Pi Day - 14Mar2010

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi) (in the mm/dd date notation: 3/14); since 3, 1 and 4 are the first three digits of π. March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein and the two events are sometimes celebrated together.

Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22, because of Archimedes' popular approximation of π being 22/7. However, this may be considered misleading, as all cited dates are "approximation days" (as π is an irrational number) and 22/7 is actually a closer approximation of π than 3.14 is. Typically, March 14 is more popular for countries using the month/day format (22/7 being an impossible date in this format), and the 22nd of July is more popular for countries using the day/month format (since 3/14 and 31/4 are impossible dates in this format).

Sometimes Pi Minute is also celebrated; this occurs on March 14 at 1:59 p.m. If π is truncated to seven decimal places, it becomes 3.1415926; making March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m., Pi Second (or sometimes March 14, 1592 at 6:53:58 a.m.).

There are a large variety of ways of celebrating Pi Day and most of them include eating pie and discussing the relevance of π. The first Pi Day celebration was held at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The museum has since added pizza to its Pi Day menu. The founder of Pi Day was Larry Shaw, a now-retired physicist at the Exploratorium who still helps out with the celebrations.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology often mails its acceptance letters to be delivered to prospective students on Pi Day.
3月14日是圓周率日的正式日子,從圓周率常用的近似值3.14而來。通常是在下午1時59分慶祝,以象徵圓周率的六位近似值3.14159。一些用24小時記時的人會改在凌晨1時59分或下午3時9分(15時9分)。全球各地的一些大學數學系在這天開派對慶祝。

美國麻省理工學院首先倡議將3日14日(寓意3﹒14)定為國際圓周率日(National pi Day)。2009年美國眾議院正式通過將每年的3月14號設定為「圓周率日」(Pi day) (HRES 224),[1][2]
3月14日也是阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦的生日。

這一天有不同的慶祝方式。一些圓周率會的人們會聚在一起思考圓周率在他們生活中的角色,和沒有了圓周率的世界會是怎樣。圓周率日慶祝者也會給予圓周率不同數值:吃圓周率,玩圓周率,喝圓周率;這裏圓周率(pi)等於餡餅(pie),彩罐遊戲(piñata),和一種雞尾酒(piña colada)。

「終極」圓周率日是1592年3月14日上午6時54分。這時間以美國式記法是3/14/1592 6:54,對應了圓周率的十位近似值3.141592654。

Antonio Vivaldi - 04Mar2010

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), was a Venetian Baroque composer, priest, and famous virtuoso violinist. He was born and raised in the Republic of Venice. The Four Seasons, a popular series of four violin concerti, is his best-known work. His other compositions include over 500 instrumental concertos, sacred choral works and over 40 operas.

Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for poor and illegitimate children where Vivaldi worked between 1703 and 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna hoping for preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and the composer died a pauper, without a steady source of income.

Well received during his lifetime, Vivaldi's music went into a decline until it was rediscovered in the first half of the 20th century. Vivaldi's music is popular with modern audiences.
安東尼奧·盧奇奧·韋瓦第(義大利語:Antonio Lucio Vivaldi,1678年3月4日-1741年7月28日),暱稱Il Prete Rosso(紅髮神父),是一位義大利神父和巴洛克音樂作曲家,同時還是一名小提琴演奏家。其最著名的作品為《四季》。

Lantern Festival - 28Feb2010

The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also sometimes known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore, Malaysia. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns. It officially ends the Chinese New Year celebrations.

In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in shapes of animals.

The Lantern Festival is also known as the Little New Year since it marks the end of the series of celebrations starting from the Chinese New Year.

In Vietnam, this festival, comes after the New Year, Tết, and is named "Tết Thượng Nguyên" or "Tết Nguyên Tiêu".

元宵節,亦稱為上元節、小正月、元夕、小年或燈節,日本稱上元(じょうげん)、小正月(こしょうがつ),朝鮮稱正月大滿月(정월대만월)、正月大보름(정월대보름,「보름」為固有詞,月圓、望日之意,或簡稱大보름)、上元(상원)、元宵(원소)、元夕(원석)、烏忌日(오기일),時間是每年的農曆正月十五。

元宵節是新年的第一個月圓之夜,象徵著春天的到來,人們吃元宵、賞燈、猜燈謎,以示祝賀。這是春節之後的第一個重要節日。明朝錢塘瞿佑《雙頭牡丹燈記》:「每歲元夕,於明州張燈五夜。傾城士女,皆得縱觀」。在這一天,人們要吃元宵,鬧燈會,猜燈謎,提燈籠,許多地方還有放天燈的習俗。是華人社會的盛大節日之一。

