范錚強：走過中央資管二十年

我本身不是 (資訊) 管理博士，也不是資工 (科) 博士；所以當同學寄此文給我看時，便仔細地讀了一下，以便更瞭解資管是什麼。以下是部份內容摘要，全文見此：

資管等於 computer science 加經濟、會計？...

當時，一個重要的意見是清華大學陳文村教授提出的，說是根本就不需要有資管系：只要computer science（資工、資科）的學生，修兩門經濟和會計，就比資管好了。這種意見是當時資工系老師們的主流意見，完全忽視了「資訊科技的商管應用」的重要性。這個看法，對往後幾年各校資管系所的設立有相當大的負面影響。...

The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian

兒子學校的寒假作業 

The book “The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie is a novel about a Native American Indian, who, trying to find a better future, enrolled at Realdan, a small but rich farm school, as opposed to the poor schools in the reservation.

A main part of the story is the humor that the author managed to squeeze into every part of the story, good or bad. He manages to find a silver lining, shining light on even the darkest and most horrible situations, making the overall story happy and joyful, even if when his father’s friend died, the illustrator and the author manages to steer the story away from sadness, by inserting a simple comic, in which lightens the story.

One interesting part of the story are the comics, in which gives the story a more diary like feeling, as if we are reading the actual diary of the author. This clever use of drawings make us feel closer to the protagonist. As being able to read the actual diary make us feel as if we have a close relationship to Junior, making the reader experience the same things Junior experience. 

In the story, the protagonist also tells of the unfair treatment of him from people around him. For example, the teacher mocked Junior when he mentioned the reality of petrification, but accepts the response from the white kid. He also mentioned how people living on the reservation aren’t going to go to college, stating the sad truth of being born on the reservation. Although not mentioned, the story illustrates how living in the reservation is like being slaves, as you were born disadvantaged, and could never get out of the pit, but only to fall deeper and deeper, as with current society, where the rich and advantaged grows more powerful, and the poor getting poorer.

The story as a whole gives us the sad aspects of Junior’s life, but Junior’s clever way to insert jokes, giving the story a light weighted feel, making the story a pleasure to read without feeling too serious. This story also illustrates even how people aren’t willing to admit it, prejudice and inequality still exists in the “civilized” world that we live in. The author way of dotting the story with humor also makes us feel closer to the protagonist, and makes it seem as if his life is a big joke. Junior’s way of humor also helps him make it through life, and as they say it, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

Practical Linear Algebra: A Geometry Toolbox

相見恨晚的好書 (圖片來源)

系上陳俊良老師逛書店，發現此書後準備當成數位創作學程的教科書，拿到學校和我分享。

此書從較容易具體化的 2 度和 3 度空間開始，使用許多的圖片和數值例子來說明線性代數的概念，讓學生可以了解到線性代數在電腦圖學的有趣應用，例如動畫。

雖然沒有證明，但是涵蓋了所有線性代數應該要懂的內容，甚至使用 singular value decomposition 來解說影像壓縮。

小缺點是沒有中譯本 (aha，再次說明英文閱讀能力的重要性)，且定價 2840 元。除此之外，這是一本好書，非常適合當我們學生的教科書。

Target 公司如何得知妳的秘密

從神經學研究 (Neurological studies) 到行銷 (圖片來源)

根據神經學的研究，我們經過 提示 (Cue)、慣性作用 (routine)、和獎勵結果 (reward) 而形成習慣。當習慣形成後，便很難改變 (註 1)

The process within our brains that creates habits is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future. Over time, this loop — cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward — becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become neurologically intertwined until a sense of craving emerges. What’s unique about cues and rewards, however, is how subtle they can be. Neurological studies like the ones in Graybiel’s lab have revealed that some cues span just milliseconds. And rewards can range from the obvious (like the sugar rush that a morning doughnut habit provides) to the infinitesimal (like the barely noticeable — but measurable — sense of relief the brain experiences after successfully navigating the driveway). Most cues and rewards, in fact, happen so quickly and are so slight that we are hardly aware of them at all. But our neural systems notice and use them to build automatic behaviors.

Why Computers are the Papers of the Future

兒子國一社會科的作業 

Paper have been around for hundreds of years, and is important to a variety of daily task. However, paper is easy to break and tear apart, and is easy to lose whatever information may be on the paper, whether it is a note to yourself or an assignment for school. 

When you write out ideas on a piece of paper, there will only be a copy, and if you were to lose it, the information will be lost forever, however, with today’s cloud technology, the piece of work will likely never disappear, and you will always be able to access it from anywhere.

Paper, is also very heavy when compared to the amount of data that can be stored on a hard　drive, or even the non-existent weight of cloud storage. For example if one wanted to bring books to read on a trip, it would be much lighter if the person brought an eReader, such as a kindle, which is lighter than the weight of the actual books.

It has also been proven that tablets and computers are better for assignment, as many schools in the United States had been started using ipads and surfaces instead of sheets of paper. A teacher even said that “It is so much easier to keep track of assignment.” Students have also reported that using surfaces is a more superior way to paper in terms of drawing, as modern drawing application such as Microsoft’s fresh paint software, allows for realistic drawing, as if on paper. Students also stated that writing on a tablet using a stylus was like writing on paper, but smoother. Also, tablets in education is also more eco–friendly, as the reusability of a tablet is much greater than those of a piece of paper. Tablets also allow students to organize their work more easily than using paper, where paper is crumbled up easily, and is often lost, while with computers and cloud storage, the information will be unlikely to be gone.

Even though paper has been proven helpful, it is beginning to be taken over by computers, which allow for more precise way to write down information. This does not mean that paper has completely loose its use, it is just that computers are better than paper at some aspects, such as in education and other purposes where computers allow for easier organization and better usability. 

機器人倉儲系統：結合跨領域知識的 Kiva Systems

網購商店如何完成妳的訂單？可以觀看 Amazon.com 的例子

這種傳統的運送帶和人取物方式有許多缺點，註 1 的論文列舉了一些 (costly, long design cycles, inflexible, not expandable, batch processing, fixed locations, manual reslotting)。網路泡沫化 (dot-com bubble) 時期的 Webvan 便因此破產。

Art Institute of Vancouver

四年 9 萬美金的學費 

朋友考慮讓其小孩到此校念書，說明其實作課程有 PC 和 Mac 兩種平台、和諸多的商用軟體；追問下，得知該校四年的學費為 9 萬美金。

上網查詢其課程大綱，以 Game Programming 為例，其中多門的數學課程在我教的課程中有教。

以敝校的數位內容創作學士學位學程為例，師資和 Art Institute of Vancouver 相比，絲毫不遜色。而且四年學費才 42 萬新台幣，不到美金 1.5 萬元。 

如同我先前的 blog (台灣的大學學費) 所言，以目前的收費標準，無法提供足夠的軟硬體設備和支援，以增進學生的學習成效。所以台灣需要適當地提高大學學費，以提高教學的品質。