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Abdallah关于印度洋海啸事件之问答录

北京时间公元二零零四年十二月二十六日八时五十分，印尼苏门答腊岛西北的印度洋海底深处发生里氏八点五级地震，引发大海啸，随即席卷印尼、马来西亚、泰国、缅甸、斯里兰卡、印度、孟加拉国等国家的印度洋沿岸地区，影响甚至远达东非等地。造成巨大损失和伤亡，死者现已超过15万。如今海啸已过去近一月，围绕着海啸前后，Abdallah对其中的一些物理、政治问题进行了解答，现录出供参考。 Q1：海啸的本质是什么？ Q2：海啸起因是什么？ Q3：在许多沿岸地区，很多人发现海啸前海水先落后涨，why？ Q4：海啸发生后，传播速度有多快，有时间逃跑吗？ Q5：海上的船只如何躲避海啸？如果船正好在震源附近，那是不是在劫难逃？ Q6：那么除了地震测量单位，海中的船只能否发现海啸波而及时通知岸上？ Q7：既然海啸在深海引起的破坏如此之小，为什么会对岸上的破坏如此之大？ Q8：海啸来的时候如何逃生？ Q9：这种人家惨剧，该不该捐款？ Q10：既然您不捐，那是否号召别人不捐款？ Q11：派军舰去救灾好不好？

Mozilla Control

Mozilla Control: "This site contains information on a number of projects that allow you to use Mozilla in an ActiveX environment and vice versa: 1. Mozilla ActiveX Control Embed the Mozilla browser engine (Gecko) into any ActiveX application. This control implements the same APIs as the Internet Explorer control making porting of existing applications reasonably straightforward. 2. ActiveX Control For Plug-ins Embed plug-ins in any ActiveX application. This control can host most Netscape Plug-in API (LiveConnect) plug-ins, allowing them to use them in your existing ActiveX applications, including Internet Explorer. 3. Plug-in For ActiveX controls Embed ActiveX controls in any NP API application. This plug-in hosts ActiveX controls allowing them to be used in browser such as Netscape 4.x/6.x, Mozilla and Opera."

Firescape?

First Look at Firefox-Based Netscape - MozillaZine: "The Netscape Browser prototype is based on Mozilla Firefox 0.9.3. Netscape are very careful to use the term 'prototype' as opposed to 'beta' but the FAQ for the release suggests that they anticipate a shipping product based on the technology to launch in 2005. On Windows XP (the prototype is available for Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000 and XP), the user-agent string is 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20041122 Firefox/0.5.6 '. We're not sure where they got the '0.5.6 ' from or why 'Netscape' isn't included."

New PowerBook G4

8x SuperDrives, comes standard with 512MB RAM, 802.11g, and bluetooth. 128MB Video RAM and Dual-DVI optional. Ready to Scroll Scrolling through web pages or large documents on a trackpad can challenge even the most nimble fingers. That’s why every PowerBook G4 features a new trackpad with scrolling capability. Just drag two fingers over the trackpad to scroll vertically and horizontally or pan around any active window. Change this feature to suit your needs: Customize your trackpad settings or turn off scrolling completely via System Preferences. Takes the Fall Now every PowerBook G4 is equipped with Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor to help protect your most valuable asset: your data. The Sudden Motion Sensor senses change in axis position and accelerated movement. In the event of a drop or fall, the Sudden Motion Sensor instantly parks the hard drive heads so they won’t scratch the disks on impact, lessening the risk of damage and improving your chances of retrieving valuable data. When the Sudden Motion Sensor senses your PowerBook is once again level, it unlocks the hard drive heads automatically.

