣熱到正好可以吃冰.

縣 道195是個起起伏伏的路段, 一上又一下, 波又不陡, 正好練初學者的上下坡. 只是, 很不幸的, 諺劭特別花錢換裝的avid煞車竟在下坡時鎖死, 害他翻車(聽說)! 後來問諺劭說怎麼了(飆在最前頭的我, 還是沒看到), 他竟說:"沒什麼, 只是躺在地上裝死" 聽說他之前還說過"我每次出活動都一定摔車"之類的話. 我只能說, 大概每個人在學騎車的過程中都一定要摔車吧. 我自己在國小時就已經摔過無數次了, "該摔的都摔夠了".

提前脫隊, 到前面探路, 是個不錯的經驗, 能在修推之中有機會拿出實力狂飆; 只不過據說我在狂飆的過程中錯過了"北回歸線指標牌"XD. 在那段路程中, 空中飛行的小果蠅非常多, 卻又小的令人看不清楚. 結果以高速騎過去, 撞死了一堆小蟲, 卻只覺得"大顆粒灰塵好多". 直到用手在臉上沾到果蠅屍體才了解事實. 到了台18號, 往南安瀑布的路上, 說實在的, 能辦活動的地點不多, 幾乎都是別人的田地. 其實我們最候選中的地點, 包括遊客中心前面, 和其旁邊的草地, 在上山之前問路時別人推薦的場地, 因為她老公"常常在那辦活動". 到了遊客中心後, 又遇到管理員, 不但又介紹附近能辦活動的場地外, 還拿了很棒的地圖給我們. 真是的, 本來我們探路團要做的工作, 包括畫地圖和選場地, 別人都幫我們弄好好的了. 下山後, 我們在跟大隊會合前, 甚至還有時間悠閒的吃麵說...(我知道當時我們三個之外的大家一定很餓, 我們真惡劣XD)

非常抱歉, 因為我的疏忽, 接力賽各棒間的距離過短, 結果勝負幾乎都決定在拆裝車上. 大學拳挺色的, 學長真是委屈你了. 諺劭, 雖然我知道你就是這樣的人, 但是當這影響到本小隊的分數時, 我還是要說"你當關主時太多閒話了" 涵水說話, 難的不在猜答案, 而再於如何保持說話時啤酒不要從嘴角溢出來. 而旭昇你的比手畫腳, 我只能說, 象棋棋盤我在前一天探路時就發現了, 很抱歉開會時沒有提出來!

在池上時, 為了等冠祐修車, 我們幾個人嚴重落後, 於是開始追大隊. 冠祐你的跑車只剩9速還能把我們遠遠的甩在後面, 真是佩服你.

全美行的柴魚便當真好吃, 只可惜料多但飯過少.

池上到關山的路上要夜騎, 奉智誠學長之命, 我們第2小隊排好一路縱隊, 一路以車隊的形式高速飆到終點. 中間的就算看不到路也沒關係, 只要有前後的人夾著, 就沒事了. 這次身身體會到"車隊"的神奇, 前面幫後面擋風阻的功效好像也比想像中好.

網咖選課是個非常機車的事. 那骯髒的環境和古怪的計費方式已經夠機車了, 發現所有的通是全掛後更不爽. 最後, 在不到50分鐘就說一小時結束趕人還真是雪上加霜咧.

Biking trip: 3rd day

This day we woke up to some great breakfast- the host prepared some sandwich, soymilk(or milk tea)and some bread and a toaster. I'd say it's very good, expecially the toast. What's incredible is that when we woke up, our team leader(he calls himself "anyway"...)has just got back from where I checked yesterday. What an early bird!

Then we took everybody through the rice paddys, pass the smelly rivers across fields of flowers into the mountains where we would play some games. First stop is "bike assembly and sprint race". I'd like to say sorry here because it is I, who layed out the race route, which is so short that only the "bike assembly" part matters, if your bike acted up and you finished the assembly slower, the speed of the sprint afterwards just didn't matter. Because the brake wire got lose, our bike took longer to put together, which put our teem at 3rd place. However, we are good at the other 4 games, which ridiculously made us one of the 2 teems with the highest overall score. But we lost a final round which made us 2nd place.



