Blog

昨天的水木苹果版版聚

2008-01-29T17:24:00.000Z

最初本来是luma跟jjgod说，LumaQQ for Mac开源，以后不再开发，转而全力开发LumaQQ for iPhone。BBS就是BBS，经过一番讨论，话题不知怎么就变成了KCN请客吃饭，后来好多人加入，竟然变成了版聚。01月29日下午六点半钟清华科技园的全聚德，参加的有kxn、FreeWizard、suzhe、holly、yaohua2000、dfbb、KCN、qyjohn、luma等。好多牛。

盘点二〇〇七：地铁、轻轨、汽车、轮船、飞机

2008-01-03T11:46:00.000Z

2007年共计乘坐城市快速轨道交通185次，其中北京151次、上海18次、天津10次、南京4次、大连2次，共计行程2528千米，耗资463.00元，FB指数0.183元/千米，耗时61时25分，平均旅行速度41千米/时。换言之，2007年0.7%的时间是在乘坐城市快速轨道交通。此外，乘坐上海磁浮示范运营线2次，行程60千米，耗资80.00元，乘坐天津泰达现代导轨电车1次，行程8千米，耗资0.00元（无票），乘坐大连有轨电车203路1次，行程1千米，耗资1.00元。

2007年共计乘坐城市公共汽车282次，其中北京223次、天津50次、三亚2次、大同1次、大连1次、杭州1次、淳安1次、苏州1次、西安1次、长沙1次，共计行程1663千米，应付车费195.20元，实付车费177.22元，FB指数0.107元/千米。

2007年共计乘坐城市出租汽车373次，其中独自乘坐316次、二人同乘27次、三人同乘15次、四人同乘15次，天津212次、北京127次、杭州9次、苏州4次、南通3次、沈阳3次、哈尔滨2次、武汉2次、西昌2次、上海1次、二连1次、合肥1次、大同1次、广州1次、济南1次、湛江1次、西安1次、连云港1次，共计行程2148千米，个人实际车费支出5393.00元，FB指数2.511元/千米。

2007年共计乘坐轮船2次，共计耗资325.00元：07月22日大连至天津、12月31日深渡至千岛湖。此外，乘坐粤海铁路轮渡2次。

2007年共计乘坐飞机3次，包含税费共计耗资1760.00元。

D1, Z1, T1, N1, L1, A1

2007-11-22T17:26:00.000Z

As of last weekend, I have finished taking all trains numbered ones. They are D1 from Beijing to Shenyang north, Z1 from Beijing to Shanghai, T1 from Beijing west to Changsha, N1 from Harbin east to Mudanjiang, L1 from Beijing to Harbin, and A1 from Harbin east to Suihua.

Trip to Xichang

2007-11-05T07:37:00.000Z

Ticket (front)

Ticket (back)

It was October 12. I read from news that the government would offer public chance to view the launch of Chang'e 1, China's first interplanetary probe. A ticket costs CNY¥800.00, plus further CNY¥180.00 for bus from Xichang city to the launch site. Since the trip was actually organized by a travel agency, to book a ticket, I had to first tell the agency personal information in a telephone call on October 12, then remit them the money and sent bank's receipt by fax on October 15. After receiving the receipt, they mailed me the ticket from Chengdu, and I finally received the ticket in Beijing by EMS on October 17.

Each participant has a guide. The guide of mine is a Tibetan girl whose Chinese name is Yang Li. I received a telephone call on Thursday, October 18 from her. She told me the launch would be on Wednesday, October 24, and asked me if I want to book a hotel.

October 19 to 22 was my company's twice-a-year trip, we would spend the weekend in Shanxi province and back in Beijing on Monday morning, so I cannot leave Beijing earlier than October 22 afternoon. I perfer travelling by train, so I told her I would be at Manshuiwan railway station, the nearest station from the launch site, in the morning on the launch day. But she said I cannot go to the launch site alone, and had to be in their office in Xichang city first before 2007-10-24 10:00 CST, so I cannot go to Manshuiwan by train, where is only 12 km east to the launch site.

T7 train ticket (Beijing west – Xichang)

There is a direct train numbered K117 from Beijing to Xichang. However K117 is not fast enough to finish the 2599-km-long trip and arrive in Xichang before 2007-10-24 10:00 CST. So my plan was to take T7 from Beijing west to Chengdu, since T7 would arrive at Chengdu station at 2007-10-23 17:59 CST, so I can take either N771 or 5611 at Chengdu for Xichang.

