Newton's Rings

The phenomenon of Newton's rings, named after Isaac Newton, is an interference pattern caused by the reflection of light between two surfaces - a spherical surface and an adjacent flat surface. When viewed with a monochromatic light it appears as a series of concentric, alternating light and dark rings centered at the point of contact between the two surfaces. When viewed with white light, it forms a concentric ring pattern of rainbow colors because the different wavelengths of light interfere at different thicknesses of the air layer between the surfaces. The light rings are caused by constructive interference between the light rays reflected from both surfaces, while the dark rings are caused by destructive interference. Also, the outer rings are spaced more closely than the inner ones. Moving outwards from one dark ring to the next, for example, increases the path difference by the same amount λ, corresponding to the same increase of thickness of the air layer λ/2. Since the slope of the lens surface increases outwards, separation of the rings gets smaller for the outer rings.

eBoy

eBoy ("Godfathers of Pixel") is a pixel art group founded in 1998 by Steffen Sauerteig, Svend Smital, Kai Vermehr. Based in Berlin, Eboy's founders collaborate with Peter Stemmler in New York to produce graphic design work for companies.

Their work makes intense use of popular culture and commercial icons, and their style is presented in three-dimensional isometric illustrations filled with robots, cars, guns and girls. Their unique style has gained them a cult following among graphic designers worldwide, as well as a long list of commercial clients.

eBoy has worked with named brands and companies such as Coca-Cola, MTV, VH1 and Adidas, plus many more.

• eBoy - Official website
• eBoy's famous London poster

Gabor Filter

A Gabor filter is a linear filter whose impulse response is defined by a harmonic function multiplied by a Gaussian function. Because of the multiplication-convolution property, the Fourier transform of a Gabor filter's impulse response is the convolution of the Fourier transform of the harmonic function and the Fourier transform of the Gaussian functionwhere

and

In this equation, λ represents the wavelength of the cosine factor, θ represents the orientation of the normal to the parallel stripes of a Gabor function in degrees, ψ is the phase offset in degrees, and γ is the spatial aspect ratio, and specifies the ellipticity of the support of the Gabor function.

Gabor filters are directly related to Gabor wavelets, since they can be designed for number of dilations and rotations. However, in general, expansion is not applied for Gabor wavelets, since this requires computation of biorthogonal wavelets, which may be very time-consuming. Therefore, usually, a filter bank consisting of Gabor filters with various scales and rotations is created. The filters are convolved with the signal, resulting in a so-called Gabor space. This process is closely related to processes in the primary visual cortex. The Gabor space is very useful in e.g., image processing applications such as iris recognition. Relations between activations for a specific spatial location are very distinctive between objects in an image. Furthermore, important activations can be extracted from the Gabor space in order to create a sparse object representation.

Why Drop or Stick?

A random walk, sometimes called a "drunkard's walk," is a formalization in mathematics, computer science, and physics of the intuitive idea of taking successive steps, each in a random direction. For example, the path traced by a molecule as it travels in a liquid or a gas is a random walk.

Chance, or the word random is used to express lack of purpose, cause, order, or predictability in non-scientific parlance. A random process is a repeating process whose outcomes follow no describable deterministic pattern, but follow a probability distribution. The term randomness is often used in statistics to signify well defined statistical properties, such as lack of bias or correlation.

這些不帶動機的水珠，朦朧黃昏下發出閃耀光芒，多麼像是大自然賞賜給人類的美麗小水鑽，一串又一串縈繞在我心頭，她的美麗…讓我目瞪口呆、不知所措，儘管，落下是最終的命運，動盪於風中的，緊繫欄杆的，確又那麼地像人生，在抓著與放下間，呼吸著

Hedgehog's Dilemma

The hedgehog's dilemma states that the closer two beings come to each other, the more likely they are to hurt one another; however if they remain apart, they will each feel the pain of loneliness. This comes from the idea that hedgehogs, with sharp spines on their backs, will hurt each other if they get too close. This is analogous to a relationship between two human beings. If two people come to care about and trust each other, something bad that happens to one of them will hurt the other as well, and dishonesty between the two could cause even greater problems.

