May 2008

西成活裕是“ 壅塞學”的創始人。 他的理论宣称只要有東西流動的地方，就會發生壅塞的情况。但是他多年来研究得到的结果是与一般人相反：他的逃生壅塞學:故意在避難口擺放障礙物，有時避難時間反而會變短。原因是比较大的人流碰到障礙物而分散为较小的人流，所以在逃生口不会形成壅塞。其实有时壅塞也不完全是坏事，它让你可以慢下来，想想自己在什么地方，想想自己在瞎忙什么。有兴趣知道更多一点，去买一本书壅塞學来瞧瞧！

Katsuhiro, Nishinari is an associate professor lecturing in the University of Tokyo, He specializes in ‘Mean Field Theory for pedestrian outflow through an exit’ & ‘information-based traffic control in a public conveyance system: reduced clustering and enhanced efficiency.” and the book he published recently is something I highly recommend if you can read Chinese. I can related traffic control and the speed of things. For example wouldn’t it be nice if when we are stuck in a traffic jam, instead of getting mad, we just get out of our car and pick up a wild flower ( I doubt we can find any roses) and enjoy the moment?

Peranakan is a terms used for the descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region, including both the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java among other places, who have partially adopted Malay customs in an effort to be assimilated into the local communities. The Peranakans are known to have a rich but slow lifestyle which I admire a lot.

A local designer Miss Von Tjong who has designed a series of Peranakan Bears Baba Bears and  Nyonya Bears are selling at the retail stores in Sentosa, Singapore. Very cute and charming. Check them out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan

I find it rather interesting that there is a common link between the Otaku and the Long Tail theory. The long tail describes products that are selling in small volume to a small niche group of customers for a long period of time. The focus is typically on the length of time of the sales. But if you look carefully at the niche group of customers, they have the characteristics of Otaku. The Otaku takes it long and slow to show their loyalty to the things they adore. Those who study economy should look into both phenomenon because I think both compliments each other.

御宅族指熱衷於次文化的人，但現在一般多主要指熱衷於動畫、漫畫及電腦遊戲的人， 與狂熱者、發燒友有著某種程度的相似之處。長尾理論里那些購買少數熱銷產品的眾多小市場不就是御宅族吗？在熱衷之中是不是看到一种”慢熱“的情懷？

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku