Thursday, February 4, 2016

【相声】东部马仔

By Fiona Rawsontile

A:且说唐僧师徒四人途经花旗国。。。

B:你等等,那年头有这国家吗?


A:怎么没有?“世界衙役”,听说过吗?正打算去呢,被告知中国的通关文牒在那儿不管用。


B:那就办商务旅游签证吧。


A:都得要资金证明和其他文件。还好八戒给出了个注意:师傅,咱们别说是去取经,就说是逃出来的,给唐王李世民的儿子迫害的。


B:政治避难。


A:结果签证官问了,为啥要迫害你们呀?八戒说:还不都怪那遭瘟的猴子,之前非要跟哪吒三太子学功夫。对方一听,就给放行了。


B:学的什么厉害功夫?


A:火轮功。


B:好嘛。不过中间隔着大洋,怎么去的?


A:坐仙鹤呐。


B:有那么大的吗?


A:别说四人加一匹马了,能装一百多号人呢。就是有点儿挤,尤其是八戒,在尾部坐了一会儿就想挪到前面去。


B:前面宽敞。


A:结果给唐僧叫住了:你这可是自行升舱,当心给人抬下去。


B:嗨。


A:来到花旗国西岸,一打听,国王住的地方还远着呢。唐僧吩咐大家,先攒些盘缠再赶路。


B:那他们晚上住哪儿啊?借宿人家?


A:老麻烦人多不好。租了个移动屋给白龙马拖着,里面日常用品一应俱全。


B:RV呀,他们租得起吗?


A:来之前申请到一个travel award。而且化缘不难,不必挨家挨户敲门。只要站在路边,举个牌子,上写“我要二锅头”,就有人给钱了。


B:和尚要酒不合适吧,干嘛不直接写要零钱?


A:写I want change?人家还以为你要竞选总统。


B:讲究还不少。那通常是谁去化缘?


A:都是沙僧。悟空和八戒要往路边一站,麻烦立刻来。


B:什么麻烦?


A:被动物保护组织反对呀!你看看这猴子,头上给套个铁箍。还有这可爱的小猪,每顿都吃不饱。


B:问题是这俩不去化缘,不闲得慌?


A:可不是嘛。没过多久,八戒就交了个女朋友,麦当娜。


B:歌坛天后?


A:不是唱歌那个,就是一卖donut的。气得唐僧说他:就不能干点正事儿?听说好莱坞正在隔壁拍电影呢,你去客串客串。


B:拍什么电影?


A:猪猡季公园。八戒说,俺不演那low tech的。俺好歹也会天罡三十六变,要演就演Transformers 6。


B:身段还挺高。


A:后来八戒决定去给当地农民传授养猪经验:养猪一字记之曰“心”。俗话说,心宽体胖。没事儿多去开导开导猪。


B:怎么个开导法?


A:现在技术发达,激素猖獗,有啥可悲观的?半年后又是一条好猪。


B:这也忒快了吧!那悟空都干些啥?


A:在casino给人看场子,谁出老千立马给逮住。


B:火眼金睛。


A:有时也好心提醒顾客:大叔,你右下腹有个肿瘤,回去记得查查。


B:X 光也出来了。


A:后来赌场干脆给他搞了间办公室,每天定点坐俩小时,外面挂号排长队。


B:都是来就诊的?


A:有小孩来照蛀牙的,孕妇问男女的。还有个年轻人,手里拿着个玻璃片:帮我看看这些细胞分裂了没有?


B:这怎么回事?


A:悟空一把抓住那人:我看你来路不正!青年长叹一声:大圣息怒,且听我说。我本是NIH某PI座下的一介博后,因不满老板对credit的分配,偷了仪器下界,自立为王。出来才知道funding有多难拿,连仪器坏了都没钱修。想回去又怕被老板责罚。


B:那怎么办?


A:只见队伍后面走出一老者:大圣,我HHMI那里正缺一个洒扫细菌摇床的tech,就让他跟了我吧。


B:弃邪归正了。那三个徒弟虽忙,唐僧应该比较清闲吧?


A:最累的就是他了。白天徒弟一走,就赶紧开始洗衣服。


B:有必要吗?


