The Origin of Language

Do you know the tale of the Tower of Babel? And do you believe in it? 

Synopsis

There used to be a prosperous place where everyone spoke a single language. To flaunt their huge power, these people attempted to build a tower as high as heaven, using brick and asphalt. God, in anger with their arrogance, gave them a diversity of spoken languages in order to disturb their work. Mixed up with this interference, people couldn't manage to complete the construction and eventually scattered across the world. 

This is just an imaginary story, but it has been largely (at least in Japan) used to explain to children why people living in different places speak different languages. Ever wondered how your language emerged? In spite of years of study, the true answer to this question has not been revealed yet. To fill the linguistic gap, Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof, a Polish linguist, invented an artificial language called Esperanto, but this attempt has not fulfilled its ultimate goal of uniting the world with an identical language. Anyhow it has been a focus of interest in how languages differentiate.

Earlier this year, a study conducted by a biologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand suggested that from a phonemic perspective, the majority of modern languages seem to have originated from a singleton. This theory is interesting in that on contrary to the currently common views that each language locally emerged independently of others, it claims that there is a simple, yet significant phonic pattern which can be considered to have branched off from an African language. According to a review article, a longer migration distance from Africa decreases a language's diversity of phonemes; some African languages have more than a hundred phonemes whereas Hawaiian, toward the far end of the human migration route out of Africa, has only 13.

I think Atkinson's hypothesis is persuasive because australopithecus, the ancestors of Homo sapiens, were born in Africa and so it is natural to think that the language spoken in mother Africa is the mother tongue of the human race. 

Seems like the Tower of Babel existed in Africa. 

References

Phonetic Clues Hint Language Is Africa-Born — The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/science/15language.html

Atkinson, QD: Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa. Science 332(6027):346–349, 2011.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6027/346

 (The full text is available only to subscribers.)

Occupy Wall Street

I once wrote about the unequal society. Now the lower class seems to have reached a breaking point of patience (I don't have the intention of discrimination by saying “lower class”; I just mean average people who do not earn an incredibly tremendous amount of money). On Wall Street in New York City, a large number of US citizens, mainly young people, have been performing a mass demonstration since a couple of weeks ago, blaming banks for causing the financial crisis. They are also calling for saving people from poverty. The US government and police are desperately seeking a way to calm down the demonstration. Of the thousands of participants, more than 700 have been arrested. Social media companies like Yahoo, Google and Twitter began inspecting online documents in order to filter out instigative posts and emails. However, this action is about to spread worldwide, as well as across the US. In addition to the subsequent protests that have been taking place in other major US cities including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, the leaders are appealing via the Internet to those living in internationally famous metropolises such as London and Tokyo to join an ensuing rally to “occupy” the hearts of their own cities as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Meanwhile, Europe is also suffering from a serious debt crisis. Germany, which runs a rather sound finance among the EU member countries, decided to provide a relief fund for Greece in case Italy and Spain may tumble into a chain reaction bankruptcy and subsequently plunge the whole world into the abyss, let alone Germany's foreign loans may turn to nothing due to Greece's default. However, this is just a temporary deal. Earlier today, the Belgian and French governments announced that the major Belgian bank Dexia fell into a bankruptcy and would be taken over by an official organization. Greece is still amid a long line of debt deadlines.  This emergency was triggered by the discovery of Greek's financial cheats of when it aimed to join the EU. As a consultant, the American bank Goldman Sachs gave the Greek government the sneaky tactic. I think Goldman should be punished and pay the losses with interests.

Apparently capitalism is facing a turning point. I hope everything will start to turn to a right direction.

The Rich Get Richer

According to the Pareto principle, the top 20% billionaires possess 80% of all the property. Similarly, 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of its customers. Known as the 80-20 rule, this describes inequality in the world. But how does this happen?

High-income brackets basically have a longer time frame to make a living due to their richness. Therefore they can afford to invest stocks, real estate, etc., or deposit their extra money into a bank, which can be another source of income besides their earnings. Executives of a company can control their employees' salaries and even may have another option of laying them off when in a financial crisis. Without extra money or higher positions, however, life would be quite harder. All that the poor can do is hang on the edge; there is no room for investment or saving. Thus the wealthy classes have many choices to raise and save money while needy families do not. 

