Android: Zooming

I found the example of code for android pinch zoom. You can find the example from here and download the codes from the website of 3rd edition of Hello! Android.

Well, it is best if you able to debug using your android phone instead of the emulator, it is pinching zoom, requires two touch points after all.

First of all, let's look at the xml layout file of the example i downloaded from the website i mentioned earlier.

It is just another ordinary layout file, except, one property, android:scaleType is added to the component. We are dealing with zooming process, to enlarge or scale down the image. Therefore in order to enable the picture to scale accordingly, android:scaleType="matrix" is added, and later the image matrix can be set using setImageMatrix(matrix) if the scale changed.

another ordinary onCreate() function

Yes, assigned touchListener to the image as we have to touch the image to zoom right? Here comes with the main part of the example. Before zooming even starts, we need to get the pointer where we pin on the image. Therefore we need MotionEvent which is able to report the axis value (x,y) and the motions. 

• MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN - A pressed gesture started, that's when someone press on the screen
• MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_DOWN - A non-primary pointer has gone down, in my definition, it captures the second point when someone press on the screen without let go of the first press
• MotionEvent.ACTION_UP & MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_UP - When a pressed gesture was let go
• MotionEvent.ACTION_MASK - Handles multi touch
• MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE - A change happens during a pressed gesture

It is better to show the pseudocode to explain the process.

When first press gesture happens,
         Get the axis value of the pressed location,
               If second press DID NOT happen,
                       The action to be taken when the press gesture moved is DRAG (drag the image around to    
                                        show the other part of the image which might covered outside the screen)
                       Then using matrix.postTranslate() to get the part of the image at the pointer after the move
              Else
                      When  a second press triggered, calculates the distance between the two pointers, and                      
                      calculate the middle point as well (because the scale starts with the middle point)
                      The action to be taken when the press gesture moved is ZOOM
                      Calculate the distance between the two points after moving
                      Calculate the scale between the two distances measured
                      Then using matrix.postScale() to enlarge or scale down the image matrix
Set the image to the current matrix

spacing() function is used to determine the space between the first two fingers, the reason of calculating the space is because the author would like to set a constraint to ignore the event if the distance is too small.

midPoint() function is used to calculate the middle point of the first two fingers, as the scaling process always starts from the middle point.

the declarations

Declaration again, the code above is downloaded from Hello! Android, and please refers here for further details. 

The explanation above is only explaining my understanding regards the code. Thank you.

Android: Flipping Gestures Activity

Flipping feature, I guess that is a feature that is inevitable to all touch screen apps. It is very cool to see the pages changed just by a fling, buttons no longer required. Sometimes, buttons could be very tedious!!!

As for android programming, in order to perform the flipping gesture, the best way of doing it is to include the OnGestureListener. However, be aware of the library to be imported, there are two libraries contain this listener with different implementation, which is the android.view.GestureDetector and android.gesture.GestureOverlayView. You should import android.view.GestureDetector in the project.

Since OnGestureListener is a interface class, there are several functions you need to include into your project, whether you like it or not.

• boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) 
• boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY)
• void onLongPress(MotionEvent e)
• boolean onScoll(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float distanceX, float distanceY)
• boolean onShowPress(MotionEvent e)
• boolean onSingleTapUp(MotionEvent e)

Since this post is working with the flipping feature, we will only work with onFling function.

First of all, starts with a simple layout.

As you can see from the layout above, a new component, ViewFlipper is included into the xml declaration file. ViewFlipper is working as a flipper that contains the multiple views of your design. From the layout above, I created three TextView where each represent different pages when I fling my apps later. 

As usual, declare a ViewFlipper instance in the main file.

After that, in the onFling() function, add the code below,

velocityX is indicating the x-axis coordination when you fling, if you fling to the left, velocityX is less than 0, therefore it will show the previous page, it shows the next page otherwise.

android.R.anim.fade_in and android.R.anim.fade_out are animation moves that provided by android itself. These animations help to show an animation movement when we fling the pages. Refers here for more animation movements.