A:这花旗国人爱干净,天天换衣服,唐僧也是个要面子的人。时不时还差遣沙僧:听说梅西的保罗僧袍正在打折,你有空去看看---号不对就算了。


B:爱买牌子货。


A:晚上徒弟都睡了,还得挑灯夜战。


B:读经书?


A:写paper。


B:写那干嘛?


A:现在取经的和尚多了去了。你要是不productive,人家凭啥给你啊?有时半夜还把悟空叫醒:第三个reviewer叫咱们补数据,你看你还能再捉几个狐狸精吗?


B:还得再捉几个?


A:我估摸着,再捉上三四个就reach statistical significance了。


B:真不容易。干嘛不叫八戒去?


A:悟空是一作啊。


B:唐僧是通讯。


A:有时只是需要人唠唠嗑:这个佛光寺的般若院前年不是才招了个dean,怎么又打广告?


B:留不住人。


A:悟空说,师傅你动心了?等你取了真经,至少弄个top 5的provost来当当。唐僧说,这些职位我都没兴趣。


B:就是想在藏经阁翻译经书。


A:悟空说,现在经书都出了Kindle版,藏经阁迟早关门,你不如做个管学术的副住持。


B:有道理。后来攒足了盘缠没有?


A:攒足了,但这年头钱真不抗花。上路没多久,白龙马的粮草升价,别说premium的了,regular的都要五个铜钱一捆。


B:够贵的。


A:唐僧这一边掏钱,一边心里犯嘀咕:早知道不要什么劳什子的龙马了,要个日本马多好。


B:为啥呀?


A:省草。


B:听着新鲜。


A:而且这大夏天的,到处修路。一跑快了唐僧还得提醒他:慢点,徒儿,这里可是三倍zone。


B:还不够罚款的。


A:饮食也不习惯呐。菜都是生的,馒头硬邦邦,窝头倒做的又软又甜。


B:Corn muffin。


A:这天正在山里走着,唐僧问徒弟们:刚刚过去的那个马队,人人穿着马甲,带着宽边帽,有的还怀抱琵琶。


B:是吉他吧?


A:可知道他们是什么来头?沙僧说,好像叫什么西部牛仔。唐僧听了,点点头:好,那咱们这队也有称号了---东部马仔。


B:这是要火并是怎么的?


A:还说呢,话音刚落,就见路旁跳出五六个彪形大汉,大叫:此山是我开,此树是我栽,要想从此过,留下买路财!


B:遇上强人了。


A:唐僧听了,不慌不忙解开包袱,取出一个白色小盒。我这个pass是全国通用的,定是你们pay toll 的检测器有问题。


B:没扫成。


A:大汉们说,不可能!仪器没问题,定是你们走太快了,超过了五迈的时速。八戒接话道,明明写着Express Toll,怎么还让我们减速?


B:设备落后。


A:大汉们气急,仓朗朗拔出刀来。悟空护住师傅,跳上前去:兄弟, 我只不过是个猴儿,你想唬我就唬吧。不过当年牛魔王喝醉了酒,当头砍了我一刀,让我由西贡山一直追到公众四方山,有哪个不认识我铁棒悟空的?


B:都是道儿上的。


A:大汉说,若是换了别人,我就让他过了。既是弼马温,给钱都不能走!


B:为何如此?


A:此处原本是良田沃土,五百年前你大闹天宫时,打烂了太上老君的便盆儿,一座大山就从天而降。


B:这山叫什么?


A:Yellowstone。


B:这么来的。


A:眼看要打起来了,唐僧说,冤家宜解不宜结,这样吧,我这里带了一箱子的礼物,是打算送给佛祖的见面礼,你们看着选一样好了。


B:都什么呀?


A:也就是各地特产,比如东阿阿胶,王致和臭豆腐,伊美堂祛斑面膜。。。


B:这都什么乱七八糟的。


A:还有就地买的花旗参和Omega-3。大汉们看了看,最后相中了何首乌。


B:花旗国人多顶秃。


A:唐僧说,你们可真会挑。知道和尚们为何剃头吗?我猜佛祖可能也有这毛病。算了,你们拿一半走吧。


B:事情解决了。


A:闲话少提,总之这一路是降妖除魔,造福百姓。停停走走将近一年,终于来到皇宫。国王正在开会,就吩咐他们先在一间屋里等着。墙上挂着好多画,沙僧指着其中一张说:咦,二师兄,这不是你吗?


