在網上看到這個寓言，很喜歡，把它轉貼出來：

有一條小河從遙遠的高山上流下來，經過了很多個村莊與森林，最後來到一個沙漠。它想：「我已越過了重重的障礙，這次應該也可以越過這個沙漠吧！」

當它決定越過沙漠的時候，它發現它的河水漸漸消失在泥沙當中，試了一次又一次，但總是徒勞無功，結果它灰心了。

「也許這就是我的命運，我永遠了到不了傳說中那個浩瀚的海洋。」它頹喪地自言自語。

這時候，四周響起了一陣低沉的聲音，「如果微風可以跨越沙漠，那麼河流也可以。」原來這是沙漠發出的聲音。小河很不服氣地回答說：「那是因為微風可以飛過沙漠，可是我卻不行。」

「因為你堅持你原來的樣子，所以你永遠無法跨越這個沙漠。你必須讓微風帶著你飛過這個沙漠，到達你的目的地。只要你願意放棄你現在的樣子，讓自己蒸發到微風中。 」沙漠用它低沉的聲音這麼說。

小河從來不知道有這樣的事情，「放棄我現在的樣子，然後消失在微風中？不！不！」小河流無法接受這樣的概念，畢竟它從未有過這樣的經驗，叫它放棄自己現在的樣子，那麼不等於是自我毀滅嗎？「我怎麼知道這是真的？」小河流這麼問。

「微風可以把水氣包含住，然後飄過沙漠，到了適當的地點，它就會把水氣釋放出來，水氣繼而變成雨水，然後雨水又會聚成河流，繼續向前進。」沙漠很有耐心地回答。

「那我還是原來的河流嗎？」小河問。

「可以說是，也可以說不是。」沙漠回答，「不管你是一條河流或是看不見的水蒸氣，你內在的本質從來沒有改變。你堅持你是一條河流，是因為你從來不知道自己內在的本質。」

此時在小河的心中，隱隱約約地想起了自己在變成河流之前，似乎也是由微風帶著自己，飛到內陸某座高山的半山腰，然後變成雨水落下，才變成今日的河流。

於是小河鼓起勇氣，投入微風張開的雙臂，讓微風帶著它走，奔向它夢想裡面那浩瀚的汪洋。

2。舉個例，你上面書，想將肖像換成昨晚跟女神的合照，明明按了上載的掣，但肖像仍然是舊的那張宅樣，於是投訴。面書團隊如果睬你的話，會自己試試，先確認不是你發雞盲看錯字按了取消。確認有問題，就開始調查原因，即「捉蟲」。找到原因之後，就「滅蟲」。

3。除蟲可以用上很多時間。見過有例子，蟲太多，編程人每天七小時，有六小時用在除蟲。除蟲時間越長，剩低寫新功能的時間越短，可以致命。

4。整個除蟲過程，最花時間的，通常是捉蟲，即調查。要減低除蟲的時間，就要減低捉蟲的時間。

5。查案的速度，取決於調整的人對出事的位置有多熟悉，越熟越快。對編程人來說，越遠的事情越陌生。也是說，越近期做出來的蟲，越快捉得到。

6。另一個因素，是調查的範圍。越老的蟲，經過越多的改動，調查範圍越闊，時間就越長。

7。蟲是編程人的天敵。在以前公司，有一次，看見編程隊伍每人的電腦屏幕，都插著一個用兩把膠尺綁成的十字架（當時還只有厚屏幕）。我問是驅甚麼魔，原來當日有重大改動推出，大家都怕會喚醒大堆理藏已久的蟲，希望借超自然力量擺平。
8。諷刺的是，蟲不是天跌下來，是團隊自己弄出來的，屬自作孽。

9。沒有人記下來的事情沒有發生過，同樣道理，沒有用戶發現的蟲等於不存在。

10。人有不同價值，蟲也各有不同價。最值得滅的，是影響最多人，而且受害人被害得最慘的蟲。越不會在未來跑出來害人的蟲，越不值得滅。

11。有蟲，是因為編程人測試時，試不了所有可能出現的情況，所以漏了眼。要保證完全沒有蟲，就要花極長時間測試，測試時間越長，剩低寫新功能的時間越短，可以致命。

12。你未試過發現面書有蟲，不是因為面書花極長時間測試，而是因為有太多人用，到你用時，早已被發現和消滅。用的人越多，人均見蟲可能性越低，要是好運遇上，應以遇上錯體鈔票般感恩。