This is why “the rich get richer”. 

Inspired by this notion, Google in collaboration with Stanford University developed an algorithm called PageRank which determines the importance or value of a website by counting up its incoming links to the site from the vast ocean of the internet; the more linked from others, the more important the website should be. PageRank resembles citations of a paper and the impact factor of a journal that are the major criterions in the academia. Highly ranked websites appear in the top of search results when searched with a related word or phrase, and are thus viewed frequently. Web creators may even place a link to the website, which triggers a positive feedback effect that accelerates further access. This is how popular websites become more popular, in other words “rich” from the viewpoint of popularity. For Google it also leads to richness in the original meaning; many enterprises pay a lot to Google to publish an advertisement for the purpose of boosting reach to their own websites, and those ads are the biggest revenue source for the web giant.

The idea of the-rich-get-richer is similar to the “winner-takes-all” process as represented in the SNS market. MySpace used to be dominant with more than 200 million users all over the world, but has been losing its influence after Facebook became the largest community. Instead Facebook now overwhelms other SNS in membership with 750 million active accounts worldwide followed by Twitter's 200 million, and therefore is considered to be the current “winner”. 

Taking these into account, Warren Buffett's insistence upon raising taxes sounds appropriate for the government to redistribute wealth since most successful persons such as executives and high earning investors including himself should own sufficient money aside from their funds, savings and daily expenses. The 80-year-old billionaire stated that his federal tax bill last year was $6,938,744, equal to only 17.4% of his taxable income. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-15/buffett-urges-congress-to-raise-taxes-on-coddled-billionaires.html

Overall, we must accept the inequality; the world is dominated by a mere handful of the privileged class. Income inequality and economic polarization are unavoidable under capitalism. Nevertheless we should tackle the problem somehow in order everyone to live a happy life.

Zuckerberg is on Google+

TechCrunch: “Zukerberg Surprised That People Are Surprised He's On Google+”

Facebook創設者Mark Zuckerbergが後発であり敵対するSNS, Google+に登録したことに対する反応をまとめた記事。

Facebook社CEOのMark ZuckerbergがGoogle+に登録したというニュースはメディアにとって一大事であった。ForbesからThe Daily Mailまで、Facebook創設者がGoogle+にプロフィールを作成し、Facebook共同創設者Dustin Moskovitzや限Facebook社CTOのBret TaylorらとCircleを立ち上げたと報じた。

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joining Google+ was a major media event, with everyone from Forbes to The Daily Mail covering the fact that the founder established a Google+ profile, building Circles that include former Facebooker Dustin Moskovitz and current Facebook CTO Bret Taylor.

多くの人がホンモノのZuckerbergが敵対するSNSに参加するものかと疑心暗鬼である一方、techブロガーRobert ScobleはZuckerberg本人に確認メールを送り、「お知らせしよう。Zuckerbergがたった今返信メールを送って来た。『なぜ僕がGoogleアカウントを持っていることがそんなに驚きなのか分からない』とのことだ。」とツイートした。 

While many were doubtful that the real Zuckerberg would join a competing social service, tech blogger Robert Scoble texted Zuckerberg himself to confirm, tweeting out “Name drop moment. Zuckerberg just texted me back. Says ”Why are people so surprised that I'd have a Google account?””

ホンモノのZuckがGoogle+にいることにまだ懐疑的な人がいるといけないので、Scobleはこう私に教えてくれた。ZuckerbergはGoogle+アカウントの意味でGoogleアカウントと言っていると。しかしここで本当に聞きたいのは、ZuckerbergがわざわざGoogle+に参加することを選んだことに対してなぜ人々が驚いているのかということだ。

In case anyone is still doubting that it is the real Zuck on there, Scoble tells me that Zuckerberg indeed meant Google+ account when he referred to Google account. But the real question is, why are people so surprised that Zuckerberg would choose to be on Google+?