很害怕暴露出自己最深入的一面，每每若無其事避重就輕、或就捲縮畏藏，卻又在單獨時希望有人瞭解自己

Group-dynamic game

Group-dynamic games are experiential education exercises which help people to learn about themselves, interpersonal relationships, and how groups function from a group dynamics or social psychological point of view.

Group dynamics can be understood as complex from an interpersonal relationships point of view because it involves:

• relationships between two people
• relationships between a person and a group
• relationships between groups

Group-dynamic games are usually designed for the specific purpose of furthering personal development, character building, and teamwork via a Group-dynamic milieu. The group leader may sometimes also be the game leader, or between peers, the leadership and game-rules can change.

Some games require large spaces, special objects and tools, quietness or many before-game and after-game needs. When aged, frail or disabled people ("special needs") are involved, existing games may need modification to be used.

The use of group dynamic activities has a history of application in conflict resolution, anger management and team building and many other areas such as drug rehabilitation and drama therapy.

Temerity

: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition : rashness, recklessness

Example sentence:
The official was thrown into jail for having the temerity to publicly disagree with the dictator.

Did you know?
When it comes to flagrant boldness, "temerity," "audacity," "hardihood," and "effrontery" have the cheek to get your meaning across. Of those synonyms, "temerity" (from the Latin "temere," meaning "blindly" or "recklessly") suggests boldness arising from contempt of danger, while "audacity" implies a disregard of the restraints commonly imposed by convention or prudence. "Hardihood" implies firmness in daring and defiance, and "effrontery" suggests a shameless disregard of propriety and courtesy. If you're looking for a more informal term for a brash attitude, you might consider "nerve," "cheek," "gall," or "chutzpah."

John Barleycorn

: alcoholic liquor personified

Example sentence:
"Eureka was, after all, the last home of Carry Nation, that ax-wielding foe of John Barleycorn, Demon Rum and all their evil ilk." (Charles Allbright, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, November 19, 2003)

Did you know?
"Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! / What dangers thou canst make us scorn!" Robert Burns wasn't the first to use "John Barleycorn" as a personification of liquor when he penned those lines in his poem Tam O'Shanter in the late 1700s. The term had been part of English vernacular for more than 150 years before Burns's heyday, but the poet played a key role in popularizing it by carrying it into literature. "Barleycorn" undoubtedly became part of that euphemism for alcohol because barleycorns (that is, grains of barley) are a key ingredient in malt liquor. And "John" has long been used as a generic name or personifier in English.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Mythomania

: an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating

Example sentence:
The therapist speculated that Sharon's mythomania, which makes her want to embellish even the most minor details of her life, may have been triggered by a specific event.

Did you know?

We wouldn't lie to you about the history of "mythomania." It comes from two ancient roots, the Greek "mythos" (meaning "myth") and the Late Latin "mania" (meaning "insanity marked by uncontrolled emotion or excitement"). One myth about "mythomania" is that it's a very old word; actually, the earliest known uses of the term date only from the beginning of the 20th century. It was predated by a related word, "mythomaniac," which appeared around the middle of the 19th century. "Mythomaniac" initially referred to someone who was obsessed with or passionate about myths but was eventually used for individuals affected with or exhibiting mythomania.

World Music

World music is, most generally, all the music in the world.^[1] More specifically, the term is currently used to classify the many genres of non-Western music which were previously described as "folk music" or "ethnic music". However, "world music" does not have to mean traditional folk music, it may refer to the indigenous classical forms of various regions of the world, and to modern, cutting edge pop music styles as well. Succinctly, it can be described as "local music from out there",^[2] or "someone else's local music".^[3]

Music from around the world exerts wide cross-cultural influence as styles naturally influence one another, and in recent years "world music" has also been marketed as a successful genre in itself. Academic study of world music, as well as the musical genres and individual artists with which it has been associated, can be found in such disciplines as anthropology, Folkloristics, Performance Studies and ethnomusicology.

