Web Excursion 2021-07-27
Peter Hessler’s Last Class; a detailed take on Intel’s latest roadmap and product announcement; Apple tells you why their devices are good for businesses, but the devil is in the footnotes.
何伟的最后一课 | 故事硬核
[Note: There’s also a good English version published on Six Tones.]
《纽约客》的事实核查制度
他来成都定居后发表的第一篇文章,主题是我的翻译工作和译作出版情况。刊登在“成都明信片”那一栏,千字上下,并不长。
正式刊登前他告诉我,你会接到事实核查员的电话。还加了一句,“会比较麻烦,提前道歉。”
电话那头的人几乎是将整篇文章写了什么给我全部交代了一通,每个细节都过问了一遍,包括我家是不是真的住在高层,我是不是说过某句话,何伟在文中提到的某句措辞从我的角度出发是不是准确
他的很多文章我都有帮忙前期调查联系,进行一些中文资料的查找,免不了被事实核查员核查。
每一个场景描写都必须拿出看得见的图片或视频证明,每一个数据都必须有两个以上可信赖的来源支持;到底是“很多”,还是“一些”;到底是“某个”,还是“某几个”…
他和同为纪实作者的 Leslie […] 总是非常认真地对待读者私底下的签名要求。
有的读者要求在上款与签名之外,还要写一大段赠言,何伟就让我截好图,放大,一笔一划地认真抄写。
幼稚的中文笔迹和那些严肃的话凑在一起,很有反差萌。
一位读者留了纸条,说赠言请他“内容自拟,形式不限”。他老老实实地写道,“To XXX,内容自拟,形式不限。何伟。”
今年十一岁的 [双胞胎女儿 Natasha 和 Ariel] 无疑明白自己拥有一对非凡的父母。
她们为 Peter 和 Leslie Hessler 写过一个档案,“他们做过什么:所有的事情。他们没做过什么:没有没做过的。”
她们看过父母写的所有书,也有各自最喜欢的《纽约客》作家和漫画家。
家常闲聊,他也总是在观察和记录。
一次,一个朋友谈到滑雪受伤的人会组成一个微信群,名叫“干瞪眼”,意思是因为受伤干瞪着眼睛没法滑雪。
何伟产生了浓厚的兴趣,连忙掏出自己随身携带的本子和笔记下来,后面拜托我帮他做了进一步的搜索和调查。
这个细节后来成为他今年6月21日在《纽约客》发表的最新文章的开头。
一切都需要用智能手机搞定的中国显然让他很不适应。
他用着一个老款的 iPhone,里面装了支付宝、携程、滴滴
刚到川大教书的时候,每次和学生谈完话,他总会拜托对方教自己用一下滴滴打车,好赶快回家。
有一次他在携程上订酒店,不知道为什么就是进行不到付款的那一步,打电话向我求助,我建议他下个另外的酒店应用试试。他回我,“一想到我又要在手机上多下个什么鬼 app,我就想把手机扔到窗户外面去。”
在成都的这两年,何伟一共在《纽约客》发表了七篇以中国事件为主题的文章,每篇刊登时总会有人积极地主动翻译,发在网上。
何伟委托我把比较好的翻译版本收集起来,认真地做了存档。
他的电脑里,按照年份、地点、不同材料的归类,分了无数个整齐的文件夹,几十年前的资料眨眼就能找出来
他的文章总会不可避免地引起一阵舆论争议
最常听到的一句风凉话是,“何伟写如此这般的内容,背后究竟有什么目的?”
