Author Archives: sinyaw

练英文

练英文有两招: 找个英文读物,最好是知名新闻刊物,随便选一篇,从头读到尾,有生字查了后写在张纸上。读完后,回头再读开头两段。然后,不看它也不用背,自己写一遍,比较一下。 这时,把生字表拿来再看一遍,看完就可以丢了它。 找条英文歌,下载歌词。一面听,一面跟着唱一遍。能跟着唱完就行。 这两招,每周练一遍。不会超过一小时。三月必有成效。一生都能受益。别去上英语会话班。浪费钱。

Posted in China, Management Thoughts | 1 Comment

Why Sail Boat Moves?

Many civilizations have independently discovered ways to optimize for the wind power. They all learned to sail in all directions, regardless of which way the wind is blowing. There are really only two tricks: the shape of the sail and … Continue reading

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The Cell Phone Economy

While iPhone5 basks in spotlight, I got myself a new Android. For reasons that’s not obvious to those who marveled over Siri’s eerie life-like response, the brighter than real display, the mega-pixels in built-in camera, the openness of Android ecology, … Continue reading

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这样,你才算起步了

什么叫“扎实”的软件工程师? 设计完整严密:有没有面面顾到?有没有文档写好?有没有人审查评估过? 实现涵盖错误处理:一般而言,代码要有一半以上是做错误处理,甚至更高。错误处理常是实现阶段的主要动作,而不是算法。 软件形单元测试:软件工程师最引以为傲的就是他的代码像诗般完美:简洁,高效,稳定,功能达标。测试单位永远找不到缺失。顾客用户永远没问题。只有用软件写的单元测试才可能达到这水准。 一般“好手”,五年可以达到这“扎实”的功力。也有人20年后也不行。这些是“永不妥协”的个人职业要求,没这些就不够格自称“软件工程师”。所有的时间的估计,必须包含了以上三点。没估进的,工程师自己加班补上。三点还是不可妥协。

Posted in China, Management Thoughts | 4 Comments

Let the flood gates open

QE3 has started. Bernanke announced that starting Friday, September 14th, Federal Reserve will pump some $40 billions dollars into the market every month. Unlike the previous rounds, there is no definitive end date for this. The Fed will continue until … Continue reading

Posted in Peek into my mind, Witness to my life | 2 Comments

Coffee @ TPE

Taipei When not in Seattle, getting quality caffeine is a major inconvenience. Like an addict, I need to secure my fixes regularly and would made mental notes on the locations of Starbucks while moving around the city. Imagine my delight … Continue reading

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Life without a car

I was irrational and couldn’t help it. Really weird. First time in decades, I am without a car. It felt like going on a trip without computer or forgetting cell phone at home. For my current situation, owning a car … Continue reading

Posted in Witness to my life | 3 Comments

Gone Girl

The brilliancy of the this book is its dual personalities. It tells the story from both Nick and Amy’s angles, like “Mars and Venus” in fictional form. The story unfolds through a progressive, and alternative, of narratives. There are three … Continue reading

Posted in Books & Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Americans and their guns

At a party recently, after sufficient “lubrication,” I polled the guests on their “barrel count” (number of firearms they own). These are multi-generational Americans, living, in addition to Seattle, in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. The result was startling even … Continue reading

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Sailing @ SLU

South Lake Union. A sailboat is a machine. This machine was invented thousands of years ago, and was reinvented thousands of times over. Human beings are still tweaking this machine to make it more comfortable, faster, easier to maneuver, and … Continue reading

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