On YouTube Kids, Startling Videos Slip Past Filters
The app has more than 11 million weekly viewers. But some disturbing knockoff videos have reached children, upsetting parents.
Fitness and Nutrition
Run Well
Lessons From a Marathon Not Run
By CHARLES LYONS
Thousands of
runners who had trained for months didn't get to run the canceled New
York City Marathon. All that rigorous training. It felt unfair, a cruel
joke. Runners train to run.
Periods of great social change reveal a tension between the need for continuity and the need for innovation. To comprehend these changes as history and as guideposts to the future, Peter F. Drucker has, over a lifetime, pursued a discipline that he terms social ecology. The writings brought together in The Ecological Vision define the discipline as a sustained inquiry into the man-made environment and an active effort at maintaining equilibrium between change and conservation.
10 Most Popular Stories
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A weed grows out of the dr,y cracked bed of O.C. Fisher Lake on July 25, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. The 5,440-acre (2,200 hectares) lake, which was established to provide flood control and serve as a secondary drinking-water source for San Angelo and surrounding communities, is now dry following an extended drought in the region
1. Drought Cripples the South: Why the 'Creeping Disaster' Could Get a Whole Lot Worse
By Bryan Walsh
The South has suffered crippling droughts in the past, from the long dry stretch in 2007 to the multiyear Texas drought of the 1950s. But this time could be different — and worse
For someone like me, nothing could have been more freeing. Although people who need a precise travel plan might go hungry using my approach, I discovered that winding through central New York armed with a few strong culinary guideposts and a willingness to risk lunch on vague directions was a great way to spend a weekend.
BEIJING — Political censorship in this authoritarian state has long been heavy-handed. But for years, the Communist Party has tolerated a creeping liberalization in popular culture, tacitly allowing everything from popular knockoffs of “American Idol”-style talent shows to freewheeling microblogs that let media groups prosper and let people blow off steam.
Now, the party appears to be saying “enough.”
Whether spooked by popular uprisings worldwide, a coming leadership transition at home or their own citizens’ increasingly provocative tastes, Communist leaders are proposing new limits on media and Internet freedoms that include some of the most restrictive measures in years.
the better 19-century knockoff.
O'Brien: How Twitter could be a threat to Google
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
By Chris O'Brien Google's search engine is so dominant that it's hard to imagine how anyone could knock the Mountain View company from its pedestal. ...
The people who make fake iPhones admit it’s a shady business.
“We are a kind of illegal producer,” says Zhang Feiyang, whose company, Yuanyang, makes an iPhone clone. “In Shenzhen there are many small mills, hidden. Basically, we can make any type of cellphone.”
In China, Knockoff Cellphones Are a Hit
knockoff
n. Informal.
An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing: “the place to go for quality knockoffs” (Women's Wear Daily).
knock sb off their pedestal
to show people that someone is not as perfect as they seem to be:
This recent scandal has really knocked the President off his pedestal.
Compare put [sb] on a pedestal at pedestal.
put sb on a pedestal
to believe that someone is perfect
Compare knock [someone] off [their] pedestal at knock (HIT).
ped・es・tal
━━ n. （銅像・柱などの）台（座）; 机の袖; 根底, 基礎.
knock … off his pedestal 人を崇拝しなくなる.
put [set] … on a pedestal 人をたてまつる, 崇拝する.
━━ vt. （〈英〉-ll-） 台にのせる.
2009 晶片技術使門檻降低，山寨手機應運而生
過去的手機行業，因為研發難度，進入的門檻很高，條件也相當苛刻。那時中國只有少數幾個品牌手機企業可以自主運作，它們在中國手機行業裏幾乎形成了壟斷。
但這個局面卻被台灣的一家晶片商聯發科所打破，他們開發出的手機晶片技術把過去需要幾十人、耗費一年多的時間才能完成的手機主板、軟體全部集 成到一起，研製出了廉價的MTK手機晶片。聯發科這一產品讓高科技的手機生產行業失去了核心技術，而這個技術的產生更在一瞬間降低了手機行業的入門難度。 自此開始，中國手機相關企業猶如雨後春筍般遍地開花，新名詞“山寨手機”就此流傳開來。
這些山寨手機實際上是現在各種中小企業生產的 雜牌手機的統稱，他們被冠以各種各樣陌生的名字，甚至還與知名品牌手機極其相像。山寨手機誕生以 後，很快便以其便宜的價格、時尚的造型、齊備的功能受到了中國消費者的青睞，迅速佔領的中國的手機市場，尤其是面向中低端消費者的鄉鎮手機市場。
