Infoman

Member since 2017-07-15T03:50:57Z. Last seen 2025-01-02T20:05:01Z.

2729 blog posts. 128 comments.

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Posts by Infoman

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  Infoman

  蘭桂坊每年的萬聖節活動，今年攔腰被斬了。

  自從蘭桂坊在80年代從無聲無息漸次成為亞太區首屈一指國際知名夜遊地段以來，頭一遭被禁；那夜到鏞記晚飯，特意回來探望，物是景變人非，盡在不言中。

  回來……

  是的，回來！

  曾經中環心臟蘭桂老街坊，每次途經，「回來」的意味濃郁。

  蘭桂坊是怎樣煉成的？

  當然不是當年旅遊協會的創意，也非政府某某部門個頭一朝瞓醒良心發現推出的項目；自然衍生，人同此心，心同此理，適時適候，便出現了。

  Stephenie港大畢業後來英國唸法律，之後回去跟師傅，那次回來倫敦考試跟我說：中午從電車路旁的律師樓走上德己立街，一直去到左轉彎位，有意大利男裝店子，一旁加開小Café中午賣很不一樣的三文治，正宗咖啡，坐斜坡上的長條木椅進食，頗有點歐洲風味。

  摯友Timothy的哥哥David來港執業，約同剛回來、還未開始工作的我到Mad Dog歡樂時光，臨出門前律師樓的後生喊他：人客想再問你一兩點法律意見……遲到，讓我先進入幾乎全部紅鬚綠眼顧客、英國Pub味濃厚的空間，被迫感受猶如50年代黑人由正門走入南部不屬黑皮膚種族的餐廳，單單種族歧視的眼神足可將你射得無身自處；國外上課生活近十年，沒想過關乎種族膚色的尷尬竟然發生在自己家鄉。

  不過Mad Dog始終是個好地方，從九龍塘搬到蘭桂坊，望山的窗門正正對着「癲狗」；思念Fish n Chips 及一、兩Pint Guinness，踢着拖鞋走過去它的天井部份，好好享受風涼水冷。

  員工相熟了：鄧生，着拖鞋坐天井好啦，如果入裏面，我哋難受㗎……

  梗明啦，這點規矩點會唔明，正如在那個環境大大聲講粗口，不論男女；沒人會阻止你，西方文明讓子民們的眼神別你而去，視若隱形，無聲無形地行使孤立，讓你自覺極度冇癮。（明續）

  2019/11/03
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  Infoman

  11月3日，周日。本報「新聞點評」欄王高天佑日前論述寶島股市時提到，台灣加權指數在重磅股台積電帶動下創29年新高，離1990年歷史高位咫尺之遙。加權指數成分股權重根據即時市值計算，作為5G大潮主要得益者，權重高達23%的台積電表現神勇，年初至今股價累漲三成六，台股想不水漲船高也難。

  高兄以「一命救全家」來形容台積電對寶島股市的貢獻，或許有些微貶低其他成分股之嫌，惟不容否認的是，以市值釐定權重（market cap-weighted）的指數架構，與「八二法則」存在不少共通點，所謂一白遮三醜，台積電縱未至於一命救全家，說此股於寶島一夫當關，雖不中亦不遠矣。

  股票跑贏國庫票據？

  港股恒生指數三大重磅股騰訊（00700）、滙控（00005）及友邦（01299）迄上周五權重平分秋色，在恒指中各佔一成左右，任何一隻對港股的牽引作用俱不及台積電之於台股。相較之下，本地色彩濃厚得多的MSCI明晟香港指數（MSCI Hong Kong Index），友邦佔比高達23.41%，跟台積電於當地指數所佔比重不相伯仲，且抵得上排名二至七合共六隻成分股的總和，不論從權重絕對值抑或相對其他主要成分股影響力着眼，可比性似乎更高一點。

  老畢對台股並無研究，但高兄大作令在下靈機一觸，想及衰股多好股少與投資回報的關係。這個現象既令持有市值加權指數基金合情合理，同時使透過揀股博跑贏大市吃力不討好，市場愈來愈有效率，主動型策略要在形勢不利下突圍，看來必須另闢蹊徑。

  早前看了一篇由美國亞利桑那州大學教授Hendrik Bessembinder撰寫的論文，題為〈股票跑贏國庫票據嗎？〉（Do Stocks Outperform Treasury Bills?），發現1926至2018年，每7隻在證券價格研究中心（CRSP）數據庫內紀錄在案的美國上市普通股，就有4隻「終生」累計回報低於一個月國庫票據（have lifetime buy-and-hold returns less than one-month Treasuries），而表現最佳4%上市公司，足以貢獻93年裏美股全部淨增長。相關結論若離事實不遠，一命救全家這句話用於華爾街這個全球最成熟股市，貼切程度未必遜於台股、港股。

  輸家遠比贏家多

  正如前述，以市值定權重的指數本就有類似八二法則效應，牛市中強者愈強往往更明顯。從2009年3月9日標普500指數日中低位666點計算，美股過去10年餘不計股息累漲3.6倍，複合年增長超過16%。看過Bessembinder的論文後，很難不認同持有市值加權指數基金慳水慳力，比期望主動型基金於扣除管理費後年賺接近兩成實際兼划算得多。然而，世上總有人捨易取難，視接受挑戰為樂，閣下如有志逆流而上，那麼論文至少有兩點值得討論。

  一、投資者若要偏離市值加權模式，比方說把資金等額配置（equally-weighted）於可多可少的心頭好，那麼避開衰股的重要性絕不下於選中好股。「終生」跑輸一個月國庫票據七中佔四，針對的也許只是美國，惟個股輸家遠比贏家多，卻放諸四海而皆準。

  在上述論文發表後，美國證券行O'Shaughnessy Asset Management作了一些跟進，把全球具代表性指數成分股併湊成一個等值權重投資組合，發現過去四分一世紀若剔除當中表現最佳10%股份，年回報為負1%；倘剔除表現最佳25%股份，組合年蝕9%【圖1】。

  賺埋賺埋唔夠輸

  這項發現足以印證好股對投資回報的貢獻，惟更具啟發性的是，若剔除表現最差10%股份，同一組合年賺14%；掃走表現最差25%股份，年均回報更高達22%【圖2】！

  二、類似分析立足於歷史數據，回歸現實，沒有任何投資者有本事長年累月買中好股避開衰股，可是劣股雖則年年不同，但整體而言大概都有某些共通點，諸如盈利增長每況愈下、不斷增發股份攤薄股東權益、管治水平低落等；換句話說，股市中地雷無處不在，入七球失八球，賺埋賺埋未必夠輸。

  許多紅極一時的基金明星近年戰績一落千丈，與其說他們拙於擇優而買，不如把其困境歸因於無法避開對回報和名聲造成永久破壞的衰股。沿此路進，主動型基金要打翻身戰，得認真思考Bessembinder論文中的微言大義。

  （編者按：畢老林最新著作《我的投資日記》現已發售）

  歡迎訂購：實體書、電子書

  2019/11/03
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  Infoman

  蔣芸昨天的文章問：下一步在哪裏？她說現在是年輕人最困難的時刻，進也不是退也不是，下一步該怎麼辦？

  這也是香港許多人的疑問：抗爭的前景會如何？香港是回不到從前了，但往後該怎麼走下去？

  網上有兩篇文章談到抗爭前景。一篇刊在「基進報導」上，講「軍政府時代已來臨：抗爭運動需要面對的八個現實」。現實是：警隊不可能崩潰，反而因為獲得政府和背後中共給予有史以來最大權力，和一張張禁制令讓他們對付示威者更加肆無忌憚；社會上大部份資本家、財團，始終站在有權者一方；國際媒體對香港的關注，已很難得，但不可能長期維持每天都高度關注；幾乎肯定政府已組織秘密警察或政治警察；接管港台、廢除公共廣播改為類似中央台的喉舌角色，對電視及新聞出版加以限制，看來日子都不遠了。文章又指韓國與台灣，從專權政治走向民主都奮戰了幾十年。因此，香港未來也會經歷極長的抗爭歲月，或3年或30年，香港目前這種灰暗局面可能成為日常。

  另一篇刊在連登。文章引述美國政治科學家Erica Chenoweth作的研究，指出從1900到2006，世界323場社會運動，成功的幾個關鍵：一是參與運動的活躍人數佔人口3.5%；二是支持者來自社會不同界別；三是非暴力成功機會53%，暴力行動成功機會26%；四是要作長期經濟戰，罷工、罷市、罷消費最有效。文章認為，以上幾個條件，香港都具備，尤其和勇不分、互相合作，以及罷消費和黃色消費圈等已在實施。文章說見到許多手足被濫捕很心痛，但被捕的手足絕不想抗爭者內訌和灰心，累同頹就休息一陣，之後就是繼續行動！

  兩篇文章都各有道理。但我也有些不同意見。

  關於一百多年的社會運動的成功率，我覺得應該分開社運是在文明國家發生，還是在專制國家發生。就世界範圍來說，相信323場社運絕大部份是在文明國家發生的。在專制國家發生的社運，專權鎮壓的力度大得多，我相信3.5%人數參加是不會成功的。許多人講非暴力抗爭的成功例子，包括甘地、馬丁路德金、曼德拉等，實際上他們的抗爭對象，都是較文明的政府。曼德拉在自傳中說他在南非監獄裏，常常與獄警對抗，獄警也奈何他不得，因為這些南非種族主義者雖不是好人，但做人還有底線，這底線就是不隨便打人。但在中國，和香港的黑警，有做人的底線嗎？

  此外，韓國、台灣爭民主的對象，是本國的強權，強權依靠的外國是民主國家特別是美國；而香港的抗爭對手，則不僅是本地的港共，而且是背後更強大更野蠻的中國強權。難度比韓台都大得多。但另一方面，現在的國際形勢、全球的主流意識又與數十年前不同了。而中國面臨的經濟困境，中國對香港這個國際金融中心的依賴，美國和西方國家在經濟上、在對華方略上，對香港的重視程度，都不是當年的韓台可比。這是對香港抗爭形勢各有利弊的因素。

  中共四中全會後，許多人都去分析中國對香港的未來政策。我同意蔣芸所說，「與其去想當權者的套路、手段，不如找出一條真正可以走下去的道路」。利用現在民意中大幅度傾向抗爭者的優勢，擴大和延續在經濟和社會範圍的擁黃制藍的抗爭，保持長期作戰的心態，就是可以走下去的路。如連登的文章所說：「要記住：輸咩都可以接受，就係唔可以輸自己」。

  http://www.facebook.com/mrleeyee

  李怡

  2019/11/03
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  Infoman

  The Devver Blog A Boulder startup improving the way developers work. Tips for Unit Testing For the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a series of posts on my thoughts on unit testing. Although I originally published them in little, bite-sized posts, I wanted to collect them all here in one massive post for those of you with bigger reading appetites.

  I also wanted to add one thought to sort of tie all these tips together. Unit testing is all about improving productivity. It’s important to realize that the ROI for testing looks something like this:

  this graph is very exact

  A very professional-looking graph. I guess ROI should really be ‘benefit’, but whatever, you get it.

  If you are just getting started with unit testing, you’re at the bottom of the curve, so you’re going to sink a lot of time into testing without much benefit. Similarly, once you’ve done a lot of testing on a project, trying to test that last little bit may require more time than it’s worth. The goal of these tips is to help you maximize the benefit-to-time ratio, wherever you may be in this curve.

  We’re big on automated testing here at Devver, but I know a lot of companies aren’t as into it. There’s been plenty written about all the reasons you should be writing tests, but over the next week or so, I’ll give you some tips on how to get started (and if you’ve already got some tests, how to improve and expand your test suite).

