26-12-09

Happy boxing day! 用了TeXnicCenter打pdf, 真係好令~ 目前rewrite緊我篇Basic Algebraic Skills 目前框架為 1)Polynomial -factorizing, identity *skill of substitution (Intro) 2)Fucntion -degree, domain *sequences (Intro) 3)Equation -linear -quadratic analysis ->sum and product -complex numbers -eliminating terms -beyond quadratic 4)Sequences -Recursive -characteristic equation -chain function 5)Function revisited -rational function -root function -logarithm -Absolute function 6)Inequality -solving -The sum and product sign -AM-GM Ineq. -Triangular Ineq. 7)Algebraic Trigon -Co-goem system -Definition and extention of trigon function -Complex number ion Trigon mean -Application 8)Common Technique in Olympiad Mathematics -assumption of extreme value

Merry Christmas!

HKCEC。 今天的電玩展終於完結。Cos players身上的布料依舊的少，龍友相機的閃光依舊的猛。同時舉辦四個大型展覽的會展，從裡面往外一看：港灣道一排街燈照耀著下方數不清、滿載而歸的人(也許節目還沒完呢)；再往外看是天星小輪，在燈飾的襯托下成為海面的主角。對岸的燈飾有如百花齊放，教人目不暇給，用錢堆出來的璀璨竟也可能給人溫暖的感覺。 龍友發動了總攻勢，拉(拐？)著十個Cosers少女走了，其他同行自然不甘寂寞，紛紛尋歡渡佳節。會展頓時變靜了。 「我走了。」少女吐出一句話。 「嗯。」我低著頭應道。 天星小輪彷彿被六十八年的子彈打中了，在不大的風浪中搖得特別的厲害。不，那時是「黑色聖誕」，今天是個溫暖的聖誕，我－－ 十二下鍾聲隱約傳來，把我從思緒中拉回來。眼前的她早已不見縱影。 眼前的夜景是那麼的華麗。腦海中的她是那麼的悅目。 不知道明年、後年、大後年，還有這個機會一起麼？ fin. 大家聖誕快樂。虛構故事，如有雷同，實屬巧合。聖誕小品，小試牛刀，文筆生疏，敬請原諒 =] 凌晨十二時 楓 筆於會展

一萬字 Ch. 14.3

翌日。 我望了一下窗外的情形，原來已經刮起了強風，遠處的吐露港已經掀起了白頭浪；風把樹葉吹得沙沙作響，而縣掛信號的柱子上原本的圓柱和盤子上下倒調了，在水平的角度看就是個倒T字。 三號風球。 同時，電腦發出了聲響。我走近一看，原來是內聯網的IRC(In Room Chat，聊天室)發了訊息過來。 「早安，睡醒了沒有？」 說話的是頌明。 「托你的福，我現在很清醒……」 頌明：「你要習慣早上被電腦叫醒哦。反正很多比賽都是紫欣安排和編出來的。」 我：「……編出來？」 雪婷：「用來嚇我們特訓的手段，我都見慣了。」 頌明：「所以今天就來跟你說一聲，其實晚上的比試不是真的。」 我：「真的嗎？」 雪婷：「不信的話，你可以……」 正午十二點，風勢稍為平靜了一點，雖然大家也明知這是「暴風雨前的寧靜」，可是紫欣還是叫了我再去特訓一下。 無論是那一種的運動，訓練都一定是枯燥沉悶的。打乒乓球的要反複把發球機的發球打回，打羽手球的也要不停練習扣殺的技巧；單車也是一樣，每天走過的，也是同一條路罷了。 一個月去一、兩次或許可能讓自己放鬆，但每天都踩的話就未免太悶了。但運動就是這樣，沒有刻苦的訓練就沒有健碩的成果。 今天可能是個例外，我沒試過在三號風球之下踩單車。 「你遲到了哦。」 「啊哈哈哈──這麼大風怎會走得快嘛。」 「說得也是，你大概以前沒試過打風踩單車吧？」說罷，她騎上單車順著風向駛去。她的速度在風力的推動下又加快了一層，瞬間就把她帶到遠處。在遠處她又駛回來，奇怪的是，她似乎沒有受到逆風的影響，以平時的連度回飆過來！ 面對著目瞪口呆的我，她笑問：「你知不知道為甚麼不受逆風影響？」

Transfer process

Conduction: It is the process that heat is transferred through a body from a region of higher temperature to region of lower temperature. Relative conductivity of heat of different materials: Metal (Ag>Cu>Al>Fe)>glass>plastic (rubber)>wood>cotton>polystyrene Usually liquid and gas is poor conductor of heat (good insulator of heat). Molecular motion about conduction: We know that molecules with higher K.E. vibrate more vigorously. Intermolecular force bonds the molecules together. Therefore when one end of the substance is hotter than another side, molecules with higher K.E. set their neighbouring molecules to vibrate more vigorously. Then the energy is transferred to those neighbouring molecules. Within metallic bond, free (mobile) electrons and ions exist. Those electrons move freely within that piece of metal. When they receive energy, their K.E. increase and quickly transfer to other electrons or ions, then energy is transferred quickly. Therefore metals are good conductors of heat, and non-metals are usually poor conductors of heat. Factors affecting rate of conduction There’re four factor: conductivity of heat of the material; temperature difference between two ends; length between two ends and cross-section of the body. Experiment about conduct heat of different materials Soak a piece of filter with Cobalt(II) chloride solution, place four rods (copper, brass, aluminium and glass) with the same length and cross-sectional area on the paper. Heat one end of the rods by Bunsen flame. Compare the relative conductivity of heat by looking the colour of the filter paper. Applications on conduction Good conductors of heat for heating: Cookware (Cu exterior) and metal skewer. Good conductors of heat for cooling: heat sink (Cu, Al) in CPU and radiator in a car. Good insulators of heat for keeping warm: fur on animals, jackets, polystyrene food containers, plastic handles for cookware and refrigerator. Conduction: It take place in a fluid (liquid/gas). It’s a process which heat is transferred by the movement of the fluid from one to each other. When a fluid is heated, the molecules inside it moves (vibrate) faster. As a result fluid expands and become less dense. Then it has a lower density than other surrounding fluid so that it’ll rises. Cooler fluid flows down because it has a higher density. As a result, convection current is formed: Hotter fluid rises and cooler fluid sinks. The convection current taught us that air conditioners should be set in a higher place of a room so that cooler air sinks. Also radiators should be set in a lower place such that warm air flows up. In the environment sea breezes and land breezes also shows the convection current. Sea breezes in fine and warm weathers: Air in the land is heated faster and it rises, as a result, air in the sea is heated in a slow way (water has a high specific heat cap.) so that it sinks. Then gas pressure in the land decreases and sea breezes come from the sea. Land breezes in the night: air in the sea cool down slowly so that it is comparatively hotter, it rises while air in the land sinks, As a result, land breezes go to the sea. Radiation is a process in which heat is transferred from one place to another by means of electromagnetic waves (mainly IR, for hotter object it emits visible lights as well.) It can take place in a vacuum since electromagnetic waves (light) can pass through vacuum. Object with temperature above absolute zero emits radiation and hotter objects emit stronger radiation. Objects were heated when they receive (absorb) radiation and objects were cooled through emitting radiation. (It’ll emit in all temperature higher than absolute zero, despite the surrounding temperature.) Dull black surface are good absorbers (since they don’t reflect most of the light) and good emitter of radiation while shiny silver surface is a poor absorbers (they reflect most of the light) and poor emitters of light. Applications on radiation: Silvery surface: oil tanks, car sunshields, white-painted house, kettle, aluminium foil. Black surface: Radiator and solar power panel. Missing table: Comparing where the transfer process take places (not a big problem) Notes available. It's integrated into one pile of notes for Unit 1-4. The topic "Heat and gaese" is finished. (except "kinetic theory")

Change of state; latent heat

Three state of matter: solid, liquid and gas. (Ionized gas or plasma is the fourth state.) Heating process: Heat until solid reaches melting point (MP). It absorbs latent heat of fusion and melt (fusion). Heat that liquid until it reaches the boiling point (BP). It absorbs latent heat of vaporization and vaporizes. Cooling process: Cool down some gas until it reaches boiling point. It releases latent heat of vaporization and condenses. Cool down that liquid until it reaches the melting (freezing) point. It releases latent heat of fusion and freeze(solidification). Cooling curve: when we cool down some liquid/gas, the behavior of temperature is: cool down in a concave curve, stays constantly in the BP/MP, after it is totally condensed/frozen, it cools down in a curve again. *In the experiment about cooling down octadecan-1-ol, we can data-logger to record the cooling curve. Latent heat is the energy released or absorbed when a substance changes its state without changing it’s temperature. The unit of latent heat is Joule(J). Latent heat of vaporization is energy released or absorbed when a substance changes its state from liquid to gas (or gas to liquid) without changing it’s temperature.*(1) Latent heat of fusion is energy released or absorbed when a substance changes its state from liquid to solid (or solid to liquid) without changing it’s temperature.*(2) Specific latent heat is the energy required to change the state of 1kg of substance without changing its temperature. The uinit is Jkg^-1 Specific latent heat of vaporization the energy required to change the state of 1kg of substance between gas and liquid without changing its temperature. *(3) Specific latent heat of fusion the energy required to change the state of 1kg of substance between solid and liquid without changing its temperature.*(4)We use the symbol (1) L_v, (2)L_f , (3)l_v , (4)l_F to represent those physical quantities. (Note: L_v means that the "v" is written in the right-bottom corner of L, etc.) We have l=Q/m=L/m=Pt/m. This formula is the way to calculate the specific latent heat through a graph. Important specific latent heat: vaporization 2.26*10^6 Jkg^-1 fusion: 3.34*10^5 Jkg^-1 *experiment of measuring specific latent heat of fusion Experimental set-up: electrical supply -> Joulemeter->immersion heater fully inserted into the crushed melting ice(to ensure that it’s 0˚C) , in a filter funnel. Under the filter funnel there’s a beaker measuring amount of water being melted. Control set-up: immersion heater without electrical supply, ceteris paribus. By l_f=Q/m , Specific latent heat of fusion = energy transferred/mass of ice melted. Note that “mass of water melted” is equal to “water melted in the experimental set-up minus water melted in the control set-up” to ensure that the “mass of water melted in the formula” is about “ice melted by the energy from the heater”. Energy transferred can be obtained from the difference between initial and final reading of Joulemeter. Assumption: 1) No energy was absorbed by the ice from the surrounding air. 2) All energy from the heater is absorbed by the ice. *experiment about measuring specific latent heat of vaporization Electrical supply->kilowatt-hour meter->immersion heater fully immersed into a beaker of water on a triple beam balance. By l_v, Specific latent heat of vaporization = energy transferred/amount of water vapourized. Assumption: 1) All energy from the heater is transferred to the water. 2) No energy lost from heater/water to the surroundings. 3) No water is split out before vaporized and condensed back to the beaker. Evaporation is the process that changes liquid below BP (boiling only occurs at BP) to gas on the surface of the liquid (Boiling occurs through out the liquid). Evaporation in terms of molecular motion: In the liquid molecules moving in wide range of speeds and hence containing a wide range of kinetic energy. When they collide each other, some gain energy and some lose energy. When some of them obtain enough KE, they escape from the liquid and become vapour. As those escaped molecules contain more kinetic energy than the liquid, the average kinetic energy of the remaining liquid decreases and therefore evaporation gives a cooling effect. Condensation: warm air can hold more water (vapour) than cold air. When warm air is cooled suddenly, some of the vapour condenses. Since they releases latent heat of vaporization during condensation, it rises the temperature on the object which it condenses. Missing table: factors affecting vaporization notes available. Sorry for putting so much thing into 2 pages. I'll try to put them in a better way after try to add some extra concepts.

Heat and internal energy

Definition: Heat is the energy transferred from one body to another as a result of temperature difference between two bodies. The unit is Joule (J). Note that “heat” is not energy, it’s just a transferring process of energy. Internal energy : energy stored in the object, equal to the sum of kinetic energy due to random motion and potential energy of all its molecules. (Σ(K.E)+Total P.E.) The unit of internal energy (energy) is Joule. Higher temperature means higher average kinetic energy, then the formula of internal energy tells us the internal energy will be higher with the temperature as well. Power : the rate of transfer (energy). The unit is Watt (W). We have: Power = energy/time P=E/t (E=Pt or t=E/P) Definition: 1W=1J/1s=Js^-1 1W power means transferring 1 Joule of energy in 1 second. Another unit of energy if kilowatt-hour. It’s the amount of energy transferred by 1000W (kilowatt) in 1 hour. Its unit is kWh. 1kWh= 3,600,000J = 3.6*10^6J = 3.6 MJ. Heat capacity Definition: Heat capacity of an object is the energy required to transfer by heating to the object to raise the temperature of the object through 1˚C. It’s symbol is C. C=Q/ΔT where Q (energy transfer) and ΔT (change in temperature) have unit of J and ˚C respectively, therefore the unit of C is J˚C^-1 Specific heat capacity Definition: Specific heat capacity of a substance is the energy transferred by heating required to raise the temperature of a unit mass (kg) of the substance through 1˚C. It’s symbol is c. c=Q/mΔT=C/m (or mc=C), where m is the mass. *experiment about finding specific heat capacity of water* Put m kg of water into a polystyrene cup, then insert an immersion heater, stirrer and thermometer into the cup. The power supply of immersion heater passes through a Joulemeter.Assume the initial readings of temperature and energy is E and T and the final readings is E’ and T’ respectively. c=Q/mΔT=(E'-E)/m(T'-T) Note that immersion heater should be fully immersed into the water to ensure that all energy from the heater is transferred to the water. Assumption: 1) No energy lost from the water to the surrounding air/cup. 2) No energy lost from the heater to the surrounding air. 3) The temperature within water is unique such that the readings of thermometer is accurate (we use stirrer to make this more accurate) 4) All energy from the heater is transferred to the water (we record the highest temperature reading after the heater is off) Another experiment about specific heat capacity of aluminium has similar procedure. But stirrer is not needed. Instead, a polystyrene tile is under the aluminium block and cotton wool surrounding the block. Also we put some oil into the immersing holds to keep a well thermal contact between the block, heater and thermometer. Law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in a system must remain constant. Then energy lost of an object = energy gain of another object. (mass of a)(spec. heat cap. of a)(temp. diff. of a)=(mass ofb)(spec. heat cap. of b)(temp. diff. of b) Or (heat cap. of a)(temp. diff. of a)=(heat cap. of b)(temp. diff. of b) If the object contains the same substance, then (mass of a)(temp. diff. of a)=(mass of b)(temp. diff. of b) Importance of high specific heat capacity of water (4200Jkg^-1˚C^-1) 1) As a coolants for motors, CPUs… 2) Reduce daily temperature range for coastal area. (Coastal area have more water stored with the area. In day, water absorb energy in a more effective way than soil. In night they release energy.) 3) Monitoring body temperature: we release energy through sweating. Moreover 70% of our body is water. We can gain or loss a large amount of energy without a big change in body temperature. Notes available!

Physics unit 1 - Temperature

Definition: It’s a physical quantity that measures the degree of hotness or coldness of an object. The unit is degree Celsius. (˚C) Temperature scale can be defined by an upper fixed point, lower fixed point and dividing scale. The pair of fixed point should be easily obtained and reproducible, therefore we define the lower fixed point as the temperature of pure melting ice at 1 apm (standard atmospheric pressure) and the upper fixed point as the temperature of pure boiling water at 1 apm. Calibration of thermometer (to mark the thermometer) : Put it into pure melting ice (lower fixed point) followed by the pure boiling water. Liquid level is recorded in each case and the separation between the two markings is divided into 100 equal divisions. Each division represent 1˚C. Thermometric properties: of a matter is a measureable physical quantity of the matter which changes along with the temperature. For example, density. Thermometer: a device with measurable property which changes with temperature. Liquid-in-glass thermometer consist of a narrow glass tube, one end consists a bulb that contains liquid (alcohol or mercury). When temperature rises, liquid expands and rises in the tube. Oppositely they contract and fall in cooler temperature. If the length of liquid in the tube changes more in a given quantity of temperature change, then we say it has a higher sensitivity. Clinical thermometer has an extra constriction between the bulb and the tube to prevent the mercury flowing back to the bulb. Temperature in terms of molecular motion It is the measure of the average kinetic energy due to the random motion of the molecules of the object. Equal temperature means equal average kinetic energy. missed table: 1)temperture scale 2)Liquid-in-glass themometer 3)Different kinds of thermometer Available for the .doc file! (F.4 -> Physics)

1-12-09

十二月好。 來說一說今年會打的筆記吧! Physics: Heat and gases: -thermometer -heat cap.; states; latent heat Mechanics: -Position and motion -acceleration and deceleration Chemistry: -Atmosphere; ocean; rock and minerals -Chemical bonds -Metals and its reactivity Economics: -economic basics -firms and production Maths: 未定，可能有 另，<<車神>>等idea中...