I bought a tongpiao (multiple-trip) train ticket at Beijing railway station on Thursday evening. It was a ticket from Beijing west station to Xichang station via Liangxiang, Zhengzhou, Baoji and Chengdu, with the first part of the trip by train numbered T7 from Beijing west station to Chengdu station, and then from Chengdu to Xichang by any tekuai (very fast) class of trains. Generally speaking, the more distance a single ticket covers, the less expensive price for each kilometer, that is why I bought a single multi-trip ticket. T7's sleepers had been sold out, so I have a yingzuo (hard seat) for first part of the trip. The 2599-km-long trip costs me CNY¥257.00.

I went to Pingyao in Shanxi province with my workmates by train numbered K603 on Friday afternoon, and returned from Taiyuan in Shanxi province on Monday morning as planned. But I made a terrible mistake to mixed up the train schedules of train K603 I took on Friday afternoon and train T7 I would take on Monday afternoon. I was thinking train T7 leaves from Beijing west station at the time that K603 leaves.

Beijing west railway station

I left my Beijing office at 2007-10-22 15:38 CST and thought it was still early. So I decided to go to the railway station by bus. But the bad traffic in Beijing makes the bus slower than usual. I was off from the bus and got a taxi near Chongwenmen, 8 km away from the railway station, but the decision was made too late, the train T7 was leaving Beijing. T7 leaves Beijing west railway station at 16:56, but I arrived the station at 17:16.

I checked the train schedule again, then recognized, I still had chance to go to Xichang by train and be there in time. The train numbered D131 from Beijing west to Zhengzhou is faster than T7, which leaves Beijing west station at 17:56, one hour behind T7. So I decided to take D131 to catch T7.

Train T7 does not stop at Zhengzhou. It stops at Luoyang. So I have to take another train to Luoyang after arriving in Zhengzhou by D131. I have two choices: K241 and K245. D131 arrives at Zhengzhou station at 22:43. K241 leaves Zhengzhou station at 22:50 and arrives at Luoyang station at 00:25; K245 leaves Zhengzhou station at 22:59 and arrives at Luoyang station at 00:34. While T7 leaves Luoyang station at 00:44. So I have 7 or 16 minutes to get off from D131 for K241 or K245, and 19 or 10 minutes to get off from K241 or K245 for T7.

D131 train ticket (Beijing west – Baoding)

D131 train ticket (Baoding – Zhengzhou)

Train D131 at Beijing west railway station

I have to bought another ticket to get into train D131 at Beijing west station. D131 is a higher class train and more expensive than T7, and stops at Baoding station before arriving its terminal station in Zhengzhou. Its second-class seat ticket from Beijing west to Baoding costs CNY¥45.00. According to the regulation of China Railway, from Baoding station, I am able to use the T7 ticket and add the price difference between D131 and T7 to take D131 the Baoding to Zhengzhou section. After the train leaving Baoding, I paid the price difference CNY¥92.00 plus CNY¥1.00 that required if buying ticket on train, or a normal D131 ticket from Beijing to Zhengzhou costs CNY¥213.00, so I saved CNY¥75.00. This is why I do not buy a normal D131 ticket from Beijing west to Zhengzhou.

Train K245 at Zhengzhou railway station

Inside train K245

D131 arrived at Zhengzhou station at 22:34, 9 minutes ahead schedule. But train K241 was late. K241 comes from Xiamen in Fujian province, stops at Zhengzhou, then bounds for Xi'an in Shaanxi province. So the only choice would be K245. The train K245 comes from Yangzhou in Jiangsu province, stops at Zhengzhou, then bounds for Chengdu. Although it also goes for Chengdu as T7 does, but I can take this train only to Luoyang, because it is slower than T7. K245 is the same class train and equally expensive as T7. I already have the T7 ticket in hand, and K245 from Zhengzhou to Luoyang is via the same route with T7, so I do not have to pay more money. The train K245 leaves Zhengzhou at 23:02, 3 minutes behind schedule, and arrived at Luoyang at 00:44 the second day, 10 minutes behind schedule.

Luoyang railway station: K245 on the left, while T7 on the right

T7 leaves Luoyang at the same time 00:44 as I mentioned earlier. But I was not worried, because T7 must follow behind K245 on the same rails. It arrived at Luoyang station at 00:50, stopped at the opposite side of the same platform. So I finally had T7, after 813 km of rush.

Train T7 at Luoyang railway station

Inside train T7

Unfortunately, my bad luck was not end here. T7 leaves Luoyang station at 00:54, 10 minutes late. The distance from Luoyang to Chengdu is 1229 km. And the train T7 became later and even later in the 1229-km-long trip, and finally stopped at its terminal station at 2007-10-23 19:59:12 CST, two hours behind schedule. N771, the train I was planning to take from Chengdu to Xichang, leaves Chengdu station at 20:01 on schedule. T7 stopped at platform 3 in Chengdu station, I am lucky this time, soon discovered N771 was at the nearby platform 4, and ran through the tunnel under the tracks in only one minute. Train N771 started moving at 2007-10-23 20:01:34 CST, 2 minutes 22 seconds after T7 had stopped.