  I can’t claim to have come up with these best practices, so I’ll litter this post with links to those resources that have taught me something.

  A quick word about terminology. When I say “tests” I mean any type of automated tests, which may include unit, functional, integration or any other types of tests. When I say “production code” I simply mean the code goes into the actual product – i.e. the code being tested.

  Tip 1: You’ll probably suck at testing Writing tests can be frustrating at first. It is usually a lot harder and more time consuming than you’d expect. Unfortunately, some developers assume that the cost of writing tests is fixed and conclude that the benefits can’t possible justify the time spent – so they quit writing tests.

  Writing test code is an art unto itself. There are a whole new set of tricks and skills to learn and it’s difficult to do correcty right away. Stick with it. The better you get, the faster you’ll write tests, and the more your tests will pay off.

  Tip 2: Most code is not written to be tested Another surprising thing you’ll find when you start testing is that your production code is not very testable. This isn’t surprising – if there were no tests previously, there was no reason to design for testability. This will make your first tests way harder to write and less valuable (i.e. they are less likely to catch real bugs)

  There are a few tricks to get around this. First, try testing only new code or just test a smaller side project to start to get the hang of it. When you’re ready to start testing your legacy application, try the following.

  1. Write a few very high-level tests. These tests will likely exercise almost the whole system and will interact with the application at the highest-level interface.
  2. Refactor out one component of the application so it is more decoupled and testable
  3. Continually run your high-level tests to make sure you haven’t broken anything major
  4. Write more focused tests for the component you pulled out in step #2
  5. Go back to step #2

  If you need more help with this, pick up a copy of Working Effectively w/ Legacy Code. There is also some additional information here.

  Again, stick with it. As you write more tests, your application will be more testable (bonus: it’s likely be easier to understand, more loosely coupled, easier to refactor, and more DRY as well!). As it becomes more testable, it’ll be easier to write additional tests. This creates a positive loop where things get better and easier as you go.

  Tip 3: Test code isn’t production code Another common mistake is to treat test code just like production code. For instance, you’d like your code production code to be as dry as possible. But in test code, it’s actually more important for tests to be readable and independent than to be dry. As a result, you’ll want your tests to be more “moist” than dry. Specifically, you’ll want to use literals a lot more in test code than you would in production.

  In general, the most important properties of good tests are:

  Independent – No test should affect the outcome of any other test. Put another way, you should be able to run your tests in any order and always have the same outcome. A corollary of this is that setup/teardown methods are evil (both because they increase dependence and they decrease readability) Readable – The intent of each test should be immediately obvious (both by it’s name and by its code). Fast – Each test should run as quickly as possible, so the entire suite is also fast. The faster the suite, the more you’ll run the tests, and the greater benefit you’ll get (because you’ll catch regressions quickly) Precise – Each test should focus on testing one thing (and only one thing) well*. Ideally, if a test fails, you should know exactly what part of your production code broke by just glancing at the name of the test. Also, if your tests are precise, it’s less likely that a change in your code will require you to change many different tests. In practice, precise tests are short and only have one assertion or expectation per test.

  *Note: this doesn’t apply to integration tests, which should make sure all components play nicely together.

  Tip 4: Always write one test

  When writing new code, it’s easy to avoid testing because it seems so daunting to test all the functionality. Rather than thinking of testing as an all-or-nothing proposition, try to write just one good test for the new functionality.

  You’ll find that having just one test is much, much better than having no tests at all. Why? First of all, it’ll catch catastrophic errors, even if it doesn’t catch bugs in edge cases. Secondly, writing even one test may force you to refactor your production code slightly to make it more testable (which in turn, makes future tests easier to write). Finally, it gives you “test momentum”. If you have no tests, you’ll be inclined to delay testing, since there is more overhead to get started. But if you already have just one test in place, it’ll be much easier to add tests as you think of them (and to write regression tests as you find bugs).

  By the way, don’t worry about testing at exactly the right level. Having one functional test is way better than having no tests at all. You can always come back and break the “bigger” test down into more targeted, precise tests.

  Tip 5: Improve your tests over time

  Here’s a terrible idea – decide you are going to spend a whole week building a test suite for your project. First of all, you’ll likely just get frustrated and burn out on testing. Secondly, you’ll probably write bad tests at first, so even if you get a bunch of tests written, you’re going to need to go back and rewrite them one you figure out how slow, brittle, or unreadable they are.

  As they say, the best writing is rewriting. You should try out new techniques (and rewrite) old test code. But it’s OK to have patchwork tests.

  You just found out fixtures suck? (they do). Or that those ‘setup’ methods make your tests less readable? Are you excited about using mocks? Great, apply your new technique to some new tests, rewrite a few old tests, and call it a day. Don’t try to rewrite your whole suite, because you’ll be kicking yourself when you rewrite your suite again after you decide technique X isn’t perfect in all cases.

  Just like in production code, good practices take awhile to bake and prove themselves. See how maintainable, easy to understand, easy to read a new technique is. You can always move more tests over.

  Tip 6: Don’t be dogmatic

  There are a lot of best practices for testing that may or may not apply to your situation. Should you have one assertion per test? Should you use mocks and stubs? Should you use Test Driven Development? Or Behavior Driven Development? Should you do interaction or state-based testing? While all of these practices have real benefits, remember that their applicability and value depends largely on your project, schedule, and team.

  Don’t be afraid to play, but don’t feel like you need to convert everything to the one, true way to test. It’s fine to have a suite that mixes and matches these best practices. In other words, context is king.

  Tip 7: Be reasonable

  There are lots of reasons why tests are great, but if your practices aren’t ultimately making your code better and you more productive, it’s not worth it. You have to always think about the return on your time investment.

  There are domains in which automated testing is very difficult and doesn’t provide a lot of value, like GUI testing. I would recommend writing tests for the interface that the GUI calls, but actually testing that things show up correctly is quite tricky and error prone.

  Also, 100% code coverage shouldn’t necessarily be your goal. As you get better at writing tests, I think you’ll find they provide a lot of value, but at some point, covering that last small percentage of code may require way more effort than it’s worth.

  Tip 8: Keep learning!

  Just like learning new programming languages makes you a better developer, learning about new testing approaches, libraries, and tools will make you a better tester. The state of the art of testing is changing very rapidly these days – new frameworks and techniques are released almost every month. Keep looking at example code and trying out new stuff.

  For instance, here’s a few tools that you may not be using but are very cool: Heckle and RushCheck

  Finally, if you want to learn more, subscribe to Jay Field’s blog – he has lots of good (if sometimes controversial) thoughts about testing.

  And with that, I’ll wrap up this series on testing. If you have your own testing tips, please share them!

  2019/11/03
• 
  

  Infoman

  Why enterprise blockchain?

  So, you might be thinking about what are the benefits of enterprise blockchain? If you are familiar with blockchain, then you should know that blockchain is all about transparency and decentralization. However, enterprise requires the complete opposite of what a traditional public blockchain has to offer.

  For enterprises, permissioning is essential. For them, blockchain needs to ensure that permissioning works through the system, protecting data and intellectual property at all times. Permissioned blockchains are the key there. Not only do they offer proper security levels, but they are also fast compared to a public blockchain.

  Public blockchains are not enterprise-friendly. By definition, anyone can join an open network — which not all enterprises would want — until and unless they are creating a public network for a part of their service.

  So, what factors really make enterprise blockchain so lucrative? Let’s look at the benefits below:

  An enterprise blockchain can mean less cost. It also improves fast processing and ensures low cost. The use of smart contracts automates a good part of the network transactions, including settlement clearance, and so on. The elimination of a centralized network also ensures that there is no humanly possible fraud in the network. Human-made errors are also removed from the system — saving time, effort and cost associated with it. It offers greater transparency and provides accountability. Get access to real-time data Enterprise blockchain is great for setting up authorized access across the different security levels of the organization. Lastly, it helps redundancy reduction and improves better quality of data collection and transmission. Why do we need frameworks?

  Now that we have understood the need for the enterprise blockchain, let’s understand why enterprise needs frameworks.

  Frameworks offer a structure that enables developers to build apps quickly. It is true for every ecosystem as frameworks take care of the granular functionalities of an ecosystem. For example, if you are using a Django framework to build the web, then you do not have to worry about basic functionalities, including authentication, database connection, and so on. The frameworks provide modules to carry out the tasks. With frameworks, there is also no need to build something from scratch or in simpler words, “reinvent the wheel.”

  Similarly, an enterprise cannot afford to build a complete end-to-end blockchain solution. The frameworks help to simplify the process and also ensure that the enterprise has the freedom to customize the blockchain network they are building for themselves. Frameworks offer the building blocks which act as an accelerator for enterprises, and they can focus on implementing their requirements, rather than re-inventing ideas.

  The same can be true for web development. You can find development frameworks that enable web developers to create websites efficiently.

  Market Share

  Distributed ledger technology is going to change the world around us. The number one reason behind its impact is the benefits it has to offer. Organizations can take full advantage of the trust provided by the blockchain. It fuels trust in any organization — improving processes and execution of even the most complex organizational aspects.

  Another big advantage of using blockchain is its low-cost implementation, management, and execution — all of these accounts to its market share, which can reach $20.3 billion by 2025. Currently, the DLT market share stands at merely $4.3 billion.

  According to IBM, things are more promising than ever. According to them, the blockchain markets can easily reach $60 billion by 2024. This astounding growth is only possible if the organizations use blockchain to power their business process. According to the paper, artificial intelligence will also play a crucial role in its growth.

  What are the elements of a successful platform?

  Just implementing blockchain will not give you success. As an organization or an enterprise, you need to ensure that certain elements work as intended. Let’s discuss the elements below to get a better picture.

  Confidentiality

  As an enterprise, you have to ensure that you understand the importance of confidentiality. Blockchain is defined as a transparent, decentralized network that offers privacy and trust.

  For an enterprise, it is not possible to offer universal access, as there are many important data or information that needs to stay private for the success of the organization. If the info gets leaked, the organization can incur huge losses. That’s why confidentiality and security are the two elements that need to be at the top priority for an enterprise where lost information can cost millions of dollars lost in revenue.

  To get started, organizations need to establish proper access control throughout the data stored on the platform. Not only that, but they should also adhere to legal and regulatory requirements.

  Enterprise blockchain frameworks always have the feature to provide the necessary security. Hyperledger Fabric, for example, utilizes a three-level data flow structure to ensure that the enterprise data remains secure at any cost.

  The three-level data flow structure looks like below:

  Providing authorized access to users by grouping information on separate ledgers or channels. The transactions between the parties are kept confidential with the help of better privacy and data confidentiality. This way, no third party can access transactional information. Lastly, offering zero-knowledge validation ensure that the encapsulated data can be verified without data reveal. Transparency

  Transparency is necessary if an enterprise organization wants to grow. They need to ensure the proper flow of information among the parties. Supply chain requires the most transparency as the right information can allow it to work optimally. Any lack of information means service interruption — resulting in a loss.

  In general, enterprises always fear that information sharing can backfire if their competitors get to know about it. Internal pricing is an important part of any organization — leaking this information can lead to market disadvantage as the competitors can learn about their pricing and create strategies to improve market share.

  To overcome this, any enterprise blockchain framework should understand the subtle difference between critical information and normal information. By doing so, the transparency in any entity can be maintained without the need to expose the core critical information.

  When it comes to the public blockchain, transparency means a completely different thing. Not even the public blockchain is completely transparent — only the required information is easily accessible — whereas the more critical information is safely stored in the network. In terms of transparency, enterprise blockchain frameworks do a better job by ensuring different levels of privacy. The best approach is to have a higher level of privacy where the information required to run the network optimally is shared among peers. The confidential information, on the other hand, needs to be stored safely — keeping the organization interest intact.

