Salman Khan: youTube 上的 Salman 比真的 Salman 好

 
不管你多年輕或多老, 你可以從 Salman Khan 學到東西.  Watch this 18 minute TED video.  Start your life-long learning from this video, here and now.

Smartphone ownership: Japan 4%, US 35%,Taiwan 50% says Ma II

This is a follow-up of my post yesterday
Smartphone ownership: Japan 4%, US 35%,
Taiwan 50% says Ma [1]

First, let me summarize three pieces of data from [1] and add a new piece of data from Tae Matsumoto to show that there is a phenomenal surge of smartphone ownership in Japan:

1.  Global Smartphone Penetration by Region 2009-2014  (2010-06-20) predicted a 5% Japanese smartphone ownership in 2011.
2. Tae Matsumoto (松本多恵) of Nara Women's University (奈良女子大學) in a survey of 125 students in the first two months of 2011, found only five owning smartphones.  This suggests a ownership rate of 4%, similar to the above forecast.
3. iPhone drives Japan smartphone penetration to over 20% (2010-09-09) observed that
   smartphone penetration jumped to 22.6% in July from 12% a year ago, according to market research company BCN.
4. Tae Matsumoto did another survey in Nara Women's University on 2011-04-30 with 300 students participating, and found the ownership number jumped from the 4% of two months ago to 13%.

Peter Ro wrote

台灣人很愛使用智慧型手機
Taiwanese love to use smartphones

presumably responding to the 30% IDC number or the 50% Ma Ying-Jeou number for Taiwan in my previous post.

To this, I have two comments:

1. Ma stated  on 2011-02-10, without justification, that the smartphone penetration rate in Taiwan was expected to reach nearly 50% this year.  Less than a month ago, in  Taiwan smartphone penetration set to hit record high: IDC, an IDC senior analyst said
   

   Smartphone shipments in Taiwan, which accounted for between 21 percent and 22 percent of total mobile phone shipments last year, will increase to between 29 percent and 30 percent this year

   That implied that smartphone ownership is less than 30%.  Ma should tell us why his number 50% is so at odds with IDC's number, and completely out of line with any other prevailing forecasts. 
2. All the numbers we quoted are about smartphone ownership and market penetration, not about usage. Ownership and market penetration are different from usage.  For example, many Taiwanese own iPhones, but they use them as expensive cell phones to feel good, to show off, or to make a statement about their social status.  Few understands how a smartphone differs from dumb phones and few realizes that a smartphone is a powerful computer.  It is a rare Taiwanese smartphone owner who knows how to tether or even what it means.  I have even helped many to turn on their GPS.   See Two things to do in 2011: Use smartphone and dump Microsoft for more.  Taiwanese leave their smartphones' tremendous power untapped just as they leave their computers' tremendous power untapped.  This is as if I own the empire state building, but decide to use just one room on the first floor, and nowhere else.  Why?  Because I don't want to learn to use other rooms.

Smartphone ownership: Japan 4%, US 35%,Taiwan 50% says Ma

I saw a very surprising 2011 survey result from Ms Tae Matsumoto of Nara Women's University (奈良女子大學), as follows:


Thus, less than four out of 100 (or one out of twenty five) Nara Women's University students have smartphones.  Can the number be this low in a Japan university?

This 4% is in line with Global Smartphone Penetration by Region 2009-2014, but is a far cry from the 23% given in iPhone drives Japan smartphone penetration to over 20%.
 
For US numbers, see Pew research smartphone ownership.  They are 35% overall and 52% for young adults:

Smartphone penetration has reached more than half (52%) of 18-to-29-year-old US adults, according to a July 2011 study from the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project. The study also reveals that 45% of 30-to-49-year-olds own smartphones, and this figure then drops by almost 50% to 24% among 50-to-64-year-olds. Overall, 35% of US adults own smartphones.

The US numbers pale when compared to Taiwan's, according to president Ma Ying-Jeou:

"The smartphone penetration rate in Taiwan is expected to reach nearly 50% this year based on a similar figure in Hong Kong, where smartphones have become very popular," Ma told reporters at a press conference.

