Windows 7 Beta 1性能测试 全面超越Vista/XP

作者： 上方文Q 驱动之家
CNETNews.com.cn
2009-01-02 18:05:04

　　Windows 7 Build 6956虽然只是个预测试版，但其性能已经让我们很满意，那么作为唯一的一个公开测试版，Windows 7 Beta 1 Build 7000又会有何表现呢？

　　具体测试项目有以下23个：

　　1、系统安装：安装操作系统所需要的时间

　　2、系统启动：从开机到桌面可用的平均时间

　　3、系统关机：平均关机时间

　　4、本地文件移动：在两块硬盘之间转移100MB JPEG图片文件

　　5、本地文件移动：在两块硬盘之间转移1MB到100MB不等的2.5GB文件

　　6、网络文件传输：从测试机向NAS设备转移100MB JPEG图片文件

　　7、网络文件传输：从测试机向NAS设备转移1MB到100MB不等的2.5GB文件

　　8、负载下本地文件移动：制作DVD ISO镜像的同时在两块硬盘之间转移100MB JPEG图片文件

　　9、负载下本地文件移动：制作DVD ISO镜像的同时在两块硬盘之间转移1MB到100MB不等的2.5GB文件

　　10、负载下网络文件传输：制作DVD ISO镜像的同时从测试机向NAS设备转移100MB JPEG图片文件

　　11、负载下网络文件传输：制作DVD ISO镜像的同时从测试机向NAS设备转移1MB到100MB不等的2.5GB文件

　　12、文件压缩：使用系统自带功能压缩100MB文件

　　13、文件压缩：使用系统自带功能压缩1GB文件

　　14、文件解压：使用系统自带功能解压100MB文件

　　15、文件解压：使用系统自带功能解压1GB文件

　　16、安装Office 2007：从DVD光盘安装终极版的平均时间

　　17、打开简单Word文档：10页、只有文字

　　18、打开简单Word文档：100页、图文混合

　　19、打开简单Excel文档：基本格式

　　20、打开复杂Excel文档：包含公式和图表

　　21、刻录DVD光盘：使用CDBurnerXP刻录Windows 7 Beta 1 ISO镜像

　　22、打开简单PDF文档：Adobe Reader 8、只有文字

　　23、打开复杂PDF文档：Adobe Reader 8、图文混合

　　此番测试照例使用Windows 7和Windows Vista SP1、Windows XP SP3进行对比(都是32位版本)，但不进行基准性能测试，只考察实际应用性能，而且为了便于对比，略去具体成绩，只是简单地打分：表现最好的系统得1分、最差的得3分、中间的2分，最后计算总分，得分越低越好。

　　两套测试机配置如下：

　　1、高端机型：Phenom X4 9700 2.4GHz处理器、Radeon HD 3850显卡、4GB内存

　　2、低端机型：Pentium DC E2220 2.2GHz处理器、GeForce 8400 GS显卡、1GB内存

　　测试结果：

结论：

　　在高端测试机上，Windows 7有21个项目取得领先，只有Office 2007安装略逊于Vista，而DVD刻录和Vista不分伯仲；对比Vista和XP，前者表现更好一些，15次胜出，其中Office 2007安装还是最好的。

　　在低端测试机上，Windows 7也拿下了20个项目，只有100MB文件本地移动不如XP(但好于Vista)、负载下2.5GB文件本地移动不如Vista(但有好于XP)，另外DVD光盘刻录和XP差不多(但好于Vista)；对比Vista和XP，分别有11项和12项获胜，最终得分也只差了1分。

　　在经历了Windows Vista的痛苦积淀后，Windows 7真的有些让人爱不释手，不但功能更丰富，性能也有了显著的改善和提高。尽管只是个Beta测试版，但新系统已经给了我们足够多的惊喜，除了一些小的瑕疵甚至已经可以当作日常工作、娱乐用系统了。对于最终正式版，我们有足够的利用充满期待。

     看完这些，我的建议是如果自己的xp的笔记本电脑还可以坚持，就等着widows 7的笔记本出来，争取跳跃过Vista一代的机器，祝你现在的机器好运啦！

N久没有更新博客了，终于在09年元旦发现一些有意思的东东得以更新一下^_^  还有啦，最重要的是祝亲爱的你们元旦快乐，在09年里面充满平安和喜乐! May God Bless Your Way!

老风格，继续转载，一个关于文字处理软件的文章，文章作者是经历了全部手写到用计算机的各种软件写自己文章的过程。庆幸的是我们只经历了其一半，从其第五点开始到最后第八点。

Default file formats 

By Prof.Gelman 

source:http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/blog/

I was going to write that I used to write articles in Latex and now I write them in Word (for some examples, see here), and then speculate about how the change in format might change how and what I write.

But then I thought that more background could be useful.

