Chapter 76: Names

Dean Fei was in such a frantic rush to have Di Ye go and save the situation because his postgraduate entrance exam scores had alarmed Professor Xu Jiafu of Jinling University.

When the degree system was first implemented in the early 1980s in China, there were only two doctoral supervisors in the field of computer software, and one of them was Professor Xu Jiafu; he had held many important positions, such as Director of the Computer Software Research Institute, Director of the National Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, convener of the Computer Discipline Appraisal Group of the National Academic Degrees Committee, consultant to the National Electronic Revitalization Leading Group, and Vice President of the China Computer Federation, among others.

Facing a figure of such towering stature, Dean Fei was completely unable to hold his ground and had no choice but to let Di Ye go and save the situation; after arriving at the office, Di Ye called Professor Xu back and said he would visit Jinling University on March 1st, which finally helped him out of the predicament.

Not only was Dean Fei not grateful for being helped out, but he also began to worry that Di Ye would change his mind and turn against him, saying, "I will accompany you to Jinling to explain this matter clearly to Professor Xu."

"Dean, you had better not hold me back; Professor Xu only made a phone call, and you were already trembling with fear. If we go to Jinling and meet in person, wouldn't you be scared out of your wits?"

"What trembling with fear? That is my respect for teachers and the Dao; unlike you, who have no sense of propriety!"

Dean Fei was so incensed by Di Ye's teasing that he put on airs, and with a dark face, said, "I didn't interfere when you were running around everywhere after the semester started, but now you actually dare to push your luck. Is that paper on the browser finished yet?"

With Xiao Honghua's help, writing a paper was a piece of cake for Di Ye, but he had been busy with this and that lately and hadn't had the time to type it out yet, so he promised, "I will have it written before I go to Pengcheng."

Dean Fei was relatively reassured by his writing efficiency, nodded slightly, and said, "You run around everywhere and go missing from time to time; how about letting Liu Shaosong put his name as the corresponding author on this paper?"

The browser paper was just a review and contained no original content; Di Ye was close with Liu Shaosong, so naturally, he did not object, and after agreeing, he asked, "Dean, which journal do you intend to publish this paper in?"

"'Computer Research and Development,' the same as the 'Computer Journal' where you submitted the compression algorithm previously; both are sponsored by the China Computer Federation and the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I know people there and can help you cut the line."

"Are both of these journals on the 1992 Peking University Core Journal list?"

"They are, why?"

"Dean, I feel that there is no difference between a core journal and SCI. Since you know people and can cut the line, how about the papers I publish in these two journals in the future being treated as equivalent to SCI papers when I pursue my doctorate?"

"Don't even think about it; these two journals are not in the same league as SCI Second Tier, so how could they possibly be equivalent?"

According to their previous agreement, Di Ye would receive his doctoral degree certificate if he published five papers in SCI Second Tier or higher, and in 1995, SCI only had the Thomson Reuters classification, where journals in the top 25% of impact factor were First Tier and those between 25-50% were Second Tier, which was more lenient than the Chinese Academy of Sciences classification that only appeared after 2004.

Di Ye had many heavyweight papers he could plagiarize and didn't care at all about SCI First or Second Tier, so he sighed with emotion, "Dean, as long as the quality of a paper is high enough, it's the same wherever it's published. I think you have contracted SCI fever; in the future, I will create an Open Source academic journal to cure this illness."

"I think you are the one who has contracted Open Source fever; a paper is not a program, what are you going to open source?"

Dean Fei didn't believe in the existence of such a thing as an Open Source journal at all, and after refuting him, he asked again, "Do you really not want me to accompany you to Jinling?"

"Dean, I have already deposited 200,000 in cash at the Computer College; what else do you have to worry about?"

"What deposit? That's a donation! Get lost, I'm going to the cafeteria to eat; I don't have time to talk nonsense with you."

Di Ye used a joking manner to politely decline Dean Fei's idea of accompanying him to Jinling, then went to the Hanlin Restaurant outside the North Gate to order a few home-style dishes, packed them up to take back to the rental apartment to have lunch with Xia Fangfei, and asked her if she was going to Jinling the day after tomorrow.

"Are you going to inspect my second brother's company?"

"Yes, I promised him a long time ago, and I'll go to Jinling University while I'm at it. Do you want to go home and visit?"

Xia Fangfei held her chopsticks and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Forget it, you go to Jinling by yourself. The day after tomorrow is the day the Yunshang Fan Association is officially established and the inaugural issue of 'Viewing Era' is released; I am the Secretary General of the association and cannot get away."