Inside train N771

Train N771 at Emei railway station

Emei railway station ticket office

The only electrical outlet I can find in Emei railway station is in the toilet

So I have no time to have a rest in Chengdu, and even have no time to go to Chengdu station ticket office to book a seat on train N771. N771 was crowded, so I decided to get off and take the next train numbered 5611. N771 does not have air-conditioners, but 5611 does, so 5611 is more expensive. I was off from N771 at Emei station, and went to the ticket office to change my ticket to train 5611. But Emei station's ticket computer system reported error, and was not able to print out the ticket I wanted, after lots of talking with the staffs, they finally agreed to sign me ticket by hand. The good news is I do not have to pay for the air-conditioner fee, the bad news is I still do not have a sleeper or a seat.

Train 5611 at Emei railway station

Inside train 5611

Train 5611 at Xichang railway station

I got on train 5611 at Emei station at 2007-10-23 23:59 CST, and arrived at Xichang station at 2007-10-24 08:02 CST at last, 8 minutes behind schedule.

Light rain falling in Xichang

Xichang railway station

Xichang Jinying travel agency

The bus to the launch site

Light rain was falling in Xichang city. I got a taxi at Xichang railway station, and arrived at the travel agency at 2007-10-24 08:53 CST. They asked me to go to somewhere called Huoba square in Xichang at noon, and take a bus license plated "Chuan W-23949". I spent the morning at an Internet cafe to charge the batteries for my MacBook and two mobile phones, and left there at 11:52, then arrived the square at 12:00 by taxi.

Taxi's GPS tracks in Xichang

水木Blog

2007-09-15T14:58:00.000Z

发信人: xiaoyu2 (<2), 信区: Blog_Apply
标  题: [公告] 批准 yaohua2000 的 Blog 申请
发信站: 水木社区 (Fri Sep 14 23:44:29 2007), 站内



        根据用户 yaohua2000 申请，经审核、讨论后决定开通该用户
    Blog ，Blog 名称“周济是母老鼠”。

        Blog 大部分功能提供在web 模式下，Blog 名称、描述、
    分类等属性请用户在web 登录后自行修改。


--

※ 来源:·水木社区 http://newsmth.net·[FROM: 221.222.231.*]

周末版聚

2007-09-02T08:41:00.000Z

已经有三篇Blog记述了一些相关情况，重复的我就不写了：

筹备IOIFORUM的聚会中 by Xǔ Jīng
谷歌宴小记 by Chén Dàizhuō
9月1日 by Zhāng Jiālín

上周末和小小坐火车出去玩，提到要不要像去年那样搞一个版聚，而小小本来也是想邀请一些熟悉的朋友“共忆往昔，八卦今朝，YY未来”的。聚会要有地方，于是小小大显神通，给公司打报告要借房间，没想到她公司响应异常积极。而后来人越来越多，更有从不在版上灌水而想“瞻仰大牛”的前来凑热闹，这其中也包括李开复同学。基本上是下午六点至八点半在Google一层食堂吃饭，九点钟至次日凌晨两点在上岛咖啡蓝旗营店PK三国杀，这样一来事先计划的“共忆往昔，八卦今朝，YY未来”便无从谈起。不过三国杀还是很好玩的，这里是杨帆同学写的一篇攻略。这里是一部分照片。

New Mars lander is to head for the red planet

2007-08-03T03:22:00.000Z

It has been over three years that no new landers visiting the red planet. Phoenix will join Spirit and Opportunity, which two have been working on Mars since January 2004 and remain healthy. Unlike Spirit and Opportunity, Phoenix is not a rover, so it can't move. And Phoenix will land in the arctic region of Mars, while Spirit and Opportunity are near the Martian equator.

What: Phoenix Mars lander (Delta 7925 rocket)
When: 2007-08-04 09:26:34 UTC
Where: LC-17A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida (28°27′N, 80°34′W)

Live webcast at NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Introducing TerminalColors

2007-08-02T05:20:00.000Z

Do you think the blue-color text in Terminal.app is too dark to read? If you have the same with me, TerminalColors would be your friend.