1. The pencil-and-paper era. Back when I was a kid I used to write everything by hand. I was proficient with the eraser. In high school I developed a style where I'd outline the English composition first and then write it.

2. Typewriter. In college we had to type our papers. Which I did, using my little typewriter (which had been my sister's before that), until . . .

3. Mark's homemade word processor. My college roommate was a CS major and had an Atari computer. I persuaded him to write a word processor in 6502 assembler, and I ended up using it more than he did.

I took a couple of English classes that required a paper every week or so, and to get everything done, I developed a system whereby I first diagrammed my plan on a single sheet of paper using circles and arrows, then wrote a series of outlines, the last of which had at least one sentence per paragraph of the final paper. I'd then take that outline, sit at the computer, and type up the paper pretty much in one take.

4. Troff. I wrote my senior thesis on a campus computer which printed out really nice--not that yucky dot-matrix stuff. I formatted it using Troff.

5. Pencil and paper again. For homework assignments in graduate school I went back to pencil and paper. I was still doing graphs by hand on graph paper (but that's another story).

6. Latex. One of my colleagues told me about Latex, and this quickly became my standard. When I wanted to write an article, I'd take an old latex file and map out sections and subsections, then fill in different parts when I was ready. I did it this way for several books and a few zillion articles.

I have to admit, I've never learned Bibtex, so I spend lots of time cutting and pasting bibliographic references.

7. Html. A few years ago I started this blog (originally intended as a way for members of our research group to communicate with each other). I often use the blog to record thoughts that later are published more formally. Writing in Html puts these thoughts in a different shape than what was happening in Latex. More conversational, less locked into a formal structure.

8. Word. Recently, for some reason I've been writing articles (and our forthcoming book) in Word, which doesn't work so well when I have formulas but somehow seems smoother otherwise.

The medium does affect the message. In many ways I'm dissatisfied with my current approach of composing at the keyboard. Maybe I'll try pencil and paper outlining for awhile.

Oh, yeah, . . . happy new year.

CNET科技资讯网6月18日国际报道 Mozilla基金会周二开始提供Firefox 3的下载，这一开源项目正在开辟浏览器战争新阵地。

随着浏览器由静止知识仓库变成字处理器与图像编辑器等程序应用的基础，它的功能也从单纯的信息过道变成程序运行工具。在这个新时代，Firefox逐渐成为上个时代网络优胜者，IE浏览器的竞争对手。

Mozilla平台工程部的主任Damon Sicore说：“随着程序越来越大，越来越复杂，浏览器的速度变得越来越重要。”

Firefox 3在Gmail中从一封信转到另一封信的显示时间为60毫秒，IE7为413毫秒，Firefox 2为227毫秒。

微软正在开发IE8，已经发布了IE8测试版，第二个测试版也将于8月推出。微软IE部门总经理Dean Hachamovitch，他们对IE8进行了重新设计与性能上的改进。他说：“IE是大部分用户的选择。它有质量的保证，易用，可靠，安全性也很好。”

Mozilla是一股不可忽视的力量，Net Applications statistics数据显示，Firefox市场份额为18%，IE浏览器为74%。这一份额足以让主要的网站要考虑支持Firefox。

苹果Safari浏览器现在也推出了Windows平台版本，市场份额为6%。其次是Opera，不到1%。

微软清楚浏览器市场存在大量竞争。Hachamovitch说：“现在有大量浏览器产生。过去几年，很多创新出现。”

Firefox积极的进行竞争。为了提高形象，Mozilla希望创造Firefox 3一个24小时的下载纪录，开始时间为美国太平洋时间上午10点。

Firefox 3的速度更快，内存占用更好，此外，Awesome Bar自动网址查找功能也令人眼前一亮。

为了测试内存占用情况，Firefox 程序员打开了500个页面，然后关闭，打开这些网页上千次。

Awesome Bar官方称谓叫做Smart Location Bar，它让用户可以输入单词来替代网址输入。例如，输入“地图”一词，Firefox 3可以列出最近访问过的地图网站清单。

Firefox 3其它功能包括：

·当用户试图打开一个含有恶意软件网站时，Firefox 3会发布显著警告。

·离线数据访问功能。

·Cairo图像引擎让浏览器与电脑的显示硬件更融合。

·支持动画PNG图片格式。

·更好的全页面缩放功能，

·支持Windows Vista的家长控制功能。

·更好的支持Mac OS X操作系统。

Firefox的一大特色是支持丰富的插件。一些主要的插件已经支持Firefox 3，包括雅虎的Delicious以及面向网站开发人员的Firebug工具。

Firefox 3官方下载地址：http://www.getfirefox.com/

中石化中石油获国家补贴、电监会说“电力高薪合理合法”、景区高票价、国有企事业单位给职工建房……

Jeffrey Strain做了挺有意思的总结，看看自己的是否曾经或者将要被这些促销迷惑了呢^_^

It's one of life's ironies that retailers try to lure you into their stores with low prices, only to do everything in their power to make sure you spend more than you intended once you're inside.