2012年1月21日刊於蘋果日報

為反對SOPA和PIPA，維基百科宣布關站，舉世關注。

版權保護的根源，可追溯於上兩個世紀。先有《魯賓遜漂流記》作者Daniel Defoe，提出其作品是「腦袋的兒子」，提出作品為作者財產的概念。後來有James Joyce又以「想像子宮裡的胎兒」來形容其作品《都柏林人》，對那時的巨匠而言，文學作品的地位，甚至超越他們親生子女，是作者真正的骨肉，是精神的延續。

時移世易，來到21世紀，這一代後生，上維基，不讀百科全書，上Google，不去圖書館，他們玩YouTube、玩面書、玩Whatsapp，知識的權杖及傳承的光環，亦不知不覺地早已離開了內容創造者，轉投到內容平台的製造者，即矽谷的天之驕子身上。然而，網絡並沒有摧毀文學，反使之更多樣化，幾多新一代作家成名於網絡，對於他們，網絡不是敵人，反是其修練的道場，啟發靈感的秘寶。別的不講，熱爆新書《一路向西》作者向西村上春樹，先在高登連載咸故成名，聚眾於面書，繼而推出暢銷書，正是活生生的例子。

任何的霸權，縱使強大，總要面對新來者的挑戰。我們樂意見到良性的競爭，更希望看見科技進步帶來的幸福，我們不願意見到要祭出法律來保護任何一方，因為我們相信競爭，相信交替，相信進化，同時亦不相信區區一國的法例，能夠對最核心的地下侵權網站，構成什麼威脅 ── 他們早知道各種法律罅隙，絕不會停止運作，因而最終受到損害的，只會是尋常網民的資訊自由。

而我認為，最重要的一點，是站於轉變的環境面前，真正有見識的內容創造者，他們不會太介懷，不會著急，更不會感到憤怒，他們的心境非常平靜。因為在他們眼裡，環境的轉變，是機會，侵權的出現，是警號，也是訊號，告知消費習慣有所轉變。他們將集中精神，把資源投放在尋找和開發新的產品，因為他們知道，要解答的問題，從來不是「如何確保我們產品的銷路？」而是「我們的用戶需要怎樣的產品？」。

在網絡時代，要做內容創造者的門檻不高，試問若沒有他們的襯托，又怎麼顯得有識者的稀美？

2012年1月21日刊於蘋果日報

在fb見黃世澤轉貼，標題「中國電視台：香港係狗」，未睇內容，我當堂嚇一跳，睇過之後，原來得啖笑。

孔慶東好笑既情度，直頭同佢細佬孔慶翔有得揮呀！以下係佢既笑話精選：

1. 「說普通話的人，沒有義務，沒有必要掌握任何一種方言，中國人有義務說普通話。」
2. 「故意不說普通話是什麼人？王八蛋！」
3. 「當年英國人怎麼對付香港這幫狗呀？拿著鞭子，不老是抽呀，深深的給抽了，用老百姓的話說，就他媽的欠抽！」
4. 「凡是利用法治維持起來的秩序，說明你的人沒有素質，沒有自覺，不打，就不好了。說明了一個字：賤，欠抽。」

謝謝孔慶東，你給大家演示了什麼是「狗嘴長不出象牙」。

Mainland Chinese Televsion: Hongkonger are dogs 中國電視台: 香港人係狗

浪費，是大公司和政府官僚的代名詞，在Startup的世界，容不下半點浪費，尤其是未到product market fit尚未找到sweet spot的產品，為求生存，他們在爭分奪秒，卻往往在缺少資源的情況下，創造出奇蹟。實情是，資源的短缺，迫使startup們要用最有效率的方法做事。因此，成功的startup都知道打從第一天起，愈早接觸真正的用戶，愈早得到數據和意見，便愈可以減少錯誤的己見和判斷，那麼距離成功便又近了一大步。

簡單而言，這是一個尋找答案的過程，途中，運用分析工具佔了很重要的地位，因為幾乎每一個關於產品的決定，功能、設計、定位甚至微細於一個按鈕的用色的決定，都可以通過測試，直接從用戶處收集數據得到啟示。箇中的學問，難以一時說得清楚，但基本的入門和心法，若有興趣，要理解其實不難，為此我問了Web Analytics Wednesday創辦人Kenneth幾條簡單的問題。

Kenneth Kwok, Founder Web Analytics Wednesday

1. When did you first found the Web Analytics Wednesday?

K: I first found Web Analytics Wednesday on the 19th November 2009 in Hong Kong as a blog (the reason I remember is because I installed Google Analytics on the day and start collecting data). Not until January 2010 we have our 1st Web Analytics Wednesday event that I pay a few thousand dollars just renting a meeting place at Quarry Bay. At that time I only advertise through blog and social media due to the funding. The 1st event end up with about 15 people attended and quite satisfied with it.