B:这什么画?


A:登月图。八戒看了直叹气:可不是嘛!当年怕给嫦娥认出来,包的跟个粽子似的。没想到广寒宫暖气开那么大,最后还是把头盔摘了。


B:结果闯祸了。


A:国王是好客之人,当天在宫廷设宴,后宫佳丽三千也都出席。


B:那可大开眼界。


A:是开眼了。但瞧这佳丽中,黑的,花的,红的,各色人种。还有坐轮椅的,穿军装的,绑独眼的。。。


B:干嘛搞这么杂呀?


A:你有所不知,这花旗国是个多种族大国,而且崇昌自由民主diversity,“人人有权当皇妃”,谁都可以参选。


B:可以参选,不招她不就结了?


A:越是minority还越得照顾。不同地区,种族,性取向,全都有固定名额。少了谁都跟你闹!


B:这国王可够惨的。


A:四人没料到的是,除了他们,另有三波取经和尚也在。


B:真够热门的。


A:悟空偷偷问,师傅,你认得他们吗?唐僧点点头:是印度来的摩诃茶叶长老,西湖的龙井上人,和大理的普洱禅师。


B:都是熟人。


A:唐僧又说,这印度长老以呼风唤雨著称,据说是当年去龙宫sabbatical时学的本事。龙井上人则靠捉水怪拿了不少军方的funding。


B:都是怎么个捉法?


A:他导师是做千里传音的。结果他拿到位置独立后,把这套技术改良应用到水中。


B:声纳呀,没顺便捉个潜水艇什么的。那普洱禅师做什么的?


A:他以弘法为业,号称有个百万信众群,每日收香火包无数。


B:都够厉害的。


A:饭后国王遣散妻儿,对取经和尚们说,实不相瞒,我有三个难题相求。你们谁要是能够帮我,不仅立刻在护照上盖印,还可以再写封support letter,助此人取得真经。


B:都什么难题啊?


A:我有一爱女,自小耳朵不太好使。去年被一阵怪风卷走,至今下落不明。说着眼泪都下来了。


B:这跟耳朵有啥关系?


A:没听见tornado警报。


B:可这茫茫人海,怎么找啊?


A:普洱禅师说,陛下稍安勿躁。我这条微信一旦发出去,立刻有万人替你在境内寻找。结果八戒看了画像说,不用找了,这人我认识。


B:在哪儿啊?


A:在加州卖 donut 呢。


B:第二个难题是什么?


A:我有一镇国夜明珠,六年前离奇失窃。


B:夜明珠,有多亮啊?


A:原先晚上整个皇宫都不用电,亮如白昼。老百姓都管我这儿叫白宫。


B:这么来的。


A:龙井长老说,水怪一向钟意夜明珠。


B:水底下黑。


A:给我一个月时间,定能将周边湖海打探清楚。唐僧却说,不用打探,我已猜到在哪儿了。


B:他怎么知道的?


A:我刚给American Journal of Ridiculosity审了一篇paper,题目叫“关于安大略湖幼年鳖精近来身材偏小的一个physiological and simulational study”。结论是由于某种不明夜光导致幼怪sleep deprivation。


B:怎么证明的?


A:发眼罩的那组比control的那组一年多长了两个standard deviation。


B:看来多审文章还是有用的。那这最后一个难题呢?


A:国王说,你们来时可能也注意到了。近来全国大旱,草木焦黄,粮食蔫在地里。望圣僧们施法,为我百姓求雨。印度长老一听,马上飞身上天去了,悟空也不甘落后。不一会儿,瓢泼大雨就下来了。


B:问题是两组都去了,算谁的呀?


A:长老说,雨是他从雷公电母那里求来的。悟空却说,陛下您稍作鉴别就知,这雨分明是我从太上老君那里弄来的。不仅滋润万物,你们十年都不用再给土地施肥了。


B:为啥呀?


