Jane Austen and Web 2.0

What’s the connection between Jane Austen and Web 2.0? Recently, circulation of Google’s manipulation and retrieval of personal data blatantly has shocked privacy advocacy groups. Since the birth of Gmail, tides of protests against Google’s screening of personal emails and juxtaposing relevant ads along sides headlines of emails have surged and spread all over the world. And all of sudden, even the ordinary users of google with minimum or little knowledge of computer privacy had begun to worry about their lives already being digitalized onto google database without consciousness. And this remind me of the linkage between Jane Austen’s novel and the era of Web 2.0, the so-called internet revolutionary overhauling the whole human being society, it’s a time to call upon the narrative techniques of euphemism, circumlocution, even verbiage and excess decorum when one comes to the small input box on google.com and several other portals by LinkedIn, FaceBook, Myspace, etc.

 

It’s not a metaphorical expression. One may be disillusioned by my correlation. Yes, when one flips the pages of Jane Austin novels, the deep impression of overwhelming employed euphemism, circumlocution and sometimes verbiage would provide one with the luxury of language and euphoria of sheer moment of reading. Yet, the obscurities incurred thereupon may force one to the ends of his/her wits in order to generate meaningful understanding besides language aestheticism. However, most of the time, the narration of Jane Austin is much like a gem, only providing elusive reflections, giving one a vague grasp of the subtleties and an angled reception of her novel. Unlike nowadays’ American literature and writing style, which gives explicit and direct points and let reader a crystal clear understanding of the purpose by writer, with easy words and sentences running, literature in 17^th century of Britain has a affinity to an oil-painting or a piece of music composition intending to evoke empathy and echoes lingering around instead of the serving of fast food without or just a transient taste.

 

However, such long avoided writing style or excessive social decorum reflected in writing has found its way into internet world. A user of google nevertheless leaves his trail online, all of the search key words contributed to a truly self unknown even to the user himself. Unscrupulously, and unceremoniously, the searching key words left behind constructed a user behavior and psychological state result in a very closeness to ego and super-ego as the theory of Sigmund formed centuries ago. And a secret leaner such as google crawler can easily do the personality-wide analysis bases on one’s recent search key words via the IP address being used. And sometimes, privacy issues engendered in this manner. Even sexual propensity can be revealed without the ego knowing of it. And once the IP address can be linked to personal data such as name, address, and occupation, the plaintiff would have been ill-disposed to super disadvantage points and disaster to personal life. Such case was not rare in era of Web 2.0. And by this newly emerged consumer need that the power of Jane Austin comes into aide.

 

So, instead of input one or two words for the search engine churning out desired results, one may consider more words combination and often tangent descriptive adjectives support the purpose of searching. Consider the juggernaut application of google, even sometimes the use of antonym can cut right into the heart without the slightest indication of provenance. For example, one wants to apply ‘marriage problem’ as search words, in stead, one may use ‘matrimony issue’, or ‘detriment to the male part of a family bondage’ or any creative ways to denote the idea as long as he could compose or as circumlocutory as he may craft. In this way, one can reduce the exposure of the original purpose or pull a disguise against outside malicious intruders. Not only google, but many other Web 2.0 applications can be a healthy adopter of this Jane Austen anti-intrusion communication technique. Online members talking to each other in this way tremendously eliminate the traces of conversation logged and stored on servers and many other secret places across the half of globe. Although some software or browsers provide trace-eraser function, the history of traces could always be recovered on host servers or some juncture notes on internet since data replication and redundancy and backup technology have been vastly deployed by internet service providers and infrastructure builders, it’s only knowledge of knowing of its existence making the difference.