Blake's Comment on Windows Search Companion

If ever there was a case against “cute” and “harmless” features, this is it. And by the way, the picture above isn’t doctored. That’s actually the question the dog poses when you click on it. And if you select “Do a trick,” he will do anything from pull out a dog bowl and ask for food to—you guessed it—scratch himself again. If the developers who programmed the dog focused instead on making sure that searching a couple hundred files on the machine next to you wasn’t ten times slower than searching 8 billion machines around the world, perhaps every search engine out there wouldn’t have to reinvent desktop search today. 好文，手痒翻译如下： Ok，问题不是出在那个别针上 当时我正在一台新的计算机上设置Firefox开发环境，并很快积攒了大约250个打开的窗口，实际上任务栏已经开始滚动。 大约3小时前，我开始每隔几分钟听到一个噪音。在配置Firefox开发环境时听到什么并不反常，它总是让你有些错觉。不过这次是个新的声音，在开发Mozilla的几年中都没听到过。 自然的，我做的第一件事是检查所有可能想吸引我注意的网络程序。但是AIM, MSN, 或者IRC上都没有人想招呼我。 最终，那个如此渴望让我关注的程序原来是Windows的搜索程序。那个坐在窗口角落里的小狗站在——我向上帝起誓——每几分钟挠他自己，那个声音就是他挠毛的声音。 花片刻来想想这事。 如果“可爱”和“无害”的特性会招人厌烦的话，这就是个例子。顺便说，上面的图片并不是捏造的，这真的是你点击它时它会给出的选择。如果你点了“耍个把戏”，它会做出从拖出一个狗食盆到——你猜到了——再挠自己的任何事。 如果编写这个狗的程序员更专注于使搜索你身边计算机上的几百个文件不比搜索全世界80亿个文件慢10倍以上的话，也许外面的每个搜索引擎（Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, MSN, AOL）就没必要重新发明桌面搜索引擎了。 评论： 好吧，如果有人都懒得在做任何正事前弄走MS的所有那些垃圾，他就只配看着（和听着！） 那只卡通狗在他的桌面上舔蛋蛋！

Search recent TV programs online.

Video		BETA

Google Video is a new product that enables you to search an index of transcripts from recent TV programs. It's just an early-stage beta product at this point; you'll only see stills and text snippets from shows that match your search terms, and you can only search shows from a few channels, dating back to December, 2004, when we started compiling the index. But we'll be steadily improving Google Video in the months to come, so as they say in the TV biz, stay tuned. Google Blog - We're tuning in to TV

Firefox Lead Joined Google

As of January 10, 2005, my source of income changed from The Mozilla Foundation to Google, Inc. of Mountain View, California. My role with Firefox and the Mozilla project will remain largely unchanged, I will continue doing much the same work as I have described above - with the new goal of successful 1.1, 1.5 and 2.0 releases. I remain devoted full-time to the advancement of Firefox, the Mozilla platform and web browsing in general. I'm sure you have many questions. While I will be spending more time at Google, I will work out of the Mozilla Foundation offices regularly as the need arises.

Firefox breaks 20,000,000 downloads!

In seventy six days, more than sixty three thousand of you have joined the effort to deliver Firefox 1.0 to more than twenty million thankful users! SFX Team You all are simply amazing!! You've engaged your friends and family, your co-workers, colleagues, and fellow students in a novel and exciting effort to take back the Web. You've helped twenty million people to get beyond the daily chaos of adware, spyware, and constant virus infections. You've created the first and the largest open source marketing effort in history. And you all are educating the world that they do have a choice and that they can take control of their Internet experience. You all have demonstrated that open source community can be powerful, committed, and capable of accomplishing once-unimaginable feats. Today, we celebrate twenty million Firefox 1.0 downloads. But more than that, we celebrate the community that you all have built and we celebrate each and every one you! --Asa, on behalf of the sfx team

Seti@home New Logo

What is SETI@home? SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. January 20, 2005 We're looking for a Certificate of Appreciation design based on the new SETI@home logo. If you know PHP and do graphic design, maybe you can help. January 6, 2005 The validation backlog is slowly clearing. There appears to be no problem with validation other than the slowness the backlog itself is causing. January 4, 2005 We are still running a backlog of results waiting to be validated and are looking into it. A SETI-inspired techno song (Full MP3 Download) by Dr. Love (Michael Grosch). A 0:45 preview here:

FBI Drops Carnivore

A computer system being produced by the FBI to read e-mails and other online communications has been dropped. Feds are instead turning to commercial software to eavesdrop on traffic during investigations into suspected criminals, terrorists and spies, AP reports. It's also increasingly turning to ISPs to target customers with wiretaps on its behalf. The FBI said it couldn't reveal how much had been spent on its custom-built software it no longer uses. However, experts suggested the system - known as carnivore - was likely to have cost anywhere between $6-15m. Eight net wiretaps were conducted in the fiscal 2003 year, and five in the year before - but none used Carnivore. It's understood the software was used a total of 25 times between 1998 and 2000. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said commercial software was less expensive and had improved in its ability to copy e-mails and other communications. "We see the value in the commercially available software; we're using it more now and we're asking the internet service providers that have the capabilities to collect data in compliance with court orders," he added. View: FBI | EPIC Carnivore coverage