A:我把他尿盆儿也给打烂了。


(鞠躬)


Wednesday, January 20, 2016

【相声】天外飞仙

By Fiona Rawsontile


A:话说这月圆之夜,紫禁之巅。李胖云虎四大名捕约好了,要到故宫某屋顶上比武去。

B:瞧选这地方。最后谁赢了?

A:倒也没分出胜负。四人刚一跳上去,房顶就塌了。

B:可不是嘛,加起来得有一千斤重。

A:虽然没伤着人,可守故宫的人不干呐!揪住四人要他们赔。

B:这可怎么办?

A:这难不倒他们。老李跟那人说,房顶我有的是,你看着拿吧。

B:够霸气的。

A:出了紫禁城,四人一合计,决定转移到旁边的中南海瀛台岛。

B:为啥非要去那儿呀?

A:那儿清净,还能顺便捉几条鱼回去。

B:都这身材了,还惦记着吃呢。

A:来到红墙外,四人纵身一跃,就翻了进去。

B:好功夫!问题是怎么过湖呀?

A:凌波微步,听说过吗?正朝着岛前行呢,冷不丁冒出个警卫来,拦住四人:这里不许溜冰!

B:那怎么办?

A:这四人哪把警卫放在眼里啊?身形一闪,就不见影儿了。

B:上岛了?

A:掉窟窿里了。

B:看来没冻结实。

A:警卫马上拿对讲机叫来一堆人,费了半天劲把这四人弄上来。一人给一条毛巾。您别说,这么冷的天,人都不带打哆嗦的。

B:和鸭子是一个道理。

A:虎肉兄问警卫:能再给个塑料袋吗?

B:要那干嘛?

A:手里不是都攥着鱼嘛。

B:还没忘了这事儿呢。

A:这一来,惊动了中央领导了,哗哗出来一片。走在前头的是习大大,一看见这四人就乐了。

B:为啥那么高兴?

A:以后再也不会有人叫他习胖子了。

B:嗨!

A:习大大又说了,我叫警卫在这儿钓了一天的鱼,也没弄着一条。你们这么一会儿就捉了七八条?

B:原来窟窿是他挖的。

A:云老师轻哼一声,你当我们四大名捕的称号是白捡的?

B:这么个四大名捕啊!行了,折腾了这么久,赶快回家吧。

A:那可不行,继续到全聚德比去。

B:干脆吃上了。

A:谁叫你提鸭子来着?结果进去一看,人家今天不营业,正在举办一年一度的食神大赛。

B:那就换地儿吃吧。

A:大家一想,虽然比不了武功,能在厨艺上一决高低也不错。

B:都是好胜之人。不过他们突然要求参赛,比赛评委同意吗?

A:评委刚好是四位的老熟人,人称饮食界“坑王”。曾以一款“热坑盐焗鸡”,打败常年霸占食坛的菩提老卤。

B:这热坑盐焗鸡是什么名堂?

A:先在地上挖个坑,倒入海盐。土鸡清理干净,用油纸包好,埋入盐中。上面生上火,一个时辰后取出,咸香扑鼻。每只鸡卖人民币999元,附送黑芝麻糊两袋,客人食后无不大喊坑爹。

B:什么乱七八糟的!还是讲讲比赛的情形吧。

A:第一道菜是胖老师做的墨水大蛋糕。

B:这能吃吗?

A:坑王才吃几口就连声叫好!只觉得满肚子的idea,写起proposal来一泻千里。

B:是得一泄千里。

A:第二道是云老师的:BSSD锦绣键盘。

B:是锦绣拼盘吧?

A:拼成键盘的样子。

B:为啥前面要加个BSSD

A:怕待会儿又上了首页。

B:真够怕老婆的。那虎肉兄呢?

A:当然是他最拿手的那道川菜,回锅铀。

B:不愧是原子岭的老师。

A:坑王边吃边点头:原来是用内功,加快铀裂变的速度,使之在我体内瞬间散发出无尽的能量!

B:哦,偶的天呀。最后轮到老李了吧?

A:他的最简单,是一杯咖啡。

B:这有什么门道?