Fu Wenjing and Xia Fangfei originally wanted to imitate the corporate women's associations of Dongying and start a so-called female film fan club, but after holding two small events, they found that this kind of thing was ill-suited to the domestic environment and particularly prone to causing disputes and trouble, so they changed course and returned to the form originally defined by Di Ye, registering and establishing an association open to all film fans, and then, through Lu Hanming's connections, cooperated with the Yuncheng Literature Publishing House to use their existing publication number to launch a magazine titled 'Viewing Era'.

"Are the sample copies of the magazine out?"

"They came out yesterday. Wenjing and I organized a trial reading session for some members this morning, and everyone thought it was good, especially the gossip stories about Hong Kong cinema written by my brother-in-law."

Di Ye laughed and said, "He just likes writing about these romantic and sentimental things. Leave a sample copy for me; I'll take it to Jinling the day after tomorrow to show your second brother."

Xia Fangfei held the title of Editor at 'Viewing Era' and, thinking Di Ye wanted to take it over to show off for her, was very happy; she picked up a piece of pork rib as a reward and said, "Take a few more copies; let my second brother take them home for my father and eldest brother to see too."

Di Ye couldn't help but laugh and teased her, "If they want to see it, you can mail it yourself. I'm taking the magazines over to use as a negotiation tool for your second brother."

Xia Fangfei rolled her eyes, picked the pork rib back into her own bowl, and asked, "Who is my second brother negotiating with? A film company?"

"Not a film company, but a chip company. His VCD Player factory has everything ready, except for the chip supply, which hasn't been negotiated yet. He's going to Hong Kong in a few days to negotiate with the chip company and try to get the unit price down."

Xia Fangfei was not interested in business negotiations and couldn't be bothered to ask, so she asked, "When will our Mainland-Hong Kong-Macau Travel Permits be processed?"

"I'll go find Manager Zheng in a while and ask."

Zheng Yingyong was a man with a very worldly air who liked excitement; after Di Ye withdrew from the film front, he took over the position of General Manager and made the reception area of the Flagship Store even larger, playing movies continuously from morning till night to attract customers and passersby to come in and watch, and then chat and brag together.

When Di Ye arrived, Zheng Yingyong was surrounded by a dozen idlers, playing Landlord while watching 'God of Gamblers,' with a pile of colorful small change on the table, having a great time.

"Xiao Ye, come over and play a few rounds; this is a game you invented."

"Sure, how is the money calculated?"

"One yuan a round, just for fun, it doesn't count as gambling."

After having more contact with Zheng Yingyong, Di Ye discovered that although this person kept a low profile in his work, he was very concerned about face, so he accompanied him in playing Landlord for nearly an hour, shouting and yelling, until 'God of Gamblers' was finished, before asking about the few things he had asked him to help with.

Zheng Yingyong's need for face was satisfied, and he was very happy, laughing and saying, "Those things were taken care of a long time ago; I kept forgetting to have you come and get them. They are all with Ailing; go over and see if everything is there yourself."

"Many thanks, Manager Zheng."

Li Ailing did not like the smoky atmosphere of the reception area and had been staying in the business area; seeing Di Ye come over, she took a thick, large file bag out from the counter and asked curiously, "Xiao Ye, why is your new company called a Research Institute?"

"To fool foreigners."

Di Ye opened the file bag and poured out the contents, discovering that in addition to two 'Mainland-Hong Kong-Macau Travel Permits,' there was also a Business License and over a dozen Trademark Registration Certificates.

Because neither the film front nor Goldshire were serious companies, Di Ye had held a casual attitude and taken two names from 'World of Warcraft' to make up the numbers, but now he was preparing to start a serious company, so he changed to seizing some pleasant-sounding names in the computer industry of later generations, such as "Core," "Snapdragon," "Dimensity," "Atom," "Itanium," "Android," and so on.

Because the English word for Core means the center, Di Ye used it to register the company name, called Core Open Source Research, with the full English name CoreOpenSourceResearch, abbreviated as COSR, used to replace the status of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) founded in 1998.

Although it was called a Research Institute, it was not a scientific research institution but Di Ye's sole proprietorship, so what he received was a Business License, not a public institution legal person certificate; as for "Snapdragon," "Dimensity," "ARM," and so on, they were all registered as trademarks, prepared to be used as names for various products in the future.

Di Ye counted the trademark certificates and discovered that one-third of them belonged to Intel; he felt a secret thrill and muttered to himself, "This is the consequence of squeezing toothpaste!"