道教中,上元節視為天官大帝(堯)誕辰,正月十五為上元,七月十五為中元,十月十五為下元,分別屬天、地、水這三官大帝主管。上元節乃天官華誕,故燃燈以慶。終唐一代,朝廷皆正式祭拜。

在廣東佛山,有元宵節的傳統習俗「行通濟,無閉翳」。寓意走過通濟橋,就會健健康康,不會犯愁。

在台灣,除了賞花燈活動及著名的台北燈節、台灣燈會、高雄燈會之外,還有北台灣的台北縣平溪鄉放天燈活動。另外,在台灣北部偏南的苗栗市則有著名的「苗栗火旁龍」,苗栗火旁龍是指以鞭炮、蜂炮炸舞龍方式得到「去邪(去舊)迎新年」的作用。在南台灣的台南縣鹽水鎮則有著名的「鹽水蜂炮」。在台灣東部的台東市,則有以鞭炮炸財神的祈福活動:「台東元宵炸寒單爺」。

在台灣早期,有未婚女性在元宵節夜裡,以偷蔥來討個結婚吉兆的說法。俗語說:「偷挽蔥,嫁好翁;偷挽菜,嫁好婿」(台灣話發音)。

在馬來西亞,未婚男女在元宵節聚集到河邊拋柑,並在柑上面寫下姓名和聯絡方式,希望就此結識可以攜手共行的伴侶。

Tiger - 14Feb2010

The Sheng xiao (Chinese: 生肖; pinyin: shēngxiào), better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It has wide currency in several East Asian countries besides China and Taiwan.

Identifying this scheme using the term "zodiac" reflects several similarities to the Western zodiac: both have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each labels at least the majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely associated with a culture of attributing influence of a person's relationship to the cycle upon their personality and/or events in their life. Nevertheless, there are major differences: the "Chinese" 12-part cycle is divided into years rather than months; contrary to the association with animals implied in the Greek etymology of "zodiac", actually four of the Western "signs" or "houses" are represented by humans (one such sign being the twins "Gemini") and one is the inanimate balance scale "Libra"; the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations, let alone those spanned by the ecliptic plane.
Tiger - 虎 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, unpredictable, moody.
每一人在其出生年都有一個動物作為生肖。十二生肖即鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬,依次分配於十二地支,是中國民間計算年齡的方法,也是一種古老的紀年法,亦稱十二生肖。用以紀年、紀月、紀日或紀時辰時,則稱十二獸曆。十二生肖(獸曆)廣泛流行於亞洲諸民族及東歐和北非的某些國家之中。
專指中國農曆生肖屬相的一種說法。在公曆元旦後,中國農曆春節前出生的生肖屬相未變並與前年屬相相同。例如︰1974年(農曆甲寅年)是虎年,但是當時的農曆虎年是從1974年1月23日起至1975年2月10日。所以在1975年1月1日至1975年2月10日期間出生的人,在中國農曆上出生在甲寅年,故仍然屬虎。因為已過了公曆新年(元旦),所以屬於隔年虎。同理可用於隔年龍,隔年兔等說法。

Winter Olympics - 13Feb2010

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, was a major international multi-sport event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler, Richmond, West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands. Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Following Olympic tradition, the Vancouver mayor then, Sam Sullivan, received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006, in a special ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

For the first time, Canada won gold at an Olympic Games hosted at home, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada clinched first overall in gold medal wins on the second to last day of competition[3] and became the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count. With 14, Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics, which was 13, set by the former Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002. The United States won the most medals in total, their second time doing so at the Winter Olympics, and broke the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics, with 37, which was held by Germany in 2002 at 36 medals. Athletes from Slovakia and Belarus won the first Winter Olympic gold medals for their nations. However, the games were overshadowed by the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian who was supposed to compete in luge, but was killed during a test run on the same day of the opening ceremony.
第二十一屆冬季奧林匹克運動會於2010年2月12日至28日間在加拿大卑詩省溫哥華舉行,而部分項目則會於鄰近的威士拿舉行。此屆奧運會是繼1976年蒙特婁夏季奧運會和1988年卡加利冬季奧運會後,加拿大第三次舉辦的奧運會,亦是卑詩省首次舉辦的奧運會。

最終,東道主加拿大憑冰球、冰壺、有舵雪橇等項目反超前挪威,以14金7銀5銅完成賽事,除了成功登上獎牌榜首位外,也成為了歷屆冬季奧運中成績最傑出的主辦國,德國和美國則排名次位和第三。加拿大同時也是歷屆冬季奧運中取得最多金牌的國家,打破了前蘇聯在1976年創下的13金以及挪威在2002年同樣創下的13金紀錄。

Isaac Newton - 04Jan2010

Sir Isaac Newton FRS (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727 [OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726]) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is considered by many scholars and members of the general public to be one of the most influential men in human history. His 1687 publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (usually called the Principia) is considered to be among the most influential books in the history of science, laying the groundwork for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution.

