Even if you’re traveling the road less traveled （走自己的路）without heros you may be as lost in the ocean of life as an ancient mariner who can’t see the constant position of the stars in the sky. When blazing a new trail, it’s all the more important to have a compass as there’s no road ahead, only the trail you blaze.

This month, I’ve got a special treat – another Hero is coming out of the woodwork. A hero in the sense that Luke Skywalker was a hero. A soldier. A man who went to a place no-one else wanted to be and stayed behind after all the outsiders had gone. He choose to go because he thought it provided his quickest return trip home, and choose to stay because he could help. He was rewarded with solitary confinement and interrogation. And then he said that it was a poem that saved him.

He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.

－－Edwin Markham

Hero Roster…

• Entrepreneur: Jim Jannard (wikipedia) (from china)
• Investor: Jim Rogers (wikipedia) (from china)
• Crusader: Sidney Rittenberg (wikipedia) (from china)

Well, we’ve managed to burn through the list posted at the start of the month:

21:Bringing Down the House and Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai

These two should be commented on together because the style and stories are so similar. If you in the mood for a fast paced novel about a life that sounds exciting, then either of these might be fun. Author Ben Mezerk spins out a story that you should be able to find on MTV. In the case of “Rigged”, saying that building a oil futures exchanged in Dubai “changed the world of oil”, it seems a bit exaggerated, but I’m not in the oil business so I suppose it’s not really my place to comment otherwise… In both cases the stories are a lot of fun, but again, I think of these more as a novel written in the character of historical fiction (ie, parts may have been based on actual events). Don’t get your expectations out of control and you should have a good time

In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia

This was an excellent history of Asia from 1945-1950. If you’re interested in how military occupation works, in how systems operate, in how civil wars get started, in how arms get moved from one group to another, this is a great read! Thoroughly enjoyed this one! How did the Vietnam War get started anyway? And what about the Korean war? And why did we let Suharto get away with so much in Indonesia? Much of the current state of Asia is the result of “The Allies” unwinding the Japanese Empire in Asia. The Korean War, Vietnam War, Chinese Civil War, and Indonesian Independence from the Netherlands will all be quickly understood. Prior to reading this, I confess I wasn’t even aware that France tried to restore it’s colony in Vietnam after Japan’s surrender at the end of WWII. At least I’m slightly less ignorant then before I read this one… Highly recommended!

Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

This was a very wittily written story about greed on Wall Street during the ’80′s, and a bit about the training (hazing) process for new recruits. At least a few blank spots in your knowledge of modern finance will likely be filled in by a read through this one. Recommended! Enjoy

认命: suck it up 拍马屁: suck up 五十步笑百步: the pot calling the kettle black.

Didn’t have time to update my 博客 (bókè ~ blog) yesterday with all of the 元宵节 Yuánxiāojié festivities going on, but had a chance learn a bit more about Chinese Medicine…

脊骨疗法 jǐgǔliáofǎ Chiropractic
针灸 zhēnjiǔ* n. acupuncture and moxibustion
舒筋 shūjīn v. 〈Ch. med.〉 relax the sinews
筋脉 jīnmài n. 〈Ch. med.〉 passages through which vital energy circulates
原理 yuánlǐ* n. principle; tenet
秘方 mìfāng* n. secret recipe/formula
平坦 píngtǎn (level; even; smooth) vs/ 凹凸 āotū (concave; convex)
石筱山: “石筱山”先生传略石筱山(1904~1964)，原名瑞昌，字熙侯。江苏无锡人。年少时，曾就读于神州中医专门学校。后秉承家学，侍诊于父石晓山先生案侧。约于1924年临诊，事伤…

I’ll have to read the Wikipedia Page on Chinese Medicine and compare it to practical application as it exists here in Shanghai…

• 公式 (Formula)
• 平方 反比定律 (Inverse Square Rule)
• 
• 用中文表示: 万有引力公式
• 数字化 (Numeric)
• G 地心引力 (Gravity)
  
• F 力量 (Force)
• G = m * g
• G: 重力g: 重力常数 gravitational constant
• m: 质量 (mass)
• v: 速度
• s: 距离
• s = v t
• N: 牛顿 (力量的单位)
• dB: 分贝 (测量声音的单位) 光速
• 光的量度 烛光 Candellas

By the way, if you need to make formulas in Mac OS X, there’s an excellent tool called Grapher that includes a acceptable formula editor… There’s also a little article on using Pages and Formula Editor together.

