Archive for August 28th, 2006

Ads, Ads, Anywhere!!!

Monday, August 28th, 2006

I hate ads sent out by Focus Media. Their ads are like virus, sneaking in all my personal space. No matter I take a taxi or subway, no matter I step into the office building or my apartment, they always follow me. There are countless Chinese companies, willing to throw thousands to get their face time with consumers. No effective tracking system also gives Focus Media a big advantage. It changes the game and eliminates competitors. Focus media now just needs to buy placements with loads of money and make noises. The only thing merchants could check is how long their ads are on… Focus media could still boast that their ads are targeted and effective.

I don’t respect focus media because their ads don’t bring me any value. Their ads invade my personal space, but I have no means to turn them off!! In some sense, Jiang Nanchun builds his fortune on the sacrifice of me… and other nameless and powerless consumers who might feel the same.

Pluto and Chinese textbooks

Monday, August 28th, 2006

Just relearned the solar system because Pluto was recently classified as “dwarf planet”. And the news flew from newspapers to TV stations quite fast. 

The inner solar system contains the sun(太阳)、Mercury(水星)、Venus(金星)、Earth(地球) and Mars(火星)。

The planets of the outer solar system are Jupiter(木星)、Saturn(土星)、Uranus(冥王星) and Neptune(海王星)。 Pluto is classfied as dwarf planet now.  

The textbooks in China for the coming fall couldn’t reflect this change made by the late August. I heard teachers were worried because probably the first time in the history, the black-and-white prints will no longer be telling the ”truth”. The text-auditing committee claimed they chose not to revise the textbooks because editting textbooks is such a serious thing and it has to be approved by layers of authorities. It makes me wonder why the textbooks in China can only spread doctrines but encourage questioning and exploration. How about just put it as “Whether Pluto is a planet in the solar system is still under debate. Pluto was discovered in 1930 and considered as a planet since. This school of thought has been challenged by many scientists and in Aug 2006, Pluto was classified as a dwarf plant by the International Astronomical Union. However, the new classification also has many dissentents. Some scientists are working very hard to reverse the decision. Thousands of debates are still there about the universe since human being only knows it so little. If you are serious about the Astronomy, the below are the reference books. Welcome to explore the mysterious universe…” When could teachers in China give up the role as the authoritative figure but be a cheer leader among millions of knowledge-seeking kids?           

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