I use the color schema that is suggested by XTerm. Add the following XML fragment in your com.apple.Terminal.plist after TerminalColors had been installed:

 <key>TCColorArray</key>
 <array>
  <string>0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.898039 0.898039 0.898039 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.898039 0.898039 0.898039 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.803922 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.000000 0.803922 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.803922 0.803922 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.117647 0.564706 1.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.803922 0.000000 0.803922 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.000000 0.803922 0.803922 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.898039 0.898039 0.898039 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.298039 0.298039 0.298039 1.000000</string>
  <string>1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>1.000000 1.000000 0.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.274510 0.509804 0.705882 1.000000</string>
  <string>1.000000 0.000000 1.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>0.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000</string>
  <string>1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000</string>
 </array>

今年只用165天即完成了去年365天乘车里程

2007-06-14T07:14:00.000Z

2006年全年365天，共计乘坐火车70次，23815千米，耗资3162.00元，平均0.133元/千米；
2007年至今165天，共计乘坐火车140次，23815千米，耗资4936.30元，平均0.207元/千米，提前200天完成上年全年里程。

2007年01月01日至2007年06月14日，乘坐和谐号动车组列车55次，9565千米；乘坐神州号动车组列车27次，3608千米；乘坐其它新型空调列车35次，7164千米；乘坐普通列车23次，3478千米。(点击这里查看详单)

2007年01月01日至2007年06月14日，乘坐公共汽车146次，行程817千米，耗资95.50元，平均0.117元/千米；乘坐城市快速轨道交通127次，行程1710千米，耗资340.00元，平均0.199元/千米；乘坐出租汽车128次，行程690千米，耗资1701.90元，平均2.466元/千米。

May Day trip

2007-05-14T01:57:00.000Z

点击这里查看Zig神的记录。

05月02日至05月09日共计15次乘车，应付票款含手续费1649元，实付票款含退票费1048元，共计逃票601元。

车次			票价	席别
D536	May 2 09:45 – May 2 10:54	天津 – 北京	¥19.00 持A222次车票应补差价¥23.00	动车组二等座无座
Z51	May 2 19:20 – May 3 07:42	北京 – 南通	¥301.00	新空调硬座直达卧 18车003号下铺
5112	May 3 20:17 – May 4 06:44	南通 – 杭州	¥171.00	新空调硬座普快卧 03车013号下铺
L12	May 5 06:15 – May 5 11:32	杭州 – 苏州	¥56.00	硬座普快卧 06车015号上铺
D411	May 6 11:06 – May 6 11:48	苏州 – 上海	¥11.00 持N477次车票应补差价¥14.00	动车组二等座无座
D424	May 6 12:18 – May 6 14:31	上海 – 南京	¥0.00 无票应付¥84.00	动车组二等座无座
K428	May 6 22:25 – May 7 09:15	南京 – 连云港东	¥148.00	新空调硬座快速卧 05车17号下铺
1088	May 7 10:39 – May 7 11:15	连云港东 – 连云港	¥20.00 (补客快，连云港东至徐州)	硬座普快无座
K304	May 7 12:40 – May 7 14:49	连云港 – 徐州	¥0.00 无加快票、无空调票应补差价¥24.00	新空调硬座快速无座
K291	May 7 17:40 – May 7 21:30	徐州 – 郑州	¥52.00	新空调硬座快速无座
K214	May 7 21:44 – May 8 04:47	郑州 – 邯郸	¥0.00 无票	新空调硬座快速无座
		邯郸 – 石家庄	¥53.00 (补客快)	新空调硬座快速无座
		石家庄 – 德州	¥59.00 (补卧)	新空调硬座快速卧 08车20号下铺
T34	May 8 06:01 – May 8 08:34	德州 – 天津西	¥39.00 (补客特快)	新空调硬座特快无座
D55	May 8 12:25 – May 8 17:13	天津西 – 德州	¥71.00	动车组二等座 02车011号
D55	May 8 12:25 – May 8 17:13	德州 – 四方	¥0.00 无票应付¥156.00	动车组二等座无座
D56	May 8 17:33 – May 8 23:10	四方 – 北京	¥0.00 无票应付¥273.00	动车组二等座无座
D533	May 9 08:05 – May 9 09:14	北京 – 天津	¥42.00	动车组二等座 02车067号