成本是山寨手機盛行的謎底
在很多電子商務網站，我們都可以看到“山寨手機”的身影，為何這麼暢銷呢？據業內人士Ken介紹：“山寨手機成本優勢非常明顯，例如：一個充 電器的採購價不足3元，而其他很多配件（除了專用的主板外），也是十分好買的，螢幕十幾元到一百多的都有，隨便挑選。”另外，很多山寨手機廠商都採用聯發 科的MTK方案，過去需要幾個月甚至幾年的時間完成的工作，現在只要一會兒便可以輕鬆搞定，還可以自由添加很多功能，像JAVA、攝影鏡頭等都可以隨便載 入，如此一來，“山寨手機”的更新速度非常迅速，甚至超過了正規品牌的手機。
還有許多小的手機廠商，待別人研發出新手機之後，只需照 抄即可，連研發的費用都免了。核心晶片技術是台灣的，而中國國內的山寨手機廠只要做主 板、功能、外觀的設計以及後期的組裝等就可以了，再加上很少或根本就沒有的後期宣傳費用及偷稅漏稅，一些實驗及測試環節也是能省則省，如此這般，山寨手機 的成本怎會不低呢？
2007年10月，中國取消了實施長達9年的“手機牌照”制度，手機製造業的壁壘從此打破，原來不得其門而入的企業終於如願，同時，一些沒有資質的地下手機生產企業也得到了合法的生存空間。
山寨手機重創正規手機廠商
如此的低成本、小投入，使手機拼裝廠商林立，雖然不是地下工廠，可也算不上正規軍。而他們所生產的山寨手機在中國市場大行其道，重創了正規品牌的手機。
手機行業門檻的降低、大量生產商湧入和山寨手機的氾濫，造成手機生產企業良莠不齊。山寨手機的低價格更是以犧牲品質、售後及服務為代價的。也是這種價 格優勢讓山寨手機在市場上大行其道，造成了對國產以及世界品牌手機的衝擊。過去，中國國產手機主要是依靠價格優勢搶佔市場，而山寨手機價格更低，國產品牌 手機可能會被山寨手機擠得沒有生存餘地。如國產手機品牌——夏新、波導、聯想等，因為市場佔有率的減少，產品大量積壓，迫使其不得不變賣資本、出售業務 等。波導出售手機合資公司，收縮戰線，創維在前幾天宣佈以2元的價格甩賣手機業務80%的股權，夏新連續兩年巨虧9億元，在5月份被實施退市風險警示，聯 想也從上市公司中剝離了手機業務。這些昔日知名的中國國產手機品牌都面臨著進退兩難的境地。
結語：中國手機市場：鹿死誰手？
據不完全統計，2007年中國山寨手機產量至少有1.5億部，差不多與市場手機總銷量相當。面對山寨手機的氾濫，有必要採取措施規範混亂的秩 序，現在有關部門已經開始重拳整治山寨手機。而山寨手機的存在也迫使品牌企業儘快看到自己生產管理方面的不足，加速資源整合，以更低的價格和更好的服務來 滿足消費者的需要。
綜觀手機市場，山寨手機因自身優勢而風起雲湧，但這樣的優勢會隨著法律和相關規定的規範而消失。到那時沒有技術服務支援的山寨手機會逐漸走上絕路，但這或許會是一個漫長的過程。（特約記者：賈子昂）
creeping
(krē'pĭng)
adj.
Developing gradually over a period of time: "a creeping sense of cultural dread" (Andrew Sullivan).
knockoff,
(nŏk'ôf', -ŏf')
n. Informal
An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing: "the place to go for quality knockoffs" (Women's Wear Daily).
- a copy or imitation, especially of an expensive product."knock-off merchandise"
free (NOT LIMITED)
adjective, adverb
not limited or controlled:
[+ to infinitive] Am I free (= Do I have permission) to leave now?
I'll give you a key then you're free to come and go as you please.
Please feel free to interrupt me if you don't understand anything.
The agreement gives companies free access to the markets of member countries.
A great deal has been achieved, most notably free elections (= elections in which people can vote as they wish).
free
verb [T + object + to infinitive]
Her retirement from politics will free her (= provide her with enough time) to write her memoirs.
freely
adverb
without being controlled or limited:
For the first time in months she could move freely.
Exotic foods are freely available in supermarkets.
She freely (= willingly) admits that she's not as fast a runner as she used to be.
runner
n.
- Sports. One who competes in a race.
- Baseball. One who runs the bases.
- Football. One who carries the ball.
- A fugitive.
- One who carries messages or runs errands. 傳令官兵
- One who serves as an agent or collector, as for a bank or brokerage house.
- One who solicits business, as for a hotel or store.
- A smuggler: a narcotics runner.
- A vessel engaged in smuggling.
- One who operates or manages something: the runner of a series of gambling operations.
- A device in or on which something slides or moves, as:
- The blade of a skate.
- The supports on which a drawer slides.
- A long narrow carpet.
- A long narrow tablecloth.
- A roller towel.
- Metallurgy. A channel along which molten metal is poured into a mold; a gate.
- Botany.
- A slender creeping stem that puts forth roots from nodes spaced at intervals along its length.
- A plant, such as the strawberry, having such a stem.
- A twining vine, such as the scarlet runner.
- Any of several marine fishes of the family Carangidae, especially the blue runner (Caranx crysos), of temperate waters of the American Atlantic coast. Also called blue runner.
- Sports. See flat1 (sense ).
We encourage the victims to talk freely (= talk a lot and honestly) about their experiences.
guídepòst[guíde・pòst]
[名]
1 道しるべ, 道標. ⇒SIGNPOST
2 指針, 目安(guideline).(gīd'pōst')
n.
- A post with a sign giving directions for travelers, usually placed at a crossroad.
- Something that serves as a guide or an example; a guideline.
「大陸化的過程會令到香港所有原有的體系出現一種逐漸的蠶食（creeping erosion）。香港在97後不會在一夜之間倒下，但會使到香港原來的價值觀、機制等等受到侵蝕。侵蝕的過程最終，香港可能會成為另一個中國城市，香港會失去它的獨特性。」
creeping
(krē'pĭng)
adj.
Developing gradually over a period of time: "a creeping sense of cultural dread" (Andrew Sullivan).
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