Mind and Life XIII: Investigating the Mind 2005

http://www.investigatingthemind.org/
This latest Mind and Life public meeting "Investigating the Mind 2005: The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation" built on the growing interest in meditation within modern medicine and biomedical science that has arisen over the past thirty years and further explores the emerging clinical opportunities. Meditation is becoming Mainstream in Western Medicine and Society

Applications of meditation are now common in the treatment of stress, pain, and a range of chronic diseases in both medicine and psychiatry, and some approaches are currently the subject of NIH-supported clinical trials and research studies. At the same time, the power of our non-invasive technologies have made it possible to investigate the nature of cognition and emotion in the brain as never before, and to begin to explore the interfaces between mind, brain, and body, and the implications of particular forms of meditative practices for modulating and regulating biological pathways to restore or enhance homeostatic processes and perhaps extend the reach of both mind and body in ways that might potentially promote rehabilitation and healing as well as greater overall health and well-being.

Recent studies are showing that meditation can result in stable brain patterns and changes over both short and long-term intervals that have not been seen before in human beings and that suggest the potential for the systematic driving of positive neuroplastic changes via such intentional practices cultivated over time. These investigations may offer opportunities for understanding the basic unifying mechanisms of the brain, mind and body that underlie awareness and our capacity for effective adaptation to stressful and uncertain conditions.

Earth Day

編/楊琬菁

4月22日的地球日，是1970年當代環境運動起源的年度紀念日。

在那個年代裡，美國人大量使用含鉛汽油，製造產業排放濃煙與污泥，卻對於法律制裁及負面評論無所畏懼。社會大眾普遍接受了「空氣污染代表著繁榮的氣息」的 概念；「環境」這個單字比起在晚間新聞裡，更常出現在拼字遊戲當中。

地球日的創辦人尼爾森(Gaylord Nelson，後任威斯康辛州參議員)，發起第一次的全國性環保抗爭，以期「革新政治建制，並強迫此議題被納入全國性議程上」。他回想道：「那是場賭注，但它確實起了作用。」

1970年的4月22日當天，2,000萬 名美國人為了一個「健康且可持續的環境」而走上街頭，表達自己的期望。地球日活動的全國總協調員丹尼斯‧海斯，籌辦橫跨美國東西兩岸大規模的全國遊行示 威。數千所大學院校籌組了抗議環境惡化的活動；長期對抗石油外洩、製造污染的工廠與發電廠、未經處理的廢水、有毒廢棄物的處置、殺蟲劑、高速公路的開發， 荒野的消失與野生動物滅絕等等問題的團體，他們突然了解到，彼此之間有著共同的價值觀。

1970年的地球日達成了罕有的政治結盟，並得到來自共和黨與民主黨員、富翁與窮人、都市人與農民、大亨與勞工領袖的各方支持。並促成了美國環保署的成立，國會並通過了乾淨空氣，乾淨水與瀕臨絕種物種法案。

1990年前夕--- 各環保運動領袖聯合要求丹尼斯‧海斯籌辦另一場大型活動。這一回，地球日推行到全球，動員了141個國家共2億人口，並使得環境議題的重要地位登上了世界舞台。1990年地球日大肆宣傳世界各地的資源回收運動，並為1992年在巴西里約熱內盧舉行的聯合國「地球高峰會」鋪路。