If we only included the codes above, it wasnt done yet! The codes above are written for the when a fling gesture detected. However, how did a touch screen device detect the fling or scroll, or other gesture activities? 

In android programming, we need to declare GestureDetector instance to detect the gestures that were applied to the screens. Includes the codes in the red boxes into the onCreate() and creates new function onTouchEvent(). 

That's it!!! You can now fling your apps!!!

Android: Font Style

Tired with all the common fonts provided originally by Android code? Well, we can always do some alterations and bring some fun in it!

Default Font Types: 

There are five font types provided by Android, DEFAULT, DEFAULT_BOLD, MONOSPACE, SANS_SERIF, and SERIF. In order to change the font style, one can add android:typeface attribute into the XML declaration file of the components that support font styling, TextView for instance.

Other Font Type:

Do not like any of these default font types? Wanna something different and eyes catching font? Sure, get the ttf file of the font you wanted, and place it in ./assets folder (normally it is auto generated when you create a new project, else, create one manually). In this example, I downloaded a font here, named JoeHand2. Since we are going to apply the custom font, we do not include android:typeface into the TextView declaration like  what we did above.

Then in the onCreate() method, add the codes below:

Font Size:
Wanna change the font size? Sure you can, add android:textSize attribute into the XML file. There are several commonly used units, sp (scale pixels), px (pixels), dp (density-dependent pixels)

Font Style:

Surely we cannot forget one of the biggest attributes of a font, the typical font style, NORMAL, BOLD, and ITALIC. Add android:textStyle attribute, and the available values for this attributes is "normal", "bold", "italic". You can also specify "bold|italic" to apply two styles at once.

Font Color:

Sick with only black and white font colors? You can make a different too! Add android:textColor attribute!

Text Shadow:

Whenever I design with Photoshop, I am super thrilled with all the appearance properties provided by Photoshop. Though I had been complaint a lot about not to "shadow" everything, I just cant get enough!! 

There are four properties used to customize the text shadow.

• android:shadowColor
• android:shadowRadius
• android:shadowDx
• android:shadowDy

Unlike FontSize attribute, these attributes do not require any specific unit 

That's it!!! Now you can change the font properties whenever you like!!

Android: Creating New Page

Recently, I feel like wanna playing around with the android programming, it had been almost a year since I last read the android programming code. It is a Java based programming, but got to admit, it is quite a pain in the ass. For an instance, even though I attended a 5 days android training last year, I noticed that, during the training, we literally do-all-the-things with a single page. We were taught to use the TextView, ListView, creating an animation, a game, even SQL query, several classes were created, but at the end of the day, all the outcome shows only in a single page. I never wonder how to create another page! At that time, I wasnt realize about that because I was excited to see those outcomes I guess.

And now, I am having an android phone, with some experiences playing with applications, I realized almost all the applications come with several pages, and I started to question myself, ermm, how to create another page? Well, I guess the idea of creating a second page is just similar with the conventional Java programming, but how? 

I started google-ing, and I finally found the solution from a thread, where someone asked the same question.

If you want another "screen":
1. create a new layout in /res/layout  (e.g. myLayout.xml)
2. create a new class that extends Activity (e.g. MyActivity)
3. in the onCreate of MyActivity add setContentView(R.layout.myLayout);
4. in AndroidManifest.xml inside the application node add   (NB: there is a full-stop before the class name)
5. in the onClick of your button in your original activity (the one that calls setContentView(R.layout.main); and has the button)  call startActivity(new Intent(this, MyActivity.class)); 

And this works for me! I am able to create a new screen with these steps now! 