Train travels around Beijing in the weekend

2007-04-09T00:50:00.000Z

Tianjin Xi – Beijing Xi, 125 km: Departed at 02:37 Saturday, the taxi arrived at Tianjin Xi railway station in an 8 minutes, 6.8 kilometers long trip. The train 2598 arrived at the station at 02:54:27, 01m27s behind schedule, and departed from the station at 03:07:23, 08m23s behind schedule. Before arriving at its destination, the train would stop at Langfang and Huangcun stations, and also Liying station for over one hour without opening the doors. It arrived 01m51s early at 06:06:09. The price was 18.00 yuan.
Beijing Xi – Changxindian, 17 km: The train L801 stoped just next door at platform 2, so I don't have to go out of the station after taking off from the train 2598. The train L801 departed from Beijing Xi railway station 02m56s late at 06:41:56, and arrived at Changxindian railway station 01m27s early at 07:20:33. The price was 1.50 yuan.
Changxidian – Fengtai, 10 km: The train L804 arrived at Changxindian station 01m50s late at 07:38:50, stoped via Xidaokou station, and arrived at Fengtai station 01m34s late at 07:56:34. The price was 1.50 yuan.
Fengtai – Beijing, 17 km: We had breakfast near Fengtai, walked around the station, and then took the train L818 to Beijing railway station. The train departed from Fengtai station 11m25s late at 09:59:25, and arrived at Beijing station 09m45s late at 10:15:45. The price was 1.50 yuan.
Beijing – Changping, 55 km: Since the train L818 was late, so we must catch the next train, the train L809, in a hurry. It departed from Beijing station 00m37s early at 10:24:23, and arrived at Changping station 00m18s late at 11:30:18. The price was 5.50 yuan.
Changping – Beijing Bei, 32 km: Discussed with the train crew, and they agreed to prepare lunch for us in the train. The lunch costed 10 yuan for each one. After lunch, we waited in the train L809 for the next train, the train 4450. The train 4450 departed 02m24s early at 13:03:36, and arrived at Beijing Bei station 01m17s early at 13:49:43. The price was 3.50 yuan.
Beijing – Huairou Bei, 80 km: Beijing Bei station is near Xizhimen. Xizhimen to Beijingzhan by subway, we took the next train from Beijing station, the train 2189. The train 2189 was crowded, but we bought ticket early and had a seat. It departed from Beijing station 00m48s early at 15:09:12, and arrived at Huairou Bei station 01m32s early at 16:44:28. The price was 5.50 yuan.
Huairou Bei – Shunyi, 35 km: The train L812 departed from Huairou Bei station 02m30s early at 17:22:30, and arrived at Shunyi station 00m48s late at 18:23:48. I only bought a ticket from Huairou Bei to Huairou, and took the train without a ticket from Huairou to Shunyi. The ticket costed 2.50 yuan, 1.00 yuan cheaper than a ticket to Shunyi.
Shunyi – Beijing Dong, 40 km: After having supper in Shunyi, we took the train L822 to Beijing Dong station. The train departed from Shunyi station 02m45s early at 20:29:15, and arrived at Beijing Dong station 00s57s early at 21:30:03. The price was 3.50 yuan.
Beijing – Tianjin Xi, 135 km: Beijing Dong station is near Dawanglu. Dawanglu to Beijingzhan by subway, I got a ticket for 22.00 yuan in Beijing railway station. The train K51 departed from Beijing station 01m23s early at 23:41:37, and arrived at Tianjin Xi station 03m13s late at 01:22:13.

Statistics as of April 8 in 2007: 4146 km on rails; With air conditioner: 1935 km; Without air conditioner: 2211 km; Hard sleeper: 1175 km; Hard seat: 1529 km; No seat: 1442 km; On-schedule time: 62h26m00s; Actual time: 64h30m32s; 644.00 yuan; 0.1553 yuan per kilometer.

Slashdot: Google Faces Plagiarism Questions Over Chinese Software

2007-04-08T19:58:00.000Z

This is the first Slashdot story I have ever tried to submit:
http://slashdot.org/articles/07/04/08/1824210.shtml.

yaohua2000 writes

"Google's laboratory in China has launched its first product, a Pinyin Input Method Editor. The software allows the romanized characters to be translated to more traditional Chinese symbols , via entering on a QWERTY keyboard. Users soon discovered that the data Google used for the product was unusually similar to the data used by a Chinese rival, Sogou. Google has evaded the question about software similarities, reports PC World. 'The similarities, which included an error involving the name of a celebrity, were noted on a Google Labs discussion board about its Pinyin IME. Users noted that entering the Pinyin pinggong into the Google IME incorrectly produced the name of Feng Gong, an actor and comedian.'"

Web analytics for the Chinese Wikipedia

2007-03-26T09:38:00.000Z

The Google Analytics for Chinese Wikipedia has been removed since someones worry about the possible privacy violation. The analytics tool was added by Wikipedia administrator Shí Zhāo on January 26, and it has near 54 days of data collected since then. The following was based on data from January 27 to March 20.

The Chinese Wikipedia received 49190008 page views, 10941488 visits in this 53 days, or 928113 views, 206443 visits per day. 43.363% of visitors come from Taiwan, 25.672% come from Hong Kong, and 8.868% come from the United States. As for the language setting of user agents, 68.472% use zh-tw, 18.472% use en-us, and 5.880% use zh-cn.

84.686% of visitors use M$ Internet Explorer, 12.953% use Mozilla Firefox, and 1.172% use Apple Safari. 97.579% of visitors are M$ Windows users, 1.690% are Mac users, and 0.506% are Linux users.