おそらくその答えはGoogle創設者Larry PageとSergey Brinの前例にある。彼らはFacebook上でやりとりするのを避けたようだ。(Steven Levyによると、Brinは実際には偽名でFacebookに登録している。Google会長Eric SchmidtもMikeがなりすましをしたときとは別にFacebookに登録していると噂されている。)

Perhaps the answer lies in the precedent set by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who seem to have shied away from interacting on Facebook as themselves. (According to Steven Levy, Brin is actually on Facebook as a pseudonym. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is also rumored to be on the service, independently of when Mike impersonated him).

PageとBrinがどうしているかは置いておいて、多くの起業家(例えばMySpaceのTom)の実例から言えば、敵対サービスを利用するのは至って普通のことであり、必ずしも諜報活動とは見なされない。ZuckerbergがGoogle+上では今のTwitter上での状況よりもアクティブにならんことを切に願う。

Page's and Brin's behavior aside, plenty of other founders (MySpace Tom for example) have shown that it's perfectly normal to partake and enjoy competitive services, and that it shouldn't necessarily be considered an act of espionage. I for one just hope Zuckerberg is more prolific on Google+ than he is on Twitter.

Two iPhones in September

Wired.com: “Two iPhones in September? Don't Hold Your Breath”

9月にiPhoneが2モデル発売されるとの噂が出ているが、それに関連した記事。

iPhone 5 with Faster A5 Chip

Wired.com: Rumor Repeat: iPhone 5 Lands September With Faster A5 Chip

New MacBook Air

9to5Mac: “New MacBook Airs with OS X Lion, Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge in mid-July”

MacBook Airのアップデート日に関する話。いつになることやら。

昨日の敵は明日の友

Wired.com: “For Apple, Yesterday's Banned Apps Are Tomorrow's Great New Feature” by Eliot Van Buskirk.


App Storeから削除されたアプリの機能をAppleがiOSの新機能として謳っていることを皮肉たっぷりに書いた記事。

王であることは素晴らしい。

It's good to be king.

Appleは多大なる信用を得るに値する。というのも、Appleが管理するiTunes App Storeにおいて全く新しいモバイルソフトウェア市場を開拓したからだ。

Apple deserves lots of credit for creating an entirely new market for mobile software in the iTunes app store, over which it justifiably reigns.

しかし50万を超えるiOSアプリを作り上げて来た何人もの開発者は、Appleのハードウェアをユーザにとって魅力的にしたり、みかじめ料として収入の30%を献上したりすることに加えてもう一つの役割を担っている。彼らは時として巨大な無給R&Dラボのように振る舞い、後々Appleが自社製品に取り込むことができるような機能を温める。同様な製品がアプリストア(App Storeと呼んだ方が適切かもしれないが)から排除された後でさえも。

But the army of developers who have created over half a million Apple iOS apps to date perform another valuable function, in addition to making Apple's hardware more attractive to users and contributing 30 percent of their revenue to the company's bottom line: Sometimes, they act like a big, unpaid R&D lab for incubating features that Apple can eventually incorporate into its own products — even after banning those same products from its app store (or, rather, App Store).

Camera+について取り上げてみよう。Lisa Bettanyと彼女のチームが作り上げたiPhone向けカメラアプリCamera+は2700万ドルの売上益を叩き出した。木曜日にニューヨークで開かれた会議AdAge Creativity and Technologyにおいて、BettanyはiTunesで300万回以上ダウンロードされ思いがけずして富の源となった彼女のアプリの奇妙な経緯を語った。

Take Camera+, the camera app for the iPhone that has grossed $2.7 million in sales revenue for its creator Lisa Bettany (and her team). At the AdAge Creativity and Technology conference in New York City Thursday, Bettany discussed the odd history of her app, which has been downloaded more than 3 million times from iTunes leading to unexpected riches for its creator.

