Newsletter No. 465

6 465 • 19.10.2015 字裏高科 Tech Talks 寶健保健 Wealth In Health 數綿羊 Counting Sheep 莎士比亞說：「溫柔的睡眠，那是死的化身」（《馬克白》 II.3.78；梁實秋譯）。睡眠真的是死的化身？不睡覺會不會 導致死亡？ 睡眠剝奪被國際人權公約認為是酷刑的一種。紅十字會的國 際委員會在2006年探訪了十四名被關在關塔那摩拘押中心 的囚犯，當中有十一人聲稱連續七天被剝奪睡眠，或是不停 被嘈吵音樂或冷水弄醒長達三個月。 失眠確實困擾不少人。據估計，有三成人晚上可做的就只有 數綿羊，而現代人亦較一百年前的人少睡百分之二十。 大學保健處處長 陸偉昌 醫生說：「睡眠研究者也不明白為甚 麼人類把三分一生命花在床上，有指我們的大腦需要休息時 間以重塑功能，但二十一世紀的醫學還不足以解釋失眠或嗜 睡症。我們睡眠的質素肯定影響我們的健康，最近有研究指 出，失眠的女性患上乳癌的風險也較高。」 但莎士比亞也說過：「夢中為王，醒後一場空。」（《十四行 詩》87；梁實秋譯） 酣睡甜夢又是否多多益善？凡事過度則有害，有潛在或長期 病患（如糖尿和心臟病）的人需要更多睡眠時間；不知起床 或是睡過頭的，也可能是情緒病或季節性情緒失調的病徵。 陸醫生繼續說：「有睡眠問題來保健處求診的多是與失眠有 關，成因不一，有因讀書或工作壓力、婚姻問題、適應問題、 情緒波動等。安眠藥物的成效只是暫時，但卻醫不好他們的 心病。以藥物、認知及心理輔導方法，加以調整生活方式，多 管齊下，有機會舒緩這方面的徵狀。」 無處不是雲 The Ubiquitous Cloud 要數近年被資訊科技業界創造最成功的隱喻詞，實在非  「雲計算」莫屬。「雲」一詞簡單、普及，寓意為服務好像 雲一樣永遠在我們左右，抬頭就能看見。可它也同樣容易 陷入隱喻用語風格的誤區：容易被誤解和被錯誤使用。例 如：經常聽見有人說「把資料放在雲上」、「從雲上取下來」 或「由雲提供服務」，但究竟這些話語真正代表着甚麼步 驟、涉及哪些資源和技術，以及這個程式是否可行，大部分 人就沒有深究了。或許，業界通行的另外幾個詞彙：IasS, PaaS, SaaS（Infrastructure-, Platform-, Software-as-a- Service），即以透過網路提供基建、作業系統平台和軟件作 為服務，更能精準地說明服務的細節。 雲服務的成功和普及，仿佛印證了十二年前《哈佛商業評 論》上一篇極具爭議的文章：‘IT Doesn’t Matter’（資訊科 技並不重要）。作者 Nicholas Carr 指出，隨着技術的不斷優 化，資訊科技服務發展逐漸變得大眾化和商品化，亦意味着 它跟鐵路運輸、供水、供電等公用事業沒有兩樣：方便、隨用 隨有和按用量收費。正因為具有這些特質，資訊科技的提供 和獲得，已不再是甚麼複雜和神秘的尖端科技了。商管和資 訊業界對這份文章毀譽參半，爭論一直持續到今天。 作為業界的一分子，筆者不想妄加評論。但有關雲服務為人 所關注的幾個重點，卻可討論一下：「雲」安全嗎？這個自雲 概念推出以來一直存在的問題，近日已經很少有人提起了， 相信隨着服務供應商的不懈努力，安全程度已提升至可令使 用者不再擔心。也因為沒有出現嚴重事故，企業已逐漸接受 雲服務的安全性。「雲」會取代資訊業界人員的工作嗎？應 該不會，雲技術畢竟只能快速地提供資訊服務供應鏈上有 關基建和應用等環節，至於建立私有雲、混合雲，以及系統 整合、資料分析、優化義務流程等工作，仍有賴企業內部人 員的貢獻。 Shakespeare calls ‘this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit’. ( Macbeth , II.3.78) Is sleep false death? Will one die from not having any sleep? Sleep deprivation is recognized as a form of torture by international human rights conventions. The International Committee of the Red Cross visited 14 high value detainees in Guantanamo in 2006 and reported 11 had alleged being deprived of sleep for seven days continuously or constantly interrupted by loud music or cold water spray for up to three months. Insomnia is a common malaise to many. It is estimated that as high as 30% of the population count sheep during the nocturnal hours. And, in general, we sleep 20% less than our grand- and great grandfathers 100 years ago. Dr. Scotty Luk , Director of University Health Service, says, ‘Sleep researchers don’t know why we sleep away one-third of our lives. Previous studies suggested brain rejuvenation and brain plasticity may be possible explanations but sleep problems like insomnia and hypersomnia still remain a great mystery in our 21st century medical knowledge. However, quality of sleep does affect our general health. One recent medical study demonstrates that sleep deprivation may be related to a higher risk of breast cancer in females!’ But Shakespeare also says, ‘In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.’ (Sonnet 87) Is there a limit to how much one can get of the sweet slumber? The point is moot, but too much of a good thing may turn into harm. People with hidden or chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease need more sleep. Difficulty to wake up and oversleeping may also be symptomatic of depression or SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Dr. Luk goes on to say, ‘In our university clinic, patients complained mostly of insomnia as a sleep problem. Causes are multi-factorial including study and work stress, anxiety, marital problems, adjustment, emotional turmoil, etc. Hypnotics can help them for a while but cannot drive out their inner demons. Usually, a combined approach using medications, cognitive and psychological counselling together with positive lifestyle modification will alleviate their symptoms.’ Cloud computing is probably the most successful metaphorical term coined by the IT sector in the past few years. Simple and easy to remember, the word ‘cloud’ gives people the impression that this service is as common as clouds and you can see it by simply looking up. But as a metaphor, it can also be misunderstood and misused easily. For example, we often hear people say ‘put data in the cloud’, ‘take it down from the cloud’, or ‘services provided by the cloud’. But what procedures do these expressions imply? What resources and technologies are involved? And is this program workable? Nobody seems to care about these questions. There are some other terms commonly used in the IT sector to refer to the service, such as IasS, PaaS, SaaS (Infrastructure-, Platform-, Software-as- a-Service), which may give a more accurate picture of it. The success and popularity of cloud service seems to confirm the views expressed in ‘IT Doesn’t Matter’, an article published 12 years ago in the Harvard Business Review . In the article its author Nicholas Carr says that as technologies improve, IT services become increasingly popular and commercialized, and are little different to other utilities like railroads, mains water or power grids. They’re convenient and readily available, and users are charged on the basis of their data usage. Because of these characteristics, the provision and use of IT services are not some mysterious and sophisticated technology. The article received mixed responses from the business and IT sectors, and the controversy it stirred up is still alive today. As a member of the IT sector, I’m not in a position to make fair comments about it. But we can discuss some concerns about cloud service. First of all, is it secure? This has been a concern since the introduction of the concept of cloud computing. But it has since been rarely voiced. With the constant efforts of service providers, I believe that it’s secure enough and is no longer a cause of concern to its users. As there are no major data breaches, enterprises are gradually convinced of the security of cloud service. Will it take jobs away from IT workers? Probably not. After all, cloud technology can only facilitate a handful of areas in the whole of IT services, such as the setup of infrastructure and applications. As for the setup of private cloud and hybrid cloud, and systems integration, data analysis, business process reengineering, they still rely very much on the work of the in-house staff of a business. 梁光漢 Philip Leung