Newton also built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the many colours that form the visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound.
In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of the differential and integral calculus. He also demonstrated the generalised binomial theorem, developed the so-called "Newton's method" for approximating the roots of a function, and contributed to the study of power series.

Newton remains influential to scientists, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey of members of Britain's Royal Society asking who had the greater effect on the history of science and had the greater contribution to humankind, Newton or Albert Einstein. Royal Society scientists deemed Newton to have made the greater overall contribution on both.

Newton was also highly religious, though an unorthodox Christian, writing more on Biblical hermeneutics and occult studies than the natural science for which he is remembered today. In spite of this, The 100 by Michael H. Hart ranks Newton as the second most influential person in history (below Muhammad and above Jesus).
艾薩克·牛頓爵士(Sir Isaac Newton,FRS,1643年1月4日-1727年3月31日,英語發音[ˈaɪzək ˈnjuːtṇ])[ 儒略曆:1642年12月25日-1727年3月20日]是一位英格蘭物理學家、數學家、天文學家、自然哲學家和鍊金術士。他在1687年發表的論文《自然哲學的數學原理》裡,對萬有引力和三大運動定律進行了描述。這些描述奠定了此後三個世紀裡物理世界的科學觀點,並成為了現代工程學的基礎。他通過論證克卜勒行星運動定律與他的重力理論間的一致性,展示了地面物體與天體的運動都遵循著相同的自然定律;為太陽中心說提供了強有力的理論支持,並推動了科學革命。

在力學上,牛頓闡明了動量和角動量守恆的原理。在光學上,他發明了反射式望遠鏡,並基於對三稜鏡將白光發散成可見光譜的觀察,發展出了顏色理論。他還系統地表述了冷卻定律,並研究了音速。

在數學上,牛頓與戈特弗里德·萊布尼茨分享了發展出微積分學的榮譽。他也證明了廣義二項式定理,提出了「牛頓法」以趨近函數的零點,並為冪級數的研究作出了貢獻。

在2005年,牛頓曾擔任會長的英國皇家學會進行了一場「誰是科學史上最有影響力的人」的民意調查,在被調查的皇家學會會員和網民投票中,牛頓被認為比阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦更具影響力。

Google Icon - 21Dec2009


Forgot what is that?!?!?!

Esperanto - 15Dec09

Esperanto (help·info) is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself. The language's original name was "La Internacia Lingvo." Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy to learn and politically neutral language that would serve as a universal second language to foster peace and international understanding. Esperanto has between 100,000 and 2 million speakers in about 115 countries, and approximately one thousand native speakers, i.e. people who learned Esperanto as one of their native languages from their parents. Although no country has adopted the language officially, Esperanto did get official recognition by UNESCO in 1954. Today, Esperanto is employed in world travel, correspondence, cultural exchange, conventions, literature, language instruction, television, movies, and radio broadcasting. The first international Esperanto congress was organized in France, Boulogne-sur-Mer, in 1905. Since then international conferences and meetings have been organized around the world with Esperanto every year. At least one major search engine, Google, offers searching of Esperanto-related websites via an Esperanto portal.
There is evidence that learning Esperanto may provide a good foundation for learning languages in general. Esperanto is also the language of instruction in one university, the Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj in San Marino.
世界語(Esperanto)是最為廣泛使用的人工語言。波蘭眼科醫生柴門霍夫(Łazarz Ludwik Zamenhof)在對其進行了十年的創作工作後於1887年創立了這個語言的基礎。世界語的命名來自於Doktoro Esperanto(希望者醫師),這是柴門霍夫第一次出版《第一本書》(Unua Libro)時所使用的筆名。世界語的定位是國際輔助語言,不是用來代替世界上已經存在的語言。柴門霍夫的目標是創立一種簡單易學而靈活的語言,一種普世的第二語言,用來促進世界和平及國際了解。現在一些世界語者仍然抱着這樣的期望,但大多數的人只是想用它來與外國人打交道以及了解其它的國家和文化。今天,以世界語為母語的人士約1000人。能流利使用的人估計十萬到兩百萬人。