  Operational Cost Reduction

  A properly transparent network can bring better operational cost reduction. It can do it in the form of reduced manual intervention, audit trial, and cost-sharing.

  Middlemen elimination: Any network that manages to share information without exposing more critical information, also means that the elimination of intermediaries. By doing so, the cost required to hire or manage them is completely removed. In some cases, the number of mediators can be reduced to a bare minimum. Smart contracts are mostly used to automate transactions and data sharing. Cost Sharing: Another operational cost reduction comes from the use of distributed ledger technologies. Big organizations require data to share as a part of their workflow. By using a distributed ledger technology, the big organizations can share the cost needed to host and maintain the data themselves. This also means that there is no need for any third-party solution or software — which means additional cost and more security issues. Audit Trail: An appropriately transparent system also means easy audit-trial, reducing the cost and time associated with it. Transactional Cost Reduction

  The last point that we are going to discuss is the transaction cost reduction. DLT enables enterprises to remove third party elements or at least decrease their involvement to a bare minimum. This results in transaction cost reduction.

  How to choose an enterprise blockchain framework?

  Awesome, we covered quite a bit about enterprise blockchain framework. Now, it is time to go through the steps that you should take to choose the right enterprise blockchain framework.

  The list will help you shortlist a number of enterprise blockchain frameworks. From there, you need to make a decision based on your requirements. Choosing an enterprise blockchain framework can be tricky — and that’s why it is important to look for different elements before making a choice.

  Community: A thriving community can help you cope with issues and growth. As an enterprise, you should always ask how large and impactful the framework community is? License: As an enterprise, you need to double-check the framework license. Ask yourself questions such as it is free to use? If yes, does it have some limitations? These questions will equip yourself to make the right decisions. Using a framework with limited usage or wrong licensing term can easily hamper the long-term growth of your organization Support model: Frameworks require constant support. If it receives support from a large corporation, then you may want to give it a try as it means it has a better rate of survival in the long term. Roadmap: Does the framework you are choosing have a clearly defined roadmap? If it does, then check out what they have to offer in the future. Activity: How active is the framework when it comes to updates and patches? Ease of use: Last, but not least, you should also try to understand the ease-of-use the framework has to offer. Best Enterprise Blockchain Frameworks

  With all the basics covered, it is now time to list the big enterprise blockchain frameworks out there. Let’s go through them to learn about them.

  Hyperledger Fabric

  Hyperledger Fabric is one of the most popular enterprise open source blockchain frameworks out there. It first came into existence in 2016. It is a permissioned network which makes it an ideal choice for enterprises out there. It is an open-source enterprise blockchain and offers all the key features that you would expect from an enterprise blockchain — including smart contracts, protocols, privacy, security, and so on!

  There are many benefits of using Hyperledger Fabric

  Open source and free to use Quality code Modular design, great for integration and expansion Higher efficiency Permissioned network Can be used in a wide range of industry Out of all the features, the modular design is what makes Hyperledger Fabric appealing. It also offers proper confidentiality, transaction encryption — which public blockchain do not offer for enterprise needs. The modular design also brings in fewer verification levels and improves software and network performance. Lastly, you can use Hyperledger Fabric and configure it in such a way that it protects enterprise data by keeping it check with regulations and various laws.

  Read more about Hyperledger Fabric here.

  Quorum

  Quorum is another popular enterprise open source blockchain framework based on Ethereum network. It got first released in 2016. The framework is mainly focused on the finance sector and is the brainchild of JP Morgan.

  Just like the other enterprise blockchain framework, Quorum also offers permissioned networks and also allows organizations to customize it according to their requirement.

  The key features of Quorum include the following

  Peer and network management Open source blockchain framework Community-driven Trustworthy and enterprise-ready Mature Enterprise-ready Community-driven The three major components of the Quorum architecture include the following-

  Quorum node: A Geth-powered command-line tool Constellation transaction manager: A transaction manager which focuses on transaction data care. Enclave: Enclave handles sensitive information and manages encryption/decryption Quorum has been actively developed, and there has already been successful implementation beyond financial institutions. The key selling point here is faster processing transactions, easy integration, and permissioned network

  Read more about Quorum here.

  Enterprise Ethereum(EE)

  Ethereum network is popular due to its ability to create dApps and smart contracts. However, it is an open network, public in nature.

  Enterprise Ethereum is a permissioned or private take on the Ethereum codebase. It enables enterprises to utilize Ethereum without worrying about confidentiality, security, transparency, and cost.

  The EE offers all the features that Ethereum has to offer. The only difference is the inclusion of the identity management for making it a permissioned network. EE is an excellent product as it aims to utilize existing standards and wants to evolve side by side. Currently, it is a member-driven organization(Enterprise Ethereum Alliance) with over 300+ company members, 45+ countries, 1400+ individual members, and 19+ technical and legal advisory.

  Read more about Enterprise Ethereum here

  R3 Corda

  R3 Corda aims to provide a global logical ledger in a permissioned environment. It offers financial organizations the ability to create permissions networks. It can also be used for other sectors, including trade finance, supply chain, healthcare, and government.

  The Corda architectural standards include the following:

  Longevity Stable Secure Interoperable Scalable R3 Corda also has its own business principles laid out that helps the enterprise understand what it has to offer.

  Users can discover each other Offers assured identity Support shared logic Privacy oriented Immutable Authoritative Overall, R3 Corda has to offer everything that an enterprise blockchain has to offer.

  Read more about R3 Corda here

  Conclusion

  This leads us to the end of our enterprise blockchain frameworks article. Here we discussed what constitutes enterprise blockchain, its need, market share, elements, and the enterprise blockchain frameworks out there. So, what do you think about blockchain for enterprise? Comment below and let us know.

  2019/11/03
• 
  

  Infoman

  Test

  2019/11/03
• 
  

  Infoman

  我知道手足依家喺出面打生打死中，但係我都係要出呢個post多謝大家，希望大家返歸途中一開連登唔係啲撚屌灰post同輸post

  過咗差唔多5個月，香港人經歷過無數個集會同遊行，多謝有出過嚟嘅你，不論你係和理非定勇武，你已經為呢場不可能嘅抗爭招來咗曙光，香港人從來都冇諗過會有一個幾百萬人嘅遊行會發生，冇諗過會衝入立法會，冇諗過會經歷黑社會恐襲，更冇諗過會有真槍打落香港人度，被性侵同被自殺更係數之不盡，但係你都冇驚到，而你選擇咗今日行出嚟，你就係英雄，你為呢場運動付出咗一分力，沒有100%勇武，只有100%信念，你盡咗你最大嘅努力去爭取自由，香港人不斷進化，就係因為你有出嚟經歷不公，然後吸收經驗捲土重來，所以你肯出嚟，已經嬴緊。

  勝利最終會屬於香港人，因為有你。喺呢場運動入面冇人係孤兒，你肯出嚟，你會發現左右都係你嘅兄弟姊妹。

  煲底見

  2019/11/02
• 
  

  Infoman

  Ask HN: What are some resources to improve speaking skills?

  142 throwaway_yc 7 hrs 60 news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21410579 I get nervous very easily and my heart starts throbbing when it comes to speak to anyone. It is affecting my career. How can I fix it? What are the resources to improve speaking skill?

  the_watcher 2 hrs There's a reason Toastmasters is so recommended in this thread: it's really good at what it is, so try that out.

  For other options, try speaking a lot more in low pressure situations. At work, try small groups to start. Ask your manager if you can lead a team meeting where the agenda is defined, and your role is just to facilitate discussion. Present your work to 3 teammates and ask them to hold questions until the end.

  In your personal life, if you are a regular at a coffee shop or lunch place and see the same person repeatedly, learn their name, then ask them how they are doing whenever you see them. Try to actually answer with something specific when people ask how you are doing. If you have kids or access to them (young relatives), try reading out loud to them. Join a writing seminar that asks you to read your work out loud.

  The above are just a laundry list of ideas, the point is basically "find low pressure environments to speak, do it as often as possible, vary the scenarios."

  dahart 13 mins Many years ago in college I was skydiving with an adrenaline junky friend who would sign up for public speaking at any opportunity just to make himself nervous on purpose. He enjoyed the thrill of having his heart start throbbing, and even liked not being very prepared. While I recommend lots of preparation for public speaking, I do really like the idea of embracing being scared of speaking as part of the fun, and I’ve tried to borrow that attitude and make it part of my own personal narrative. I guess it helped because these days I always jump at the chance to give a conference talk.

  achenatx 5 hrs I was a disaster at speaking until I was in grad school and had to teach classes (6+ hours/week). At some point you get enough volume and it becomes no big deal. You start focusing on trying to educate or amuse your audience and are no longer nervous. The key is to get enough practice. Toastmasters is one way to get started, but nothing beats the volume you get by signing up to teach a class several times a week.

  hammerbrostime 4 hrs Same experience here with teaching, it has had a huge secondary benefit for me in that I know how to run a room. I also highly recommend running a meetup.

  moron4hire 2 mins That's basically how I did it, too. Teaching martial arts classes 3 to 5 times a week, for 3 hours a night (though that was many years and many beers ago). My coworkers remark on how well I speak in public, and while I get that from their perspective it's a scary thing, to me it's just another job.

  If you're in a reasonably sized city, there are probably dozens of tech meetups looking for content. Just start hanging out and you'll start seeing opportunities to talk. Take them.

  Ididntdothis 2 hrs If you are like me (super shy and self conscious) I definitely would do toastmasters first before doing a lot of teaching. I did teaching for a while but I wasn’t ready so I just kept piling up more and more bad experiences without getting better. After a year of toastmasters I had a pretty good foundation and finally could actually improve.

  It feels like going into a country without ang knowledge of the language. You can be there for years and never learn anything. But once you have a foundation then learning is possible.

  Loughla 4 hrs I'll second this. There is nothing like teaching to get your ability to publicly speak built up.

  I was garbage at public speaking until I had to teach an ed. law course in graduate school. Now I'm exceptional at it.

  It also helps if it's a subject you're super knowledgeable about. That helps.

  SeanBoocock 3 hrs Yeah this was a big one for me. TAing classes as an undergrad and then running classes as a grad student removed a lot of the anxiety. I still have some level of nerves, but it feels like it comes from a healthier place and isn’t crippling. Also helps to fail in low(er) stakes situations and realize that the world goes on afterwards.

  thomasjudge 3 hrs There are also other venues for teaching that one can explore - extension classes, etc. I paid for my summers in grad school by teaching test prep classes. Was pretty awesome once I could focus mainly on the grad classes - LSAT, GMAT, GRE. But great teaching and public speaking experience.

  walshemj 2 hrs Me to I was nervous, but when I was 20 or so I joined a group in the UK 18 Plus (now just Plus) similar to Rotaract.

  I joined the committee and I was my job to stand up and announce the next weeks events, I used to imagine putting on circus masters top hat to get over my nerves.

  I ended up going to various conferences run on formal lines and speaking at those.

  I have also gone to a large number of "political" conferences run on formal lines (think roberts rules) both as delegates and standing order committees - which organize the formalities of business.

  I was on may way to a meeting and bumped into John Bercow on his way to the house of commons, unfortunately I did not have my copy of Citrine other wise id have asked him to sign it.

  Simon Lancaster has a good book on a mechanics of rhetoric and speech writing

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simon-Lancaster/e/B005NAQX8U/ref=dp...

  khazhou 2 hrs I would suggest, if this is at phobia-level for you, it's worth thinking about why you're getting so nervous.

  I went from enjoying public speaking to absolutely dreading it (feeling like I'm falling off a cliff, trembling voice, sudden drops in blood pressure leading to complete loss of train-of-thought). This was literally career-limiting, and I could see how I was being excluded from projects that would require presenting to VPs + execs.