It's important to understand these methods so you don't fall for them.

Double Discounts: Retailers know that most people aren't good at math, and they take advantage of this. More and more are using double discounts to earn more money while making customers think they are getting a better deal than they actually are.

For example, if you are given a choice of buying a $100 item at 45% off, or buying the same item at 20% off with 30% additional taken off at the register, which would you choose? Most people simply add the 20% and 30% and assume that they are getting 50% off the item.

When you do the math, however, it doesn't work out that way. Taking 45% off of $100 means the item sells for $55. But if 20% off $100 is $80; taking 30% off that $80 leaves you with an additional $24 discount, for a price of $56, or a dollar more.

A 2007 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research indicates that shoppers are likely to feel the double discount is a better value.

Fight Back: Do the math before buying. If you can't do the calculations in your head, purchase an inexpensive calculator and carry it around when you go shopping. If you see an item that comes with a double discount, the store may be attempting to make you believe you are getting a better price than you are.

Pricing items at $9.99 vs. $10: Studies have found that when prices end in 9, consumers end up spending more money. While this might seem strange, there are various theories as to why this happens. Most note that when people process information, the first number they read has a stronger impression than the following numbers. So $9.99 seems much lower than $10.

Another theory is that pricing items this way makes it more difficult to calculate and compare unit prices. For example, if a 200-ounce package of an item is $3 and a 400-ounce package of the same item is $5, it's fairly easy to calculate that the 400-ounce package is a better value.

But when the same items are priced $2.99 and $4.99, respectively, they may appear to be the approximately same price, since the first numbers are what register and two is half of four.

Fight Back: Instead of looking at the first number, make a conscious effort to round everything up when doing your calculations. This is another reason to take a calculator when you shop: it can help you work out the true price if you have trouble doing calculations in your head.

Three for $9.99: Stores will often offer multiple items for a single price, such as three for $9.99. Most people assume that they need to purchase three of the items to get this "special" price so they buy more than they really need.

The truth is that unless the items are marked at higher individual prices or the label says something like "must purchase quantity stated to get discount," you can buy a single item for $3.33.

Fight Back: Get in the habit of purchasing only the amount you really need.

Buy One, Get One Free: This is another promotion that can mislead you into thinking you're getting a good deal. It's often difficult to tell whether you would pay half as much for purchasing a single unit or, for that matter, whether the price of a single unit has been inflated to take into account the extra item being "given away."

Many times the "buy one, get one free" offers are not better than the regular price of purchasing two items.

Fight Back: Before purchasing a buy-one-get-one-free item, find out what the regular price of that item is. Then do the math to see if you're really getting a bargain.

"Sale" doesn't mean a discount price: Retailers play on the assumptions you make. Consumers are trained that "sale" means a good price and these items are usually advertised in big, bright lettering at the end of store aisles. The problem is that what the stores call a "sale" may not give you a very good price. (Check out The Grocery Store Game (Janine Bolan), page 28, for other tips of this ilk.) So the casual passerby will see the item is "on sale" and buy the product assuming it's a good price, when it isn't necessarily so.

Fight Back: Don't assume things on the end of an aisle or that are marked as "on sale" are actually a good price. Make a grocery price book so you know a good price and always compare the prices with other similar items.

Putting things at eye level: When you walk down the aisles of the store, notice what items are at eye level. They will be the ones that are the most profitable for the store, which usually means the most expensive ones. This is because stores know you are much more likely to see and choose something at eye level than something on the top or bottom shelf.

Fight Back: When shopping, be sure to look high and low before deciding which product to purchase. You'll often find what you're looking for at a lower price on another shelf.

Stores are quite sophisticated when it comes to getting you to part with your money. If you understand how they are trying to manipulate you, you are less likely to fall into these traps and hold onto more of your hard-earned money.

Copyrighted, TheStreet.Com. All rights reserved.

Today, Wikia is planning to launch Wikia Search, a very early-stage version of its open search engine. Wikia (and Wikipedia) co-founder Jimmy Wales believes that it's necessary for the public to take control of search, which he sees as a shared need and thus a shared resource.

The site that's launching today is for users who want to "help us build a search engine," Wales said. So don't expect a Wikia-powered Google killer on Day One. "We want to be sure people aren't expecting a Google-quality experience on Monday."

Here's what Wikia is building: a human-ranked search engine and mini-Wiki, with a social network angle. The first two parts are the most interesting.

