賢者之石

一個用幾億人命換嚟嘅政權... 先唔講中共嘅權力來源係邊度，嗰「幾億」人入面有幾多人係非戰爭而死亡嘅平民，請問又知唔知?

講得出呢句去維護政權，一係無知，一係冷血，無話可說。

選舉自助餐

話說搵到工搬咗屋之後，就諗起去登記做選民，今日，就係大選嘅日子。英國嘅政治，真係識條鐵，不如講吓週邊嘅事。

話說工黨好勤力咁宣傳，今朝落樓嗰陣，重有新嘅傳單派入嚟。


本來都想投咗票先返工，但今日遲咗少少出門，都係放工先去投票。

响地鐵站嘅免費報紙，當然亦會有講大選入面，各黨嘅形勢，似乎因為兩個大黨勢均力敵，投票率會幾高吓。


放咗工，就去到投票站投票。呢度唔使帶身份証明文件，只要講得出你個名同住址，就可以攞張選票。原來我住呢區有9個候選人，除咗大黨同獨立候選人，重有啲自己比較少見嘅黨，例如 Workers Revolutionary Party, Europeans Party, 同埋 The Above and Beyond Party. 頭嗰兩個大概都估到一個幫工人階級，一個親歐，但 The Above and Beyond Party 嘛... 上網一查，係一個專門推動响選票入面加入白票選項嘅政黨 (即係 None of Above)，真係孤陋寡聞。

返到屋企，睇返啲同選舉有關嘅郵件，工黨真係好出力，除咗一張自民黨冋一張選舉通知書之外，都係工黨嘅傳單，可惜吖，將我個姓攪錯咗...


投完票，可以响 Facebook 打咭，今日一朝早就响度問我投唔投票，反正個 Status 幾特別，打埋張咭。之後就手痕地 Click 咗入個 Status 度，原來有其他嘢睇!


話時話，點解女仕們咁湧躍嘅呢? 係男仕們無咁鐘意打咭，無咁鐘意用 Facebook, 定無咁鐘意政治?

十點鐘，又手㾗去問吓 Google 有乜嘢新聞，點知.. 🙇


大神呀，你呢個答案實在太令人驚喜喇嘛... 既然聽朝先有結果，咁今晚都係好好咁抖吓算。

至於我嗰票嘛，因為對英國嘅政治識條鐵嘅關係，亦無好詳細咁去搵各黨派嘅政綱，所以只可以用 Impression 去投票。首先工黨啲傳單攪錯咗我個姓，已經大大咁扣分，有些機會... 至於細黨，因為好多都係理念型，執政會比較危險。睇開首相答問大會，卡梅倫俾我嘅感覺係一個有魄力嘅領袖，每個禮拜去接受質詢喎! 所謂 Politics is Talk, 可以嘅話，維持現狀，對我嚟講係最安全。

原來我都係一個討厭政治嘅人，不過响討厭政治之前，首先你要有一個... 代表到你嘅政府。

P.S.: 原來咁都有得賭，不過唔識睇賠率... 1/100 同 16/1, 即係點???

估歲數

Microsoft 有個 Face API, 專門用嚟個 Face Recognition. 有一日，Microsoft 嘅團隊發現，除咗認出面型之外，重可以估埋性別同年齡，於是就產生咗 How-old.net 呢個網頁。

貪玩地 Upload 咗幾張相，較果當然不佳，由 19 至 41 歲都有。於是就想睇吓大概用乜嘢準則去做估算。咁啱有張相 Tune 過少少光暗，於是就將原圖同 Tune 好嘅相 Upload 咗上去。

百思不得其解，兩張相多咗乜嘢，少咗乜嘢?

