探访沉睡中的红石场

探访沉睡中的红石场

采石场

　　一处美丽的风景,背后总是隐藏着一个动人的传说；一个被遗忘的景致,也有说不尽的沧桑.

　　石排,一个美丽的莞邑小镇,因拥有了塘尾村、康王庙、龙眼岗贝丘遗址、中坑王氏大宗祠、福隆古塔、埔心古建筑群和燕岭古采石场遗址等多张“旅游名片”,成为东莞文物大镇.有着“国家文物保护单位”和“中华历史文化名村”光环的塘尾村早已名扬各地,在近日,更是入选为第三批广东省古村落；与之相比,燕岭古采石场遗址显得“暗淡”了一些,她虽然是省级文物,却鲜为人知.

　　燕岭古采石场遗址位于东莞市石排镇燕窝村、田边村交界.由于燕岭上产红石,自明清以来被大量开采,然后多次被禁,山体留下了人工采石的痕迹而成为遗址,以“十八房间”、“补天石”最为集中和显著,面积约25万平方米,在附近还发现有光绪年间的摩崖石刻.如今,采石工人早已不见踪影,采石场仍独留在风雨中,历经百年,低诉着沧桑.昨日,记者带着寻古探幽的心情,探访遗址.

　　采石最早可追溯至宋代

　　在当地文广中心文化组组长李杰松的陪同下,经过一段颠簸的乡间小路后,终于来到了沉睡百年的燕岭古采石场.下车后,再经过一段杂草丛生的小路,才看到采石场的“庐山面目”:果真是碧水深潭、丹崖峭壁的类石林奇景,胜似天工.眼前一片绿野,鸟儿在石山脚下的树林欢啼,微风迎面拂来,周围十分幽静,远离了城市的喧嚣.

　　在不远处,鲜红的岩石被一块块地割走,形成了一个个长方形房间,由于日积月累,房间里积满了水,形成了深水潭.李杰松告诉记者,这就是“十八房间”.其实,从石壁上留下的痕迹判断,石块大多是被一块块地剥下来,形成了一个个大小不一的长方形窟窿,大的长宽约为五六米,高达二三十米,小的长宽一米不到,高只三四米,而且从数目上来讲,远不止十八间房,李说,这是当地的老百姓起的,按古人的说法,数字三、六、九代表数量多,十八则更多了.

　　采石场属典型的丹霞地貌,产红砂岩,最早的开采年代无法确定.但是,据史料记载,在明代洪武十七年(1384年)南海卫指挥常懿建设东莞城时,已大量使用红砂岩.如今东莞城不复存在,只剩下市区的西门楼(也叫承恩门).西门楼所见之处,如基石、外墙均是由红砂岩构筑而成,而整个广东的红砂岩采石场遗址有2处,一处在广州番禺莲花山,另一处就在东莞燕岭,所以从就地取材因素考虑,开采年代应比明代还早.

　　而在前几年,东莞修建环城路时,曾发掘出了几座宋墓.墓室是用红石建造的,省考古研究所的工作人员便推断,燕岭最早的开采年代应该可以追溯到宋代.

　　这里的山石鲜红,质地坚硬,在现在要想将一块块长方形巨石剥下来很不容易,更不用提在古代了.但是,古人自有土方法.遗址石壁上的钎痕一条条清晰可见,可以判断,古人是用铁钎往石山里密密麻麻地打上一排排的孔,然后再将巨石撬走.李说,开采的方法有两种,一种是露天开采,就是在石头外面打孔开采,还有一种是矿房开采,就像是开采煤矿一样,在山体里挖出一个洞来,再在里面开采石头.

　　石壁上多处凿刻的数字引起了记者的注意,有“廿三八十、廿四染十、廿五八十、初四八十……”.原来这是采石工留下的“记数本”,记录的是某日采石的数量,“廿三”、“廿四”代表农历,后面是采石的块数.

　　在两个房间之间,会留有一段断壁残垣,高约十多米,宽约五六公分,这是采石工的“地盘”分界线,石壁两边分属于不同的采石工,不能越界开采.

　　石排因采石而得名

　　广东有丹霞地貌的地方不多,除了燕岭外,现在的韶关、佛山西樵山、番禺莲花山都有.但是燕岭产的红砂岩杂质少,结构紧密、硬度大,而且颜色更加鲜红,象征喜庆,特别符合中国人的审美观,所以古时从燕岭开采出来的红石,主要运往东莞及珠三角其他地方,用于城垣城楼、祠堂庙宇、宅第民居、牌坊亭台、桥涵井泉、村落巷道等,或用做建筑基础、门窗框架、支柱以及装饰性的石雕、石匾、石台、护栏等等,或用红石铺路、铺地,形成了珠江三角洲一带古村落、古建筑特有的红砂岩文化.广州建造南越王宫博物馆时,也被特许开采了部分红石.

　　燕岭临近东江,李推断,开挖出来的石头应该是通过河运,再运到各地.

　　有个关于石排镇得名民间的说法.“石排”最初出现是在《东莞县志》中,据记载,石排是因“清初,形成石排圩,地表石脉成排”而得名.这恰好说明,明朝崇祯后大规模开采红石山,并供应到附近的州、府、县建筑所用.由于红石质地好,产量大,可谓是当地的“特产”,形成了口碑.当时人们为方便指认红石山这个地方,就将一排排的巨大石壁比喻作:“石排”,后经相传,便将当地命名为“石排”.

　　多次被明文禁止开采

　　燕岭古采石场遗址是东江南岸丘陵中段的一部分.东江南岸丘陵东起石排镇横山村下宝潭自然村北,西至茶山镇京山村,长约8000米,宽约500米,海拔高度为40米.燕岭几乎与东江平行,每当东江洪水泛滥,燕岭便是最好的天然屏障,挡住洪水的侵袭.

　　现在的石龙、茶山、东坑、横沥、企石与石排都为冲积平原,除了石排有燕岭这座大山外,其余各镇都没有大山.且燕岭山为石头山,山石颜色鲜红,自古以来就被当地人认作是东莞的“龙脊”,也即是“龙脉”.

　　由于开采红石过盛,当地人认为会破坏这条“龙脉”,于是在明清时,政府几次下令禁止开采.如明代崇祯年间,约在1627年前后,一位名叫王应华的当地人成功考取了进士,请假衣锦还乡时,乡民向他诉说燕岭山的重要性,托他上书当时的县令李模,随后,政府下令禁止采石；清康熙年间,石排人黎之纲也上书地方官府,再次禁止采石.清朝后期,出现了水泥和花岗岩作建筑材料,这时红石开采之风稍减.

　　建国后,为适应大规模水利建设需要,石排公社在燕窝岭脉段复办石场,爆破开采块石,供建筑涵闸及堤基需用.20世纪80年代,农村大量建房,燕窝乡政府继续办场,承包开采,年产红石块约4500立方.由于矿石开采破坏资源生态,80年代末,政府下达不准开采的文件,保护生态资源环境.

　　1989年5月31日,燕岭摩崖石刻被公布为东莞市第五批文物保护单位；1999年,石排镇政府发文禁止开采燕岭红石；2002年7月17日,燕岭古采石场遗址被公布为广东省第四批文物保护单位.

　　女娲补天留下一石

　　在距离“十八房间”百米远,有一个采石遗存的石柱,高约30米,约30度的角度倾斜,这块便是“补天石”.传说远古时候,女娲娘娘炼石补天,要挑7种颜色的石头,其中就选中了燕岭的红石.等炼好彩石后,还遗留了一块没用完,先民就把它叫做补天石了.

　　离开这里,上车再开约5分钟,穿过一条太和路,沿着燕窝村里的绿道,不久便看到燕岭摩崖石刻.石刻位于燕窝村西边村小组西南部古采石场石壁上,为清光绪十六年(1890年)东莞石龙富商孙奭赞颂燕岭古采石场遗址风光的题词和诗文:“文卿大雅,身广体胖.结庐燕岭,万物静观.池鱼逐荔,花鸟啼红.千林明月,叠嶂清风.与人同兴,佳景时逢.高山仰止,书赠铭峰.咸钦燕岭,大清光绪岁次庚寅闰二月谷旦子昌孙奭敬题并书.”摩崖石刻至今保护完好,为阴刻行书,书法雄强俊逸,字形巨大壮观,其中“咸钦燕岭”四个大字皆超过2平方米,高均超过2米,宽超过1米.

　　只停留在保护层面

　　据了解,目前,石排镇公布了燕岭摩崖石刻保护范围和建设控制地带,在保护范围内禁止开采和加建建筑,还专门成立了文物管理领导小组,负责燕岭古采石场遗址的保护和管理.

　　遗址已然没有再被开采的痕迹了,同时,它虽然头顶着省、市文保单位的光环,但是遗址内也没有建起供游客游览的线路,附近也没有景点配套设施.有专家曾建言,燕岭古采石场遗址公园可以与塘尾、南社等古村落、东莞生态园、绿道旅游形成互动衔接,建造成以历史人文景观和自然生态为特色的旅游线路,促进东莞的文化旅游业.

　　沉睡多年的遗址作为明、清时期珠江三角洲地区采取红砂岩的重要采石遗址,也是珠江三角洲丹霞地貌的典型实例,由于资金不足,目前仍在“沉睡”,景点只停留在划线保护的层面,而对其开发、利用还谈不上,更谈不上与石排镇其他众多的旅游景点“平起平坐”,难免有点“禾秆盖珍珠”了.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:探访沉睡中的红石场 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Broadcom posts first $2 billion quarter

Broadcom posts first $2 billion quarter

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—Fabless chip vendor Broadcom Corp. Tuesday (Oct. 23) reported quarterly revenue of more than $2 billion for the first time, defying difficult macroeconomic conditions that have plagued rivals to post sales increases across all of its business lines.

"Despite a challenging economic environment, we're benefiting from multiple attractive secular themes, including increasing Wi-Fi attach rates, exponential growth in network traffic and strong adoption of high-definition cable and satellite solutions in emerging markets," said Scott McGregor, Broadcom's president and CEO, in a conference call with analysts following the quarterly report.

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Broadcom becomes just the second fabless company to achieve $2 billion in sales in a single quarter, after rival Qualcomm Inc.

Broadcom's better than expected quarter sales stand in contrast to those of several other chip vendors that whose results were hurt by macroeconomic conditions and sagging PC sales, including Intel Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd.

McGregor said Broadcom (Irvine, Calif.) is riding a strong product roadmap and design win momentum despite the macroeconomic headwinds. "While we may see some variation in our business in the short term due to macroeconomic conditions, Broadcom is extremely well positioned for the future," McGregor said.

McGregor said the third quarter also marked the first time that the company generated more than $1 billion in sales from its mobile and wireless business segment.

Next: By the numbers
TAG:Broadcom Fabless Billion Quarter

Noise to the outside, silence inwards

Noise to the outside, silence inwards

A major European automaker will integrate the HALOsonic External Sound Synthesis (ESS) equipment from infotainment group Harman in a line of plug-in hybrid vehicles. HALOsonic generates sound outside the vehicle in order to provide an acoustic warning to pedestrians - electric and hybrid vehicles are extremely silent, in particular at low speeds.

Hybrids and electric vehicles present a safety concern at low speed as they often cannot be heard and recognized. HALOsonic ESS generates a synthesized sound, dependent on speed and direction, and projects it from an exterior mounted speaker, giving an early identifiable warning to pedestrians that the car is approaching.

The sound is projected only in the direction of travel, fading away almost instantly once the vehicle has passed. A synthetic engine 'idle' sound is also produced when the vehicle is switched on and placed in gear.

Several countries such as USA, Japan and parts of Europe have either implemented or are currently reviewing legislation to state that hybrid and electric vehicles must emit a recognizable sound above a minimum noise level to help improve pedestrian safety.

