今天收到了一个奇特的评论，是针对前天的那篇“天涯对新注册用户收取1元注册费”的，我把整个评论做了个截图放在这里，方便大家观看。红框是我加的。
这是一个以问答形式出现的评论，有点像新闻采访，或者客服人员回答问题。主要看看第一个问题，关于为什么手机认证要收取1元钱，这里的解释是“手机认证存在一定的通道成本”，而且“如果使用免费通道发送密码，用户很有可能收不到”。
所谓的通道成本确实存在，对于天涯来说，那不过是要和运营商和SP（服务提供商）按照一定比例进行分账，发短信本身是没有什么成本的；而关于免费通道不可靠的问题，确实是，总会有丢信息的情况，可是对于收费的通道这个问题一样存在，如果信息丢了20%，也不用过分感到奇怪。
从第二个问题的设问和回答来看，收费这个概念已经深入天涯的骨髓了。而第三个问答根本是答非所问。
希望这个评论是某个朋友为博大家一笑下了许多功夫，而不是天涯的媒体经理们的新闻稿。
Google向美国证券交易委员会提交了2007年的年度财报。一下是ZDnet整理的图表和所作的一些分析，让我们可以直观的看到财报中的几个重要方面。
1. 收入超过165亿美元，比上一财年增加超过56%。
超过106亿的收入来自Google自有网站的广告，包括搜索页的竞价广告、Gmail广告等等。超过57亿的收入来自Adsense广告。
美国占到总收入来源的52%，其他地区占到48%。
2. 成本
研发成本超过21亿美元，较去年增长72%。
总成本超过115亿美元。
其中IT资产投入超过27亿美元。
增长最快的是可疑帐户余额（Doubtful accounts balance）数量为3280万美元，比上一年几乎翻了一番。不过，帐户里多出很多钱，总比有大量不明来源的债务要好得多。
观看这些报表中的历年数字，是对google成长史的一种回顾。另外，对财报中各个小项的分析也能得出很多有意思的结论。比如Mr.6先生关注了Adsense广告收入在总收入中的比例一直呈下降的趋势，这一方面是市场激烈竞争的结果，另外也是google控制无效点击的一个反映。
Google’s annual report by the charts
(via ZDnet) Google recently filed its 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission and dished out the usual batch of figures, but the charting the growth tells the tale.
Here’s a look at Google’s annual report by the charts and some of the more interesting items. Read more.
维珍银河公司（Virgin Galactic）新型空间飞船发布会刚刚在纽约举行。空间飞船由母机（运载机）和飞船（载人机）组成，分别称为“White Knight Two (WK2) ”和“SpaceShipTwo”。第一代空间飞船于2004年试飞成功。
（下面的三张图点开可以看大图，但是图片比较大，所以耐心等一会）
母机WK2已经完成90%的建设，并准备于今年夏天进行试飞。 它是世界上最大的、碳合成材料的航天器，具有独特的高海拔抬升能力，能够把SpaceShipTwo和它的8名宇航员送上地球亚轨道。
SpaceShipTwo已经完成60%的建造。它是对一代机的改进，并且按照未来的商用标准建造。
维珍银河公司是维珍集团老板Richard Branson的一个新“玩法”。这个酷爱冒险的老板想要开发“能够承受的起的”太空旅游。而WK2和SpaceShipTwo的建造就是这个计划的重要一步。预计一次太空旅游的个人花费在20万美元左右，而如今搭乘航天飞机太空旅游，花费在千万以上。
Richard Branson在致辞中说，如果低成本太空旅游能够实现，我相信我们是为私人资本进入空间技术敲开了一堵墙。这种投资尺度可以和当初对互联网和手机的投入相媲美，这种私人资本的进入，也是在这些技术由军队转向民用时开始的。
VIRGIN GALACTIC UNVEILING OF THE DESIGNS OF SPACESHIPTWO AND WHITE KNIGHT TWO
Virgin Galactic today unveiled the design of its new, environmentally benign, space launch system based on the X Prize winning technology of SpaceShipOne, which successfully flew into space for the third time in October 2004 and won the $10m Ansari X Prize.
The construction of the White Knight Two (WK2) mothership, or carrier aircraft, is now very close to completion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, CA and is expected to begin flight testing in the summer of 2008. It is the world’s largest, all carbon composite aircraft; it has a unique high altitude lift capacity, capable of launching SpaceShipTwo and its eight astronauts into sub-orbital space flight. The WK2 mothership is powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines which are amongst the most powerful, economic and efficient engines available. The WK2 mothership has also been designed to be capable of lifting other payload and launching it into space. Both Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic believe the system has sufficient lifting capability to launch unmanned vehicles designed to carry small satellites and other scientific payload into low earth orbit. While the first priority for Virgin Galactic is developing the market for human spaceflight, the Company is already assessing the potential for unmanned launch capability.
SpaceShipTwo is now nearly 60% complete. It incorporates both the lessons learned from the SpaceShipOne program and the market research conducted by Virgin Galactic into the requirements future astronauts have for their space flight experience. It also has built-in flexibility to encompass future requirements for other scientific and commercial applications.
The big boss of Virgin group Richard Branson said,” I think it’s very important that we make a genuine commercial success of this project. If we do, I believe we’ll unlock a wall of private sector money into both space launch systems and space technology. This could rival the scale of investment in the mobile phone and internet technologies after they were unlocked from their military origins and thrown open to the private sector. “
