Being an immigrant from China, the US Supreme Court's recent ruling on DNA test after arrest is very educational.
Grown up in a totally different world, I have huge admirations to the country and its founding principles. While at the same time, I also keep many doubts on the political and legal systems. A seemingly no-brainer ruling to me at the beginning, the debate in the Supreme Court showed the true spirit of the system, and provided a perfect view into how the system is carefully maintained based on the founding principles.
More reading about the news here
May 20, 2013
May 10, 2013
Jan 29, 2013
A Dustbin Fight
The crowd-designing site Quirky and the famous household product company OXO are fighting over a couple of dustbins. Quirky is accusing it's rich neighbor ripping off their design, the Broom Groomer (which is currently available at Target for $9.99). The OXO Upright Dust Pan, currently sold at $19.99. You can find OXO's response here.
Don't want to say much about this. It's merely a self-promotion show pulled out by Quirky.
Jan 22, 2013
Your Dream Will Change, But That's OK
Conan O'Brien has something great to say in his Dartmouth Commencement Speech:
There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.
It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.
whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.
侯三
我开始记事的时候侯三已经很老，据说七十多岁，大概是牙齿不多了，整个嘴往里陷进去，下巴就突出来，黑亮的面堂，小小的个子。记忆里侯三总是穿着黑色的老棉裤，扎裤脚的那种，一双人字口的老式布鞋，慢慢地走着，背驮着，侧肩背着一个藤箩筐。还清楚得记得他背的那种藤萝筐，筐很浅，口冲外斜敞着。小屁孩们跳着脚从旁边跑过，喊着侯三侯三，他很少回应。他的目的地是我们院门外的土马路边上，放下筐，仔细地把筐里的小麻袋口卷起来，漏出个大饱满的五香花生米。有时候有小孩用土坷垃丢他，他恼怒起来也追出去，小孩们哄笑着一哄而散。他又赶紧一溜小跑跑回来，因为慢了框里的五香花生米就被其他小孩抢了。我妈总说这么多买五香花生米的，谁也没有侯三的好吃。
侯三正式的工作大概是看机井。有一间抽水的房子，紧挨着我们院的墙建在墙外面，大概为了自己方便，侯三在砖墙上掏了一个洞，仿佛依稀还能看到他从洞里钻过来的样子，不知道是不是幻像，那些不靠铺的记忆。墙的这面就是我小时候住的那片居民楼，很多年之后每次再回家都觉得原来这些楼这么小，这么无趣，小时候怎么有那么多空间可以撒欢奔跑，可以凑在五号楼一家院子门口撇断干枯的南瓜藤当烟抽，可以在楼前楼后砖头缝里抓蛐蛐，可以追赶秋风卷起的树叶，可以用钩子钩槐花，可以闻到暮色里的炊烟。也许对小孩来说空间也着实不大，所以我们总要翻墙到外面的地里，侯三的机井就是用来灌溉的。麦苗返青的时候好像每天都要浇水，我喜欢看着清澈的水流过沟渠，漫进麦地。虽然墙头上插着玻璃碴子，总有一些口子被开发出来，乡里人偶尔爬进来，更多地是小孩们爬出去。侯三的房子洞口开着的时候我们也会从那儿穿过，屋里总是没人，可以看到土炕和床上的老棉被。后来房子荒废了，大人们警告我们不要从屋里过，说是侯三得麻风病死了。
Nov 7, 2012
make me earn it
Randy Pausch 在他的最后一课之前，所有人都已经知道了他得了癌症，所以一出场掌声格外隆重。Randy第一反应是“make me earn it”. 这阵子大选轰炸，真的假的抹黑的贴金的全来了，不过看候选人们这么努力，总能想起这个“make me earn it”。我对全民选举的效力一直深度怀疑。但是一个制度能把人逼到这份上，比那种一小撮人关起门开小会还号召大家营造气氛的制度不知道要强多少。
May 3, 2012
A/B testing
The latest Wired ran a good piece on A/B testing.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_abtesting/all/1
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_abtesting/all/1
Apr 21, 2012
Apr 17, 2012
a new wallet video
I just love watching the videos Casey Neistat makes. I learned one thing from him: if you really want to be good at something, you have to enjoy doing it.
To have a taste, here's one:
To have a taste, here's one:
Apr 14, 2012
Apr 5, 2012
Joe Gebbia: the Airbnb story
Joe Gebbia is just like many of the young industrial design students I met in the US, full of energy, and never afraid of throwing ideas out there.
Feb 27, 2012
Feb 25, 2012
Jan 20, 2012
Think Different
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Jan 9, 2012
Steve Jobs on success
You need a lot of passion for what you're doing because its so hard. Without passion, any rational person would give up.
So if you're not having fun doing it, if you don't absolutely love it, you're going to give up.
And thats what happens to most people, actually.
If you look at the ones that ended up being successful in the eyes of society, often times its the ones who love what they do, so they could persevere when it got really tough.
And the ones that didn't love it, quit. Because they're sane, right?
Who would put up with this stuff if you don't love it?
So its a lot of hard work and its a lot of worrying constantly.
If you don't love it, you're going to fail.
Steve Jobs on life
When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you're life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.
That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.
Oct 18, 2011
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