部落格搬家

此部落格文章移至下列網誌：新網址

RADIO SILENCE 無聲無息

字彙

CXO
a passing hobby

initial cloud infrastructure

radio silence

文句

And why wouldn't a CXO wonder if Google's plan to challenge Amazon Web Services was a passing hobby?Almost a year ago, Google launched its initial cloud infrastructure efforts. The plan sounded pretty strong in May 2013. Then there was nothing, but radio silence.


解釋

CXO  指的是企業執行、決策層級的人物。現在常被稱為 "C-level" 的階層，也就是職稱以 "Chief" (「長、主任」) 為首，以 "Officer" (「高級主管」) 結尾的階層。

a passing hobby  一時、瞬間的興趣

initial cloud infrastructure  初期的雲端基礎結構和設施

radio silence  以前收聽無線廣播電台，有時會因為技術上或其它不明的原因，放送中的節目會突然中斷，訊號消失，呈現無聲無息的狀態。這裡指Google 一年前宣稱要發展雲端架構，與亞馬遜一較高低，結果之後卻無聲無息，毫無作為。

CROW ABOUT 吹噓

字彙

to crow about

delivery cadence

to roll out

文句

Just a year ago, Microsoft officials were crowing about Windows' much improved delivery cadence. Instead of rolling out a new version of Windows once every 2.5 to three years, the team was now on something closer to an annual rollout schedule.


解釋

to crow about  吹噓

delivery cadence  "cadence" 本來指的是「節奏」或「韻律」。這裡應該是指的生產或推出的「頻率」；因此，文句的最後提到：小組的進度已經接近了每年都會出陳推新的時間表。

to roll out 推出；公開展出

POWWOW 會議

字彙

powwow

to stall

a dime a dozen
barely be evolutionary


文句

The biggest takeaway from the Mobile World Congress powwow was that hardware innovation has stalled, Android smartphones are a dime a dozen and Samsung's Galaxy S5 may barely be evolutionary.


解釋

powwow 會議；會談；商議

to stall  停滯

a dime a dozen  普遍；一般的事物

barely be evolutionary  幾乎無任何的進化，也就是沒什麼重大的改變。

MOCK-UP 實體模型

字彙

mock-up

to see the light of day

文句

A Nokia handset running Android -- something many first believed to be a mock-up or a test model -- may, in fact, be a real product that potentially could see the light of day.


解釋

mock-up  為了實驗或展示所製作的實體模型

to see the light of day  指讓商品問世

SMIDGE 一丁點

字彙

to be up-for-grabs

beefier camera

smidge heavier than

文句

The Galaxy S5, announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, was also up-for-grabs at an event in New York City. Landing with a slightly larger 5.1-inch high-definition 1080p display, a powerful Snapdragon 800 2.5GHz quad-core processor, and a beefier 16-megapixel camera, it is as you might expect a smidge heavier than the Galaxy S4. But that's expected considering it's packing a great deal more punch than the previous model.


解釋

to be up-for-grabs  可供競爭的；可以拿到手的

beefier camera  "beefy" 本來是指「強壯的」。在這兒應該是「能力更強的」意思。

smidge heavier than  比～稍微重那麼點

STICK OF WONDER 神奇棒

字彙

to picture the scene

an obnoxious, space-taking device
a mystical stick of wonder

文句

Google has the Chromecast wireless media streaming device that plugs into your living room television set through a HDMI port. And one of the little know features to Microsoft's Windows 8's operating system is "Windows To Go," a way to put your entire computer on a USB stick that you can take anywhere you go…

You're starting to picture the scene. It's not necessarily about what your desktop or tablet can do anymore. It's about what that obnoxious, space-taking device in the corner of your home living room or work conference room can do when you plug in a mystical stick of wonder.


解釋

to picture the scene  想像這個長景

an obnoxious, space-taking device  一個令人討厭、佔空間的裝置

a mystical stick of wonder  一根神秘的神奇棒。文中的「棒」指的是一種無線影音串流的裝置，體積猶如USB的大小，裡頭裝有開機系統程式，方便攜帶，例如："Windows To Go", Dell 的 拇指 碟電腦（Thumb drive computer）。

WREAK HAVOC 造成浩劫

字彙

nothing worse than

a compromised account

to wreak havoc


文句

From a network administrator’s point of view, there’s almost nothing worse than a compromised corporate email account. An outsider who can successfully break into that account can wreak havoc with every device and service that’s connected to it...


解釋

nothing worse than  沒比～更糟的事

a compromised account  被更改/被入侵/被危害的帳號。"compromise" 本來是「妥協」、「折衷」。這裡當然不可理解成被妥協。

to wreak havoc  造成破壞、浩劫

YOURS TRULY 我

字彙

watcher
yours truly

incubation phase

to be afoot

字句

Many Microsoft watchers, including yours truly, wondered if Midori would ever exit its incubation phase. But with one-time champion Rudder moving in November to a new advanced strategy post -- plus the move of the Midori team into Myerson's OS group -- something seems to be afoot.


解釋

watcher 觀察家

yours truly  本來是英文信件屬名前的結語。這裡指 "我"，所以文句的意思是 "有許多微軟的觀察家，包括我..."。

incubation phase  本來是指 "孵化期"。這裡指 "研發期"

to be afoot  進行中；醞釀中

Midori  一個微軟正在研發的新作業系統

ON THE HEELS OF 緊跟在後

字彙

on the heels of 

discoverability

Webified version

not intuitive

文句

On the heels of rebranding its "SkyDrive" cloud-storage service to "OneDrive," Microsoft may be poised to make some additional related branding and discoverability changes.

Currently, consumers who want to use the free, Webified versions of Microsoft's core Office apps -- the suite known as "Office Web Apps" -- need to know to go to SkyDrive and click on the "Create" tab to find Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web App and OneNote Web App. It's not intuitive by any stretch.


解釋

on the heels of  緊跟著～之後，在此指：緊隨（重新命名商標）之後

discoverability  （容易）讓人發掘的程度

Webified version   網頁化版本。這裡指在網頁上直接使用的 Windows Office 的版本。類似谷歌雲端硬碟內提供的辦公室套件 Google document 的功能。

not intuitive   不直覺