求知若飢，虛心若愚（Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish）

以下是Steve Jobs在2005年向史丹福大學畢業生發表的演講辭，內容非常發人深省！

“

今天，很榮幸來到各位從世界上最好的學校之一畢業的畢業典禮上。我從來沒從大學畢業過，說實話，這是我離大學畢業最近的一刻。今天，我只說三個故事，不談大道理，三個故事就好。

第一個故事，是關於人生中的點點滴滴如何串連在一起。

我在里德學院（Reed College）待了六個月就辦休學了。到我退學前，一共休學了十八個月。那麼，我為什麼休學？（聽眾笑）

這得從我出生前講起。

我 的親生母親當時是個研究生，年輕未婚媽媽，她決定讓別人收養我。她強烈覺得應該讓有大學畢業的人收養我，所以我出生時，她就準備讓我被一對律師夫婦收養。 但是這對夫妻到了最後一刻反悔了，他們想收養女孩。所以在等待收養名單上的一對夫妻，我的養父母，在一天半夜裡接到一通電話，問他們「有一名意外出生的男 孩，你們要認養他嗎？」而他們的回答是「當然要」。後來，我的生母發現，我現在的媽媽從來沒有大學畢業，我現在的爸爸則連高中畢業也沒有。她拒絕在認養文 件上做最後簽字。直到幾個月後，我的養父母保證將來一定會讓我上大學，她的態度才軟化。

十七年後，我上大學了。但是當時我無知地選了一所 學費幾乎跟史丹佛一樣貴的大學（聽眾笑），我那工人階級的父母將所有積蓄都花在我的學費上。六個月後，我看不出唸這個書的價值何在。那時候，我不知道這輩 子要幹什麼，也不知道唸大學能對我有什麼幫助，只知道我為了唸這個書，花光了我父母這輩子的所有積蓄，所以我決定休學，相信船到橋頭自然直。當時這個決定 看來相當可怕，可是現在看來，那是我這輩子做過最好的決定之一。（聽眾笑）

當我休學之後，我再也不用上我沒興趣的必修課，把時間拿去聽那 些我有興趣的課。這一點也不浪漫。我沒有宿舍，所以我睡在友人家裡的地板上，靠著回收可樂空罐的退費五分錢買吃的，每個星期天晚上得走七哩的路繞過大半個 鎮去印度教的Hare Krishna神廟吃頓好料，我喜歡Hare Krishna神廟的好料。就這樣追隨我的好奇與直覺，大部分我所投入過的事務，後來看來都成了無比珍貴的經歷（And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on）。舉個例來說。當時里德學院有著大概是全國最好的書寫教育。校園內的每一張海報上，每個抽屜的標籤上，都是美麗的手寫字。因為我休學了，可以不照正 常選課程序來，所以我跑去上書寫課。我學了serif與sanserif字體，學到在不同字母組合間變更字間距，學到活字印刷偉大的地方。書寫的美好、歷 史感與藝術感是科學所無法掌握的，我覺得這很迷人。

我沒預期過學這些東西能在我生活中起些什麼實際作用，不過十年後，當我在設計第一台麥金塔時，我想起了當時所學的東西，所以把這些東西都設計進了麥金塔裡，這是第一台能印刷出漂亮東西的電腦。

如果我沒沉溺於那樣一門課裡，麥金塔可能就不會有多重字體跟等比例間距字體了。又因為Windows抄襲了麥金塔的使用方式（聽眾鼓掌大笑），因此，如果當 年我沒有休學，沒有去上那門書寫課，大概所有的個人電腦都不會有這些東西，印不出現在我們看到的漂亮的字來了。當然，當我還在大學裡時，不可能把這些點點 滴滴預先串連在一起，但在十年後的今天回顧，一切就顯得非常清楚。

我再說一次，你無法預先把點點滴滴串連起來；只有在未來回顧時，你才會 明白那些點點滴滴是如何串在一起的（you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards）。所以你得相信，眼前你經歷的種種，將來多少會連結在一起。你得信任某個東西，直覺也好，命運也好，生命也好，或者業力。這種作法從 來沒讓我失望，我的人生因此變得完全不同。（Jobs停下來喝水）