RPG exp. 再談

經驗值的計算通常分為兩個因子，increasing factor和decreasing factor。 Increasing factor: 以多項式為主(P(x)和Lv(x))，其意義為區別不同等級需要打敗怪物的隻數。 Decreasing factor: 可以視為低等打敗高等的獎賞，或是高等屈掉低等的懲罰。目的是令遊戲保持挑戰性，同時令不同區域的吸引力大致相同。 依照能力等價的式子，Df可以以olv/lv的形式計算，也就是說Df是一個線性因子。考慮等級上限和限制，這個因子範圍大約在0(專業玩家去新手地區打)到3。 If決定了每打一隻怪，經驗值增加的數目是oexp*Df，oexp代表了每隻怪怎的經驗值基數。至於成長速度，則可以從Df/If比較得到。 我們設Df為一個不會超過3的變數，那麼成長的速度在等級一方是由官方所決定，我們並不能改變。另一方面Df則是我們可以控制的因子，我們可以通過選擇應付怪物的難度來以冒險(機會成本不穩定，因為回復費用不菲)或者是以較輕鬆的方式玩(回衝費用不高)。 我們發現將Df與回報(打怪所得-打怪的費用，例如藥水)畫出來，那會是一條開口向下的拋物線。也就是說，我們不可能將Df調到很高(挑戰太強的怪)，因為回復費用太高了。同時這曲線最高點就是玩家所追求的效率最高點。 付費玩家以錢購買讓他們能力上升的商品，令他們將效率最高點拉後，也就是說他們可以負荷的Df提高了，而效率最高點的數值也會更高。所以我們可以得出「付費玩家的效率比免費玩家高」的結論。同時免費玩家了追上付費玩家的速度，就會長時間掛著，以「時間換取金錢」追回付費玩家的優勢。 「一旦為了追上付費玩家，就實行長時間掛機，最後上癮並付費玩」就是遊戲公司的策略，所以好孩子千萬不要玩太多網上遊戲喔。

RPG revisted 免費經濟學和online game的運作

在免費經濟學上，免費的運作模式有四種。 第一種是直接的交叉補貼；生產商免費向你提供一種免費產品，然後可以令另一種付費產品的銷量提高。 第二種是三方市場；生產商向用家提供免費商品，同時從廣告商收廣告費。看到廣告的用家看到廣告後銷量也會提高。 第三種是免費加值。生產商對外提供免費服務，同時提供付費服務。只要有一小部分人付錢就能撐起整個市場。 最後一種是以免費商品交換非金錢物品，例如名聲。 現在網上遊戲屬於第三種。 過去的網上遊戲幾本上都要收費，原因是以前的儲存和處理成本很高。但隨著時間改變，處理成本幾乎以每年一半的速度下降，縱使玩家人數不斷增長，仍不能避免人均處理成本趨向零，這代表了服務那些免費玩家的成本很低，低到可以不用考慮。 同時網路上有這樣一個原則，就是5%付費原則。一個中等規模的遊戲大約有一萬名玩家(當中絕大部分人是菜鳥，或者是玩幾天不玩的人)，5%大約是五百人，而只要當中有一半肯持續買點數，已足以支持運作成本有餘。 以上的所有分析都是出於一個原理，就是伺服器的運作成本很低。一旦有了穩定的客源，資料傳輸的成本可以是低到不用考慮。 隨著運作成本越來越低，遊戲從收月費，變成賣光碟再變成免費，當中有一項關鍵的因素隨著銷售模式而改變，那就是免費玩家與付費玩家之間待遇的分別。以前的付費時代就不用說了，光碟時代時免費玩家可能不可以在繁忙時段上線，也可能不可以學到一些招式。但隨著收費門檻越來越低，免費玩家越來越多，找出兩者的平衡日益重要。 這個現象當然是因為免費的玩家越來越多。但是為甚麼遊戲開發商要那麼關照那些免費玩家呢？從某個角度來看這是第四種免費模式，也就是以免費服務交換非金錢物質。 第一樣是名聲。相比起5%付費的五百人，一萬人中玩過而推介給其他人的比例肯定高很多。線上遊戲沒有他們的推廣就很難有新客源，坐吃山空就只會等死。 第二樣是遊戲中虛擬貨品的流通性。在此我們將付費玩家作為一組，免費玩家作為另一組。就如現實的傳統經濟學一樣兩者之間有虛擬金錢和貨物的流動： 付費玩家：賣出點數商品而獲得虛擬貨幣 免費玩家：付出虛擬貨幣而獲得點數商品 而普通貨品(打怪/任務所得，任何玩家均可以得到)的流動性也是靠免費玩家來維持。 (to be continued.)

11-11-09

真的很累。 明明太鼓冇論真鼓定keyboard都可以橫掃天下，偏偏學琴完全唔掂？ 我鍾意D歌反而大部份彈到…… Maths team，我是很願意教，可以教極都教唔好/教佢地唔明其實好慘 Quadratic，明明是common不過的common sense，他們了解卻是天大難題。 我不了解。 學校的功課不算多，偏偏討厭LS的功課，真的不想碰。 你給我一篇文叫我寫key arguements對我有用嗎？ 你叫我寫論文，我不介意； 你比一大篇野我逼我讀逼我了解逼我運用就很有問題了。 社會學每個現象的解釋也可以五花八門，這樣逼人看只會是本末倒置：你逼我看，我不想看，做完功課就忘記了。 相反天馬行空地找資料、分析、對比卻輕鬆多了。 一個例子是剛貼的<<風球>>。 叫我寫天文台的反思的話，我實在寫不出這些東西來。 但該期主題為「迷」，以信號效用的迷思為題倒是不錯的想法－－去天文台資源中心跑一趟，這篇文章就水到渠成了。 還有我堆積如山的未讀書目，從經濟到歷史到小說到科學……天啊～

一萬字 Ch.14.2

(Professional sickness.) 回到房子已經是五時的事了。 既然這時進來以後第一次有空，那就應該好好用來上網。 不愧是有錢人家蓋的房子，屋裡的電腦配置了高級的硬件和高速的網絡。 接上聊天軟件，一個個熟悉的名字彈了出來。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：嗨～ 單車baka 說：午安啊。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：兩天不見，進隊了嗎？ 單車baka 說： 嗯啊。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：裡面情況如何？聽說有不錯的宿舍呢。 單車baka 說：每人都有間不少的獨立屋呢，離大路遠一點就是了。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：QoQ，好羨慕好羨慕～ 單車baka 說：不是啦，訓練都很辛苦…… ☆呆腐喵★ 說：沒關係，這車隊不是有一堆美女陪著你嗎\(^o^)/ 單車baka 說：才沒有…… = = ☆呆腐喵★ 說：有就承認吧！ wwww 單車baka 說：沒有。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：哈，話說回來，很快就要打風了。 單車baka 說：對啊……現在那個風怎樣走了？ ☆呆腐喵★ 說：先問你一句，你現在身處何方？ 單車baka 說：我想是大埔吧。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：嗯……颱風艾利克於過去二十四小時快速增強而成為一股颱風，現集結於北緯19.8度，東經119.3度，距離本港六百公里，向西北偏西移動。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：大概會在香港以南近掠吧。大埔以北有大帽山山脊，以南有九龍眾山保護……對著西南方卻中門大開。你們最好還是小心一點。 一陣涼意爬到我的背上。 ☆呆腐喵★ 說：啊！天文台說今晚就會發三號了。我先出去逛一下，你要保重喔\(>w<) 單車baka 說：再見～ 的確，風勢已由微風轉為明顯的東南風，意味著風暴降臨。 明晚我的命運將會如何？沒有人可以預知。

變幻莫測的風球

刊於<<星火>>109期，11/09, 2605字 參考文件？ 1)Wikipedia 2)天文台的資源 3)百年舊報 版權所有，請勿抄襲 每年的七月至九月，都是香港的風季。風季嘛，自然就會「打風」，一眾「打工仔」最關心的當然就是會不會掛「八號風球」，有沒有「打風假」放了。可是，大家又有沒有留意到「掛風球」背後的機制呢？回顧過去，「掛風球」已不是近十幾年的事，甚至不是近幾十的事。「掛風球」早於1884年開始使用，但創出「掛風球」的背後竟是一段慘痛的教訓。 據當時報章記載，1864、1870及1874年均有風暴吹襲香港造成嚴重災害，前兩次的實際情況已不能查考，但後者則造成了近三千人死亡(相當於當時人口的百分之二！)、可考證的沉船數以千計，連當時港督堅尼地居住之別墅亦被吹毀！就如不少我們在中史課學到的慘痛事件一樣，這次風災被命為「甲戊風災」。事後，英國皇家學會於第二屆國際氣象會議後建議於香港設立天文台，並指出香港是「研究氣象，尤其是颱風的理想地點」。香港天文台終於在甲戊風災發生後九年，即1883年成立。 天文台成立後立即著手解決風暴的預報問題。由於當時沒有精密的儀器去測定風暴的位置及強度，所以其預報系統並沒有明確的定義。當時以圓柱、球型及錐形懸掛作為信號，並且鳴炮表示維港將吹烈風(相當於現時的八號風球)。1907年，改以懸掛十字代替鳴炮。由於在預報成立頭三十年當中，仍發生不少因為發出烈風預警時太遲而出現的慘劇(例如1906年的丙午風災，死者逾一萬五千人)，所以天文台於1917年推出以一至七代表風暴的侵襲程度，當中一是戒備信號。此後警報系統又經歷了數次的轉變，從1973年到今日一直使用一、三、八、九、十五個級別的警報系統。 在了解系統的演變後，我們就很容易了解為甚麼「信號」叫做「風球」，而信號是「縣掛」而不是「發出」的。即使「掛風球」的傳統隨著2001年位於長洲的最後一座信號站的關閉而結束，這個俗名已經廣為大眾所採用。 這套系統沿用了三十六年，到近年卻出現不少爭執。零六年八月，颱風派比安於香港以南掠過，天文台發出三號強風信號，但多個數據亦指出維港兩岸的風速間中達烈風程度，長洲等更錄得暴風程度的持續風速！當時不少街上的狼狽畫面被廣泛報道後，天文台受到輿論的強烈遣責，後來天文台修訂警報準則，以八個監測站的風速為發信號的標準。 零七年八月，強烈熱帶風暴帕布來襲，天文台曾掛出三號風球並迅速除下。後來帕布一個「回馬槍」掉頭直指香港，天文台在不足七小時內發出一、三、八號風球，當中八號更是在預警發出後僅僅五十分鐘就發出，但當時帕布已經在遠離本港。由於懸掛的八號太突然了，天文台再一次受到指責。 零八年八月，颱風鸚鵡正面吹襲香港。天文台於二十一日晚上表示明早發出八號的機會不大，但又於二十二日早上發出八號風球，對乘船上班的離島居民造成不便。同日發出九號風球，又指出預計二十三日(週末)清晨才會考慮改發較低信號(相信是指八號)，上午才會改為三號。但實際上天文台於凌晨已改為三號，上午更除下所有信號，令原以為有半日額外假的上班族大失預算。但台長林超英竟然表示「他理解的『清晨』是指午夜後1點到4點」，令人質疑天文台預報的準確性。 以上三件事均反映了現時系統的不足。第一、是訊號的性質問題。作為一個分了級別的警報系統，如果現時的警告級別稍後有機會升級的話，警告中帶有進一步警示是有必要的。例如一個三號風球是在一個直襲香港的熱帶風暴接近香港的情況下發出的，某程度上也帶有「將會發出八號」的意思。但這個進一步的警示並不是即時性的，至少也有六小時。由於三號和八號關係到會否有假期，而一號則能對大眾作出警示，所以一、三、八之間的升降是很重要的。就如剛才提到六小時的預報警示，六小時風暴不會行走超過二百公里，而對於一個距離尚遠的風暴來說要作六小時預警實在不難。但天文台每每過遲發出一號的預警，導致更高風球的發出過於趕急，失去了預警的作用。 第二、是風球對於市民的影響。作為一個預報氣候的機構，發出警報的考慮條件當然以天氣狀況優先。但同時香港作為一個繁忙的商業城市，從以前的自由港到現在的金融中心，天文台的警報對於市民的生活作息都有決定性的作用。八號風球時學校停課、商業停頓、股市休市，對於「每分鐘幾十萬上落」的香港人來說影響極大。一個早上的休市，交易的差距是以「百億」來計算的；一天的停課，也會令家長擔心各位莘莘學子的學習進程(儘管這個看法不太正確)，足見天文台的警報決策對市民有多重要。無論是停課停市後無風，抑或是沒有發出準確預報，都會立刻招致市民以及各傳媒的抨擊。同樣地，在敏感的時間除下風球，實在造成各方的尷尬。 另一方面，從天文台的立場的角度來說這些似乎又是「迫不得已」的。 俗語有云：「人生如天氣變幻無常」。天文台縱然有先進的超級電腦，也很難保證其預測會百份百準確，更何況風暴這回事本身就是「巧合的產物」，當然比平常的天氣更難捉摸。在剛過去的颱風巨爵就是一個很好的例子。從電視上看到巨爵把香港掃得「屍橫遍野」，還「附送」了一天半天「打風假」，誰會想到外界初時普遍預測巨爵只會達到「熱帶風暴」的強度？「颱風」與「熱帶風暴」相比之下，單是風力就相差一倍！ 另一個例子是台灣「八八水災」的元兇──莫拉克。這股颱風穿過了台灣南部，暴雨刷出了一道道慘情，而預報失誤和救災反應遲緩就成為了台灣政府被砲轟的原因。但事實上，莫拉克本來的預測路徑是會在台灣以北掠過，誰也沒想到莫拉克會這樣走，台灣不能及時做好防災工作，才會出現這五十年一遇的大水災。至於台灣政府在水災後為甚麼會拖延救援，那是後話。別以為這種預測的落差只是偶然，出現錯誤的機會可說是「幾乎每次」，這不是天文台的問題，地球上每一間天文台也是這樣。要怪，就怪現代的天文水平「還未夠先進」吧！ 當然，天文台雖然未必能準確預測風暴路徑，在已知的資訊上卻不應該誤導市民。像帕布那樣的「風球過山車」和派比安的知而不發，是有需要檢討的。 俗語有云：「金錢誠可貴，生命更重要」。作為一個信賴天文台的市民，想要的未必是一天的「打風假」，也未必會介意少一天上班會差多少工資，卻希望可以從天文台得知準確的情報，避過風暴所帶來的危險。如果說天文台為了不令「香港經濟停頓」而強行除下風球，那是行不通的。那只會帶給戶外工作的人危險，令上班一族頂著呼嘯的烈風上班，要冒著生命危險吃這種「苦中苦」來顯出香港這種「人上人」的精神也不太值得了吧。 在此本人希望天文台除了可以作出更精準的預測外，還可以獨立地發出準確的警報，而不是受那些傳媒、商家和某家上班族所謂的「麻煩、導致混亂和經濟損失」的影響避免在繁忙時段發出警報。因為一個準確的警報，可以令市民免於暴露在風暴底下，獲益的，一定是市民。

7-11-09

有人問我，點解我的「正職」係數理遊戲理論，卻是「兼職」叼住支筆寫呀寫？ 其實答案很簡單，就是熱血。 為甚麼要這樣說呢？ 誠如九龍城寨一書中所道，香港人有的是熱血。當年造就不朽香江名句的，也是熱血。 熱血，也就是打不死的幹勁：人的慾望大，也不代表他肯為願望而付出；但熱血正是一股有力的催化劑，使人一日不完心願便不罷休。 可能你說，現在的香港已經沒啥看起來很有「熱血」成份了。 的確，現今的社會看起來又好像沒有，看真一點其實又有。 容我說一點社會學。 從六十年代的"Age of Scarcity"到九十年代的"Age of Abundance"，中間發生了甚麼事也說省略了。六十年代人人皆窮，有時間出來放土「菠蘿」已經很幸運，更多人只能在工廠埋頭掙兩餐。 他們目標也不用太高太遠，只是兩、三餐溫飽。 他們以他們一雙手闖出新天地，把東方之珠發揚光大。 現在有錢人家不夏這些生活的基本需要。你問佢地想要的是甚麼，可能是車、樓、甚至是球隊。 但他們有為目標奮鬥嗎？絕大部分都沒有。 於是，香港的的美名也被搞砸了。 失去了熱血一致性的香港再也不能散發出昔日的光輝。 說到底，熱血你和我都有，只在乎你有沒有引爆。 當然嗎，熱血在文化界特別重要。以筆向大眾傳遞訊息的人，用熱血寫出一個賺人熱淚的故事，讀者是感受到的。 比如說，天航的三分球神射手，看完會令人想打籃球。儘管在下的體力未必很好，打看完打籃球是更有feel了。 例如，與隊友的默契令你拿下勝利，也可以很熱血。 比如說，余兒的九龍城寨讓我重新燃起了對香港武俠小說的愛。 誠如陶囍所言，以前人人手上皆為金庸、古龍，現在少女只懂看言情小說，還要很感動的樣子邊看邊哭。 如果說武俠作品是熱血的引管，言情小說頂多也就是自欺欺人而已。 寫到這裡，在下其實不懂怎樣解釋。但很實在地，看完一本熱血的武俠作品，的確可以令你熱血起來，充滿幹勁地去做一件事(比如new ending)。而言情小說嘛，看完後「哦」一聲，那本書使在書架終老。 易燃的熱血，卻帶言情上的冷淡，是否有予盾呢？這個就留給大家想像吧。 (很好很好，終於幫自己註釋了熱血一字了。) 今天為甚麼會無故吐嘈呢？ 原因一，最直接的主因當然是－－今天放假吧，加上週末，終於有空。 原因二，今天去了書局喪刨書，遺憾地武俠小說都給包上膠套呢。 原因三，是余兒大今天對我對九龍城寨的new ending作出了回應。書評那些被人回應慣了(通常都是沒看過書的人來批評)，作者回應卻是頭一次見。在此給余兒一個感謝～當然也希望CULT系列可以繼續下去啦！ 剛剛在書局，不知不覺走到了流行文學那邊。啊，原來叛逆歲月還沒完呢。隨手翻開，一氣呵成地打完書釘，文筆當然好，但已經沒感覺了。 我想要的，只要熱血。 充滿幹勁地完成自己想做的事，寫出自己的夢想，畫出自己的天空。 這樣，我們活得不枉此生。(啊～太熱血了XD) ……嗯，單車熱血的地方．嗎……呵呵呵呵呵…… 簡短一句題外話，現在去google找中西史筆記我這裡排得頗前的嘛 *v* 謝謝大家

一萬字 Ch.14

下午三時。 由於集訓的關係，午餐時間推遲了。但是運動過後的隊員們早已饑腸轆轆，吃起來自然也更為美味。看著眼列豐富的菜式，實在不能想像是紫欣和另一個女孩兩個人做出來的。 「對了，你好像還沒認識所有隊員吧！」紫欣對我說道，「大家來逐一介紹吧！」 各位隊員似乎露出了一副不太願意的樣子……沒關係，你們不說，那我就先介紹自己吧。 「嗯……大家叫我楓就可以了，今年十七歲。」 「那我先開始吧。我叫紫欣，今年也是十七歲。」 「大家叫我簡就可以了，今年二十歲。」 「我叫欣羽，今年十六歲。」說話的是一個個子不高的女生，可愛的臉蛋後面束著烏黑的長髮。 「我叫頌明，十七歲。」他那曬得微黑的身軀再加上英姿煥發的樣子，說是踩單車的任誰也會相信吧。 「我叫雪婷，今年十八歲。」她看起來就是個可靠的大姐姐，剛剛也是她跟紫欣一起煮午餐。 「啊，還有兩位隊員還沒回來呢。我想他們到比賽時就會出現的了。」 那麼加上我，這裡就有七個隊員吧？而且大家的年紀也差不多，要說這是個車隊實在有點……勉強。如果說是靠隊員的優秀能力，紫欣又有甚麼能耐可以成為隊長？ 紫欣望著發呆的我道：「快點吃吧！放涼了可沒有那麼好吃啊。」 嗯，說得沒錯。這些問題我遲些可以直接問紫欣也可以，但是午餐就……已被被搶得七零八落了。明明五分鐘前才從廚房端出來…… 簡將桌上倖存的食物推過來，道：「下不為例。」 頌明在旁邊抱怨道：「都是簡那隻大怪獸，害大家都越吃越快……」簡輕輕地打了一下頌明的頭，然後就走了。雪婷打圓場道：「雖然他有時候看起來很冷淡，可是在我們有需要的時候也很幫得上忙喔！」

4-11-09

時間過得真快，又變凍了呢 幾本上生活陷入了一個loop Maths note -> Osu! -> school Maths note : 打到傻左 目前進度係Algebraic 27頁, latest topic: Quadratic drilling(I) Osu! : 自從後面D人發癲之後成日喪打 =[ school: test coming, HW orz 小說啊~ 投稿啊~ <<車神>>是不能放棄的，可是沒有寫作時間 加上討厭成日有個人坐係我隔離用電腦 星火也登了我篇文，題為"變幻莫測的風球"，其實文筆很一般 點解呢位名字romantic到爆的姐姐話我寫得好呢？~ 遲D會貼上來的 (要是我還有copyright的話xd) 繼續沉淪於if 和then的世界。 "Economic is a study about scarcity and choices."