千禧年將近之際，海斯同意領導另一波的運動，這次的焦點放在全球溫室效應與推動乾淨能源上。2000年地球日結合了首次地球日（1970年）欲大展鴻圖之決心與1990年地球日的國際草根運動主義，利用了網際網路來聯繫全世界各地的行動者。4月22日當天，世界各地約5,000個環保團體同時上網，與來自184國的數億人口-- 破紀錄的參與人數--進行互動。活動內容非常多樣2000年地球日清楚而響亮地傳遞這項訊息：這個世界需要快速而果決的行動，朝向乾淨能源的發展。

至今，為了乾淨的環境我們仍持續奮鬥。我們邀您成為這段歷史以及地球日的一部份，發掘你所擁有卻從不曾知道的能量吧，感覺它就在你腳底的草根之間竄動著， 或在你指尖的科技流過（電腦與網際網路）；引導你的這股力量，為未來世代建構一個乾淨健康且饒富生機的世界！

Breakfast At Tiffany's: Music From The Motion Picture Score

從北京到巴黎

中新社臺北四月二十一日電 (記者 翁陽 黃少華)明天就是一年一度的“世界地球日”﹐臺灣小伙薛德瑞今天在此間宣布﹐他將以一輛零排量的單車﹐在一百八十天內橫跨亞歐大陸﹐用實際行動呼吁世人減緩地球暖化。前臺北市長馬英九也來到新聞發布會現場為薛德瑞助陣打氣。

這項名為“為減緩地球暖化而騎──單車橫跨亞歐”(BTP﹐Bike to Protect our planet)的活動﹐由薛德瑞和臺灣環境品質文教基金會共同籌劃﹐目的是為喚起社會對減緩地球溫室效應與暖化現象的關注﹐令民眾能在日常生活中多騎單車 ﹐少開汽車﹐減少能源消耗和二氧化碳排放。

一向熱愛運動的馬英九在 發布會上首先表示﹐他從高中時就開始喜歡上了單車運動﹐今天很羨慕薛德瑞有這樣一個機會﹐能夠為推進環保理念進行單車長征﹐他也希望有一天在自己年齡還允 許的情況進行類似嘗試。他同時也指出﹐臺灣正面臨地球暖化帶來的巨大生態﹑環保壓力﹐一些城市的溫室氣體排放量已居全球前列﹐他呼吁社會能夠高度重視這一 問題﹐實現永續發展。
根據聯合國氣候變遷小組二00七年的評估報告﹐在全球暖化速度加快的大背景下﹐臺灣的平均氣溫從一九0一到二000年上升 了一點一攝氏度﹐溫度曲線持續上揚﹐暖化速度是全球平均值的兩倍。而自從一九九0到二00四年﹐臺灣二氧化碳總排量增長超過一倍﹐是全球成長值速度的四倍 ﹐人均年排放量超過十二噸﹐是全球平均值的三倍。

二十六歲的薛德瑞皮膚黝黑﹑高大強健﹐騎單車旅行一向是他的最愛。二00五年退伍後﹐薛德瑞曾用兩個月時間﹐行程五千多公 裡﹐游賞了法國大部分地區。據他介紹﹐此次單車跨越活動約一萬五千公裡旅程﹐明日將先由臺北搭機轉赴北京﹐四月二十三日上午八點從北京天壇出發﹐經由絲綢 之路進入哈薩克斯坦﹐然後依次穿越俄羅斯﹑烏克蘭﹑波蘭﹑德國﹑荷蘭和比利時﹐最後抵達法國巴黎艾菲爾鐵塔。據了解﹐薛德瑞自今年三月便辭去系統整合工程 師的工作﹐全力准備這次活動的訓練和辦證事宜。他希望自己能順利騎完全程﹐為臺灣環保貢獻一點心力。

Personal Work

My panel is listed here:

1. A reflection of a heart is presented at the opposite side of the stainless bowl from the real one. The imagery heart is still red but blurred. The dynamic effect of two chasing hearts is produced by the rotation of a motor. Speed could be tuned between 0 to 2 Hz. The image is clear at low speed but fuzzy at high.
2. There is a dark box with a flash light (Strobe light) under the bowl making the rotating pictures visible at certain time point. The moving pictures are perceived as moving continuously even though they are actually separate and discrete. This illusion is often applied in TV and film shooting and editing.
3. The sound of heartbeat changes in frequency and loudness (based on Two-Track Mixer Technology: Pan) to create a percept of changing velocity and distance. This sound (cues from the Ears) could be integrated with visual percept (cues from the Eyes) of motion. This is often called sensory fusion. An observer may have a confused motion percept if the visual and sound cues mismatch.

However, it was broken by a curious but stupid reporter. It could drive me crazy but it did not. After several days, I modify my work into only one effect and it could be easily demonstrated by the bowl and transparent ball bought in IKEA. Real and imaginary hearts chase each other. This theme is about LOVE (loving heart as metaphor here), symbolized the connection between people. Two hearts often chase or hug each other in real or imaginary appearance. Sounds of heartbeat: Tense, Affect, Removed, Hugging make this work vivid.

Last but not the least, without many masters helping me for building motor, box, and others, my work could not be possible. Special thanks to them behind scene.

Behind Scene

It’s indeed a challenging work to build up a whole new illusion effect, several illustrations of old works, and an introduction website at the same and short time since I have my own conference paper deadline. However, we did, and it’s not bad. Data collection online or drew by self is not a tough task, explaining it and performing well is much more difficult. Just like the editing in Movie, how to cut these materials into a good work cost brain a lot. With the aid of computer, everything could be made easily. Real works made by classmates are interesting and not expensive, this point reminds of me that the more expensive does not mean the higher quality.

Taught by Experienced

It’s the best learning procedure: taught by experienced and then to ask professor to gain knowledge. Quick feedbacks inspire me that it’s truly the goal of education, not the endless filling-in examinations. I guess why Prof. Shimojo looks so young: his topics are much related to perception and cognition of human, it will make him to talk with people about what they perceive and how they feel in public or privately. Several constructive feedbacks encourage him and inspire more interesting topics. Best loop I think: working hard in research and sharing gained knowledge. Prof. Shimojo taught us how to play with audiences and let them to explore the effects and explain why it causes. After this 30-day period, we also develop our own methods to help audience falling in love with illusion effects.

Science meets Art?

Both science and art are my favorite subjects. However, in the traditional classes, teachers always tell us they are mutually independent. They must be wrong, in my opinion, school is classified into different institutes due to good management and education resource could be easily delivered. How, science and art should be mutually dependent, combination of them make people more interested in trying to understand them. ”Medici Effect” clearly points out that if co-working with people with different background makes the project more competitive and creative. That’s because during brain-storming stage, the ideal could be fantastic but under the control of professional managers. Just like to help construct this exhibition, it consists of several teachers,, students, and technical persons, they make it happen together. Education should like this, not only constrained in SCI, it will let the education without fun. Exhibition collecting knowledge make more people involved, it must be more seen than delivering papers, and the feedbacks are also direct.

As a student, as a teacher

I have responsible for educating this society, also I already know this, but this exhibition gives me the best chance to implement and idealize. After several months’ preparations, promotion by media and press is absolutely the main road to deliver this information to all people. In the same time, people talking with each other are also the helping hands. During this 30-day, my friends, my family, and whole class with illness in brain also come here to learn just the meaning of a word “illusion, or in Chinese 錯覺”. My friend, also their teacher has this chance to let their angels to see the real world and to know what illusion is. Also we could not explain them in difficult details just like other people do, but make them happy in this afternoon really make me feel good. This nice chance also helps me to know many strangers in different fields also have devotion to education. It’s wonderful to make them laugh and share knowledge and experience with them.

Vilify

1 : to lower in estimation or importance
*2 : to utter slanderous and abusive statements against : defame

Example sentence:
Janet's angry letter chastised members of the media for attempting to vilify her brother, the disgraced ex-councilman.