我的第二個故事，是有關愛與失去。

我很幸運－年輕時就 發現自己愛做什麼事。我二十歲時，跟Steve Wozniak在我爸媽的車庫裡開始了蘋果電腦的事業。我們拼命工作，蘋果電腦在十年間從一間車庫裡的兩個小夥子擴展成了一家員工超過四千人、市價二十億 美金的公司，在那事件之前一年推出了我們最棒的作品－麥金塔電腦（Macintosh），那時我才剛邁入三十歲，然後我被解僱了。

我怎麼會被自己創辦的公司給解僱了？（聽眾笑）

嗯，當蘋果電腦成長後，我請了一個我以為在經營公司上很有才幹的傢伙來，他在頭幾年也確實幹得不錯。可是我們對未來的願景不同，最後只好分道揚鑣，董事會站在他那邊，就這樣在我30歲的時候，公開把我給解僱了。我失去了整個生活的重心，我的人生就這樣被摧毀。

有 幾個月，我不知道要做些什麼。我覺得我令企業界的前輩們失望－我把他們交給我的接力棒弄丟了。我見了創辦HP的David Packard跟創辦Intel的Bob Noyce，跟他們說很抱歉我把事情給搞砸了。我成了公眾眼中失敗的示範，我甚至想要離開矽谷。但是漸漸的，我發現，我還是喜愛那些我做過的事情，在蘋果 電腦中經歷的那些事絲毫沒有改變我愛做的事。雖然我被否定了，可是我還是愛做那些事情，所以我決定從頭來過。

當時我沒發現，但現在看來，被蘋果電腦開除，是我所經歷過最好的事情。成功的沉重被從頭來過的輕鬆所取代，每件事情都不那麼確定，讓我自由進入這輩子最有創意的年代。

接 下來五年，我開了一家叫做 NeXT的公司，又開一家叫做Pixar的公司，也跟後來的老婆（Laurene）談起了戀愛。Pixar接著製作了世界上第一部全電腦動畫電影，玩具總 動員（Toy Story），現在是世界上最成功的動畫製作公司（聽眾鼓掌大笑）。然後，蘋果電腦買下了NeXT，我回到了蘋果，我們在NeXT發展的技術成了蘋果電腦 後來復興的核心部份。我也有了個美妙的家庭。

我很確定，如果當年蘋果電腦沒開除我，就不會發生這些事情。這帖藥很苦口，可是我想蘋果電腦 這個病人需要這帖藥。有時候，人生會用磚頭打你的頭。不要喪失信心。我確信我愛我所做的事情，這就是這些年來支持我繼續走下去的唯一理由（I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did）。

你得找出你的最愛，工作上是如此，人生伴侶也是如此。

你的工作將佔掉你人生的一大部分，唯一真正獲得滿足的方法就是做你相信是偉大的工作，而唯一做偉大工作的方法是愛你所做的事（And the only way to do great work is to love what you do）。

如果你還沒找到這些事，繼續找，別停頓。盡你全心全力，你知道你一定會找到。而且，如同任何偉大的事業，事情只會隨著時間愈來愈好。所以，在你找到之前，繼續找，別停頓。（聽眾鼓掌，Jobs喝水）

我的第三個故事，是關於死亡。

當我十七歲時，我讀到一則格言，好像是「把每一天都當成生命中的最後一天，你就會輕鬆自在。（If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right）」（聽眾笑）這對我影響深遠，在過去33年裡，我每天早上都會照鏡子，自問：「如果今天是此生最後一日，我今天要做些什麼？」每當我連續太多 天都得到一個「沒事做」的答案時，我就知道我必須有所改變了。提醒自己快死了，是我在人生中面臨重大決定時，所用過最重要的方法。因為幾乎每件事－所有外 界期望、所有的名聲、所有對困窘或失敗的恐懼－在面對死亡時，都消失了，只有最真實重要的東西才會留下（Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important）。提醒自己快死了，是我所知避免掉入畏懼失去的陷阱裡最好的方法。人生不帶來、死不帶去，沒理由不能順心而為。