跟住諗起之前同大家玩過一個遊戲，一於就俾佢玩吓，就發現個 Website 好似最多只係認到6個人樣。後來再 Upload 咗幾張團體照，確認咗呢件事。至於個遊戲，佢揀咗最新嗰6張，不過位置就麻麻哋。


玩咗一輪，發現個 Contrast 越大，年紀都會越大，所以啲陽光照同閃光照都係年齡偏高嘅相。

直至有一幅相，因為光度不足而太多雜訊，決定縮細咗佢先再 Upload, 竟然會同雜訊有關?


Information Theory 入面有一個 Term 叫 Entropy, 即係講緊一件事有幾隨機 (即係亂). Entropy 越高就越隨機。咁一個人老咗，皺紋多咗，面部嘅 Entropy 亦都會高啲。亦都解釋到點解張相 Contrast 越大，估嘅年齡亦越高。至於點去量度一幅圖嘅 Entropy, 因為件事太數學，有興趣嘅可搵搵乜嘢係 DCT.

於是，就用咗 Photoshop 入面 Posterize 嘅 Function, 呢個 Function 係去限制住一幅相有幾多顏，諗法係顏色越少，雜訊亦相對減少，Entropy 就越低，年齡亦都會低。

結果係，顏色最少嗰幅，反而係年齡最高嗰幅... 點解會咁嘅?


接受唔到... 搵唔到個 Pattern, 解唔到個 Algorithm, 暫時放棄...

P.S.: 個網頁唔可以話準，但係一般人其實都好難估到其他人嘅年齡，電腦嘅嘢，準過一般人，就已經合格。而且，佢只係認緊面部嘅影像，身型、衣著、背景嗰啲完全無考慮到，其實都算係咁。

學生的權力遊戲

其實以民主政制嚟講，公投攞 Mandate 只係其中一個手段，唔係為公投而公投，而係想問有幾多個人想做一件。夠魄力嘅話，大可以解散學生會，以目的作為單一議題，重新再選。

校園係社會嘅縮影，一件退聯事件攪到啲牛鬼蛇神出晒嚟，尤其城大嗰班，攪小動作攪到咁肉酸，我諗可以做 689 接班人。只可以話，政治，唔係人攪的。再走落去，就要答一個根本嘅問題: 究竟學生會係為學生而設，定係為學聯而設?

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely

下一站 fb?

話說康泰之旅前一日 Facebook 嗰邊嘅招募隊有人响 Linkedin 我，睇吓我有無興趣 Join. 唔... 興趣唔係話無嘅，只係咁啱公司有個大 Project 要 Kick-off, 俾晒 Training 又派我去美國，就咁走咗去唔係咁好，本來想推卻咗佢，但原來份工又等得人喎! 於是返嚟倫敦之後就咗個好快嘅 screening.

個 screening 其實無乜嘢，都係問吓啲 Data Structures 同 Algoithms 咁，雖然離開咗大學，但因為成日教人 (感謝徒弟、師弟、同兄弟們)，所以唔係一件難事。好爽快咁要約一次 Phone Interview, 問題係要去一轉美國，所以一約就係三個禮拜後嘅事。

今個禮拜五，就係 Phone Interview 嘅時間，呢個 Phone Inteview, 係雖要寫 code 嘅，點睇啲 code 呢... 唔係 Webex, 唔係 Lync, 唔係 Skype, 又唔係  Connect, 係 http://collabedit.com/. 原來有啲咁嘅嘢，即係即場睇住你寫，無 Intellisense, 自己要做人肉 Compiler, 似乎要開住 MSDN 玩了。

今晚，Join 咗個 Event, 教你點 Interview 嘅


原來除咗 Phone Interview, 重有個要一整日嘅 In-person Interview, 會面對面咁見唔同嘅人，Solve 唔同嘅問題，可能响白板度寫答案，又或者响 Notebook 度寫 Program. 有趣，似乎好好玩咁。了解咗個 Format 之後，啲人開始問問題，唔... 原來好多都係自己 Apply, 似乎都幾 Green 嘅添，佢哋唔太知 Interview 係乜嘢一回事。感覺上主要係睇 Problem Solving 嘅能力同埋對 Structure and Algorithms 嘅熟悉程度，如果過到星期五嗰關，我覺得應該都可以十拿九穩了。

祝我好運吧!