A:这看似平常的咖啡,坑王只尝了一口,就愣在那里了,随后出口成诗。

B:这么神奇?做的什么诗?

A:冰冷稀湿的夜,奔走。写着OPENsign,在街角召唤。黯淡灯光下,芳华不再。用岁月,搅动苦中带甜的深意。

B:怎么听着像在拍广告呢?

A:据说比赛赞助商是某咖啡店老板娘。

B:那最后谁夺冠了?

A:四人并列第一。

B:恭喜呀!奖品是什么?

A:这奖品说起来可厉害了。现在大家都重视人才。

B:可不是嘛!

A:给予全聚德特聘厨师职位,外加糖浆学者,大鲜人等称号。各配两个编制内的kitchen manager15个全额CA

BCooking Assistant。不知space如何?

A:每人给三个一千尺的大kitchen

B:真羡慕啊!不过你等等,胖老师做的可是wet lab,你们有fume hood 吗?

A:排油烟机是吧?那还用问嘛。我们这儿一律现代装备,炒菜用的都是双蒸水,碗筷都经过autoclave。不信你看看绑餐巾的tape,条纹都变过色了

B:至于嘛!好吧,等哪天我去尝尝。

A:一定要来!他们做的可都是传统美食,什么人鸡界面,麻纳米线,宽带鱼网络。另外,为了让全聚德百年老字号的烤鸭再上一层楼,由李虎二人亲自设计了一种多代理嵌入式移动大明炉。

B:高科技!

A:鸭子进炉前,先用MRI成像,确保健康与完整性。再3D打印一个模型鸭,由云老师根据这个模型,配以全聚德多年积累的烤鸭大数据进行分析,提出三种烧烤方案,经committee审评,敲定一种。再由胖老师在鸭肚里灌入小分子水,外面涂上单层石墨烯,使烧烤中产生的静电可以均匀分布。烤完后拿microtome精确 slice,一片片外焦里嫩,编上号码摆满一盘。

B:终于开吃了!

A:等等,烤鸭毕竟油腻,这道菜的点睛之处,其实在于用来解腻的配菜。说起这样食材,可谓得来不易。常言道,松山有灵叶,只绿悬壁中。又道,兄弟情义重,莫过齐煮餸。

B:没听说过。

A:全靠李胖云虎这天外飞仙的功夫,才能于峭壁之侧,摘得宝物,又飞身入涧,浸于冰凉泉水之中。快马加鞭送至食客桌上,无需烹制,要的就是这天地灵气。吃一口,开肠胃;吃两口,沁脾肺。配在金黄油亮的烤鸭旁边,才算得上是全聚德四大名厨的招牌菜!

B:好!到底是何等珍贵食材?

A:大葱。

(鞠躬)

===================
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【相声】孔教授


Saturday, December 26, 2015

Quotes of the day III

Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them. ~François VI de la Rochefoucault

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. ~Harvey Fierstein

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. ~Frank Tibolt

"In good prose (says Schlegel) every word should be underlined!" that is, every word should be the right one; and then no one would be righter than another. There are no italics in Plato. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn. ~Robert Southey

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. ~Bruce Lee

Procrastination is like masturbation. At first it feels good, but in the end you're only screwing yourself. ~Author unknown, possibly from Monty Python?



Friday, December 25, 2015

穿越唐宋做苦逼小AP

By Fiona Rawsontile


人家写了个高雅的【穿越唐宋做小资】,给我改编成低俗的【穿越唐宋做苦逼小AP】。

1,穿越唐宋做小资
唐诗:田园有宅男,边塞多愤青。咏古伤不起,送别满基情。人妻空房守,浪子卧青楼。去国伤不起,满怀平戎忧。
宋词:小资喝花酒,老兵坐床头,知青咏古自助游。皇上宫中愁,剩女宅家里,萝莉嫁王侯,名媛丈夫死得早,妹妹在青楼。

2,穿越唐宋做苦逼小AP
唐诗:Lab有琐男,funding多被拒。领导是祖宗,小蜜勤打理。放假守空楼,开会抱大牛。日夜勤灌水,奔四不言愁。
宋词:闭目想idea,睁眼看细胞,,养个千老总想跑。小本来要分,博士不上道,码工常取笑。 骑驴找马没走了,终身在烂校。



Monday, December 14, 2015

Interview with Dr. Yiran Chen

                                By Fiona Rawsontile, Dec 2015

I think I could say that whoever knows Dr. Chen, personally or professionally, would agree that his career, while still in a young and aspiring stage, is purely legendary. I’m excited to find out what I’m going to learn from him today.