一年 前，我被診斷出癌症。我在早上七點半作斷層掃描，在胰臟清楚出現一個腫瘤，我連胰臟是什麼都不知道。醫生告訴我，那幾乎可以確定是一種不治之症，預計我大 概活不到三到六個月了。醫生建議我回家，好好跟親人們聚一聚，這是醫生對臨終病人的標準建議。那代表你得試著在幾個月內把你將來十年想跟小孩講的話講完。 那代表你得把每件事情搞定，家人才會盡量輕鬆。那代表你得跟人說再見了。我整天想著那個診斷結果，那天晚上做了一次切片，從喉嚨伸入一個內視鏡，穿過胃進 到腸子，將探針伸進胰臟，取了一些腫瘤細胞出來。我打了鎮靜劑，不醒人事，但是我老婆在場。她後來跟我說，當醫生們用顯微鏡看過那些細胞後，他們都哭了， 因為那是非常少見的一種胰臟癌，可以用手術治好。所以我接受了手術，康復了。（聽眾鼓掌）

這是我最接近死亡的時候，我希望那會繼續是未來幾十年內最接近的一次。經歷此事後，我可以比先前死亡只是純粹想像時，要能更肯定地告訴你們下面這些：沒有人想死。即使那些想上天堂的人，也想活著上天堂。（聽眾笑）

但是死亡是我們共同的終點，沒有人逃得過。這是註定的，因為死亡很可能就是生命中最棒的發明，是生命交替的媒介，送走老人們，給新生代開出道路。現在你們是新生代，但是不久的將來，你們也會逐漸變老，被送出人生的舞台。抱歉講得這麼戲劇化，但是這是真的。

你們的時間有限，所以不要浪費時間活在別人的生活裡。不要被教條所侷限--盲從教條就是活在別人思考結果裡。不要讓別人的意見淹沒了你內在的心聲。最重要 的，擁有追隨自己內心與直覺的勇氣，你的內心與直覺多少已經知道你真正想要成為什麼樣的人（have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become），任何其他事物都是次要的。

（聽眾鼓掌）

在我年輕時，有本神奇的雜誌叫做《Whole Earth Catalog》，當年這可是我們的經典讀物。那是一位住在離這不遠的Menlo Park的Stewart Brand發行的，他把雜誌辦得很有詩意。那是1960年代末期，個人電腦跟桌上出版還沒出現，所有內容都是打字機、剪刀跟拍立得相機做出來的。雜誌內容 有點像印在紙上的平面Google，在Google出現之前35年就有了：這本雜誌很理想主義，充滿新奇工具與偉大的見解。

Stewart跟他的團隊出版了好幾期的《Whole Earth Catalog》，然後很自然的，最後出了停刊號。當時是1970年代中期，我正是你們現在這個年齡的時候。在停刊號的封底，有張清晨鄉間小路的照片，那種你四處搭便車冒險旅行時會經過的鄉間小路。

在照片下印了行小字：

求知若飢，虛心若愚（Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish）

那是他們親筆寫下的告別訊息，我總是以此自許。當你們畢業，展開新生活，我也以此祝福你們。

求知若飢，虛心若愚。

非常謝謝大家。 （聽眾起立鼓掌二分鐘）”

原文摘于： 这里


人固有一死，或重于泰山，或轻于鸿毛， Steven Jobs 无疑是本世纪一个非常的代表人物，安息吧。

2010, iPhone 4 推荐会

4th Oct 2011

Today definitely one of the most excited day to the Apple's fan. Yupe, today, at the another side of the globe, there will be an iPhone event at 10am Pacific Time, which is approximately 1pm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. People started guessing what the event is all about long before today. Would it be the newest iPhone 5? or just a slightly enhanced version of iPhone 4, iPhone 4S?

One thing for sure, it will be the new iOS, iOS5, coming. iOS5 comes with several new features, the top ten new features of the iOS5. Besides these new features, the most exciting of the iOS is its killer app Assistant. However, I personally find the Assistant app does not attract me much in any aspect. 