 

Such a need has already sprung from massive internet users. The transformation of internet colloquial style is only a mere matter of time. People will inevitably start using the Jane Austen’s language decorum for a cover of their privacy requirement. Although such a splendid language cloak as Jane Austen managed to put together would be a difficult for the result of modern English education, especially when language skills had degraded long since Jane Austen’s time. However, a revival is not out of anticipation. And this would produce huge impact on the new internet language behavior. Once such mode is formed and influence heavily on later internet generations, all the website will have to face a herculean task of overhauling all their website language to meet the revived search key words style as a adoption of euphemism, circumlocution, and verbiage, etc.

When the sun comes up, you better start running

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

 

It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

 

Every morning a lion waks up.

 

It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

 

It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.

 

When the sun comes up, you better start running.

Sand and brains

 

Intel’s chips are made from just two things–sand and brains

Responsibility

by Nakisha Curtis, Age 10, Chicago SCORE-Webster Elementary

 

I have Responsibility for my things.

I have Responsibility for my dreams.

As you can see I have Responsibility for everything.

 

Responsibility is not a word,

And it has been heard.

Responsibility is not a verb.

 

I have Responsibility for my power.

Responsibility for my work.

Responsibility for my dirt.

 

Responsibility for thins that hurt,

And…For things that break.

Responsibility for the cake that I ate.

 

Also for my hits and fits.

Responsibility for the things I do,

Responsibility for what’s not right,

Responsibility for what’s wrong and right.

 

Responsibility is not a prize.

 

Responsibility for things that I heard,

Responsibility for things I’ve seen,

Responsibility for who I want to be.

 

Responsibility is all over me.

Sex and City

As a very late catcher, I was only recently into the Sex and City things. Though sometimes long ago did I view several episodes but not until recently can I appreciate the essence of this soft opera out of huge junks.

 

After all, the story is funny superficially which reflects something underneath thought-provoking and inspiring. Rarely could people transcend the Sex things before they could taste the real juice of life. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda, the four-single-lady-gang, witty, funny, charming and sexy, all wear the air of a New Yorker and drink Cosmopolitan, scoffing and celebrating at their early thirties while still exploring lots of different males to get a hold of this world.

 

Live in the City of New York, the four brilliant beauties effuse their energy, shedding their feminine attraction onto every male passing by. They are independent, while they are desperate for a marriage. So thirsty for a marital relationship, while trying to keep some independence and decentness, these four ladies show you a vivid picture of New Yorker. They talk every aspect of sex openly, laughing at the wildest idea of sex and life in restaurant, sharing each other the most secrecy in such a blatant way, which somehow would make viewer believe them of a slight slut nature.

 

But actually, there is a thread. Some logic behind the scenes. Each session wears a topic. And as the plot unfolding itself in a delicate way, viewer would comfortably find a point of two by themselves. And the points standing out would render some much deeper reflection of life. Above all, it’s the jokes keep stable a viewer group. Surrounding the main topic each episode represents, the four ladies make mockery of themselves and their sex partners. Each time when the effort of transforming a sex partner into a serious relationship get futile, the ladies make huge fun out of it and get mad at it and get going ahead. That’s life, keep going until meet with some Mr. Right. Or the destiny so-called.

 

It takes an attitude to appreciate the Sex and City. And it’s about real concern for life and for friend.

Sense and Sensibility

The storytelling of Jane Austen is marvelous, although the highly skilled language employed in her novels presenting to be a Sisyphean task to me. That can be explanation to my slowly progress on the book of Sense and Sensibility. Well, right upon the last page of this classic piece, I realize what a complicated story being told in a simplified way and that justifies the occurrence of convoluted sentences on every page.

 

Elinor is a good portrayal of women in possession of Sense. Though sometimes she got herself troubled with some ill intelligence about her lover, Edward, she nevertheless managed to keep sensible mind. Her amazing mastery of Sense and calculation of life is well communicated to reader via the retrospective analysis of Marianna’s folly affair with Willoughby. She not only provided psychological reasoning but also the financial analysis that definitely doomed Marianna’s imaginary potential marriage to Willoughby.