The waterfall was great, but somehow I was so tired after the games that I nearly fell asleep on a rock.

Then, with a tired mind, but my legs still paddling, we rode on another small route through the rurel country. Yes, I know it's beautiful, but I'm sort of getting tired of those little yellow flowers(油菜花), 'cause they're just everywhere. And my mind is just a blank, not knowing where I'm riding to, just keep on paddling. I didn't even realize people are singing all along.

Oh well, some how I made it with everyone else to the "welcome to Taitung" post. We had some rest and took some photos. Then everyone went on to the next stop, while I waited for a friend to fix his derailer. We chased on afterwards at a high speed of about 30km/hr, but didn't know the way once we got to the town since the others were long gone. But another guy who is with us catcher-ups suggested that they must be at the place where they have the best food(池上便當). And sure enough, they were all there.

After dinner, we were supposed to ride in the night to guanshan(關山), where we would spend the night. On the order of our teem leader, we, teem 2, rode in a stright line, everybody with their designated place. To my surprise, it really reduces drag, increases efficiency, keeps even the ones without a headlight on the right route, and , with the help of a down hill, the whole teem could finish the trip with a whooping average of 30km/hr and arive at the destination together, no one left out. Just incredible.

We went to a web cafe to do our class selection, which is a new experience. However, I don't like it. The place has a heavy small of tabacco, sticky keyboards and mouse, slow connection, and the "one hour" time limit actually ends in less then 50 minutes according to my watch, now that really sucks.

The accomadation is the worst of the trip. Dirty slipers, cranky sofa, small and creppy room , a TV that is so old that can only tune to 7 channels and one bathroom every floor with a tilled bath tub. Oh well, guess that's a way to save money.

Biking trip: 3rd day

This day we woke up to some great breakfast- the host prepared some sandwich, soymilk(or milk tea)and some bread and a toaster. I'd say it's very good, expecially the toast. What's incredible is that when we woke up, our team leader(he calls himself "anyway"...)has just got back from where I checked yesterday. What an early bird!

Then we took everybody through the rice paddys, pass the smelly rivers across fields of flowers into the mountains where we would play some games. First stop is "bike assembly and sprint race". I'd like to say sorry here because it is I, who layed out the race route, which is so short that only the "bike assembly" part matters, if your bike acted up and you finished the assembly slower, the speed of the sprint afterwards just didn't matter. Because the brake wire got lose, our bike took longer to put together, which put our teem at 3rd place. However, we are good at the other 4 games, which ridiculously made us one of the 2 teems with the highest overall score. But we lost a final round which made us 2nd place.

The waterfall was great, but somehow I was so tired after the games that I nearly fell asleep on a rock.

Then, with a tired mind, but my legs still paddling, we rode on another small route through the rurel country. Yes, I know it's beautiful, but I'm sort of getting tired of those little yellow flowers(油菜花), 'cause they're just everywhere. And my mind is just a blank, not knowing where I'm riding to, just keep on paddling. I didn't even realize people are singing all along.

Oh well, some how I made it with everyone else to the "welcome to Taitung" post. We had some rest and took some photos. Then everyone went on to the next stop, while I waited for a friend to fix his derailer. We chased on afterwards at a high speed of about 30km/hr, but didn't know the way once we got to the town since the others were long gone. But another guy who is with us catcher-ups suggested that they must be at the place where they have the best food(池上便當). And sure
enough, they were all there.

After dinner, we were supposed to ride in the night to guanshan(關山), where we would spend the night. On the order of our teem leader, we, teem 2, rode in a stright line, everybody with their designated place. To my surprise, it really reduces drag, increases efficiency, keeps even the ones without a headlight on the right route, and , with the help of a down hill, the whole teem could finish the trip with a whooping average of 30km/hr and arive at the destination together, no one left out. Just incredible.

