Whispers in April

" 當代美國的信念，暗喻所有人類都應該出生在美國，之所以在別國誕生，是因錯誤或意外導致的結果。根據此一信念。美國價值觀（個人理解為美政客喜歡宣揚的“ 美式普世價值”）應受全人類共享與共有，這是所有救世主的共同特徵，在19世紀時，法國，蘇聯和英國也有過類似的主張，只是這是一種極危險的自大和妄 想。。。。美國這樣的行爲在其他時代或許無傷大雅，但在當今卻是一道幾首、無法駕馭的難題，畢竟現在是國家獲民族彼此永遠巡遊差異，卻同時追求共同和平的 時代。"
---- 出自[False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism] by John Gray / 1998

思考：全球化一定是好的嗎？全球化究竟是否在逐漸削弱不同國、民族、文化之間的差異、使全人類價值觀趨同呢？(比如近10年來我們對西方思想的接納和認可度比之前可謂是更進了一步) 。還是，也帶來副作用、甚至反作用，使各自的差異性在全球化的踫撞中反而加深和突現、導致更劇烈的異族間摩擦和衝突呢？作者提到另一位作者的一本書[文明衝突]，該書提出目前全世界，至少存在六或九種人類文明，包括華人社會、日本、印度、回教國家、西方國家、拉丁美洲、佛教社會、基督教和非洲國家，而不是一個單一文明的世界。

因爲對書中涉及的西方經濟史不了解，閲讀時覺得滿吃力的，但還是從中收穫了不少有啓發的觀點。

in The Conspirators (1944)
Who is the beauty in the picture? Refer to wikipedia & IEEE Communications Magazine Novermber 2009, pp. 34.

Hedy Lamarr (November 9, 1914 – January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American actress and scientist. Though known primarily for her film career as a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age", she also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication.^[1]

[1] Electronic Frontier Foundation (11 March 1997). "Movie Legend Hedy Lamarr to be Given Special Award at EFF's Sixth Annual Pioneer Awards". Press release. http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/1997.php. Retrieved 2007-07-04.

Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum invention

Avant garde composer George Antheil, a son of German immigrants and neighbor of Lamarr, had experimented with automated control of musical instruments, including his music for Ballet Mecanique, originally written for Fernand Léger's 1924 abstract film. This score involved multiple player pianos playing simultaneously.

Together, Antheil and Lamarr submitted the idea of a secret communication system in June 1941. On August 11, 1942, U.S. Patent 2,292,387 was granted to Antheil and "Hedy Kiesler Markey", Lamarr's married name at the time. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam.

The idea was ahead of its time, and not feasible owing to the state of mechanical technology in 1942. It was not implemented in the USA until 1962, when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba^[6] after the patent had expired. Perhaps owing to this lag in development, the patent was little-known until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Lamarr an award for this contribution.^[1] In 1998, Ottawa wireless technology developer Wi-LAN, Inc. "acquired a 49 percent claim to the patent from Lamarr for an undisclosed amount of stock" (Eliza Schmidkunz, Inside GNSS);^[7] Antheil had died in 1959.

Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as COFDM used in Wi-Fi network connections and CDMA used in some cordless and wireless telephones.^[8] Similar patents had been granted to others earlier, such as in Germany in 1935 to Telefunken engineers Paul Kotowski and Kurt Dannehl who also received U.S. Patent 2,158,662 and U.S. Patent 2,211,132 in 1939 and 1940. Blackwell, Martin and Vernam's Secrecy Communication System patent from 1920 (1598673) does seem to lay the communications groundwork for Kiesler and Antheil's patent which employed the techniques in the autonomous control of torpedoes.

Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council, but she was told that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell War Bonds. She once raised $7,000,000 at just one event.

今天照例是電影院的週二優惠日，去看了2012。回來后，沒去看的人問我，“絕望嗎？” 我說，"不絕望，因爲有愛也就有希望"。但還是止不住地流了淚，自影片進入災難畫面起。無助的人類、無論有用還是無用的（以登上若亞方舟的資格來衡量），一樣倉皇逃命。
在黑人總統向民衆告知實情的演說開始部分，整個影院出奇的靜，我聽到有個人失控，發出一聲哽咽聲，但很快被隨之而來的電影配樂淹沒了。另一処，當俄羅斯富豪在千鈞一髮的時刻，對著他的奔馳車，從容地發出聲控指令啓動引擎，全場爆笑兼熱烈掌聲。

"如果有人对你有过帮助，却又伤害过你，你需要只看一面，而忽视另一面——只需要想到好的一面"