Vehicle manufacturers are striving to meet new environmental and emission standards by a variety of means including, for instance, lowering vehicle weight by reducing the amount of noise-dampening insulation in a car's headliner. In doing so, cabin noise often increases. Harman's HALOsonic can produce sounds not only external to the vehicle, but generate noise-cancelling sound inside the vehicle that helps meet environmental goals while increasing driver comfort.

The company did not elaborate as to the availability of the technology for the public.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:HALOsonic External Sound Synthesis hybrid vehicle acoustic warning pedestrians

Microsoft launches all-in-one streaming music service across its Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs

Microsoft launches all-in-one streaming music service across its Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs

Microsoft has introduced Xbox Music, an all-in-one music service that enables users to stream custom-created playlists for a paid subscription, through the cloud.

In an effort to integrate the music experience across users' tablet, PC, phone and TV. Xbox Music has more than 30 million songs in its global catalog. The service will first be accessible through the Xbox 360 and later this month on Windows 8 and Windows RT PCs and tablets and on mobile phones. To launch the service, the first six months will be free, with limited hours of free streaming after 6 months. Paid subscription would grant unlimited access after the first 6 months.

"The launch of Xbox Music is a milestone in simplifying digital music on every type of device and on a global scale," said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "We're breaking down the walls that fracture your music experiences today to ensure that music is better and integrated across the screens that you care about most — your tablet, PC, phone and TV."

Xbox Music makes music simple by offering immediate and comprehensive discovery across the different types of devices you own, streaming music on Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs, the ability to purchase songs and albums, a compelling music subscription, and artist-based radio.

Available in the coming year, a scan-and-match feature will take users beyond the 30 million tracks globally offered through Xbox Music. It will add all the music that users own to the Xbox Music cloud catalog, including music acquired through other services. This means users will be able to add almost any content they may have to their personal Xbox Music collection.

Microsoft plans to make Xbox Music available on other platforms in the coming year.

Xbox is Microsoft's premier entertainment service for the TV, phone, PC and tablet.

More information at http://www.xbox.com.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:streaming music Xbox Music service cloud Microsoft

Apple steps up pace with Mini, iPad 4, A6X

Apple steps up pace with Mini, iPad 4, A6X

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A new full-sized, fourth generation iPad sporting an upgraded A6X processor was the surprise of Tuesday's (Oct. 23) Apple roll-out event. Apple also surprised users with a slightly bigger than expected iPad Mini with a 7.9-inch display.

The iPad Mini goes on sale Nov. 2 starting at $329 for a Wi-Fi-only version with 16 Gbytes of flash, weighing in at 0.68 pounds and measuring 7.2-mm thick. Otherwise, the new, smaller tablet is a generally unremarkable device that roughly compares in specs to the iPad 2.

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The bigger surprise is that Apple was ready to roll a new full-size iPad just six months after releasing its last version. As with its last model, Apple did not give the new tablet a specific name, such as iPad 4, suggesting the move to shorter product cycles will likely continue.

The new full-sized iPad is powered by a custom A6X with two CPU and four graphics cores. Apple claims it offers twice the CPU and twice the graphics performance as the previous A5X.

As usual, Apple provided no other details about the new chip except to say it would provide performance needed for the tablet’s 5-megapixel camera and its 3.1-megapixel display. The latest iPad will again have the 10-hour battery life of its previous generation.

With the faster product cycles and new form factor, Apple is rolling up its sleeves for tightening competition in tablets. The roll out comes the same week Microsoft will formally release Windows 8 along with its Surface tablet and OEM tablets using the software.

Apple’s launch event here made it clear it has Amazon’s Kindle family and Android tablets squarely in its sights as it tries to expand an already rapidly growing franchise.

Apple CEO Tim Cook extolled the virtues of an updated Apple iBook app and textbook authoring program, clearly aiming at Amazon’s franchise. Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing vice president, compared the experience of a variety of apps on the new iPads versus on Android tablets.

Apple remains far ahead of the gathering competition. It sold its 100-millionth iPad two weeks ago, two and a half years after it launched the original product, Cook said.

In addition, Apple now has 200 million users of its latest iOS 6 operating system, he added. “This is the fastest upgrade rate of any operating system we are aware of,” he claimed.

Even before the formal launch, market watchers predicted Apple’s iPad Mini would help double the size of the seven-inch tablet market this year.

“The iPad 4 and the Apple A6X announcement caught me completely off-guard,” said Allan Yogasingam, technical research manager at UBM TechInsights, part of UBM LLC, the publisher of EE Times. “Apple is testing the goodwill of their consumers by launching a new, improved iPad 4 with an improved processor just six months” after its last iPad, he said.

The name A6X may suggest Apple’s continued use of the SGX graphics cores of Imagination Technologies, he added. Apple’s A6 used the SGX 543MP3, said Yogasingam who has helped tear down past Apple iPhones and iPads.

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TAG:Seven Inch Tablets IPad Mini Windows 8 Apple IPad Tablets A6X Processors Amazon Surface

Apple mini may max tablet sales

Apple mini may max tablet sales

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A market watcher estimates that Apple will double the size of the market for seven-inch tablets, even before the iPad maker opened its launch event on Tuesday (Oct. 23). Seven-inch tablets will leap from 17 million units in 2011 to 34 million this year and 67 million in 2013, in part due to sales of an expected mini iPad, according to projections by IHS iSuppli.

“Just as Apple has dominated the market for 9.7-inch tablets with its iPad, iPad 2 and new iPad models, the company is poised to rule the market for 7.x-inch products,” said Rhoda Alexander, director, tablet and monitor researcher for IHS. A smaller iPad “will spur rapid sales growth and provide tough competition for other companies contending in this size range."

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The seven-inch screen size will account for 28 percent of all tablets in 2012, up from 24 percent in 2011, rising to 33 percent in 2014. Sales may be limited by part shortages such as components for Apple’s new Lightning connector.

“If Apple can resolve these issues rapidly, 2013 shipments and sales may exceed the current forecast dramatically,” Alexander said, noting demand should be particularly strong in Asia. “If Apple has sufficient supply to meet demand in Asia following product launch, then the 2013 sales could be off the charts."

Competitors with existing seven-inch tablets such as Amazon and Samsung may move up to eight-inch displays to seek a new niche where Apple does not play, IHS predicted. However, tablets debuting this week with Microsoft’s Windows RT and Windows 8 are generally expected to be 10-inch or larger displays.



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TAG:Seven Inch Tablets IPad Mini Apple IPad Tablets Samsung Amazon

岫玉与绿松石鉴识

岫玉与绿松石鉴识

　　岫岩玉简称“岫玉”,因产于辽宁省岫岩县群山中而得名.岫岩玉含有透雨石玉及蛇纹石玉两种玉料.成书于汉初的《尔雅·释器》载:“东方之美者,有医无闾之珣玗琪焉”,有学者考证“珣厅琪”即指今天辽宁的岫岩玉.岫岩玉开采使用较早,红山文化的玉器用料据测定多为岫岩玉.岫岩蛇纹石玉硬度为摩氏2.5度～摩氏5.5度,比重为2.5～2.8.岫岩蛇纹石玉透明度高,质地细腻,性软而脆,带有油脂光泽.颜色通常以青绿为主,也有青黄、白、深绿、黑灰、暗红等杂色.

　　绿松石一名始见于《清会典图考》,书中有“月坛用绿松石”一词.绿松石使用很干,在新石器时代就被人们发现利用.距今约5000年的河南郑州大河村仰韶文化遗址中就有绿松石鱼形饰物出土.大汶口文化也有镶嵌绿松石的指环出土.在黑龙江流域的青铜时代遗址中,也多有绿松石饰品发现.绿松石颜色通常呈天蓝色,还有湖蓝色、淡蓝色、绿色等,并有分布不均的白色、黑色斑点,质地较硬,不透明,有蜡状光泽.它在中国的主要产地是湖北、陕西、河南等地.市场上有很多假松石,由于上面没有铁线,因此比真品光亮.这些假松石有玻璃质的,还有用岫玉炝进绿色的,甚至还有瓷制的.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:岫玉与绿松石鉴识 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Elusive startup pits IBM Power servers against x86, ARM

Elusive startup pits IBM Power servers against x86, ARM

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A low-power server company debuts on Tuesday (Oct. 23) with systems based on the IBM Power processor architecture. So far, few details are available about how the systems from Synergy Inc. (McKinney, Texas) will compete with existing x86 servers and a gathering storm of ARM-based servers.

Synergy will debut its products this week at the Power.org conference in Shanghai, China. Along with IBM, Synergy is the only company currently making Power-based servers.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

The startup is led by Bill Mapp, a former principal in IBM’s services group, who claims he once snagged a $3.8 billion deal for the computer giant. The company’s Web site lists its other top managers, including former executives from companies such as Texas Instruments and Hewlett-Packard.

Synergy describes its products in general terms as Linux servers running on Power architecture processors. The company did not respond to questions.

The startup's Web site lists four systems--single, dual- and quad-socket servers in a 1U pizza box along with a fully configured rack. The single socket systems measure 14 x 8.5 x 1.75 inches.
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Synergy's CTS-100 server


TAG:Low Power Servers ARM Based Servers Servergy Servers Power ARM Atom X86 IBM Marvell Applied XGene Calxeda Samsung Cavium Dell HP Centerton Intel

岫岩极品：斑斓花玉

岫岩极品：斑斓花玉

　　古人云:“玉入其国则为国之重器,玉入其家则为传世之宝”.岫岩极品斑斓花玉,产于中国辽宁省岫岩,岫岩县是一个山清水秀、物产丰富、藏家聚气的风水宝地.经过亿万年的自然演化,凝聚了千万年的日月山川之精华,从而蕴育产生了闻名于世的国宝珍品——岫岩极品斑斓玉.

　　岫岩这片土地古老而久远.大约在20多亿年前的远古中生代,由于地层褶皱突起,海水退却,地壳激烈运动,在巨厚的富镁碳酸盐岩质的白云石岩层中,含硅的热岩浆,沿着构造裂缝和层理上升,在中低温条件下,热岩浆液交溶冷却变质,从而产生蛇纹质玉石矿体.因此,镁和硅是玉石的主要化学成分.岫岩地层属华北地层区辽东分区,出露地层有下元古界辽河群、上元古界震旦系、古生界石炭二迭系、中生界上侏罗系和新生系第四系.独特的地质构造为千年璞玉的衍生形成提供了优越的自然条件.

　　岫岩玉石生成于10亿年前的远古代,被古人利用于2万年前,岫岩玉文化形成于8000年前,可以说岫岩玉是承载着中华5000年文明史的奠基石,是中国玉文化的先锋,堪称“中华第一玉”.

　　岫岩极品斑斓花玉属岫岩蛇纹软玉种,摩氏硬度为4.5－5.5,其化学成分为氧化镁42.1%,二氧化硅43.8%,氧化钙0.15%,三氧化二铁0.64%,结晶水11.71%,耐火性达到1500－1600摄氏度.斑斓花玉以其质地温润、晶莹、细腻、坚韧,透明度好,颜色上乘、变化多端而成为理想的玉雕材料.其出产自岫岩县西北部的哈达碑镇玉石村的中心矿代内,此处自古即被美称为“花玉山”,是岫岩玉矿中唯一的一座优质“斑斓花玉”矿.就斑斓玉这一特殊品种,花玉山现有储量占世界现有探明储量的90%以上,可见其市场的独有及罕有程度.

　　岫岩斑斓花玉系名贵玉石特产,她有别于一般传统意义上的岫岩花玉,其具有品质更为优良、色彩纯度更高、成色更为恒久、体积更为庞大等优点.经实际开采探明,斑斓花玉多产自深山根脉之处,且大部分被浸于清澈寒冷的山水之中,其玉质表面呈油脂玻璃光泽,质地结构致密,水头足、不易跑色,抛光度好,可雕性强,色泽极为艳丽丰富,绿、黄、白、蓝、红、褐、橙、黑等多种颜色形成变化多端的天然花纹,或形成红、绿、蓝大幅色调的和谐过渡,充分体现大自然鬼斧神工的天然之妙,一石一款、佳趣天成、绝无雷同,奇特美丽的花色给人们提供了更广阔的遐想及鉴赏空间,从而愈加弥足珍贵.在玉雕加工方面,玉雕大师们可具有更大的创作发挥空间,因料施艺,剜脏去绺,俏色巧用,化瑕为瑜,使美玉与高超技艺的完美结合达到一种至高境界,且开采中往往块度巨大、惊世骇俗,百余吨级的上等玉料亦不足为奇,这是其它玉材所无法与之相匹敌的.