  I spent a lot of time reflecting on it, and realized what had happened was that I had taken over management of a failing project, and I wasn't turning it around. Our VP was extremely harsh, and drew out everyone's professional failures/limitations. But I realized that my sudden and complete inability to present, was linked to me "knowing" that my work sucked, or knowing that no matter what I said, it was gonna end badly with me looking like an idiot.

  So I would suggest you might think about whether the public-speaking nervousness also happens when you're asked to present something you're happy, proud, and knowledgable about, or whether it's connected to insecurity in your work, project, or your own mastery of the material you're presenting.

  RandomBacon 6 hrs Toastmasters is great.

  The meetings are structured with an agenda, the toastmaster for the meeting makes sure the agenda is followed and stays on topic.

  They've made the program more dynamic. I don't know the new details very well and not sure how I feel about it. It used to be everyone received a workbook on how to deliver ten short speeches about varrying topics, but now you can customize it and I think they use an online website/program to keep track of that.

  Everything at a meeting is always explained to everyone, and everyone I've met at Toastmasters meetings have been very nice.

  You can use the website (https://www.toastmasters.org) to find a meeting near you and usually just drop in, but it's always polite to give them a head's up that you'll be visiting.

  Ididntdothis 5 hrs Totally agree. Toastmasters got me from barely being able to speak before a group to a point where I have no problems giving presentations before anybody. One of the best things I ever did in life.

  city41 2 hrs I've found different Toastmaster groups operate a bit differently. Some are very strict (using clickers whenever you say "um" for example) and others not as much. So OP, if you do try Toastmasters, and the first group doesn't "feel" right, see if another nearby group is available.

  pstuart 3 hrs Another CTM chiming in to say that Toastmasters should be one's first stop on this journey.

  vkaku 4 hrs +1 for Toastmasters

  Most times you can just attend a local chapter speech for free, and if you like it, you can sign up for a membership. There have been plenty of great tips on giving great speeches, and more importantly, this is all hands on!

  And you can speak freely without worrying about sounding imperfect, and nobody judges you, because everyone out there want to learn and improve themselves.

  southphillyman 4 hrs This. Have been attending meetings for about 2 months and have given 4-5 table topic speeches. Give my first prepared speech next week. Definitely can tell I'm getting better just by having to do it repeatedly.

  Yhippa 6 hrs I've done this in various forms and I think this is one of the best methods to get better at public speaking. I recommend at least dropping in on a meeting to see how they're run. You'll be very impressed at how organized they are.

  jasonlotito 4 hrs I just want to reinforce this. Toastmasters is where you want to go. The quality of the speakers is excellent, but more importantly, they are incredibly kind and understand to people who aren't great speakers. This is literally the answer I came here to find, and post it if it wasn't. Toastmasters 100%.

  FillardMillmore 5 hrs Some have mentioned this, but it's true: jump at every opportunity you have to do any kind of public speaking gig - whether it's a 10 minute thing or a 2 hour thing.

  This is what I've done - and though the first time is incredibly nerve-wracking, especially if it's a longer presentation, it only gets easier from that point on. But you do want to make sure that you know your material very well - the goal is to be as knowledgeable as possible of the topic on which you are speaking. Be prepared for questions.

  Personally, I've found that presenting the topic to a friend or family beforehand helps immensely. Writing and reading your PowerPoint (or equivalent) is one thing, but learning how to transition naturally from point-to-point and from slide-to-slide is something else entirely. You'll also find, while presenting, mistakes that you didn't notice simply by reading through it and you can correct those mistakes before they serve to embarrass you publicly.

  I recommend staying away from coffee before presentations and instead, drink an herbal caffeine-free tea to calm your nerves (chamomile works wonders for me).

  nscalf 2 hrs I was not a very good public speaker (or general communicator), and it would make me feel uncomfortable having to have some normal conversations like ordering food. Nothing too severe, it didn't really interfere with my life, but it bothered me that it wasn't a very easy thing for me even though it was a daily part of my life. I think the most impactful way that I have improved this is sort of different from what a lot of people have recommended: Ask strangers how their day is going.

  You're ordering a coffee? Well that barista has had a day, and you should ask them about it! It takes them a few seconds to ring you up, "I'll have a medium coffee, black, thanks! How has your day been?" People are usually very happy to be asked how their day is going, and you get the chance to practice small talk. After a while it feels natural, and you cheer up most of the people you interact with.

  efm 32 mins Patrick Winston of MIT gave a good series of lectures on how to give a presentation: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9F536001A3C605FC His explanation of why writing things on a board and slow pacing is helpful for your audience made sense to me.

  DoreenMichele 2 hrs If you have any health issues, tend to those. Anxiety can be a side effect of things like blood sugar issues. Being physically healthier can help reduce the incidence of anxiety attacks.

  It's generally useful to wonder what other people want or need. Most people spend a lot of their time in social settings worried about being judged by others, hurt in some way, etc.

  If you are focused on putting others at ease, things will go smoother and then this success will help calm your nervousness and can lead to a positive feedback loop that goes good places.

  I can be a ball of nerves, but other people have told me I don't look it. I have been told that's surprising news because I seem so calm.

  That's probably in large part because I'm aware that my subjective experience of the thing and my performance aren't necessarily directly related and the important piece is performance.

  (This comment is not comprehensive. I'm just hoping to add new thoughts not already covered by other comments.)

  m1nes 6 hrs I talk for a living. It takes time to improve. Some quick and dirty tips (sorry, english not my first language):

  • Relax and meditate

  • Practice a LOT. Everyday. Even two minutes helps.

  • Learn to breath properly

  • Record yourself speaking aloud at home with your phone. Make notice of all the nuances of the voice

  • Prepare your material very well

  • Visualize you are explaining the stuff to a friend at home. It will help you sound more natural.

  Getting nervous is normal and part of the game.

  thomasjudge 3 hrs - Record yourself speaking aloud at home with your phone. Make notice of all the nuances of the voice

  This. Better yet video yourself. REALLY painful but REALLY helpful.

  marviel 3 hrs If you can find a supportive local improv troupe, that allows you to take classes, or has open "Jams" -- I would HIGHLY recommend taking said classes, or attending such jams. Learning how to perform improv (particularly, longform improv) has taught me a difficult-to-exhaustively-enumerate set of skills that are not limited to public speaking, such as:

  • Focused Observation / Listening (insanely important, this)

  • Ability to Deal with the Unexpected

  • Empathy / Emotional Intelligence

  • Negotiation (If you've played being on both sides of the table, you know what the other side wants)

  • Cooperation

  • Banter

  • Storytelling

  • Emotional Endurance

  • Interpersonal Relationship Creation and Maintenance

  • ...

  In addition to these skills, I've also found myself a lot happier, being able to engage in a creative activity within a supportive community which offers something completely novel each time I attend.

  When I moved cities, I started a new improv troupe in that city, because it means that much to me.

  Check it out. :)

  linsomniac 46 mins A few thoughts, as someone who went from being deathly afraid of talking in front of the class in Junior High School, to presenting well over 100 times:

  • Just do it: Find opportunities to talk in front of people. Come up with things you know about, and find meetups or similar, and talk. Part of it is just getting familiar with it.

  • Watch other people do it: Find other presentations that have lots of views and/or that you enjoy watching, and figure out what you like about them. Then try to do a similar thing.

  • Figure out what you want to say: I've spent a lot of time talking impromptu. The talks I like the most, and the feedback I've gotten, has been refine your message and practice your presentation and pacing. The best talks I've seen really had their message refined.

  clickme_zsh 1 hr I used to have anxiety attacks when I was in school, I had stage fright from my child hood, I avoided crowd, never participated in extra curricular activities unless it was forced or mandatory and even then I used to find reasons to skip it. I dreaded that I would stand out and become a laughing stock. But in my 8th grade one of my teachers pushed me to present a lot of projects regularly. At first I tried to find way out of them but slowly I got around the fear bit by bit and Now thankfully I am in a better position when it comes to presentation, talks and general speaking skills. I guess one can confront fear bit by bit and chew through the pain/trauma and build resistance. That's all just wanted to share my experience hope it helps.

  blockcipher 4 hrs This doesn't actually answer your question as far as a pointer to resources, but here's some tips:

  • Take a breath before you begin speaking. Often I'd find that I'd start speaking too quickly and my voice wasn't "ready" which ends up making you sound squeaky or out of breath or just generally flustered. This tip also helps a bit with the tendency to speak way too fast.

  • If you have room to move around, don't be afraid to walk back and forth across the stage/platform/front of the room etc. Don't over-do it, but I find it's way easier for me to speak while I'm moving.

  • At least for myself, I've found that moments where I feel like I really stumbled over my words, or spoke too quietly/loudly, or "forgot a line", actually end up being very noticeable when I later watch the video recordings.

  • Public speaking is very opinionated and some people have some pretty pedantic rules. For example toastmasters is really aggressive about chiding you for using the word "umm". Now there's perhaps some truth to it - the role of a word like "umm" is to indicate that your brain is searching for what to say but still produce sound thus "holding your space" (so that no-one else cuts in), so in one sense I get why it's recommended against because when giving a talk there's no risk of someone cutting into you; your audience is captive (usually). However in another sense, "umm"-ing helps keep a certain rhythm/tempo to your speech which can actually help keep things smooth when you're searching for what to say.

  Similar to the above, virtually every "rule" of public speech can be broken if you have the fundamental principles right. Barack Obama says "uhh" quite frequently, yet most people consider him charismatic. You could certainly argue that he's charismatic in spite of saying "uhh" rather than because of it, but in any case just remember not to miss the forest for the trees. Follow the principles - measured speech, don't be afraid to use space, try to talk more or less naturally - and you'll be a great public speaker.

  Lastly, public speaking is a skill. It takes practice. If you can find a room to yourself, practice giving a talk a bunch, and make sure to record yourself. You'll likely be very surprised in the difference between your perception of yourself and how you actually come off, and having recorded videos is a great way to identify any tics/odd habits you have that you might want to work on.

  sixhobbits 5 hrs I got a 2 month gig lecturing basic CS after finishing my degree. It was a pretty transformative experience - the first two lectures were among the worst experiences of my life! Panic in front of 200 people. After that it was fine.

  Since then volunteered recently to speak at tech meetups, etc. Organizers are usually very happy to find more speakers! Still get the heart rate increase, sweaty palms, etc but apparently it no longer affects my speaking :)

  Thriptic 3 hrs I have this problem as well. I have gotten around it in a few ways:

  First, practice what you are going to say RIGOROUSLY. You should be able to recite your full speech / pitch / presentation / whatever with no use of visual aids. Basically, you should memorize it. I always assume that I will be ~20% worse while performing than while practicing, so if I can do the whole presentation without visual aids while practicing then the visual aids will be sufficient to save me if I get in trouble while presenting. Most people rely on their visual aids as a huge crutch during practice, and as a result they forget what they want to say and end up staring at their PowerPoint or notecards during the entire presentation as opposed to engaging with the audience. They come off as nervous and unprepared. Further, using your visual aids as a crutch incentivizes creating verbose slides as an insurance mechanism which is why most PowerPoints you see are shit.

  Second, realize that public speaking is fundamentally about telling a story. A good story and a good presentation should share the same elements: they should be amusing and engaging (always work in some humor and audience interactions to engage the audience, many of whom probably don't want to be there and will fall asleep otherwise); they should be concise (don't go on tangents); key take aways should be clearly stated and there shouldn't be a data dump; there should be a natural flow and verbal transitions should be employed as if you were speaking to a friend; etc. Finally, know your audience. What do they care about / want to see? What do they already know? How can they be persuaded or amused?