康泰之旅 - 購物日

一朝早起身食過早餐後，大家就响泳池度玩水


似乎大人重玩得開心過小朋友


玩完水後，就去到 Shopping 嘅第一站係香茅屋，都係賣吓啲香薰呀、番梘呀咁。


跟住就去芭東，途中見到一支支嘅透明液體，竟然係 Gasoline???


到咗商場，都幾大吓，睇咗幾件衫，本來都好鐘意，不過考慮到屋企已經太多衫嘅關係，都係放棄。


有少少時間剩，嚟咗杯西瓜冰沙同炒飯做午餐，再同友人們會合。


跟住去咗 Outlet, 買咗啲零食同一件恤衫


退稅過程都幾麻煩，所以都係放棄


好熱好渴，又叫咗杯冰沙飲，清涼非常


行咗成日，無嘢好得過嚟個泰式按摩再加精油按摩，按摩完之後一身鬆晒，有啲想鬆好耐嘅筋骨終於鬆埋，之後就可以享用晚餐。


當然唔少得傳聞非常好食嘅飯後甜品: 芒果糯米飯


的確又幾好食


入夜後走出露台，享受住一份嘅寧靜

每日一字 31

有說土地應該係公共資源，令我諗起 Real Estate 嘅故仔。話說 Real 响西班牙文解 Royal (例如 Real Madrid CF 被譯做 皇家馬德里足球俱樂部), 即係話 Real Estate 其實係講緊皇室嘅產業。現今嚟講，係政府有最終擁有權，所以用呢個做解釋，土地作為公共資源亦不為過。限據呢個線索，搵到啲好得意嘅資料:

In fact people lived in a "kingdom." A serf, or anyone other than royalty, never actually owned the land upon which the built their home. They had what is known as a "life estate." this meant that for as long as you were alive, you got to live on the King's property. When you died, the land reverted back to the king. Now you had no right to say who would "inherit" your land, because it wasn't yours after you died, it was the king's.

So what you did was write a letter to the king expressing your "will," to have your wife, son, or daughter, inherit another life estate on the land you previously owned until you died. This is the origin of the term "will."

The king wasn't the only person who could own land. People with a "title," could also own land. A duke, owned all the land in a duchy, a prince owned all the land in a principality, a baron owned all the land in a barony, and a count owned all the land in a county.

The King, baron, duke prince, or count, charged all who lived on their land a "tax." This tradition survives down to our own time, in that real estate taxes are not collected by the state, or federal government, but are collected and assessed by the "county." We also continue the tradition of referring to ownership, as "title," as in "The husband and wife are both "on title."

其實以上解說都只係傳說 (條 Link 入面有人指出當中唔合理嘅地方)，真正嘅解釋，其實係嚟自一個法律嘅 Term:

In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666.

Smart Band

對於一個唔會响戶外運動嘅人嚟講，原本以為 Smart Band 係一件唔關我嘅事，但係最近發現咗一個 Use case 係非常有用。

話說發現部手機旅行嗰陣啲電用得特別快，最後發現原來係著咗 GPS Logging 出事。GPS 本身用好少電，我有個 GPS Logger 係可以用幾日，但係手機著咗 GPS 之後唔可以入 Sleep Mode, 攪到好嘥電。只係個 GPS Logger 收得唔太好，Download 個 Log 嘅時候亦要費一番工夫，所以都唔太想帶去旅行。

跟住去紐約嗰晚，撞啱隔籬房好嘈，攪到瞓得唔太好，要帶耳塞。問題係帶咗耳塞之後，就真係對外界斷絕聯繫，較咗鬧鐘都聽唔到。

一條 Smart Band, 可以做 GPS Logging, 亦可以戴响手做震動嘅鬧鐘，超級方便。坊間比效普遍嘅，有 Jawbone, Fitbit, Microsoft Band.