　　同时,随着国内玉石珠宝市场的方兴未艾、如火如荼,人们在传统的审美基础上,更加追求个性的标新与张扬,众多收藏业者一改以往追求单一的疲劳审美,寻找玉石领域的全新着眼点,岫岩极品斑斓玉以其独特的优势品质日渐为人们所瞩目,震惊世界的鞍山玉佛苑——世界最大玉佛、余姚“天下玉苑”——中国目前最大的玉文化主题公园等一大批工程项目即是最有力的实例佐证,市场价格一路攀升,成为业界投资收藏领域的时尚新宠.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:岫岩极品：斑斓花玉 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

细说岫玉的品种分类

细说岫玉的品种分类

　　岫玉是不常见的一个玉石稀有品种,现为我国蛇纹岩玉石总的工艺名称.岫玉因产自辽宁省鞍山市岫岩满足自治县而得名,也是中国四大名玉之一.广义上的岫玉是指来自辽宁、广东南方、四川、新疆昆仑等地的岫玉品种.狭义上来说,岫玉是专指辽宁岫岩县所产的岫岩玉.

　　岫玉的颜色多种多样,以白色、淡绿色为主,分透明至不透明,也有极少数为透明,与有机玻璃比较相似.由蛇纹岩形成的岫玉,在我国各地有许多品种.国内主要的岫玉品种,有以下10种:

　　(1)岫岩玉:是由纤维蛇纹石和叶蛇纹石为主组成的致密块体,其颜色不下十余种,辽宁岫岩县是我国岫玉的主要产地.

　　(2)南方岫玉:简称"南方玉",主要产地在广东省信宜县,故又称"信宜玉".是一种呈暗绿色至淡绿色的致密块状蛇纹岩.由于其有较美丽的绿色花纹,故适合作大型玉雕摆件.

　　(3)酒泉岫玉:简称"酒泉玉"或"祁连玉",是一种含黑色斑点和不规则黑色团块的暗绿色致密块状蛇纹岩.

　　(4)陆川岫玉:简称"陆川玉",是一种在黄绿色基底上常见有黑斑的致密块状蛇纹岩.产地在广西陆川县.

　　(5)昆仑岫玉:简称"昆仑玉",玉质与辽宁岫岩玉很相似.产地在新疆的昆仑山麓.

　　(6)会理岫玉:简称"会理玉",是一种外观似碧玉的暗绿色块状蛇纹岩.产地在四川省会理县.

　　(7)云南岫玉:是一种绿色的块状蛇纹岩,常含绿泥石.

　　(8)莒南岫玉:简称"莒南玉",是一种黑绿色的块状蛇纹岩,产地在山东省莒南县.

　　(9)京黄岫玉:简称"京黄玉",是一种黄色、淡黄色或柠檬黄色的蛇纹岩,产地在北京十三陵老君堂.

　　(10)都兰岫玉:是一种具竹叶花纹的块状蛇纹岩,故也称"竹叶玉",产地在青海省都兰县.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:细说岫玉的品种分类 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

追溯红山文化与岫岩玉

追溯红山文化与岫岩玉

　　红山文化距今有五六千年的历史,因其最早发现于内蒙古自治区赤峰市郊的红山后遗址而得名.红山文化的遗存以独具特征的各色彩陶、陶器共存等形式向人们展示了一个新石器时代的文化.

　　中国的玉雕制品在红山文化时期达到使用顶峰,玉器多为磨制加工而成,工艺和风格都生动的诠释了 “天人和谐”的哲学思想,在中国文明起源和人类社会发展进程中占有十分重要的地位.

　　就如今中国各地区文物部门馆藏红山文化古玉器的原件看来,就其玉质、颜色、透明度等与新疆和田玉、辽宁岫岩玉进行对比,新疆和田玉与辽宁岫岩玉同属透闪石玉,除了颜色不同,其矿物组成、物理性质等基本相同.岫岩透闪石玉多为黄白色,且玉质极佳,而新疆和田玉基本没有黄白色.岫岩玉还有数量较多的浅豆绿色,而新疆和田玉缺少浅豆绿色.红山文化遗址出土的古玉器除部分为蛇纹石玉外,多数为黄白色、浅豆绿色透闪石玉,与岫岩透闪石玉完全相符,可以肯定这两种颜色的古玉器玉材来源于岫岩.

　　经过专家考察,可以肯定红山文化遗址出土的古玉器多为岫岩透闪石玉,同时可以判断红山文化玉器,其玉材主要来源于岫岩,这一结论证实了新石器时期玉器的玉材来源应是就近取材的观点是正确的.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:追溯红山文化与岫岩玉 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Yoshida in Japan: Tokyo scuttling tech bailouts

Yoshida in Japan: Tokyo scuttling tech bailouts

NEW YORK – Japan's bureaucracy doesn't like foreign ownership or capital investment in domestic corporations. In the last few months, this aversion has grown more pronounced under the guise of national interest.

That’s troubling.

The word in Tokyo while I was there last week was that the private equity firm KKR, which appeared to be targeting Japanese chip maker Renesas, initially had its eye on Hitachi. KKR wanted to break up Hitachi and spin out several smaller but profitable companies, which it hoped to "harvest" for big returns.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

However, as a veteran Japan observer and technology consultant put it recently, “Hitachi is like the Emperor in Japan.” No one dares to touch Hitachi. So, KKR switch its focus to struggling Renesas as its investment target.

But KKR’s low-ball effort to acquire Renesas also fell through. The reason is Japanese bureaucrats quickly put together a government fund along with partnerships with about 10 companies – mostly the company's own customers – in a bid to buy Renesas for 200 billion yen ($2.55 billion).

While Japan’s MCU giant has many problems, a key issue was the slow decision-making process at Renesas. Blame squarely rest with Renesas management. The problem was exacerbated by shareholders like Hitachi, NEC and Mitsubishi Electric, who demanded a say in nearly every Renesas decision over the past two years.

The government's bailout plan calls for piling on more “major” shareholders like Toyota, a customer, potentially hanging an even bigger albatross around Renesas’ neck.

More important is the question of whether its customers should also be among it largest shareholders. Automotive customers like Toyota tend to throw their weight around in negotiating prices with chip companies. That throws at least one big customer into direct conflict with Renesas’ need to maximize its margins.

Renesas is merely the latest example of Japan’s aversion to foreign investment. When Olympus was looking for help earlier this year, two foreign companies, not Sony, sought to invest, according to a source in the financial community. Two potential saviors were Samsung and General Electric. Such an investment by Samsung or GE actually makes sense since each company has experience and a significant presence in the medical electronics market.
Next: Save Sony
TAG:Hitachi Olympus Renesas Sharp Japan KKR GE

Engineers highlight gaps in Web usage

Engineers highlight gaps in Web usage

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Ralph Bonnell and Noah Kanovsky are in many ways at opposing poles in their use of the Web. When it comes to anyone with a potentially relevant engineering or technology message, Ralph says “bring it on,” while Noah tends to turn it off.

The two agree when it comes to the importance of using the Net to find stuff that helps them do their jobs. Both engineers have a healthy skepticism about marketers, and neither wants to share any information with electronics vendors if they can avoid it.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Bonnell and Kanovsky were two of three panelists at a session on marketing to engineers at the Online Marketing Summit here. Their candid answers shined a light on a sometimes wide and painful gap between what the Web can do for engineers today and what some hope it could do in the future.

A security specialist at Fishnet Security (Pleasanton, Calif.), Ralph devours the Web. He estimates he tracks hundreds of email list services on a special account he set up. He watches as many as two Webinars a day—not just running in the background while he does other stuff, he actually watches them.

Ralph uses Facebook for work, often getting a sense of what’s new in his field and how well or poorly new products are working out. He uses LinkedIn to quickly find experts and ask them over LinkedIn mail his burning questions.

When Ralph attends industry events such as the RSA Conference he spends time with as many individual vendors as possible in one-on-one sessions where he quizzes them on his interest areas. He even clicks on paid ad results that come up in Google searches—and perhaps once a week finds something that’s actually relevant in them.
Next: Noah steers different course
TAG:UBM Electronics Online Web Internet Google LinkedIn Marketing Electronics OMS Engineers

London Calling: Is NFC the next Bluetooth?

London Calling: Is NFC the next Bluetooth?

NXP Semiconductors NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) is on a run rate to do nearly $1 billion of annual sales revenue in identification. When I saw that statistic I did a double take.

In the second quarter of 2012 NXP's identification business unit did $234 million sales. That's 21.4 percent of NXP's total sales in the quarter and up 20.6 percent on the same quarter a year before. And a significant part of that identification market is based on near field communications (NFC) technology which builds on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

The two technologies between them cover such applications as electronic passports, contactless bank cards, transportation ticketing cards, ID tags for retail, commercial and industrial applications and their readers and mobile applications and NXP claims it is number one in every one of these markets.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

NXP reckons in 2012 about 100 million cell phones will ship with NFC, according to Alexander Rensink, director of strategic marketing at NXP's identification business unit. Put another way nine out of the top ten smartphone vendors are shipping NFC-enabled devices and NXP supplies eight out of the nine. The result is 90 percent penetration for NXP in NFC-enabled mobile handsets.

Rensink puts it another way. Between 2011 and 2016 2.2 billion NFC-enabled devices will ship and the largest sector by far will be handsets. NXP already has its NFC chips designed into 200 smartphones and tablet computers and only about 80 (40 percent) of them are in volume production, Rensink said.

Nice work if you can get it.

And the big driver for NFC on-board mobile phones is the prospect of using the cell phone for monetary transactions; an application that resolutely refuses to happen.

Rensink is adamant there is a lot more to NFC than just providing a medium of monetary transfer. "NFC can be used in coupling the physical world to the virtual world." He outlines the possibilities: stickers on posters and magazine adverts that users touch their phones to for more information and URLs; stickers on toys and action figures that can enable an online experience based on the physical toy; NFC in white goods and smart clothing.






Next: A is for.....?
TAG:near field communications Bluetooth mobile radio application killer NXP semiconductor

Designer Inspired Purses The Lowdown Womens Leather Handbag On Sale

To begin with there seems to be some confusion across the term designer inspired handbags, by way of example does it make reference to replicas and fakes? The straightforward solution can be a resounding and emphatic NO! Replica and pretend designer purses are unlawful copies that not just infringe copyright and also happen to be related with the seedy underbelly of culture, terrorism, kid labour and so forth mainly because of the absence of paper trail involved in lots of business-to-business transactions. Designer inspired handbags are respectable purses which could bare a outstanding resemblance to designer handbags but lack branding and while in the vast majority of cases will not be real mirror photographs.

You will discover surely lots of advantages to possessing or getting a designer inspired handbag above a replica or pretend purse. Not minimum of and that is the legality you could legitimately obtain and have a designer inspired handbag devoid of panic of legal recriminations. Where by since it just isn’t only a criminal offence to provide reproduction or faux purses but in addition to private as well as have an individual. Authorized concerns apart designer inspired purses are wonderful! Along with the credit crunch using a tremendous bite out of our disposable incomes there’s generally minor left more than for luxurious purchases.

Nonetheless with designer inspired purses managing at an typical of five % of your charge of designer originals you’ll be able to nonetheless afford the many vital seems to be on the time and sustain your own personal design and style. In fact in case you are sensation the pinch and will only pay for to get 1 vogue item per period a very hot, new, on trend handbag is definitely the approach to go when you can wear it with any of your common items with your wardrobe (colours permitting obviously) and quickly search modern, as much as date and chic. If you are a model savvy chick you almost certainly by now realise which purses are scorching but just incase here is the low-down to the autumn/ winter season time 2008.

