前两天又遇到这个问题:该用“a historic (moment, event etc)”还是“an historic”?
我从来都只用a historic,而且一直想不通这有什么可争论的。h在这里根本不是元音,干吗要用an啊?在我看来,h只有在单独作为字母使用的时候,前面才会加an(因为字母h的确是元音打头)。比如:I can’t spell the word, but it definitely has an “h” in it somewhere.
但这回又遇到这个问题的时候,两个人异口同声地跟我说“是an historic,不用an根本读不顺畅。”其中一个还说语法书里明确提到过这一点,他肯定学过。这下不由我不动摇了。
找了一下,竟然发现这么个结论:Both usages are sufficiently common to be considered correct in modern English. 晕。
You probably know the grammar rule that says you use an before vowel sounds (e.g. an accident, an item, an hour) and a otherwise; e.g. a book, a report, a hotel.
Following this rule, we would say “a historic”, not “an historic”.
Words of three or more syllables that start with h are treated differently by some speakers, though. For example, which of these pairs of sentences sounds correct to you?
* It is a historic occasion.
* It is an historic occasion.* We can’t agree on a hypothesis.
* We can’t agree on an hypothesis.A quick bit of Googling reveals that — as of August 2007 — the phrase “a historic” is used on 2.47 million pages (51%), and “an historic” on 2.39 million pages (49%).
This is a very even split and supports the view that which form you use is little more than a personal preference. Both usages are thus sufficiently common to be considered correct in modern English.
P.S. For the record, I still prefer “a historic”. It doesn’t sound awkward or weird to me at all. Can’t say that about “an historic”.
Bonus video: Janet Jackson - Feedback
上篇说到了群体虚拟化的第一步:电子邮件网络。小容举了企业的例子来说明,对于群体而言,彰显群体身份的电子邮件地址,已经不仅仅局限于通讯功能。
随着电子邮件的发展,许多企业已经开始使用以公司品牌名的电子邮件地址。这时候,电子邮件的功能开始从纯粹的通讯功能扩展到品牌识别功能。个体的在线活动通过一个群体属性的电子邮件地址,开始和群体联系起来。原来以个体组成的电子邮件网络中,开始出现了群体的身影。
除了品牌识别的功能,群体的电子邮件地址还具有一些特殊的作用。例如:
• 用群体的电子邮件地址来辨别个体真实身份
由于个人注册多个电子邮件地址易如反掌,因此,通过免费的电子邮件地址判断个体的真实身份显得颇为困难。相反,在群体的世界中,每个个体对应唯一的群体电子邮件地址,而这个电子邮件地址就进而和这个体的真实身份紧密联系起来。对于,群体来说,它需要用电子邮件来区别群体内的每一个个体,不允许发生重名的现象。这一点保证了群体虚拟化的第一步——电子邮件网络——与个体的真实身份和真实活动密切相关。
虽然,群体的电子邮件地址不一定和个体的真实身份完全相关,但是,至少和个体在群体里的活动关联起来。个体不会在群体电子邮件地址中发布有关的私人信息,而通讯联络人也不会发送私人信息到群体电子邮件地址中。个体在群体中的活动,就这样通过电子邮件地址巧妙地标识出来。
虽然,个体和群体的联系总是有始有终,但是,这个电子邮件地址在它的生命周期里,反映了主人在这段期间里的群体生活。个体总是和群体联系在一起的,人们从这个群体到另一个群体,在每一段生涯旅程中,人们总是和群体联系在一起。家庭、学校、职业雇主、专业学会、兴趣群体等等。这些不同时间段的群体邮件地址,可以说从另一个侧面汇总起人们的在线生活,这些记录与公开的在线记录占据了人们生命中更多的时光。
• 案例:Facebook的注册机制
想必各位读到上面的文字,一定就想起Facebook.com的注册机制了吧。
在Nisan Gabbay写的Facebook创业案例解析(译文,原文)中,作者指出Facebook的关键成功因素为向已存在的实体社区提供辅助的网络在线服务。
Facebook最 初的成功是通过向大学生提供实体社区不能获取的信息服务 – 一种交互式的学生指南,包括每个学生的课程计划和社交网络.在Facebook添加今天所具备的功能特点之前, 它只是简单地提供一种更全面的学生指南. Facebook并没有创建一个以前完全不存在的新社区, 相反, 他们是为已存在的实体社区提供一种更重要的信息和交流服务.
大学生在校园里和大多同学都保持一种很宽松的伙伴关系,他们之前并没有一个很 好的途径来更多地了解自己所在的社交圈子外面的学生. 现今大部分大学的班级学生数量都很大,学生没有机会在课上和很多同学交流. 我记得自己在Berkeley大学度过的时光,200多名学生的课程教室,在人群里搜寻着引人注目的女孩或之前认识的熟人. Facebook首先按照课程表来组织学生, 让你能够更多的了解你可能遇上的同学. 虽然我在强调一种特殊的使用情况,但最初的Facebook的访问的确是因为约会活动来引起的 – 与人约会, 了解更多的人群, 易追踪的活动方式,等等.
