With Spain’s classy win over Portugal today, the match-ups for the quarter-finals are complete. Time to put down some predictions.

Quarter-finals

Uruguay – Ghana: Uruguay should take this one. Their strikers have looked dangerous throughout the tournament, while Ghana has not been really impressive. If Uruguay wins, it will be their first trip to the semis in 40 years – a mini revival for the two-time champions.

Brazil – Netherlands: this will be a tight one. The Dutch side posed serious threats to Brazil in both 94 (quarter-finals) and 98 (semi-finals), but lost both times. Brazil has been lethal in their efficiency, and will probably go through on goals from a few short bursts of samba football magic.

Argentina – Germany: probably the best match of the quarter-finals. The historical head-to-head statistics are slightly in Argentina’s favor I think; the bigger issue is whether this German side can fend off really talented technical teams, such as Argentina. Two years ago they were systematically outplayed by Spain in the Euro Cup final (very much like Portugal was today). My money is on Argentina.

Paraguay – Spain: Spain are the clear favorites here, though they should be wary of complacency. Their defense have not been too assuring, but they have only conceded two goals in four matches. Barring a huge upset, they should go through to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (assuming my predictions)

Brazil – Uruguay: again Brazil are the favorites. Both teams are really familiar with each other. Uruguay needs to grasp every chance possible; if Brazil continues their form, they should go through to the final.

Argentina – Spain: Either Argentina or Germany would be a huge headache to Spain. If it is indeed Argentina, we should expect to see a very entertaining match of attacking football, with lots of opportunities at both ends. The two teams have not met in the world cup, and head-to-head records are tied. It will come down to sparks of brilliance from Messi versus his Barca team-mates Xavi and Iniesta. Really can’t predict – going with my personal favorite Spain here.

Final

Brazil – Spain: Brazil would be the favorites based on their current form and experience at this level of play, despite Spain being tipped overall favorites by bookies previously. And the head-to-head stats are also in Brazil’s favor. My biggest concern is the Spanish defense. If this match materializes, it could shape into one of the best finals in recent years. (Brazil – Argentina would be even more memorable, considering their huge rivalry.)

At any rate, this is perhaps Spain’s best chance in a while. Their squad is well-oiled and at the peak of their game, and they have the confidence of a team that has finally ended their perennial under-achieving streak by becoming European champions two years ago. They’ve never been to the World Cup final – this is their year to change that record.

昨天和顾、宋、张小聚了一下，算是出国前的一席酒（哈哈，昨天两顿都是有人请，白吃白喝不错）。在民族大学那边，因为有些餐馆聚集，当然也顺带看看现在的学生妹。在一家傣味餐厅杯盘狼藉之后，我突然提议说咱们去网吧打星际吧，众人无不赞同。

于是开始找网吧。想不起来上次去网吧是什么时候了。上次跟朋友去网吧打游戏，大概得是大学前了吧？那都好多好多年了。初中的时候也算是半个不良少年吧，虽然成绩一直没话说，但是有段时间网吧几乎天天去。那个时候会没完没了地打星际，偶尔打打三角洲（CS大约是高中才流行起来的）。最开始是从学校往北，过了圆明园东门，但是应该没有到体育大学。那个时候那里的那条臭河（大约现在五环的位置？）边上有些网吧。我们常去的是更北边的，现在那片平房早全拆了。听顾说，那家网吧的老板做了几年之后，就全家移民加拿大了─这大约是蓝极速纵火案引来网吧严打之前了吧，也算是生意善始善终。

再后来就是去五道口。那时五道口是乡下，没有没完没了的韩国学生妹和欧美帅哥，以及试图巴结欧美帅哥的中国女人。没有华丽丽的五道口华丽商厦。没有城铁。那里全是平房，沿着铁道走，平房上大字刷着严厉打击卖淫─听说那时那里很多职业女性。曾经在那些曲径通幽的胡同里买过光碟，但更多是去网吧。

那个时候网吧贵，记得五道口有空调的要4元一小时，没有空调的可以2-3元。包夜比较便宜，但是即便是半个不良少年的我，那个时候也是万万不敢夜不归宿的。后来学会夜不归宿，是大学去钱柜。