Economic notes -- three basic economic problems

The three economic basic problems 1) What to produce? (Types and quantities of goods/services to produce) 2) How to produce? (Production methods) 3) For whom to produce? (How to distribute goods and services) Solutions to the three economic problems 1) By customs and traditions (Tradition economy) , e.g., decided by the father or eldest son in a family. 2) In a planned economy, resources are allocated by government plans and commands and people have to follow that in production and consumption. 3) In a market economy, most resources are owned privately. Resources are allocated by market mechanism or price system as a signals to guide resource allocation. Market economy: -Minimize government intervention -Resourced owned by private individuals -Economic decisions made by market prices -Resources allocation and distribution of goods by market prices Planned economy: -Government intervention is common -Resources owned by the state -Economic decisions made by the government -Resources allocation and distribution of goods by government command

Specialisation and exchange 1) Specialisation is a way of organizing production, different people/economics concentrate on producing different goods. Workers concentrate the job they’re best at. Then production cost can be reduced. 2) Exchange (trade) is an important condition for specialisation. Without exchange, then everyone have to produce all good by itself and specialisation can’t happen. 3) Private property rights – A good is a private property of someone if the owner has the following right: - exclusive right to use - exclusive right to receive income generated by the use of the good - right to transfer (not exclusive in all cases) If it’s not exist or not clearly defined, then goods become common property, then exchange can’t be happen so as specialisation. Then, it encourages non-price competition such as violence. If it’s clearly defined, then buyers can obtain good if the buyers can pay a certain price. Resources can be allocated to those who place the highest value on them. Positive statements talk about facts, no value judgments, some of them are refutable. Normative statements is about what should be, its about value judgment. Economic is a social science and we use scientific methods to develop theory. i.e., economics is positive.

Economics Note -- What is economics?

(Hi there. In this year I can only type notes on economics, Physics, Chemistry, probably some maths technique and LS passage.) (graph skipped.)

Opportunity cost: Highest-valued option forgone (cost of the best alternative use) Rules: 1) We only count the highest-valued option forgone, i.e., only one option is counted as cost. 2) No other (possible) choice implies no cost. 3) Cost change if and only if value of highest-valued option forgone changed, i.e., change of value on other alternatives or the chosen options will not change the cost. 4) Full cost = money cost (money spent) + non-money cost (resources spent other than money). Time cost can be monetary (in terms of income forgone) or non-monetary (in terms of another activity forgone). 5) Option considerable for cost is the option available at the moment. Paid in the past will not be counted,

Bad: We don’t desire / prefer less to more Good: We desire / prefer some to none Economic (or scarce) good: Available quantity can’t satisfy all human wants for it. Human are willing to pay for it. More of them is preferable. Free Good: Available quantity can satisfy all human wants. No one is willing to pay for it. More of them is not preferable, we only get the amount we need.

Note that free good must be free of charge, but good that is free may not be free good. Production is the process that transforms resources to goods and services. Factor of production: 1) Labour is a type of human resources. They earn wages and work for production. 2) Entrepreneurship (entrepreneur) is to organize production, making decisions and bearing risk. They earn profits for risk-taking. 3) Capital is a type of man-made resources. It is used to help production. Capital owners earn interests by providing capital. 4) Land is a type of natural resources. Land owners earn rents by providing natural resources for production. Consumption – activity to satisfy human wants. Both present and future consumption are economic goods (prefer more), since we are impatient (earlier time preferences), present consumption has a higher value than future consumption. Therefore people are willing to pay more for earlier consumption. They may borrow money and repay the money plus the interest. Therefore for a borrower, interest is the cost of earlier availability of goods or resources. They pay extra interest for earlier consumption. For a lender, interest is the compensation for deferring consumption of goods (or use of resources). They scarified money in the present and get more in the future. Then, interest rate shows the cost of earlier consumption. Flow of economic activities Firms – unit of production Household – unit of consumption Real flow (flow of goods and services including factor services): Household providing factor services to factor market and to the firms, then the firms provide goods and services to the household through product market. Money flow (money income and expenditure): For household, they provide factors services and get factor income. They pay for good and services from firms. For firms, they pay for factor services, and earn revenue from providing goods and services to household. Their exchange on good, service, income and expenditure through the factor market and product market, also household and firms are inter-related. Macroeconomics and microeconomics Microeconomics is the study on behavior of individual economic units. Macroeconomics is the study of the performance of an economy as a whole.

一萬字 Ch.13

「也不是那麼可怕啦～只不過打風踩單車比較危險，加上以前真的死過人，所以才會有這個名字嘛。」 「那，比賽會何時開始？」 「按例是一號風球掛起後的第二個晚上。」 「……為甚麼要第二晚？那不是更大風嗎？」 「大風才更好玩嘛。」 「……」 對話結束便時一課比較趕的集訓。跟昨天的訓練不同，集訓要練習的技巧更多。到現在為止，我也許還沒見過紫欣的真正實力。原因是，她今天做出了一堆花式出來，除了目瞪口呆的我外，其他的隊員只是顯出一副稀鬆平常的樣子，彷彿那些花式每天都會見十遍八遍那樣……看來我還沒接受到面前的少女是單車天才這個事實。 「喂！」 一聲清脆的叫聲響起，打亂了我的思緒。 「如果你不好好看著和練習的話，明晚的比試就真的會變成死亡遊戲了哦！」 「啥？」 「因為，在打風的環境下沒有花式的人就是在玩命。」我這才意識到紫欣正在叉著腰，生氣地瞪著我。 「對，對不起……」我垂下了頭。 「……我還是再示範一次好了。」 她騎上單車，做出了個幾乎完美的花式。在一段加速後，她把前輪停在半空，但同時後輪仍能推動單車前進，她自轉一圈後衝往牆壁──前輪沿牆壁滾動──優美的完成了一個凌空翻騰。 「你覺得這招厲害嗎？」 「還好啦，不過這只些在打風時有用嗎？」 她笑了笑道：「你試試就知道了吧～反正當你要隨機應變時都有機會要用啦。」 …… 就這樣，所謂的集訓就打打鬧鬧地結束了。 雖然我說不出這裡正確的地理位置，不過大約是大埔吧。大埔雖然不屬離島，但往往有「市區春江鴨」的作用。也就是說，大埔變得當風意味著市區的風勢會逐漸增加，所以大埔會不會吹持續的強風也反映了發出「三號波」的可能性。 走出體育館，外面仍是一片平靜，完全沒有要打風的感覺；陽光普照、萬里晴空彷彿在嘲笑著這個無理的一號風球。 這對我反而是一個警示。 真的是萬里晴空嗎？ 當熱帶氣旋離香港一段距離時，香港就會受到其下沉氣流影響變得悶熱；但當熱帶氣旋更接近香港時，天氣便會迅速轉壞，狂風也變得明顯。 「一號風球掛起後的第二個晚上。」她是這樣說的。 也就是說，一號發出後的約四十小時。 四十小時，熱帶氣旋能走多遠呢？慢的話，可能兩天後還是一號；快的話如果熱帶氣旋時連十六、七公里，那，四十小時後就幾乎是最接近的時間了。 級數不弱的熱帶氣旋只要在香港以南掠過，便可以發出八號…… 情況不太樂觀呢。

一萬字 Ch.12

翌日。 我起床的時候，剛好是八點正。昨天因為把一支啤酒給吞下去的緣故，我到現在還是有點頭痛。 反正時間還早，我可以先換好衣服，然後開電視看昨晚的英超大戰── 「叮咚！叮咚！」 討厭的門鈴又響起了。 打開門，是簡。 我揉揉眼睛，打著呵欠問：「怎麼這麼早就找我……」 他冷冷地道：「我是來通知今天是一星期一次的集訓，半小時後在運動館開始。」 「喔。」 他轉身便走，臨走時補上一句：「記得帶單車過來。」 在關上門的同時，我正好聽到電視播著英超賽事。 「……臨完場凌空抽入險勝對手四比三……體育新聞完畢。」 啊啊～～！！我錯過了英超大戰的精華片段啊～ 八時半，體育館。 不少隊員早已到達，大多都聚在一起聊天。當我到達時，館內已聚集了不少人，當中有幾個我沒有見過，也許是錯過昨天晚餐的關係吧。 簡揮手向我打招呼，示意我走過去跟他們聊天。我泊好單車，正走過去時──紫欣終於來了，還帶著一副沒睡醒的樣子。 「隊長大人遲到了哦～！」 「之前不是說過遲到要怎樣重罰的嗎？沒想到隊長那麼快就遲到了呢～」 這樣的譏諷聲此起彼落，而紫欣則一副苦笑的表情。她指著體育館角落的物體，看上去由一個圓盤和長條組成的物體，但以水平的視線來看，正好是一個「T」字。 一號風球！ 「會直襲香港哦。」 隊員們的臉色幾乎全部變白。 「啊～忘了告訴你，打風的日字就是進行死亡遊戲的日字。」

Finale RPG, ARPG的分別

進入廿一世紀，遊戲變得更多元化，亦引伸出一種新的遊戲種類，是為ARPG(Action RPG)。 這種遊戲仍追求RPG的數值模式，但戰鬥時更追求玩家的動作。 過去，RPG的回合遊戲沒有時限，但在ARPG中時限變成實時時效－－一秒鐘內對手會衝過來打你，你也要攻擊對手，靠的，不是簡單的A鍵，而是一連串華麗的攻擊組合。 在此模式中，特別需求的能力是反應力，反應力基本上決定了能否發揮100%的速度和戰鬥技巧。 利用我們之前看過的式子，c(ATK-kODEF) * DEF * f(SPD)，代入一些ARPG的元素： C(ATK-kODEF)*DEF*(xSPD)*TEC 照舊地，c,k是遊戲系統中常數，x則代表所能發揮的速度比例(0至1)，TEC是量化技巧。 從上式得知，(理論上)ARPG中的難度會提升得更快。但要大量將時間投放左ARPG是不可行的，所以ARPG大多出現於主機(PS3, XBOX, Wii)遊戲，而級數也不會去到很高。 ARPG的重要元素是戰鬥，所以故事基本上有圍繞戰鬥的劇情，同時亦會加強對「華麗故事」的修飾，例子有蕭邦之夢(trusty Bell)。 至此，RPG各方面的結構已被描述，希望各位閱畢後對RPG遊戲/小說創作有幫助。

fin.

後記 這是我第一次系統地描述一種遊戲/故事的結構，但離我的預計還有一段距離…… 就8年的RPG年資來說，實在不敢說自己是一個experienced RPG player。但從不同的RPG故事，特別是小說中，了解到背後(幾乎統一的)特性。作為一個RPG故事，理論上亦有一個「故事公式」，變化度絕不遜於愛情小品，至到底要如何作到令人著迷，又是另一回事了。 本篇提到的數學主要是保證了「百萬設定集」的相容性。當然，歷史是不會停的，這條公式在幾年前幾乎都是線性的(攻/防)，但這樣會令寶物價格(CPU→玩家單向)大幅提高以致整體通漲(可以用經濟學的「稀少性」解釋)，而令玩家卻步。又經過幾年的淘弱留強，逐漸發展出上式。 以上提到的數學基本上不難，除了以下一點： Lv(x) > x^(deg(Lv))的証明，其實不難。 我們知道Lv(x), Lv'(x) 和Lv''(x)在x為正整數時恆大於0，所以基本上Lv(x)>x^(Deg(Lv)) 所以 Exp(x) < x^(1/Deg(Lv)) 而得 Exp(2n)/Exp(n) < 2^(1/Deg(P))。

Ch.3 RPG的互動系統

現在一個玩家的個人遊戲系統已經講完，可以說一些關於遊戲的互動系統。 互動來說，線上遊戲的「線上」兩個字本身就表達了存在玩家的互動性，最重要的也是玩家之間的講通。講話頻道、PM(private messages，個人訊息)、公會、家族、戀人、君臣以至主僕，都是互動的體現。在這裡，我們更看重的是其貿易。 在遊戲與現實貿易的最大分別是，遊戲中不管他們名義上是同一個公會、同一家族，也沒有集體的銷售制度：每個玩家獨立地成為一個銷售者。沒有壟斷，因為每個人都有機會自己拿到該物品(不考慮與現實掛的物品，例如點數商品、禮品包等)，誰賣得便宜，誰就賣得出。 即使在這個前提下，與任務有有關物品(Quest-related item)價格升跌與現實亦有幾分相似：推出時一下子炒到很高，隨著供應增加而跌價。不同的是隨會價格會不停波動，而整體來說更多是向上漲的。在熱情冷卻的跌價後，供應仍會不斷增加，但需求往往會比供應增加得更快，因為在可重接的任務中一個玩家可以不斷重接，同時也有不同的玩家加入需求行列。在遊戲世界中供求可說是「不會飽和的」，因為明顯地原本分散不同地圖練等的玩家都衝向某指定地方打物品，怪物的數量是有限的，所以一定不會飽和。在推出一段時間後，囤積居奇的玩家就會開始沽貨，使價格下跌。這與現實有個奇怪的分別就是其價格在熱情冷卻後整體會向同一方向移動，可能一直向上，也可能一直向下。這可能與任務的利益有關。 至任務結束之前物品的價格會急跌，正如現實一樣，要錢不要貨。不同的是，任務結束後物品幾乎等於廢紙，完全不值錢。 至於裝備和裝飾價格，其初始值(initial value)當然與其實用/美觀度有關，而其後的升降則與「遊戲人數的導數」掛。

Ch. 2.4 RPG的加持系統

在一個這樣的系統下，很多關於道具的事情就可以解決。一些(實用的)商城點數道具，在能力的短時間提升方面，都只是加上一個數(例如攻擊五分鐘內加二十)而不是乘上一個數(例如五分鐘內攻擊乘1.2)。這一來是假設戰鬥時玩家不會比對手弱太多，二來也因為越高等依賴道具加持的情況越少。這是因為在各種延伸屬性下，高等玩家都應該各自發展出個人的配招系統，在有限的屬性值總和下發揮最大的戰鬥力。在不計算效率的前提下，集中發展一個屬性是有可能的。正所謂「攻擊就是最好的防禦」，集中訓練攻擊相比起平均訓練的人戰鬥力會比較高。就正如歷史的巨輪一樣，網上的遊戲也會汰弱留強：所有不顯著的配點方法在若干時間後就沒人會用；相反比較強的配點方法就能廣被採用。以戰鬥力來說，依照上式高等玩家與低等玩家的戰鬥力至少是二次關係。例如玩家A x等，玩家B y等，有： pow(A)/x^2 = pow(B) / x^2 pow(x)是其「戰鬥力」的量化，而pow(x)這個函數亦可當成c(ATK-kODEF) * DEF * f(SPD)這式，所以是二次以上的關係。 但是別忘了，高等玩家在屬性點充足下能力值更能接近戰鬥力的「局部最大值」(maxima)，亦有足夠的屬性點去平衡攻守，這是低等玩家做不到的。 所以，如果玩家A比玩家B強，pow(A)/x^2 > pow(B) / x^2。 從上式可得到一個結論，就是低等玩家比高等玩家更依賴加持道具。 當然，遊戲開發商這些奸商總有些法子令高等玩家也用這些道具的。例如玩家對戰，用了加持當然有優勢；另一方面就是放BOSS了。BOSS的強度往往比同級玩家高幾班，要將它打敗又有好寶的話，玩家也只好乖乖買點。

