If you're a fan of the Tao Te Ching, you might want to stay away from the Left Behind series of Christian post-apocalyptic fiction. Hated Dream of the Red Chamber? You might love Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, or A Million Little Pieces. Genji fans apparently steer clear of books about shopping and Christianity, and it looks like Confucius will not be among the Five People You Meet in Heaven.
Courtesy of the LibraryThing UnSuggester, which analyzes people's books and finds the books least likely to be in the same collection.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Albatrosses
On a podcast of the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, the host said that he thought the presidential race was gearing up so early in the US because people were so sick of "President Albatross." Everybody knows what albatrosses represent, and the line got big applause.
How do we know that "albatross" means "a burden"? It comes from "Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but have we all really read that? (I think it was assigned in my high school English class, but I am not sure about that.) By now, the diangu 典故 (reference) has a life of its own removed from a shared cultural experience of literary reception. When I see that kind of reference in a pre-modern text, though, I often assume that it is part of some common code of the times. That might be a big mistake.
Do we know "albatross-->Coleridge-->burden" or is it just "albatross=burden"?
How do we know that "albatross" means "a burden"? It comes from "Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but have we all really read that? (I think it was assigned in my high school English class, but I am not sure about that.) By now, the diangu 典故 (reference) has a life of its own removed from a shared cultural experience of literary reception. When I see that kind of reference in a pre-modern text, though, I often assume that it is part of some common code of the times. That might be a big mistake.
Do we know "albatross-->Coleridge-->burden" or is it just "albatross=burden"?
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Japanese Cool
A Japanese TV show interviewed people in the streets of New York, Paris, and London, asking them to name famous Japanese people. Check out the French kid who names Mishima!
This is only one in a long series from the show on YouTube.
I posted previously about a sci-fi writer's reflections on Japanese cool.
This is only one in a long series from the show on YouTube.
I posted previously about a sci-fi writer's reflections on Japanese cool.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Yahoo Mail Beta
I have used Yahoo Mail for many years, but recently I have been phasing out that account in favor of Gmail. I just started using Yahoo's new beta version, and I have to say it is a big improvement. I am starting to use that account again.
It is sort of like using an online version of a traditional email program, with your boxes on the left, a list of messages on the top, and the message you have selected on the bottom.
I just received a message with some Chinese in it, though, and the Chinese came out garbled. I went to switch the encoding in my browser, and lo and behold Yahoo Mail was telling me to switch the encoding via an option on the page! A very nice way to get around the problem that Gmail had for a while. With Gmail you have to select "View Original" and then change your encoding. Yahoo does it for you--theoretically. Unfortunately, I selected my appropriate flavor of Chinese (Big5), and it still came out scrambled. I will have to mess around with it to see if it isn't a problem on the sender's end.
Gmail has most of the kinks worked out by now, and I have few problems with mixed-language messages and attachments now.
It is sort of like using an online version of a traditional email program, with your boxes on the left, a list of messages on the top, and the message you have selected on the bottom.
I just received a message with some Chinese in it, though, and the Chinese came out garbled. I went to switch the encoding in my browser, and lo and behold Yahoo Mail was telling me to switch the encoding via an option on the page! A very nice way to get around the problem that Gmail had for a while. With Gmail you have to select "View Original" and then change your encoding. Yahoo does it for you--theoretically. Unfortunately, I selected my appropriate flavor of Chinese (Big5), and it still came out scrambled. I will have to mess around with it to see if it isn't a problem on the sender's end.
Gmail has most of the kinks worked out by now, and I have few problems with mixed-language messages and attachments now.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Free International Calls?
A friend emailed me a few weeks ago about a service that allows you to make a call to an Iowa number here in the States and then dial out from there to international numbers for free. It's called Futurephone.
I was wondering about its legitimacy, and I found an article by David Pogue, technology writer for the New York Times, on it. See the comments on his blog here.
The Futurephone website has a list of countries that you can call using the service, and Japan and Taiwan are on there, but it hasn't worked for me. I get an error message every time.
I was wondering about its legitimacy, and I found an article by David Pogue, technology writer for the New York Times, on it. See the comments on his blog here.
The Futurephone website has a list of countries that you can call using the service, and Japan and Taiwan are on there, but it hasn't worked for me. I get an error message every time.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Princeton Going Mac
According to a story in the Daily Princetonian, 45% of computers purchased through the university were Macs this year. In 2003, only 15% of incoming freshmen bought Macs. In 2004, that went up to 25%, and last year it was 38%. (Figures include only computers purchased through the university.)
Students in the article cite PC problems due to spyware and viruses as a key factor in their decision to go with a Mac. Now that the market share for Mac is going up, though, I bet the malware will increase too.
Students in the article cite PC problems due to spyware and viruses as a key factor in their decision to go with a Mac. Now that the market share for Mac is going up, though, I bet the malware will increase too.
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Sorrows of Translation
A translation led me to the Chinese name of The Sorrows of Young Werther: it's called 少年維特的煩惱. I thought that was a little odd--煩惱 means something like "frustration," and the Chinese version gives me a feeling like "Little Werther's Headaches."
I had heard before that there was a rash of copycat suicides in Europe after the novel appeared in 1774--Goethe (or his fictional Werther) was the Kurt Cobain of the 18th century. What I hadn't heard before is that it got so bad that someone came along and wrote a version of the story with a happy ending called The Joys of Young Werther. Goethe didn't like that, so he wrote a poem in which the Joys author defecates on Werther's grave. Is this true, or a Wikipedia joke? Wikipedia goes on to list a handful of other literary references and appearances of the book and its characters. These days, however, you can get sued for doing that kind of thing.
I had heard before that there was a rash of copycat suicides in Europe after the novel appeared in 1774--Goethe (or his fictional Werther) was the Kurt Cobain of the 18th century. What I hadn't heard before is that it got so bad that someone came along and wrote a version of the story with a happy ending called The Joys of Young Werther. Goethe didn't like that, so he wrote a poem in which the Joys author defecates on Werther's grave. Is this true, or a Wikipedia joke? Wikipedia goes on to list a handful of other literary references and appearances of the book and its characters. These days, however, you can get sued for doing that kind of thing.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Traditions vs. Academia
I watched an interesting show on TV last night. A panel was discussing whether or not Chinese researchers should open the tomb of Tang empress Wu Zetian. There was also a live audience holding little signs that looked like ping pong paddles, with "agree" on one side and "disagree" on the other.
The pro argument was that by this point, Chinese technology and expertise are up to the job. Furthermore, things inside are only going to decay further, so why wait any longer?
The con arguments were varied. Some said that objects from previously exhumed sites had not even been properly catalogued and preserved yet, so why add to the pile? Others--and I thought this was interesting--thought that opening the tomb would be disrespectful of "our" Chinese ancestors and should never be done, no matter what discoveries might be made.
It is easy for non-Chinese academics to stand outside the tradition and study it "objectively." But must Chinese academics have to consciously step outside their tradition in order to study it? If they do, what do they step into?
The pro argument was that by this point, Chinese technology and expertise are up to the job. Furthermore, things inside are only going to decay further, so why wait any longer?
The con arguments were varied. Some said that objects from previously exhumed sites had not even been properly catalogued and preserved yet, so why add to the pile? Others--and I thought this was interesting--thought that opening the tomb would be disrespectful of "our" Chinese ancestors and should never be done, no matter what discoveries might be made.
It is easy for non-Chinese academics to stand outside the tradition and study it "objectively." But must Chinese academics have to consciously step outside their tradition in order to study it? If they do, what do they step into?
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