As for Malaysian, especially the Form Three teenagers, today is probably the most nerve breaking day of their life to date. Yupe, today is their first day of PMR examination. It had been a decade since I had my PMR examination, time flies huh. My sister is one of the candidates this year, and she told me that our cousin, who also a candidate, sms her last night saying she was too nervous and couldnt fall asleep. Poor girls. I forgot about my case back on that day, but I guess everyone shared the same experience, nervous, scared, and maybe a bit excited, for those well prepared. And i was definitely not the well prepared geng, but i think i did the best i could, i think, hahaha.

Despite of that exciting yet nerve breaking news, today actually is the World Animal Day. I learned this when i was watching the NTV7 The Breakfast Show this morning, haha. It is a special day for the animal lovers. I am one? Haha, maybe, I dont know.

4th Oct 2011, an ordinary Tuesday yet a day with full excitement, nerve breaking, and loving all around the world.

現代生活效率至上，要求人人分身有術。但這究竟是福還是禍？

不知道什么时候开始，专心成了我一个非常大的问题，现在的我，很难非常专注于手上的功夫，就好像以下的凯蒂一样，在短短的几分钟里，我搞不好弄了5样无相关的事情。到底，是福，还是祸呢？

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我十四歲的女兒凱蒂和時下青少年一樣，經常坐在沙發上，腿上擺着筆記型電腦，搜尋寫報告的資料，但同時間卻開着電視，偶爾還要瀏覽一下臉書 （Facebook）。她一面打字，一面聽iPod，不時將耳機拿開又戴上，好講行動電話。我和大多數父母都認為，這種做功課的方法完全錯誤。我們不禁要問：「耳邊這麼多聲音，怎麼思考？」做作業向來需要安靜的環境，不容絲毫令人分心的干擾。不 過，凱蒂和她的同儕認為，她們的行徑再正常不過。

今天許多專家都有個疑問：這種工作方式對腦部會有什麼影響？

每天需要面對大量資訊的不只有凱蒂這一代的年輕人。研究發現，在辦公室工作的人每三分鐘就會受到電話、電腦或同事的干擾。還有一些自詡為「馬路英雄」的駕 駛人，隨時都可以接聽行動電話。他們一邊開車、一邊講電話（違法），同時還收聽廣播。有些人覺得安靜和專注已成了世界上最稀有的珍寶。

這種看法並不是老頑固看不慣新玩意，而是有科學根據的。過去幾年，對於腦部的功能，和適應環境變化的能力有多大，科學界的理解起了革命性的轉變。

大腦真的可以改變嗎？

十多年前的教科書會說，人死時的腦部和剛出生的沒兩樣，而且無法產生新的腦細胞。現在這種觀念已有所修正。

認知訓練網站「銳腦」（SharpBrains）創辦人兼執行長阿法羅·佛南迪斯說：「高科技掃描顯示腦部不停在變化，舊細胞死了，新細胞隨時生成，並可隨腦部的工作連結出不同的新功能。」人賦予腦部的工作，確實可以改變其生理形態 。

專家對於腦部的了解，前年出現更大幅度的突破。研究發現，運用適當的軟體來訓練大腦，可擴充工作記憶。工作記憶相當於電腦的隨機存取記憶體，功能是儲存短期記憶和處理資訊，例如做心算或回想是否見過某個人。加強工作記憶，可顯著提高智商達十分之多。

倫敦黑色計程車司機是著名的例子，證明經常使用某種技巧可以改變大腦。腦部掃描發現他們的海馬迴（腦部專司記憶和空間定位的部分）比常人大，因為他們必須記憶數萬條街道。當然，大量應用衞星導航後，海馬迴可能會縮回原來的大小。

多工(Multi- Task) 有什麼影響？

專家對於多工的看法涇渭分明，自是意料中事。身兼記者與作家的瑪姬·傑克遜相信，我們周遭的媒體訊息、推特（Twitter）和全年無休的數位資訊，正逐漸把我們推向新的黑暗時期。她說：「多工號稱可以增進效率，其實非常沒效率，因為我們必須在多項工作之間來回往返，壓根兒無法集中注意力於單一事物上。」 更糟的是，這種工作方式使得創造力毫無用武之地。