2. Why did you found Web Analytics Wednesday?

K: When I first came back to Hong Kong from China during Mid 2009, I was surprised that there isn’t any Web Analytics Wednesday. As in Beijing, Web Analytics Wednesday had already started back in 2006 and each gathering already had more than 50 people attend. This basically mean Hong Kong is 3 years behind China and 5 years behind the rest of the world. Therefore, I start asking the founder of the Beijing Web Analytics Wednesday as well as the original founder in the US to learn and understand how they run the event in their own city.

The other reason I found or orgainise the Web Analytics Wednesday is because I feel Hong Kong should start realise how web analytics will become more and more important as business are no longer only complete between their products but also how smart they leverage the data being collected. If you look around we are heavily connected to the digital space and most people in Hong Kong do have Internet connection. Therefore, it is very easy for business to gather their customer data and starts leveraging it in the right way, which include protect user data privacy. One of the issue we are facing right now is lack of resources and this is one of goal of Web Analytics Wednesday is to gather professionals in the market to share their knowledge as well as a place for new professions to learn and develop their skills.

Finally I hope web analytics will help to regain the trust and value for the I.T. Industry, as a lot of people don’t treasure their I.T. resources. As data will not lie and everything is more scientific, it allows business to measure the return on investment. By leveraging data collection, business can now justify their I.T. spending to prove that it is not a cost to the business but they are able to generate revenue for the business. On the other hand more and more business activities will transit to the digital space, in order to prove the value of digital, the only way to prove it again is through data analytics.

3. One of your blog post “How to track offline media with google analytics”. how’s that possible?

K: Many marketer always try to solve the question in regards to which part of my marketing spend generate the most revenue. In digital space this is a very simple question but in traditional media it is very hard to do so. With the changes of technology now most people will have a Smart-phone with data plan. Smart-phone become a very important medium to leverage as it can connect the offline media to the online media.

The other connection between offline and online is Augmented Reality and Quick Response Code. Therefore, it gave me the thought by leveraging different technologies in order to track user behavior. Most company does not have a lot of budget, so my solution is quite cost effective from a marketer perspective by simply using a QR Code.

What the marketer require is a mobile ready website with Google Analytics being embedded, an web address with Google Analytics tracking code and QR Code generator. Once the QR Code being generated the marketer can simply print on any offline media.

So whenever a consumer uses a smartphone to scan the QR Code, Google Analytics will recognise the consumer is from an offline media. For example, a company printed 1000 copies of leaflet to give out on the street, now 500 people use a smartphone to capture the QR Code. Therefore, the conversion rate of this campaign is 50%. In another word if each copy of leaflet is $1 the whole campaign cost $1,000 and since there are 500 people saw the campaign then the acquisition cost per person will be $2.

Again there are more things we can do and one very good example is Tesco in Korea using QR Code to allow consumer to buy daily groceries in the sub-way. Now you can see it quite often in Hong Kong but most of them do not have any tracking code, which is a shame actually. Else we can gather a lot of useful data and able to understand the effectiveness.

4. What was the biggest misunderstanding about web analytics, particularly in hong kong?

K: Personally I think the biggest misunderstanding about web analytics is it sound very technical and will cost a lot of money. When most people hear the word web, the first impression will be technical and Information Technology related. That is totally wrong as Web Analytics a combination of Business and Technology. Therefore, we shouldn’t call it web anymore; it is more about digital as all the data we now gather is through a digital device.

On the other hand many company think web analytics is free as Google provide a free tool and data will just collect automatically. This concept is totally wrong as the company might only leverage 60% of what Google Analytics provide. Most of the issue is come down to actionable data. Even the data can tell you how many users visit the website but the questions is why? What did they done? Why they leave? Did they engage?

Web analytics is not about simple numbers and charts but the art is to find out the hidden message behind it. Once a company realise web analytics is tie closely to their day-to-day operation, only then they will start value the data and understand it is not technical anymore.

5. How to learn Web Analytics fast? And who should learn Web Analytics?

K: To be honest, there is no shortcut to learn Web Analytics as there so many areas involve. The best way is to learn from others in the field and read more from blogs as well as social media. The reason is because the technology and the market is changing so quickly so most books are not up to date when they release out in the market. Most of the professional will have their own blog to share about their knowledge and they will share news through social media so it will be the quickest channel to get update in the analytics field.