─原来回忆便是这样飘逸。昨天，我们找网吧，还是费了些周折的。大家都是事业上进有道德感的好男人（有单身女性请发带照片的email到…），许久没有出来鬼混的，于是对于哪里有网吧全然没有概念。不过有代步工具，便一路慢开，左右观望。发廊、按摩倒是看到了不少，可惜我们是有童趣有道德感的好男人。

找到的第一家没位子了。又溜达了一会儿，找到了第二家，这家比较空。实名制。身份证交上，拍照。大约北京管理的比较严。现在很先进了，都是电子化管理，用用户名和密码登陆。游戏也是有统一的平台管理，看起来非常适合大规模装机，不再像以前要一台一台地拷游戏。

打星际，我们也就是满足于爽电脑。之后我说打call of duty，但是从来没有联网过，我们人又少，不知道怎么用机器人。觉得自己真的落伍了。最后是打CS，iceworld那张练枪图。

预付费用光了，系统自动提示。真先进。走了，四个人陆续散伙，时光倒流的晚上亦到此为止。

http://match.lansin.com/zy.html

我的结果。另外请不要用标题来做各种不必要的联想。。。

深居简出的御宅男

性格简笔画：

你有没有发现一个很有意思的单词——Again（重复）单词拆分开来就是 a gain（收获）。

好了，故事讲完了，这个故事告诉我们，不断的去做一件事情，或许你做1001次的时候，你就成功了。

在你的人生词典里，平常心是一个很重要的词语。凭着习惯去生活不容易偏离轨道，不会在人生的某个十字路口迷失自己。有时候，你不能预计打破常态后的局面，而在重复地做着一些琐碎的事情。

或许有人会觉得整天重复做一件事情没有意义，但蓝心不这么认为，阿甘和许三多也一起不这么认为。而且不得不承认，从学生时代起，你就是老师喜欢的好学生；而在你的职业生涯里，你踏实、忠诚可靠，也将是上司放心信任的好员工。

你比别人要有耐心，会注重微小的细节，往往出门忘记带伞、煤气没关这类事件不会发生在你的身上。

你做决定前一般会事先计划好，然后有条不紊、按部就班地一步一步去实现。一切井然有序，你的心才不会慌乱。稳定压倒一切啊！

爱情扫描仪：

逛街、聚会、交友不是你的长项，宅男宅女的本性让你网恋发生的指数要别人高出几个等级。通过网游而发生爱情对你来说，绝不是神话。

你的低调，如聚会的时呆在别人注意不到的角落，让你在异性的透明度相当之高。不过一旦你的小宇宙爆发，你的忠诚和可靠会战胜所有的情敌，获得异性的爱恋。

与心爱的人笑傲江湖不是你的梦想，因为对你而言，爱情不是生生死死，天雷地火，而是平平淡淡的与子偕老。

注意问题：

谨慎和保守，的确可以规避以些生活上的风险，但是不能因此固步不前。试着以开放的心态去接受新的信息和理念。有时候，退一步会海阔天空，但是，有时候你勇敢地向前迈出一步，也许阳光会更加灿烂。

如果完全封闭在自己的城堡里，你很可能错过一些发展机会。

平时，你习惯“为而不争”，不喜欢与别人去争夺什么东西。但是有时，必要的竞争和索取是正常的，比如高考，应该奋斗的时候就应当振手一博，而不能太随性，太淡然。

发展方向：

你更能胜任一些要求注意细节、精确度、有系统和条理的工作。一些具有记录、归档、据特定要求或程序组织数据和文字信息的职业，并具备相应能力。

如：程序员、投资分析员、网络编辑、秘书、办公室人员、成本估算师、记事员、会计、行政助理、图书馆管理员、出纳员、保险公司理赔员。

Over at /Film there’s a cool link to this video:

EepyBird’s Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

偶然看到了这个视频，据说近期很火。下面是两年前的版本。

看了以后突然很感慨，有种久违的感动。像是夏夜凝望星空，或是日出观海，涌上心头的是对生活的本质的反思。

到Matt的主页去看了看，该君其实也是个很普通的人，没有上过大学，电玩和旅游是他的主要爱好。他可以到这么多地方旅游，得益于他的这些视频的最原始素材得到了口香糖品牌Stride的赞助。因此这些视频实际上是广告。但真的是很好的广告。

So here’s a good tagline for fun:

We make people fly.