Here are some selected reports for Executive Overview, Geo Map Overlay, Geo Location, and Browser & Platform Combos.

Prettier timestamp in Colloquy

2007-03-23T04:34:00.000Z

Colloquy only show me hour and minute for messages, but I want second! Why those Colloquy guys ignore second? One day in my life has 86400 parts, minutes is not precision enough for me. Furthermore, second is an SI base unit, isn't it?

After a while of research, I found they use XSLT as a render engine. I use "Fiat" style, and the XSL file could be found at /Applications/Colloquy.app/Contents/Resources/Styles/Fiat.colloquyStyle/Contents/Resources/main.xsl. The code for the timestamp conversion may look like:

        <xsl:template name="short-time">
                <xsl:param name="date" /> <!-- YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS +/-HHMM -->
                <xsl:variable name='hour' select='substring($date, 12, 2)' />
                <xsl:variable name='minute' select='substring($date, 15, 2)' />
                <xsl:choose>
                  <xsl:when test="contains($timeFormat,'H')">
                    <!-- 24hr format -->
                    <xsl:value-of select="concat($hour,':',$minute)" />
                  </xsl:when>
                  <xsl:otherwise>
                    <!-- am/pm format -->
                    <xsl:choose>
                      <xsl:when test="number($hour) &gt; 12">
                        <xsl:value-of select="number($hour) - 12" />
                      </xsl:when>
                      <xsl:when test="number($hour) = 0">
                        <xsl:text>12</xsl:text>
                      </xsl:when>
                      <xsl:otherwise>
                        <xsl:value-of select="$hour" />
                      </xsl:otherwise>
                    </xsl:choose>
                    <xsl:text>:</xsl:text>
                    <xsl:value-of select="$minute" />
                    <xsl:choose>
                      <xsl:when test="number($hour) &gt;= 12">
                        <xsl:text>PM</xsl:text>
                      </xsl:when>
                      <xsl:otherwise>
                        <xsl:text>AM</xsl:text>
                      </xsl:otherwise>
                    </xsl:choose>
                  </xsl:otherwise>
                </xsl:choose>
        </xsl:template>

After have read the code above, I have to say, the Western date format sucks! It is lucky that we have ISO 8601, but I cannot understand why they still insist on that *stupid* style of date, make it as a standard in UNIX and force us to follow. So I removed all useless code above, and my code is now like the following:

        <xsl:template name="short-time">
                <xsl:param name="date" /> <!-- YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS +/-HHMM -->
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($date, 12, 8)" />
        </xsl:template>

Spring equinox

2007-03-20T13:15:00.000Z

春分，二月中。分者，半也；此當九十日之半，故謂之分，秋同義；夏冬不言分者，蓋天地間二氣而已。方氏曰：「陽生於子，終於午，至卯而中分，故春為陽中。」而仲月之節為春分，正陰陽適中，故晝夜無長短雲。

This is how Wu Cheng describes spring equinox. His 月令七十二候集解 is a very interesting book about solar terms written in Yuan Dynasty. I found this book last year when compiling solar term (節氣)-related articles at English and Classical Chinese editions of Wikipedias. According to this book, 穀雨 is actually pronounced as gǔ yù, and 芒種 should be pronounced as máng zhǒng. The character 雨 when pronouncing as the fourth tone (去聲) acts as the verb form of rain. A dictionary explains more on this topic.

According to the JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System, the spring equinox this year will take place at 2007-03-21 00:07:26 UTC.

Partial solar eclipse in Beijing

2007-03-18T22:31:00.000Z

A partial solar eclipse will take place later today in Beijing:

Partial Solar Eclipse begins (初虧) at 09:27:32.4 CST.
Position angle=269.1°, Position angle vertex=308.5°, Altitude=33.1°, Azimuth=124.4° SE
Maximum eclipse (食甚) at 10:23:11.9 CST.
Magnitude=39.491%, Obscuration=28.342%
Separation=1215.35", Position angle=320.0°, Position angle vertex=350.5°, Altitude=41.1°, Azimuth=138.8° SE, Duration of eclipse=1h54m, ET-UT=65.2sec
Partial Solar Eclipse ends (復圓) at 11:21:21.6 CST.
Position angle=11.1°, Position angle vertex=28.4°, Altitude=47.0°, Azimuth=157.3° SSE

Data credit: calsky.com

The previous and next solar eclipses in Beijing urban area (39°54.4′N 116°23.5′E):

The previous partial solar eclipse was at 2002-06-11 06:39 CST, while the next will be at 2008-08-01 19:09 CST.
The previous annular solar eclipse was at 1802-08-28 15:46 CST, while the next will be at 2118-03-22 15:33 CST.
The previous total solar eclipse was at 1277-10-28 13:19 CST, while the next will be at 2035-09-02 08:33 CST.