Handbag Prints:

Subsequent on from spring florals are nevertheless massive big information this season within a wide array of colours and print sizes though commonly talking the bigger, the better.

Handbag Styles:

A lot more or a lot less anything at all goes model clever from clutch bags to oversized tote handbags. Even so smooth and slouchy purse styles are the essential shape for autumn/winter 2008 with deep jewel shades of suede remaining a certain hit the two to the catwalk and also the significant street.

Adornments

No dialogue of autumn/ winter 2008 can be comprehensive with out the mention of tassels, fringes and drawstrings. These ended up all highlighted heavily on designer catwalks this period.

Colours

Incredibly hot colours this autumn, customarily black and brown are timeless classics for autumn and winter season but this 12 months anything grey is an moment hit as are al the jewel shades so deep vibrant greens, reds, purples and blues are all handbag hits.

Materials

There are four crucial trends in fabrics for purses this autumn/winter as presently mentioned tender supple jewel toned suede is really sizzling and ideally suited assertion piece. The truth is really a lot all bestial skins and prints are hot and here we experience an other advantage of the designer inspired purse they hardly ever attribute genuine animal skins so are way a lot less contentious. Lastly as normally at t his time of calendar year the allure of your patent purse isn’t far away and this years up to date colored patent handbags are tasty.

There you’ve it the low-down on designer inspired purses for autumn winter season 2008 trend season.

Designer Inspired Purses The Lowdown Womens Leather Handbag On Sale

TAG:designer inspired lowdown purses

Odyssey clean energy drive kicks off

Odyssey clean energy drive kicks off

MANHASSET, NY -- An outreach and education event dedicated to promoting the use of alternative transportation technologies kicked off Oct. 18 at White River State Park in Indianapolis, IN.

The Odyssey event is at the heart of more than 160 Odyssey 2012 events scheduled for sites across the United States and in Gothenburg, Sweden and Paris, France.

At Odyssey events, consumers have the opportunity to see vehicle exhibits, ride-and-drives, demonstrations, lectures and classes.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

National AFV Day Odyssey events across the U.S. and Europe are expected to attract more than 250,000 attendees and reach over 100 million consumers through the media.

Odyssey was created in 2002 and is coordinated by the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), a program of West Virginia University. Odyssey educates the public on the importance of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles.

According to the organizers, on April 11, 2002, 20 NAFTC National Training Centers, 19 Clean Cities Coalitions, and 12 other like-minded organizations in 31 states came together at 51 sites nationwide to celebrate the first National AFV Day Odyssey. Each site provided uniquely tailored events to accommodate regional needs.

At the Indianapolis venue the NAFTC and Greater Indiana Clean Cities have partnered with the National Football League team Indianapolis Colts to provide on-site activities and promotional assistance.

American Honda Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. are 2012 national sponsors and longtime supporters of Odyssey, while AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and West Virginia University are also national partners of the event

Odyssey is comprised of numerous green transportation related events coordinated and hosted by NAFTC members, and U. S. Department of Energy Clean Cities coalitions. The local events take place on a designated date every other year throughout the U.S.

Related article
Engineers complete first world tour in electric car
New automotive connector spec speeds EV charge time
There’s an upside to A123’s bankruptcy
The sportier side of electric vehicles
TAG:Clean energy Odyssey

荆州男子收藏宝贝频见报端(图)

荆州男子收藏宝贝频见报端(图)

荆州男子收藏的宝贝 荆州男子收藏的宝贝 荆州男子收藏的宝贝

　　“我花10元钱买了一块木头,经专家鉴定,居然是一块埋在地下逾万年的阴沉木,价值数万元,你们感兴趣,可以报道下.”“我在长江里打捞上来一块大树兜,树兜竟然是有着数百年高龄的罕见金丝楠木,楠木的纹路同钓鱼岛外形有着惊人的相似之处,你们可以过来看下……”近月来,沙市区市民肖正义和他淘到的“宝贝”频频见诸各媒体,让人不得不羡慕他的好运气,也让很多从不关注收藏的人对收藏行业有了垂青之情.

　　肖正义,一个平凡的名字,却因他收藏的“宝贝”件件价值连城,而又显得不平凡.他是一个土生土长的沙市人,7岁时父亲离开了他,却给他留下了两件宝贝:一件墨玉、一方端砚.此后几十年的岁月里,收藏古玩成了他的爱好,他先后收集了上万件价值不菲的“古玩”,自己也成为了中国收藏家协会会员.近日,他向记者展示了他价值数百万的8件宝贝.

　　【端砚】产于清代,价值上百万

　　肖正义7岁时,父亲离开了他.“我父亲在世时,就喜爱书法和收藏,白端砚是他练书法时掸笔所用,也是他收藏的宝贝之一.”从肖正义的口中,记者得知,他的父亲练了多年的毛笔字,且爱好收藏,而肖正义也遗传了父亲的这些喜好,练就一手好毛笔字,家里也收藏了颇多的“宝贝”.“父亲过世后,就将他喜爱的端砚和墨玉留给了我,在我结婚的时候,母亲代父亲将它们传到了我的手里.”肖正义说,母亲曾告诉过他,父亲留下来的端砚有一段历史,它产于广东端州,所以叫端砚,又因其以整块使用,不制作成常见的砚台模样,犹如一块块砖头,又俗称为砖砚.其中,又以白端砚最为罕见,多产于清代,价值连城,“现在常见的黑端砚不值钱,白端砚几乎见不到了.市场上售卖的均不是清代端砚,纯度不够.”

　　肖正义说,他请专家鉴定了这块白端砚,保守估计价值上百万.

　　“这么小一块儿,就这么贵？”“新中国成立之初就挖出过世上最大的玛瑙石,但根本不值钱,看这些东西不是以大小来决定它的价值.等我老了可能会考虑将它捐给博物馆,但现在我还要生活,没钱了会考虑将它出售.”

　　【墨玉】父亲遗传,价值近十万

　　墨玉是父亲留给肖正义的又一件价钱不菲的清代和田黑墨玉坠饰品,成椭圆形,长近15cm,直径约10cm,记者掂量了一下,这块墨玉约半斤重.

　　肖正义称,墨玉坠是古人的装饰用品,此玉仅在他们家族就已被收藏了70余年,经长大教授鉴定价值近十万.但当记者提问是哪位教授鉴定时,他却说不出其名字.“它比羊脂玉还罕见还贵,它是纯天然的仔料玉.是由于种种原因从山上滚到了水里,经过河水亿万年的冲刷才形成了一块墨玉,而部分滚下来的仔料玉,在形成过程中由于晶体不足,被淘汰变成了鹅卵石.”肖正义介绍,山里开采出来的母料玉不值钱,“现在外面市场所售卖的墨玉,多半是山里开采的母料玉,经后期作假添墨而成的假品.”“这只玉坠是古人别在腰带上的装饰品吗？”记者问.“它是一只像手镯一样的饰品,戴在手上的.”肖正义解释道.

　　【唐陶、宋瓷】淘来“文物”,价值两万多

　　在肖正义的收藏当中,一件略显褪色的蓝色陶器,两件不知名的半圆形白色陶器,一件添墨水滴,是肖正义的最爱.

　　肖正义告诉记者,土陶是唐青瓷,属单釉.唐朝正值土陶与瓷器间的演变时期,因此他收藏的陶器存在外观粗糙、颜色单一的缺陷,也导致其价钱便宜.“就值一万块钱.”肖正义说,这件土陶是他在2009年拍电视时,需要道具而购买的,“我在三国公园古玩市场一店子里看到的,我一看就是真品,老板不识货,以300多元钱卖给我了.”“水滴是宋代文物,宋半釉品种,因其色泽灰暗又称酱黑釉水滴,价钱两万多元.”肖正义说,这件水滴,是自己花120元买的.剩下的两件白色“文物”,是土陶制成的,肖正义咨询了很多收藏界专家均不清楚是什么.

　　【名画】获赠名画价值45万

　　提起肖正义收藏多年的那幅《黛玉葬花》,还得从马公愚先生说起.肖正义说,“当时我很想学篆刻,可马公愚先生不愿意收我为学生,怕我没学篆刻的毅力.”

　　肖正义介绍,马公愚先生的祖籍在浙江,得知他来沙市,肖正义立即前往其下榻的地方拜访,“他不愿意收我为学生,在我的强烈要求下,他随口说了句:‘只要你把石头磨成十斤粉末,就收你为学生.’”

　　记者惊讶:“石头磨成粉？恐怕没人愿意做这种无聊的事吧！”肖正义表示,他花了近3年的时间,用石头磨了10斤粉末,并送到了马公愚手中,马公愚根据约定,收他为学生.

　　当记者问起那幅画的来历时,肖正义介绍,“这幅画是我1987年参加书画比赛的时候拿了《峨眉山杯》一等奖时,老师湾新士送给我的,湾新士是马公愚的学生,有一幅马公愚赠送的《黛玉葬花》.”见肖正义得了一等奖,湾新士高兴地将马公愚的这幅《黛玉葬花》作为礼物送给了肖正义.

　　肖正义称,经专家鉴定,这幅画与齐白石先生的画价值等同,1平方米价值15万,《黛玉葬花》大概3平方米,差不多价值45万,但对于这位“专家”,他却不愿提起,只说是认识的收藏界的人.“您老师随便给您一送,就是价值40多万的画？”记者感叹道.肖正义称,他相信老师送的是真品.

　　“不管别人出多少钱我都不会卖,因为这是马公愚老师的画作,看到这幅画就会想到马公愚老师.”肖正义表示:就算倾家荡产也不会卖它.“您愿意卖父亲遗留给您的端砚、墨玉,为什么别人送给您的画作您却不愿卖？”记者问及此问题,肖正义没有给出正面的回答.

　　【奇石】河边寻宝,捡到稀罕石

　　作为一名自由职业者,肖正义有一天来到河边寻找宝物,在河边找了很久却没有任何收获,正打算回家的时候,在离河边十来米远处发现了两块模糊的带有线条轮廓的石头.“当时只看到了人像的一点轮廓,据我30多年的收藏经验判断,这肯定是两块奇石,于是就把它们带回家了.”肖正义说.

　　经清水清洗后,肖正义用放大镜观察到其中一块奇石是石斧,另一块奇石是古人雕像,“当时我就惊呆了,这奇石少说也有4千多年的历史了,是古人用石头雕琢出来的.”

　　当记者提出想看看这两块奇石的时候,肖正义解释说:“那两块奇石现在已经不在手上了,两个星期前把它们拿到荆州三国公园的古玩城寄卖去了.”得知肖正义把这两块奇石的标价定在50万时,记者很惊讶.“前几天,有人打电话给我说愿意出3万,我没同意.之后陆陆续续有人给我打电话要买下这来两块奇石,但都因为价钱出得太低了,没谈拢.”肖正义称.

　　【鸡血石】过早拾宝,价值20万

　　今年8月中旬的一天,肖正义到梅台巷内买早点,在经过巷子时,发现小巷内的垃圾格外多,几乎一半的过道都被占满.一不小心肖正义被一个坚硬的东西绊倒,他瞟了一眼,腿上并未出血,但垃圾中却露出一块血红的石头.

　　肖正义立即反应过来,此石是一块鸡血石！并不顾垃圾堆里散发的恶臭,赤手将鸡血石掏了出来,连早餐也没有吃就抱着“宝贝”来到江边.

　　在将鸡血石上的污垢洗干净后,整个石头呈现血红色,还未风干的水珠在阳光的映射下,显得格外鲜亮.“这是一种含砂量较高的鸡血石,重达15公斤,虽然没有专门的机械鉴定,但估计市场价也得20万左右.”肖正义说.