We went to a web cafe to do our class selection, which is a new experience. However, I don't like it. The place has a heavy small of tabacco, sticky keyboards and mouse, slow connection, and the "one hour" time limit actually ends in less then 50 minutes according to my watch, now that sucks.

The accomadation is the worst of the trip. Dirty slipers, cranky sofa, small and creppy room , a TV that is so old that can only tune to 7 channels and one bathroom every floor with a tilled bath tub. Oh well, guess that's a way to save money.

Biking trip: 2nd day

Set my alarm to 6:55, but some how the morning call guy knocked on our door just a minute before the alarm went off. After some preperation, we're on the road again. As a speedoholic, I once again rode to the front pack, then realized that the slower pack was no where to be seen. We stoped for a little rest, while someone finaly came over to tell that there's an accident way back. "Someone droped his speedometer, the one in the back pulled on the brakes, then the others just crashed into a mess." Now what did I say about ridding to close together? Although I didn't see it my self, seems that a girl was quite hurt, bless her.

After breakfast and a little riding, we stopped at a suger plant(台糖花蓮糖廠)for some icecream and popsicles. Although it's winter, it's still so hot around here that it's just right for some icy snack. Not only does the stuff taste good, the sceanary and some building around there were beautiful.

We then wound up to a smaller route that crosses the farms. I don't know about the others, but I'm finally having some fun with the little ups and down. Minute hills compared with the slops near home, but better than the flat roads of the morning. It also has less cars and much better sceanary of the country, with orange trees, rice paddies and fields of flowers. You even get a great look of the mountains in the back ground. Now that winding little route was really a film(or should I say memory?)killer. There was a long down hill of the route, where we speed-a-holics once again zoomed ahead, leaving the rest behind. We stoped at near the end of the slope, when we realized that the people behind was once again not showing up. A phone call back reveiled another accident. A friend who joined the club about the same week as me had a brake lock up and his bike rolled over, resulting in him lying on the ground, nose bleeding. Oh well, seems that he's expecting it...(he said he falls every time he rides)

Later, me and 2 others left the pack to check the path ahead, where we would have games tomarrow. In order to get there before it got dark, I said we should stick to an aveage of about 24km/hr. But seems we're slightly under that, because we are a little exusted be the day's riding before this. We asked a woman how to get to our destination, who started nagged like a mom, telling us how dangerous it is to ride there in the dark. Great thanks for her caring, but we have work to do, so we went on. We thought we were going to climb a mountian, but, oh well, the road was so easy and flat. After we maped out the area, the rest of the pack is still about 30 minutes away. Oh well, guess we are fast enough. We even had the time to have dinner before we meet with the pack and greet everybody "long time no see." We learned later that the others, unlike us, didn't have the time to eat until they arived. Oh well, I'm...speach less.

It was another great hotel on top of a hill, over looking the whole town. And to our suprise, it's got digital TV.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Biking trip: 1st day

Got up real early at 3:20 this morning to get on the bus at 4:00, but then we took an hour just to stack all those bikes into the bus. Slept for a while on the bus till we got to I-lan(宜蘭), when it's just about time to have "breakfast". After some intro and the sort, people started singing karaoke. Although I never liked the MIDI background music of karaoke, there's something intresting about it. How come people always pick the same songs, no matter when or who?

Then we got to the beautiful city of Hwalian(花蓮)where we finally got on our bikes and started riding. With all those flat roads and the slow speed of only 15+ km/hr(because we have amatures here), this is way too easy and I started to get bored. Then me and another friend who loves the feel of speed started to go into a cycle of slowing down, get to the back of the pack, speeding up back to the head of the pack then slowing down again. Some sort of entertainment, I'd say.

We then came to Tong Hwa University(東華大學). It's like twice as big as our school with so much grass filds that it looks more like a park. Although the place was so beautiful, but it seems so deserted that it would even be a pain in the ass to get a good meal. We took a rest there,and everyboby did a self-introduction. Being a sophmore, I suddenly feel like a little kid in a pack of big kids, since most people are older and many are already in graduate school. It's expecially weird to hear them say "it's so good to be young" when that's just what you would say to a fresrman. And just as usual, I forgot everybodys' names just 1 hour after the intros', of course. If I tell you I can remember someone's name by just meeting that person once, there's only 2 possibilities: 1)that's couldn't be me, or 2)it's the name of a girl that I decided I liked very much at first sight--which only occured to me once. So, so much for the intros, I don't remember a single bit of it.