Here is my earlier effort for discussion about total and annular solar eclipses seen from the whole Beijing municipality other than only in the urban area.

Here is a list compiled by myself in June 2000 for all solar eclipses in Beijing from 2001 to 3000. It's no warrant to the accuracy, so use it at your own risk.

From Tianjin Xi to Tianjin

2007-03-18T21:59:00.000Z

2007年03月18日06時01分乘坐出租汽車出發，於06時12分抵達天津西站，行程6.6千米，耗資15.00元。到售票處欲購通票，答曰本站不售通票，欲購K34天津西至天津車票一張，答曰該次列車沒有票額。於是做罷，出站購得煎餅餜子一套，耗資1.90元，又向售煎餅者咨詢可有繞過車站進入鐵路之法，答曰凡可入鐵路之漏洞皆於日前封死矣，以吾此前經驗推之，此言非虛。於是返回車站，適聞站內廣播1478次正在檢票，早知西站檢票大媽查驗甚嚴，若要成功進站，則萬不可絲毫疏怠，於是待1478檢票結束之最後一刻衝入檢票口，大呼來不及了上車補吧，大媽攔之不及，得以僥幸漏網而入。

天津西站正在進行站台加高施工。K34次列車自稱晚點28分，於天津西站四道停車。從列車長辦公席所在車廂上車，列車員初不允，言出站花1.50元可乘公共汽車至月牙河站，後經幾番爭執，連哄帶騙終而得以上車。乃見車長，補天津西至天津車票，其本欲收10.50元，對曰，豈非9.50元乎？車長稱是，於是補得無座車票一張，新型空調快速，天津西至天津，行程10千米，耗資9.50元。車長又歉然曰，此前列車員粗魯，不許上車，乃補票機鎖於櫃中，覓鑰匙而不得之故也。列車於07時37分29秒，晚點1649秒自天津西站開車，07時47分26秒抵達天津北站。當日恰逢鐵路運輸安全宣傳日，有記者裝扮之人立於車廂之內，令列車員擺出遞送宣傳材料與乘客之姿勢，供其拍照，以資確保鐵路運輸安全之功。列車在天津北站短暫停留，於07時56分32秒自天津北站開車，08時16分07秒，晚點1927秒抵達終點站天津臨時客站。

這是有記載的第二次乘坐該次列車旅行，前一次是：

2000-10-23 14:11 (上海–天津)

Erenhot

2007-03-12T23:34:00.000Z

2007年03月10日04时30分左右出发，沿京包铁路步行3.8千米至地铁13号线霍营站。05时34分17秒从霍营站乘坐地铁13号线列车，于06时00分44秒抵达东直门站。在东直门附近少许停留，并购得《参考消息》一份，耗资0.60元。06时22分55秒从东直门站乘坐地铁2号线列车，于06时31分52秒抵达北京站站。在北京站附近用早餐，并购得百事可乐一杯，耗资5.50元。

持K23次列车车票进站，包厢硬卧快速，加1车011号下铺，从北京至二连全程842千米，耗资148元。列车于2007年03月10日07时39分30秒，早点30秒自北京站开出，沿京包线下行方向，经由北京东、星火、望京、黄土店、沙河、昌平、南口、东园、居庸关、三堡、青龙桥、八达岭、西拨子、康庄等车站出京，于20时39分42秒，晚点42秒抵达二连车站。

略去二连活动描述若干。在二连站购得返程车票，5714次，硬座普客卧，02车005号下铺，二连至集宁南，经由集京，普客至清华园通票，全程823千米，耗资85元。列车于2007年03月11日07时21分22秒，晚点82秒从二连站开出，沿集二线上行方向，于当日14时45分46秒，晚点1366秒抵达集宁南车站。在集宁南站签得6056次普通普慢无座车票一张，用午餐，然后购得500毫升装淡雅低糖型康师傅茉莉清茶和550毫升装农夫山泉各一瓶，耗资5.00元。持购得车票进站，6056次车空，故硬座代卧之。列车于2007年03月11日16时27分30秒，早点150秒从集宁南站开出，沿京包线下行方向，行程127千米，于当日19时27分32秒，晚点92秒抵达大同车站。

略去大同活动描述若干。大同往北京方向当日车票已全部售罄，幸好2178次尚为中转签证留有部分票额。2178次列车经由丰沙线，而非京包线进京，本应先作变径，然后才能签得北京站车票，但此处未作变径，并只签到阳高车站，补普快与普客差价1元，逃得加快费价值3元，省得变径费用若干，并因此免受无座之苦。2178次列车于2007年03月11日22时33分09秒，晚点129秒从大同站开出，于次日04时54分15秒，晚点795秒抵达北京车站。

Cleaned Mighty Mouse

2007-02-28T18:38:00.001Z

My Mighty Mouse has become too old and the its scroll wheel has already got stucked for months. Yesterday, the wheel finally completely not move. So I decided to repair it. The work is not hard, first take the back shell apart, the scroll ball might require a rather small bolt driver however.