Jawbone 夠細條，電力夠強，但無 GPS
Fitbit 電力無 Jawbone 咁勁但合格，不過表面又太大
Microsoft Band 功能唔錯，表面嘅 Form Factor OK, 可惜電量又差咗少少

其實我只係要一條有 GPS 同震動摩打嘅手帶啫，真係咁難搵咩?

康泰之旅 - 別墅

睡眠質素略低，比預想時間早咗個幾鐘起身，响床度典咗陣，典到差不多嘅時候開始梳洗，再執多少少嘢就出發。

响巴士站等咗一陣，機場巴士到，今次第一次搭去 Terminal 2, 好快就 Check-in 咗。週圍行吓，見到有珍珠奶茶賣，走咗上去，點知佢話未開。樓上都係食肆，但又唔想食個太 Full 嘅早餐，睇吓地下有乜嘢賣先。時間尚早，無乜嘢舖頭開咗，見到七仔，又想買少少嘢食，唔想食包、即食麵、零食，下一間。有間759喎，見到蒟蒻啫喱，高纖低卡飽肚，似乎係唔錯嘅選擇。

食完之後，差不多要入閘，要搭兩程無人列車，咦? 乜最後又去返 Terminal 1 嗰邊個候機室... 咁做乜要响 Terminal 2 Check-in, 泰航又唔係廉航啫。Anyway, 做完指定動作，搵咗個 Power Station 位等上機。一上到機，就係一陣東南亞嘅氣味，但好快就適應咗。不過就有兩個西人好 Tricky 咁罷咗我個位，好彩班機唔 Full, 最後座位不差。

因為叫咗素食餐，好快就送到嚟。除咗個包唔夠鬆軟，其他都唔錯。


個人攰，但機上面唔太好瞓，機程亦都唔長，只可以小睡片刻，之後都係玩手機。差不多降落，見到有窗口住無人坐，可以去影吓相，但景色似乎不大好，披上咗一陣薄薄嘅煙霞。


落機後，無寄艙行李，直行直過，好快就出機場，接我嘅人都到咗。要等佢攞車，等車其間，天氣頗熱，加上又有其他車發出嘅熱力，唔太慣呢啲天氣。

架車到咗，冷氣嘅發明實在太偉大，舒舒服服咁去到別墅嘅所在地。間別墅响個小山丘上面，行上去唔係唔得，但如果拖住行李嘅話，都幾係嘢。入到去別墅，管家問我想食乜，唔知有乜食，求其話水果，可以健康少少。

一入到房，好大


走出去露台外面，就係一個 Infinity Edge Pool 同梳化位


境色一流... 如果望出海可以清少少嘅話，唔知日落嘅時候係乜樣呢?


生果準備好了，一路睇風景，一路食嘢，有更寫意嘅生活嗎?


食完嘢，再詳細睇吓間房，其實間房除咗大，啲擺設都好特別，好似張床咁，有十個 Cushion 同枕頭，乜一個人用到咁多?


床上面係一幅相，相入面係瑞士係雪景，唔知咁會唔會令人涼𡙁啲呢? 都係開大少少個冷氣先!


响櫃入面發現，原來 Wifi Router 就响度，咁一定唔會無 Signal 了


走出房間，客廳就响樓下


落多層重有健身室


同埋電影院


友人們由海灘嚟，不過個人有啲攰，自己返咗房度小睡片刻，又上吓網咁，再出房嘅時候，太陽亦差不多要落山


傾多陣計，又差不多係開餐嘅時候，好豐富，不過聽聞已經係成個 Trip 最少嘅一餐


突然，煙花聲響起，唔知邊個海邊放煙花，作為飯後嘅餘慶節目。


細路响佔領咗電影院，無嘢好做，忽然諗起可以玩 Light Painting, 攪咗一陣 Settings


最後熄晒露台嘅燈，較好曝光，完成!