Ch. 2.3 RPG的數值系統

分析： 假設當以下等式成立時，雙方實力均等： (ODEF: 對方防禦能力，opponent’s defends SPD = 速度，speed) c(ATK-kODEF) * DEF * f(SPD) 當中c和k是正實數，分子是攻擊效率，分母為防禦效率。 (註：c和k不一定大於一。) f(x)為一函數，即角色速度與對方速度比為x時角色成功避開對方攻擊的比率函數。此函數的表現為：當x大於某一個數c時，f(x)=1，即一定能閃避。而x小過該數時從0升到1。設該數為y。當0 =< x < y時，f’(x)>0，即函數會只加不減。大部分時間f(x)都會以[(x/k)^n]或類似的形式出現，甚至類似n[sin^-1(x/k)]的形式。目的是使兩者不太懸殊時閃避率都不會特別高。當SPD>kOSPD時f(x)為1。 當 c(ATK-kODEF)*DEF *f(SPD/OSPD) = c(OATK-kDEF)*ODEF*f(OSPD/SPD) 時c可以消掉。由於我們設雙方實力相若，所以kOSPD>SPD。另一方面，我們設f(x) = (x/k)^n，有f(x) = x^2n f(1/x)。 相約得 DEF(ATK-kODEF) = ODEF(OATK-kDEF)(OSPD/SPD)^2n 相除(DEF*ODEF)得 (ATK/ODEF – k) = (OATK/DEF – k)(OSPD/SPD)^2n 這條看似沒意義的式子其實說明了其運作原理，影響其攻擊效率的是攻防的比值而不是差；只要比值超過某一個數(k)，攻擊就開始有效率，而攻擊效率低的則要以閃避彌補，雖然戰鬥時間會拖長了，但在實力上沒分別。 以上是「沒有職業」是的情況。 當職業出現時，屬性值會變得更為複雜。加入不同的延伸屬性，但要保持實力均等是很困難的。我們首先知道不同職業在「互毆」時會有相剋的關係，然而，對於共同的「無屬性」敵人其攻防效率均等。 對於RPG遊戲來說，延伸屬性只會影響五方面，也就就是最基本的「攻、防、速、血、氣」。其加乘方法，按字面，也不外乎加和乘吧！加的情況，基本上可以不理，因為永遠有一個常數的話，隨著級數上升，影響會趨向零。隨著時間而變化的「加」，也可歸進乘。 至於乘的話，亦分作兩類，第一是乘上一個常數，第二就是改變增長(多項式)的次數。一個延伸屬性也可能影響多於一個基本屬性，而其影響能力的比例是不變的。例如在屬性A上增加一點，會令HP加五，令MP加五。而在屬性B加一點，可能只會令HP加十，而不會加二十的。 另外一方面，延伸屬性在不同基本屬性可能也有不同比重。例如一個「屬性點」能使HP增加5，但只能令攻擊加一，因為攻擊和HP的「比重」是5比1。 如果「屬性點」是可以持續供應的話(例如每次升級)，屬性的加乘就是「乘」了。在這個情況下，同級玩家(不計裝備)的能力符合： aHP+bMP+cATK+dDEF+eSPD相等，當中a~e是基本屬性的比重。 理論上，「職業」同樣可當作一些額外的配點。要使其增長一樣而總能力一樣，唯一方法就是玩家的aq+br+cs+dt+eu一樣，當中q~u是延伸屬性增加的量。

Ch. 2.3 RPG的數值系統

h在此簡介RPG式的魔法，並請不要用科學角度觀賞，亦不要認真對待。 首先是元素魔法。依照古希臘哲學，存在火、水、風、土四元素。這四元素存於大氣，而魔法就是元素聚集的效應。另一個解釋為召喚出元素並使喚其作出反應，這個系統中元素可以被收容，但不存在於大氣。 魔法師級數上的分別在於使用魔法的純熟度，以及可以使喚元素的多少。當然也關係到其反應能力和戰鬥力。通常也分為低級、中級和高級(魔道士級別，再上去叫作魔導士和魔導師，然後就是禁咒師。禁咒師就是指可以使用禁咒的人，而禁咒就是禁忌的意思。 所謂的光明魔法和黑暗魔法，都是「借助其他種族」所施放出來的力量。 大家看了那麼多，稍微懂物理的人都知道這跟完全脫節。但歷史中，中世紀的人似乎有一套跟上述系統差不多的概念，當時通通被概括會「巫師」或「女巫」(諷刺的是，這些人在中世紀天主教勢力下被視為萬惡不赦的重犯，幾乎每一個數得出的酷刑都是處死巫師的方法。)雖說他們以此為「邪教」，但仍相信其存在。 魔法在RPG遊戲中使遊戲產生極大的變化空間，相應的職業也增加了不少。 故事中的「魔法師」稀有，是因為「魔法師」有「使用魔法的血統」，這個觀念在哈利波特一書也出現過。 遊戲中的職業變化之多是數不完的。但往往圍繞三個種類，分別依賴武力，技巧及魔法。三者互相相剋，亦有職業於兩者之間。以下是一些細分： 武力：傳統的長兵器，如大刀、長劍、斧、槍等，因為古書有云：一寸長、一寸強。 武→技：短兵器比長兵器更要求高的技巧，如匕首、短劍。古書也說：一寸短、一寸險。 技巧：長距攻擊的兵器。例姐弓弩、銃(槍)都屬於這一邊。 至於魔法系，本身亦依靠技巧，彌補武功上的差異，但同時亦可以「魔武雙修」，幾乎每個職業前有都可以加個「魔」字，例如魔騎士，魔弓手等。而純魔法系的也有不小，例如魔道士和牧師。 在此大家可能會問，如何決定不同職業對屬性數值的影響？ RPG遊戲對此通常有幾個做法。 一、有關屬性的增長獲得加乘。例如升級的騎士增加的武力會比升級的牧師的武力多。 二、玩家可以自行配點，配有關能力值時有加乘。 三、玩家升級時有關屬性自動增長，另外可再配點。 四、沒有加乘，純粹招式變化。 當中又以一和四較多。

Ch. 2.2 RPG故事的生活觀

以中世紀為主體的故事最主要是複製了其平民的生活觀，但上流社會的生活則類似革命前的法國。由於RPG中的階級劃分明顯(上流社會、平民社會、黑勢力)，基本上三樣的參考概念完全不同，甚至取材於截然不同的時代。 上流社會：奢華生活，用不盡的奴隸是上流社會代名詞。 平民社會：對貴族敢怒不敢言，生活貧苦，類時工業革命時期(Industrial Revolution)的貧民窟(slums)。 黑勢力：分成不同的公開/秘密公會等，理論上主角都會加入。 經濟系統 表面上與中世紀沒大分別，貧富懸殊之餘消費層也可說是分成兩層。但RPG故事基於「魔法的存在」大都會有「秘密商店」，或是「賣好寶的檔攤」。最好笑的是，這些店主都是大人物。這與中世紀完全不同(中世紀的貴族負責享受就夠了)。 貨幣方面，基本上用金、銀、銅幣，有時候還會說明多少金幣對多少銀幣等。這方面理論上是可行的，但運行起來又是另一回事。因為故事中的貨幣體制以整數為單位，而金、銀、銅幣在故事中卻代表三個不同的消費物品的層次，例如買一些蔬果，要二十銅幣，但你不會說「兩個銀幣」。這個在現實中不可能出現，如果你用「二十個一元」購物，店員也不會給你好臉色看吧！ (雖然探討RPG故事的經濟體系有點過份，但不失是個有趣的課題。) Ch.3 : RPG的「魔法」意義

Ch. 2.1 「魔法」RPG與時代的矛盾

在遊戲的基本系統被定義後，我們可以先看一看RPG的故事背景。 故事背景在RPG遊戲中極為重要，我們甚至可以說一個RPG遊戲在存在是基於一個故事。一個RPG的背景故事，除了直接影響其銷量外，也影響了遊戲主線劇情的延續性，也即時遊戲的壽命。 大多數的RPG遊戲的背影故事都有個共同地方，就是採用的年代大致於西方的中世紀(Middle Age, 400-1400)，亦可對應於中國的漢、唐、元、明。宋朝因為「重文輕武」，極少被納入(武俠)遊戲題材。 這個現象是因為這個世代有幾個特點，使故事的可塑性更大。 一、信仰。 歐州的中世紀，政教合一，以天主教為歐州的主流，天下以教皇為首。教皇亦有近乎中式皇帝的獨裁權力(當然不會有中國統治者那麼殘忍)，說一就一，不會有二，抑壓了科學的發展。但玩遊戲的不會計較這些。抑壓科學發展在故事中的好處就是「真理」(fact)可以隨意創造出來，而沒有人會懷疑當中不同「真理」間的相容性(即有沒有矛盾)。這避免了錯漏百出的「魔法概念」受到批評。 二、超能力。 這裡的超能力泛指所有非人的力量，包括「魔法、念力、神力」這些。這在宗教的支撐下顯得更為「合理」。故事中往往有個教庭，裡面的人會用「光明魔法」，有「邪教」的人會用「黑魔法」；咒語常見的句子也有「以神的名義使出xxxx」之類的語句，足見「超能力」要廣泛被接納的最佳環境就是中世紀。 三、階級觀念。 中世紀的階級權念達到巔峰。王族就一世都是王族，賤民就一世都是賤民。這個制度在故事中極為流行，是為了營造「從平民成為傳奇」的故事；說穿了，也只是「踩著別人的屍體爬上去」的人。 四、科技。 上面已經說過，科技與魔法基本上不能並存。想像一下，你用火魔法可以把我烤焦，可是你擋得住飛機大砲嗎？在理性世界下科技基本上可以取代了魔法。另一方面科技與魔法又有太大的矛盾。化學教我們原子、分子很難合成；物理教我們熱力(能量)不能變出來。那，魔法師要怎樣出火球、水彈呢？難道是神的祝福？那只有中世紀背景的人才會信。 to be continued. 接下來大概是其共通點，和進一步的分析吧!

Ch. 1.2 Exp系統

從來沒有人會懷疑「越高等越難升」這個道理。近年有一個趨勢，就是往往越多點數商品的遊戲，就越難升等。其實這個趨勢不難解釋：點數商品一定包括了「開雙」(雙倍經驗值)的商品，要讓有用點數商品和沒用點數商品的升等效率有更大差異的話就要將每一等的距離拉開。 本質上100%用點數商品「開雙」的人還不過快沒「開雙」的人升得快一倍，但要注意到等級和經驗值不是線性關係。它們之間的關係往往是這樣的。 Lv(N) = P(N) = Exp 此處N代表可能的等級(正整數)，P是一個多項式函數。Lv(N)代表要從一等升N等所需要的經驗值。下面是一個函數的定義： Deg(P) = P的最高次數。 線上遊戲的經營往往要平衡「免費玩家」(不付一分錢的玩家)和「付費玩家」(任何形式的付費，包括了點數/成為VIP)的利益。有不少線上遊戲就是因為「付了錢就萬能」的問題，遭到「免費玩家」的杯葛而倒下。 「有持續玩的免費玩家」未必佔了大多數(高等玩家的圈子來說就更少了)，但這些人卻是主宰了遊戲命脈的人。 以下的分析將會以「有持續玩的玩家」作準。 以一般的線上遊戲來說，在線上遊戲只有兩類事做，第一就是和等級有關的(砍怪，做任務等)，第二就是賺錢(擺攤) 根據統計，「付費玩家」更喜歡後者，而「免費玩家」大多都放時間在前者。如果失去了「免費玩家」的話，「付費玩家」的點數商品基本上賣不出了，而一些高等掛寵搶物品的「付費玩家」不感興趣的商品(也許不值錢)，也大部分是從「免費玩家」那邊來的。所以我們肯定的是，「免費玩家」是「付費玩家」不願代替的。就樣缺少初級生產的社會一樣是不可能的。 對應上面的方程式我們定下另一個函數： Lv(N) = x Lv(N+1) = y → Exp(z) = N, x ≦ z < y . (此處的Exp(x)只是處於Experience point，和數學的Exponential沒關。) 從上面的方程式，我們得到： Exp(2n)/Exp(n) < 2^(1/Deg(P)) 進一步來說，有「倍增經驗值」的東西未必只有一樣。不等式就變成 Exp(xn)/Exp(n) < x^(1/Deg(P)) 這個數在各個遊戲大致相同，因此： Exp(xn)/Exp(n) < x^(1/x) < 1.5 (其實大約是1.39~1.42) 這樣意味著投入相同時間的話，付費玩家的能力最多是免費玩家的1.5倍，即代表付費玩家的實際效率最多是免費玩家的1.5倍。當然，有特別裝備的付費玩家實際上可能比上面的公式多，這時便是Deg(P)>x的情況，通常線上遊戲都不會超過1.6倍的效率差。

Carol的一萬字~Part 11.3

睡意全消的我趕緊跑去開門，站在外面的正是紫欣。 「你錯過了晚餐時段啊。」 「啊？晚餐不是自己動手做的嗎？」 她聳聳肩，道：「你要自己煮的話隨便你，不過你的雪櫃還是空的吧！我們平常八點都會一起吃飯哦。」 「那……你們的食物那來？」 「踩單車時順道買的啊。海鮮的話是流浮山那邊，蔬果就去油麻地那邊就好。」 油麻地……我沒聽錯吧？九龍那邊根本就沒有單車徑！要過去就話就只可以跟汽車爭路還要猛吃塵…… 「你沒聽錯啊。只不過你忘了，果欄都是凌晨三、四點開放的。那個時段當然沒有很多車囉。」她又拿起身邊的購物袋，說：「反正我剛才也沒吃多少，不介意我在這裡弄餐吃吧？」 「嗯……」 不久，紫欣端著兩碗麵出來，放下。 火腿蛋出前一丁。 我呆了。 紫欣：「不要坐著發呆啊！放涼了沒那麼好吃。」 紫欣的手藝還真不錯。平時在荼餐廳叫「公仔麵」時，第一那家餐廳未必肯用貴價的出前一丁，第二荼餐廣絕不會有空逐個煮。他們把滾水，調味粉，麵一起煮，還要分心應付其他食物；時間到了，就連湯趕忙撈起，上菜。那一鍋充滿調味粉的水，不知道滾了多久，煮出來的出前一丁充滿了調味粉極鹹的味道，難怪不少人吃過「港式出前一丁」都 「嗯……我的意思是……作為半個運動員……我們不是應該有餐單之類的……」 她輕蔑地笑了笑，道：「我們才不理那些無聊的東西。人嘛，成長就只有一次，過去了就沒辨法回頭。既然是這樣的話，我們就應該好好讓青春發揮出來！來乾一杯吧～」她從冰箱拿了支酒出來，在我反應過來前就已經把酒杯倒滿，推到我面前。 看著眼前吐著白泡的酒杯，我小聲道：「我還沒有成年啊～」

Ch. 1.1 P系統

P系統 所謂的P系統是用來描述玩家的基本「資歷」的系統。基本上也代表了角色的強弱。 (簡單的例子：一級的角色是不可能打得過100等的玩家的。) HP(Health Points)，生命值。也俗稱「命」、「血」。 影響：代表角色的持耐力。當HP最大值偏低時玩家便要花較多時間在「補血」上。 增長：線性-二次增長。 MP(Magic points)/SP(Spell points / Special points)/AP(ability points)，在不同遊戲的名字也很不同，包括了「靈量」、「氣」等。 使出「絕招」要用的點數值。MP/SP多數是「魔法絕招」，AP則多指「體技」。 影響：代表角色的戰鬥力和續戰力。當MP/SP/AP不足時「砍怪」速度便會大減。 增長：線性以上，視乎屬性。 SP(Speed points)，速度點數，這也許是某些網上遊戲的特別之處。這是逃走時用的點數。每個回合都會累積，但逃跑時會扣。 影響：被打死的機率。 增長：線性。 PP，技能點，寵物小精靈一作中的重要元素。 增長：不會增長。 LV(Level)/ExP(Experience points)，級數和經驗值。 影響：所有能力。 增長：這個增長未必依公式計算。可能是人手設定。但另一方面公式的增長也有很多種，包括了二次增長(e.g. BattleOn)，四次增長(e.g.新絕代)，五次增長(Osu!)和指數增長(Heat Project)。 分析： 這幾個點數要設定這樣的增長速度，其實是近年遊戲的經驗累績下來的。 假設：為了防止差距過大的越級挑戰成功，只有兩種方法。我們姑且叫很的那一邊叫甲，很弱那一邊叫乙。 第一個，是讓甲秒殺乙，這樣在乙作出反擊前就死翹翹了。 第二個，無論乙怎樣打，甲還是不痛不癢。 第一個方法的話，也許甲面對弱者是可以見一個砍一個，但某程度上會對跟甲差不多等級的玩家不公平。正常來說，攻擊力與傷害值成正比，所以甲要從「扣乙不少HP」變成「把乙秒殺」，所提升的攻擊力，會直接轉嫁到跟甲差不多等級的玩家身上。但這個增加對跟甲差不多等級的玩家身上同樣是致命的。 即是說： 跟甲差不多等級的玩家的新傷害值＝「把乙秒殺」的傷害值－「扣乙不少HP」的傷害值＋原本的傷害值 舉例：乙HP為300, 甲攻乙一下扣100, 甲攻跟甲差不多等級的玩家(HP約1500)扣10。 要令甲秒殺乙，傷害值提升200，跟甲差不多等級的玩家的新傷害值為210，比率從0.7%提高到13%! 所以就只好用方法二了。但要大幅提升防禦/速度也對跟甲差不多等級的玩家不公平。所以唯一方法就是提高HP了。 因此，我們假設： 攻擊*防禦*速度*難度(HP)跟對手HP成正比。 「ATK*DEF*SPD*DIF = K(HP)」 左邊的項比較難搞，並會因不同屬性而有不同的值。考慮到不同屬性的能力值在升級時無論如何也必定會增長，所以左邊的次數最少是二。也就是說，HP至少呈二次增長。這個增長同樣適用於玩家。 考慮到玩家有「外裝」的加乘，而上面等式一邊是對手一邊是玩家，玩家的能力增長大致比怪物高。因此，怪物的HP也要增長得更快，來抗衡玩家。

19-7-09

好多天沒寫了。

很快事情發生....