For people unfamiliar with Ma Yin-Jeou, he is a man constantly making unsubstantiated statements such as this, and making promises he could not keep (think 6-3-3). 

In Taiwan smartphone penetration set to hit record high: IDC, we read

Smartphone shipments in Taiwan, which accounted for between 21 percent and 22 percent of total mobile phone shipments last year, will increase to between 29 percent and 30 percent this year, higher than the global average of 26 percent, IDC senior analyst Joey Yen (嚴蘭欣) told reporters at a news conference.

Serious problems with Facebook

 
Unlike Google, Facebook's contribution to human knowledge and useful dialog seems to me negligible.

First, you can like someone's post, ignore it, but never dislike it.  This has the effect of distorting reality, and strongly discouraging those dissenting individuals from participating.

We can reference a blog entry and its comments, or a web page trivially using their URLs.  In contrast, it is not obvious how to reference a Facebook comment.  We can conclude that Facebook comments have little reference values.  For example, researchers using  Zotero to collect references will find few if any Facebook comments in their collections.

I found a Facebook public event named 連署要求NCC對《三立》假新聞開罰，勿再縱容惡質媒體!!
I left a comment, encouraging event supporters to provide evidences to garner more support.   My comment was removed within minutes.

An event participant 董倫輝 wrote

馬總統完全在狀況外，被惡質的三立擺了一道。

It would be useful for the society to ask why he knows, given Ma Ying-Jeou's notoriety.  See 我們家沒有人有綠卡; 我有綠卡, 女兒是美國公民.
Another,  杨垂沿 wrote  

这就是国民党永远做不出来的事！偏偏就有一群人会吃这一套！

中國國民黨/共產黨 如何摧毀人性 How KMT/CCP destroy human decency presents facts after facts of such evil-doings and worse.

At this writing, there are 466 event participants in this Facebook public event named 連署要求NCC對《三立》假新聞開罰，勿再縱容惡質媒體!!.    I asked these people to explain why Dr. Jerome Keating was wrong by having a different opinion at Taiwan, the Ma Government Wants the Media to Serve it.  My question was deleted within minutes.

Overall, Facebook is transient and provides little of lasting values.

臉書找台灣人麻煩嗎? Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? VII

I consider the following sudden disabling of a Facebook event created by 酥餅  a definitive proof that Facebook is collaborating with Chinese KMT/CCP to silence Taiwanese opposition.

From:  酥餅

今天下午網友通知我｢要求中華民國紅十字會立刻將募來的錢全數交給日本紅十字會｣的連署網站進不去，檢查之後才發現，連署網站被以莫名其妙的理由禁用
了。詳情請看：

http://blog.roodo.com/subing/archives/15526485.html

酥餅

Samuel Hung responded:

我建議採取兩個行動。

一，讓國內媒體知道，塑家報導！

二，通知國際媒體及人權組織！

以上
悠然敬書

I created a petition
Facebook must stop collaborating with Chinese KMT/CCP to silence Taiwanese 臉書不可繼續幫中國國民黨和中圝共產黨迫害台灣人
to get things started. 

Please help by signing or by asking your friends to sign.  Any feedback will be most highly appreciated.

臉書找台灣人麻煩嗎? Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? VI

Now, one of the most celebrated Taiwanese bloggers, 酥餅, lost his Facebook account.  What does it take for Taiwanese to speak up?  See http://www.facebook.com/subing.fb?sk=wall.

媽祖教電腦 詐人3千萬

Many things in the following 自由時報 news story are remarkable:

• The identity of all players in this drama are masked, such as 王姓乩童, 一間神壇, 楊姓被害人.  There is no reason to believe that this absurd story actually happened.  It could very well be a creative writing.
• What's 神壇?  It is a Mom-and-Pop temple.  Mom and pop used to open a noodle shop that made them work like slaves.  Now they could opt to open a low cost and low-maintenance  home-temple.  In my estimate, there is one mom-and-pop temple in every two city blocks, making it slightly less convenient than looking for a 7-Eleven.
• I am not sure who is the worse fool: a Taiwanese who believes that 媽祖能教電腦, or a Taiwanese who supports Chinese KMT/CCP; the former hurts just himself,  the latter hurts 2,300,000 Taiwanese.