Fiona: After you have graduated from Purdue with a Ph.D., you worked in industry for five years. Why did you decide to go back to academia?

Dr. Chen: I was asked this question by many of my colleagues and students. The truth is that the research lab I was working in was dismissed during the last economic crisis. The company deployed all the researchers to product departments as R&D engineers, including me. However, having been “spoiled” by the freedom offered by the research lab, I was unable and unwilling to adapt myself to the life of an ordinary engineer. So after nine months, I quit and joined my current university. The manager did not even know I had a Ph.D. until my resignation, or maybe they simply did not care.

Fiona: When people talk about your achievements, they often mention your wife, who’s an equally accomplished engineer in the same field. How would you describe your professional relationship with her?

Dr. Chen: My wife is my (without “one of the”) best partner in my career. We had the same Ph.D. Advisor at Purdue, and now we are working in the same department of our institution. As a couple, we simply 100% trust each other in all aspects. (Fiona commented: That can be boring sometimes.) For example, you never need to worry about if your editing on her draft would harm her feeling. I think both of us benefit significantly from this mutual trust, which makes our collaboration extremely efficient.

Fiona: Do you two discuss about work at home? Who wins more often when disputes occur?

Dr. Chen: Yes, we do discuss about work at home. We have many divergences in our work, but we always manage to reach an agreement when attending to the students. Neither of us always wins, though my wife claims she is the one who often gives in (which is questionable, in my humble opinion).

Fiona: “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Related to the last question, what do you think is the overall condition of engineering women in industry or academia, in terms of competence, promotional opportunities, peer recognition, etc.?

Dr. Chen: Women are normally considered as “minorities” in engineering. Under this presumption, the current systems of both industry and academia provide women engineers and professors with many additional opportunities. In fact, I think academia offers even more than industry through creating special programs or considerations in hiring and research funding. A female engineer or professor is also more visible (say, easier to be noticed or remembered) during daily working contacts. Nonetheless, female engineers and professors often encounter more difficulties when being considered for administrative positions.

Fiona: Do they tend to be better or worse than men with regard to certain skills?

Dr. Chen: In academia, my observation is that female professors are more aggressive (of course, not everyone) than their counterparts in industry. I am not sure whether it means that academic life is harsher, or only the “aggressive” women would choose academia. I don’t see any difference between male or female engineers from technical perspectives, but apparently female engineers take more responsibilities for their families than male engineers. That may explain some of our observations.

Fiona: Your 35-page single-spaced CV told me you must be a genius as well as an extremely busy person. How could you find time for serving as journal editors, conference organizers, panel reviewers, and numerous service and dissertation committees, while maintaining high productivity with several ongoing federally funded projects (there are 14 manuscripts under review at this moment!)? Do you have secrets in time management?

Dr. Chen: You have to prioritize them and attend to the most important tasks first. Not everything is equally important and their value alters at different phases of your career. I work hard, of course, but in academia almost everybody (if not all) is working hard. If I have any secret, I think that is probably motivating my team effectively: my students participate in writing proposals, coordinating meetings with collaborators and funding agencies, and helping with many administrative and logistic duties of mine. Through learning from these extra activity, they become well prepared for the “cruel” society they will be facing upon graduation.

(插入作者高妹/Fiona的话:向大家推荐我正在连载的玄幻---武打---佛道---言情故事《魅羽活佛》,晋江链接:http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=4880087  故事简介:鬼道中的魇荒门,七个师姐妹都以绝世美颜著称。然而这次的任务中,二弟子魅羽却要化作一个中年油腻肥秃僧,卷入佛国、道门,和修罗界的斗争. 还要让咱们古往今来文采武功都称霸天下的帅哥活佛,对她一见倾心,矢志不渝。)

 晋江文学城链接《魅羽活佛》

Fiona: Considering the short duration you have worked as a college professor, the number of students and postdocs you have trained is impressive. Do you mentor them on an individual basis or rely mostly on lab culture and peer supervision?

