Next, Abraham asked Zimran to search for more oil.
The third son of the old man followed the footsteps of Issac and returned to the forest. Instead of digging, he picked up the shiny stones left by his brother and brought them back to Abraham.
"Why! They are diamonds! You smart boy!" Abraham nodded.
The old man then sent Jokshan to try.
The fourth son headed north-east and, a few months later, reached a no-man's-land. Without the good fortune of Zimran, Jokshan had to dig for himself. Nonetheless, after several weeks of painstaking exertion, no trace of oil could be seen. However, he found a good many stones - no, not the shiny ones that his brother Isaac had carelessly threw away. He tried again and again to see if he could make use of this nondescript finding.
At last, he found that the stones could burn.
He brought them back to his father.
"Good lord. You find a coal mine! Clever boy." Abraham said approvingly.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Sons
Abraham had eight sons.
He sent Ishmael to search for oil. The eldest son travelled south-east for a short distance and reached a desert. He drilled lightly and, in no time, liquid gold gushed out from the ground. He went back and told his father what happened.
"Good boy." Abraham said.
In the next morning, the old man asked Isaac to search for more oil.
The second son headed south-west, and, after a few weeks, found a forest by a long river. With the experience of his elder brother, Isaac was all skillful in drilling - but he found no petroleum. Instead, he dug out some hard and shiny stones. He threw them off, shook his head, returned to Abraham and told the story to his father.
"What a silly boy!" Abraham sighed.
(To be continued.)
He sent Ishmael to search for oil. The eldest son travelled south-east for a short distance and reached a desert. He drilled lightly and, in no time, liquid gold gushed out from the ground. He went back and told his father what happened.
"Good boy." Abraham said.
In the next morning, the old man asked Isaac to search for more oil.
The second son headed south-west, and, after a few weeks, found a forest by a long river. With the experience of his elder brother, Isaac was all skillful in drilling - but he found no petroleum. Instead, he dug out some hard and shiny stones. He threw them off, shook his head, returned to Abraham and told the story to his father.
"What a silly boy!" Abraham sighed.
(To be continued.)
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Scrubs
A hot topic recently amongst our students is whether they could wear their student uniform (so-called medical scrubs) outside the hospital. A little acquaintance of mine is certainly touched (at the group c nerve fibers) and makes a lengthy open comment (see https://www.facebook.com/MedicSecrets, entry #459).
I must say I agree entirely with his argument. Infection control is an issue but not a critical one. Otherwise we would all have to change our clothes before and after going to work (be they medical scrubs or not) - which was what we did during the time of SARS. After all, the scrubs of our students (especially those junior ones) could not be very contaminated - how often do you think they really contact genuine patients?
However, I would like to see the phenomenon from another angle:
You can find many people wearing the football jersey of FC Barcelona or Real Madrid in the street. Some of them, however, have such a protuberant tummy that they would have difficulty to make their shoelace. A considerable proportion of others would be gasping to death after joining a football match for 5 minutes.
On the other hand, have you ever seen Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo wearing their own jersey to the pub after the national derby?
I must say I agree entirely with his argument. Infection control is an issue but not a critical one. Otherwise we would all have to change our clothes before and after going to work (be they medical scrubs or not) - which was what we did during the time of SARS. After all, the scrubs of our students (especially those junior ones) could not be very contaminated - how often do you think they really contact genuine patients?
However, I would like to see the phenomenon from another angle:
You can find many people wearing the football jersey of FC Barcelona or Real Madrid in the street. Some of them, however, have such a protuberant tummy that they would have difficulty to make their shoelace. A considerable proportion of others would be gasping to death after joining a football match for 5 minutes.
On the other hand, have you ever seen Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo wearing their own jersey to the pub after the national derby?
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Present
Believe it or not, as a primary one student, Euterpe was recently asked to give a short speech to her class. Well, it is kind of a English project. Each and every one in her class takes turn to prepare a short speech (with their parents, of course) on the topic assigned and then to give the talk in from of their classmates.
The topic of Euterpe is A Present For Mum. For obvious reasons, I wrote the script with her.
Here you go.
**************************
I want to give a present to my mum. It is about Christmas and I want to make her happy.
What present should I give?
My mum loves reading but we can borrow from the library.
My mum loves music but playing piano is too difficult for me.
My mum loves flowers but carnation is for Mother's Day.
My mum loves Candy Crush but it is not good for her teeth.
My mum loves travelling but she has to stay for exam with me.
My mum loves sleeping but I cannot send her a good dream.
I would present myself as a good girl to her because the most she loves is me.
The topic of Euterpe is A Present For Mum. For obvious reasons, I wrote the script with her.
Here you go.
**************************
I want to give a present to my mum. It is about Christmas and I want to make her happy.
What present should I give?
My mum loves reading but we can borrow from the library.
My mum loves music but playing piano is too difficult for me.
My mum loves flowers but carnation is for Mother's Day.
My mum loves Candy Crush but it is not good for her teeth.
My mum loves travelling but she has to stay for exam with me.
My mum loves sleeping but I cannot send her a good dream.
I would present myself as a good girl to her because the most she loves is me.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Overqualified
You may ask: Is my Nexus good?
Maybe to your surprise, but, the scientific answer is I don't know.