相對於其它的民族語言,世界語已經被證明是一種簡單易學的第二外語(特別是對於那些諸如英語、法語等具有許多不規則現象的語言或不是表音語言的語言來說)。也有證據表明在學習其他的第二外語之前(特別是印歐語系的語言)學習世界語有助於其他第二外語的學習,因為在學習了一門外語後再學習另一門外語會比剛學第一門外語時簡單,而對於語法簡單的輔助語的學習將有助於減少「第一外語」的學習障礙。在一個研究中,一組高中學生用一年時間學習世界語,然後用三年時間學習法語。結果是這組學生的法語掌握程度要好於沒有學習世界語而在四年間都學習法語的一組。

通過華盛頓大學的Sidney S. Culbert博士的研究,有1,600,000使用世界語的人達到了相當的水平。這個數字只限於那些「專業精通」的世界語者人群中(擁有實際的除了問候和簡單的詞組的以外的會話能力)。這個研究並不是針對世界語的,而是對世界上大多數的語言所進行的研究。這個數字也被Almanac World Book of Facts和Ethnologue所引用。假設這個數字是正確的,這就意味着世界人口中的大約0.03%人使用着這種語言,迄今仍遠沒有達到柴門霍夫的使它成為世界通用語的目標。人類學家也宣稱世界上有大約200-2000的世界語第一語者,據稱貨幣投機家喬治·索羅斯也是世界語母語使用者。

Popeye - 08Dec09

Popeye the Sailor is a fictional hero notable for appearing in comic strips and animated films as well as numerous television shows. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar, and first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929. Popeye has now become the series' title as well.

Although Segar's Thimble Theatre strip, first published on December 19, 1919, was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, the sailor quickly became the main focus of the strip and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Thimble Theatre was carried on after Segar's death in 1938 by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf. The strip, now titled Popeye, continues to appear in first-run installments in its Sunday edition, written and drawn by Hy Eisman. The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories.

In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. These cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and the Fleischers—and later Paramount's own Famous Studios—continued production through 1957. The cartoons are now owned by Warner Bros. Animation and Turner Entertainment by way of King Features.

Since then, Popeye has appeared in comic books, television cartoons, arcade and video games, hundreds of advertisements and peripheral products, and a 1980 live-action film directed by Robert Altman starring comedian Robin Williams as Popeye.

On January 1, 2009, 70 years since the death of his creator, Segar's character of Popeye (though not the various films, TV shows, theme music and other media based on him) became public domain in most countries, but remains under copyright in the United States.
大力水手,即卜派(Popeye the Sailor Man),是美國的漫畫人物。大力水手出現於1929年1月17日的美國《Thimble Theatre》連環漫畫,創造人是來自美國伊利諾州徹斯特鎮的連環漫畫家E·C·西格[1],大力水手漫畫甫一問世即大受歡迎,甚至在當地出現食用菠菜的熱潮。1933年由Fleischer Studios拍成卡通電影短片,交由派拉蒙電影公司(Paramount)發行,風靡全球。Fleischer Studios拍了108集,1942年改由派拉蒙自己的動畫部門Famous Studios自行拍攝,至1957年停止,拍了126集。1960年推出電視卡通。卜派是個獨眼且不修邊幅的水手,愛抽煙斗,愛打拳擊,他有個麻煩的女友名叫奧莉薇(Olive Oyl),經常需要卜派保護。卜派總是在吃完一罐菠菜之後,就會力大無窮,擊敗壞人兼情敵的笨驢布魯托(Bluto),這是大力水手卡通中最經典的一幕。1938年西格去世,這部系列連環漫畫由貝拉·沙波利(Bela Zaboly)和湯姆·西姆斯(Tomsims)接棒;1958年再由巴德·沙根道爾夫(Bud Sagendorf)接替,歷久不衰,曾在全球五百家報紙連載,出品過數百部動畫卡通。1999年卜派和奧莉芙結束歷時70年的「愛情長跑」,有情人終成眷屬。

Sesame Street - 04Nov09 to 10Nov09

Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children's program on television.The show is produced in the United States by the non-profit organization Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers.
芝麻街(英文:Sesame Street)是美國一套著名的幼兒教育電視節目,內容結合了教育和娛樂。節目是由 Children's Television Workshop(CTW)製作,後來在1999年分支出來的 Sesame Workshop 繼續製作。芝麻街最為人熟悉的部份,正是節目中採用大量布偶(Muppet)作為大部份主角,有關布偶是由著名木偶師Jim Henson創造。
現時節目總共播出了40季,合共4160集,成為美國電視歷史上最長久的兒童電視節目。此外,節目成功在120個不同的國家播放,並曾經推出20多個國際版本。而且芝麻街曾經獲得109個艾美獎,遠超過其他的電視節目。此外,芝麻街除了在電視播放,亦曾推出電影、玩具、書本、錄影帶等副產品。由於它的全世界伸手可及的距離,因此芝麻街被公認是世界上最家喻戶曉的幼兒教育節目。