我们谈起这些评论,他淡淡一笑,“什么目的?挣稿费啊。”
文章里成对出现的事物有很多,他的双胞胎女儿,同一栋楼的双胞胎兄弟,法老与王后,上埃及与下埃及
古埃及人本来就拥有一种“双生”的世界观,就连“时间”也有两个单词,neheh 和 djet:
一些学者告诉我,现代人大概不能充分理解这一概念。
我们已经对线性的时间习以为常,一件事发生,另一件事随后:革命爆发,接着来场政变。
这些事件与重要人物做出的行为一一累积,写就了历史。
但古埃及人从未按照我们的定义来书写历史。
事件(kheperut)是不可靠的,因为它们打乱了自然秩序。
相反,古埃及人生活在“周期时间(neheh)”当中。
Neheh 关乎的是日升日落、季节更替与尼罗河每年的涨落,总是循环往复,更替接续。
而 Djet 呢,则是静止恒定的时间。
法老驾崩,便进入djet,进入诸神、寺庙与金字塔中的时间。
把尸体做成木乃伊,就是人类对 djet 的体现,艺术也是。
在 djet 时间中,有些东西已经完成,但不会过去;永恒地存在于当下。
2019 年的夏末我第一次在成都与他见面,他穿的是自己那件标志性的水绿格子衬衫,左胸口袋上别着一支钢笔,手上戴了一块黑色电子表。
今天在大学校园的最后一堂课上,他仍然穿着那件水绿格子衬衫(他是否有多件一模一样的衣服呢,这个问题我从来没问过,也不关心),左胸的口袋上别着一支钢笔,手上戴一块黑色电子表。 我想下次再见时,他应该还是这身水绿格子衬衫、钢笔、黑色电子表的行头;
如果要我给他画像,不需具体面目,光此三要素足以。
要我说,他这身装扮似乎就存在于 djet 当中,被静止恒定的时间封印。
Intel's Process Roadmap to 2025: with 4nm, 3nm, 20A and 18A
Here is what we're seeing for Intel's roadmaps, based on their disclosures today.
Intel is today defining ‘technology leadership by 2025’ as defined by the metric of performance per watt.
We asked Intel is a pre-briefing what that means for peak performance, which is often a metric we care about for end product design,
and the answer was that "peak performance remains a key part of Intel’s strategic development".
It is no secret that having "Intel 10nm" being equivalent to "TSMC 7nm"
A lot of the industry, for whatever reason, hasn’t learned that these numbers aren’t actually a physical measurement.
when we moved from 2D planar transistors to 3D FinFET transistors, the numbers became nothing more than a marketing tool.
To that end, Intel is renaming its future process nodes.
A standing for Ångström, or 10A is equal to 1nm
Intel has been saving any number change for major advances in its node manufacturing technology,
instead using +/++ to signify improvements.
it became a marketing and media nightmare.
TSMC and Samsung both been happy to give half-node jumps new numbers entirely.
Samsung's 7LPP is a major node, however 6LPP, 5LPE and 4LPE are all iterative efforts on the same design (arguably also iterative of 8LPP), with 3GAE being the next major jump.
TSMC's 10nm was a half-node jump over 16nm, while 16nm to 7nm was the full node
This is Intel catching up to the rest of the industry in how these processes are named.
Rather than throw process node names everywhere, it is typical to refer to peak quoted transistor densities instead.
Why 20A instead of 2nm?
When it shifts to 20A, Intel’s process name referring to Angstroms rather than nanometers.
At this juncture, as mentioned above, Intel will be transitioning from its FinFET design over to a new type of transistor, known as a Gate-All-Around transistor, or GAAFET.
In Intel’s case, the marketing name they are giving their version is RibbonFET.
a flexible width transistor with a number of layers helping drive transistor current.
Where FinFETs relies on multiple quantized fins for source/drain and a cell height of multiple tracks of fins,
GAAFETs enable a single fin of variable length,
allowing the current for each individual cell device to be optimized in power, performance, or area.
Intel's Process Node Technology
2021 Peak Quoted Transistor Densities (MTr/mm2)
Comparing all three main foundry offerings listed in each of the main segments that Intel has discussed today:
11 reasons Mac means business.
Mac costs less in the long run.
With fewer support tickets, less software needed, and higher residual value, the savings add up. Compared with a PC, a single Mac could save you $843 over three years.
[Footnote: Based on data from companies interviewed. Companies should use their own estimates within the framework provided in the Forrester report to understand their own cost savings.]
[Link to Forrester TEI Study [PDF]]
The most innovative companies run on Mac.
84 percent of the world's top innovators, such as Salesforce, SAP, and Target deploy Mac at scale.
[Footnote: Based on internal Apple data and Boston Consulting Group’s Most Innovative Companies 2021 (https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2021/most-innovative-companies-overview).]