=====

佯媽祖教電腦 詐人3千萬
  〔記者王善嬿／嘉義報導〕乩童神通廣大、交遊廣闊，上通媽祖，下達郭台銘、比爾蓋茲！
嘉 縣朴子市一間神壇涉嫌利用宗教詐財，開設神壇的王姓乩童夥同家人，佯稱朴子配天宮媽祖降駕，要協助楊姓被害人兒子學習電腦技術，並謊稱認識鴻海郭台銘等名 人可協助解決官司，多年來前後詐騙楊家近3000萬元。檢調單位前往王家搜索，查扣電腦設備等證物，王某否認斂財，檢調將擇期傳喚他到案說明，以釐清案 情。
楊姓被害人去年底向檢調單位檢舉，指民國90年他的兒子與王某兒子一同到南區職訓中心上課，他的兒子學習成績不理想，王某輾轉得知此事 後，便多次起乩，以配天宮天上聖母附身降旨為由，表示可協助其兒子進入跨國高科技公司上班，晉升科技新貴，他篤信神明又愛子心切，於是深信不疑。
90 年至97年間，王姓乩童與其子便以購買軟體、電腦設備為由，向楊家詐取百萬元，並謊稱楊某兒子上網觸犯國際法規，若不解決會被國際組織抓走，王某同時表示 認識鴻海郭台銘、微軟比爾蓋茲等電腦公司高層，可協助解決官司，再度索求1000多萬元；之後又以各種不同名義進行斂財詐騙，多年來，前後共涉嫌詐取楊家 約3000萬元。
楊家付錢後，卻沒拿到王某聲稱購買的電腦設備，驚覺被騙，王某則恐嚇，若將此事說出去，會被神明懲罰云云，楊家遲遲不敢報 警，去年12月底才向嘉義地檢署檢舉。檢方指揮嘉市調查站幹員前往王家搜索，查扣多部電腦設備以及銀行存簿進行清查，王某否認斂財，全案正由檢調單位調查 中，並將傳喚王某到案釐清。

臉書找台灣人麻煩嗎?Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? V

What should you do if you feel that Facebook is doing something unjust?  Speak up!

You should definitely write Facebook and you can blog.  You should not keep silent.

After I wrote

臉書找台灣人麻煩嗎?
Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? IV

I wrote Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com asking for a comment from her or from her supervisor.
You might want to do that too.

慢著. 不要刪掉 Andy's 的信只因為你不懂曰文Hold it. Don't delete Andy's message just because you don't read Japanese[was: 革命不要流血]

我也不懂曰文, 但我的gmail 能自動地把它翻成英文或中文, 如下.


I don't read Japanese either, but one-click on my gmail, the message is translated into English or Chinese.  See below.
=====

Al-Jazeera reported that President flee abroad Tunisia

2 hours 53 minutes 15 January 2011

CAIRO - Al-Jazeera satellite force in the Middle East - rock the evening of 14 (15 early Saturday morning Japan time), a series of riots in Tunisia and a large demonstration, reported that President Ben Ali flee abroad. Since 1987, the collapse of the Ben Ali regime has ruled the country with an iron fist approach. Tunis Tunisia troops occupied the airport, is hitting the maintenance of security. Prime Minister through an emergency conference on national television Gannushi is said to act for the time being the duties.