Dr. Chen: We have two types of meetings – weekly 1-1’s and small study-group meetings. We have only one general group meeting per semester because it is hard to find a meeting room for 40 people and such a meeting is often inefficient. With a hierarchical personnel structure, senior students help me mentor the juniors. I monitor students’ research progress through 1-1 meetings, which I try my best to protect even considering my busy travel schedule, as well as weekly reports. I usually tell them what I want to see rather than what they need to do. They figure out the details by themselves or with other students. Luckily, our group is sufficiently large so that they can always find an expert to answer their questions. I have never laid off any students (so far), but our peer pressure is huge with so many productive members. In short, we run as an efficient team, in which individual genius is not critical.

Fiona: Now that all of you students are productive and competent, can you tell which ones are more likely to succeed as scientists, which ones should aim at industrial leadership? Has anyone disappointed you with his/her decision?

Dr. Chen: First of all, not ALL of them are productive or competent. People like to imagine that we have different requirements of personal characteristics for scientists and industry leaders. Unfortunately, this presumption does not hold. There are common personality traits shared by both roles: persistence, diligence, teamworking … I am happy as long as my students become successful, be it academia or industry.

Fiona: Hollywood likes to portrait us scientists as long gray haired nerds who have little idea about how the society outside our labs functions. Tell us about the online bookstore you cofounded as a college student. Are you still participating in the management? Do you have plans for other types of business in the future?

Dr. Chen: I quit from the online-store business around 2004 and am no longer a part of the team. Since then, many of the people I worked with have become important figures in the Chinese Internet industry. That was one of my most valuable investments in terms of personal connections. In China, there is a popular saying, “Personal connection is the first productive force”. Although meant to be a joke, it does state a truth that your reputations and personal connections are vital for your career, and I carefully maintain them. In addition, if you have gone through the whole process of building a startup, you would know whom you want to work with, what you can and cannot do. I like trying new things, and I will experiment with some kind of start-up in the future. In fact, I think we have already come up with some good ideas, and we’ll see.

Fiona: Entrepreneurial mindset is currently a hot topic in the engineering disciplines. For students who are still pursuing their degrees, do you think it helps to bring up their awareness of industrial opportunities, risk management, etc., or would you rather have them focus on basic engineering skills, e.g., signal processing, without being overly distracted?

Dr. Chen: Although I started my own company when I was a M.S. student, I am generally against the idea of sacrificing your study for commercial opportunities. I still remember when I told the advisor of my M.S. thesis how “successful” my start-up was, he said, “I agree with you that you might have learned things that extend beyond the scope of school, but the reason we still need education is that other things, some of which are essential in the make of a scientist or a businessman, can ONLY be taught at academia.” Those are the words that will be kept in my mind forever and shared with my students.

Fiona: Would you also like to share the experience of organizing the concert for two famous singers at Tsinghua?

Dr. Chen: Ahha! Jian Li and Jie Miao are very famous now, and I’m happy to have witnessed their growth in our young age and early stage of their career. I was the producer of that concert, and I still consider it as one of my proudest accomplishments. You wouldn’t believe we only spent RMB12000 organizing the whole concert, and I still owe one of the two singers RMB2000 for the recording tapes we used.

Fiona: Did the concert bring back enough gross to cover the expenses?

Dr. Chen: No. If I remember correctly, the admission was free because ticket pricing would have taken a long time to be approved. You can imagine how hard it was to get a ticket. Many famous singers and musicians attended the concert: “Lao Lang”, Gengxu Lu, Xiaosong Gao, Jie Li … After the concert, we had an exclusive party for the rest of the night in a pub named BlueJay in the university neighborhood. I met Jian and Jie again at the 60th anniversary party of the department I graduated from, and we were glad to see all of us doing well in our own careers.

Fiona: An experience like that would certainly be remembered. Could you have become an artist yourself?