After cleaning the ball, I found I could not install the back shell back... Maybe it is time to buy a new mouse. (BTMM preferred...)

By the way, here is more about the mouse's scroll wheel I read somewhere last year, and it might be interesting to you. The scroll ball's gear-turning sound (the sound you heard at scrolling it) actually was not caused by the ball itself, but comes from a tiny speaker inside the mouse. Just unplug the mouse and try to listen to the wheel scrolling!

Rosetta's flyby of Mars; New Horizons' flyby of Jupiter

2007-02-26T19:32:00.000Z

Big events in space exploration this week:

Rosetta made its closest flyby of Mars at 2007-02-25 01:44 UTC. (3650 kilometers away from Mars, 260 kilometers above Martian surface)
New Horizons will make its closest flyby of Jupiter at 2007-02-28 05:42 UTC. (2305505 kilometers away from Jupiter)

Here are countdown threads for the Rosetta and the New Horizons missions at NewSMTH BBS. (in Chinese) I had a Perl script that calculating and posting these kind of milestones automatically at BBSes, but unfortunately it had gone forever with my old iBook G4, since I only backed up my home directory before selling it, but left my script at /Library/StartupItems/, so now I have to post at these threads by hand. :(

The beginning of spring

2007-02-06T13:41:00.000Z

立春 (lì chūn, start of spring) signifies the beginning of spring in China, Japan and many other Asian countries, where spring equinox would be the middle of the season.

Spring begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315 degrees, which occurred at 2007-02-04 05:18 UTC this year.

Spring could be divided into 3 equal parts. The first part is 孟春 (mèng chūn, early spring), the second part is 仲春 (zhòng chūn, middle spring), and the last part is 季春 (jì chūn, late spring).

Each of the 3 parts could be divided into 2 solar terms (節氣, jié qì):

The first half of 孟春 is 立春 (lì chūn) and the second half is 雨水 (yǔ shuǐ)
The first half of 仲春 is 驚蟄 (jīng zhé) and the second half is 春分 (chūn fēn, spring equinox)
The first half of 季春 is 清明 (qīng míng) and the second half is 穀雨 (gǔ yǔ)

Each of terms could be divided into 3 pentads (候, hòu). So there are 18 pentads in spring, and 72 pentads in a year. Each pentad has a name, for example, the first pentad in spring from roughly February 4 to February 8 in the Gregorian calendar named 東風解凍 (dōng fēng jiě dòng).

New Horizons: No more than 4,000,000,000 kilometers away from Pluto

2007-01-19T20:49:00.000Z

2454120.284880148 = A.D. 2007-Jan-19 18:50:13.6448 (CT)

== Sun ==
Range: 738,866,580 km (4.939018 AU)
Range-rate: 17,846.202 m/s
Velocity: 19,774.088 m/s

== Earth ==
Range: 833,230,977 km (5.569805 AU)
Range-rate: -2,844.746 m/s
Velocity: 27,101.859 m/s

== Jupiter ==
Range: 64,081,751 km (0.428360 AU)
Range-rate: -18,599.807 m/s
Velocity: 18,614.977 m/s

== 134340 Pluto ==
Range: 4,000,000,000 km (26.738348 AU)
Range-rate: -18,417.111 m/s
Velocity: 19,276.503 m/s

Toolserver

2007-01-16T06:27:00.000Z

It took them 40–41 days to approve my request for it, and my account at Wikimedia Toolserver has been finally created today.

Paparazzi!

2007-01-02T17:44:00.000Z

一直想找這麼一個東東，今天終於讓我給找著了。

Paparazzi! is a small utility for Mac OS X that makes screenshots of webpages.
It’s written in Objective-C using the Cocoa API and the WebKit framework.
It was inspired by webkit2png which is a commandline tool written by Paul Hammond in pyObjC.

2006: 23815 kilometers on trains

2007-01-01T14:59:00.000Z

I have traveled 23815 kilometers on 70 railway train rides last year, plus another 1963 kilometers or 180 rides on rapid transit systems. Provinces reached in the past year include Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Nei Mongol, Henan, Xizang (Tibet), Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The 70 railway train rides took me CNY 3162.00, or 0.1328 yuan per kilometer.