 

Marianna exemplified the other end of the bipolar. Being a Sensitive young lady, she ignored the early patronage from Colonel Barton, and diverted to Willoughby, a libertine, who flirted with Marianna with no intention for responsibility. Marriage is beyond the topics between the two. What Willoughby does care is the monetary things. A good income affiliated with a pretty young lady could be nothing he desired the most. Bearing this in mind, he had already secured himself a better society position with a early engagement to Ms. Smith. You could say this kind of person a mercenary and he did suffer the hurt he made to Marianne.

 

Another thread is through Lucy Steele. The one betrayed Mr. Edward. And poor Edward still clung to their early pledge without aware of the malice heart of Lucy’s. Her design, by luring Edwards’ brother, was to bring hurt to Edward. Also by marrying to the elder, she manipulated the allocation of heritage between the two brothers and took the largest slice. Her artifice, her avarice, her deception was portrayed in few lines but the most vivid depiction as to leave the reader’s mind a branded image.

 

The end of the story is positive. Or is this the style of Jane Austen? Always left the good trail on ground and thus led to interminable hope and forever love?

Google 10 Years: Brain without a Page

As I am roaming around internet trying to get hold of my next blog article, Google hopped into my mind.

 

My interest over Google was on the spur of a report on Google’s privacy policy by a recent report by WashingtonPost. This article brought some concerns over the new Google web browser, Chrome. Many believe that via Chrome, Google secretly collects user data without consideration of privacy. And one of my friends recently showed me the Chrome on his computer. What he showed me, was Chrome Browser by Google. Honest speaking, I am not a tech-geek, and IE would have already satisfied my every want. Though, not wanting to water his passion, I tuned to the specific minutia of Chrome and offered my vain appreciation. The other incident brought on my attention to Google was also my friend’s little ambitious business plan, homework of a start-up, a real estate portal, with the first buck of profit from Google ads reward. Yeah, Google again!

 

There is nothing accidental. You know what? Today, I started to work on the book, The Google Story, which I inadvertently want to use as a toner during my reading interval of Jane Austen novels. And finally, unconsciously, I was gravitated to the final discovery which turned me on, the 10 year anniversary of Google. “All links were not created equal.” That’s the saying by Larry Page, co-founder of Google. That’s terrifically right! I was directly linked to the report on achievements of Google by comparison with Microsoft. Here I list down several inspiring comparisons:

 

–Google’s age: 10; Microsoft’s age: 33

–Google’s revenue in the last 4 quarters: $19.6 billion; Microsoft’s: $60.4 billion

–Google net income in the last 4 quarters: $4.85 billion; Microsoft’s: $17.6 billion

–Microsoft’s revenue at age 10: $140 million($279 million in today’s dollars)

–Google’s revenue per hour in the last 4 quarters: $2.2 million; Microsoft’s: $6.9 million

–Google’s revenue per employee: $1 million; Microsoft’s: $672,000

–Google employees, as of June 30th: 19,604; Microsoft’s, as of May 31st: 89,809

–Market value of Google: $142 billion; Microsoft’s: $241 billion

 

Empowering by the above data, one could not help but arriving at this conclusion, Google is truly a cash cow! And Google is doing much better than Microsoft. There are only three tech companies with a market value larger than Google, which are Microsoft, IBM, and Apple. And you would definitely get crazy upon the knowing of worldwide searches amount on Google Vs. Microsoft, taken July for example, the number is 48.7 billion of Google against 2.3 billion by Microsoft. And the per hour search amount is 65 million of Google Vs. 3.1 million of Microsoft in month of July.