昨年8月、iPhoneのボリュームアップボタンで写真を撮る機能(VolumeSnap)がiPhone開発者プログラムライセンス協定に違反するとして、AppleはCamera+をiTunesから排除した。排除通告の中でAppleはこう説明している。「あなたのアプリはiPhoneのボリュームボタンを一般的でない方法で使用しておりユーザーの混乱を引き起こす恐れがあるため、App Storeに追加することはできない。」

Last August, Apple pulled Camera+ from iTunes because its new “VolumeSnap” feature allegedly violated Apple's iPhone Developer Program License Agreement by allowing users to shoot photos using the iPhone's Up Volume button. In its rejection notice, Apple explained, “Your application cannot be added to the App Store because it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion.” 

iPhoneがここまで成功した理由の一つはAppleがハードウェアを厳しくコントロールしていることだ。昨日Bettanyは会議の参加者にこう語った。AndroidユーザはiPhoneユーザと違いなかなかアプリにお金を支払おうとしないため、Androidアプリはリリースするに値しないと。Bettanyはその機能を削除しCamera+はiTunesに改めて認可されたが、それまで彼女にとってAppleは恩人でもあり悩みの種でもあった。

One reason the iPhone has been so successful is that Apple maintains tight control over its hardware. Bettany told those assembled yesterday that she doesn't even consider it worthwhile to release an Android app because users on that platform refuse to pay for stuff that iPhone users gladly do. Apple was both her benefactor and her tormentor, until she pulled that feature, and her app was re-admitted to iTunes. 

今週初頭にSteve Jobsは舞台上に姿を表しiPhoneのビルトインカメラアプリの素晴らしい新機能を発表した。ボリュームアップボタンを使って写真を撮る機能だ。カメラアプリを探し回りロードされるのを待つこと無く、ある瞬間を素早く写真で切り取るファンタスティックな方法が新たに到来したとJobsは告げた。言い換えれば、Appleの大きな新アイデアは紛れなく昨年Camera+に禁止したものである。(Jobsの講演を参照)

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs stood on a stage to announce a great new features for the iPhone's built-in camera app: the ability to take photos using the device's Up Volume button, which Jobs heralded as a fantastic new way to take capture a moment with a photo quickly, without hunting around for the camera app and waiting for it to load. In other words, one of App's big new ideas is precisely the one for which it banned Camera+ last year. (Watch Jobs' address.) 

The Registerが著しく似通った話を報じたことで、このような奇妙な行動をとったケースが今週また明らかになった。無線LANを用いてiTunesの音楽をiPhoneとワイアレスで同期する機能が違反だとしてAppleが拒否したGreg HughesのアプリWi-Fi Syncの件だ。

Another case of this curious behavior surfaced this week, as The Register reported the strikingly similar tale of Greg Hughes' Wi-Fi Sync app, which Apple rejected outright for its ability to sync iTunes music wirelessly to an iPhone using a local wireless network. 

驚くなかれ、月曜日にAppleはiTunesからiOSデバイスへ音楽を転送するためのワイアレス同期機能を発表した。Appleは更にHughesがWi-Fi Sync(Cydia storeで入手可能で、jailbreakしたiPhone上で動作する)に使ったロゴと実質的に同じロゴを使用した。

On Monday, Apple unveiled, what else, a wireless syncing feature for moving music from iTunes to iOS devices — and, what's more, it used a logo that's practically the same as the one Hughes used for Wi-Fi Sync (available in the Cydia store for apps that can run on jailbroken iPhones). 

左: HughesのWi-Fi Sync
右: AppleのWi-Fi Sync

The Registerによると、AppleはHughesのアプリを拒否した一方で彼に履歴書を送るよう頼んでいた。しかし実際には彼を雇う必要など無かったのだ。AppleはHughesに一銭も払うこと無く彼のアプリ–更にはアプリ名や多かれ少なかれそのロゴまでも–を取り込んでしまった。

According to The Register, Apple asked Hughes for his resume while rejecting his app, but really, there was no need to hire him. They could incorporate his app — and even its name and, more or less, his logo — without paying him a cent.

先に申し上げた通り、王であることは素晴らしい。

Like I said, it's good to be king.