2013-6-26 都说现在国人在学术上浮躁，急功近利，其实美国人也浮躁，做事吊儿郎当，一点不讲职业道德，而且是每况愈下，尤其是服务业和出版业。 昨天早上看见当地很有影响的一家规模颇大的报纸，在头版头条报道美国商人在北京怀柔因劳资纠纷而被日益暴发的中国工人围困的新闻报道。因为事关国人，不小心多眇了一眼，就发现了其中一个不大不小的错误，因为这条新闻在第一版是摘要，配以大幅照片，占去了很大的篇幅，其详细内容就转到B1版。但是在B1版找了半天，也没用找到下文，还以为要且听下回分解呢。结果费九牛二虎之力，在第B3版才找到。 其实在多年前，这现象就存在了。 2011年7月3日《南宁晚报》头版把领导人名字写错 出版界颇负盛名的一家美国科技图书中心，在重印一本专业工具书时，竟然连续几次把其中的一个图表给抄错了，在新书发布时一眼就给识破了。某名牌大学的两个教授，帮环保局做的项目，在其年度报告中，也居然把数学公式给用错了。 很多时候这无关技术上的原因，更不是故意而为之，有的时候是因为太忙，有的时候是因为太懒，但更多的时候是因为素质欠佳，粗枝大叶，做事不精细，和制度不严密。 记得当年在做生物化学课实验时，发现当初最早发明叶绿素测量方法的两位大牛，在其一炮而红的叶绿素测量方法中，所用计算参数是错的，一直沿用至今，都没有被纠正。最近我的一个同事又发现，因为全球变暖而在业界非常时兴的通过电导率和温度测量海水含盐量的计算公式，也从一开始就存在着失误。而且同样是这一个同事，今天又送给每人一个备忘录，是关于微软公司的: All: I would recommend that from now on you do not use the PERCENTILE function in Excel because it does not follow the traditional statistical definition. Microsoft has corrected this deficiency by including two new functions in Excel 2010: PERCENTILE.EXC and PERCENTILE.INC. PERCENTILE.INC is identical to the PERCENTILE function, which leads me to believe that the PERCENTILE function is on the way out and is presently included as a legacy function. PERCENTILE.EXC more accurately determines the kth percentile and agrees with percentiles calculated with other statistical packages (e.g., SYSTAT, SAS, MINITAB, ANAYZE-IT, etc). 连微软这么大的公司长期以来都补丁练练，伤势累累，更不用说平常小职员们小打小闹千奇百怪的缩写词使用不规范和司空见惯的参考文献引用非格式了。 好在美国人见怪不怪，并非常善于自我解嘲：No One Is Perfect！
2011-11-13 中国人说，种瓜得瓜种豆得豆，好人好报，美国人说，good reputation carries。语言不一样，但意思都差不多。 信则斯言。 看美国早期（1860-1938）100家图书出版商的历史，比较Grosset Dunlap和Hurst Company这两家出版商的发展历史，一个重视质量，用最好的纸张印刷，和个性化的封面设计，公司至今仍在。另外一家公司偷工取巧，用最便宜的纸张印刷，作虚假广告，到1919年的时候，公司就已经灰飞烟灭，无影无踪了。 1- Grosset Dunlap , New York, 1898- Alexander Grosset met George T. Dunlap when both worked for American Publishers Corporation. When that firm went bankrupt in 1898, they formed a partnership, took over stock and set up at 11 East Sixteenth. Grosset managed business, Dunlap was traveling salesman (working briefly for Rand, McNally). Made business from putting paperback copies in hardcovers for sale at $.50. Among "The Good Value Books": A series of 12mos of distinctive character and appearance, comprising seventy-two judiciously selected titles, endorsed by the foremost critics and approved by generations of readers. / These standard works of sterling value and abiding interest are printed on fine book paper, from new large type, and handsomely bound in cloth with strikingly artistic individual cover designs. They are confessedly superior to any series issued at a similar price, and should not be confounded with the host of ordinary "popular price" lines. / These beautifully produced books possess all the features of "leaders," and are unmatched for excellence, variety and selling quality; and equal in appearance and make-up to books at double their price. 2- Thomas D. Hurst , an electrotyper, began this firm in 1871 by reprinting books in his shop on Nassau Street, in New York. Like Worthington , his specialty was clothbound standards in twelvemo, and he was among the first to make this kind of low-priced popular book. From his Argyle Press, which turned out books bearing his imprint, came a flood of volumes and the famous pirated edition of Britannica which Henry Allen and his associates published in 1886. Another of Hurst's popular successes was his "Cameo Edition," containing, as he said, "all the Best Works of the Great Poets." Prospective purchasers were told in advertisements that they were getting books "tastefully printed and bound in the best English cloth," but in fact they got badly printed, indifferently bound books printed on the cheapest paper. Even among the reprinters, Hurst did not stand out as a bookmaker. Hurst was another Lovell acquisition in 1890. He leased his plates to the United States Book Co. on a royalty basis, and when it failed, they reverted to him, and he resumed publishing on his own. Lucile 's 100 American Publishers, 1860-1938，事情虽小，却是一个造福人类的壮举。网址： http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/PUBLISHR.HTM
标签: 质量控制