 

That’s amazing! Imagine only ten years length of time had done so much to Google! And the future is much promising. Though my friend held different opinion, “You couldn’t just judge absolutely from the pure number comparison. That’s unfair. Just consider the computer prevalence rate during the past 10 years vs. the first 10 years that Microsoft spent. There is a sharp difference!” Well, I’d like to cast a different thought. “You know what? The accomplishment of Google over Microsoft during their first ten years and thereafter? The innate course is the different business type they choose, Google a media company profiting largely on advertisement, while Microsoft a software company scavenging over licensing and OEM. That’s the watershed. That’s the deep rooted rationale for the explanation of apparently victory of Google over Microsoft.” “Ah, yeah….could be…” having to agree with my perspective, my friend faded out.

 

While, that’s the origin of my serial blogs on Google. And it’s a worthy project dedicating to Google and its success and most importantly, the future. The cover feature of Atlantic had been given to Google. Is Google Making Us Stoopid? That’s a witty edge. Cute, funny, and thought provoking, I determined to bring it onto your front in my next serial articles.

 

By the way, the first anecdote that I’m eager to share with you, which is also my little propriety discovery, some superstitious air, that the name of the two co-founder, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. On the face of the two names, what could you observe? Brin and Page! Bingo! Taken an “a” from Brain, that’s Brin! Brain without a Page! That’s Google!

Google: Epitome of Long Tail

Two or Three years ago, when I first run into the Long Tail theory, one of the great business book written by Chris Anderson talking about the future business model of selling less of more. I was impressed by his theory and the beauty of the long trail. Certainly, the long trail keeps plaguing the giant business magnate, such my former client, HP.

 

I still remember those torturing days when I and my team were jerked with the last of our wits and still burned with the tasks of coming up with a solution treating the SMB markets, which is small and medium business market. It seems in China IT market, only those local players did a good job, I mean Lenovo. And HP was after Lenovo pouring huge investment in building up channel network to touch SMBs. However, still, a Midas Touch is in far distance.

 

Then I came to the Long Tail theory, which strikes me like a lightening. And the one mentioned as the illustration of this theory, is Amazon.com. This online books and related commodities marketplace offers a infinite immensity of selling and buying without and the least possible cost. A cost way lower than the real world practice. And the most of all, it provides a possibility of touching the long long trail. Even the trail end is not out of question. No matter how odd or weird a commodity is required, you can secure the largest possibility on the land Amazon.com. A promised land by millions of buyers and sellers online from all over the globe if you share the same language, English. Even the blockbuster, Transformer, makes a joke of Amazon.com, from where the two rival parties scavenged the information of the doomed eyeglasses. 

 

At that time, I had no idea of how big achievement Google made in the forthcoming Long Tail era. Actually, Google’s shining business model is every bit about the Long Tail. Brin and Page’s creation was not something catching the trend. They were the early Prometheus, bringing the unprecedented business model concurrent with the formation of Long Tail. It a revolutionary feat, the internet revolution and the flattening of world.

 

The search engine of Google operated a 24-hour marketplace with the sophistication as a stock exchange institute. Brokers of words and phrases were bought and sold like goods and services on daily bases with a magnitude of thousands of transactions. The prices were based on real click numbers and the highest bidder pays for the show up rates when a google users searching for that item. And the portfolio in a manager’s pocket comprises of all the linguistic combination of targeted words and phrases, plural included. Such as “digital cameras” denotes loud buying intension than “digital camera”. In this way, all the small and medium companies get equal chance of promotion in the virtual marketplace as well as the Fortune 500. Here, capitalism is not the player of monopoly, and Google the maverick shuffles the rules of game once and for all. Even family-run business can get a hold of opportunities via Google. Fairness, google guys pushed into this world with a mighty hand of Google.

How to become Jane?

I find out the reading of Pride and Prejudice rather challenging, not only the short of knowledge of the social context back in Jane Austen’s time, but also the language being applied are of high skills and full of innuendo and hyperbole, some conversations long in length enough to my understanding rather as verbiage.

