砅
砅 – Li4 – Cross a Stream by Stepping on Stones
I was searching for something else entirely and bumped into this word. I like it! I used to 砅 all the time. The last time I tried I think I slipped and fell in and got all wet.
Archive for January, 2004
氦
氦 – Hai4 – Helium
As threatened promised, welcome to NOBLE GAS DAY!
氦 – Hai4 |
氖 – Nai3 |
氬 – Ya4 |
氪 – Ke4 |
氙 – Xian1 |
氡 – Dong1 |
In Chinese, noble gases aren’t very noble.
惰性氣體 – Duo4 Xing4 Qi4 Ti3 – Lazy Nature Gas — Noble Gas
Don’t worry, there won’t be Actinides day or Rare Earth day. Here’s the whole table.
Really Stupid Atom Support in Feed on Feeds
Want Atom support in FoF? Scott Hanson’s got the patch! I haven’t tried it, but it works for him.
馬
馬 – Ma3 – Horse
There’s a neat expression: 馬上 – Ma3 Shang4 – Horse On – Immediately
For example, 我馬上來 – Wo3 Ma3 Shang4 Lai2 – I Immediately Come — I’m coming immediately, I’ll be right there.
Maybe I’ll start using this one in English. “Steve, can you write this new program?” “Sure, I’ll code it on a horse!”
P=NP
JAG mentioned that P=NP, if your processor speed is increasing exponentially. Like the one you’re using right now! Don’t you buy a new computer, with an exponentially faster processor every few years? QED. Cool. I don’t see how P=NP implies that AI is possible, though.
He mentioned that this idea was originally from a guy named Ed Fredkin who writes papers about this kind of thing all the time. Here’s another site about these kind of ideas. This Fredkin guy seems like a “real deal” version of Wolfram: He thinks a lot (and writes actual papers, not just long, vague books) about what it would mean if the Universe is actually, at the lowest levels, discrete and algorithmic.
霓
霓 – Ni2 – Rainbow
霓虹燈 – Ni2 Hong2 Deng1 – Neon Light
Jenny randomly started singing this song (lyrics) today. It includes this line:
台北不是我的家 – 我的家鄉沒有霓虹燈
Tai2 Bei3 Bu4 Shi4 Wo3 De5 jia1 – Wo3 De5 jia1 Xiang1 Mei2 You3 Ni2 Hong2 Deng1
Tapiei is not my home – My home town doesn’t have neon lights!
Later this week: We’ll complete the rest of the noble gases! Yay! Let’s see if Jenny can find a song that mentions Xenon.
時
時 – Shi2 – Time, Hour, Season
時代 – Shi2 Dai4 – Time Period — Era, Epoch, Times
廣場 – Guang3 Chang3 – Wide Courtyard — (public) Square
時代廣場 – Shi2 Dai4 Guang3 Chang3 – Times Square
We got home and played our messages:
NINE FOURTY SIX P.M. “….(noisy)… HI JENNY! IT’S ME YVONNE! ….(garbled)…. AT TIMES SQUARE NOW! SO COLD HERE! ….(hard to understand)… SO MANY PEOPLE! CALL YOU LATER WHEN IT DROPS!”