Not a black box.Wales says that initially the engine will crawl and index the Web, and give users algorithmically generated results. But users will be able to rank results up or down, which will have a strong influence on further results. This extra, intentional step of rating results will, I am sure, help little-known but high-quality pages rise in the rankings, and encourage link-farmed search spam to sink. Assuming, that is, that users take the time to rate, and that suitable antigaming technologies are put in place.

I tried a preview of the alpha on Saturday and couldn't see how users rate results. Hopefully the rating function will be added before launch. Google, by the way, also applies human intelligence to its search results; see the Q&A with Google's Peter Norvig in MIT's Technology Review.

Wikia Search: Where users help guide other users.

Users will be able to contribute mini-articles that live at the top of search pages (much like Ask's search toppers, I imagine). As on any Wiki, people will be able to edit and comment on the articles. This could become the best feature of the Wikia Search experience. These little guides dropped into search results pages by fellow surfers remind me of the hobo code marks: helpful advice left by other travelers who've been before where you are going now.

Wikia Search will have another social angle. Users will be able to find other contributors to work on the search engine with them, behind the scenes from the masses who just want results. It appears that Wikia Search users will also be able to attach their profiles to particular search results, indicating if they are an expert (or, I suppose, have a business interest in) what the search is about.

Wikia Search is all open source. Anyone will be able to download the code for the engine and the crawler. Some people will use this to tweak their Web sites so the Wikia Search engine ranks it more highly. But other people will try to improve the code itself, which could have a very interesting effect on SEO (search engine optimization) industry once and if Wikia Search gets big enough to matter.

Wales maintains that since users will be rating pages, there will be no "search engine optimization" to perform other than creating content and sites people like. Unless I am missing something, even with the option to put human ratings on pages, most pages will remain unrated. The algorithm will still matter. I do have high hopes for Wikia Search, though, since the idea of an open algorithm that is transparent, and transparently updated, strikes me as a lot more fair than the current black-box search engines run by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.

Can Wikia Search succeed? Web search is a difficult and expensive business, but as Wales says, "It monetizes well." Unlike many other crackpot sites we see, with search, if the users come, the money follows. Try out the very early, very rough Wikia Search at alpha.search.wikia.com.

And see also Mahalo, an evolving human-powered Web guide. Currently, Mahalo primarily uses paid staffers to create its topic pages, but a new "Mahalo Follow" feature lets users easily recommend sites to the engine--a more cost-effective way to quickly build a library of human-approved links.

Source:Rafe Needleman, Jan 7th, 2008, Wikia launching human-powered search http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9841184-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

超短焦  近距离投影新纪录
    超短焦镜头投影机，可以说是未来投影机发展的必然趋势，不但可以在相对较短的距离内投出较大的投影，也可以为商务演示及教学演示提供极大的便利，既能保证完美的投影效果，也能合理的利用较小的空间。

    东芝TDP-EW25，其最大的特点之一就是采用了新开发的超短焦投影技术ESP技术，与传统用投影机相比，投影距离大大缩短。以往要投射100寸屏幕效果，投影机与屏幕之间至少也要3米左右的距离，而EW25可将投影距离缩短至1.2米，就可以投出16︰10的100寸屏幕效果，而投放60寸屏幕亦只须 0.74米，这也创造了目前业界投射距离最短的记录。

宽屏与高清并重
    投影机宽屏风虽然刚刮不久，但是作为全球知名投影机厂商，东芝就凭借其敏锐的市场嗅觉，进军宽屏领域，从第一款宽屏机器WX2200，东芝就开始了在投影机“真正宽屏”之路。

    作为旗舰产品，EW25也理所当然的延续了这种“真正的宽屏”，采用16：10的宽屏显示格式，完整而全面的投影出宽屏笔记本需要输出的文件，成为宽屏笔记本真正的投影解决方案。

    不仅如此，EW25还采用了1280*800的高分辨率，清晰的投影效果，使你在商务演示过程中，不但可以感觉宽屏投影带来的视觉享受，也可以深切体会到高分辨率带来的不一样的清晰度，真正为用户呈现了高清宽屏的视觉享受。

内置无线与VISTA  自如链接，更显方便
    内置无线技术目前在投影机领域已经开始受到关注，并且部分知名投影机厂商也开始有所涉足，但是电脑与投影机的无线连接以及内置无线模块的兼容性一直困扰众多厂商的巨大问题。

    东芝EW25也同样具有内置无线功能，能与VISTA直接对接，不用安装驱动程序，其改变了以往投影机内置无线模块兼容性不好的特点，在实现电脑与投影机无线连接的过程中，既迅速又能保持良好的讯号传送，尤其是在传输图像和影片时，延时较短，而且极少断线，无线操作设置也不再复杂繁琐，能让人充分感受无线带来的方便。