　　【灵芝】古城“寻宝”,买到百年灵芝

　　今年3月10日上午,肖正义例行到古玩城“寻宝”,在逛了古玩城大多店铺后,没有找到自己合心意的东西.一脸失望的肖正义打算回家,但在路边看到一位农民手拿一种“菌类”欲出售,它外表看上去十分丑陋,灰褐色,菌柄处却生长着一大块黑色的木块.

　　来往淘宝人士均不感兴趣,但肖正义觉得这个长相奇怪的菌类有点像木雕,非常有观赏价值.在与摊贩达成共识后,以50元的价格成交.

　　将“宝贝”拿回家,经过琢磨,肖正义发现木雕的部分十分稀少,菌类占据绝大部分.在儿子的提醒下,他请长江大学一名植物学家鉴定,这名植物学家查阅相关资料后,发现这个“宝贝”是树舌灵芝,“具有非常好的观赏价值,从这个灵芝体积可以看出,至少有几百年的历史,其价值非常昂贵.”

　　【端砚】产于清代,价值上百万

　　肖正义7岁时,父亲离开了他.“我父亲在世时,就喜爱书法和收藏,白端砚是他练书法时掸笔所用,也是他收藏的宝贝之一.”从肖正义的口中,记者得知,他的父亲练了多年的毛笔字,且爱好收藏,而肖正义也遗传了父亲的这些喜好,练就一手好毛笔字,家里也收藏了颇多的“宝贝”.“父亲过世后,就将他喜爱的端砚和墨玉留给了我,在我结婚的时候,母亲代父亲将它们传到了我的手里.”肖正义说,母亲曾告诉过他,父亲留下来的端砚有一段历史,它产于广东端州,所以叫端砚,又因其以整块使用,不制作成常见的砚台模样,犹如一块块砖头,又俗称为砖砚.其中,又以白端砚最为罕见,多产于清代,价值连城,“现在常见的黑端砚不值钱,白端砚几乎见不到了.市场上售卖的均不是清代端砚,纯度不够.”

　　肖正义说,他请专家鉴定了这块白端砚,保守估计价值上百万.

　　“这么小一块儿,就这么贵？”“新中国成立之初就挖出过世上最大的玛瑙石,但根本不值钱,看这些东西不是以大小来决定它的价值.等我老了可能会考虑将它捐给博物馆,但现在我还要生活,没钱了会考虑将它出售.”

　　【墨玉】父亲遗传,价值近十万

　　墨玉是父亲留给肖正义的又一件价钱不菲的清代和田黑墨玉坠饰品,成椭圆形,长近15cm,直径约10cm,记者掂量了一下,这块墨玉约半斤重.

　　肖正义称,墨玉坠是古人的装饰用品,此玉仅在他们家族就已被收藏了70余年,经长大教授鉴定价值近十万.但当记者提问是哪位教授鉴定时,他却说不出其名字.“它比羊脂玉还罕见还贵,它是纯天然的仔料玉.是由于种种原因从山上滚到了水里,经过河水亿万年的冲刷才形成了一块墨玉,而部分滚下来的仔料玉,在形成过程中由于晶体不足,被淘汰变成了鹅卵石.”肖正义介绍,山里开采出来的母料玉不值钱,“现在外面市场所售卖的墨玉,多半是山里开采的母料玉,经后期作假添墨而成的假品.”“这只玉坠是古人别在腰带上的装饰品吗？”记者问.“它是一只像手镯一样的饰品,戴在手上的.”肖正义解释道.

　　【唐陶、宋瓷】淘来“文物”,价值两万多

　　在肖正义的收藏当中,一件略显褪色的蓝色陶器,两件不知名的半圆形白色陶器,一件添墨水滴,是肖正义的最爱.

　　肖正义告诉记者,土陶是唐青瓷,属单釉.唐朝正值土陶与瓷器间的演变时期,因此他收藏的陶器存在外观粗糙、颜色单一的缺陷,也导致其价钱便宜.“就值一万块钱.”肖正义说,这件土陶是他在2009年拍电视时,需要道具而购买的,“我在三国公园古玩市场一店子里看到的,我一看就是真品,老板不识货,以300多元钱卖给我了.”“水滴是宋代文物,宋半釉品种,因其色泽灰暗又称酱黑釉水滴,价钱两万多元.”肖正义说,这件水滴,是自己花120元买的.剩下的两件白色“文物”,是土陶制成的,肖正义咨询了很多收藏界专家均不清楚是什么.

　　【名画】获赠名画价值45万

　　提起肖正义收藏多年的那幅《黛玉葬花》,还得从马公愚先生说起.肖正义说,“当时我很想学篆刻,可马公愚先生不愿意收我为学生,怕我没学篆刻的毅力.”

　　肖正义介绍,马公愚先生的祖籍在浙江,得知他来沙市,肖正义立即前往其下榻的地方拜访,“他不愿意收我为学生,在我的强烈要求下,他随口说了句:‘只要你把石头磨成十斤粉末,就收你为学生.’”

　　记者惊讶:“石头磨成粉？恐怕没人愿意做这种无聊的事吧！”肖正义表示,他花了近3年的时间,用石头磨了10斤粉末,并送到了马公愚手中,马公愚根据约定,收他为学生.

　　当记者问起那幅画的来历时,肖正义介绍,“这幅画是我1987年参加书画比赛的时候拿了《峨眉山杯》一等奖时,老师湾新士送给我的,湾新士是马公愚的学生,有一幅马公愚赠送的《黛玉葬花》.”见肖正义得了一等奖,湾新士高兴地将马公愚的这幅《黛玉葬花》作为礼物送给了肖正义.

　　肖正义称,经专家鉴定,这幅画与齐白石先生的画价值等同,1平方米价值15万,《黛玉葬花》大概3平方米,差不多价值45万,但对于这位“专家”,他却不愿提起,只说是认识的收藏界的人.“您老师随便给您一送,就是价值40多万的画？”记者感叹道.肖正义称,他相信老师送的是真品.

　　“不管别人出多少钱我都不会卖,因为这是马公愚老师的画作,看到这幅画就会想到马公愚老师.”肖正义表示:就算倾家荡产也不会卖它.“您愿意卖父亲遗留给您的端砚、墨玉,为什么别人送给您的画作您却不愿卖？”记者问及此问题,肖正义没有给出正面的回答.

　　【奇石】河边寻宝,捡到稀罕石

　　作为一名自由职业者,肖正义有一天来到河边寻找宝物,在河边找了很久却没有任何收获,正打算回家的时候,在离河边十来米远处发现了两块模糊的带有线条轮廓的石头.“当时只看到了人像的一点轮廓,据我30多年的收藏经验判断,这肯定是两块奇石,于是就把它们带回家了.”肖正义说.

　　经清水清洗后,肖正义用放大镜观察到其中一块奇石是石斧,另一块奇石是古人雕像,“当时我就惊呆了,这奇石少说也有4千多年的历史了,是古人用石头雕琢出来的.”

　　当记者提出想看看这两块奇石的时候,肖正义解释说:“那两块奇石现在已经不在手上了,两个星期前把它们拿到荆州三国公园的古玩城寄卖去了.”得知肖正义把这两块奇石的标价定在50万时,记者很惊讶.“前几天,有人打电话给我说愿意出3万,我没同意.之后陆陆续续有人给我打电话要买下这来两块奇石,但都因为价钱出得太低了,没谈拢.”肖正义称.

　　【鸡血石】过早拾宝,价值20万

　　今年8月中旬的一天,肖正义到梅台巷内买早点,在经过巷子时,发现小巷内的垃圾格外多,几乎一半的过道都被占满.一不小心肖正义被一个坚硬的东西绊倒,他瞟了一眼,腿上并未出血,但垃圾中却露出一块血红的石头.

　　肖正义立即反应过来,此石是一块鸡血石！并不顾垃圾堆里散发的恶臭,赤手将鸡血石掏了出来,连早餐也没有吃就抱着“宝贝”来到江边.

　　在将鸡血石上的污垢洗干净后,整个石头呈现血红色,还未风干的水珠在阳光的映射下,显得格外鲜亮.“这是一种含砂量较高的鸡血石,重达15公斤,虽然没有专门的机械鉴定,但估计市场价也得20万左右.”肖正义说.

　　【灵芝】古城“寻宝”,买到百年灵芝

　　今年3月10日上午,肖正义例行到古玩城“寻宝”,在逛了古玩城大多店铺后,没有找到自己合心意的东西.一脸失望的肖正义打算回家,但在路边看到一位农民手拿一种“菌类”欲出售,它外表看上去十分丑陋,灰褐色,菌柄处却生长着一大块黑色的木块.

　　来往淘宝人士均不感兴趣,但肖正义觉得这个长相奇怪的菌类有点像木雕,非常有观赏价值.在与摊贩达成共识后,以50元的价格成交.

　　将“宝贝”拿回家,经过琢磨,肖正义发现木雕的部分十分稀少,菌类占据绝大部分.在儿子的提醒下,他请长江大学一名植物学家鉴定,这名植物学家查阅相关资料后,发现这个“宝贝”是树舌灵芝,“具有非常好的观赏价值,从这个灵芝体积可以看出,至少有几百年的历史,其价值非常昂贵.”

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:荆州男子收藏宝贝频见报端(图) 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

高古玉成为艺术收藏中的顶级奢侈品

高古玉成为艺术收藏中的顶级奢侈品

　　近年,高古玉因其历史研究价值高、文化内涵丰富、工艺独特等特点成为国内外实力收藏家纷纷追逐的目标.圈内也有高古玉是艺术收藏中的顶级奢侈品的说法.高古玉即汉代以前的玉,是中国玉文化的源头.业内人士认为,随着近年来中国经济的崛起,古代传统文化的回归,未来古玉收藏将掀起新一轮热潮.

　　在去年伦敦佳士得的秋拍中,一件中国西汉时期的黄玉带钩,拍前估价为10万至15万英镑,最终的成交价达到了82.525万英镑,创下了汉代玉器拍卖的最高纪录.这也再一次彰显了高古玉作为一类顶级奢侈品的收藏价值.

　　龙凤玉佩 高古玉中精品

　　据藏家介绍,龙凤是古人想象中的祥瑞动物.春秋战国以后,凤作为“四神”中的南方朱鸟,成为天下安定的象征.这块龙凤玉佩源于战国时期,将寄寓祥瑞的两种神兽和谐地搭配在一起,可谓匠心独运,构思巧妙,造型雅致.

　　古玉价值是“美”“好”“古”“稀”四字综合

　　高古玉虽然是有实力藏家的最爱,但在一些玉器拍卖市场上,却以明清玉器居多,高古珍品难觅踪影.一方面是因为高古玉存世稀少,另一方面需要收藏者练眼力,辨真伪,高古玉鉴定门槛较高,收藏者需要大量的背景知识.每个历史时期玉器的造型、纹饰和使用方式都不一样,收藏者不但要熟记大量玉器特点,而且还要了解各时期的历史知识以及考古资料,辨别玉料,认识不同时代的制玉特点；

　　藏家称,古玉的价值体现在“美”“好”“古”“稀”四字上.所谓“美”,是指古玉的艺术性要高,要有美感,一眼看去就被其吸引的古玉自然是美玉.以美作为判断玉器的优劣这一标准自古就有,古人形容一块玉好称其“美玉”,如美玉和氏璧,因为它美.所以秦王愿意以10多座城池来换取和氏璧,可见玉美的价值连城.任何一件玉被人喜爱,首先是它的美感.了解到这一点,对古玉投资十分重要.“好”即是指玉完美、品相好.美好的古玉是投资古玉的首要条件.所谓“古”,就是指年代要久远,在美、好的前提下,越古老的古玉越有投资价值.“稀”,即存世量少,有珍稀性.一块古玉真品,如果符合这四字诀,那么将是不可多得的收藏精品.

