一杯茶，两包糖
by Haiyang on May.01, 2010, under Uncategorized
来美国大半年了，所谓的文化震撼到没有感受到太多，不过前段时间真是被振倒了。系里有老师来讲座，完了陪同去泰国餐馆吃饭，本来有点感冒，实在不太想喝冰水了，学着同学要了一杯茶。不一会儿，端上来一看，不是茶杯，反倒类似漱口的缸子。一杯开水，一袋中国绿茶，两包糖。能用中国绿茶已经不错了，但这两包糖，确实“震撼”，赶紧拍了一张。一包是带糖的，一包不含糖，所谓的 artificial sugar。真是服了他们。
中国绿茶与糖
Mac 下面如何播放 APE 歌曲
by Haiyang on Apr.23, 2010, under Uncategorized
Mac 下面默认的 iTunes 是播不动的。硬盘里面有几首爱听的歌曲都是 APE 格式的，大半年了都没听。今天突然发现了好东西，Cog http://cogx.org/, 原来在 Mac 下面也可以播放很多格式。
一向不太（喜欢）听中文歌曲的我，现在反而听的多了起来。
Emacs 的全屏模式
by Haiyang on Apr.11, 2010, under Uncategorized
今天突然意识倒 Emacs 可以切换成全屏模式来用 (Window >> Full screen editing)。这么有用的功能现在才发现。现在终于可以多一点 square footage 了，这一点对于 13.3 寸的显示器来说还是很 “显著” 的。
外语学习 “武侠” 理论
by Haiyang on Feb.10, 2010, under Uncategorized
这里有篇博客从武侠的角度领悟了外语学习的规律，属于个人感言，应该说比较“朴素”。二语习得的研究发现其实有很多因素，比如自己动力的大小，周围的环境如何，有没有锻炼的机会，对语言形式是否注意 (比如，你说的东西讲母语的人没有听懂，他可能会说，Are you saying…/Do you mean…，这个时候你能否注意到他说的“合适”的表达方式)，练习伙伴给的反馈如何，对所学语言的文化接受程度等等都很重要。
Mac 下面安装 Python 的 PIL 包
by Haiyang on Jan.09, 2010, under Python
Bonnie 要做心理语言学的试验，需要把汉字转成图片格式。使用 Python 的 PIL 包解决这个问题比较方便。寒假里把 Mac OS X 重新安装了一遍，结果 PIL 自然就没了。重装 PIL 本来以为很简单的事情，结果发现第二次比第一次还费劲，写下来备忘吧，参考的地方有 这里。
首先是遇到 “decoder jpeg not available”，然后发现 import _imagingft 出错。找了半天 (Literally)，原来是 freetype2 没有安装上，其实在安装 PIL 测试的时候就拉了警报，我就是没听见，害的我把 PIL 拆了装，装了拆，一边骂 mac，一边琢磨着什么时候重回 Linux。
好了，既然找到问题所在，直接把 Freetype2 的包下载回来，根据 DOC 里面的 INSTALL.UNIX 的说明，一顿 ./configure, make, make install，问题解决。然后 PIL 重装一遍，也就听使唤了。
我的 Mac
by Haiyang on Dec.29, 2009, under Computer
虽然老跟计算机打交道，但却一直没有自己的笔记本电脑，一是觉得不便宜，二是觉得没有台式机好用。来大农村之前，早早就盘算着，这回该入一个了。平时 DELL 的东西用的很多，印象不错，所以花了好多时间看 XPS/Studio 系列，网上测评不错，但跑到村里一看，不喜欢，塑料感太强了。然后看 Lenovo 的 ThinkPad X200/T400，键盘好用，但价格有些离谱。听朋友说苹果的 Mac 不错，这边开学的时候碰上 Back to school 促销，而且 Windows 早都用烦了，于是就买了 MacBook，13.3 寸的，2G 内存，2G CPU，大约2.2公斤。适应了 Mac 的操作系统以后，用起来还是很方便的，连命令行 (Terminal) 都有，Linux 的很多命令可以直接使用。苹果的东西做的都很漂亮，好像被老师同学夸过好几次了。另外，通过 Mail-in-rebate 的方式，送了一个 iPod iTouch，彻底把我给收买了。
The SO WHAT question
by Haiyang on Oct.21, 2009, under Linguistics
I was advised that for all our studies, we should always ask ourselves the so-what question. If we don’t, someone will. It’s not unusual at all. In fact, scholars, especially from different areas of study, are asking each other the SO WHAT questions all the time. It’s probably not a bad thing, even though it creates tensions on that moment. But after the argumentation, we tend to think more about the issue and the real meaning and implications of our research findings. This might help to push us think a little bit harder and try to makes our research more meaningful to the society and the world we live in.
If, on the other hand, we could not answer the SO WHAT question ourselves, then we probably don’t really understand what we’re trying to do. And our time and efforts probably won’t be justified as well.
So, ask the SO WHAT question ourselves, to make sense of our study and also to save some embarrassment somewhere down time line.
Cache Theory in SLA
by Haiyang on Sep.22, 2009, under Linguistics
Perhaps because human mind is like a black box and there’s no direct way to examine it, many theories has been formulated in the field of second language acquisition, proposed from different perspectives. Well, I’d like to add one more baby theory to this mix. I’ll call it Cache Theory. I’d like to argue that the human mind is working much like the computer, where cache mechanism has been extensively used in order to speed up retrieval. Therefore, what’s get into the cache can be quickly fetched or accessed. I’d like to argue that our mind is working in similar ways too. When we learned something, it gets into the cache so later retrieval is relatively fast. So actually learning is about to get the explicit and declarative knowledge into the cache, where they’re computed and stored like proceduralized entities. And within the Cache system, there’re many levels and the more automatic language symbol becomes, the higher level of cache is been utilized. What’s not in the cache is more declarative, and explicit, and also subject to the limitation of cognitive resources/capacity.
Just my thought and I’ll come back to this issue later when I cleared my mind. Any ideas? Please leave your comment.
Back to school
by Haiyang on Sep.02, 2009, under Uncategorized
Everything seems so familiar and yet so different. So familiar that I can get back to the students’ seat, instead of standing in front of the classroom. Yet so different that the adjustment to the new culture and communicating/socializing with people from many parts of the world in another language can be quite difficult. Yes, it is an exciting experience, a brand new chapter, and a new beginning of my life. The journey for pursuing a Ph.D. is long and challenging, and I hope it will a rewarding one.
RAW PCM or unsupported format in CoolEdit
by Haiyang on Jun.30, 2009, under Computer
CoolEdit Pro is a powerful audio editor. It usually handles all the audio formats. But today when I was trying to open up a mp3, it complains of “RAW PCM or unsupported format”. The built-in conversion function won’t work. So I googled this post, and followed the lead. It worked. So if you have similar issues, just download MP3 TO WAV convert the problematic mp3 file to wav first and then you should be able to open it up in CoolEdit Pro.