On the other hand, most countries have Web Analytics Wednesday that organise by local professionals to gather and share their knowledge. Therefore, it is another effective channel to learn about Web Analytics. Since Web Analytics is an industry that is more hands on than just base on theory. The more time you spend in looking at the data and the relationship between the business and the users, the more you will get out from it.

I believe everyone should learn about web analytics as every industry and professions are able to leverage the data. I met some companies who had a very strong analytics operation model, they base on data analysis to make business decision and which allow them to understand their business from different perspectives. Base on the data, designer can base on the data to understand the user behavior to better design the user interface. From a marketing perspective, marketing team can base on the data to invest correctly on their marketing spend. At last for product development team, they can also base on the data to find out which function they should develop more and which function should be discontinued.

6. Do you want to share one last thing about Web Analytics?

K: Web Analytics is something that will be getting more and more important in any business environment. It just likes social media; it is something that cannot be avoids and businesses are required to learn and leverage. As there are so many tools out in the marketing, business can continue invest in different tools but they should even invest more in interrupting the hidden message. This is because tools will not tell you what to do next and will not be able to understand the business. Therefore, web analytics professions and services are far more expensive and important than the tool itself. Without a storyteller, the data will be just meaningless and a waste of money and effort to collect all the data from the users.

火車內罵戰 香港人大戰大陸人

其實一早道歉就無事啦，仲可以有機會教啲細路仔，搭地鐵係唔可以食嘢呢~

不過呢件事，亦反映咗，香港人對大陸人既厭惡既程度，已經去到咗一個忍無可忍既地步，於是即使好小事，只要見對方喺大陸人，就好自然咁爆發出嚟。以呢次事件為例，大家聽片入面香港男人既對話，唔難聽得出，佢應該係幾唔鐘意大陸人，所以好可能，都唔多唔少滲咗一啲對人唔對事既成份。

無錯，理智話比我地知，無可能全中國13億大陸人都係壞人，之但係，我亦好相信，唔好個一撮人，應該都佔咗幾大比例，結果造成全世界包括香港人留下咗負面既印象。

一句到尾，香港人就係香港人，大陸人就係大陸人，若爽硬合二為一，就只會有一個後果：就係「爆」！

「一來Apple的開發能力不用懷疑，二來由於載體的物理限制，紙本教科書先天實在沒法跟iPad相提並論」

網絡的一代，對返學上堂沒有興趣，閒時只愛打機，尤其 iPad和 iPhone遊戲。

本地的免費教育乏味無趣，不吸引學生，教師又受制於填鴨式課程、應試壓力，不敢創新授課模式。教材也是一個死症，舉例最佳的物理科教材—— BBC的霍金紀錄片，講大爆炸黑洞蟲洞深入淺出，擺放於 YouTube免費任睇，再加上動態的Google Earth，讓學生親身漫遊浩瀚宇宙，勝過悶蛋物理阿 Sir照書讀百倍千倍。任何的其他學科，道理亦屬一樣。

寫稿時 Apple宣佈下星期將於紐約發佈新搞作，而且標明跟「教育」有關。若有讀本欄或教主自傳，應該會知道，改革美國的教育，乃教主遺願，他走了才幾個月，有關產品已接近推出，可見 Tim Cook沒有偷懶，給他全美最高薪酬，教主泉下有知，亦不會反對。

話說回來，細節雖未正式公佈，絕大部份人都相信，很大機會是進軍美國的教科書市場。蘋果向來不做內容，搞iPad報，找梅鐸來合作，搞 iBook store，直接跟 Amazon搶合作出版商，現在搞教科書，自然要找教科書商合作。

倘若成事，有Apple協助，教科書商又慷慨，供應最值錢的內容，可以斷定，絕對可以做出更好的產品。一來Apple的開發能力不用懷疑，二來由於載體的物理限制，紙本教科書先天實在沒法跟iPad相提並論：基於平板電腦，能設計出多媒體、社群、遊戲性、雲端性的互動教材，同學可以隨時隨地與老師討論、比較、切磋。

電子教材對學習而言，有百利而無一害。問題是，教科書商不似一般出版商，他們的收入相當穩定，加上教育電子化進度緩慢，我看不見強而有力的誘因，可以讓他們雙手奉上寶貴的內容。

與此同時，站在學校和老師方面，推行電子化需要相應配合，更新教學模式，若不能適應，有可能影響收入和生計，我同樣看不見有什麼誘因，能說服老師轉型。如果缺少了教科書商和學界的配合，全面的教育電子化，又能夠真正推動嗎？Apple葫蘆賣什麼藥，我們拭目以待。

2012年1月14日刊於蘋果日報