　　黄金有价玉无价,一件和氏璧换15座城池的传奇演绎,早已深入民心,传国之玺、皇室之珍都离不开古玉器,可见其“顶级奢侈品”的魅力.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:高古玉成为艺术收藏中的顶级奢侈品 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Symposium tackles how to market to engineers

Symposium tackles how to market to engineers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--UBM Electronics will host an all-day series ofpanels and tutorials on Marketing to Engineers as part of thisyear's OnlineMarketing Summit, Oct. 22-25, here.
UBM Electronics CEO Kathy Astromoff and other UBM Electronicsexecutives will be joined by EE Times editors Brian Fuller, RickMerritt and Sylvie Barak, all of whom will participate in a seriesof six sessions including:

• The State of Online
• The Mind of Geeks & Nerds… What Marketers Need to Know
• New World Marketing to Engineers: Key Practices
• Putting Social to Work: Unleash the Power for Your Business
• Building & Sustaining Thriving Communities
• Creating & Leveraging Epic Content for Marketing

"Building on our commitment to make the electronics ecosystemsmarter and faster, we've created our Symposium to informmarketers within the electronics and design engineering industriesabout key industry trends," Astromoff said. "The 'Marketing toEngineers Symposium' will highlight how to reach engineers andraise brand awareness, drive revenue, and create loyalty. Inaddition, we'll explore digital marketing, content and communitydevelopment, social media research, and much more."

Marketing to Engineers is part of the four-day OnlineMarketing Summit that this year features scores ofspeakers and panelists, includingkeynoters IBM Smarter Commerce Global Program LeaderCarolyn Layne and Jana CEO Nathan Eagle.

Related stories:

--Registerfor the Online Marketing Summit
--Marketingto Engineers
TAG:Online Marketing Summit UBM Electronics events engineering marketing electronics

Entrepreneur says Win 8 marks end of PCs

Entrepreneur says Win 8 marks end of PCs

SAN JOSE, Calif. – On the eve of the release of Windows 8, a veteran PC executive claims the new operating system marks the beginning of the end for PCs and the OEMs who make them.

Still, Joshua Shapiro said he has a technique to enable mass customization of software loads on PCs he says could help revive the platform.

Windows 8 includes essentially two environments—the traditional Windows operating system that runs apps complied for the x86 and a new run-time environment formerly called Metro that interprets byte codes for either x86 or ARM processors.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Shapiro claims over time Microsoft will deemphasize traditional desktops and their compiled x86 apps in favor of iPad-like tablets like Microsoft Surface and their interpreted apps. The move parallels how Windows initially included then later discarded DOS.

“Everyone invested in [traditional PCs] is screwed,” said Shapiro, who spent 14 years at IBM before becoming a consultant and entrepreneur. “With Metro and Windows 8, Microsoft is essentially walking away from the PC and leaving it to die,” he said.

Companies who make PCs will see their already thin margins wither away over the next few years from a lack of investment in PC software, he argued. “You can already see the train wreck in HP and Dell—rather than defending the PC, they are running away from it,” he said.

“It’s my contention you need to stimulate PC software development, but the only group doing that today is the computer gamers—they have the only software that comes close to stressing a PC,” said Shapiro. “Nobody wants to develop for the PC anymore because there is no money in it, and VCs won’t support PC software startups because they only support apps now,” he said.

PC salvage?

Shapiro believes his company, Imbue, could help revive the PC software industry. Imbue has a patented method for quickly loading software on PCs that he claimed enables OEMs to offer custom software images to consumers.
Next: Unbundling software
TAG:Windows 8 Win 8 Operating Systems PCs Software Apps Windows Imbue Microsoft OEMs HP Dell X86 ARM IBM

AMD announces 15% staff cut

AMD announces 15% staff cut

LONDON – Microprocessor vendor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has swung to a net loss in the third quarter of 2012 and has announced it will restructure in the fourth quarter and reduce its global workforce by approximately 15 percent. AMD said that job cuts would be mainly be completed in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In a conference call with analysts to discuss the results CEO Rory Read also indicated that AMD would be resetting to a new business model that would include the use of third-party intellectual property (see AMD eyes ARM for 2014).

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

For the third quarter AMD announced a net loss of $157 million on sales revenue of $1.27 billion. This compares with a net profit of $37 million on sales of $1.41 billion in 2Q12 and a net profit of $97 million on sales of $1.69 billion in 3Q11.

AMD's 3Q12 sales revenue declined 9.9 percent sequentially and 24.9 percent on a year-on-year basis. The company said it expects to continue falling. AMD said it expects sales revenue in the fourth quarter to decrease by between 5 and 13 percent sequentially.

Read said: "Our third quarter financial performance fell significantly short of our expectations. We understand the dynamics behind the shortfall, and we are taking decisive actions to address the core issues."

In the call Read said that macroeconomic conditions and purchases deferred because of the imminent arrival of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system had created a "challenging selling environment." However, Read also said he did not expect the personal computer market to improve for several quarters.

At least part of the blame for the poor results was placed on the Llano accelerated processor unit (APU). Llano was a 32-bit processor that combined CPU and GPU and was designed for implementation by Globalfoundries in a 32-nm silicon-on-insulator process. The part was known to have supply problems in 2011.

AMD said that gross margin decreased sequentially due to several factors including: an inventory write-down of $100 million consisting primarily of A-series APUs; weaker-than-expected demand leading to lower average selling prices; and lower utilization and AMD back-end manufacturing facilities.

The company said it is putting in place a business model to achieve a breakeven point at $1.3 billion of quarterly revenue and said it expects to achieve breakeven by the end of third quarter of 2013. AMD said its cash and cash equivalents to hand at the beginning of the third quarter were $1.015 billion and this was reduced to $776 million by the end of the third quarter.


Related links and articles:

AMD, ARM, Imagination, TI, MediaTek form HSA group

AMD creates embedded IC business unit

ARM improves its image in graphics

Why AMD is opening up Fusion: CPU, GPU cores are the new gates


TAG:AMD processors jobs semiconductor

AMD eyes ARM IP and realignment

AMD eyes ARM IP and realignment

LONDON – On a conference call with analysts to discuss AMD's third quarter financial results the company's CEO Rory Read has outlined a change of business model that will see the company "building reusable IP blocks" to reduce development costs and improve speed of execution. Read said that AMD needed to accelerate a move away from reliance on its legacy personal computer market and to get involved in new form factors and applications which would show higher growth.

On the call Read and Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of the global business unit, stopped short of saying AMD would adopt ARM-designed microprocessor cores or use an ARM architecture license but referred to third-party IP as well as AMD's own IP.

However, both executives stressed the importance of third-party IP to help AMD address markets away from the personal computer. Read said AMD was re-aligning to address markets growing faster than the PC market, such as servers and cloud data centers, and embedded applications in communications, industrial and gaming.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

The executives said that to effect a return to profitability it was necessary to take AMD's IP in graphics and other areas and re-apply it to high growth markets including embedded, ow power clients and dense servers.

Read said the company already has a number of design wins in embedded applications for its APUs, which combine its CPUs and graphics processing units. These wins would be revealed over the coming quarters and would help the company to achieve embedded sales at around 20 percent of AMD's total sales in the second half of 2013.

On the call Read asked Lisu Su, to add detail on the IP strategy: Su said: "Let me just add some color to that. I think we said from our strategy all along that we believe we want to build into the larger ecosystems in the industry. So we'll continue to build x86 products. But as we've announced before, we also have a partnership with ARM in the Trustzone and security area and we'll continue to look at how we incorporate more third-party IP over time to address some of these higher-growing markets. Su said product introductions based on such third-party intellectual property would probably come in 2014.



Related links and articles:

AMD, ARM, Imagination, TI, MediaTek form HSA group

AMD creates embedded IC business unit

ARM improves its image in graphics

Why AMD is opening up Fusion: CPU, GPU cores are the new gates



TAG:ARM ARM semiconductor processor IP embedded communication gaming

Yoshida in China: Time for Japan to exit TV market

Yoshida in China: Time for Japan to exit TV market

TOKYO -- Japanese TV manufacturers reported plummeting sales in China during the most recent holiday shopping week -- China's Moon Festival and National Day holidays that extended through Oct. 7. The combined market share for Japan's eight consumer electronics vendors in China plunged to 18 percent from 30 percent a year ago.

The downfall illustrates the impact of a territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea. Violent protests broke out across China along with calls for boycotts of Japanese products in mid-September after Japan nationalized two of the islands, known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese. The gambit by Tokyo followed the purchase of the islands from private owners.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Japanese CE companies had already seen their China TV sales decline by more than 40 percent from a year ago as leading Chinese TV companies increased their shares by promoting a variety of “patriotic campaigns.”

At the same time, Korean vendors like Samsung and LG saw their China sales grow by more than 10 percent during the same period, according to All View Consulting, a market researcher based in Beijing.


TAG:Market Share TV business CE Vendors China Japan TV

春秋双龙首蟠虺纹璜蚀洞中的神奇

春秋双龙首蟠虺纹璜蚀洞中的神奇

双龙首蟠虺纹璜 双龙首蟠虺纹璜

　　编者按:本期的这篇读者来信是关于玉器的收藏故事,从玉璜本身的造型、纹饰、刀法来看,此物应为春秋战国时期的器物,表面的侵蚀仅能作为参考.

　　我对古玉情有独钟,也有缘收藏了一些高古玉器,所藏虽不乏市值数百万元的战国珍宝,但最为珍爱的却是一件春秋晚期双龙首蟠虺纹璜.此器为和田白玉料,呈弧形,长11厘米,中部宽2.14厘米,龙首部宽2.5厘米,两面琢相同纹饰,沁色黄褐铁,通体玻璃光,是一件构图最具特色又异常精美的“三段式”双龙首蟠虺璜典型器.蚀洞中的大量次生晶体证明其属于开门之器.

　　玩玉、鉴玉其乐无穷,我一有闲暇便盘玩之.细细观赏其构图精美的纹饰,轻轻抚摩其古老温润的玉体,真不知道有多爽.特别令人神往的是它的蚀洞,内里藏着大自然鬼斧神工的神奇韵味.将璜置日光台灯下,借助放大镜仔细观察蚀洞,便进入了一个奇妙无比的微观世界……但见蚀洞底与壁面呈不规则状,宛如遍地雪霜,四周洞壁密密麻麻遍布次生晶体,既似冰挂又像钟乳.其色似雪花,形如毫芒,粗细相间,疏密无度,交错丛生,全无定式,争奇斗艳,百态千姿.在灯光的照耀下泛着晶莹的白光,煞是好看.无穷妙趣,难于言表.这就是高古玉特有而又鲜见的神奇景象,可谓弥足珍贵.

　　这蚀洞奇观的发现,还要从十三年前我购藏此璜的时候说起.当时我从一乡下老翁手中购得此器,发现一端龙首靠顶部处两面均有因受沁而严重白化的条状板块,还被无知的前主人用硬物凿刮得百孔千疮.惋惜之余,我用温清水将它浸泡,尔后用牙刷徐徐刷之,疏松如粉泥的白化体被慢慢刷掉.更换清水后复以油画笔擦洗之.顷刻,蚀洞奇观便呈现在我眼前……只可惜蚀洞底部的次生晶体被无知的凿刮损失大半,白色基点隐现.我年逾花甲,玩玉多年,得睹奇观,已饱眼福,而奇观的发现竟是无知之错所造成,大概是老朽玉缘深厚所致吧.

　　关于高古玉蚀洞中的次生晶体,专家的诠释是:古玉器在地下埋藏几千年,被含有各种矿物质的酸性水侵蚀,晶体结构比较粗疏的薄弱部位因受沁而白化,慢慢变疏松粉化,久之便形成粉坑型蚀洞.玉中释出的分子精华物以类聚,再集结附着于蚀洞的壁和底,经上千年的滋长,便形成了形态多样的次生晶体,这种晶体叫骸晶,色白的为透闪石结晶,色黑的为阳起石结晶,这是高古玉特有的神奇再生现象.只是这样的标本非常珍稀罕见.此种特征是任何仿造古玉者无法人为造假的,因此成为鉴定高古玉的重要特征.