As said by Lion Air, an airline in Indonesia, which I flew, BTW.

Engadget links to an interesting article (cover story) of this issue’s Business Week, which is essentially a behind-the-scenes look into Lenovo’s new high-end ultraportable, the Thinkpad X300.

The article itself is a good read, and features one of the most funny lines I’ve seen in a while, with Lenovo SVP Peter Hortensius screaming “it fits! it fits!” after putting the X300 through the ultimate test: does it fit into a Manila Envelope*?

* All rights reserved, Apple 2008

我觉得啥都不用说了。。。

转自新浪。

新闻出版总署禁售恐怖灵异类音像制品

本报北京2月13日电 (记者 张贺) 为保护未成年人的身心健康，新闻出版总署日前发出《关于查处“恐怖灵异类”音像制品的通知》。

　　所谓“恐怖灵异类”音像制品，是指以冤魂厉鬼、异性怪魔等异类非人为形象塑造，以奇异的超验幻想、离奇的梦魇谵妄为虚构手段，以恐怖骇人、惊悚阴森、离奇悬疑的超现实情节为故事题材，以追求惊惧恐怖的感官刺激为目的的音像制品。

　　通知指出，近期“恐怖灵异类”音像制品出现回潮趋势，各省级新闻出版局要依据有关规定，对所辖音像出版单位2006年和2007年已经出版的音像制品，进行一次认真清查，凡是含有禁载内容的，一律下架、封存、回收，并依据有关规定作出相应处理。对于2008年音像年度出版选题计划中含有“恐怖灵异类”内容的，要立即停止制作，撤销选题，删除相关内容。

我觉得自己是火星人，怎么也看不懂人民日报这个通知。。。

应karasi之邀， 我很土地头一次玩这个游戏。那就随便写点吧。

1. 你觉得自己致命的弱点是什么？

唉随便扯个短板吧。。。冲动性地自负？有时候会因为要证明自己正确而意气用事，明明不必为些细枝末节讲那么多。冲动的时候智商下降。嗯，不显山露水，方为王道。。。

2. 会选择什么样的人做姐（哥）们 ？

其实是个很好的问题。我以前一直觉得自己很随和，和什么样的人都合得来。但其实合得来跟能交心实在区别很大。现在觉得，可以交心的朋友是跟我对于生活有着一样态度的人。兴趣可以不同，但是态度需要类似，因为这是本质的共同语言。简而言之，就是对待生活要有些玩世不恭但仍然是认认真真的；重视经历大过重视结果；另外性格上是直来直往而不遮遮掩掩的。

3. 你最向往的职业？

这个问题。。。现在我不知道。咨询在合适的条件下的确是我很喜欢的行业，但是并不是每个项目都有那么好的条件等等。我也没有什么创业的野心，至少目前没有。

哦，其实抛开现实，最想做的当然是电影导演了。居然把这个忘了。 如果要与现实结合的话，那么可能的曲线救国道路就是做电影产业的投资人士等等。

4. 你觉得成长中除了父母以外对你影响最大的人是谁？

又是个难题。。。这个问题如果用理性思考，会想到很多人。不想那么理性（也以此为借口避开大家指责我没心没肺），但要提两个人，于公于私两方面。于公，以前在清华，社团的会长对我有知遇之恩，他算是给我打开了咨询之门。他也许不会这样想，但我觉得机会的确是他为我创造的。于私，必然是ex了，虽然分手了，但是她的确是这个世界上除了我父母了解我最多的人吧（甚至，比我父母还了解我全部的真实想法？）；不知道反过来是不是也成立，但是我们互相都影响了对方很多吧。

那么，下面我来点将吧，偷个懒直接从订阅的blog list随机点几个吧：gylucia, bluetee, funa, sojourner, sunnine, ahyuyu，另外无法订阅的康博同学你也写写。