Did you know?
"Vilify" came to English by way of the Middle English "vilifien" and the Late Latin "vilificare" from the Latin adjective "vilis," meaning "cheap" or "vile." It first appeared in English in the 15th century. Also debuting during that time was another verb that derives from "vilis" and has a similar meaning: "vilipend." When they were first used in English, both "vilify" and "vilipend" meant to regard someone or something as being of little worth or importance. "Vilipend" now carries an additional meaning of "to express a low opinion of somebody," while "vilify" means, more specifically, to express such an opinion publicly in a way that intends to embarrass a person or ruin his or her reputation.

End of Illusion

Though, it is just the beginning. During this 30-day exhibition period, several families, friends, and strangers gather here to explore their curious mind and naive experience. For me, it's the best chance to share my knowledge and eloquence unselfishly to them. Especially, it need much more patience to explain briefly and concisely to those who have no science background. Young staff having Psychological training also perform excellently, they are pretty professional and generous. Everything has its end, but we just start to refine our observation daily and not to absorb any arbitrary information easily until we make sure or experience. Wonderful learning experience, bittersweet everywhere!

Report by Vietnam

Fried ToFu near Home

True or Imaginary

Discriminate it from the truth is ridiculous to me, but it's a interesting topic. Though image through the reflection of light project on my retina, that's official knowledge of how I see. Due to this reason, they two are still the original ones. Nor the real, neither the fake.

Overweening

1 : arrogant, presumptuous
*2 : immoderate, exaggerated

Example sentence:
The overweening ambition of the novel's principal character eventually leads to his downfall.

Did you know?
"The overweening conceit which the greater part of men have of their own abilities is an ancient evil remarked by the philosophers and moralists of all ages." So wrote Adam Smith in his The Wealth of Nations. But while overweening conceit might be an age-old evil, the word "overweening" has only been part of English since the 14th century. It developed from the Middle English "overwening," the present participle of the verb "overwenen," which meant "to be arrogant." That term derived in turn from "wenen," which meant "to think" or "to imagine." Today, the adjective "overweening" is the most widely used of the "wenen" descendants, but historical texts also occasionally include "overween," a term for thinking too highly of your own opinion.

Passion

其實專輯籌備的一開始，已經收了三十多首歌曲，被眾多新世代音樂創作者，尊稱為『音樂教父』的黃大煒，也會對心裡堅持的理想感受到莫大的壓力，在這三年間，還歷經分手的狀況，人生的低潮，甚至在音樂上也出現了瓶頸，但因為心裡一直存在著對音樂的信念以及對生活的熱情，加上好友的支持，所以2005年2月Davie寫了《為了妳》之後，整張專輯的收歌方向改變，黃大煒於是回歸音樂的原點，唱出來自心靈原始的悸動！

「文字中，通常都是中文一個詞可以解釋很多的含意，但『Passion』這個字剛好可以完整的呈現這張專輯歌曲所要表達的『熱情』『戀情』『激情』等等的感覺」…專輯的第一首主打歌《Passion》等於是黃大煒在這張專輯中，最想呈現的態度！所以他也是David15年來第八張專輯的專輯名稱。 David的創作，總是詞跟曲一起誕生，原本的第一句歌詞「There's no Love, in this world, Settle down, boys and girls...There is Hope, there's always Hope and Passion...」其實是來自David心底陰暗面的聲音；在一些生活的低潮中，我們常常會悲觀的覺得，全世界只有一個自己，什麼愛，什麼信仰都是騙人的，但是David卻因為心裡有一個原始的夢想與熱情，才能樂觀的面對！察覺生活在城市周遭的朋友，大家都會有常常陷入生活無奈的時候，David希望藉由這首歌，帶給大家對生活回復熱情的生命力。黃大煒的《秋天1944》及《Time》以『時間改變不了黃大煒，好音樂離不開黃大煒』來表達David不變的執著信念，完成了像《Time》這張專輯中，將歌曲發揮到最佳極致，錄音甚至用了300多軌的狀況後，很多音樂人都在期待黃大煒到底可以再做些什麼？但也許經歷了心境的轉變，複雜之後，極致之後，也許都還是要回歸到最簡單的原點。所以David除了用新完成的錄音室，一個人完成錄音的工作，選擇用可以收錄好聲音的類比盤帶而非電腦數位硬碟製作母帶，以維持以往好音樂的品質，更回歸到靈魂的深處，尋找最單純的原點；全新專輯中收錄《Passion》、《為了妳》，《信念》等中文歌曲，加上《After the Rain 》、《Are U Happy Now? 》、《I Love You , I Love You》英文創作，共12首最真的情歌。