  Third, as other posters have mentioned, the only way to get better at this is to practice. Go find opportunities to practice. It only takes a few good presentations to shake the fear of being a bad presenter / acquire the rep of being a good presenter.

  Finally, realize that the stakes are pretty low normally. Most of the presentations I sit through are awful (even those from C suite people who basically present for a living) and most people can't speak or convey information well. As such, I rarely remember when people bomb as bad performance is the norm.

  mrskitch 2 hrs Not a big one, but one that I found helped a lot: cutting out the "filler" words ("like", "uh", "so"...). These fill words are used in many place to hold onto the listeners attention, but doing it too much can make your talk non-dynamic, and your audience will stop listening.

  We have somewhat primal instincts that make us maintain focus on subtle things like body movement and differences in speech, or even lack thereof. So moving slowly from one spot to another, talking with your hands, and having gaps in your speech will help your audience naturally maintain focus.

  Filler words are easy to remove: just practice not saying them when you're having conversations with the clerk at the store or your friends/family. You'd be surprised how effective it is, and how much more polished you'll sound.

  clickme_zsh 1 hr With experience and some anxiety resistance filler words can be filtered out as you said. It does detract ones attention from the speaker and reduces the quality of the talk. It is a long process.

  mrskitch 1 hr It's well worth the effort as it it will also pay dividends in the longer term. Speaking wo filler words in normal conversations (especially in the workplace) can help you immensely.

  lcall 1 hr There is some good advice in this discussion. My own personal checklist for when I have to give a talk. Not perfect but it helps me: http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854744342.html

  (It is oriented for church but the steps would largely be the same elsewhere.)

  soapdog 8 mins Hi,

  I am a part of a program at Mozilla called Mozilla Tech Speakers and we help people to become better public speakers. By your message, I'm guessing that public speaking is not your focus buuuut we do have a lot of resources that might be helpful. You can find them at:

  https://wiki.mozilla.org/TechSpeakers#Resources_for_Speakers

  If I can give you a couple fly-by tips, I'd say:

  • Do not compare yourself with extroverted people. Speaking comes quite easy and naturally for some but that doesn't mean it should be like this for everyone. We're quite unique and what works for one person might not work for others. AS long as you're making progress, you're doing good and you're the only one who can decide what progress look like for you. Don't measure yourself using "other people rulers".

  • If you have a group of trusted friends that you could meet (online is fine) regularly, you could do an exercise that helps a lot, more about it at the end of this comment. This exercise is my favorite thing ever and the most useful thing in this comment to be honest.

  • Small meetups are a great place to start practicing talking to people. They are low pressure and low stakes. If you want, find a small meetup that you enjoy. Go for a while as a listener until you create some relationships there and feel safe. Then, when you want, try giving a small talk (5 min). It works quite well if there is someone you trust there and you can do this as a pair. Pairing with more experienced people makes talking easier (you both might want to practice together first).

  So, back to the exercie and the actual very useful thing in this whole wall of text. It goes like this:

  • Find a group of trusted people. I think it needs to be a group of three people for this to be useful, in my mind the ideal group is five people.

  • Meet regularly, online or IRL. Whatever regularly means is up to you all.

  • Decide on a topic for the meeting before hand. It doesn't need to be tech, but it usually is. It is fun to do themes, for example Halloween topic.

  • Prepare a 2 minutes talk about that topic.

  • You'll take turns. One person will give their two minutes talk, others will listen.

  • Each of the listeners will then give their feedback and this is important because there is a structure to it. The feedback must be one of two kinds. The listener can either talk about what they liked from your talk or what they want to see/hear more about. There is not space for negative comments or criticism. You can only praise something or say what you want to see more about. It is this way so that it creates a safe space. People can talk without the fear of being criticized. It works better than providing "constructive criticism" because instead of prunning what you see as problems, you're steering the person towards what you see as strenghs, this is better for both you and them.

  This exercise is done for all the Mozilla Tech Speakers cohorts, we've done this with hundreds of people and the same technique is used by Universities and courses on public speaking. It is a proven thing and has a name, but I forgot the name and anyway the content is more important than the name.

  If your fear of speaking is related to potential live feedback from people, you might want to experiment with analog asynchronous forms of getting your opinions and content out like making zines. They can convey the same content but allow you to practice finding a voice, a style, and gain confidence in exposing your own ideas without the fear of live audience.

  Hope this helped!

  acak 3 hrs I'll give a shout out to Speeko! (I'm not affiliated with them in any way)

  https://speeko.co

  A testimonial (also unaffiliated): https://www.speeko.co/blog/beth-tucker-interview

  la_fayette 4 hrs There is probably no shortcut to that skill. Try to find speaking opportunities on topics you know about, e.g. at meetups. It is better to start in front of a smaller group (10 people), from my experience nervosity is lower when in front of a smaller group. Record your talk and listen to it afterwards in detail and find things you want to improve. Don't hesitate to ask for feedback from others, and don't take it too personel. Try to be objective like you would train for a sports challenge.

  Every public talk will improve your skillset a bit, so you need to just do it!

  omarhaneef 6 hrs This is easy:

  1. Prepare

  2. Practice

  3. Toastmasters (or similar group) is a good way to practice

  4. Meetup groups will ask for speakers if toastmasters is not available

  5. You could also record yourself, and revise

  aklemm 6 hrs This is pretty much all there is to it. Perhaps study others closely as well.

  bradam 2 hrs Although most of the advices focuses on specific techniques (which is very important to focus on), I want to emphasize something different: diet and lifestyle.

  Without sounding too obvious, I can not recommend you enough reducing caffeine and alcohol use (if its a problem) and focusing on sporting regularly.

  ken 1 hr An old friend of mine who was very comfortable with speaking told me it was acting that helped him. You get to practice saying someone else's words, until you're ready to use your own.

  niklearnstodev 6 hrs This is a tricky one, because there are a few different facets or domains relevant to the topic. Two major ones that immediately come to mind are public speaking and conversational speaking.

  I'm very good at conversational speaking, and I think that it mostly comes from listening to a ton of podcasts. This has helped me gain curiosity across a wide range of topics, but has also helped me learn how to dig into those topics via conversation. For this, pick topics you're interested in (perhaps some in fields that you're not fully interested in yet, to broaden your ability to converse across domains!). Also, while listening, look for traits that you admire in conversationalists, and try to practice them when speaking with others (this is a similar approach that can be used to learning anything, really).

  As for public speaking, from what I've heard, Toastmasters is as good as it gets. They provide a learning and training environment. Then it's up to you to try it out "in production" (at work, weddings, etc).

  Remember that it's a learning experience, and it will only get better with time via analysis, practice, and persistence!

  danysdragons 4 hrs Are there any podcasts that you would especially recommend for building conversational prowess?

  smars1245 5 hrs Propranolol (beta blocker) will help. It shuts down the fight or flight mechanism in your brain. It calms your voice, your heartbeat and your nerves. It's really amazing...

  https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/can-you-treat-st...

  I pop 4-5 of this 1 hour before a big meeting or presentation. I've also used them at private gatherings when I'm speaking in front of a larger group. Works really well. Tell your DR about your public speaking fears and he/she will more than likely prescribe you a beta-blocker.

  huangc10 5 hrs So to sum up your solution in one word, drugs. Nothing against it Propranolol but I just found it amusing drugs can almost be the solution to a lot of biological problems.

  smars1245 4 hrs For most people, it's the fear and nervousness of public speaking that's the problem (not the content, knowledge, or skills of the presenter.) This fear can hold people back (it did for me). I'm sure Toastmasters would have the same impact (and I went to a few TM meetings) but I couldn't make it work with my other commitments. Propranolol is immediate and from a personal experience, it was extremely helpful for my career, confidence, etc.

  huangc10 4 hrs All good, I get it. Like I said before, it makes sense and sometimes drugs is the solution. For ex. (since I've been watching a lot of baseball recently), Roman could be the go-to solution to ED. I just find it amusing that there is a drug to help with anything/everything.

  smars1245 3 hrs I'm sure in our lifetime we will see CRISPR replacing drugs as the panacea to these "biological" issues.

  wcip 3 hrs I found this YouTube channel yesterday and it appears helpful: https://www.youtube.com/user/charismaoncommand?itct=CCcQ6p4E...

  hemmert 5 hrs This book is, Ole coached me for TEDx - after which my talk was uploaded also to TED.com:

  https://www.amazon.de/Agile-Presentation-Design-innovators-p...

  wrnr 4 hrs Practice it as much as possible, I stutter and developed selective mutism because of it. Speaking used to agonising to me but in my mid twenties I got cured of my stutter. Don't know how it happened, but one day I realised I hadn't stuttered in months while before I was anxious everytime I had to open my mouth. Now I have a bigger vocabulary than most, in part thanks to my avoidance strategies around certain words.

  trilinearnz 25 mins I'm an effective public speaker and really enjoy it (especially the responses I get afterwards). Here are a few of my tips:

  1. Rehearse your presentation enough beforehand (including immediately before in another meeting room if possible) such that you are able to run on auto-pilot after the first few minutes. Can't emphasise how crucial this is.

  2. Conduct your presentation so you're speaking naturally about particular points, rather than trying to remember an exact script (the act of trying to remember what you are "supposed" to say may be causing you anxiety). If you have rehearsed enough, and know enough about your subject, it should be possible for you to do this.

  3. Recognise that you might need to write a script to begin with, when preparing your presentation. This can help ground you, and gives you something to start from. Once you have rehearsed it a few times, you should start developing a "rhythm" that feels more natural to you, and this is when you can start "winging it" a bit more. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with bringing your script / notes with you on the day. This will give you a feeling of security (you have a backup in case you freeze). By the time the end of the presentation rolls around, you may find you never needed to unfold your notes at all.

  4. You will always feel nervous in advance, to some degree. This degree is lessened with lots of prior rehearsal, but it will still be there. Accept it as normal, and don't think that because you're nervous you are destined to fail. After the first few minutes, that's when your "flow" will start kicking in, and things will begin to happen naturally.

  5. When developing your presentation, try to empathise as much from the audience's perspective as possible / take a very skeptical view on your material. If you then convey your presentation in this manner, you will easily be able to get your audience on side with you. This helps you get to the "flow" state more quickly than if you are talking at odds to people, and they keep their wall up.

  6. Hopefully you are presenting about something that you are interested in or passionate about, or at least know enough about to be confident. Let your energy and confidence out into your presentation style. Don't be afraid to use big gestures, and convey your passion in your voice. Think of it less as a recitation of a script, and more of a powerful and fun experience that your audience is being taken along with. Think of your presentation less in terms of merely conveying dry information, but to "entertain" your audience. Emphasise dramatic flair to create interest from your audience. This comes more easily to some people than others (I have a drama background). People respond really well to this if you can pull it off.

  7. Information retention in your audience increases by a lot if you get them to participate in some way. This can be more than just the cliche'd "everyone raise their hand if you have heard of X". If you do this well, and empathise with your audience's reluctance to participate (e.g. say "now I know everybody just loves these audience participation activities! /s"), they can be a really nice break to the monotony of a presentation, and is another tool to get your audience on side with you.

  8. The more punchy and interactive things you can do during your presentation to grab your audience's attention, the easier it will be for you. Rather than looking out at a sea of bored faces checking their cellphones, you will see everyone's eyes looking directly at you, and can feel the expectancy in the air. This is a very powerful state to be in, some people refer to it as "holding the audience in the palm of their hand". Good luck!

  davio 5 hrs If your work will pay for it, I've had good results sending people to the Dale Carnegie course.

  One of my engineers had almost crippling anxiety speaking in front of even small groups. After the course, she had the confidence to speak up and lead meetings.

  vnglst 6 hrs It’s like doing software releases: if it hurts, do it more often.