Dr. Chen: My mom has a B.S. degree in music, but I failed to inherit the talents from her. I enjoy art and music, but I don’t want to pretend to be an expert.

Fiona: Your research covers the areas of embedded systems, memory and sensing, nano-devices, etc. Which topic do you think has the potential of making the largest impact?

Dr. Chen: As computer engineers, my wife and I have started gaining attentions for our research on emerging memory technologies. We recently shifted to brain-inspired computing, which is believed to revolutionize the computer industry by allowing computer to “think” like a human being. We are still far from this ultimate goal, but we have already seen light above the horizon. I’d like to use the following sentence to summarize our research: “I imagine a world where the difference between man and machine blurs, where the difference between humanity and technology fades, where the soul and silicon chip unite.” (Raymond Kurzweil, “The Age of Intelligent Machines”)





Tuesday, December 8, 2015

【相声】航班风波

By Fiona Rawsontile


A:  这么久没见,出差了?
B:  我是去警局协助调查去了。
A:  查谁呀?
B:  查我自己。
A:  你给逮起来了!为啥事儿呀?
B:  还不就是给黑心的航空公司闹的。上次我回国讲学归来,你说我给了他们那么多钱,才分我那么一把小椅子坐。
A:  家里宽敞,你怎么不在家里坐着?
B:  这飞机还没起飞,我就两腿发麻了。不行,我得到过道里溜达溜达。
A:  伸伸腿儿。
B:  走了会儿一看,咦,这儿有个座位不错!大皮椅子,手脚都能伸展得开。前面还有窗户,视野开阔。
A:  你就坐那儿了?
B:  还说呢,没坐多久,就来了一个穿制服的男的,“先生对不起,我得准备起飞了。”
A:  你跑机长的座位上去啦!
B:  我是一边起身,一边叹气啊。你说这遥控飞机都发明那么久了,还搞个机长干啥呀?
A:  这飞机要是遥控的,你敢坐吗?
B:  从驾驶舱出来,我没走几步,又给我看到一个宽敞的好位置。
A:  你也不能想坐哪儿坐哪儿呀。
B:  没人坐我怎么不能坐?我正在这儿闭目养神呢,发现有人推我。
A:  人家来了呗。
B:  我说真没礼貌!没看我这儿休息吗?
A:  这是人家的位置呀!
B:  怎么成了他的位置了?我先坐下的呀。
A:  你以为这是公共汽车呢,先来后到。
B:  那人见我不走,把空中小姐叫来了。我说叫他坐我那儿不就得了。
A:  你说得容易,人家那个位子好几万呢。
B:  一个烂椅子卖好几万,还不给带走,你说这航空公司黑心不黑心?得抵制它。
A:  下飞机把椅子搬走?没听说过。
B:  这时候周围的乘客都要我走,你说这年头,道德败坏,真是墙倒众人推啊!
A:  还说人家道德败坏。
B:  我大喝一声!别以为我好欺负的,我可是身负武功。
A:  练过。
B:  先漏两手震震他们。我于是离开座位,来到过道,就地儿使了一套地堂拳。
A:  打起滚儿来了。
B:  这时候机长闻风赶来了,说叫我离机。
A:  你扰乱秩序了。
B:  我能怕他吗?我一个鲤鱼打挺,站起身来。丹田提气,只听啪地一声!
A:  你用内力击他?
B:  我拿吐沫吐他。
A:  这素质。
B:  机长立刻拿起电话,没多久,警察带着警棍和警犬都来了。
A:  你闹大了!
B:  别以为能依多取胜。我伸手往怀里一掏,把枪掏出来了。
A:  你还带着武器呀?
B:  我可是美国人,什么弄不到?我对着这帮恶警们就滋了起来。
A:  水枪啊?怪不得没查出来呢。
B:  这下可把警察们惹火了,大叫一声:“关门,放狗!”
A:  这可糟了。
B: 就见一人手一扬, 一条四尺长的大黄狗,红着眼睛,张着血淋淋的大嘴,就向我扑来。只听嗷的一声!
A:  你受伤了?
B:  我把狗咬了。

(鞠躬)

推荐相声:天外飞仙
http://fionarawsontile.blogspot.com/2016/01/blog-post.html