Clustering

Go outing with friends makes causal day unfamiliar. Clustering effect sometimes appears naturally: some friends are in this group; and some are belonging to those. Dynamic balance between these groups attracts me a lot, how come? Relatively "Close" and "Far: in view of invisible distance determine their individual experiences and particular memories. For me, a mere observer, the one they may absolutely perceive, do I make their afternoon differ?

Egregious

egregious - conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible; "a crying shame"; "an egregious lie"; "flagrant violation of human rights"; "a glaring error"; "gross ineptitude"; "gross injustice"; "rank treachery"

Pluvial

1 a : of or relating to rain *b : characterized by abundant rain
2 of a geologic change : resulting from the action of rain

Example sentence:
The pluvial climate of England didn't dampen our trip; instead, it gave us a chance to visit some excellent pubs and chat with the locals.

Did you know?
In the early 17th century, clerics began wearing long cloaks known as "pluvials" for protection against the rain during processions. The name of the cloak is based on the Latin word for "rain": "pluvia." By the mid-17th century, "pluvial" was also being used as an adjective meaning "of or relating to rain," as in "pluvial water." Later, in the 19th century, it made a splash in the geologic field as a word describing epochs having relatively high average rainfall and things caused or formed by rain, like "pluvial erosion" or "pluvial lakes."

IKEA & IceCream

Erdős number

In order to be assigned an Erdős number, an author must co-write a mathematical paper with an author with a finite Erdős number. Paul Erdős has an Erdős number of zero. If the lowest Erdős number of a coauthor is X, then the author's Erdős number is X + 1.

Erdős wrote around 1500 mathematical articles in his lifetime, mostly co-written. He had 509 direct collaborators^[1]; these are the people with Erdős number 1. The people who have collaborated with them (but not with Erdős himself) have an Erdős number of 2 (6,984 people), those who have collaborated with people who have an Erdős number of 2 (but not with Erdős or anyone with an Erdős number of 1) have an Erdős number of 3, and so forth. A person with no such coauthorship chain connecting to Erdős has an undefined (or infinite) Erdős number. There is of course room for ambiguity over what constitutes a link between two authors; the Erdős Number Project website says "Our criterion for inclusion of an edge between vertices u and v is some research collaboration between them resulting in a published work. Any number of additional co-authors is permitted," but they do not include non-research publications such as elementary textbooks, joint editorships, obituaries, and the like.

The Erdős number was most likely first defined by Casper Goffman, an analyst whose own Erdős number is 1.^[2] Goffman published his observations about Erdős's prolific collaboration in a 1969 article entitled "And what is your Erdős number?"

Thumbnailing

Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures, used to make it easier to scan and recognize them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words. Visual search engines and image-organizing programs normally use them, as can some modern operating systems or desktop environments, such as Windows XP, KDE, and GNOME.

Note that while automatic thumbnailers reduce large pictures to a small size, the result may not be a quality thumbnail.

Trailer

Movie trailers, or previews, are film advertisements for films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a film programme. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film (or the A movie in a double feature programme) begins.