=====

半島電視台報導，突尼斯總統逃到國外

2小時 53分鐘 2011年1月15號

開 羅 - 半島電視台的衛星力量，在中東 - 岩石14日晚（週六凌晨日15時），一系列的騷亂突尼斯和大規模示威，報告說，本阿里總統逃往國外。自1987年以來，坍塌的本阿里政權統治的國家，以鐵 腕方式。突尼斯突尼斯部隊佔領了機場，打的維修保障。總理的緊急會議上通過國家電視台說 Gannushi行動暫時的職責。

=====
Andy Chang's original message in Japanese:
 
チュニジア大統領が国外脱出　アルジャジーラ報道

2011年1月15日2時53分

【カイロ＝石合力】中東の衛星放送アルジャジーラは１４日夕（日本時間１５日未明）、大規模なデモや暴動が相次ぐチュニジアで、ベンアリ大統領が国外脱 出したと報じた。１９８７年以来、強権的な手法で同国を支配してきたベンアリ体制が崩壊した。チュニジア軍はチュニス空港を占拠、治安維持に当たってい る。ガンヌーシ首相は国営テレビを通じて緊急会見し、職務を当面代行すると語った。

臉書找台灣人麻煩嗎?Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? IV

I thank Facebook user lupangster for stepping forward to present his story.  His Facebook account was disabled in 2010.  He wrote to protest, and got the following reply:

2010/9/27 The Facebook Team

info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com<info%2Brzcifs@support.facebook.com>

您好，

請回覆本電郵，與我們確認您確為所提協助要求中之 Facebook 帳號持有人 。待此安全程序完成後，我們即可馬上提供協助。

Facebook 只能協助那些從他們的 Facebook
帳號登入電郵信箱發函與我們聯絡的用戶。在我們受理您的查詢前，請確定您現在用來與我們聯絡的電郵信箱是登記在您被停用的 Facebook
帳號下。請不要使用不同的電郵地址建立其他帳號，此行為將會延遲我們解決此問題的時間。此外，註冊一個以上的 Facebook
帳號違反了本網站的「使用條款」。

謝謝，

Facebook Team

This request was easy for Lupangster, who uses only one email account, his gmail account.  He received all mails, including all Facebook updates from  this gmail account.  Why was Facebook team info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com asking him the obvious that it should know?   Nevertheless,
after stating the above to info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com,  he got the following reply:

From: The Facebook Team info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com
Date: 2010/11/3
Subject: Re: My Personal Profile was Disabled
To: lupangster@gmail.com

您好,

謝謝您提供的資料。目前，我們無法核實帳號的擁有權。

請回覆此電郵並附上一份政府發放的身分證件的電子檔或掃描圖檔(如駕照或護照等等)。可能的話，請儲存為 JPEG  格式。請確認在您提供的附件中下列資訊均清晰易讀：

-全名
-生日
-相片

請將任何與身份確認無關的個人資料(如社會安全號碼或身分證字號)以黑筆抹去。我們在此保證，在我們確認您是該帳號的所有人後，我們會永久銷毀您傳送進來的證件資料。同時請注意，在我們收到適當的身份證明之前，我們將無法處理您的要求。如果因此對您造成不便，我們深表歉意。

謝謝

Faye
User Operations
Facebook

One question for Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com:

What does 我們無法核實帳號的擁有權。mean?

When Lupangster created his Facebook account, he relied solely on his gmail account.  His gmail account is effectively his Facewbook ID.  Thus, his gmail account definitely proves his Facebook account ownership.    Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com communicated with Lupangster using lupangster's gmail account, but Faye says she 無法核實帳號的擁有權.  What else can Faye use to confirm lupangster@gmail.com owns lupangster@facebook.com?


Be reminded that Lupangster started communicating with Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com because his Facebook account was disabled.  Nothing Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com
wrote addressed this issue.  She did not offer an explanation why the account was disabled, or what she intended to do if she could be satisfied.

To summarize: Lupangster has only one email account, his gmail account.  He used this gmail account to create a Facebook account, so his gmail account is his Facebook account ID.  Facebook disabled his account without telling him why.  After Lupangster complained, Faye at info+rzcifs@support.facebook.com started asking Lupangster to prove his identity and communicated with Lupangstger using Lupangster's gmail address.   Faye even asked Lupangster for copy of his ID card. Why not ask Lupangster for his driving records, drinking habit, medical records or college transcript?  And how would any of these things prove or disprove that lupangster@gmail.com owns lupangster@facebook.com?