    除此之外，东芝EW25还支持以太网络接口，可以通过局域网，对投影机进行控制，实时投影想要的画面。

NCE与极致色彩功能 相辅相承
    NCE（Natueal Color Enhancer）技术是东芝独创的自然色彩增益技术，借鉴东芝高端影像数字技术，在07年的产品中，在硬件及软件系统集成都应用了NCE第三代技术，而旗舰产品EW25则采用了更新、更先进的NCE第四代技术，这比NCE III功能更进一步。

在一般情况下，投影机亮度和色彩还原度成反比，投影机的画面亮度调高时，画面色彩的鲜艳度便会下降，而NCE便是特地为这情况而设的，尤其是显著提升红色、绿色色域覆盖率。但NCE III只可将两者的相差对比协调至百分之五十，而NCE4更进一步将之下降为百分之三十，减少色彩失真的情况，最大可能的保证了真实的色彩还原。

    为了使EW25在色彩表现上更臻化境，东芝特地为此而采用了极致色彩™（Brilliant Colour）技术，使用极致色彩™技术的DLP投影机，能运用高达6种颜色处理更明亮、更逼真和更震撼的色彩。极致色彩™技术可以提高中间色调50％的亮度，并且将色彩板从原有的红、绿、蓝，延伸至黄、白、红紫和蓝绿色，使EW25在色彩还原上做到最好。如果说NCE技术使东芝投影机的画面色彩还原得到提升的话，那么Brilliant Colour技术，是使投影画面更加完美的进一步保证。

    作为一款旗舰产品，除了以上的超强特色功能之外，EW25还具有2600流明的亮度，2000：1的对比度，使其在大型商务演示和教学演示中都可以胜任。 EW25还采用自动对焦与自动垂直梯形校正双自动自适应功能，无论投影距离变换，还是投影画面不规则，都可以通过双自动适应功能吧状态调整到最佳，而且也省去了手动调节的繁杂，体现出了东芝投影机功能设置人性化和智能化的特点。

    此外，在接口方面，东芝EW25配备了两路miniD-Sub 15针、一路S端子和一路复合视频接口，而且还提供了RS-232C、USB以及小型立体声模拟语音(RCA)接口和1W的单声道扬声器，采用了275W 高压水银灯泡等，不但功能齐全完善，而且在硬件配置上也毫不含糊，是一款不可多得的全能型产品。

偶最喜欢其内置无线与VISTA  自如链接和超短焦， 这样又就方便了很多。

最近呀，偶在梦想着早点搞一个4核处理器的机器，在目前的各类系统软件，安全软件，媒体软件，办公软件和数据分析软件的基础上,想体验飞一样的感觉。再过一段，随着软件的升级，估计4核和现在的2核又没啥感觉了。http://news.mydrivers.com/1/97/97731.htm是一个AMD4核处理器的测试结果的链接，挺不错的，Mooi...^_^

顺便推荐一个Firefox的插件啦，这个插件整合了Apple的Safari浏览器一个很有特点的Snapback的功能。

介绍啦：One of the niftier functions of Apple's Safari browser is the SnapBack function. Now a Firefox extension with the same name of SnapBack introduces this feature to Mozilla users and comes with some helpful options beyond the base function of providing a quick way to return to an impermanent bookmark.

By letting users set an impermanent bookmark, they can carry on with their usual Web browsing behavior, but are never more than one click away from jumping back to the page set as the SnapBack. Excellent for keeping track of main pages when participating in Web forums or other sites where it's easy to lose track of an important page as your drill through the content, SnapBack for Firefox is simple and effective.

SnapBack can be accessed from a toolbar icon as shown, as well as the context menu and the menubar.

A toolbar icon makes using the feature easy to get to, but there's also a customizable hotkey command option for those who don't like to take their paws off their keyboards, and you can add SnapBack's option to your context menu.

Beyond setting the SnapBack page and the SnapBack action, the plug-in also has a Clear function for wiping the SnapBack page from memory. Unfortunately, the only way to access the options menu to change the hotkeys is through the main Add-Ons menu. This minor drawback shouldn't keep you from trying this snappy way to return from whence you came.

source: Seth Rosenblatt, Make your Firefox SnapBack http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-9840768-12.html?tag=dlblog-post

CCGN 聖誕夜 – MAIN PROGRAM Rundown

CCGN 聖誕夜 – EVENING PROGRAM (GAMES)

Last night on the official Google blog, Udi Manber, vice president of engineering, announced that Google is testing a publishing platform called Knol. It's being compared to Wikipedia and Mahalo. While it's a somewhat different take on knowledge collection, these comparisons are apt.

From what we know so far, Knol is a wiki-like platform. Authors can create topics, and there are tools to interlink articles and content, but as Manber says, an article, or "knol," is "just a Web page." Where it differs from a wiki is its focus on the author. All knols will highlight who wrote them.

Knol should make it easy to create nicely formatted reference pages.