一放暑假就hea左

數學一定會退步

特別係兩個鐘做完三十頁數學作業後

第一條：Solve 3x=14-4x

我不會做的話也不用上F4(SS1)吧？！？

baka baka~

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講起baka, 我e家開始學用繪圖軟件畫漫畫

希望我畫多1 2年有某犬或都某宸的功力吧！

上面係2幅劣作

現在畫Cirno...~

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莫拉菲繼杜鵑(2003)之後再一次令我地同十號緣慳一面。

莫拉菲也是繼風神(2008)之後又一個07w令我們掛上風球

莫拉菲與肯特(1995)有驚人的相似性

莫拉菲令天文台十年來為十號開出條件

莫拉菲是約克(1999)最令風迷緊張的颱風！

這是我第一次「追風」吧。

莫拉菲沒有乘乖照著「西北偏西」的方向走

反而以跳動式向西微北方向行走

天文台，HKCOC，HKWW，JWTC的預報

一次又一次改動。

擦過台灣，福建，廣東沿岸，香港！

@11:30PM

八號西北發出。

可憐的新聞報導員講都講唔到要打手勢(稍後補片)

@1:30AM

九號+黃雨發出。

出了去測一測風速。75kmph!!

尖嘴近海果然有番咁勁

@2AM

天文台開出十號波條件，要橫過HK

不過當時風眼已在深圳

除非是一次不太可能的relocation

果然，九號很快被換下……

但都是一次寶貴經驗！

明天再寫吧 XD

Carol的一萬字~Part 11.2

她也沒有要停下來的意思，漂亮地原地掉頭，直接回去。 當我們回到起點時，時間已到中午。毒辣的太陽無情的曬在每一輛車、每一個人身上。我甚至感覺到我的頭在冒煙……不對，是整個人都冒煙才對──兩個多小時的長跑，路程加上天氣幾乎可以媲美「半馬」(馬拉松的一半路程)。這時的我已經大汗淋漓加上汗流浹背，卻只是完成訓練的其中一項而已！ 饒了我吧…… 「好吧，我們來踩單車囉～」她說著把我的單車解鎖，拿出來。 明明這個黑色坐墊看起來熱到坐不下去…… 「哇啊～～！」雖然做好了心理準備，但坐下去時仍不免叫了聲。 紫欣錯愕地看著我：「好熱喔？」 「……也不是啦。」剛剛那一下也許只是反射性的慘叫。 「傻瓜，坐墊是用吸熱物料造的啦！所以就算把單車放在太陽低下一整天，坐墊也絕不會變熱的。」說完又把水遞給我。 也許是休息的欲望更能激發自己的鬥志，二百公里(那是紫欣自己減的)的路程我們在太陽下山前已經衝回去了。 夕陽下的村子裡門可羅雀，跟昨天的氣氛截然不同。 「今天我們的路程短了點，所以就比較早回來，」她帶著滿意的笑容，說：「你就先回屋子裡休息吧。順帶一提我的屋子就在那邊，記得八點要過來一趟喔！」 「嗯～」 回到屋子，我才發現這間屋不僅用料奢華，設計也很恰當。 床，就在門的旁邊。 床的旁邊，便是浴室！ 不得不讚一下設計出這屋的人，大概早就想到我們這些可憐的人，一回來就要倒在床上吧！ 趕緊洗個澡，倒在床上，很快就睡著了。因為古人有云：「夏日炎炎正好眠」。無論是晴天、陰天、八號風球抑話係紅色暴雨，只要是夏天，都很容易睡著。 …… 「叮咚！」 大概是聽錯了吧，繼續睡。 「叮咚！叮咚！叮咚！……」 那個不知好歹的家伙來搗亂啊……慢著！紫欣不是說過八點要過去一下的嗎？ 我拿起時鐘一看，十一點。

Carol的一萬字~Part 11.1

這種非正式的單車比賽，姑且稱之為單車對決。單車對決的規則很簡單，就是以最快的速度抵達終點。期間大家只可以使用單車作武器，例如衝撞對方。由於是非正式比賽，雙方不會對傷亡作出任何責任，而隊中通常都有隊醫。一場對決通常是三對三或六對六。 回到這個新的家「家」，在癱倒在白滑柔軟的床上之前，我還是把整座屋子看過一遍。 我之前一直都沒有注意到，一樓有通往其他屋的通道，而通道的頂方和兩邊都是用玻璃搭成。這也意味著屋子互相連接成一個條巨大的單車場！此外一、二樓之間除了有電梯和樓梯連接著外，還有一條斜路連接著這兩層，方便使用者可以快速來往一二樓以及其他房子。 三樓的擺設都比較特別，整層都是睡房：除了床、電腦、書架外睡房另一邊還設了一張吧台，只是令人哭笑不得的是，吧台後面是放了不少酒，當中也有名酒……可是我也才快十八歲，還不能喝洒啊！ 翌日，吐露港公路。 雖說是放暑假，但以農曆計算已近大暑。換言之，是最熱的幾天。萬里晴空加上三十八度的高溫，旁邊是呼嘯而過的汽車，更會排出熾熱的廢氣。這樣的天氣，又會有多少人願意出來踩單車呢？ 在惡毒的太陽下，大概就只有我知紫欣在這公路上吧。 這是我第一次使用自己的「戰車」，就如想像中一樣踩起來毫不費力，但要控制起來就難一點了。要從村裡一直追上紫欣那種職業車手的速度，還要轉上不少彎，真的不容易。看見她應付自如的樣子，我真的懷疑自已到底有甚麼能耐能夠混進來。 「嗯～今天天氣還不錯呢。先來長跑吧！從這裡到沙田馬場的來回就差不多十公里了。我會在旁邊踩單車監視著你的哦！」紫欣一邊把我的車鎖起一邊這樣道。 「可是……今天這樣做大概會變成人乾吧。從這裡到沙田一路都很曬啊……喂！」我還沒有說完，她已經騎上單車向沙田飛弛而去，我也只好跑上去。 她似乎無意拋離我，要追上她還是很因難，等到我追上去時，我才發現，我們早已跑過馬場，比預訂的跑多了。 一路跑其實不會感到疲累，但你一停下來時身邊彷如上升十幾度，渾身發熱，尤其是長跑過後，我汗如雨下，甚至有點暈眩。 「跑得不錯啊！不過要快一點了，不然趕不及回去的話要加班訓練哦！」她笑著掏出了支特大礦泉給我。 焦灼的喉嚨就如遇到清涼的泉源，一大支水一下子就被吞了下去，還一邊給自己灌水一邊跑回去追著她。 真的很奇怪。要是平時我早就趴在地上動彈不得了(雖然這樣的天氣我趴下去也會彈起來)……難道，她可以瞬間提升我的體能……？

Economic relationship between Hong Kong and other countries

(too much tables on relationship between HK and mainland, included in the .doc. verison) Division of labour refers to the production of good or service is divided into different production stages and each worker specialises in one or more stages. International division of labour Different countries/regions specialise in different production stages – with improvement in communication and transport facilities, business man act as the middlemen to separate production into different stages. Different countries/regions specialise in producing different products – This country/region can produce these products or services at a lower cost than others. International trade refers to the buying and selling of goods and services between different countries and regions. It has the following advantages: 1) Acquire resources – This satisfies the demand of residents and supports industrial and commercial development. e.g., HK acquire raw materials through importing. 2) Improve living standard – Through international division of labour, countries/regions can engage in economic activities that they’re good at, and exchange good and services they need, and raise quantity and quality of output, thereby improving people’s standard of living. (e.g. HK imports car to give residents more transportation options) 3) Earn foreign exchange – through international trade, manufacturers earn foreign exchanges, they’re used to purchase raw material or for investment, and further promote Hong Kong’s economic development. 4) Provide job opportunities – International trade provides job opportunities. 5) Facilitate international understanding and exchange – through economic corporation, countries can get know of others’ strengths and needs and strengthens the link between HK and other countries, and promote mutual understanding and exchange of technology. Hong Kong participate to international organizations to foster trade liberalization and international economic corporation, and use the name “Hong Kong, Chine” according to the Basic Law. World Trade Organisation (WTO) – set up multilateral trade system; promote liberalization of international trade and conduct trading business. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – Regional forum for senior government official to discuss issues on promoting economic growth and cooperation, and trade and investment as well. Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC)- Promote active collaboration on matters of common interest. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – Promote economic development among members and assist development on industrialized countries and emerging countries.

EPA notes - Mass media

(oh... hateful mass media XD.) (I have to use font 10, Arial to fit the note in 2 page ~_~) Mass media transmit information to general publics; e.g. radio and the Internet. Through the mass media, we can receive local and international news. There’re four functions of mass media: 1) Transmitting information – we can receive variety information from mass media. 2) It also provides channels for the public to express their opinions, including letters to newspaper and phone-in program. 3) It also educates the public though educational programmer or publications. 4) It also provides entertainment; examples include serialized drama for television channels and musical programmes for radio channels. Importance 1) Monitoring society and government – highlighting social problems and monitor the government. e.g. concerning on unemployment problem and government policies. 2) Source of different viewpoints – They report social issues on different angles and viewpoints. People can gain more through understanding of the situation. This helps promote idea exchange, and government may informed of public opinions. 3) Outlet for express dissatisfaction constructively and helps maintain social stability. 4) They provide global news and information and promote international communication and understanding. In order to fulfill those functions of mass media, they exercise the freedom of press and publication; and shouldering their responsibilities as well. Freedom of press – journalist can report the news freely. Freedom of publication – people may express themselves through publication. They can freely report in different angles and channel different viewpoints. They should also act in the interest of the public and highlight social problems, and giver factual, accurate, objective and fair reports. Mass media can be further classified into print media (newspaper, magazines, and books) and electronic media (radio, TV, the Internet). There’re lots of print media in Hong Kong, varies from technical matters to entertainment. Domestic free television programme services: Television Broadcasts Limited and Asia Television Limited→the only 2 licenses, and the publicly founded Radio Television of Hong Kong produces television programmes to let TVB or ATV to broadcast. Domestic pay television programme services: Hong Kong Cable Television Limited and Hong Kong Broadband Network→the only 2 licenses, offering 24-hours news and movie broadcast. Non-domestic television programme services: Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting→only license. Radio: Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited (Commercial Radio) and Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited (Metro Broadcast) are two commercial radio stations, providing 24-hour news and entertaining programmes. Films: Hong Kong is a major film-producing center, it produce nearly 100 films a year. Print and broadcast media will also upload their publications, radio, programmes or broadcasting onto the Internet and open to public through this Internet platform. Improper use of mass media and its impact 1) False and inaccurate reports – exaggerated reports, e.g. showy headlines and sensational descriptions. It may also contain conjecture, inaccuracy and lies. This will mislead public and even damage the reputation or interest of people involved 2) Intrusion of privacy – they chase on public figures and made news on them to achieve high rate. This infringes on public figures’ privacy and causes disturbances to their lives. 3) Emphasising improper values, e.g. sexual, violent or gang-related, giving negative influence on children and teenagers, corrupt general social morals and indirectly cause social problem. 4) News mixed with entertainment information –over-emphasise of entertainment information, lowering quality of news report and public won’t take the news seriously, and understand it in a sincere and objective way. Measures taken of government -Legislation on defamation (person who is being defamed may sue the mass media for defamation or damages), contempt of court (before the judgment of court, the mass media mustn’t made any judgment on the case) and the Indecent and obscene articles (mass media are subject to the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, who publishes obscene articles can be jailed). -Regulatory bodies: Broadcasting Authority regulates and sets guidelines for broadcasting services. Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority examines samples from TV and radio to see if codes of practice are violated and penalises them. Handle public complaints and censor films that intended for public exhibition aw well. Obscene Articles Tribunal determines whether an article is obscene or indecent. Self discipline of mass media -Set up (independent) monitoring organization to do internal monitoring and handle public complaints and conduct investigations. -establish guidelines.—journalist take public interest as basis of their work, and uphold the principle of truth, objectivity and fairness. -Upgrade the quality of profession – provide more training on their staff. Individual roles: - Assess the credibility of the report – whether its views are credible. - Don’t trust authoritative source blindly – it may not necessarily be fair, impartial or correct. - Distinguish between facts and opinions. - Don’t grasp information from headlines and lead paragraphs to avoid misleading yourself.

International cooperation

Hague conference The first Hague Conference – 26 countries met at Hague, Holland to discuss disarmament among major European powers, in 1899. The second Hague Conference – 40 countries joined, in 1907. They failed to prevent outbreak of WWI, but they have set up the Hague Tribunal to settle future international disputes. The League of Nations In 1919, President Wilson of US suggested to form a peacemaking organization, and to solve problems by discussing but not by fighting. It was set up in 2020, its HQ were in Geneva, Switzerland. The objectives include: cooperate with others; work for peace among all nations; respect other’s boundaries; settle dispute peacefully through this organizations; take action if a member was attacked, and set up and accept the decisions of the Court of International Justice. Achievement: It encouraged its members to provide better wages and working conditions in their country; controlled the spread of epidemics; and improved the health services of under-developed areas in the world. Weakness 1) President Wilson thought that members can protect each other by arm force originally, but many countries didn’t want to use armed force after WWI, and thus it’s lack of armed force to carry out its decisions. 2) Lack of support from US which had a strong influence to the world at that time. 3) Lack of fund. At the end, it can settle dispute among small nations, but failed to maintain world peace – failed to stop aggression from the axis power and led to the outbreak of the WWII. It was formally dissolved in 1946 (the year after WWII). The United Nations Britain, China, the US and USSR planned for a new organization to replace the League of Nations after WWII. 51 countries met in San Francisco and signed the United Nations Charter in 1945. It officially started on 24 Oct. 1945. Its HQ is at New York City. There’s two olive branches surround the world and symbolizing world peace in the UN flag. - The General Assembly for all members to debate world issues and set policies of UN. - The Security Council is responsible to preserve international peace and security, and Britain, France, Russia (former USSR), China (PRC) and the US are permanent members of the Council. - The secretariat – Administrative region, carries out day-to-day work of UN. Headed by the secretary-general and as a mediator between administrative region and other parts of UN. (Kofi Annan → Ban Ki-moon) - The Economics and Social Council – to raise living standards and improve economic conditions throughout the world. Agencies include FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and WHO (World Health Organization). - Trusteeship Council – promote self-government in non-independent countries. - The International Court of Justice – handles dispute against international law. - Other works include providing shelter for refugees; providing financial aid to developing countries; take care of underprivileged children; protecting human rights; increasing food production; developing education and Improving sanitary conditions. Achievements 1) Settling International Disputes successfully so far. Examples include quarrels among Israel, Palestine and Arabia; forced Iraq to remove troops from Kuwait during Persian Gulf War. 2) Promoting International Cooperation – held conference to solve global problems since 1960s, and worked on international disarmament and banned nuclear and biological weapons. 3) Providing humanitarian assistance – help refugees, underdeveloped and war-torn nations; emergency aid for developing countries. Examples: Vietnam refugees. 4) Improved social, economic, cultural and sanitary conditions in the world, and established the basic rights of every person on earth. It also helped developing countries to improve the public health service. Weaknesses 1) It’s only a voluntary organization and lack of independent armed force→ reliance on members to supply armed force. 2) Lack of sufficient funds. (The US didn’t give money to UN.) 3) Overuse of veto power in the Security Council – Once veto power is used, the issues is canceled. Therefore some countries used this power for their own selfish reasons, and the UN is hard to make effective actions against those countries.

19-6-09

夜深。 已經是凌晨一點了。 股市有云，五窮六絕七翻身。 原來，學業也是。 正所謂五月飛霜，六月飛的，就是試卷。 是空白的試卷、撕碎的試卷、充斥著自由基，令人變老的試卷。 難為了萃萃學子，日溫夜溫，還要挑最靜的時候溫。 樓下酒吧在夜晚顯得格外醒神，鮮艷的霓虹燈閃爍著，喧鬧聲嘈雜不斷。 要不是足球聯賽已經完了的話，大概會更囂鬧吧。 「啪！」一疊筆記掉在地上。 月光下依稀看到那疊筆記已經很舊了。應該說是用得很舊。 上面寫著不少補充，摺角位已經皺起了。 少年緩緩撿起暗處的筆記，他的動作看起來就像個六七歲的老人，背後看起來更帶無盡的嘆息。 「GOAL!」不知那隊又進球了吧。 樓下的狂歡，與上面的悲涼反映出極大對比。 「啪！」他手上又一個咖啡罐被捏扁。這是他第三罐咖啡了，但厚重的鏡片背後仍是一片迷茫。 他拿起手提電話打給別人，聲音在空洞的房子背後顯得格外寂寞。 「喂，是你嗎？」 「嗯……那麼晚還沒溫好嗎？」接電話的人是把清脆甜美的女聲，不過顯然也很倦了。 「我可以問一下你Bio嗎？」他有點膽怯地道。 「沒問題啦，只是我真的好睏，答完你我就去睡了哦。」 「……好吧。為甚麼血壓是用mm Hg量的？」他的聲音帶著一種不捨。 「唉～你的common sense也太common了吧。手動式的血壓計充氣時也會對水銀柱施力，水銀受壓上漲，所以就用mm來量水銀上升高度作為指標啊！」電話另一邊傳來了嬌嗔，「難怪你連滇越公路和滇越鐵路也搞混了吧。」 「我才不會！滇越公路是雲南軍民在1942年以人力 9個月內建成的吧！」 「嗯～那就對了～晚安」對方打了個呵欠，斷了線。 少年嘆了口氣，繼續溫書。 咖啡香氣飄出充斥酒氣的室外，不知道在這醉人的月光下，又有多少人被迷住，思念遙遠的他方，把知識通通還給老師？ ======================================================= Maths 「煎」 中史 「炒」 I.S. 「炸」 好驚……呢個已經超出二次範圍…… 已許像德國剷平法國一樣吧？