  So accept every opportunity you get to practice.

  durnygbur 5 hrs Read a book loudly. Listen to audiobook or a language course and repeat simultaneously after the lector. Try doing these in different languages. Drink water while doing these.

  JoshTriplett 6 hrs https://speaking.io/ has an extensive set of useful advice.

  i00m 6 hrs I recommend this book: "it's not all about me" - robin dreeke

  Digg_mov 1 hr duolingo.com

  lowken10 6 hrs I transformed my life by participating in Toastmasters for about a year an a half. Here's the thing, to get good at something you need the following..

  • Training * Practice * Feedback * Show up and do it over and over again

  Toastmasters provides all four of these ingredients.

  Ididntdothis 5 hrs “I transformed my life by participating in Toastmasters for about a year an a half. ”

  Same here. The time investment is quite small compared to what you can get out of it. my main regret is that I didn’t learn about toastmasters when I was 18. My life could have gone quite differently.

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  科網股公布第三季業績，普遍較市場預期為佳，不只美國科網股，在美上市的中資科網股亦然。科網公司固然創意迸發，但同樣重要的，是中美均是十分巨大、具規模效應的市場。美國科網談了不少，今天不如說一下中資科網。

  阿黃現在常駐內地，做生意全國跑，居無定所，唯有常吃外賣。不似香港，在內地叫外賣較堂食貴，還要加上20元（人民幣．下同）送餐費，且隨時等上半小時、一小時。

  外賣App顛覆消費模式

  在內地叫外賣，選擇非常多，幾乎所有餐廳都上線，甚至連火鍋也能速遞來。不單周圍1公里內的餐廳能送，遠至10公里以外的隨時也能送來，通常20分鐘內運到，且價格便宜得難以置信。

  如【圖】示的賬單原本45元，但餐廳樂意做外賣，叫得多便有折扣，平台本身又有折扣，速遞費2元也不用，三餸一白飯送來也不用30元。

  為何能做到？因為內地人口真的太多了，三四線城市人口向一二線城市湧，農村人口往三四線城市湧，提供源源不斷的廉價勞動力（阿黃學內地人叫外賣小哥做「救命」恩人），不似香港什麼都貴。這樣還有誰會煮飯？外賣平台把餐館和消費者緊緊聯繫起來，為社會創造多少價值？外賣網站改變了人們的消費模式，投資市場自會給予非常大的獎勵。

  三四線城市網購發圍

  阿黃不只跑一二線城市，三四線城市也要跑。許多生活用品忘了帶，又不知在哪裏買，如何是好？幸好還有網購。

  近期內地網購平台紛紛下沉到三四線城市，過往一二線城市的4億人先享受了網購好處，現在全國其他地方的10億人也慢慢能享受到了。下沉市場的發展，不是讓上海人過巴黎人的生活，而是讓農村人能過上海人的生活。

  阿黃在三四線城市，難道會期望買Prada、LV？他需要的不過是一些生活必需品。從前三四線城市居民想買也買不到，現在物流發達，也慢慢能過上好日子了。

  世上最大的品牌是什麼？不是LV、Nike或Coca-Cola，而是White Box；便似買電腦般的，不少人買Dell、HP的電腦，但佔市場份額最多的其實是「白牌」（砌機）。

  農村人民現在要的，是能用上原先在城市才有的日用品，牌子、質量都不是首要考慮。在「白牌」市場，價平就是道理，不是鼓勵假貨、次貨，城市人用10元買到價值10元的貨品，農村人用6元買到價值8元的產品，人們收到貨後心裏會抱怨，抑或開心還來不及？

  暢銷降成本 良性循環

  如果有網購平台，能不斷提供價值高於價格的貨品，消費者不反覆下單才怪。還是那一句，規模效應。平價但質素不錯的產品銷量起來後，規模效應讓生產成本再一次下降；成本下降提供減價空間，再次促進銷售增長，消費者和賣家兩蒙其利（還有網購平台）。你說內地網購是否還有許多可能？

  替社會帶來的價值愈大，市場的獎勵便愈高。美國有許多上千億美元市值的科網企業，反觀內地也不乏具創意的科網企業，規模效應下，大概也會產出許多千億美元科網企業。

  筆者為證監會9號業務持牌人

  hcl.hkej@gmail.com

  （編者按：郝承林最新著作《致富新世代3──你也可以的穩健發財派》現已發售）

  歡迎訂購：實體書、電子書

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  data breach protection cybersecurity Skyrocketing data breaches bring incalculable losses to organizations and can cost cybersecurity executives their jobs. Here we examine the top five places in 2019 where cybercriminals are stealing corporate and government data without ever getting noticed and then learn how to avoid falling victim to unscrupulous attackers. 1. Misconfigured Cloud Storage 48% of all corporate data is stored in the cloud compared to 35% three years ago, according to a 2019 Global Cloud Security Study by cybersecurity company Thales that surveyed over 3,000 professionals across the globe. Contrastingly, only 32% of the organizations believe that protecting data in the cloud is their own responsibility, counting on cloud and IaaS providers to safeguard the data. Worse, 51% of the organizations do not use encryption or tokenization in the cloud. (ISC)² Cloud Security Report 2019 assets that 64% of cybersecurity professionals perceive data loss and leakage as the biggest risk associated with the cloud. Misuse of employee credentials and improper access controls are the top challenges for 42% of security professionals, while 34% struggle with compliance in the cloud, and 33% name lack of visibility into infrastructure security as their predominant concern. Negligent and careless third-parties are, however, probably the most hazardous pitfall that remains largely underestimated and thus disregarded. In 2019, Facebook, Microsoft, and Toyota were mercilessly stigmatized by the media for losing millions of customer records due to third-party leaks or breaches. Despite these alarming incidents, still few organizations have a well-thought, properly implemented, and continuously enforced third-party risk management program, most relying on paper-based questioners skipping practical verifications and continuous monitoring. How to mitigate: train your team, implement an organization-wide cloud security policy, continuously run discovery of public cloud storage to maintain an up2date inventory of your cloud infrastructure. 2. Dark Web Notorious Collection #1, revealed in 2019 by security expert Troy Hunt, is a set of email addresses and plaintext passwords totaling 2,692,818,238 rows. Anyone can anonymously purchase this data for Bitcoins without leaving a trace. Being one of the largest publicly known databases of stolen credentials, it is a mere slice of compromised data available for sale on Dark Web. Many organizations are hacked every day without being aware of this due to the complexity of the attacks or simple negligence, lack of resources or skills. Targeted password re-use attacks and spear phishing are simple to launch and do not require expensive 0day exploits. Although trivial at first glance, they may be piercingly efficient. Most organizations do not have a consistent password policy across their corporate resources, deploying SSO only to their central infrastructure. Secondary and auxiliary systems live their own lives, commonly with a poor or even missing password policy but with access to trade secrets and intellectual property. Given the multitude of such portals and resources, attackers meticulously try stolen credentials and eventually get what they seek. Importantly, such attacks are often technically undetectable due to insufficient monitoring or simply because they do not trigger usual anomalies just letting users in. Experienced hacking groups will carefully profile their victims before the attack to login from the same ISP sub-network and during the same hours outsmarting even the AI-enabled IDS systems underpinned by shrewd security analysts. How to mitigate: ensure digital assets visibility, implement holistic password policy and incident response plan, continuously monitor Dark Web and other resources for leaks and incidents. 3. Abandoned and Unprotected Websites According to 2019 research by a web security company ImmuniWeb, 97 out of 100 the world's largest banks have vulnerable websites and web applications. A wide spectrum of problems is attributed to uncontrolled usage of Open Source Software, outdated frameworks, and JS libraries, some of which contained exploitable vulnerabilities publicly known since 2011. The same report revealed that 25% of e-banking applications were not even protected with a Web Application Firewall (WAF). Eventually, 85% of applications failed GDPR compliance tests, 49% did not pass the PCI DSS test. In spite of the rise of Attack Surface Management (ASM) solutions, the majority of businesses incrementally struggle with the growing complexity and fluctuating intricacy of their external attack surfaces. Web applications dominate the list of abandoned or unknown assets being left by careless or overloaded developers. Demo and test releases rapidly proliferate across an organization, sporadically being connected to production databases with sensitive data. The next releases rapidly go live, while the previous ones remain in the wild for months. Understaffed security teams routinely have no time to track such rogue applications, relying on the security policies that half of the software engineers have never read. Even properly deployed web applications may be a time bomb if left unattended. Both Open Source and proprietary software make a buzz in Bugtraq with remarkable frequency bringing new and predominately easily-exploitable security flaws. With some exceptions, vendors are sluggish to release security patches compared to the speed of mass-hacking campaigns. Most popular CMS, such as WordPress or Drupal, are comparatively safe in their default installations, but the myriad of third-party plugins, themes, and extensions annihilate their security. How to mitigate: start with a free website security test for all your external-facing websites and continue with in-depth web penetration testing for the most critical web application and APIs. 4. Mobile Applications' Backends Modern businesses now generously invest in mobile application security, leveraging secure coding standards built into DevSecOps, SAST/DAST/IAST testing, and RASP protection enhanced with Vulnerability Correlation solutions. Sadly, most of these solutions tackle only the visible tip of the iceberg, leaving mobile application backend untested and unprotected. While most of the APIs used by the mobile application send or receive sensitive data, including confidential information, their privacy and security are widely forgotten or deprioritized, leading to unpardonable consequences. Likewise, large organizations commonly forget that previous versions of their mobile apps can be easily downloaded from the Internet and reverse-engineered. Such legacy applications are a true Klondike for hackers searching for abandoned and vulnerable APIs commonly still capable of providing access to an organization's crown jewels in an uncontrolled manner. Eventually, a great wealth of attacks become possible, from primitive but highly efficient brute-forcing to sophisticated authentication and authorization bypasses used for data scraping and theft. Usually, the most dangerous attacks, including SQL injections and RCEs, reside on the mobile backend side. Being unprotected even by a WAF, they are low-hanging fruit for pragmatic attackers. How to mitigate: build holistic API inventory, implement software testing policy, run a free mobile app security test on all your mobile apps and backends, conduct mobile penetration testing for critical ones. 5. Public Code Repositories Agile CI/CD practices are a great business enabler; however, if inadequately implemented, they swiftly morph into a disaster. Within this context, public code repositories are often the weakest link undermining organizational cybersecurity efforts. A recent example comes from the banking giant Scotiabank that reportedly stored highly sensitive data in publicly open and accessible GitHub repositories, exposing its internal source code, login credentials, and confidential access keys. Third-party software developers considerably exacerbate the situation in an attempt to provide the most competitive quote to unwitting and somewhat naïve customers. Cheap software is obviously not without substantial drawbacks, and poor security tops them. While few organizations manage to keep control over the software code quality and security by conducting automated scanning and a manual code review, virtually none are capable of monitoring how the source code is being stored and protected while the software is being developed and especially afterward. Human mistakes unsurprisingly predominate the space. Even exemplary organizations with mature and prof-tested security policies awkwardly slip because of human factors. Tough deadlines dictated by economic realities lead to overburdened and exhausted programmers who innocently forget to set a proper attribute on a newly created repository letting the troubles in. How to mitigate: implement a policy addressing code storage and access management, enforce it internally and for third-parties, continuously run public code repositories monitoring for leaks. Following this mitigation advice may save you countless sleepless nights and many millions for your organization. And lastly, do share information about Attack Surface Management (ASM) with your industry peers to enhance their security awareness and cybersecurity resilience. Have something to say about this article? Comment below or share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  Hong Kong, 29 October, 2019 — Stan Group (Holdings) Limited (“Stan Group”) announced the launch of Buy-a-Brick, an innovative employee incentive and recognition programme that applies blockchain technology and real estate tokenization to enable Stan Group employees to generate wealth alongside Stan Group.

