User Comments - tiaopidepi
tiaopidepi
Posted on: SKRITTER!!!
August 25, 2009 at 4:03 AM@victor_n: Thanks for the link about the new Snow Leopard features. Did anyone notice that they got the stroke order of 北 completely backwards?
Posted on: SKRITTER!!!
August 25, 2009 at 3:52 AMSebire, I found a Digipro Graphics Tablet on Buy.com for $20 + shipping. I'm sure you can find a graphics tablet cheaply. Any graphics tablet that does drawing should work for Chinese input. Drawing requires a lot more resolution than writing.
I didn't realize that the Apple tablet won't have a keyboard : { I know a whole lot about the insides of computers--Apples and PCs alike--but not a lot about their outsides. When I came to own a Mac software project a whole bunch of people at work came to ask me questions about "How do I use Finder? How do I get the network to hook up?" Sadly, I know almost nothing about *using* Macs : )
@nwinter: As for Skritter on the iPhone...you won't get Flash running on iPhone any time in the near future so it will be a tough port. You'd be better off to port Skritter to Silverlight and use Mono's Ahead-Of-Time compilation to get it on the iPhone. Send me mail if you want help on the port : )
Posted on: SKRITTER!!!
August 24, 2009 at 2:24 PM@sebire: Hate to say, but the PPC-based Macs are long, long past their retirement date. Apple will support them for a while but other applications (like Flash) will get worse and worse as they update to new versions... Get an Apple Tablet when they actually make such a thing. You'll love it, I'm sure. (Or you could get a new Windows 7 Multitouch machine and save a few bucks, but I'm pretty sure Apple will make a great tablet. Either one will let you write characters on the screen.)
I transcribe CPod PDFs into my Tablet PC to practice writing as a flow--kind of like how Ken advises on Newbie lessons "don't remember the words, remember the phrases". The Chinese input for Tablet is very smart and enforces stroke order. But Skritter's great for getting all the little hooks in the right place. I look forward to it being included in CPod.
Posted on: 把 Humbug
August 22, 2009 at 6:43 PMOoops, cannot believe I said trio is a "verb" :) It was a bit late.
The debate here centers around whether language is a set of rules speakers should follow strictly (such as the L'Académie française tries enforce) or a description of the language as it is spoken. If one believes language is an unchanging set of rules that must be followed then might argue that words like 派对, 卡拉OK and 〇 really aren't Chinese. Myself, I believe words are signs pointing from one idea to another. English's flexibility is its best quality.
Here's a great discussion of English from descriptive and prescriptive points of view: http://owlcroft.com/english/prescrip.shtml
And here's a great discussion about various aspects of Chinese grammar: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/channels/list/Qing+Wen
Posted on: 把 Humbug
August 22, 2009 at 6:50 AM"Trio" is a singular verb. "The trio is" is the correct term.
A Google search for language rules seems dangerous as it could canonicalize incorrect usage. But one could argue that English is a bastard of a language, driven more by its usage than its rules. I suppose, in that case, that Google is as good as Strunk and White.
Posted on: SKRITTER!!!
August 16, 2009 at 5:20 AMI've been writing Chinese on my Tablet PC for years. I've often wondered how people could find Skritter useful with a mouse : )
Rumor has it that Apple's busy inventing their own tablet. Things may get better for the Mac people soon.
Posted on: Washing Dishes
August 13, 2009 at 3:24 PM@matt_c: 我外公很喜欢洗碗。因为都人讨厌洗碗他觉得做洗碗让他有单独的时候。
My grandfather very much liked doing dishes. Because everyone hates doing dishes he thought that doing dishes allowed him some alone time.
(I think I've passed the limits of my ability to express complex thoughts in Chinese! This transliteration from English structure seems suspect...)
Posted on: Lessons and Comment Policy
July 13, 2009 at 5:01 AMHenning hinted at the complexity of his idea:
"Come on, it is just a small update on the frontend. And on the comments logic. And on the AMS. And on the data base scheme."
Sure, it would be fantastic to have a way to filter just the comments you want to see. But if CPod can spend that effort making something else on the site more useful, I'm all for wading through irrelevant comments. (I will appreciate not having to see the nasty tirades.)
Unfortunately, engineering is always about tradeoffs. There is a cost to everything. If you get one good thing, you've given up another good thing.
Posted on: No TV Before Your Test!
July 12, 2009 at 6:11 AM@PTP,
Ironic that you'd make a blanket statement about the harm TV has caused in the same post where you note Homer Simpson as an inspiration : )
Posted on: A Mouse Upstairs
August 31, 2009 at 6:56 AM三只老鼠住了在我们的后院。他们吃了小米和苞米我们送了飞鸟了。我太太想老鼠都是一样。所以我荼毒小鼠了。
Sān zhǐ lǎoshǔ zhù le zài wǒmende hòuyuàn. Tāmen chī le xiǎomǐ hé bāo mǐ wǒmen sòng le fēiniǎo le. Wǒ tàitai xiǎng lǎoshǔ dōu shì yīyàng. Suǒyǐ wǒ túdú xiǎoshǔ le.
Three mice lived in our backyard. They ate millet and corn we give to birds. My wife thinks that all mice/rats are the same. As a result I killed them with poison.