Then we biked on. On the road , the first pack got a little fast and the slower pack lagged farther and farther. Guess this well always happen when you've got a lot of people.

We saw a stupid dog, who ran quickly without warning, trying to cross the road. It got hit by a little truck, yeeped loudly, but only wounded a leg, then nearly got hit by a secend. Now that was close.

We also learned a lesson: don't ride too closely to each other, or ride in a perfect stright line - the hard way. Someone slightly swinged his rear wheel, causing the guy in the back to dodge , and me, futher back lost my stabability and braked, causing the guy in the back of me crashing into each other. So, don't ride to close to each other.

Finnaly, we got to the guest house where we spend the night. The host and hostest was very hospitable, making us feel like home.
--------
I'm tired, maybe I'll right more some time later...

Sunday, January 23, 2005

First long range biking tour

I'm going to the east part of Taiwan tomarrow, biking for 5 days from Hualen to Taitung(花蓮到台東). Although about 200km is a little easy for 5 days but it still seems quite exciting. I've just bought new gear, including a new bike for this.
Be calm...
Alright, I'll be on the road for the next 5 days. Maybe I'll post something on the road if I find an AP where I can connect with my clie.
Hay, you've got to get up about 3 in the morning, so why are you fooling around here???
Alright, I'm digging in...^^

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Geeks don't know how to love

I saw yesterday on wired news about a geek who only knows how to deal with mac computers but don't know how to deal with women. Then he came apon a book called "How to Succeed With Women" and he finally had some success, and now he's teaching other geeks the trick. Yeah, I'm a geek, too. Although not a mac geek, but play with all sorts of gadgets. I don't think I'm shy, but I, too, screw up relationships. Guess technology is a modern maker of "nice guys".
With a trip to howtosucceedwithwomen.com , I even found a 4CD set called "Overcoming the 'Nice Guy' Syndrome: How to Stop being Shy without Becoming a Jerk". He he, nice guy...

Why didn't our school's library have that book memtoned above? I'd like to know. But on second thought, I guess I don't need it for now. 'Cause I don't even have a target, and it's awfully tiresome to be in "search mode", constantly on the look for beautiful girls... I'd had enough. Maybe I'd rest for the next ten years untill it's time to get merried, oh well.

Firefox still gainning on IE^^

here's Business week's take on this:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2005/tc20050112_0827_tc119.htm

I guess I've written this somewhere before, but, businessweek's article still has intresting stuff to it.

I'm still waiting for the day that Firefox gains over 10% of the market share though.
Get Firefox!

關於MP3隨身聽品牌

既然有人在問, 我來說一下我對各品牌的看法好了

Apple: 做蘋果電腦的, 最擅長使用者介面的改善, iPod的操作介面當然最簡單, 但音質就不是最好的了. Apple 過去也跟sony一樣賣超貴, 但最近有在降.

Sony*: 隨身聽的發明者, 音質和外觀造型都是一流的, 但操作介面呢, 除非你用過sony的其他產品, 不然可能不像iPod那麼直覺. (但掛vaio牌子的卻真的跟電腦一慢) Sony還堅持把所有的東西都賣很貴, 老產品寧願停產也不降價. 另外, 因為其下有sony/BMG music唱片公司, 早期產品會強迫你使用有"版權管理"的特殊格式, 還限制一堆(見下面的注解), 只有今年下半年的新產品才支援MP3

Aiwa: sony副牌, 一切比sony低一等XD

Creative: 做電腦音效卡起家的, 也是最早經營MP3隨身聽市場的, 風評不錯, 卻硬是被iPod比下去

iriver: 標準黑馬, 一家沒啥歷史的公司, 忽然就變成MP3隨身聽第二大廠. 音質很棒, 功能一堆, 但操作介面真的很爛

BenQ: 外觀設計不錯, 但其他方面被外國雜誌評得體無完膚

elio: 就是大同啦. 別以為大同只會做電鍋呵! 它也做了好幾年的資訊產品了. elio的外觀不錯, 功能多得恐怖, 但太大台, 而且要價跟sony有比.
無牌的爛貨: 那種音質, 乾脆回去聽錄音帶算了!

其他牌子我就不清楚了...

*sony walkman HD1和HD2絕不能買, 不但是水貨, 還不吃MP3(要經過電腦把MP3轉成MD所用的特殊格式才能撥(Atrac3); 升級可撥MP3的軟體則需送回日本原廠再加收服務費和運費) 要看好是型號是HD3才支援MP3. Sony Vaio pocket也不吃MP3但可從網路下載升級檔, 自行升級到支援MP3

空中巴士發表新雙層機型 A380

在波音的747橫霸了80到90年代後, 第一個挑戰者--空中巴士A380在18號正式發表
747曾經是空中最大的客機, 它剛出現時就創造了歷史, 成為第一個雙層客機, 雖然它的"二樓"其實只是機身前半部的一個"小突起物". 當時因為它的載客量過大, 很多人都在懷疑哪萊納麼多客人; 當時的2樓還甚至純粹當酒吧, 但現在它不但時常客滿, 那些如酒吧之類的豪華設備全被擁擠的座位取代.
現在A380出 現了, 它的二樓是真正的二樓, 也就是說整個機身都是雙層的. 現在又有人說可以設酒吧, 平躺的床......英國的維京航空甚至要在機上設賭場! 算了吧, 搞不好5年內又全被擠得誇張的座位取代.(雖然還是很希望此事不會發生) 然後, 因為全機載客過多, 從下機, 通關, 拿行李到走出機場的時間大概又要比現在多個1~2個小時...若是如此, 那一點也不比747好了. 另外, 各大機場為了迎接更的巨無霸, 必須擴充現有硬體, 把很多設備(如停機坪和跑道)加大, 這些都會使機場稅漲價, 直接影響到旅客的花費. 在歡迎新的巨無霸前, 我看還是先看看往後這幾年如何發展.
為防止市場被空中巴士吃掉, 波音在研發一種小一點, 但更省油的高科技客機--7E7, 強調班次增多但每位旅客的成本下降, 並提倡更大的座位, 更接近地面的機艙溼度(現在的飛機上都極度乾燥), 更舒適的旅程. 嗯, 很為旅客著想, 但很可惜, 會為旅客著想的航空公司比只為盈餘著想的公司少太多了. 我想小小的7E7大概會被視為"可塞進去的座位太少"吧...
其實我2個都覺得不錯, 至少航空業終於有新的東西出現了, 只希望不要又跟747一樣被航空公司以座位塞滿就好了. 現在的航空公司真的很惡劣, 叫人塞在那個迷你的"座位"中, 腳完全動不了; 就只差沒有叫我們相疊躺在機艙中了.

A380照片

An intresting comparison between the big guys of the web

Some companies do just about everything

Microsoft

Aol/TimeWarner

Apple

Yahoo

Google

Browser

IE

AOL &Netscape

Safari

(in rumors)

Instant messenger

MSN messenger

AIM

iChat

Yahoo messenger

Hello

E-mail service

MSN mail

AOL (subscribers only) &Netscape

.Mac (subscribers only)

Yahoo mail

Gmail (people with invitations only)

Media player

Windows media player

Winamp

Quicktime & iTunes

Musicmatch Jukebox (another in the works)