嗯，对了，我更换的题目是第1题，把它换成：你到目前为止最想说而没有说的一句话是什么？

再偷个懒，把规则copy一下。不必遵守，只是万一哪位和我一样土不明白游戏是怎么回事可以看一下。

Rules:

1.被点名的博友，要在自己的博客里写下自己的答案，然后去掉一个问题，再加上一个问题，仍然组成4个问题，传给其他10个人，列出10个需要回答问题的人的名字，并且还要到这10个人的博客里留言通知对方——你被点名了，被点名者不得拒绝回答问题，完成游戏的人将会得到大家真诚的祝福。

2.这10个人要在自己的博客里注明是从哪里接到题的，并且再想一个题目传给其他10个人，让游戏继续下去，不得回传。被点到名字的人将得到大家的祝福，并且所有的美丽愿望都会在不久的以后实现。

I’ve also been playing some video games recently, namely Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Crysis, both highly hyped First-Person-Shooters. My verdict: the hype is well deserved.

I still remember playing the original Call of Duty back in college. Probably was my freshman year? Suffice to say, that was one of the games that dragged my GPA down.  The most impressive part about Call of Duty is the hyper-realistic sense of warfare: whether it was D-Day on Normandy, or defending Stalingrad, you felt you were there. Bombs, shells, mortars, rockets, small arms fire — the battleground was desperately chaotic and Call of Duty made sure you experienced it. Most vividly, I remember getting shell-shocked (when shells explode too close to you): there was the few seconds when all you could see was a blur, and you lost hearing — and then everything came back. There was also the excitement when you, as the infantry, played cat and mouse with tanks (and trying to blow them up with explosives); and vice versa, when you were in the tank, trying frantically to survive street warfare.

In Call of Duty 4, the setting is no longer World War II (too many WWII shooters to count…). Instead the scenario is a fictitious anti-terrorist campaign set in the present day (which of course involves stopping nuclear bombs and fighting Arabs…). The plot isn’t that interesting, but the fighting sure is. Everything good about the original is retained, and then magnified. Close quarters combat is even more frantic. You need to Dodge grenades (you could choose to throw them back, if you had time), RPGs, and of course lots of bullets flying every which way. Some single-player levels are impressively memorable, most notably one level in which you need to use stealth to infiltrate an enemy position and snipe out the bad guy. Suffice to say, one of the best sniper levels I’ve played in a long time.

Call of Duty has always emphasized realism, and that’s what it does best. Crysis, on the other hand, is a whole different breed. This sci-fi shooter places you as a US Special Forces elite, and you are basically a one-man army. Luckily for you, you’re wearing a special nano-suit which is a sort of advanced combat gear — it can offer you four different modes, from the primary defense mode (armor) to speed to strength (allowing you to jump ridiculously high), and finally cloaking (full invisibility). So you get to play Predator on your enemies. Which is indeed lucky for you, because right from the first skirmish, you quickly realize that killing them is HARD.

The plot of Crysis is pretty straightforward: you’re assigned to infiltrate an island held by Koreans (North Koreans, of course) and rescue a group of scientists at a dig site with a major discovery. Unfortunately, you soon find out that their major discovery is bad news: it’s actually an alien base, ready for invasion. So what’s a man gotta do? Kick ass of course…

The great thing about Crysis, besides the beautiful graphics (which I can’t fully witness due to my laptop’s hardware) and your nano-suit, is the freedom it offers. Maps are huge (in fact, you could spend so much time just wandering about), and with your different skills, you could tackle the objectives in very different manners. For example, you’re about to infiltrate an enemy base at the foot of a mountain. You could decide to sneak up using cloaking, and just enter through the front gate. Or you could use your jumping skills and try to get on top of the mountain and sneak through the back.

Besides that, the action is intense. The AI is well designed, and enemies will act very tactically, emerging in groups and often trying to flank you. And it’s pretty hard just nailing one bad guy: everyone is wearing armor and can take in a lot of body shots (aiming for the head is a better option, but you often knock out their helmets first). And then there’s the aliens — they are sure hard to kill…

So, that’s about it for those two games, which basically took up a few days of my time… I suggest checking them out, if not just for the sake of witnessing what modern video games have evolved into. Seriously, I need to get my hands on some good hardware.