　　《收藏界》是藏界期刊中的一朵奇葩,我十分喜爱品位高雅的《收藏界》杂志.昨捧阅五期杂志时顿生一念,独乐不若与众乐,何不将此璜图片及介绍文字在《收藏界》刊发,与藏界道友分享鉴赏之乐,亦人生快事也.

　　湖南省沅江市 夏国贤

　　二O一二年五月三十日

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:春秋双龙首蟠虺纹璜蚀洞中的神奇 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Yoshida in China: Time for Japan exit TV market

Yoshida in China: Time for Japan exit TV market

TOKYO -- Japanese TV manufacturers reported plummeting sales in China during the most recent holiday shopping week -- China's Moon Festival and National Day holidays that extended through Oct. 7. The combined market share for Japan's eight consumer electronics vendors in China plunged to 18 percent from 30 percent a year ago.

The downfall illustrates the impact of a territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea. Violent protests broke out across China along with calls for boycotts of Japanese products in mid-September after Japan nationalized two of the islands, known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese. The gambit by Tokyo followed the purchase of the islands from private owners.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Japanese CE companies had already seen their China TV sales decline by more than 40 percent from a year ago as leading Chinese TV companies increased their shares by promoting a variety of “patriotic campaigns.”

At the same time, Korean vendors like Samsung and LG saw their China sales grow by more than 10 percent during the same period, according to All View Consulting, a market researcher based in Beijing.


TAG:Market Share TV business CE Vendors China Japan TV

OpenFlow gets a workout during plugfest

OpenFlow gets a workout during plugfest

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Twenty companies participated in the second plugfest for the OpenFlow protocol for software-defined networking. The event was hosted by the Open Networking Foundation at the Indiana Center for Network Translational Research and Education which ONF selected as the first certified lab for its conformance testing.

Brocade, Ciena, Juniper Networks, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei and NEC were among the companies who participated. At the event, as many as 50 engineers tested commercial and prototype controllers and switches, using OpenFlow versions 1.0 and 1.2 for topology discovery and layer 2-3 use cases including use of virtual machines.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

The Oct. 8-12 event followed the group’s first plugfest in March. “We not only saw growth in participants and products being tested, but we also saw a movement towards commercial controllers that are available on the market,” said Mike Haugh, senior marketing product manager at Ixia and chair of ONF’s Testing & Interoperability Working Group, speaking in an ONF press release.

“Brocade continues to develop SDN solutions for enterprises and service providers, enabling new levels of control over the network for increased business agility, new service models and better IT asset utilization," Daniel Williams, director of product marketing for routing and application delivery products at Brocade, said in the ONF statement.

“We were excited to be able to test our OpenFlow 1.2 controller and switch with other vendors,” said Justin Joubine Dustzadeh, chief technology officer and vice president, technology strategy, networks at Huawei.

"We brought our ProgrammableFlow Controller PF6800, ProgrammableFlow Switches PF5240, PF5820, and our newest OpenFlow-based virtual switch, the PF1000,” said Su-Hun Yun, senior manager at NEC Corporation of America. “All have tested successfully, with both the switches and other controllers represented at the plugfest,” he said.

Related stories:

Google describes its OpenFlow network

TI, Stanford explore OpenFlow silicon

TAG:Open Networking Foundation Software Defined Networks OpenFlow Networking Switches ONF SDN HP NEC Huawei Brocade

西泠印社良渚玉雕专拍10月21日举行

西泠印社良渚玉雕专拍10月21日举行

本场部分无底价拍品 本场部分无底价拍品

　　公元前三千年前后,良渚先民们即琢玉成器,它们代表了新石器时期工艺制作的最高水平,萃天地之精华,可以说是惊为天作.扬时代之风韵,当代玉雕人不辱使命,承续中华玉文化,将传统人文内涵与时代精神完美相融,开创了中国玉雕的一个全新时代.

　　10月21日,西泠拍卖将在中国良渚玉文化园再一次举行中国当代玉雕大师作品专场拍卖会.本场拍卖将吴德昇、杨曦、洪新华、崔磊、瞿利军、于雪涛、范同生、吴金星等数十位大师的200余件玉雕佳构荟萃一堂,其中约有150件精工小品将以无底价起拍,为更多民众进入收藏领域拓宽了准入门径,使玉雕收藏爱好者能深入体味藏玉赏玉的快乐.

　　传统中国,礼仪之邦.育儿女以严慈,尊父母为孝道,是谓助人伦之纲常,呈家庭之幸福,即为和谐.2011年中国玉器百花奖金奖作品《母慈子孝》出自目前中国最年轻的中国工艺美术大师、中国玉石雕刻大师于雪涛之手,母子神态极似,母捣衣,儿担水,其乐融融,满含温情.而同为中国工艺美术大师、中国玉石雕刻大师吴德昇的作品《凤眠》同样出彩.通过写实与写意相结合的手法,利用弧线、曲面来表达女性的柔美、妩媚,令人可观、可叹、可藏.

　　工欲善其事,必先利其器,艺必精其技.各位中国玉石雕刻大师都有自己的绝技,如瞿利军的《江上枫》从设计到雕琢堪称一绝,令人激赏；范同生的《花开见佛》取莲花在佛教中之“花开见佛性”之说,刻画线条飘逸生动,禅意十足；吴金星的《瑞兽招福》造型精准,充满灵韵之气,在同类题材作品中当属出类拔萃.

　　已入驻中国良渚玉文化园的中国玉石雕刻大师翁祝红、张晓玲以及浙江玉石雕刻大师王云庆则分别带来了他们的力作.其中,翁祝红的《法器》将金刚铃、金刚杵的纯净庄严与天然水晶材质相合融通,灵动脱俗,令人叹为观止；张晓玲的十件佳作别样纷呈,尤可观赏.另外,玉文化园入驻商家翠冰苑翡翠专营店友情提供的翡翠精品也将以无底价参拍,共襄此次盛会.

　　一场高水准的玉雕拍卖不仅仅是民众对中国独特而悠远的玉文化的一次深度接触,同时也是西泠拍卖“让艺术融入生活”理念的进一步推广.此外中国收藏家协会学术研究部主任、著名玉器鉴定家古方先生将于10月20日下午3时整,在拍卖预展现场的“2012良渚中华玉讲坛”为广大玉友作关于玉器收藏与投资的讲座.让我们走进名家玉雕的世界,也让玉雕艺术走近我们的生活,走近大众.

　　中国当代玉雕大师作品专场拍卖

　　预展:

　　时间:2012年10月19至20日(9:00——17:00)、10月21日(9:00——12:00)

　　地点:良渚玉文化园一号厅

　　展示接待中心(杭州市余杭区良渚镇良博路249号)

　　拍卖:

　　时间:2012年10月21日下午2时整

　　地点:良渚玉文化园六号厅

　　销售展示中心(杭州市余杭区良渚镇良博路249号)

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:西泠印社良渚玉雕专拍10月21日举行 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Cosmic rays could assess damage to Japanese nuclear reactors

Cosmic rays could assess damage to Japanese nuclear reactors

AUSTIN, Texas—Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory say have devised a method to use cosmic rays to gather detailed information from inside the damaged cores of nuclear reactors damaged by the earthquake in Japan last March.

The reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were heavily damaged by the tsunami that followed the earthquake on March 11, 2011. Researchers at Los Alamos say their scattering method for cosmic-ray radiography shows tremendous promise for pinpointing the exact location of materials within the Fukushima reactor buildings.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Konstantin Borozdin of Los Alamos’ Subatomic Physics Group is the lead author of a paper on the topic that appears in the journal Physical Review Letters. The paper compares two methods for using cosmic-ray radiography to gather images of nuclear material within the core of a reactor similar to Fukushima Daiichi Reactor No. 1.


Los Alamos National Laboratory Muon Radiography team members stand in front of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor complex during a visit to determine evaluate whether Los Alamos' Scattering Method for cosmic-ray radiography could be used to image the location of nuclear materials within the reactor buildings.
Source: Los Alamos

TAG:Los Alamos Fukushima Daiichi Japan Reactors Nuclear

Mentor upgrades formal verification tools

Mentor upgrades formal verification tools

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Mentor Graphics enhanced its Questa tools, automating functions to expand coverage and ease use of formal verification techniques in chip design. The upgrade aims, in part, to get formal tools more broadly adopted.

A 2010 study said only 29 percent of chip designers have adopted formal tools. “There’s a huge growth opportunity for applying these techniques,” said Harry Foster, a chief scientist and formal verification expert at Mentor.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

Better test tools are certainly needed based on 2007 and 2010 surveys that both showed the fraction of chip design projects behind schedule remain at about 65 percent. About 70 percent of designs require re-spins, they both showed.

“You can totally miss a market window if a re-spin is needed,” said Foster noting the work can take more than three months and cost more than a million dollars.

Mentor’s new Questa CoverCheck automates the process of finding lines of code that cannot be formally verified. It also can show waveforms and generate output vectors for tests difficult to design. Alcatel-Lucent helped Mentor develop the code.

Separately, the latest version of Questa AutoCheck sports parallelism to run faster on multicore processors. The tool automates the process of finding common errors such as deadlocks and overflows often hard to detect in simulations.

Finally, Mentor expanded Questa CDC, a tool for finding problems due to clock domain crossing in SoCs that use IP blocks with separate asynchronous clocks. The new version improves performance five-fold in areas such as finding missing clock synchronizer blocks, Foster said.

“One of the biggest test issues emerging today is in SoC integration,” he said.

He noted a 53 percent growth from 2007-2010 in use of formal property checking. “The industry is being forced to mature based on more complex designs--what used to work on smaller designs doesn’t work,” he said.

“There’s been significant improvement in what we can handle--today formal tools handle hundreds of thousands of state elements--but it will never be enough so always need simulation, too,” said Foster.


Related stories:

Next-generation semiconductor functional verification challenges

Mentor riding 28-nm transition wave
TAG:Formal Verification Mentor Graphics Harry Foster Formal Tools Mentor Questa CoverCheck AutoCheck SoCs Simulation Test EDA

ASML to buy lithography source vendor Cymer

ASML to buy lithography source vendor Cymer

AUSTIN, Texas—Lithography tool vendor ASML Holding NV will acquire source provider Cymer Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth about $2.6 billion, the company said Wednesday (Oct. 17).

ASML (Veldhoven, the Netherlands) said the acquisition would accelerate the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which the semiconductor industry is counting on for building chips at the 10-nm node and beyond.

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Cymer (San Diego) is a longtime supplier of lithography light sources to ASML and other lithography tool vendors. The company has for years been trying to develop a light source powerful and stable enough to support volume production with EUV lithography, which was to have been in use by now but has been pushed back several times.

ASML and Cymer have been working closely together for over a year to improve the power and stability of Cymer's EUV lithography source. ASML has also been working closely with competing source providers Ushio and Gigaphoton.

"We expect the merger to make EUV technology development significantly more efficient and simplify the supply chain and integration flow of the EUV modules," said Eric Meurice, ASML's president and CEO, in a statement.

The lack of an adequate power source has left the throughput of EUV lithography systems well below what is required for economical volume manufacturing. ASML said its pre-production EUV tools now have throughput of up to seven wafers per hour. Chip makers would like throughput of 100 to 150 wafers per hour. ASML's target is 69 wafers per hour at 105 watts for production in 2014.

With the deal, ASML will also acquire Cymer’s deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) business. DUV is expected to remain a significant and growing engine of sales and profit and will be well positioned to support and balance customer needs for EUV and immersion multiple patterning, ASML said.

ASML said it would manage Cymer’s commercial operations as an independent division based in the U.S. The company said it would continue to deliver and service DUV and EUV sources for all customers, including competitors, on an arm’s length basis.

ASML scanners will continue to interface with light sources from all manufacturers, ASML said.

Next: EUV update
TAG:ASML Cymer Source Vendor Acquires

Rare earth alliance seeks to avert supply shortfalls

Rare earth alliance seeks to avert supply shortfalls

WASHINGTON – Responding to growing concerns about shortages of rare earth materials, a U.S. industry alliance is bringing together rare earth producers, users and researchers to forge a strategy for coping with shortages while advancing technologies that rely on the materials.