 

Not until I watched the film Becoming Jane, did I begin to understand the underlying subtext of Jane’s novel. It’s not because of the happy early time in her life that contributes to the great work she wrote, but the misfortune even suffers inflicted upon her by life that inspired her classic novels. During her short life, she wrote six of greatest novels ever in English language. No wonder do I find the difficulties in understanding the though short volume but full of loads of rhetoric.

 

It’s so painful to become Jane. And it’s once again proved that no happiness could shape a sharp mind. Jane never married. And she got miserable experience for her true love shut down cruelly by life. Yet she thirsted for love, and even being desperate for a while. Upon the very last minute when happiness was within a finger’s reach, she however turned it down by herself. Yes, she couldn’t fight her responsibility. Her burden for her family and also the one for her beloved. Both needed to be dependable and in reality they had to face each other’s family respectively. At the very moment of their unconsidered elopement, they began to the realization of responsibility for each family.

 

Hard life builds strong character. And the cruelty of life sometimes turns out to be the most generous gift from life. Everyone needs to learn his lesson sooner or later. Sacrifice is a virtue when condition calls for it. You have to let go of the most cherished treasure in you life in exchange with life the less valued but more of practical means.

 

If you are Jane Austen, in your early but promising career life approaching turnover corner yet having no knowledge of future success, what would you choose? Forsake you love holding so dear to your heart but no present value to your household, or take it without any consideration even if you would go sink with it? No one would know the answer. The good does not always has a good end.

 

But, yes, that’s Jane. Desperate for freedom. Striving hard for life. She remained single all her life but be the mother to six greatest novels in English language. Later years, she gained the necessary fame and fortune and social stature as to earn herself a respectable, independent, and self-esteemed life. Finally, life granted her the freedom she desired and raised her above social echelon. Highly in the sky, yet prided herself, forever gone her love. That’s the tradeoff between you and the fairness of life.

17 century’s British Literature

It’s amazing to learn of the way of people’s daily conversation in such a delicate language! Never in my reading before did expose such a circumlocution as exhibited in a masterful way by Pride and Prejudice, from Jane Austen.

 

Well, I shall say it should be paid highly regards for such an elevated manner of language style as common in daily life back in Britain of early 17 century. And it’s also hard from a nowadays’ perspective to easily comprehend the meaning conveyed by those elegant expressions and insinuations.

 

It’s not slightly the way like our applying English today. As an American English practitioner, we gravitate to a direct and straightforward approach. People could leave through some hundreds pages of book when using a city train or just by sinking in sunbath bench along swimming pool. Such and such modern American literatures provide little intellectual challenge as compared with a short novel written by an early 17 century authoress.

 

“I hope, consider me as showing any disrespect to your family, my dear madam, by thus withdrawing my pretensions to your daughter’s favor, without having paid yourself and Mr. Bennet the compliment of requesting you to interpose your authority in my behalf.”

 

Such a long sentence is taken from a harangue by Mr. Collins when his proposal for a marriage with Elizabeth was snapped upon tendering. I was rather taken back by such an exquisite rhetoric. Indeed I spent several minutes on figuring out the underlying denotation. Put into today’s circumstance, one would probable relieve his exasperation for the insolent denial by a simple uttering of “Fuck YOU!”

 

Yes, the arts portrayed in Jane’s narration or storytelling is marvelous. It’s the origin of classic prose genre in English literary history. Witty, charming, sharp, sarcastic, delicate, yet full of social decorum, one can add endless complimentary adjectives to credit Jane’s writing. Even the recrimination in an extravagant non-offensive manner between ladies produces a wonderful amusement and entertainment.

 

Besides, despite the obscurity of language, the writing of Jane Austen surely could powerfully direct you into the spirit world of a 17 century’s gentlewoman who desired a decent civil life with happiness yet must’ve struggled for her lower social origin. Ushering into this inner struggling, you would be introducing to a social setting of 17 century where civil life and intellectual activities were highly valued in sharp contrast to what is happening in modern society. Even the shift of society paradigm between a 21 century and 17 century would produce very interesting views.