To me, the new tablet is nothing more than a handy pile of books and journals and a small note pad, used mostly for my reading of PDFs and sometimes Words documents, with occasional notes to jot down for my flight of ideas. I hardly ever use it for internet search, not to say complicated computations or playing videos. In other words, there is actually no need to have the most advanced version of Android Jelly Bean as the operating system, or a quad-core CPU, or 2 GB RAM, or a screen of over 300 ppi, or stereo speakers with surround sound. All of these are cutting edge technology, but my basic needs are humble.
Nonetheless, I fall into the usual trap. When I consider which model to buy, the new version is almost always preferred. For example, the first generation Nexus is still around. It is around 40% cheaper, and probably serve my purposes equally well - but I still choose the new version released this July.
PS. The first generation of this tablet is, by all standard, overqualified for my requirement. I'm afraid that's a general phenomenon of the computer and electronic industry.
A computer could be no more intelligent than the man who uses it.
Maybe to your surprise, but, the scientific answer is I don't know.
To me, the new tablet is nothing more than a handy pile of books and journals and a small note pad, used mostly for my reading of PDFs and sometimes Words documents, with occasional notes to jot down for my flight of ideas. I hardly ever use it for internet search, not to say complicated computations or playing videos. In other words, there is actually no need to have the most advanced version of Android Jelly Bean as the operating system, or a quad-core CPU, or 2 GB RAM, or a screen of over 300 ppi, or stereo speakers with surround sound. All of these are cutting edge technology, but my basic needs are humble.
Nonetheless, I fall into the usual trap. When I consider which model to buy, the new version is almost always preferred. For example, the first generation Nexus is still around. It is around 40% cheaper, and probably serve my purposes equally well - but I still choose the new version released this July.
PS. The first generation of this tablet is, by all standard, overqualified for my requirement. I'm afraid that's a general phenomenon of the computer and electronic industry.
A computer could be no more intelligent than the man who uses it.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Nexus
I end up buying a second generation Google Nexus 7 from a local on-line store.
When I come to think about it, the process of buying is in itself remarkable. To cut the long story short, I set off with a decision to choose one of the common mini-tablets with a screen of 7 to 8 inches. Basically, there are four on the list: iPad mini, Samsung Notes, Nexus, and Kindle Fire; each has their own edges as well as problems.
But, rather than going to one of the chain stores for electronic devices and listen to what the salesperson say, I search from the internet to compare their technical specifications and details. In addition, I look up the YouTuble - there are dozens of videos that compare one device versus another, and many more that talk about the tips and tricks of using each of them. The final choice of Nexus is, therefore, a calm and careful decision. To use the jargon of psychologist, the experience of purchasing is far much better than going to a flesh-and-blood store in person.
Our shopping behaviour has changed - and I come to realize why Tmall is so successful.
When I come to think about it, the process of buying is in itself remarkable. To cut the long story short, I set off with a decision to choose one of the common mini-tablets with a screen of 7 to 8 inches. Basically, there are four on the list: iPad mini, Samsung Notes, Nexus, and Kindle Fire; each has their own edges as well as problems.
But, rather than going to one of the chain stores for electronic devices and listen to what the salesperson say, I search from the internet to compare their technical specifications and details. In addition, I look up the YouTuble - there are dozens of videos that compare one device versus another, and many more that talk about the tips and tricks of using each of them. The final choice of Nexus is, therefore, a calm and careful decision. To use the jargon of psychologist, the experience of purchasing is far much better than going to a flesh-and-blood store in person.
Our shopping behaviour has changed - and I come to realize why Tmall is so successful.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tablet
I bought a tablet recently.
The story goes like this: In the past two years I was using the good old traditional Kindle as my electronic reader (see http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2011/11/kindle.html), and I read most of my stuff with this handy gadget from Jeff Bezos - journal articles, leisure books, and comfort readings. Although it has no touch screen and practically no internet connection capability, the device is robust and durable. Charge it once and the battery is good enough for 3 to 4 weeks.
But, in the past three months or so, I was increasingly aware of the need to have something new. To begin with, it is not very convenient to read PDF in Kindle, and, if you read a journal article as HTML file, you lose many of the figures. More so, the screen is rather dim and difficult to read when there is little light.
I must say my first solution to all these problems was to rely on my cell phone. It has a very user-friendly apps to connect with Kindle, and, since I now put all journal articles to read in my Google drive, I could access them anywhere. The screen is small, but not uncomfortably so.
The problem is its battery is prohibitive - it doesn't last even for a single day use.
See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2013/03/samsung.html
The story goes like this: In the past two years I was using the good old traditional Kindle as my electronic reader (see http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2011/11/kindle.html), and I read most of my stuff with this handy gadget from Jeff Bezos - journal articles, leisure books, and comfort readings. Although it has no touch screen and practically no internet connection capability, the device is robust and durable. Charge it once and the battery is good enough for 3 to 4 weeks.
But, in the past three months or so, I was increasingly aware of the need to have something new. To begin with, it is not very convenient to read PDF in Kindle, and, if you read a journal article as HTML file, you lose many of the figures. More so, the screen is rather dim and difficult to read when there is little light.
I must say my first solution to all these problems was to rely on my cell phone. It has a very user-friendly apps to connect with Kindle, and, since I now put all journal articles to read in my Google drive, I could access them anywhere. The screen is small, but not uncomfortably so.
The problem is its battery is prohibitive - it doesn't last even for a single day use.
See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2013/03/samsung.html
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