The Rare Earth Technology Alliance held its inaugural meeting here on Wednesday (Oct. 17) to map out an education and outreach strategy. The group’s formation was driven largely by concerns about shortages of rare earth materials used in a wide range of electronics and energy production. Experts worry that rare earth-rich nations like China could act to disrupt global supply chains.

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“The rare earth industry will be facing many interesting challenges over the next few years, including growth of the markets, the creation of new supply chains, and the need for universities to develop technical and business leaders,” Pierre Neatby of alliance member Avalon Rare Metals Inc., said in a statement. The alliance “will help the industry meet its goals by achieving results that individual companies would have more difficulty achieving on their own.”

Other alliance members include Boulder Wind Power, GE Global Research, Molycorp Inc., Quest Rare Minerals and Rare Element Resources. The alliance is also supported by the American Chemistry Council.

Related stories:

The rare earth challenge

Research project to avoid rare earth materials for electric motors

Toward pacemakers powered by heartbeats



TAG:Rare Earth Technology Alliance Rare Earth Materials Rare Earth RETA

How to get a meeting with a VC

How to get a meeting with a VC

I am often asked, "How do I get a meeting with a venture capitalist?"

Here's my slightly tongue-in-cheek reply:


Click on image to enlarge.




--Steve Blank is a technology entrepreneur and lean startup advocate based in Menlo Park, Calif.

TAG:Venture Capital Steve Blank VC

The (net) world according to Andy Bechtolsheim

The (net) world according to Andy Bechtolsheim

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The technical horizon in networking as not as bright as it is for semiconductors, but it’s pretty darned good, according to network guru Andreas von Bechtolsheim.

Andy should know. He’s been designing high-end network switches since he founded Granite Systems in the go-go days of 1995. Cisco Systems bought the company for a cool $220 million, bankrolling this engineer’s engineer who passed on the favor when Google’s founders’ came calling. He wrote their first check for $100,000.

[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]

The bad news is networking is not keeping up with the heady pace of Moore’s Law because of I/O bandwidth bottlenecks. Instead of doubling as chips do in transistor density every two years, networking bandwidths double about every four years (see below).


Click on image to enlarge.
Bechtolsheim gathered his thoughts in a keynote at the Linley Tech Processor Conference here.

“Moore’s Law is alive and well, and there has been nothing like it in the history of mankind,” he said. Thanks to solid work on serdes and merchant chips, networking is set to continue its traditional bandwidth “doubling every four years or so--it’s a nice improvement, but not at the rate of Moore’s Law,” said Bechtolsheim who briefly worked for Intel when he first arrived in Silicon Valley in 1977.

Bechtolsheim gets deeply technical at the drop of a slide rule. Discussing the impacts of data centers on network design, he quickly dropped down two levels to note a new DCTCP protocol can reduce by ten percent or so the need for mega-buffers on aggregation switches—an interesting detail.

But his bigger point was there is another wave yet to come. Network protocols and apps need to be tuned to better understand the underlying networks capacity. That’s heavy lifting, so in the meantime network switch design is all about right sizing buffers, he said.

Again without a breath he jumps down two levels in the technology to compute the requirements. “That’s [a buffer of] 100 Kbytes per flow and 10 flows per server, so a Mbyte per server and 10 Gbytes be switch,” he said.



Next: Too many choices
TAG:Andreas Bechtolsheim Software Defined Networking Silicon Photonics 100GE Cisco Luxtera Fulcrum Broadcom Networking Communications Switches ASICs OpenFlow

海派玉雕国色天香赏析(图)

海派玉雕国色天香赏析(图)

海派玉雕国色天香

　　在玉雕界“国色天香”的题材做的人很多,但做得精彩,做出特色者少.上海非物质文化遗产项目代表性传承人、海派玉雕特级大师赵丕成,用一块天山脚下的彩玉所精心雕琢的《国色天香》,既显示了美玉的本质美感和自然灵性,又融入了当代审美的时尚气息,令人叹为观止.

　　作品在俏色的使用上,可谓匠心独运,几入化境.俏色处理有分有合,人物、花朵、凤鸟连体构成,人物的下半部分是红色牡丹含苞欲放,似人物盘腿而坐,凤鸟的凤冠向上延伸,形成飘逸的花瓣,造型在似与不似之间,形神兼备.巧妙的分色渲染,使形象色彩分明、对比强烈,白玉的温润、南红的娇艳、黄玉的瑰丽,分别勾画出白玉美人的醉意；朱红牡丹的绽放；金凤灵动的舞姿,使三者构成美不胜收的和谐整体.尤其是红色部分的构想,采用了强烈的对比手法,使大面积红色牡丹映衬着零星小红的点缀,更显玉女精致、灵气和娇美,有画龙点睛之妙,使作品妙趣横生.

　　作品在形体表现上呈现出圆润、饱满和浑然一体的特色,尤其是线条流畅优雅,疏密有致,光挺柔顺,圆转迂回,不仅生动刻画出玉女、花朵和凤鸟的神态,而且整体画面表现出美轮美奂的生动气韵.玉作时尚、简约、精致,体现了鲜明的海派玉雕风格.

　　这件作品在琢玉技巧上充分表现出传统的砣工,技艺娴熟精湛,刀法沉稳有力,砣工灵活流畅,在作品的工艺技巧中表现出丰富、多变的琢玉语言,如走砣的贴切挺顺,压砣的平整顺畅,“趟”的匀净柔和,扎砣的遒劲有力,勾砣的流畅利落等,尤其是“趟”的砣工,琢磨精妙细腻,柔和优雅,表现出玉作的总体美感.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:海派玉雕国色天香赏析(图) 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

老毕庄村：镇平玉雕的一张名片

老毕庄村：镇平玉雕的一张名片

　　“由古至今,中国人爱玉,至深至迷,镇平人制玉,中外驰名.”这是2010年镇平玉雕荣膺中国城市新锐名片时,组委会给予镇平玉雕的评价.

　　在镇平,最有名的是石佛寺镇老毕庄村的玉雕.这个小村子里80%的村民都在从事玉雕产业,年创产值近5000万元,被命名为河南省“特色文化产业村”,可谓镇平玉雕产业的缩影.10月9日,记者走进老毕庄村,探访这个小村子里的“玉雕大市场”.

　　“万户柴扉内,朱砂琢玉矶”

　　进入老毕庄村内,不绝于耳的是雕刻玉器的声音,真是“万户柴扉内,朱砂琢玉矶”.

　　“村子里不产玉,工匠们从各地购进原料,精雕细琢成玉器,再销售出去.”老毕庄村的文书赵安华说,村里玉器加工早已成规模,前来订货的人很多,工匠们起五更打黄昏地赶活,从早到晚听到的便都是琢玉声.

　　李岭是个年轻的能工巧匠,他有十几个学徒,家里的两层小楼二层居住,一层是玉雕加工车间. “我是‘子承父业’,父亲就是做玉器的.”李岭说,这几年镇平的玉雕产业发展比较快,他一年下来雕刻玉器收入达二三十万元.

　　老毕庄村凭着玉雕名气,吸引来4000多名外地来的常住人口,他们也加入了玉石大军的行列.

　　现在的老毕庄村已经不再是传统意义上的村子了,而成为一个现代化的新农村.这里家家户户都和李岭家相似,住在村里集中规划建设的两层欧式小楼内,现代化设施一应俱全,加工玉雕和居住于一体.

　　小村里藏着玉雕大市场

　　老毕庄村有个名为“琢玉苑”的玉雕市场.这里早市是批发玉料的,工匠不想去远处进货的,到早市上就能买到来自各地的玉料；市场从下午开始卖玉雕成品.

　　据当地人介绍,“琢玉苑”从下午一两点开始热闹起来,全国各地的人都到这里购买玉器,主要是批发,也有一些散客.“想买玉,还是要到这里来,不仅能挑到好的,价格也不会虚高.”一位顾客说.

　　镇平县委宣传部副部长樊洁波说:“全国大多数景区内销售的玉器挂件几乎都是从这个市场上进的货.各地客商云集往来,使得镇平县外发的长途班车比南阳市外发长途班车的覆盖范围还要广. ”

　　“琢玉苑”吸引了来自湖北、辽宁、广东、江苏等全国各地的商户几千家,市场上一个月的成交额达上千万元.

　　玉雕产业正在“发酵”

　　老毕庄村有加工玉器的农户、有玉雕市场,这个小村子的玉产业正在“发酵”形成.

　　樊洁波说,国内外旺盛的玉器工艺品需求市场,让老毕庄村的人认识到镇平玉雕大有可为,而以往那种零散的家庭小作坊式的模式缺乏市场竞争力,只有抱成团,才能形成产业竞争优势.于是“一人带一户,一户带一村,专注于某一类玉雕产品”这样一种模式逐渐兴起,玉雕产业正在形成购料、加工、销售这样一个完整的产业链.

　　赵安华说,现在老毕庄村八成以上的年轻人都从事玉雕这一行.为了培养玉雕人才,村里开设了玉雕培训班；镇平县创建了工艺美术中等职业学校,开设玉雕艺术专业,从这里已走出不少大师；今年起,南阳师院也开设了玉雕设计方向专业.

　　“作为政府部门,我们对老毕庄村进行了规划.现在农户住宅和生产在一起,将来准备再建一个大厂房,专门作为农户加工玉器的地方,将生产和生活分开.”他说,村里还准备建一个比“琢玉苑”规模还要大的玉雕产业园,让这里的玉雕产业再上一个台阶.

来源:新浪收藏


TAG:老毕庄村：镇平玉雕的一张名片 翡翠 翡翠手镯 中国翡翠网 翡翠新闻

Slideshow: The (net) world according to Bechtolsheim

Slideshow: The (net) world according to Bechtolsheim

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The technical horizon in networking as not as bright as it is for semiconductors, but it’s pretty darned good, according to Andreas von Bechtolsheim.

Andy should know. He’s been designing high-end network switches since he founded Granite Systems in the go-go days of 1995. Cisco Systems bought the company for a cool $220 million, bankrolling this engineer’s engineer who passed on the favor when Google’s founders’ came calling. He wrote them their first check for $100,000.

The bad news is networking is not keeping up with the heady pace of Moore’s Law because of I/O bandwidth bottlenecks. Instead of doubling as chips do in transistor density every two years, networking bandwidths double about every four years (see below).


Click on image to enlarge.
Bechtolsheim rolled out his thoughts in a keynote at the Linley Tech Processor Conference here.

“Moore’s Law is alive and well, and there has been nothing like it in the history of mankind,” he said. Thanks to solid work on serdes and merchant chips, networking is set to continue its traditional bandwidth “doubling every four years or so--it’s a nice improvement, but not at the rate of Moore’s Law,” said Bechtolsheim who briefly worked for Intel when he first arrived in Silicon Valley in 1977.

Bechtolsheim gets deeply technical at the drop of a slide rule. Discussing the impacts of data centers on network design, he quickly dropped down two levels to note a new DCTCP protocol can reduce by ten percent or so the need for mega-buffers on aggregation switches—an interesting detail.

But his bigger point was there is another wave yet to come. Network protocols and apps need to be tuned to better understand the underlying networks capacity. That’s heavy lifting, so in the meantime network switch design is all about right sizing buffers, he said.

Again without a breath he jumps down two levels in the technology to compute the requirements. “That’s [a buffer of] 100 Kbytes per flow and 10 flows per server, so a Mbyte per server and 10 Gbytes be switch,” he said.

Related stories:
Silicon photonics is hot, OpenFlow is not

Servers poised to ride 10G Ethernet

Server wars turn full circle
Next: Too many choices
TAG:Andreas Bechtolsheim Software Defined Networking Silicon Photonics 100GE Cisco Luxtera Fulcrum Broadcom Networking Communications Switches ASICs OpenFlow