That small difference becomes dramatic when you put Knol alongside Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a collaborative system. There is no author listed on a wiki page because a page may have many authors (if you want to, you can divine who said what on the history pages).

Since Knol pages will be authored, users won't, presumably, be able to dive in and edit another page. They'll be able to submit edits to the author for approval, though. So much for open collaboration. But as a platform for authors who might want to make some money from their work, it's a better bet (Knol will allow authors to monetize their pages as they see fit).

Purists may think that since Google is in the business of monetizing content via advertising, it should not compete with other publishing platforms. However, this is not the first time that Google has gotten into this business.

Blogger, of course, is Google's biggest success in text-publishing platforms. But Google also experimented with its own database, Google Base, in which it not only indexes the information but also stores it. And then there's YouTube.

I would compare Knol to Blogger, and eventually, I think it will have Digg-like elements. Knol is like Blogger because it's a personal publishing platform. It's all about giving authors a platform for writing. It's just a like a blog, but much more structured. If you like a Knoller, you'll likely want to read more written by that person, or even subscribe to his work.

It could become Digg-like, in that multiple Knol pages on the same topic will compete with each other. And while the Manber's post hinted that the arbiter of Knol quality will be Google search rankings, I cannot imagine that there won't, at some point, be both a social network of Knol users and a main page that ranks the most popular Knol pages by votes, page views, discussion flow, or other group metrics.

At this point, based only on the official blog post, Knol looks like a solid end-user publishing platform. I strongly doubt that it will put much of a hurt on Wikipedia, since its author focus makes it much the antithesis of the open, community-driven wiki model. Knol looks more like a Google version of About.com, Mahalo, or Squidoo.

No word on when--or if--Knol will be released to the public.

Source:Rafe Needleman, December 2007, Google's Knol experiment to rival Wikipedia?

Flash News Title 1: Office 2007 update comes early

Because Microsoft often gets rapped for delivering products late, it seems worth noting that, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, it delivered a product early.

The software maker issued the first service pack update to Office 2007, roughly a year after the product first became available to businesses.

The new update, which has gotten a whole lot less attention that Vista SP1, adds largely performance and stability improvements, along with making the server components of Office fully compatible with the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 update.

"These enhancements span the software applications and servers that home and office workers use each day and will make the 2007 Office system an even more robust and effective productivity tool," Office product manager Reed Shaffner said in a feature posted to Microsoft's Web site. "In essence, SP1 targets the issues that customers told us mattered to them most."

Microsoft said the download is available now and customers can also order a CD with the update. At some later date, Microsoft said it will make the service pack available through automatic update.

Shaffner said he hoped the release will remove any lingering doubts that the product is ready for prime time.

"We recently passed the 12 million mark in trial downloads of the 2007 release from Microsoft.com," he said. "We're optimistic that with the shipment of SP1 we're removing any residual barriers that may have impeded deployment and that adoption will only accelerate. In the meantime, we'll continue to listen intently to our customers and deliver on their changing needs."

Flash News Title 2: Microsoft fixes 11 flaws in 7 patches; 5 affect Windows Vista

Microsoft on Tuesday released its December 2007 security bulletin, which includes seven updates: three are designated as critical by the software giant and four are deemed important.

On the Windows side is a cumulative update for Internet Explorer, plus patches for the Windows Kernel, DirectX, Macrovision Driver, and the Windows Media File format--the latter three suggest concern that criminal hackers are targeting media files for exploitation. There are no Microsoft Office updates this month. All Microsoft security patches for Windows and Office software are available via Microsoft Update or via the individual bulletins detailed below.

MS07-063: Important
Entitled "Vulnerability in SMBv2 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (942624)," this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows Vista and does not affect users of Windows 2000 or Windows XP SP2, and addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2007-5351. A vulnerability exists in the way data is transferred via SMBv2, which could allow remote code execution in domain configurations communicating with SMBv2.

MS07-064: Critical
Entitled "Vulnerabilities in DirectX Could Allow Remote Code Execution (941568)," this bulletin affects users of DirectX versions 7.0 through 10.0 included within Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. The update addresses two vulnerabilities detailed in CVE-2007-3901 and CVE-2007-3895 that could allow code execution if a user opened a specially crafted file used for streaming media in DirectX. Successful exploitation could allow remote code execution.

MS07-065: Critical
Entitled "Vulnerability in Message Queuing Could Allow Remote Code Execution (937894)," this bulletin affects users of Windows Server 2000, Windows 2000, and Windows XP SP2, and does not affect users of Windows XP Professional x64, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Vista. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2007-3039. A vulnerability in the Message Queuing Service (MSMQ) could allow remote code execution in implementations on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, or elevation of privilege in implementations on Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP. Successful exploitation due could allow remote code execution or elevation of privilege.