Musing on Facebook

Why is Facebook so popular?  My theory is that it makes people happy.

When you post on Facebook, only your friends can comment.   Friends are more inclined to write kinder and gentler comments than critical or hostile ones.  To fix the idea, imagine a fictitious Facebook user Ma.  Ma's enemies are unlikely to become his Facebook friends, and as a result, cannot make critical or hostile comments on Ma's posts.  Consequently, Ma reads the favorable comments from his friends and is a very happy man.  The happier Ma is, the more he likes Facebook.  This is known as preaching to the choir.

Not only are Facebook people protected from enemies,  their friends are only allowed to like a post, never dislike it.

瞼書找台灣人麻煩嗎?Is Facebook giving Taiwanese trouble? III

Why not make a big issue out of this?  Write credible and detailed description of how Facebook persecute Taiwanese by removing their accounts with no just cause.  Do this to let the world know that Facebook collaborate with Chinese KMT or CCP by producing irrefutable evidences.  Please.  Be a responsible Net citizen.

• 

彭智勇

台派Andro Cliff 的 facebook 帳號被藍軍攻擊停權了，本著人溺己溺的台派情操 ,請台派好友重新加 Andro Cliff 新的帳號 Cliff Andrew 為友吧 謝謝 !! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001956278003

Two things to do in 2011: Use smartphone and dump Microsoft

1. Stop using anything Microsoft
2. Use smartphone

 Why?

1. There are likely free versions that do better jobs than Microsoft software.   
2. A smartphone is a powerful computer that fits snugly in your palm and does so much.  The reason that a person is not using it is likely ignorance.   Here is a short list of things it can do.
• It takes pictures as good as your point-and-shoot.    It is easy to publish these pictures to the web or email them.  If you upload them to sites such as Picasaweb, you can choose to have them displayed with the google maps of their locations.  See One more reason to leave your point-and-shoot at home: geotagging.
  
• Use it as an alarm clock that plays Bach's Cello concerto or Beatles to wake you up.  You should be ashamed if you pack an alarm clock when you travel.
• Use it as a countdown timer to make tea.  My morning ritual is to let the tea leaves soak in boiled water for three minutes using my phone.
• Use it as a stopwatch to time your walk, run or bike ride.
• As you bike, use the phone's GPS to prevent from getting lost.
• When you travel to a new city or a foreign country, use the GPS to learn about your new environment super fast.  Paper map should be a thing of the past.
• When you travel to Singapore, for a meager SGD$18, you can get a Singtel sim card for 72-hour unlimited Internet access.  Using Internet tethering, your Notebook can access the Internet as well.  See below for more about tethering.     
• If you take Taichung city buses,  your phone's browser can show you when your bus comes to a bus stop.  Without a smartphone, you might be waiting for a bus in the blind for an hour, under 100 degree hot sun, or in merciless icy-cold wind storm.
• At a glance to know the weather of the day, or week, of the town you are currently in.
• In a store, use your phone to scan a bar-code just like the casher, to find information or do comparison shopping.
• If you still wear a watch, lose some weight by leaving it at home.

I end this short list with personal tethering stories.

• Watching 大話新聞 on my MacBook Pro (via an iPhone 3GS) when I was on a bus from 桃園機場 to Taichung.
• To work on my Notebook when I am too far away from any usable Wi-Fi.
• Use tethering to connect my Notebook to the Internet while lecturing, when campus network is erratic.

My Mom is currently in a rehab center to get her strength back after a minor stroke.    According to my brother, the rehab center does not have Wi-Fi.  Every morning, my brother uses Internet tethering to skype Dad at home.  My Mom and Dad would chat and sing for about an hour over Skype.  What would Mom and Dad do without smartphone?

One thing I rarely do with my iPhone or Android is to call people as if it is a phone.