Circulatory system

We need a transportation system to link up different parts of our body, to supply nutrients and oxygen, and take away wastes and carbon dioxide. It’s known as the circulatory system, made up of the followings: 1) Blood, fluid that transport materials. It’s the suspension of cells in a pale yellow liquid called plasma, containing water, dissolved nutrients, wastes and other substances, and make up 55% of blood. (tables of different blood cells missed here.) 2) Blood vessels, a network of tube for blood to pass through. (Arteries, capillaries and Veins) (Tables on different kinds of blood vessels missed here) 3) Heart, the pump to make the blood to circulate the network. Blood flows like this “(different parts of our body)→right auricle→right ventricle→lung→left auricle→left ventricle”. There’re heart strings to hold the valves between auricles and ventricles, septum is used to separate the left and right parts of heart, and there’re valves in the arteries in the heart (the only arteries that have valves) When auricles relax, blood flows in the auricles, when it contract, blood was squeezed into ventricles, and when ventricles contract, it flows into the large arteries. Blood flows through the heart twice (lung: pulmonary circulation and the rest of the body: systemic circulation) to complete one circulation so it’s called double circulation. Heartbeat rate, pulse rate and blood pressure can be the indicators of our health. Heartbeat rate which we can feel at left chest, equal our pulse rate which we can feel it on areas that arteries pass through near the skin, e.g. wrist, neck and temple. It’s about 70 when we’re at rest. Varies of diseases can be indicated in the change of rate, rhythm and force of the pulse. When blood is pumped out, it rushes into blood vessels and presses on their walls and produces a pressure on the blood vessels, called blood pressure. It’s measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). When the heart contracts, it’s about 120mm Hg, when the heart relax, it’s about 80mm Hg, and it’s expressed as 120/80mm Hg. It can be measured with a stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer. There’re also some electronic measuring devices as well. However, it will change with age, sex, health condition and the mood of the person. Eating for a healthy circulatory system We should not eat a lot of cholesterol, which always appear in fatty foods. Some of them come from membranes and hormones, and also come from our body. There are some uses in our body, but it’ll also deposits in the inner walls of the blood vessels and hardens the walls and cause high blood pressure. When the deposits keep increasing, it’ll even trigger the blood platelets to form clots and totally stuck the blood vessels. If blockage happens in the cor0onary arteries, supply of O2 and nutrients for heart muscles is not enough, coronary heart disease my happen and heart attack will happen. If blockage or rupture happens in the brain arteries, stroke may result, brain cells which can’t be recovered are damaged due to lack of O2, paralysis or death may happen depends on how the brain is damaged. We avoid eating of fatty meats, organ meats and egg yolk. It’s recommend that we shouldn’t take over 300mg per day. Fats are made up of glycerol and fatty acids and can be classifying into two types: 1) Saturated fatty acids raise the cholesterol level in blood. They mainly come from animal origin and some plant product such as coconut and palm oil. 2) Unsaturated (can be further classify into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) fatty acids reduce the cholesterol level in the blood, usually found in nuts, seed, nuts and oil. No. of red/white blood cells, blood platelets, blood haemoglobin content, blood glucose and blood cholesterol is also indicators of health. We have to keep fit (fitness of body, not the body shape) to have a higher resistance to disease, withstand stress better, react faster, keep a good body figure with healthy weight and fully enjoy our life. There’re several indicators: 1) Body Mass Index (BMI) = Weight (kg)/height (m)2, and18.5-24.9 is normal. Regular exercises help us to keep normal weight. 2) Pulse rate. Healthier person has a healthier heart that can pump more efficiently, and they have a lower resting pulse rate and shorter recovery time after exercise. 3) Vital capacity is the max. vol. of air can be blow out from the lung by the deepest breath, which can be measured by a breath volume kit. Normally 4000mL. 4) S-factors: Strength – the amount of force that your muscles can exert; suppleness --- for us to stretch, bend and twist freely; and stamina keep us going when we exercise hard. Stronger heart and lungs can supply more oxygen to support us.

Physics – total internal reflection and colours

Total internal reflection By Shell’s Law, we know that the value of sin x can’t be larger than 1. But if one side of the equation is larger than the refractive index on another side, we’ll found that another side of the equation can never equal to another side, and the total internal reflection occur. It’s a “reflection” so that it obeys the law of reflection. For example, the light strike from glass (R.I. 1.7) to air, 1.7sin (angle of incidence) =1sin (angle of refraction), if the angle of incidence is big enough, equation can’t hold. The “big enough” limit is called the critical angle, and c=sin-1 (1/x). It follows that when the R.I. is bigger, critical angle is smaller and total internal reflection is easier to happen. This explained why it mostly happen in medium with higher R.I.. Applications: 1) Views under water – when you’re under water, you may not see the image above water if the angle of incidence is big enough, and the range that you can see image above water is in cone shape, with the axis from your eyes, perpendicular to the water surface. (This is because the angle of incidence is limited.) 2) Periscope – If we use glass with enough big R.I.(bigger than 1.5, usually, is enough), we can make two 45-90-45 triangular prisms to reflect light just like plane mirrors. 3) Diamond – it’s so bright because it’s R.I. is too high (above 2) such that all light (especially after process) will be reflected back. 4) “Cat’s eye” in front of the car uses the same rule to give out strong light. Optical fibres Optical fibre is a tube-like device which can transmit light. It's made by glass and some other material, layer by layer. Since total internal reflection always occur inside the tube, and the tube can be bent into a certain angle, it can transmit light in the curved path. There is various application of optical fibre. The most important use is the usage on telecommunication services. Comparing with the traditional wire, it's much cheaper since the traditional wire uses a lot of copper. Even the material cost is more expensive than the production cost of optical fibre considering the same volume. Another important use is endoscope for surgery. Colours When a narrow white light passes through a triangular (△ shape) glass prism, it will changed into a fan of colours, from the top to bottom; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. This band of colours is called the colour spectrum, and we say that it is the dispersion of the white light. One of its applications is the rainbow. After raining, the air is full of small water droplets. They refracted (twice; in and out the water droplets), reflected (total internal reflection within the water droplets) and disperse the sun light to colour spectrum into our eyes. White light is the mixture of three primary coloured lights, red, blue and green. They can produce all colours. Red and blue produces magenta, red and green produces yellow, blue and green produces cyan, and all three together produce white light. Colour televisions produces different colours on the TVs by giving signals to three phosphor dots inside the TV and give out red, blue and green colours. We sense colours also because the three types of cones cells and receive the three kind of primary coloured lights. Those who do not have enough cones cells is called to have colour blindness, and it’s inherited and can’t be corrected. Those who have defect on all three types of cones cells are called total colour blindness. We see object because they reflect that light to us. For example, apples reflects red light to us. Other lights will be absorbed (and turned into heat energy). Another example is that white object reflects everything to us and thus we see it’s white, which is the mixture of red, blue and green light. “The object with colour N, shined by colour X, will reflect light that N and X contains commonly and absorb the remaining part.” E.g. When a cyan object shined by yellow light, it will reflect green light (which cyan and yellow contains commonly) and absorb red light (the remaining part of yellow.) Colour filters are used to let certain lights to pass through and absorb the remaining light. “The colour filters with colour N, shined by colour X, will let light that N and X contains commonly to pass through, and absorb the remaining part.” The function between a normal object and a colour filter a nearly the same, but colour filters is designed to let light to pass through it.

抗日、內戰及中華人民共和國歷史

註1:這篇是趕考試打的，所以"文革的後果"沒打上去，錯漏也比較多 註2:這篇可能比較長(約3800字)，因為涉及到近60年的近代史，而且有少許補充資料是課本以外的。
(例如關於滇緬公路)

抗日戰爭歷時八年(37年7月到45年8月)，又可分為退守、相持和決勝三階段。
雖然國共合作後仍然實力不足，但日本視之為實力增強的大患，於是展開全面侵華。37年6月，日軍於北平外圍進行挑釁性軍事演習。7月7日，日軍借口一士兵失蹤要求進入宛平城被拒，砲轟城外的盧溝橋，第二十九路軍予以抵抗，中日戰爭正式開始，稱為七七/盧溝橋事變，事後共產黨發表抗日通電：蔣介石在廬山發表抗戰的宣言。從七七事變到次年10月武漢撤守為退守的階段，日本揚言三個月佔領中國，一方面攻陷北平、天津，又開啟淞滬戰場；並守上海達三個月，年底始被攻陷，日軍屠殺城市三十萬人，史稱南京大屠殺。南京陷落前國民政府遷都重慶。退守期間曾取得平型關和台兒莊大捷。 (日軍稱之為「玉碎戰」)
在38年武漢失守到41年底珍珠港事變為相持階段，國軍主力撤入西部高山丘陵地帶，利用地形抗衡日軍的機動化優勢。日本亦實行以華制華，進一步扶植汪精衛於南京成立偽國民政府，維持日佔區秩序和提供補給。 此時東南沿海已為日佔區，只能依靠西南邊境，但西方列強無暇東顧，因此與日本妥協，封鎖了滇緬公路和滇越鐵路。但中國當時奇跡地九個月內不以重型機械輔助，以軍民力量九個月內建成滇緬公路。此外，中國在長沙會戰中接連勝利，華北和江南地區的八路軍和新四軍(均為共產黨)亦參與對日遊擊戰。
一直到45年8月日本投降為止，是決勝階段。由於日軍於中國戰場陷於停滯，企圖繞過中南半島攻擊中國大後方，但其南進道路受阻於英美，所以日軍先偷襲檀香山附近的(海軍)軍事基地珍珠港，以致英美向日本宣戰，太平洋戰爭爆發。中國又與英美蘇等結盟，共同向軸心國作戰。中國軍隊於45年向閩浙、廣西作出反攻。45年5月，德國投降；8月，美國向日擲下原子彈，幾十萬人死傷，同月15日，日本無條件投降。中國的八年抗戰以勝利結束。
其勝利歸於以下原因：
全民抗戰──中國人民同仇敵愾，展開民族自衛戰，是抗戰勝利的基礎。
國共合作──西安事變後雙方站在同一戰線，國軍在正面戰場與日軍對抗製造大戰役，八路軍和新四軍(共軍)在敵佔區發動遊擊，造成夾擊之勢。 戰略奏效──日軍深入內地時機械化裝備的優勢難以發揮；國軍退至高山丘陵地帶，共軍於日軍後方建立抗日根據地，使日本不能構成有效的佔領，腹背受敵。
盟國協助──太平洋戰爭爆發後，中、英、美、蘇結盟，有助抗戰。

國共內戰

抗日時國共仍有磨擦，40月1月，皖南新四軍被國軍聚殲。後來國共為了爭奪日佔區的利益而磨擦加劇，國共分別有自己的行政轄區和軍隊，出現大規模內戰的跡象。抗戰結束後，蔣介石邀毛澤東到重慶會談，10月10日簽下雙十協定，雙方願意以和平、民主、團結為基礎建立中國，次年初在美國調停下簽訂停戰協定，並在重慶召開政治協商會議，決議包括實施和平建國綱領、整編軍隊、召開國民大會、制定憲法且實施前國民政府為最高權力機關。但實際上雙方武裝衝突沒有停止。46年6月，國民政府召集大軍發動全面進攻，國共內戰正式開始。 當時國民黨兵力四百三十萬人；控制三億人口，有大城市，主要鐵路和豐富生產資備，又有日軍裝備和美國支援；共軍一百二十萬人，控制一億三千萬人口，雖接收日軍少數裝備，但在軍力及生產資源上都處於劣勢。

內戰初期國(政府)軍搶攻，佔領百多座城鎮，更一度佔領延安，而解放軍採取運動戰消耗對方兵力。次年夏國軍兵力降到四百萬，失去全面進攻能力，而解放軍增到二百萬人，開始反擊；48年8月，共軍280萬，國軍360萬。期後的三場大戰使國民黨大勢盡去：遼瀋戰役(48年9-11月)，國軍47萬人被殲；准(南至准海)海(東至海州)之戰(48年11月到49年1月)，國軍失去南京的門戶和軍事基地徐州，55萬人被殲；同時的平津戰役國軍被殲52萬人。蔣介石輸掉東北、華北、中原地區以及150萬軍隊後引退，由李宗仁接任總理。當時共軍增至300萬人，49年4月國民黨派人到北平談判，談判裂後共軍過江攻下首都南京。國民政府先後遷都至廣州、重慶、成都，李宗仁見無事可為，經香港前往美國，12月國民政府遷台。 9月時共產黨在北平召開中國人民政治協商會議第一屆全體會議，通過中國人民政治協商會議共同綱領，選毛澤東為中央人民政府主席。10月1日周恩來被任命為政務院總理兼外交部長，並舉行開國大典。

中華人民共和國(下稱中國)在最初兩三年實行「土地改革」──50年6月頒佈中華人民共和國土地改革法；「鎮壓反革命」──同年7月頒佈關於鎮壓反革命的指示，又稱「鎮反」；「三反五反」，即「反貪污、反浪費、反官僚主義」(對內部機關)、「反行賄、反偷稅漏稅、反盜竊國家資材、反偷工減料、反盜竊國家經濟情報」(對工商業者)。五年計劃(53-57)──農業、手工業、私人工商業的社會主義改造(生產資料從私有改為公有，包括了集體所有制和全民所有制)，生產了很多中國原本沒有的商品。農民和手工業者合作化：改組成農業生產合作社和手工業生產合作社，又將私營工商企業改為公私合營，採取贖買政策，逐漸改為國營。 56年基本完成了農業、手工業集體化和工商業國有化等三大社會主義改造。

54年9月通過中華人民共和國憲法，規定中國是以工農聯盟為基礎的人民民主國家，各族平等相處、全國人民代表大會為最高機關；毛澤東為主席，劉少奇為全國人大常委會委員長、周恩來為國務院總理。57年進行整風運動，容許提出批評意見，毛提出百家齊放、百家爭嗚的基本(雙百)方計，但他又認為他們批評共產黨政策是蓄意攻擊其領導，指他們為右派，變成反右派鬥爭，結果不少上被安上「反黨反社會主義」。次年推行第二個五年計劃，提出社會主義建設總路線，分別為總路線──鼓足幹勁，力爭上游，多快好省地建設社會主義；大躍進──訂高指標，「全民大煉鋼」，用土高爐，行土法煉鋼，農業實行深翻土地，高度密植，宜揚高產田(虛報產量)。人民公社──將農業生產合作社改組合併以成立人民公社；行集體所有制，它又分為三級，公社、生產大隊和生產隊，按勞取酬。但三面紅旗脫離現實，蘇聯又與其交惡，撤走專家和授助，59至61年出了三年饑荒。

59年第二屆全國人民代表大會上劉少奇取代毛成為國家主席，毛仍為黨主席。劉和鄧小平進行較為實際調整工作，62年經濟有所恢復。 由於毛澤東的三面紅旗使其聲望受損，而劉少奇實行三自一包，即自留地、自由市場、自負盈虧和包產到戶，被認為是資本主義復辟，使毛不滿，他亦不承認其失誤，同時想收回失去的權力。62年之後，他不斷強調社會有階級鬥爭，黨內也出現「走資本主義道路的當權派」於是在66年發動文革。

66年5月16日，中共發出毛制定的中國共產黨中央委會員通知，成立中央文革小組，目標為整肅黨內的走資派和資產階級反動學術權威。毛亦親自寫了炮打蝨令部的大字報。文革開始後不久，清華大學附中率先組成紅衛兵，全國仿效，毛先後八次接見紅衛兵。他們借「破四舊、立四新」(思想、文化、風俗、習慣)，到處批鬥和銷毀文物，還自稱遵照毛「造反有理」來做。 67年起各地革命造反派奪取地方各級黨和政府領導權，另組革命委員會。次年劉少奇終被鬥下台。林彪取代劉成為接班人後急欲成為國家主席，引起毛的反感。 71年他發動政變事敗墜機於外蒙古，周恩來接手主持中共中央日常工作。江青、張春橋、姚文元和王洪文結成四人幫攻擊周恩來，希望得到實際權力。

76年1月周恩來去世，由鄧小平接任，他著手改正文革偏向；同年清明發生民眾悼念周恩來、抨擊文革的天安門事件，鄧小平再被罷黜。同年9月，毛澤東死。華國鋒在軍權的葉劍英等支持下逮捕四人幫，繼任中共中央主席，文革至此結束。 鄧小平後來取代華國鋒，又推動四個現代化(農業、工業、國防、科技)，對內廢除人民公社，在城市擴大企業自主權，建立社會主義市場經濟體制。對外亦在深圳、珠海設經濟特區，在上海、廣州等多個沿海港口城市設沿海經濟開放區。

 80年代以來工農業均有大幅進展，解決了溫飽問題；03和05分別發射神舟五和六號載人飛船。不過改革期間也出現通脹加虧、貧富懸殊擴大、幹部貪污腐化，期間89年民眾悼念前中共中央總書記胡耀邦時觸發反貪污、反官倒活動，軍方於6月4日出動坦克鎮壓，屠殺市民，因此又被稱為六四事件。 另外國營企業的低效益和腐敗亦受到批評。97年鄧小平去世後江澤民、朱鎔基相繼接任，03年由胡錦濤任國家主席，溫家寶任國務院總理。 其外交堅持五項原則：互相尊重領土和主權完整；互不侵犯；不干涉他人內政；平等互利和和平共處。到06年中國已有180個國家與中國建立外交關係，71年取代民國在聯合國的合法席位，成為安理會五個常任理事國之一；01年加入世貿和取得08年夏季奧運會主辦權。現時中國已在世界有舉足輕重的地位。 49年國民黨遷台後與對岸呈長期對立。75年蔣介石去世，總統先後由嚴家淦、蔣經國和李登輝出任。00年起陳水扁成為總統，但他被揭分涉及貪污舞弊案，民眾發起反貪腐倒扁大合動。台灣於50年代實行土地改革，60年代實行9年免費教育、70年代後成為亞州四小龍之一。79年元旦共產黨對台發表告台灣同胞書，建議三通(通商、通航、通郵)，80年代初又提出一國兩制。93年4月，共產黨派海峽兩岸關係協會會長汪道涵和海峽交流其金會董事長辜振甫在新加坡會談，簽署多項協議；03年歷史性通航；05年國民黨和親民黨主席連戰和宋楚瑜先後到大陸訪問胡錦濤。台灣在李登輝時強調雙方是特殊的國與國關係；陳水扁時提出一邊一國論、去中國化，推行台獨，表示台灣是個主權獨立的國家。

(最後一段只是從教科書整理而得。是否政治正確，則見人見智了。)

16-6-09

612事變後，Geog、中文相繼失守 F3係英文試卷苦戰一個半鐘後撤退，對C國來說是迎頭一擊!! C國決定實行GE大屠殺，保守估計至少有30分被屠殺…… 史稱「GE大屠殺」。 在豬流感加強侵港下，F3革命軍未能成功圍剿composition 隨著革命軍退守數學戰區，戰果到底如何……？ 請看下回分解。