  Committed to driving corporate innovation, Stan Group has pioneered the application of real estate tokenization to employee incentive and recognition. Buy-a-Brick is designed to motivate staff engagement in innovation, cultivate intrapreneurship and recognize staff for the efforts. Unlike other conventional revenue-sharing models, Buy-a-Brick provides employees with the opportunity to share the future capital gain of a building, without making any monetary contribution. A “Brick” is a digital token stored on the blockchain, which represents a smart contract for a selected building. By participating in Buy-a-Brick, if the property selected is sold and profit is made on the sale of that property, the brick holders will be entitled to share the profit made.

  “We are thrilled to launch Buy-a-Brick for internal staff as it redefines staff appreciation. I believe every one of our staff members plays an integral role in the Group’s success and should be able to reap the reward and share the value created,” said Stan Tang, Chairman of Stan Group. “The launch of Buy-a-Brick has cemented the leading position of Stan Group in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship. Buy-a-Brick started with a dream, through matching the idea with resources within our business ecosystem, it is now a reality. I hope to ignite innovation and initiate change within and outside the Group, and shape a better future for entrepreneurs and all.”

  Buy-a-Brick is the newest addition to the existing Stan Group credit system, where employees earn points with innovative business pitches, business referral, attending design thinking and other talent development workshops, etc. There are two types of points, namely Credit Point and Shared Value Point. With Credit Point, employees can redeem vouchers, hotel stay, and even an extra day off. On the other hand, the new Shared Value Points can be used to redeem a “Brick” at Buy-a-Brick.

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  黃之鋒被DQ，美國眾議院外交事務委員會主席恩格爾（Eliot Engel）在Twiiter說，「議員應由香港人自己選出，並不是中共所選。中國對『一國兩制』框架的侵蝕絕不能沒有後果」。他呼籲參議院盡快就《香港人權及民主法案》進行投票。

  對中共來說，DQ黃之鋒的利弊太明顯，不需甚麼沙盤推演，對香港和國際影響都可以一早料到，但從北京的決策者以至香港的執行者，經多層的傳達，竟無一個「聰明人」看出或說出，包括那個宣稱年年考第一的人。

  對此，只能以德國神學家潘霍華（Dietrich Bonhoeffer）的話來解釋：「愚蠢是一種道德上的缺陷。」道德缺陷包括只重權力，沒有正義與原則；只看一時的權力得失，不看稍遠一點的利害；只是一味迎合上級，完全不考慮盡一點規勸言責。

  實際上這種只有從上而下的單一領導、而沒有其他制衡或智囊獻言的體制，就是極權政體永遠只考量利害、卻永遠走自殘之路的原因。自中共建政以來，從土改開始的所有政治運動，八九六四，習總稱帝，香港送中，所走之路都是權力至上，都是只考量利害，而結果也都是自我傷害。

  三個月前，北京大學教授張千帆就香港問題建議說：「與其一再激化矛盾和對立情緒，不如在符合一國底線的前提下把屬於他們的政治權利還給他們。能在選票箱前心平氣和做到的事情，還會有誰動輒為之冒着酷暑，上街搖旗吶喊呢？」

  從現實政治來看，在香港實現雙普選，真看不出會對中共造成甚麼損害。選出來的人會搞港獨嗎？會與中國分裂嗎？國際社會是接受一國兩制下的普選結果，還是會乘機煽動香港獨立？答案都很明顯。但北京不可能有這種智慧，從上到下的奴才也不會有人支持張千帆的建議。因為，「愚蠢是一種道德上的缺陷」。

  香港抗爭者則相反。香港抗爭者雖居弱勢，雖缺財力權力甚或知識學歷，但如中世紀意大利詩人但丁所言：「道德常常能填補智慧的缺陷。」無論文宣、記者會應對、在國際社會發言，乃至作一首歌，都顯出道德填補智慧的出人意表的優秀。

  香港抗爭者的靈活優秀，與掌權者的愚蠢顢頇，是這次運動的鮮明對照。

  林鄭政權無所不用其極地加大鎮壓力度，勇武抗爭會不會得不到市民支持？民意會不會逆轉？示威者的抗暴是否會趨於式微？最新民調的答案是否定的。

  香港民意研究計劃於本月17日至23日所作民調，結果顯示，林鄭月娥評分為20.2分，較本月中評分跌2.4分，支持率11%，反對率達82%，民望淨值負71個百分點，是上任以來及歷屆特首新低。市民對特區政府最新滿意率為10%，不滿率79%，滿意率為負69個百分點，是1997年有記錄以來新低。對政府信任率為23%、不信任率為68%，信任淨值負44個百分點，創1992年有記錄以來新低。

  在這樣慘不忍睹的民望負淨值之下，繼續戀棧權力只能凸顯林鄭及其班子的厚顏無恥，塔西佗陷阱已經遍及所有施政。所謂塔西佗陷阱，即主政者無論如何發言或是處事，社會均會給予負面評價。

  後天，全球有11個國家、共33個城市將集會聲援香港，而香港人也會同日在維園集會，向國際社會表明：「民意沒有逆轉、港人沒有妥協。」

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  曾任美國總統的列根（1981-1989在任），首次就職時說，政府如果不能解決弊端（問題），政府本身就有弊病（大意）；這恰似儒家經典《論語》云：「政者，正也」，「不能正其身，如正人何？」

  「送中案」引發的社會抗爭，是官方闖下的大禍。官方應拿出有效的辦法，去解決宏觀層面的政治弊端，平息事件，修補社會撕裂，而非只靠催淚彈和口號，去等待「民意轉向」。

  眾人尋真相 涉及知情權

  拒絕設獨立調查委員會（COI, commission of inquiry，下稱調委會），是不能正視闖下大禍的弊端，暴露官方本身的弊病：應變能力弱、不能面對民意（對民眾質疑的事件躲躲閃閃），缺乏建立「光明磊落」（正其身）形象的動力。

  設調委會，不僅是社會抗爭一方特別是和理派的訴求，也是社會精英階層普遍的願望。

  早在6月下旬，監警會11名前委員，就建議設調委會。

  7月上旬，終審法院前首席法官李國能登高一呼，也有調委會之議。

  接下去，是沈祖堯教授領銜的「七一九聯署函」（聯署者有袁國勇、王維基等）；前政界人士王永平、苗學禮、吳靄儀的「七二三聲明」，大律師公會、香港總商會的函件，表達了設調委會的期望。

  連關注香港局勢的外國精英階層，如德國大律師公會主席Edith Kindermann，也在10月發函，促請設調委會。

  美國傳統基金會（智庫）的亞洲研究中心主任羅曼（Walter Lohman），對香港的獨立司法體系仍樂觀，他說「解決問題最關鍵的」是設調委會（自由亞洲電台2019．10．4）。

  官方「九二六社區對話」獲發言權的30人，希望設調委會的超過四成。

  官方一口回絕，說已有監警會的調查機制。

  本欄8月29日文〈香港變相戒嚴 極權化壓自由〉，論及調委會不同於監警會，慨嘆「行政長官似未分清宏觀與微觀的層次，未接納民間善意的建議」。

  具體而言，兩者的主要差異是：

  一、監警會是針對警方的投訴機構，調委會並非只是針對警方，並不處理投訴個案，兩者並無職能的重疊；

  二、調委會是宏觀層面的大輪廓調查、觀察、研究，超越於監警會的微觀層次和調查範圍，不處理微觀的個案。

  宏觀五大類 提改善建議

  調委會的調查、探討，旨在理清事實，揭開真相，回應民眾的知情權；也提出改善建議，包含緩解社會糾結的宏觀策略、政策取向，改善施政和執法素質，在《基本法》和「一國兩制」框架下保障自由、法治、人權和高度自治。

  調查、探討的宏觀範圍，或可分為五大類。

  第一，「送中案」引發社會抗爭的背景。梳理官方提出「送中案」的用意、偏失，引發的民意反應，行政、立法方面的得與失，衍生的經貿危機；

  第二，社會抗爭各方（和理派、勇武派、街坊派）的興起和差異、共同訴求，街頭武鬥的暴力及社會、經濟的影響，有人一口咬定「外國勢力介入或操縱」，是否符合事實？

  第三，官方應對社會抗爭的政策、得失，包括執法一方的得失。涉及是否濫權和用武過度、民眾對公權暴力泛濫的質疑，「七二一」和「八三一」事件的真相，民眾對「執法不公」和黑道介入的質疑，兩個事件使民意逆轉的因素；

  第四，社會抗爭激化與長期的民怨積聚。檢討官方施政的偏失，涉及政治權力結構（如立法會結構）等，也探討經濟層面的得失，特別是稅制、單程證與貧富懸殊之弊；

  第五，緩解社會糾結、尋求社會和解的政治構想、政策建議，涉及《基本法》提及的普選權（普及而平等的選舉權），官方應「爭取」早日實現的取態（向公眾交代路線圖、時間表）。

  調委會的主要人選，應多選建制、泛民之外的第三方專業人士（特別是熟悉法律或執法者），與官場或商界的政經利益連結較少者。由李國能、梁定邦、李明逵共同主導調委會，是否較易為公眾接納？值得大家討論。

  當然，不同政見者都應吸納進去。例如，立法會退位者前立法局主席黃宏發、曾鈺成、田北俊，法律、宗教、大學、醫護、新聞、文教、社工、學生、工商等界別和民間社會的代表；還有具代表性的年輕人，諸如利君雅（記者、南亞族裔）、吳思諾（大律師）、梁麗幗（律師樓從業者）。舉例式提出這些人名，是方便大家比較討論。

  第三方人選 舉例式討論

  官方如仍拒絕設調委會，或可成立民間的調委會（以眾籌方式籌集資金）。

  官方一再拒絕設調委會，「九二六社區對話」後又無後續的對話，被民眾視為缺乏誠意，這是官方失人心的一大因素。

  香港民意研究所10月29日公布的最新民調是：官方的民意支持度續下跌，已低至10%（5月下旬是27%）；行政長官的「支持淨值」，是負71%。

  行政長官的「九四談話」，回應了社會抗爭的五大訴求，只答應第一訴求「撤回送中案」。如果現在能答應第二訴求設調委會，諒可緩和局勢，緩解和理派的對抗情緒。

  美國聖母大學政治學教授許田波（Victoria Hui）接受美國之音訪問時說，設調委會「本是個雙贏的選項，但港府現在的選擇（按：指援引《緊急法》頒布《禁蒙面法》）只會令局勢惡化」（VOA 10．4）。設調委會是展示誠意、緩解民怨之善舉，官方竟棄之，奈何？

  2019/10/31
• 
  

  Infoman

  Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] Price Analysis: Next Bullish Target is $95.93 By Abby Carey- October 28, 2019

  Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] is following downward trend in the market concluded with the last trading session. The shares of the Healthcare sector company has a current value of $80.73 after MRK shares went down by -1.86% during the last trading session. One of the reasons why Healthcare stocks may go bearish is decreased momentum in the press.

  Merck & Co., Inc. [NYSE:MRK]: Analyst Rating and Earnings

  Its stock price has been found in the range of 68.88 to 87.35. This is compared to its latest closing price of $82.26.

  Keep an eye out for the next scheduled publication date for this company’s financial results, which are expected to be released on Tomorrow Before Market Open (Confirmed).

  Fundamental Analysis of Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK]

  Now let’s turn to look at profitability: with a current Operating Margin for Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] sitting at +23.02 and its Gross Margin at +69.22, this company’s Net Margin is now 21.10%. These measurements indicate that Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] is generating considerably more profit, after expenses are accounted for, compared to its market peers.