因為多工無法專注於一件事，會不會導致注意力下降？托科爾·柯寧堡醫師是斯德哥爾摩卡羅林斯卡醫學院發展認知神經科學實驗室的主持人，他主張多工絕不會導致注意力下降。一位研究人員發現，工作記憶無法擴充，但他相信腦部能在必要時擴充容量以解決這個問題。「增加的資訊處理量不僅可能無害，還可能因高度使用 工作記憶而提升認知能力。」

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事情总是有正负，黑白两面，也许有些中间地带，但是，如何拿捏，真的就看个人修为了。天堂和地狱，只有一线之隔。

原文：这里

飞天摩托车

不少的科幻片都充斥着令人不可思议的交通工具，其中最最最经典的无非于就是人不再在陆地上奔走，而是开着一部又一部炫丽高科技的飞天车，或者不再适合再称为车了呢。

也许，这不再是幻想了？不再是只能在电影或电视电脑上看到却摸不着的奢侈品。澳洲一位前直升机飞行员，Christopher Malloy用了两年半的时间和精神，终于成功的在他的车库里研发出了让全球第一部飞天摩托车问世！！！而他的飞天摩托车名为Hoverbike。

Christopher Malloy将自己所有的积储都投资于这研究了，这飞天摩托车用得可是宝马汽车的引擎哦，可在海拔3000多公尺中飞行，最高时速可达150公里。当然，这部梦幻似的摩托车，价格可不菲啊，英镑4.5万，将近马币22万，直逼Proton Saga， 哈哈。

当然，飞在空中的东西，安全性实在是不可忽视的，Christopher Malloy目前还在测试着飞天摩托车的安全性，虽然不能确保百分百的安全性，但是就目前骑起来，平稳而不易翻的程度来看，似乎不错。俗语说得好，不怕一万，只怕万一，Christopher Malloy在摩托车上装配了两个降落伞。而目前，Christopher Malloy也只测试着离地面几米飞行而已。这飞行摩托车是否能在海拔几千公尺时，依然保持着相同平衡呢？这也许还是个未知之数。而且，看看这设计吧。是否适合在天空飞行呢？自然得靠专业人士评估，或者物理理论较好的人，应该也能道出一二吧。

据悉，这飞天摩托车是直升机和摩托车的综合体，所以驾驶方式也大同小异，所以有过驾驶直升机或摩托车经验的人，会比较容易掌握驾驶技巧。只是有个疑问，直升机和摩托车的驾驶技术和技巧，应该是很非常的不同吧？

是否我们的社会短期内真的会出现这一类的交通工具呢？也许可能吧，但是，是否实用？就见人见智了。

欲知更多详情，前看这篇文。
Australian built Hoverbike prepares for takeoff





原文摘与：飞天摩托车

研究：Google改變人腦的記憶方式 /Google Effect: Changes to our Brains

網際網路已成為心理學家稱之為「交換記憶」（transactive memory）的一種主要形式，這是指當我們知道何時以及如何存取訊息時，記憶可透過外部協助完成。


哥倫比亞大學心理學家Betsy Sparrow發表在最近一期(7/14)「科學」雜誌中的研究指出，Google這類網際網路搜尋引擎的興起，已經改變人腦記憶資訊的方式。


Sparrow表示，因為搜尋引擎的出現，現在人類大腦對於依賴網際網路來記憶的程度，就與我們依賴朋友、家人、和同事一樣。我們比較不會透過知道訊息本身來記憶，而是透過知道此訊息是從哪裡找到的來記住事情。


此研究顯示，我們容易忘記那些我們相信能夠輕易在網路上找到的訊息，而對於不易在網路上取得的資訊記憶較深。同時，我們也更能夠記得在哪裡找得到訊息，而不是記住資訊本身的內容。


Sparrow解釋說，網際網路已成為心理學家稱之為「交換記憶」（transactive memory）的一種主要形式，這是指當我們知道何時以及如何存取訊息時，記憶可透過外部協助完成。


