2013-08-31

[東北西西南法] 從西班牙東北進入法國西南

寫這篇,無非為表明本角落仍然存在仍有更新。

明天中午,即會從西班牙東北的Bilbao進入法國西南的Bayonne。

2013-08-05

A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel 中國權貴的死亡游戲

A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Murder, Money, and an Epic Power Struggle in China (Pin Ho 何頻 & Wenguang Huang 黃文廣)

The downfall of Bo Xilai in China was more than a darkly thrilling mystery. It revealed a cataclysmic internal power struggle between Communist Party factions, one that reached all the way to China's new president Xi Jinping.

The scandalous story of the corruption of the Bo Xilai family—the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood; Bo's secret lovers; the secret maneuverings of Bo's supporters; the hasty trial and sentencing of Gu Kailai, Bo's wife—was just the first rumble of a seismic power struggle that continues to rock the very foundation of China's all-powerful Communist Party. By the time it is over, the machinations in Beijing and throughout the country that began with Bo's fall could affect China's economic development and disrupt the world's political and economic order.


China File: A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel

NPR: From A 'Death' To A Crisis, Tracing China's Bo Xilai Scandal

BBC中文網:專訪:薄案與中國權貴的死亡遊戲

未普評論:江胡習薄,剪不斷理還亂——讀《中國權貴的死亡游戲》


Google Books: preview/試閱
Amazon: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook



Further (e)reading:
- John Garnaut: The Rise and Fall of the House of Bo
- FT Edits: The Bo Xilai Scandal: Power, Death, and Politics in China

2013-08-03

小孩派對不簡單

我家門前公園,每逢週末總會舉行大型小孩派對。小孩和父母各二三十人的規模很常見。

今天這派對,論人數不算太多,可是出動了巨大吹氣滑梯/迷宮!從第二張照片右下方可見,這玩意須靠自攜小型發電機操作!

小孩派對不簡單啊

下回派對,負責的父母又能想出什麼奇招制勝?



鬱鬱而終的科技天才Nikola Tesla

讀了一本關於Nikola Tesla的自印電子書,方知道有這麼一位科技天才(真的,沒騙你,從來不知有此人),方知道他跟Edison(小學讀過的發明大王愛迪生),JP Morgan,Westinghouse等人的瓜葛。


Sean Patrick - Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century
(建議只細讀中間關於Tesla那部分,開首和結尾論天才與成功略過不算可惜)






下則夠淫蕩

強國人初到歪國,若搞不清升降機內廣播告知將要向上還是向下,只要記著,下則夠淫蕩(going down),上則勾引阿婆(going up)。

2013-08-02

碌八讀書爽

這幾天以碌八為閱讀器,又多讀了兩本書。我跟電子書,可謂相逢恨晚,原來閱讀經驗那麽爽!碌八輕便,電子書文字清晰,字體大小和光度可以調校。純以閱讀舒適度計,電子書勝出!

(朋友説,kindle傷眼,還是喜歡讀紙本書。這應該是不少人的閱讀經驗。然而我用更傷眼的平板,也不覺得有任何問題。畢竟,三十年來,我整天對著電腦屏幕閱讀文字,習以為常,從早到晚不累)

至於八吋還是十吋平板較優?後者屏幕較大但較重(太座的舊款ipad非常重!),純以作為閱讀器來衡量,前者足夠有餘,後者大而無當。但十吋平板作為雜誌和網頁閱讀器,在尺寸上確有優勢。

下星期出家旅遊,打算拿著滿載資料和地圖的碌八在街上東奔西跑。十吋平板實際面積幾乎是碌八的雙倍,有點笨鈍不太可攜。

權衡平板各方面功能,暫時認為,八吋較合用。