  This company’s Return on Total Capital is 17.61, and its Return on Invested Capital has reached 11.70%. Its Return on Equity is 20.38, and its Return on Assets is 7.30. These metrics all suggest that Merck & Co., Inc. is doing well at using the money it earns to generate returns.

  Turning to investigate this organization’s capital structure, Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] has generated a Total Debt to Total Equity ratio of 94.06. Similarly, its Total Debt to Total Capital is 48.47, while its Total Debt to Total Assets stands at 30.39. Looking toward the future, this publicly-traded company’s Long-Term Debt to Equity is 12.66, and its Long-Term Debt to Total Capital is 74.18.

  What about valuation? This company’s Enterprise Value to EBITDA is 15.87 and its Total Debt to EBITDA Value is 1.76. The Enterprise Value to Sales for this firm is now 5.13, and its Total Debt to Enterprise Value stands at 0.11. Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] has a Price to Book Ratio of 7.42, a Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 18.74 and P/E Ratio of 22.67. These metrics show that this company has a mixed appeal, and ROI could be a gain or a loss.

  Shifting the focus to workforce efficiency, Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] earns $615,159 for each employee under its payroll. Similarly, this company’s Receivables Turnover is 6.09 and its Total Asset Turnover is 0.50. This publicly-traded organization’s liquidity data is also interesting: its Quick Ratio is 0.92 and its Current Ratio is 1.17. This company, considering these metrics, has a healthy ratio between its short-term liquid assets and its short-term liabilities, making it a less risky investment.

  Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] has 2.56B shares outstanding, amounting to a total market cap of $210.62B. Its stock price has been found in the range of 68.88 to 87.35. At its current price, it has moved down by -7.58% from its 52-week high, and it has moved up 17.20% from its 52-week low.

  This stock’s Beta value is currently 0.54, which indicates that it is 1.85% more volatile that the wider market. This stock’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 37.65. This RSI score is good, suggesting this stock is neither overbought or oversold.

  Conclusion: Is Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK] a Reliable Buy?

  Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. [MRK], overall, appear to be a solid investment option, with Wall Street analysts expecting its price to rise considerably in the next 12 months. This company generates high value from the labor resources and other capital it has available, and while it has heavy Long-Term Debt to Equity, the majority of the metrics point to this investment being highly attractive.

  2019/10/29
• 
  

  Infoman

  香港運動持續至今，不少朋友不斷問：「然後呢？」然後，負面情緒就開始出現。畢竟在主流媒體，現實主義論述最深入民心：中國國力強大，香港人無力抗衡，外國勢力也不會真的幫忙，假如港人再不「散水」、繼續抗爭，北京完全可以犧牲香港，推出更多高壓，邁向一國一制，來維持國家穩定。梁文道先生的文章〈結局之路由此開始〉備受討論，可謂箇中代表。

  與此同時，不少溫和建制派則憧憬另一個「結局路線圖」， 希望為自己退休前的收成期buytime。他們相信北京權衡輕重後，會對「五大訴求」作出一系列讓步：林鄭月娥下台，新特首成立不完全的獨立調查委員會，有限度特赦雙方，部分越線警察（如光頭劉sir）被割席祭旗，重啟政改；由於這些依然不能解決真正問題，當局同時也會加速「鬥地主」，以房屋問題轉移視線，加強輸入新移民和內地專才，推廣國民教育、信用評級，施展「暗黑兵法」在民間挑撥矛盾、內鬥，令有心人心灰意冷，放任傳統精英移民離開，期望盡快換血、「留島不留人」，到了「換血」成功，真普選就迎刃而解。

  對真香港人而言，以上結局都是悲劇，分別只是急性還是慢性而已；但由於上述分析看似不能撼動，不少人都有強烈無力感。然而，難道現實主義框架無懈可擊？世界日新月異，每一套範式都會因為時代進步，而被修正。以共產主義為例，曾幾何時，不少左翼知識分子都真心信奉，他們後來覺醒，除了眼見共產政權出現種種問題，還因為理論不能與時並進：心理學量化論證了人類不可能接受完全共產，而量子力學對世界存在隨機的假設，又根本顛覆了馬克思主義對結構的教條演繹。

  經過過去數年觀察，坦白說，自己對世界的認知，也改變了很多。認為目前運動是通往悲觀「結局之路」的前輩，大多以現實主義為背景，忽略了近年世界各地，都已經出現了廣義的「時代革命」。當然，這不是說香港人的訴求明天、明年或後年就能達成，但「結局之路」要成功，只怕更困難。那香港人究竟希望什麼？每人心底深處的訴求並不一樣，但從反《逃犯條例》修訂的初心可見，無論形式如何，鞏固中港兩制之間的防火牆、減低北京和國家資本對香港內部事務和日常生活的不合理干預，可謂最大公約數。2016年開始，世界出現連串「黑天鵝」，昔日理所當然的立論，例如另類候選人不可能當選、全球化不可能逆轉，都已被顛覆。真香港人為什麼有堅持到底的理由？我們且看這6點趨勢：

  （1）由大數據、演算法主導的互聯網3.0，雖然被利用作威權管治，但同時也催生脫離威權政府的新經濟體；某程度上，這是比《基本法》賦予更有意義的高度自治。網絡的去中介化現象，已經取代傳統產業，充權了無數新生代成為slashers；他們的權力架構，只需回應點對點需求的另一端，通過科技，連結成整體，例如現在正催生的「黃店網絡」、人力資源互助網絡，再連結海外同路人，配合自己的加密貨幣獨立交易，減低直接賦予政府的稅收，就能大幅減低對失信於民、僵化建制的依賴。假如參與遊行的200萬香港人為「泛黃」基本盤，無論他們對目前街頭衝擊態度為何，只要平均每人每年願意付出2萬元支持同路人（包括現金，也包括勞力），這就是400億的龐大經費，再加上海外港人捐獻，已經是中上規模的世界級經濟體，甚至逐漸出現淡馬錫那樣的香港人基金，亦未可知。

  （2）傳統現實主義認為，理想必須服膺現實；但目前科技除了令理想化作現實，還改變了對「現實」的認知。昔日我們還是相信存在非黑即白的事實，但隨着5G出現、Deepfake普及，每人都深信自己懂得「事實」，不會有意識離開自己的安全網。商業主導的演算法永遠有利兩極思維，國民教育一類舉措只會出現反效果，而有了全國「小粉紅」，香港身分認同只會堅如磐石。對講求意念戰勝強大對手的運動而言，新科技是重要推手；當新世代每一刻都與智能手機共存亡，那才是他們的靈魂，對理念堅持的持久力，超乎昔日想像。

  （3）現實主義的unit actor只有主權國家，「香港人」作為一個玩家，被認為不入流。但隨着全球化催生愈來愈有實力的非國家個體（nonstateactors, NSA），國際棋局早已變得立體；香港人的國際對口單位，不是北京或華府，而是世界各地不同NSA。各國政府支持港人，自然受制於大國博弈的局限，但美國政府畢竟控制不了facebook、NBA；至於全球企業，縱然受制於中國龐大市場威迫利誘的「sharp power」，但也不像國泰那樣沒有議價空間，而且也受制於工會、NGO等NSA。香港人只要懂得「NSA外交」，在全球層面，盟友無窮無盡。就像香港最有國際視野的企業長和系，早在「一帶一路」推出前數十年，就鎖定投資全球港口，這樣的視野，正是真香港人的強項。

  （4）香港人身分認同經過這場運動，急速強化，而且已成功輻射到海外。和中國強調以血統定義的愛國不同，香港身分認同是「大熔爐」，由一系列核心價值定義。從前我們覺得「香港核心價值」很虛，但經過這場運動，真香港人意識到已置身文明衝突的斷層，只要想想自己是否接受內地的信用評級系統、是否支持六四事件以開槍解決政治問題（或靠香港警察對政治問題「止暴制亂」）、是否認同新疆再教育營打壓文化多元，就很清楚什麼是香港核心價值。這套價值觀的融合力是驚人的，香港回歸22年，累積新移民極多，然而民情不但未有根本改變，還比回歸前更抗拒中國，連新一代本土派領袖梁天琦也是新移民，南亞裔等少數族裔同樣以身為香港人自豪。更甚者，香港核心價值很容易得到外國人支持，所以「香港人」並非只有700萬的絕對少數。一旦海外香港社群結成整體，在不同地方出現小香港，或參考我們介紹過的chartered city，這會不同於唐人街大媽的內向型退休樂園，變成配合核心價值論述、融合不同族群友人、輔以真正產業的全球社群，令「香港」遍地開花，母體這個香港特區也會有更多槓桿，屆時再也沒有「移民」與「非移民」的概念。

  （5）現實主義相信大國憑經濟資源影響一切，但目前世界經濟早已脫離了資源年代，例如各國都以量化寬鬆延緩危機，結果從傳統工作得到的薪金增幅，永不能追上實體資產的價格增值，而且這個鴻溝愈來愈大。這就造成幾個全球後遺症：一方面，像香港政治問題那樣，永不可能以經濟手段解決；另一方面，在無限QE時代，即使全民就業、全民上樓，貧富懸殊，卻依然是不可逆轉的大趨勢，令永遠有一半以上人口觀感上認為自己是時代輸家，進一步加強了兩極化，也就是連經濟問題也不可能經濟解決，所以美國、英國、智利的群眾運動，都是異曲同工。政權要維穩，鬥地主、土改只是幌子，最後始終要釋放建基於真正自由、免於白色恐怖的創造力，才能減低「觀感輸家」的反作用力，例如北歐正嘗試以人工智能維持基本經濟運作，賦予人民無償工作收入（UBI），釋放機械不能取代的創造力。否則到了發展瓶頸，政治、經濟問題同步發酵的政權，可能出現難以想像的危機；而這方面看，香港的長遠韌力，其實不一定不及內地。

  （6）梁文道認為：「儘管所有人都曉得，香港特殊的國際地位對整個中國而言極端重要。但是我兩年前仍然在此大膽推測，終有一天，從北京的角度來看，這道門戶其實是可以合起來的」；但世界正式進入新冷戰，這道門戶要「合起來」，代價比兩年前只會更大。香港作為一個對中國非常有用的融資、洗錢、協助國產「走出去」的金融窗口，又有國際社會認受其兩制，本來就不易取代；當反華逐漸成為美國跨黨派共識，一旦選上列根那類意識形態主導的領袖，而不是做deal的特朗普，很容易作出打散「中美經濟共同體」的決定。由於各國經濟在全球化時代相互依賴已深，不同於舊冷戰壁壘分明，絕對分家是不可能的，香港這窗口的重要性，奇貨將更可居。北京也明白不能完全複製香港，國策是以上海、深圳、澳門等局部取代之，再依靠「一帶一路」海外港口取代另一部分。假如有50年時間，也許未嘗不可，但新冷戰下，卻時不我予。說白點，就算北京有一天研判香港失控、連解放軍也出動，希望掏空其內涵，也難以放棄「一國兩制」這副招牌；而一天北京需要香港的國際身分，無論怎樣收緊，以真香港人的智慧，依然充滿迴旋空間。

  無論香港未來特首是誰、街上衝突如何、特朗普或Solomon Yue明天Twitter說什麼，經過這場運動，香港已經結構性的不一樣；任何有違真香港人認知的一國兩制大小危機，也必然會觸發抗爭；但真正的root cause就像佛地魔，權貴根本不敢去談。由於上述「時代革命」修正了現實主義的缺陷，真香港人只要毋忘初心、本土和勇合一、海內外香港人也合一，把握大趨勢，足以學習毛主席的智慧，進行一場持久戰。變幻原是永恆，然後，「然後呢」這個消極問題，會成為充滿積極的探索；而每一個有價值的探索，總會伴隨新一代希望的曙光

  2019/10/28