Music2Titan Accueil

The Music will reach Titan on January 14 2005 after a 7 year and 4 Billion Kilometer Journey. Never will human signs have traveled and landed so far. "Music2Titan reflects a wish to highlight mankind's existence in the universe through music and to familiarize people with the spatial exodus and possible existence of extra-terrestrial life," said Julien Civange, producer, musician and initiator of Music2Titan. "It also serves as a way to offer people hope for the future and to make music travel beyond normal boundaries." The four pieces of music each correspond to a stage of the mission. Lalala: built around 3 base rock chords, this song corresponds to before the beginning of the mission, the making of the space probe in an atmosphere that is both naïve and serious at the same time. The men and women of the Space Agency in lab coats and overalls, like “Playmobils”, busy building Huygens in giant hangars. Bald James Dean: this song is dramatically tense, evoking the separation of the space probes Cassini and Huygens, which will take place at Christmas before the descent of Huygens towards Titan where it will arrive on 14th January 2005. Hot Time: this piece is more space-like but also urban which corresponds to the exploration of Titan’s sun. No Love: this corresponds to the end of the mission, a calm after so many years of work. It is also slightly melancholy which raises the questions linked to the conquest and the exodus of space: “What will we export there? Our dustbins, our fast-food, our knowledge, Wall Street, Che Guevara, the Mona Lisa, Bart Simpson…?” The four pieces of music will be available over the Internet, to the public on the 21st December.

Sounds of an alien world

Audio data collected by the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI), which includes an acoustic sensor, during Huygens' descent, 14 January 2005. 1. Speeding through Titan's haze This recording is a laboratory reconstruction of the sounds heard by Huygens' microphones. Several sound samples, taken at different times during the descent, are here combined together and give a realistic reproduction of what a traveller on board Huygens would have heard during one minute of the descent through Titan's atmosphere. File 1 : acoustic during descent 2. Radar echos from Titan's surface This recording was produced by converting into audible sounds some of the radar echoes received by Huygens during the last few kilometres of its descent onto Titan. As the probe approaches the ground, both the pitch and intensity increase. Scientists will use intensity of the echoes to speculate about the nature of the surface. File 2 : radar conversion

Huygens Probe Descent

Cassini-Huygens Landed!

Yet Another Mini

A Google search puts the Web’s information at your fingertips. The Google Mini does the same thing for your website or corporate intranet. Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, the Google Mini is a hardware and software search appliance that offers your company the power and productivity of Google search. The Google Mini: * Indexes and searches up to 50,000 documents. * Works with more than 220 different file formats, including HTML, PDF, Microsoft Office and WordPerfect. * Is easy to set up and requires minimal ongoing administration. * Costs $4,995 for all hardware and software, including a year of support and hardware replacement coverage. Just point the Google Mini at your content, add a search box to your website and you’re set. The Mini crawls your content and creates a master index of documents ready for instant retrieval whenever an employee or customer types in a search query. It's that simple to make your public website or intranet as easy to search as Google.com.

Apple - Mac mini

Live the digital life in stylish simplicity. Just 6.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall, Mac mini provides what you need to have more fun with your music, photos and movies — right out of the box. And it boasts a miniscule price to match: Mac mini starts at $499. Sometimes, the wheel really does need reinventing. How else would you end up with a computer so small you can balance it in one hand, yet powerful enough to propel you to digital nirvana? You’ll love Mac mini. Apple designers spend countless hours ensuring not only an aesthetically beautiful machine, but a technically superior instrument that puts no barriers between your dreams and onscreen visions. When you enjoy what you’re doing, from organizing photos to blissing out on your guitar, you’ll spend more time making stuff.

Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you. Choose from pocket-size 512MB or 1G models starting at $99 and surprise yourself. The smallest iPod yet, iPod shuffle fits neatly in the palm of your hand and looks just plain neat around your neck. Prepare to make friends and influence people when you wear it biking, hiking, snowboarding, dog-walking and anywhere else that could use a great soundtrack.

精神崩溃的一年啊！

一年前的今天，突然就结婚了。 我记得那天，出门前吵架很凶，什么原因不记得了。 就是吵得很凶，然后就死活不肯去登记了 我开始哭，觉得结婚是个甩不掉的大麻烦 希望眼前的一切都消失 希望时间倒回没有谈婚论嫁的时候 结婚好像是告别父母管制的唯一途径 我觉得绝望 他突然明白过来的样子，说爸爸妈妈在登记处等着我们呢 然后就不管三七二十一把我塞进了出租车 我想我当时一定是累了，否则我一定不会被塞进去 因为我比他高一厘米，而且我喜欢穿高跟鞋 登记处有两个他的朋友在兴高采烈的举着相机等候着 我的爸爸妈妈也在 很多人在登记大厅里耐心的排着队 大家都开开心心的 我和他发现离婚办公室就在结婚办公室隔壁 结婚九块钱，离婚十块钱 登记处的老先生坚持要求九个硬币，说是这样吉利 于是，借钱办理了结婚登记

More snow at XJH from D70

Google in 2005

the snow is out there

Firefox - Rediscover the web

正式版发布45天就取得了1300万的下载量，Mozilla 的Firefox 浏览器显示出了不可否认的力量——但这是否意味着它可以终结微软的垄断呢？ 尽管Firefox 眼下形势一片大好，但是许多因素都有可能制约它的长期增长：长期以来，互用性一直制约着非微软浏览器，使用它们浏览一些网站时经常出问题。Firefox 声称在这方面取得了一些重要的进步，但是还有少数网站（包括微软的Windows 更新站点）无法浏览。 此外，许多的公司IT部门跟微软的联系非常密切，在可预见到的未来，要把许多业务转移到其它的浏览器上是不切实际的。微软把这些联系视作阻止公司背叛的坚固壁垒，帮助它留住大部分给它带来丰厚利润的客户。 微软公司的一名代表说：" 成千上万的商业用户告诉我们，IE是一个可扩展的和可靠的平台，企业已经在这个平台上构建了数以千计的应用。" 据调查显示，自从上个月发布之后，Firefox 已经让IE浏览器的市场占有率第一次跌破了90%。现在的问题是它能否克服市场的多方阻力，避免成为另一个站在IE阴影中的小众的玩物。 经过多年在边缘的徘徊，在推出Firefox 之后，Mozilla 终于峰回路转。Mozilla 是网景公司在1999年为了遵循开放源代码模式开发它的浏览器而创建的，2003年却因为是一个非盈利的基金，被网景的母公司时代华纳抛弃。现在的情况似乎不可思议——Mozilla 已经确定了 2005年市场份额达到10% 的目标。 Mozilla 工程主任Chris Hofmann 说：" 我们明年的目标是保持市场份额以2004年的速度增长。""Mozilla 基金会为推动这个目标已经拿出了专项资金。" 考虑到IE现在的份额，实现这个目标将是一次突破，因为现在市场上的众多二线浏览器（比如苹果的Safari、Opera 浏览器，还有Mozilla 和网景等基于Mozilla 的浏览器）市场份额都还停留在个位数字上。 Mozilla 要实现Firefox 的市场份额增长，面临的一个主要的问题是网页程序员趋向于保持代码和IE的兼容性。尽管存在着网页标准（主要由W3C 组织发布），但是仍然有许多网页和应用程序不兼容Firefox 等非IE浏览器。 在成功的发布了firefox 和雷鸟电子邮件应用程序之后，Mozilla 准备在2005年着手解决这些问题。 为了解决兼容性问题，Mozilla 计划雇用专门人员找出只能用IE浏览的站点，并向这些网站的程序员宣扬标准的网页代码写作方法。 以前网景设立过一个类似的组织，Mozilla 后来使用志愿者来继续这个组织的工作。明年，专职的雇用人员将加强这方面的工作，逐个地去劝说网页程序员编写标准的代码。 Mozilla 的目标是那些浏览量较大的网站，它说这样不仅会提高自己的浏览器的兼容性，其它符合标准的浏览器也会受益。 Mozilla 定期地测试1700 个访问量最大的网站，并且逐一的比较它们在IE和Firefox 下的运行情况。该组织的数据显示，Firefox 能够与这些网站的网页保持98% 的兼容性，而四年前只有75% 的兼容性。 Hofmann 说：" 实际上我们要解决的问题已经不多。" 这些问题包括网站对ActiveX 的依赖，ActiveX 是微软公司专有的应用编程接口（API），网站通过它可以调用计算机的底层功能。 ActiveX 长期以来被视为安全重镇，也是微软最新的Service Pack 2升级包中IE部分安全更新的关键。为了开发出和ActiveX 有相同功能的标准，浏览器开发公司如苹果公司、Opera 软件，以及插件程序供应商Sun 、Macromedia和Adobe 等结成了一个联盟，Mozilla 也是这个联盟的成员。 Firefox 在兼容性方面第二个重要的问题是Hofmann 指出的" 微软对DOM 的专有实现"。DOM 就是Document Object Model ，可以让脚本文件与网页独立元素互动，得到了W3C 的推荐。 Mozilla 把兼容性从75% 提高到98% 的手段之一说服网站采用标准的代码，另一种就是当遇到非标准的网页时模仿IE的功能。 Mozilla 称这种策略为" 曲线模式" ，当Firefox 载入页面时，如果它的Gecko 引擎检测到IE特有的非标准行为，浏览器就切换到仿真模式以便正确显示网页，虽然这样会慢一些。 随着Firefox 不断赢得市场份额，Mozilla 发现网页程序员越来越接受它所倡导的标准和兼容性。现在该机构每周接到10到15个从个人和机构打来的电话，询问如何使他们的网站与Firefox 保持兼容。 甚至当有人要求微软的网页应该与Firefox 保持兼容时，微软也作出了更多的回应。Hofmann 认为软件巨人之所以作出这种阳光姿态，一部分原因是由于微软在这方面吃过亏：Opera 控告微软在Opera 浏览器打开网页时故意破坏网页，最后微软拿出1200万美元同Opera 和解。 在它的网页同非IE浏览器的兼容性方面，以及一般站点与浏览器的互用性问题上，微软拒绝发表评论。 但是它指出Mozilla 要想继续赢得市场份额，还要面对一个重要的挑战：企业桌面应用。 就像布什和克里两位总统候选人一样，两边都自称有一套安全措施。 Hofmann 说：" 去年，我们已经发现，公司的IT管理人员已经在考虑备份策略，以应对IE出现严重漏洞而微软没有来得及打补丁的情况。他们对Firefox 表示出了兴趣。……我们跟他们交谈，听他们说他们的忧虑，并且帮助他们制定部署Firefox 的计划。"Mozilla可能会强调它在企业应用方面不为人所知的能力，比如从中央服务器更新浏览器偏爱的能力。 明年，Mozilla 将继续向公司宣传Firefox。Hofmann说：" 很多人都感兴趣。同我们交谈的公司包含各种行业。进入企业市场是一个长期的坚定的路线，我们有些人以前在网景的时候就从事这方面的工作，我们知道接下来该怎么做。我们将长期进行这项工作。"