Blog space

MSN spaces

Blogger

Desktop search

MSN toolbar &in longhorn

In next version of MacOS

Yahoo desktop search

Google desktop search


Tuesday, January 18, 2005

My Firefox extensions&themes

This post is for Firefox newbes...If you don't know what this is, check here:
Get Firefox!
Something great about Firefox other then safer and easier to use, is the ability to customize it.
Here is a list of my favorite extensions(外掛), which are things that enhance the features of a software.
1. Adblock.........擋掉網頁中的廣告
blocks ads, not popups, but images and banners in any site, just right click on an image and set it to block images from that address, and you won't see it again!! (you can always remove the address from adblock's list to see it again...)
2.ForecastFox ...在firefox狀態列中顯示天氣預報(城市代碼可搜尋"taipei")
shows weather forecasts, easy as that. But you've got to set your city the first time.
3.Image Zoom....按右鍵可任意放大縮小任何圖片
lets you zoom in or out of an image
4.IE View.............按右鍵可呼叫ie開網頁
right click on a page and open it in IE if it's so messed up that only IE can show it correctly.
5.Tabbrowser Extensions...加強分頁瀏覽功能(仔細找, 有中文版)但設定較複雜
lots of setting including forcing firefox to use one window only, open everything as tabs, and open every tab you left open last time when you run firefox.**A little confusing to set up though.

And my favorite themes(面板)(well skins in winamp language), stuff that change the look of a software.
1.Phoenity Christmas
The one I'm using now
2.Noia 2.0 (eXtreme)
skins nearly every part you could think of !!
3.rein
a clean interface

Oh yeah, and my favorite hotkeys(快速鍵)
1.[ctrl+enter]
automaticaly adds "www." and ".com"
for example, to goto "www.blogger.com", just type "blogger" and press [ctrl+enter]
2.[ctrl+w]
close current tab

Friday, January 14, 2005

photos: 考完試祭祭五臟廟


outing after finnals Posted by Hello
今天大伙跑到永康街一ㄊㄨㄚ接著一ㄊㄨㄚ一直吃
不便宜, 但還蠻爽的XD
還要感謝我們的2位"永康街通"帶路
到那要吃什麼, 要到哪裡吃都知道; 連哪家店哪道菜最好吃都知道...
像那種一堆可以吃的又每家看起來都很好吃的地方我若自己一個人去一定會不知所錯的

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Year in review~me in 2004

(Late post because of my exams, but now it's winter break, my long posts are back again^^)
Last year was really a big year for me. Many things happend, and I really had an intresting year. Although not a happy year, but it's a year I'll remember for the rest of my life. Here are a list of events that I remember from 2004.

>first half year:

  • Finnal exam of freshman's first semester. Found out that collage isn't any easier then highschool, but tougher.
  • Got to live in the dorm, first time living away from home. Got hooked one to the blazing fast web connection speed of the dorm.
  • Got a new computer for my dorm, now I can do whatever I want with my computer without asking other users of the family.
  • Got a swimming pass.
  • Started to get involved in activities. (eg. 杜鵑花節, 生科之夜/lifescience night) Did a lot of handcraft for plays and display.
  • Did a play in Chinese class.
  • Started to ask a girl out, but didn't succeed until summer. (What, never did this before collage? Yeah, I guess that is late from american standerds, but oh well, I live in Taiwan, though)
  • Assembled a frog skeleton.
>summer:
  • Got a WIFI card for my PDA, the begining of my "net everywhare life". Found out that there are hotspots almost everywhere in Taipei, although most are encrypted.
  • Went back to the US, but didn't did much. Found out that it's still hard to find WIFI hotspots in the south California suburban area.
  • Got involved in our department's "newcommer's welcome camp". Designed games, and stuff. Camped by the coast on a stormy, rainy, muddy, windy, wet-wet-wet-day, with a typhoon near by, soked many things. But I've already had experience camping prior to a typhoon though, no big deal. It was really fun.
  • First date ever!!
  • Second date: first time to a movie with a girl^^(but, no more since than)
  • Started this blog!!!
>Second half year:
  • Turned Sophmore!!
  • Got a dorm room again, this time a cleanner room.
  • Got into the cycling club, biking about.
  • Also got a taste of the badminton teem of our departmont, but quit soon.
  • Got Gmail!!
  • Took a class on immunology at the medical departmont, decided that this might be what I'd want to do research on in the future.
  • Got to goto 龜山島, a tiny island of the coast of Taiwan, were daily vistor numbers are limited.
  • Found out that the girl I liked was really just a friend...
One more thing... I resisted the desire of buying any new gadget and sticked to my clie PDA and black and white screened cell phone. Thanks to my clie NX73, over 90% of the new gadgets on the market seemed so lame :) (it was like: wow new color phone...what? 4096colored tiny color screen? that sucks. Or: wow, harddrive mp3 player...what does it do? play music only? never mind.) Still nothing does more then a clie, and most new phones are sophisticated and ugly. And I just can't stand a color screen about 1/3~1/4 the size of my clie's 320*480 screen.