五四運動及國共合作

一戰期間西方列強無暇東顧，日本借機向德宣戰，強奪德佔膠濟鐵路和青島。戰爭結束後，1919年初戰勝國在巴黎召開巴黎和會，中國也參與其中。中國在會中國要求廢除列強在華特權、取消二十一條以及廢除日本在一戰間在山束強佔的各種利益，均遭到拒絕，並且在對德和約中，德國在山東一切利益轉給日本。消息使民眾激憤，觸發五四運動。5月4日多人於天安門集會，提出外爭國權，內除國賊；要求嚴懲接納二十一條給向日本借款的人，包括章宗祥、陸宗輿和曹汝霖；學生毆打章宗祥，又燒了曹汝霖的住宅。軍警拘捕學生後更加激發他們的情緒，學生罷課、工人罷工、商人罷市，北洋政府妥協釋放學生，免去三人職權，以及拒絕和約上簽字。
影響：
捍衛國家權益──學生及各階層的力爭國家權益成功使北洋政府改變外交決定，亦是對列強的警示：中國不再由列強控制。
啟迪青年愛國──五四運動後青年對國家的關心和責任感增加，積極參與政治活動，提高愛國心，反對外國的侵略。
促進文化活動──袁上台後鼓吹「尊孔復古」，陳獨秀和胡適因不認同其行為而推行新文化運動，反對舊禮教、舊道德，提倡民主(德先生)和科學(賽先生)。另外有北大校長蔡元培之大力推動，新文化活動在五中運動中掀起高潮。

國民黨──同盟會改組而成，二次革命後解散，1914年孫中山組識中華革命黨，再於1919年10月改回國民黨，綱領是「三民主義」、打倒軍閥和反帝國主義。
共產黨──1917俄國十月革命成功令中國知識分子研究共產主義，1920年，陳獨秀、李大釗和毛澤東在上海、北京、湖南等地宣揚共產主義小組，次年7月各地派代表在上海舉行會議，選出陳獨秀為第一任中央局書記，中國共產黨正式成立。其綱領為打倒軍閥，趕走帝國主義在華勢力，然後建立民主共和國。
兩黨均主張打倒軍閥和帝國主義，黨員又不足，國民黨沒有軍隊和經費，而共產黨的力量也不足，成為合作的基礎。孫中山也認為要「以俄為師」才可成功革命，1922年蘇俄特使越飛與其會談，次年發表孫文越飛宣言，表示中國革命是要爭取中國真正統一獨立，而蘇俄願意助華。1924年1月國民黨確定「聯俄、容共、扶助農工」三大政策。黨內合作：容共即指共產黨黨員可以以個人身份加入國民黨，更可擔任一定領導職務。軍事合作：孫中山在廣州黃埔創立中國國民黨陸軍軍官學校(黃埔軍校)，蔣介石為校長，廖仲愷為國民黨代表，周恩來(共產黨)為政治部副主任。
國民黨成立後，孫中山就在廣州重組軍政府，自任海陸軍大元帥，籌備北伐，但於1925年病逝。他死後國民黨將廣州軍政府改組為國民政府，以汪精衛為主席，1926年7月，蔣介石任革命軍總司令開始北伐。當時直系的吳佩孚控制湖南、湖北、河南，孫傅芳控制福建、江西、浙江、江蘇和安徽，奉系張作霖則控制東北和北洋政府。北伐首先指向直系兩人，分三路出發；西路向兩湖進攻(吳)，東路福建，中路江西(孫)。西路成功打敗了吳佩孚的主力，佔領武漢三鎮，國民政府遷到武漢；中、東路亦打敗孫傳芳，佔領了南京。 但同時國民黨內部對「聯俄容共」一直存在分歧，在蘇俄指使下，共產黨更嘗試在國民黨內擴大勢力。
1927年4月國民黨宣佈「清黨(內共產勢力)」，大規模逮捕、殺害共產黨員，在南京另立政府；以汪精衛為首的武漠政府仍與共產黨合作，史稱寧(南京)(武)漢分裂，北伐中途停頓。後來武漢政府於1927年7月召開「分共會議」，正式與共產黨決裂，兩個政府復合，定都南京，史穩寧漢復合。
寧漢復合後蔣介石繼續北伐，直指奉系張作霖。他兵敗撤出關外，在瀋陽附近的皇姑屯車站被日本特務埋下的炸彈炸死。1928年6月，其子張學良宣佈擁護南京政府，東北易幟，北伐完成，中國基本上統一，國民政府統治全國。 國共破裂後國民政府大舉捕殺共產黨和傾向共產黨人士。
1927年8月，周恩來、朱德率領北伐軍中三萬多士兵在南昌起事失敗；9月毛澤東率領北伐軍一部及農民武裝共八千人，在湖南發動秋收暴動，進攻長沙失敗。毛澤東於是帶餘部到井岡山，成為首個農村根據地。次年4月朱德亦率餘部會合毛澤東，組成紅軍，其後多達十多萬人，在贛南、閩西開闢基地，成為後來的基礎。 國民黨後來五次圍攻共產黨，頭4次(1930年底到1933年3月)因紅軍以靈活遊擊應付，日本又加緊侵華，四次圍攻均失敗。1931年11月共產黨在打退3次圍攻後在江西瑞金建立了蘇維埃政權。第5次(1933年底)，蔣介石調動一百萬軍隊，配以空軍向以瑞金為中心的共產黨根據地圍攻，紅軍今次全線出擊，硬打硬拚，之後又分兵把守，被動挨打，最後面臨嚴重損失。
紅軍從1934年10月開始長征，在貴州遵義召開中央政治局擴大會議，毛獲選為中央政治局常委，與周恩來負責長征軍事。其主力於次年10月到達陝西部，次年其餘主力也相繼到陝北和甘肅，於是共產黨立足陝北、甘肅、寧夏邊境一帶，以廷安為中心。

國共第二次合作

1927年日本軍人田中義一成為首相後著手侵略東北。1931年9月18日，日本關東軍炸毀南滿鐵路瀋陽近效柳條溝的一段路軌，指是中國所為並砲轟瀋陽，翌日將其佔領，又分兵侵佔遼寧、吉林、黑龍江三省，東北於次年一月淪陷。 1932年1月28日，日軍以上海市民抵制日貨、毆打日僧為借口進去上海閘北，砲轟吳淞要塞，十九路軍抵抗一個月後簽下停戰協定，允許日本在上海駐軍。 同年3月，日本於東北成立偽滿州國，國聯不予承認，日本隨即退出，後來日本在偽滿州國行帝制，溥儀再一次成為傀儡皇帝。同月，日軍進犯熱河並併入偽滿州國，進兵長城，威脅北平、天津，迫使國民政府簽下塘沽協定。

九一八事變以來蔣介石堅持「攘外必先安內」，先行消滅共產黨勢力，沒有抗日之餘反而全力剿共。 1936年國民政府令張學肋的東北軍和楊虎城的西北軍加緊進攻紅軍，他們提出「停止內戰，一致抗日」但不獲接納。同年12月蔣介石到西安督戰，他們實行兵諫，軟禁蔣介石，通電全國，要求停止內戰，一致抗日，史稱西安事變。 在宋美齡和周因來的斡旋下他終於默許停止內戰。張學良陪蔣介石回京，旋即被軟禁。西安事變後西北主力紅軍改編為國民革命軍第八路軍，朱德任總司令，南方紅軍遊擊隊改編為國民革命軍新編第四軍，葉挺任軍長。此為國共第二次合作。

中史- 清未革命以及民國初期的軍閥混戰

清末的革命以孫中山為首。他名文、號逸仙，1866年生於廣東省香山縣翠亨村，到過檀香山及香港讀書，曾上書李鴻章建議改革(主張「人盡其材，地盡其利，物盡其用，貨暢其流」)不遂而投身革命。
1894年，於檀香山成立中國第一個革命團體「興中會」，提出「驅除韃虜，恢復中華，創立合眾政府」的綱領。
1895年，於香港設總部，計劃在廣州起事失敗而被通緝。義和團事件後發動廣東惠州起義，仍告失敗。
1905年他為了集中革命力量，將分散的革命組織(興中會、華興會，光復會)於東京組成中國同盟會，提出「十六字綱領」：「驅除韃虜，恢復中華，創立民國，平均地權」，又解為民族(推翻清朝，解除民族壓迫)、民權(推翻君主專政，成立共和國)、民生(平均地權，解決民生)，稱為三民主義。其革命為後來的事業立下基礎，當中以黃花崗之役最大影響。
1911年4月，同盟會於廣州起義，因消息走漏而傷亡慘重，有名可考的死者86人，有遺骸者72人，合稱黃花崗七十二烈士。
黃花崗之役的失敗使其在珠江流域於短期內大舉的計劃受挫，並把軍事目標轉到長江流域一帶。同年初，清政府將民辨的川漢、粵漢鐵路收歸國有，借此向外國銀行借款，出賣路權予列強，受到人民強烈反對，以四川最激烈，他們又成立了「保路同志會」。湖北新軍一部到四川鎮壓，造成武漢兵力空虛，湖北革命黨人借機發難。10月9日，他們在漢口製造炸彈時不慎爆炸，計劃洩露，翌日戒嚴，他們當晚發難，11日控制武昌，成立湖北軍政府，推舉新軍將領黎元洪為元首，國號中華民國，同時，漢陽、漢口亦有新軍起義，武漢三鎮光復。 其後全國共有14個省宣佈獨立，清玫府只能控制直隸、河南、山東、東三省和西北地區。事次革命又稱「辛亥革命」。年底各省代表在南京開會，商討籌組中華民國臨時政府的事宜。次年元旦中華民國成立，孫中山在南京就職成為臨時大總統，成立臨時政府，改用陽曆，以(中華)民國紀元。不久宣統帝退位，清亡。此時中國二千多年來的君主專制統治終於結束。

二次革命

武昌起義後，清延以袁世凱為內閣總理，全權統領北洋軍鎮壓南方革命。他攻陷漢口、漢陽，又砲轟武昌，迫使革命軍議和。當時革命軍軍力難以抗衡，孫中山服從大局，聲明只要袁世凱議和並宣統帝退位，就讓位給他。 1912年3月，孫中山將臨時大總統之位讓予袁，但他為了避免被革命黨人限制，借口北京、天津、保定駐軍譁變，為維持治安拒絕南下，最後臨時政府遷到北京。 8月總幹事宋教仁將同盟會改組為國民黨，計劃成立內閣，但遭袁改組並安排親信出信總理。次年國會召開前夕，宋教仁被暗殺於上海，全國震驚。孫中山主張討伐，但國民黨內意見不一。其後袁世凱未經國會同意向英、法、德、日、俄五國銀行借貸，簽「善後大借款合同」，以增強實力。 6月，袁氏免去江西、安徽、廣東的國民黨國籍都督，另派兵入江西。江西都督李烈鈞首先宣佈獨立，黃興於南京響應並出任討袁軍總司令；事次革命又稱二次革命。但革命軍各自為戰，被袁的強大軍力逐個打破；9月南京陷落，二次革命失敗。孫中山、黃興等流亡海外。其失敗的原因除了缺乏民間支持外(辛亥革命後人民普遍厭戰，上海和廣東商人曾公開反對)，也因為只有國民黨反袁，而國民黨籍都督在21人中只佔8人。革命失敗後，袁操縱國會並當選成正式大總統。

為了獨攬權力，解散國會，取消臨時約功，另頒中華民國約法──任期10年，不限連任任期，由現任總統推舉繼任人。 1915年一戰期間日本乘機提出二十一條作為支持帝制的條件，袁為了取得日本支持而答應大部分要求。他派人製造輿論，指中國不宜共和，只宜君主制度，他於12月接受擁戴，1916年元旦登基，改元洪憲。前雲南都督蔡鍔組「護國軍」，獨立、討袁，西南各省響應；孫中山亦發表討袁宣言。原本支持袁稱帝的外國領事怕事情發展為內戰威脅到其國家在華利益，要求袁暫緩稱帝。同時袁親信如段祺瑞和馮國璋均勸其取消帝制。他在眾叛親離下撤銷僅83日的帝制，復任大總統，命段祺瑞組閣，孫中山發表第二次討袁宣言，不久袁病逝。 同年發生府(總統府)院(國務院)之爭，黎元洪(總統)恢復臨時約法，召開國會，與主張責任內閣制的段祺瑞水火不容。黎元洪罷免他，但他號召九省都督獨立作威脅，黎調張勳入京，6月，他入京解散國會，7月1日擁溥儀復位，史稱張勳復辟。黎重新任命段討張，溥儀上任僅十二天就再次退位，結束復辟鬧劇。 段後來以功臣自居，黎退任後由馮繼任，段放棄臨時約法，引發護法之役。1917年，孫中山以西南地區軍閥(雲南滇系唐繼堯，廣西桂系陸榮廷)組護法軍政府，自任大元帥討段。但軍閥沒有護法誠意，此役最後不了了之。 袁死後北洋軍閥分成三派：以馮為首的直(隸)系，張為首的奉(天)系及以段為首的皖系。另外還有閻錫山的晉系。重要戰役有三場：1920年，直+奉VS皖，皖敗，勢九瓦解。1922年直奉戰爭，奉敗；1924年第二次直奉戰爭，直敗。

Geography - Japan Miricle (Heavy Industry)

(thanks for whom used my notes...) The heavy industry in Japan refers to: 1) Car industry – during Korean War in 1950s, U.S. ordered lots of army trucks from Japan which stimulates the growth of Japan’s car industry, the rapid increase on domestic demand also boosted the growth. Moreover, its overseas market has expended due to its reasonable prices. The production process is now computerized and automated. 2) Iron and steel industry – The iron and steel plant are large so that those integrated works can produce huge amount of iron and steel at a low cost, due to the economies of scale (when the profit is higher, the fixed cost of each product is lower.). It’s slightly decreased due to competitions from other countries. 3) Japan consists of four islands – Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, and also separated from other Asian countries by seas so ship is a important means of transport, and shipbuilding industry has a long history development in Japan. 4) Chemical industry, machinery industry, transport equipment industry and petroleum and coal refining industry are also important heavy industry in Japan. They contribute more than 80% of the total export value of Japan, and provide a source of raw materials for other industries for Japan. Raw materials affect the development of heavy industry in Japan a lot. Japan has a limited reserve of iron ore, copper, lead and zinc, and mostly scattered along coasts. In the past, heavy industry located close to the source of raw materials and fuels. Coal and iron ore deposits had a strong influence to the location of iron and steel plant. They located near those deposits to deduce the transportation cost. But now, local supply is nearly exhausted and can’t meet the demands of rapid development, and so those raw materials come from the importing from other countries. Therefore heavy industry now located mainly at eastern and southern Honshu and northern Kyushu, with following reasons: 1) Locating near shelter bay. It’s important to source of raw materials in Japan so that those imported raw materials can be protected. 2) Good ports with deep habours have been developed, are well-equipped and with modern port facilities. These facilities allow Japan imports raw materials and fuels and export finished goods safely. The distribution of heavy industry refers to: 1) High population density. Large population in cities provides abundant workers for factories, and those urban centers are also markets for finished goods. 2) Different types of heavy industry closed to each other. It’s called industrial agglomeration, which provides mutual benefits for the owners. e.g., by locating near the iron and steel plant, the car industry save the cost of transporting raw materials. Also, the cost of services required by heavy industries can be shared. Heavy industry needs huge amount of raw material and fuels, but Japan only has a limited supply, so she import lots of raw materials and fuels from others. (* holds the biggest share) Iron ore Australia*, Brazil, India and Philippines Coal Australia*, China and Indonesia Oil Middle east*, Indonesia and China On the other side, the aid of technology and government policy helps those industry a lot. Technological improvements help minimize the expenditure by reducing raw material and fuels needed in the production. Also the use of scrap iron further reduces the need for iron ore. Dumped cars and scraped iron can replace some of the iron ore. Energy-saving devices reduce the use of fuels. Improved transportation technology lowers the cost of importing raw materials and fuels. All of the above technologies increase the competitiveness of Japanese goods. Also, production by machines (mechanization) is adopted and has the following advantages: 1) Work faster and run the clock – increase the efficiency. (efficiently) 2) Help to standardize production process → consistent quality 3) Less prone to human error → more precise (precisely) 4) Can do dangerous process such as welding. The following institutions were set up: 1) Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) (1949), planning industrial development every year, and set up guidelines based on the most up-to-date information for industrialists. Became the Ministry of Economy (METI) in 2001 to provide government leadership and assistance to increase industrial productivity. 2) The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) (1959) was set up to promote and expand foreign market of Japanese products. The government has regulations to control the import of manufactured goods and the quota and tariffs systems on imported good help protecting the local industries. Subsidies and low-interest loans are provided to the industrialists, and financial support is given for projects on researches and development. Japan government also invested lots of money in technological development of heavy industry; they’ve established many scientific institutes and research centers. Science cities are built for high technology industries. Tsukuba near Tokyo and Keihanna are examples. There’re still other factors affecting Japan’s industry. Positive factors 1) High quality work force. Good education system smooths the implementation of automation and computerization in production. They’re hard-working as well. 2) Development of alternative power resources. It reduces the import of fuels. Nuclear power, geothermal power and wave power are examples of alternative power resources. They reduce the reliance of importing fuels. Negative factors 1) Over-reliance on importing raw materials and fuels. Fluctuations in the prices of raw material and fuels directly affect the production cost; and Japan is vulnerable to disruptions in the world trade market. Conflicts between Japan and its importer affect the development of its industries, and insecure supply of energy could seriously affect Japan’s heavy industry. 2) Environmental protection policies. Heavy industries and power plants are major polluters which cause serious pollution problems on the early stage of Japan’s industrial development. Under the “Polluter Pays Principle”, they’ve to pay for its cost of polluting. Also they’re required to install pollution control equipment and energy-saving devices. All those increase their production cost. 3) Trade protectionism. Japanese products are well-known for the high quality and reasonable prices. e.g. their car are well-equipped and use friendly. As a result, trade protectionism arises and many countries impose quotas or tariffs on Japanese products. And this will affect its export value. 4) Many neighbouring countries such as China and South Korea have cheaper labour costs which lower production cost. Their technological improvements improve their quality of product and so Japan gradually lost its advantages. 5) The shifting to develop high-tech industries further declines her heavy industry. Recent developments - As to avoid effects on quotas and tariffs, Japan manufacturers move their assembly line to overseas market. - The export quantity and value of completed product decreased while individual parts and equipments increased - The government encourages the cooperation of heavy and high-tech industries.