MS07-066: Important
Entitled "Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (943078)," this bulletin affects users of Windows Vista, and does not affect users of Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP. The update addresses the Windows kernel vulnerability detailed in CVE-2007-5350. Successful exploitation could allow an attack to take complete control of an affected system.

MS07-067: Important
Entitled "Vulnerability in Macrovision Driver Could Allow Local Elevation of Privilege (944653)," this bulletin affects users of Microsoft XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003, and does not affect users of Windows 2000 or Windows Vista. The update addresses a vulnerability in the way the Macrovision driver incorrectly handles configuration parameters detailed in CVE-2007-5587. Successful exploitation could allow elevation of privilege and allow an attacker complete control of the system.

MS07-068: Critical
Entitled "Vulnerability in Windows Media File Format Could Allow Remote Code Execution (941569 and 944275)," this bulletin affects users of Windows Media Runtime Format 7.1, 9, 9.5, and 11, and Windows Media Services 9.1 running on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. This update addresses the Windows Media File Format vulnerability detailed in CVE-2007-0064. Successful exploitation could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted file in Windows Media Format Runtime.

MS07-069: Critical
Entitled "Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (942615)," this bulletin affects users of Internet Explorer 5.1, 6, and 7, running on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP SP2, and Windows Vista. The update addresses the four privately reported vulnerabilities detailed in CVE-2007-3902, CVE-2007-3903, CVE-2007-5344, and CVE-2007-5347. Successful exploitation could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer.

所以大家赶紧升级自己的计算机啦。

Source:

Robert Vamosi, Dec. 11, 2007. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9832347-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Ina Fried, Dec. 11, 2007.http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9832396-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Quote one blog from my previous roommate who is the exchange student in Erasmus and doing research in environmental laws. Sincerely hope to awake more and more bodies  who do love China and the great chinese people who have been forcing to be silient and get used to obey ridiculous and unequal items without questioning why. We are on the way!

Quote

The trip to Inner Mongolia

总体而言,是趟小郁闷的出差,没有高的预期,但是事实更差点.

导师的任务,陪老外去内蒙考察案件,周一早晨6点多就爬了起来.

租的车挺好,别克商务,可是车公司派了一个烂到透顶的司机,

平均2分钟一个急刹车,北京的司机京承高速他也能给我开错.

内蒙就别提了,5个小时的车程他给开了7个多小时,看到什么破车都能超我们,

那个憋屈啊.同行的ALEX 实在忍不住了,说他想开.

好玩的是我们一行四个人在车上,就在司机旁边,用英语狂骂他的车技,当补偿吧.

对了,可恶的司机还不让我们在车上吃东西,说他听了难受,这年头,司机大牌哦...

走访了村民,看到他们被污染的果园,枯死的果树,贫困的生活,毫无结果的抗争,

与之相反的,污染企业的财大气粗,官员的暧昧态度,官官相护,痛心且悲观.

同情农民们的处境,在果树枯死,飞鸟绝迹的地方,人怎么生存?

从未踏上村庄一步的官员却在我们到达15分钟后,火速赶到,

企业的保安要强行扣下我们的相机......面对这些,我们的援助是那么的无力.

也许能给那些可怜的人带来希望,但是最后迎来的还是一次次的败诉.

此行也许是我最后一次参与专业的案件了,心境却和以前大不相同.

虽不是无动于衷,但我早已不是当初的愤青,也没有当初的满腔热情,

当ALEX问我是否愿意为NRDC INTERN的时候,我却委婉的拒绝.

一年前的我却是那样的梦想和期待.这是成熟还是退却,抑或是现实?

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007

"for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory"

Photo: Dong Oh                 Photo: Cliff Moore               Photo: Univ. of Chicago

Leonid Hurwicz                     Eric S. Maskin                   Roger B. Myerson

1/3 of the prize                1/3 of the prize               1/3 of the prize

University of Minnesota        Institute for Advanced Study  University of Chicago
Minneapolis, MN, USA           Princeton, NJ, USA                  Chicago, IL, USA

Theory Background

In the mid 20th century, economists found themselves in need of a new theoretical framework with which to tackle the comparison of fundamentally different types of economic organization, such as capitalist and socialist institutions. Discussions between the likes of Oskar Lange and Friedrich von Hayek led to the development of the idea that economic institutions could be viewed as communication mechanisms, and set the stage for Leonid Hurwicz to formulate a general mathematical framework for analyzing institutions implementing collective decision making. His 'Mechanism design theory', first introduced in 1960, has developed into a powerful and widely-applied tool.

Whether one considers auctions, elections or the taxes we pay, our lives are governed by mechanisms which make collective decisions while attempting to take account of individual preferences. Such mechanisms are designed to deliver the greatest social good despite that fact that individual participants may act for their own gain, rather than for the general well-being of society. Studying such mechanisms is the goal of mechanism design theory, and mechanism design can be described as the art of producing institutions that align individual incentives with overall social goals.

Mechanism design theory is a branch of game theory (which psychologists refer to as the theory of social situations), and extends the application of game theory to ask about the consequence of applying different types of rules to a given problem. As a method of demonstrating which mechanism, out of all conceivable allocation mechanisms, gives the optimal result, mechanism design theory can be applied to problems as diverse as the auctioning of radio frequencies to mobile phone companies to the building of social welfare systems. Mechanism design theory lies at the heart of many organizations whose operation we now take for granted.

Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson were classmates at Harvard University, both graduating with doctorates in advanced mathematics in the same year. Their work has been instrumental in expanding the applicability of mechanism design theory to a wider variety of situations. At 90 years old, Leonid Hurwicz is the oldest person ever to be made a Laureate, the previous holder of that record being Raymond Davis Jr., who was almost 88 when he became a Physics Laureate in 2002.

Background of Nobel Prize for Economics

In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) established this Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. The first Prize in Economics was awarded to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen (Netherlands) in 1969.

Source:http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2007/speedread.html

All rights reserved by Nobel Prize Foundation.

Only available in Kruidvat from next Tuesday till Oct.20, 2007. The ticket can only be used on Saturday or Sunday. It is valid from Oct.13,2006 till Jan.27, 2008. One person can only buy a maximum of 4 tickets. Hurry, Hurry^_^

Deze actie is geldig van dinsdag 9 oktober t/m zaterdag 20 oktober 2007
Het kaartje is alleen geldig op één zaterdag of één zondag vanaf 13 oktober t/m 27 januari 2008**
Ga naar de Kruidvat winkel bij u in de buurt en profiteer
van deze speciale aanbieding! Wees er snel bij want OP=OP.
*  Maximaal vier treinkaartjes per persoon
** De treinkaartjes zijn uitsluitend geldig op zaterdag of op zondag.

CNET科技资讯网4月26日国际报道 MySpace周四宣布，北京时间4月27日凌晨推出MySpace中国社交网站，这家默多克控股的公司挺进中国的传闻终于变成了现实。MySpace中国定位是“本地拥有，本地运营，本地管理的公司”，其中，美国新闻集团控股的MySpace只是这家公司的一个股东之一。

MySpace中国首席执行官，前微软官员罗川说：“我们的团队在运营模式，技术平台以及产品战略上拥有完全自主权，这和其它在中国市场的跨国公司有着很大的不同。”MySpace中国三大股东包括默多克的妻子、邓文迪、MySpace创始人DeWolfe以及Tom Anderson。其它投资者包括国际数据集团（IDG），中国宽带产业基金（China Broadband Capital Partners），后者由前中国网通首席执行官田溯宁创办。罗川并没有透露这家公司股东投资金额以及股份比例。分析师认为，为了进入中国互联网市场，MySpace需要与当地伙伴进行合作。目前，MySpace中国仍然处于测试阶段，借鉴了MySpace美国版本的风格，但是，未来这家公司将逐步满足中国用户的需求。罗川说：“在MySpace全球品牌以及技术平台的基础上，我们将开发出为现在中国人定制的产品与功能。”自从去年10月，默多克宣布将把MySpace引入中国，组建新公司的谈判一直在进行.

P.S. From now on, let us keep our eyes on how this MNE conqures chinese market with great uncertanty and how its local chinese competitors fail. 

FAQs: 

1. Who is Myspace?

MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.

Create a private community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends!

See who knows who, or how you are connected. Find out if you really are six people away from Kevin Bacon.

MySpace is for everyone:

• Friends who want to talk Online
• Single people who want to meet other Singles
• Matchmakers who want to connect their friends with other friends
• Families who want to keep in touch--map your Family Tree
• Business people and co-workers interested in networking
• Classmates and study partners
• Anyone looking for long lost friends!

2. Who is  罗川(Mr. Luo Chuan)?

Plz refer to http://www.donews.com/Content/200611/9db6fa0ce1754556a7ded9973bcc9722.shtm

3.How many international site does Myspace Inc. have and what are they?

Current international sites include the following countries shown in the pic.

Refer to http://profile.myspace.com/modules/internationallink/pages/internaltionallink.aspx  for details.

Many thanks to Irene's link.

European Summer Time is the daylight saving time (DST) practiced in Europe, the period during which clocks are advanced by one hour in relation to standard time observed during the rest of the year.

This is done in all of the countries of Europe except Iceland (which observes UTC all year round). This period extends from 01.00 UTC on the last Sunday in March until 01.00 UTC on the last Sunday in October each year.

 European Summer Time begins (clocks go forward) at 01.00 UTC on

• 26 March 2006
• 25 March 2007
• 30 March 2008
• 29 March 2009
• 28 March 2010

 Time zones of Europe:

Source:Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Summer_Time