Azalea@LIB, NTU

Azalea, nickname of my lovely NTU, locates campus anywhere beautiful. Fragrance of it particularly appears contrast to grand pagoda, and it should.

Amazingly grasp this view, never seen before.

Ingenuous

*1 : showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness

2 : lacking craft or subtlety

Example sentence:
"The face of the old man was stern, hard-featured, and forbidding; that of the young one, open, handsome, and ingenuous." (Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby)

Did you know?
Today, the words "ingenuous" and "ingenious" have distinct meanings and are not used interchangeably, but that wasn't always the case. For many years, the two words were used as synonyms. "Ingenious" has always had the fundamental meaning of "clever," and "ingenuous" has been most often used to suggest frankness and openness (owing either to good character or, now more often, innocence), but there was a time when "ingenious" could also mean "frank" and "ingenuous" could mean "clever." The publication in 1755 of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, in which these synonymous uses are not recognized, may have had something to do with establishing "ingenious" and "ingenuous" as distinct words. In any case, they appear to have ceased being used as synonyms by about 1800.

Persuasive by Dr.Wang

Clepsydra

: water clock

Example sentence:
"Maybe we should reintroduce the ancient Greek practice of timing political speeches with clepsydra — when the water is gone, the oration is over," suggested Alfie.

Did you know?
In ancient times the sun was used to measure time during the day, but sundials weren?t much help after dark, so peoples around the world invented clocks that used dripping water to mark the hours. In one kind of water clock, possibly invented by the Chaldeans, a vessel was filled with water that was allowed to escape through a hole. The vessel's inside was marked with graduated lines, and the time was read by measuring the level of the remaining water. The ancient Greeks called their water clocks "klepsydra" ("water thief"), which comes from "kleptein" ("to steal") and "hydōr" ("water"). English speakers stole "clepsydra" from the Greeks in the 16th century, but actual water clocks have become increasingly rare.

Marching Bands

Marching Bands, the memory of senior high school, suddenly show out near my living house. Their exhausting training process makes this competition possible, and they indeed entertain me a lot, on this ordinary day. Taipei First Girls always grasp more attention than others, and phenomenon of unbalanced resource sometimes occur in this Taiwan's society. Should We?

Prevaricate

Example sentence:

In Henry Fielding's novel Tom Jones, Squire Allworthy demands, "Look you, Mr. Dowling..., do not hesitate nor prevaricate; but answer faithfully and truly to every question I ask."

Did you know?
"Prevaricate" and its synonyms "lie" and "equivocate" all refer to playing fast and loose with the truth. "Lie" is the bluntest of the three. When you accuse someone of lying, you are saying he or she was intentionally dishonest, no bones about it. "Prevaricate" is less accusatory and softens the bluntness of "lie," usually implying that someone is evading the truth rather than purposely making false statements. "Equivocate" is similar to "prevaricate," but it generally implies that someone is deliberately using words that have more than one meaning as a way to conceal the truth.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

iLLuSion

Currently, I co-work with other professors related to illusion research. An short-term (3/17-4/16, 2007) exhibition proceeds in library of NTU. Welcome! More information could be found here.

Error

The word error ('erə), has different meanings in different domains. The concrete meaning of the Latin word error means "wandering" or "straying", although the metaphorical meaning "mistake, misapprehension" is actually more common. To the contrary of an illusion, an error or a mistake can sometimes be dispelled through knowledge (knowing that one is looking at a mirage and not at real water doesn't make the mirage disappear). However, some errors can occur even when individuals have the required knowledge to perform a task correctly. Examples include forgetting to collect your change after buying chocolate from a vending machine, forgetting the original document after making photocopies, and forgetting to turn the gas off after cooking a meal. These slip errors can occur when an individual is distracted by something else.

FreeMe

I really cherish my life, coexisting with other people having similar smile to mine. Wind goes through me; sunshine spills upon me; Flowers overflow my soul; Whisper of them warm me. Everything reminds me of this wonderful world.