瞭解搜尋引擎對於人類記憶的影響，有可能改變目前教學和各種領域的學習方式。她說，不管是學校教授或企業主管，都會因此更專注於傳授想法與思考模式，而不是要求記誦。而對學生來說，大腦就不會被一堆資訊佔據，而是更投入瞭解更廣泛的概念與問題。」


Google是否會讓人變笨的這個議題，之前亦曾引發過討論。早在2008年時，知名科技學者Nicholas Carr就曾認為，大量依賴Google查詢資料，讓人們失去深思與專心的能力，廣泛的收集各種訊息，讓現代人的智慧變得膚淺與功利主義。不過，後來的一項網路使用者調查研究指出，大部分的使用者都認為網際網路會讓人變得更聰明，不會變笨。


Sparrow的這項研究並未暗示Google是否影響人類智慧，但確實指出，Google已使人們在尋找資訊的行為上變得更為複雜。這未嘗不是好事，因為我們可以不用再費力背誦一些隨手可得的訊息，而將大腦用在更有創造力的事務上。


The access to data anytime, anywhere, through search engines like Google, is taking an effect on human memory, according to a new study, ultimately altering the way the brain functions.


With so much information available, there is less need to remember everything, especially with tools like Google allowing us find what we need quickly. The result -- the Internet becomes an "external memory" for humans.


At least that's what the study "Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips" says.


Published by Betsy Sparrow, Jenny Liu, and Daniel M. Wegner, on the Web site of Science Magazine, the authors performed a number of experiments into how the human brain uses memory differently when computers are involved.


"The advent of the Internet, with sophisticated algorithmic search engines, has made accessing information as easy as lifting a finger," the report says. "No longer do we have to make costly efforts to find the things we want. We can 'Google' the old classmate, find articles online, or look up the actor who was on the tip of our tongue."


As an example, about 60 Harvard students were asked to type 40 pieces of trivia, such as "An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain," into computers, and were told either the information would be saved or erased.


People who believed the data would be saved were less likely to remember, according to the study published online by the journal Science.


"The results of four studies suggest that when faced with difficult questions, people are primed to think about computers and that when people expect to have future access to information, they have lower rates of recall of the information itself and enhanced recall instead for where to access it. The Internet has become a primary form of external or transactive memory, where information is stored collectively outside ourselves."


The research also found that people are primed to look to the Internet first for knowledge.


Another experiment, run on 34 undergraduates at Columbia University in New York, showed that people remembered where they stored their information better than they were able to recall the information itself.


"We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems," the authors wrote in the paper. "We have become dependent on them to the same degree we are on all the knowledge we gain from our friends and coworkers -- and lose if they are out of touch."


It isn't clear what the effects of being so "wired" will have on people over time, the authors, led by Betsy Sparrow of Columbia, wrote


But it suggests that the use of search engines is causing our brains to reorganize where it goes for information, adapting to new computing technologies rather than relying solely on rote memory.


Another experiment sought to determine whether computer accessibility affected exactly what we remember.


"If asked the question whether there are any countries with only one color in their flag, for example," the researchers wrote, "do we think about flags, or immediately think to go online to find out?"


As further experiment the participants were asked not only to remember the trivia statement itself, but which of five computer folders it was saved in.


The answer surprised the researchers: People were better able to recall the folder.


"That kind of blew my mind," Sparrow said in an interview.


Experts call this "transactive memory." Essentially, remembering where you can get the information and not the information itself.


"Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member, or co-worker," Sparrow said. "We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found.


"I love watching baseball," Sparrow said in example of transactive memory. "But I know my husband knows baseball facts, so when I want to know something I ask him, and I don't bother to remember it."


The Internet's effects on memory are still unexplored territory, Sparrow said, but added that her experiments have led her to this conclusion: Internet has become our primary external storage system.


"Human memory," she said, "is adapting to new communications technology."


原文摘与：研究：Google改變人腦的記憶方式
Original Post: Google Effect: Changes to our Brains