这里更大的视图是Facebook为已存在的实体社区内的社交活动创建了一种更实用的在线服务. 我们从中可以学到的经验是: 在已存在的实体社区基础上,对非在线业务提供实用的在线服务更容易.
鉴于服务实体社群的目的,Facebook.com采用严格的注册机制:
限制用户注册(以及其他行为)来创建理想的在线服务
Facebook作 了很重要的产品决策,保证实体社区和在线服务之间的协调和信任. Facebook最初仅限于能够验证所在大学”.edu”邮件地址的用户登陆使用.Facebook也限制了用户能够查找或浏览的学生范围仅限于用户所在 的大学. 这些措施的目的是让用户感到网站是排外的,仅限于他们实际所在的社区(学院或大学)内部的人员. 在早期的Facebook网站上, 30%的用户在自己的资料上准确地公布了手机好吗. 我不确定这些统计数据现在是否仍然有效,但这些数据支持了这个观点,用户彼此信任浏览自己的资料的学生.
Facebook最 近已经对.edu教育网外面的用户打开了大门. 他们创建了一系列”网区”来完成这种方案. 早期的Facebook上面的各个大学,已扩展到了各个高中,公司雇员和不同的地理区域. 当你加入到这些” 网区”时,你仅能够看到特指的网络中的成员. 此外,Facebook已经实行了一系列隐私控制,允许用户准确地控制谁能够查看他们所提供的信息.
如同小容在上面所说的,群体的电子邮件地址和个体的真实身份一一对应,因此Facebook.com使用群体电子邮件地址注册机制,可以成功地使得实体校园里的学生走向虚拟化的世界后,依然保持了现实群体的社交结构。
这个朴素的设想经过时间的考验,如今它证明确保人们真实身份的社交网络才是人们信赖的网络,它也证明群体虚拟化的第一步,使用共同身份电子邮件地址的重要性。
前文回顾:
1、《从个体社交图(Individual Social Graph)到群体社交图(Group Social Graph)》
2、《呈现群体的在线共同身份有何价值?》
3、《群体的虚拟身份和真实身份:外在宣传 V.S. 内在实况》
6、《群体虚拟化》
7、《群体虚拟化:电子邮件网络》
AdSense Optimization Bootcamp Tip # 1
I am a firm believer (with the stats to back it up) that adding a second AdSense placement on a webpage can lead to a loss of revenue, because with lower paying ads in a second ad unit, you can lose revenue per click when someone clicks those second ad placement ads instead of the first. You can make a lot more money with a single well-placed ad unit over having multiple ad units.
The other disadvantage of having multiple ad units is that they can make your site seem very “ad heavy”, something which many people try and avoid. For one, it is not very user-friendly, and when you hit that tipping point of ads vs. content, it can seem more “Made for AdSense”-ish than most prefer, where you want people to click on the ads and not bother with what you have to say.
An alternate solution is to use an AdSense image ad only placement, where only an image ad will show, and text ads will not display. This will help keep down the number of text ads appearing on your site (especially if you are already supplementing AdSense with other types of text ads or text links).
A couple things to keep in mind when you do this:
If your website has room to accomodate an image ad as a secondary ad unit - or to replace a secondary ad unit - it can be worth testing to increase ad revenue.
Post from: JenSense
It is extremely long overdue, but I have finally ported JenSense.com (successfully, I think!) from being MovableType to Wordpress. So along with it, a new blog design, although you will see that changed over the coming weeks too… I wanted to focus on the technical aspects first, before diving into esthetics!
If you notice any weirdness or redirects not working properly, please let me know… nearly all of the redirects are in place, although I still have a couple hundred pages left to redirect later today. But there are some issues with blog posts that had quotes in them.
Some interesting things I learned in the changeover:
JenSense is going to begin accepting advertising, now that it is changed over to WP. If you would like to sponsor JenSense, please contact me. Of course, I reserve the right to refuse any advertiser, so be warned!
You should probably update your feeds, I am not sure how wonderfully the feed redirects will work with all RSS readers coming from the old MT feed URLs. The new feed address is http://www.JenSense.com/feed/ to resubscribe.
Lastly, now that the whole “moving to Wordpress” is nearly complete, I am going to do something I have wanted to do for a while… the Jenstar AdSense Optimization Bootcamp! Each day in March I am going to post an optimization tip or suggestion you can use to increase your AdSense and/or YPN income for the month of March. And the privacy policy sample will be this week as one of the tips. Another reason you should make sure you have the right feed
That’s it! Please let me know on any weirdness, or if there is something you would like me to address in the AdSense bootcamp!
Post from: JenSense
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