创新者（Innovator）
最先尝试者 (Early Adopter)
早期从众者 (Early Majority)
晚期从众者 (Late Majority)
落后者 (Laggard)

Most Basic Grammar:

(定语)主语…(状语)谓语(补语)… (定语)宾语

如果有关联词(比如: 因为…所以… 虽然…但是… 如果…就… 一边… 一边…) 一般都是复句
单句: 如果两个多动词有关联可以造连动句 (但是只有一个主语)

主语: 名词和代词… 介词结构也可以做主语

介词结构: (介词+名词)
在….的时候…

连动: 主语… 谓语(v)… 谓语(v)… 宾语

Ever wonder how to call someone out when they are being indirect? There are basically two ways… When someone is just indirect, you can say that they are 迂回 yūhuí but if you really want to point out that they’re “beating about the bush” (UK English) then you would say 拐弯抹角 guǎiwānmòjiǎo…

And how to say “call someone out”? Well, this one is extremely difficult to translate. The closest you can get is probably to “tactfully censure someone” or to 委婉指责 wěiwǎnzhǐzé. Of course, “calling someone out” is a rather masculine thing to do. Masculine would be 男性化 (nánxínghuà) or 强悍 (qiánghàn). On the other hand, feminine could be described as 娘儿 (niángr) 娘娘腔 (niángniangqiāng) 脂粉气 (zhīfěnqì).

Nothing much to say lately…. Chinese New Year is over. The snow in Shanghai is gone. Another Valentines day has passed. Spring time is on the way. Finally back to drinking iced coffee today!

刚才碰到了怪怪的MAC OS X漏洞。我的设置助理不停着重新开始。很烦恼的一种问题～特别烦恼因为是新的一台MacbookAir笔记本。

终于查到了怎么解决这个问题。。。

1。启动的时候按“SHIFT”（等很长的时间～会启动超级慢）
2。别登陆！
3。按那个往左的箭号（back arrow）
4。按那个“重新启动”
5。等很长的时间～电脑会再来跑更新的程序
6。等等等～电脑会自动的重新启动～都会好了

原来的英文解释在AppleInsider.com的这里。

Similes and metaphors play nearly the same role in english and chinese. The subject of the metaphor might be significantly based on each groups common set of social experiences, but the nuance (细微差别 xìwēi chābiē) and even double-entendre is possible, though I can’t seem to find the word for double-entendre itself… The closest I’ve found is 含沙射影 hánshāshèyǐng which is more like insinuate – not really double-entendre.

Linguistics are such an interesting adventure. Each step toward the final, eventual mastery feels as though you’re adding another color to your palette. Gradually, day by day stepping toward something that will eventually be eloquent (口才好).

You may or may not remember my post last year about Shanghai being the new Paris – Three Valentines Day’s in a single year!

Well, I’ve got to visit LA over the next week and I’ll be flying back to Shanghai on the 13th. I’ll actually arrive in Shanghai on the 14th at about 9:00 PM (about 6:00 am Valentines Day back in LA). Assuming that the flight isn’t late and customs is fast, that should get me home about 11:00 PM on Valentines Day — so I shouldn’t say “No Valentines Day”, but only for about an hour…

I guess it’s an opportunity — all of the flight attendants on All Nipon should be in unusual mood ~ I’ll be practicing my Japanese

There are several maps online that point out the geographic extent of us military deployments. Though I’m probably in the George Soros camp when it comes to being a little bit critical of militarism and empire, but these maps are a bit hard to swallow… Come on – if you’ve been to the north of Canada you know there’s nothing there and nothing to defend

Simultaneously, these maps don’t do such a great job indicating the strategic importance of these deployments. For example, forces located in South Korea, the southern tip of Japan (Okinawa)， Guam, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. For more information on the way “PACOM” is structured in the Pacific, just check their website.

Wow! Today’s my lucky day! I managed to tack down instructions for enabling Japanese language input on my iPhone. Choose “Expert” instructions or “Step by Step” instructions. Basically, there’s a file in your home directory called: ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

Just edit AppleKeyboards key to add “ja” after “en_US”. If you’ve installed the Developer Tools you can do this real easily just your iPhone’s SSH along with Transmit and the Property List Editor. Save that file, reboot your iPhone and enjoy typing in Japanese!

There are some instructions for configuring a Korean keyboard input that I’m pretty excited about, but it replaces the japanese input with the Korean, and I need Japanese every day… Korean just occasionally, so I’ll just be sticking with the Japanese until Korean support is improved. Once the iPod touch is released with korean input, it should be also be available in the iPhone firmware… Stay tuned to the Korean “Apple MacGeek Pro” to know for sure