Chemistry – Materials of the modern world

(Crude oil and plastic) (table unavilable here) There’re various kinds of materials around as, such as paper and wood. All products are made by raw materials (extract from nature), processed into product, and their fate at last is becoming wastes. Materials can be further classify into natural material (such as wood and silk) and man-made material (such as plastic and alloy), Different material have their own properties and purpose. Crude oil The raw material of plastics mostly come form crude oil (petroleum). They come from Earth’s crust and sometimes trapped in the rock under the sea bed. It’s dark, thick, smelly and viscous. It formed from the remains of dead sea plants and animals buried under thick layers of rock millions of years ago. They slowly changed to crude oil under high pressure, heat and the effect of bacteria. They distributed in many places in the world. We use oil rig to get the crude oil if it’s found under sea bed. The oil is then carried by pipelines or vehicles to the oil refinery. Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons with only contains carbon and hydrogen; common hydrocarbons include methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), butane (C4H10) and hexane (C6H14) , which methane is the simplest hydrocarbons molecule. Generally larger hydrocarbons have higher boiling and melting point. Fractional distillation is used to separate different hydrocarbons with different boiling point, and separate them into different fractions. In the fractionating tower, heated crude oil is in gas form until the temperature is low enough for it to condense, them it’s collected. In fact, fractions are still mixtures of hydrocarbons, but they have similar size and properties. Those fraction maybe be further transported to other factory can process into useful product. Naphtha is useful as a maw material for plastics, detergents, paints and drugs. It’s so useful so that it’s also called “black gold”. Plastics Plastics and made from chemicals derived from naphtha. Naphtha can be broken into small molecules (e.g. ethane C2H4). Through breaking down the double bond between carbons, they can from a macromolecule with the help of heat pressure or chemicals. The processes of plastic production include mixing raw materials, applying heat and pressure, adding other chemicals, moulding into shapes and colouring. Epoxy resin comes from the chemical reaction between the epoxy resin (large molecule) and the hardener (small molecule). Those hardener joins the epoxy resin together and forms a macromolecule and the macromolecule makes up the strong and rigid epoxy resin glue. Polystyrene comes from the styrene, with help of some catalysts. During the reaction it may release heat. The properties of plastics include easily moulded into different shapes, easily to be coloured, elastic, resistant to corrosion by acids and alkalis, insulators of heat and electricity, and it’s light. Although there’re many advantage of using plastics, the overuse of plastics will waste natural resources, and produces lots of wastes aw well because they do not decompose naturally. Those plastic wastes may spoil the scenery, block the drains and lead to the accumulation of foul waters, causing bad smells and provide a breeding place fir mosquitoes and pests. Birds and fish caught by plastic wastes in water won’t be able to find food and may die due to suffocation if they swallow the wastes. The two ways to treat with those wastes is to put them into landfill sites or by incineration. However, burning plastics gives out lots of toxic substances and carcinogens, so that most plastic is put into landfill sites in Ta Kwu Ling, Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O. But still, plastic will not be decomposed and usually are bulky, once they’re buried; they stay nearly forever and take up lot of space. It’s expected that all landfill sites will be used up in 2020. There’re several possible solutions to the environmental problem of the overuse of plastics: 1) The 4Rs – Recycle, reuse, reduce and replace. When plastic is put into recycling bin and is collected, it’ll be sorted into different kind of plastic referring to the plastic code, and transport to the corresponding recycling plant. After removing the dirt and impurities, it’s grinded into powders, melted and moulded into new products. The above process is the recycling period of plastics. However, recycling industry still faces lots of problem like the high cost of land and man power, as well as the difficulties to sort different plastic. Thus some plastic is transported to mainland and other countries to finish the recycling process. 2) Degradable plastics – Some plastics can be decomposed under sunlight (photodegradable plastic) and by micro-organisms (biodegradable). Note that photodegradable plastics will become debris under sunlight and can be decomposed by micro-organisms. It’ll finally becomes CO2 and water.

Carol的一萬字~Part 10(III)

我笑道，「如果我不願意呢？」其實我不是不想來混車隊，說這句也只是想試一下她。 「沒辦法，只好找別的位置給你，然後另外找人回來。」紫欣擺了擺手，無奈道，「不過，如果你要拒絕的話，那就先看過這屋子才說吧。這是給車手們準備的。」 眼前的屋子大概有一般村屋的四、五倍大，樓高四層，採用典雅的設計，算得上是超級豪華的大屋。 「你們都住在這裡嗎？」 「不，這間屋是給你的。」紫欣笑著掏出了一把鑰匙，開門後把鑰匙拋了給我。 門的背後是沒法形容的奢華。首先映入眼簾的是在國際比賽常見的特製單車，採用了最新、最輕、最堅硬的鈦合金，整輛單車也輕得很，可以令使用者的速度發揮至極限：同時為了保持一定的平衡力，金屬外層是一種透明的吸震物料，紫欣說金屬內部也灌了一些物料令單車傾斜時較易調整。最特別的是，這輛單車沒有任何贊助商或生產商的標誌，只是在一個不起眼的地方烙上了我個名字和「車神艦隊」而已！ 除了這輛特製單車外，這棟房子的設計也無可挑剔。地下劃了個設備齊全的廚房，等離子大電視…… 「第一、二層都是空的，五千呎的空間夠用作練單了；至於三樓你就自己去看吧！」紫欣看看手錶，繼續道，「我們也快要開始集訓了，因為現在距離第一個比試只剩幾天了！」她拿出一張清單，遞給我看。 「甚麼？！？一天單車二百五十公里，長跑十公里，還有數不完的體能訓練？天啊～～讓我死吧～～」 「那你比試當天要是被撞倒、撞飛、跌進海裡、滾下山、被蛇蟲襲擊，又或者換成我被碾扁的話，那你就不要怪別人哦。」 一大串的不堪想像的後果實在讓人不寒而慄。我被撞倒也就罷了，頂多病個一個半月；但是要是傷到紫欣，是因為我訓練不足的話，實在太…… 「放心吧！由我來負責把你train好，幾天下來我一定會把你徹底改造的！」她這樣認真的說著。 嗯，為了她，我還是乖乖地接受練習吧。這個情景，讓我想到幾個歌詞── 我沒有六呎高 我卻會待你好 我會接受你一切的改造 你似美麗城堡 的一個待嫁的女巫 有著各樣法術 一再施法使我迷倒

Carol的一萬字~Part 10(II)

瘋狂的參觀不會因此而結束，我跟紫欣在其他隊員奇異的眼光目送下離開了這個單車場，繼續參觀。 我原本以為，一支強勁的車隊會像世界比賽那些，隊員、替補選手、醫護人員還有一大堆教練和後勤，可以跟足球隊比一比了。可是在這個村屋群裡似乎沒有太多的人，除了我在單車場看到的三個人外，一路上也只見過一個人。紫欣告訴我，她叫祺欣，外號是「影子殺手」，在車隊混戰似乎有特別的一套，可以讓對手減少對她的注意力，往往到了最後就可以突破對手防線，取得關鍵的勝利。 果然，車隊裡的人都各自身懷絕技，而我…… 轉過頭望著紫欣，她那能夠洞察一切的清澈瞳孔直直的看著我，大概是剛剛所想的都被她猜到了，她說：「我想，只要給你train一下就不成問題了吧～車隊也雖要你這類人，嗯。」 果然是香港人，中英夾雜幾乎成為香港的正常語言呢…… 「那，我在車隊是甚麼位置呢？」 「送死。」 聽到這句我差點絆了一跤！我看電視的單車比賽也從來沒聽過有這樣的位置吧！正式的單車比賽還是頗斯文的，大家不常發生碰撞，尤其是公路和山路賽，要是摔下山就慘了。 既然如此，車隊找人來「送死」是甚麼意思呢？難道是橫臥著單車令對手過不去的策略？那一定很危險…… 看到我迷茫的眼神，紫欣連忙擺手，道：「送死不是這個意思啦……如果這樣擋著對手，恐怕會先被碾掉呢。不過我先說明，我們車隊間的比賽還是帶點危險性的。有種變態的比試方法是兩隊一邊鬥快，一邊要把對手的單車撞倒。當然，」她得意地笑了笑，繼續道：「像我這樣超高速的人，只要能擺脫主車群，勝負就有定案了。可是別忘了大家在同一起點開跑的，要是你在擺脫主車群前就被撞倒了呢？被撞倒的人就會被看成輸家，就算他所屬的車隊最後勝出，榮譽也沒有他的份。像我這種『技術型』的人，大多都不禁撞，要是車底被剷起就玩完了。所以我們才需要人保護啊。」 我才不會相信眼前這個看似嬌弱的女孩在單車上需要保護，只是「保護」的工作一定會更危險……

1-6-09

生日過去。 IMO prelim過去。 五月過去。 正所謂「木綿花開考試來」，那「唔讀書真不應該」 大家也在準備吧？ ======================================== Listening……我不介意那是播快，播慢 炒了就炒了 但，你說最高分很高分，所以不難，傻了嗎？？？ 你給F.3一份CE A-maths卷，我可以做到滿分，對F.3來說，淺嗎？？？ 痛恨超越了「串人」界線的人 為了保護自己將歪理蓋上去 唉

Chemistry – bonding (Ionic and covalent bond)

(I can't show the chemical formula properly here, but it should be right in the download version.) (sorry for stupid mistakes before... edited) 1) Elements combine and form compounds, holding together by chemical bonds, which is a force that holds atoms together. 2) Atoms become stable when their electronic arrangements are same as noble gases, and so that the aim of forming bonds is to let atoms contain electronic arrangements like noble gases. (or fully filled the outermost electron shell.) 3) Ionic bonds form when metallic atoms combine with non-metallic atoms, and covalent bonds forms between non-metallic atoms. 4) Ions are electrically charged particles, and form when atom loss or gain electrons. Group 1,2,3,6,7 have +, 2+, 3+, - and 2- charge respectively because losing or gaining such number of electrons make them become stable. The number and position of protons and neutrons don’t change. 5) Cation (positive ion) usually forms among metals because they loss electrons to contain the noble gas electronic configuration. e.g. Na→Na++e- 6) Anion (negative ion) usually forms among non-metals because they gain electrons to contain the noble gas electronic configuration. e.g. Cl+e-→Cl- 7) Ionic bond is the strong non-directional electrostatic force of attraction between oppositely charged (cation & anion) ions. When ionic bond is formed, there’s a complete transfer of electrons from metal to non-metal atom. In Chemical formula, the metals always go first in ionic bond. e.g. Na+ (a cation)+Cl-(a anion)→NaCl e.g.2 Mg2+(a 2+ charged ion)+2F-→MgF2 8) Some ions are polyatomic ions formed by covalent bond, and some metals have different oxidation numbers will have different number of charge. For example, Iron(III) is 3+ charged but iron(II) is 2+ charged. 9) Formulae of ionic compounds show the type of different ions present and ratio of ions of compound. Since the ionic compounds are electrically neutral, so that the total positive charge must be equal to the total negative charge. 10) A way to calculate the ratio between ions is to compare their charge. For example there’re two ions, with a+ and b- charge, the ratio will be b:a (assume this is the simplest form, otherwise simplify it first.) such that the positive charge (ab+) and negative charge (ab-) are equal. 11) If some ions are polyatomic ions and their ratio isn’t 1, use a bracket to show that “two times of the whole ion”. e.g.: we use Mg(OH)2 instead of MgOH2 or MgO2H2. 12) The naming of ionic compounds – Simply cation come first, then anion. The bracket after metal (e.g. Iron(II)) is also needed. Simple non-metal anions end with –ide, polyatomic ions which contain oxygen end with –ate or –ite, which –ate contains more oxygen. (e.g. SO4 is sulphate and SO3 is sulphite.) 13) Covalent bond is the strong directional electrostatic force of attraction between the shared electrons (negative) and the two nuclei (positive). 14) Covalent bond involves sharing of electrons instead of complete transfer of electrons, and they are found among non-metals. Molecule is formed when two or more atoms combined together by covalent bond only. The pairs of electrons shared between two atoms are called bond pair electrons. For example, H2 is formed by covalent bond (but this is still considered as “element”), they shared their electrons, and the outermost electron shell of both Hydrogen is fully filled. The bond pair can be expressed by H-H. Each hydrogen atoms forms H2 and forms diatomic molecule. The formula of covalent compounds is also called molecular formula. The molecular formula of a substance gives the actual number of atoms of each element in each molecule of the substance. 15) There’s a double bond formed in oxygen, and they shared 2 pairs of electrons. The pairs of electrons in the outermost shell and not involved in sharing are called lone pair electrons. Double bond is represented by O=O. Triple bond formed in nitrogen can be represented by N≡N. Two hydrogen and one oxygen combine together to become H2O, and it can be expressed as H-O-H. Further examples include CO2: O=C=C and H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) H-O-O-H. 16) Formulae of covalent compounds – First, calculate the numbers of electrons needed to fill the outermost electron shell. Then found the ratio just like ionic bond. The formula just shows the amount and species of elements shown. For example, the molecular formula of H-S-H is H2S. 17) Note that this way of calculating ratio is just one of the ways to make covalent bonds. There maybe different types of covalent bonds form by the same type of elements. For example, hydrogen and oxygen can form H2O and H2O2. 18) The relative molecular mass and formula mass equal to the sum of atomic masses of all atoms present in the molecule of that substance or in the formula unit of it, but relative molecular mass can be only applied onto molecule. For example, molecular mass of H2O = mass of 2 H + mass of O = 18

Geography - the rich and the poor

(Download version avilable for this post!) Geography – the rich and the poor There are varies degrees of wealth of country existing in this world and it depends on how they’re developed. Countries can be classified into more developed countries (MDCs) and less developed countries (LDCs). Here are the following indicators: 1) Gross National Income per capita (GNI per capita) refers to GNI divides by the total population of the country. It gives the average income of a people in a country, and can accurately measure how rich is the people in that country averagely, therefore it’s useful for comparison among countries. (more than US$9266→MDCS, otherwise LDCs.) 2) Urbanization level – percentage of urban population in the country, higher percentage means higher urbanization level. (MDCs have a higher %.) 3) Life expectancy give out the expected average years that a people can live in that country, and shows the general health condition and quality of medicine service in that country. (MDCs’ life expectancy is higher.) 4) Age structure shows no. of population in different age groups in that country, (MDCs → lower birth and death rate, and smaller proportion in younger people.) 5) Literacy rate -- the percentage of people which can write and read (basically) in that country, and this reflects the general education level of the country. (MDCs↑) 6) Food consumption – measured by per capita daily calories intake. MDCs have higher food consumption than LDCs, and most people in LDCs suffer from hunger and malnutrition. 7) Energy consumption shows the living standard and industrial level of the country, MDCs’ energy consumption is much higher because of their high living standard and industrial level. We can roughly draw a line to classify the “Rich North” and the “Poor South”, Rich North includes MDCs such as US, Canada, European countries, and Australia (but it’s in the South hemisphere). Poor South includes China, Africa, but also HK (although HK should be more developed.) Some countries are wealthier because of the following reasons: 1) Resources – it’s very important for making useful products (for example, curde oil→plastics) and making energy. Countries which have more natural resources are usually richer, because they can use their resources to make many things to earn money, and those surplus resources can again sell into money. 2) Technology level – this affect the speed of development in the country. In MDCs, government and enterprises is willing to invest to do researches and improve the technology, this can improve the agricultural and industrial productivity (better qualities and higher quantity) and bring them more money, the surplus commodities can also bring them foreign exchange. 3) Population growth – the triangular-shaped population structure for LDCs hinders their development, because their high birth rate and decreasing death rate bring them a high population growth, then resources for each people become less, and this will slower the speed of development for LDCs. (The population structure of MDCs is bell-shaped, and they have both low birth and death rate.) 4) Political stability is important for a country to development. Corruption and change of government (abnormally) happens frequently in the LDCs, and damage the well-being of people and the economic development. But all humans are equal and should have human rights; therefore we should help those LDCs. The following is what those MDCs can help the LDCs: 1) Emergency relief – MDCs provides food, medicines and clothing to LDCs if they encounter with natural disaster or war. Some organizations such as Oxfam, the Red Cross and World Vision also provides these emergency relieves. 2) Loans is a common form of aids to LDCs. Many governments and organizations such as World Bank provide loans to them. They use those loans to solve their financial problems and to build large facilities such as dam, railways and estates. 3) Transference of technology -- The technology level of LDCs is low, so that MDCs provide technology and machinery to them, and give them technical assistance to them. All these can improve the productivity of LDCs. 4) Develop long-term projects such as improving infrastructure, farming methods, education and children health can also help them. Some countries or organizations assist or provide loan to them to complete such projects. But sometime those aids can’t help the LDCs because of some reasons. The corruption among government or warfare blocks the aids from people in need; some MDCs want to control those LDCs through aids so that LDCs may refuse to receive aids, and some transference of technology is restricted because of some reasons. On another way, those LDCs can’t rely on those short-term aids, and some poorly panned aids can’t help LDCs properly. Therefore, the best way to help them is to encourage them to self-help. MDCs improves their education and nutrition level to let them can self-help in long-term. Also, MDCs start to consider local needs instead of money-only helping in recent years. They try to design development programme that local people can accept and manage, this can ensure the progress of the plan. To protect local industries, they impose import restrictions such as tariffs and import quotas. As a result, LDCs can only import primary commodities to MDCs such as agricultural products and their income is low, and they can benefits from international trade. Some organizations put force on the MDCs to make them to remove the trade restrictions so they have a fair trade relationship and they can benefits from it.