Google Holiday Logos

Polar expression - Google Blog

2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist

Search patterns, trends, and surprises

VMware Workstation 5 Beta

Key new features in VMware Workstation 5: * New Teams functionality makes it easier to create and manage connected virtual machines and simulate "real world" multi-tier configurations * Multiple snapshot and snapshot management capabilities makes it easier to capture and manage multiple configurations * New cloning functionality makes it easier to copy virtual machines and share them with colleagues (full and linked clones) * Movie record and playback feature for capturing activity in a virtual machine * Improved performance, especially for multi-VM and networking workloads, for suspend/resume and snapshot operations, and for shared folders and sound features * New and improved Linux user interface * New guest OS, host OS, and hardware support - 32 and 64 bit * Support for a new class of USB devices, including webcams, microphones, and speakers * Command line interface enables the automation of certain manual steps Improved performance # Multi-VM performance: Workstation 5 includes significant improvements in memory utilization when multiple virtual machines are used concurrently. This allows users to efficiently run multiple virtual machines with much less total memory. # Improved networking performance: Workstation 5 offers enhanced networking performance by leveraging VMware's custom network driver. Once a user installs the updated VMware Tools, the necessary network drivers install seamlessly to offer significantly improved network performance. # Improved and faster suspend/resume and snapshot operations: Workstation 5 performs significantly faster suspend/resume and snapshot operations, enabling users to spend more time testing and less time waiting for power operations to execute.

Adobe Reader 7.0 Is Out

Adobe® Reader® 7.0 is free software that enables business professionals and home users to reliably share information using intelligent PDF files. With Adobe Reader 7.0, you can easily view, print, and search PDF files using a variety of platforms and devices.

Widgets on Windows

Konfabulator is a JavaScript runtime engine for Windows and Mac OS X that lets you run little files called Widgets that can do pretty much whatever you want them to. Widgets can be alarm clocks, calculators, can tell you your WiFi signal strength, will fetch the latest stock quotes for your preferred symbols, and even give your current local weather.

Thunderbird - Reclaim Your Inbox

Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster, and easier than ever before with the industry's best implementations of features such as intelligent spam filters, built-in RSS reader, quick search, and much more.

Firefox - Rediscover the web

The wait is over. Firefox 1.0 empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 10 million others and make the switch today — Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose...