11.09.06
booby trap
booby trap — a hidden bomb or mine that could be set off by an unsuspecting person [dict]
Wikipedia is great; it allows anyone to edit the pages and contribute. Over the past few years, its popularity has been rising fast. However, what happens when someone inserts links in a page, leading to malicious virus downloads? From the article, “The message directed people to the booby-trapped page and the fake fix”.
11.08.06
catch out
catch out — trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act [dict]
Today, Michael Lynch, the founder and CEO of Autonomy, gave us an entertaining seminar. Near the end of the talk, he asked this question: there are three doors, with a Ferrari behind one and goats the other two. He asked one of the audience to pick up a door. Then he revealed that one of the other two doors had no Ferrari behind, and asked the same guy: “Do you want to stick to the original choice or change?”
To have a higher probability of winning the car, you should change. This problem, as a friend later told me, is called “The Monty Hall problem“. The essence of the problem is teaching people to adapt when there is new information. It took me a while to convince myself this was true; the usual intuition may tell you otherwise. “This is the kind of question you use to catch out people,” someone heard this problem before and said to me with a grin.
11.07.06
pull it off
pull off — to perform successfully, esp. something requiring courage, daring, or shrewdness [dict]
At the beginning of the ‘X Factor’ show, the host introduced the surviving contestants, and then sent her blessing: “Hope you pull it off tonight.”