Well that about closes the book on 2004 for me. In 2005, I guess I'll focus on school work and biking. Although I still haven't ever had a girl friend in my life, but boy is it tiring thing about someone 24/7, and since more and more of my classes are going to be for our own department(with classmates I know well), I doubt that I'll meet another girl in collage. And I won't have that chance in graduate school 'cause I'll be in the US, with far less Taiwaness people there. Oh boy, I'll be single for the next 10 years. It'll be a decade for me to concentrate on science.

呼~~終於考完了

在和期中考+期末考合體大魔王決戰了近半學期後, 終於結束了.
有鑒於上學期期末念不完, 這學期改採老師教到哪, 我就唸到哪的策略, 結果是唸到哪忘到哪...
其實臨時抱佛腳若唸得完好像也不錯
下學期不知要如何了, 但從小到大, 考試這種東西通常都是"船到橋頭自然直"吧
到時再依情況調整策略吧
但可以肯定的是, 以後要早點睡

總之, 這學期期末考了8科, 另有2科沒考試; 其中大爆炸2科, 小爆1科
有種比上學期糟糕的感覺, 但等到總成績出來再說吧.

之前每次考試時都一直想著考完要做什麼
但卻每次考完都因為懶, 或是其他原因而沒有一次真正的完成所有的目標.
這次索性不計畫了, 結果一考完, 看著PDA上空空如也的todo list, 有種異常空虛的感覺.
今天吃完晚飯後, 就龜到誠品, 把有興趣的雜誌全翻過一遍(圖書館的雜誌我有興趣的不多而且已經看完了), 然後買了一本痞子蔡已經出了很久的"最新小說".

就趁寒假把我一團亂的人生整理一下吧!


Monday, January 10, 2005

唸書無用論?

X科唸完1遍了!
很有成就感
當大家只唸一半時
我唸完2遍了, 很自hi
最後考試時卻忘了9成
考出來的成績比大部分的人都還低
我的記憶力到底是怎麼了?
為何唸的次數和成績成反比
然後考輸一堆臨時抱佛腳的?

Thursday, January 06, 2005

考前無腦症候群

我的期末考準備計畫phase 1告一段落,雖比原先計畫晩了一天,但也讓我暫時鬆了一口氣。
結果今天下午大部分的時間都被漫畫,雜誌,和報紙吃掉了。
進入phase 2也只好等明天了。

今晩非常熱血的以最高速衝到了新體要游泳,要換衣服時才發覺...泳褲沒帶!!!
看看,若回宿舍拿泳褲再回來,游泳也差不多要關了。
只好若無其事的洗澡洗一洗,穿好衣服,就回宿舍龜了。
可惡!明早去晨泳算了~~

一輕鬆下來,我又開始胡思亂想了。
我真沒用,到現在還在想著那已經不可能的感情...放寒假時怎麼辦?
又要再讓自己玩一次憂鬱症嗎?用生科之夜的工作的忙碌來麻痺自己好了。
各大藥廠真的應該要賣點"思春少年用testosterone inhibitor"讓我們這些人暫時免除煩惱XD(也讓我們少花一點錢再一些芭樂歌的CD上)

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Notice: Lower of post frequencies

As the final exams are closing, I'll do less posting for the next 2 weeks, I guess.
And, yeah, guess I'll take down that "Xmas" theme after my exams, maybe a New Year's theme :)
Happy New Year everybody, and good luck on your finals.(if you are a student, that is)
Boy, sure's cold these days...