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When I was growing up,
虽然我已经长大
But it was still a joy and a wonder to me.
我还是对它很好奇，觉得它很有趣
You had skyscrapers and
它具有摩天大楼
you had all of this hidden energy.
和所有这些隐藏的能量
Just walking around,you could feel something different.
就随便走走，你都会觉得不同
That sort of love and
这种爱和
that obsession was made most tangible by maps.
和困惑因为地图变得的更加实际
I became obsessed by maps and looking at them.
我对地图感到困惑，开始研究它们
I bought every Rand McNally and
我买了每个兰德麦克纳利导航仪和
every single map that I could find.
每张我能找到的地图
I would put them in my room and
我会把它们放在我房间里
hang them all over the walls and just
挂满整个墙
look at them and wonder
只是看着它们，想
what was happening at this particular intersection
这个十字路口发生了什么事
or in this area or
或是这个地区
how to get down this road most efficiently.
怎样最快走到这条路
My parents didn't know
我的父母不知道
what to make of it but I loved it.
地图有什么用，但我痴迷于它
In 1984-1985 we got the first Mackintosh
在1984年到1985年，我们买了第一个苹果电脑
and an IBM PC Junior.
变成了一个IBM的计算机青年
I really wanted to play more with maps.
我特别想多研究地图一下
I wanted to see them.
我想看它们
I wanted to alter them more
我想去改变它们
and do it on the computer screen.
在我的电脑上改变它们
So, I taught myself how to program because I wanted
所以，我自学怎样编程，因为我想
to learn how to draw a map on the screen.
学习怎么在屏幕上画一张地图出来
And then, I accomplished that.
之后，我成功了
It was very, very basic and very simple.
我画了一张很基础很简单的地图
And then, I put some dots on the map.
接着，我在上面画上了很多小点
And then, I learned how to move the dots around.
接着我学会了怎样移动这些小点
Then, the next challenge was
接下来的挑战是
to figure out how to keep the dots
想办法让这些点固定在
on the streets because
街上，因为
they were going all over the place.
它们总是不停地移动
And then, I had all these dots moving around
接着我让这些点在这张
this beautiful picture of this map,
漂亮的地图上动来动去
which represented downtown St. Louis and
让它们展现出圣路易斯市中心的景象
then later represented New York City,
之后表示出了纽约城
which I was amazed by.
这让我很惊奇
The issue was that none of the dots
问题是，这些点
had any meaning whatsoever.
都没有任何意义
They're just random dots moving around this city.
它们只是随机的点，在城市里移动
My parents had a CB radio
我父母有个汽车对讲电话
and they had a police scanner.
并且有个警用扫描仪
And what was happening
警用扫描仪的作用
on the police scanner was really interesting
非常有趣
because you had ambulances
因为救护车
and fire trucks and police cars constantly
和消防车，还有警车不断地
reporting where they are and what they're doing.
汇报它们的所在地和它们所做的事
So, I'm at Fifth in Broadway in New York City.
它们会说我在纽约城里的百老汇街五号
I have a patient in cardiac arrest and
我这里有个心脏停跳的病人
we're going to St. John's Mercy.
我们正在去医院的路上
And I could take that information,
我得到这条信息之后
type it up into a program,
将它输入程序里
make some assumptions about speed and direction
假设它们的速度和方向
and what routes they're going to take and actually
以及它们应走哪条线路
watch the ambulance go to St. John's Mercy.
就能看到救护车进入圣约翰医院
Then, I could hook up another ambulance and a taxicab,
接着我可以联接另一辆救护车和出租车
a police car, a fire truck.
警车和消防车
The more and more of this I did,
我做这些做得越多
the more I learned how to automate more of it
就了解更多怎样让它们自动化的方法
because the Internet was just coming up.
因为互联网出现了
We had Gopher and St. Louis, Missouri,
我们有Gopher查询系统，而且密苏里州的圣路易斯
has a school named Washington University,
有所华盛顿大学
which was one of the first backbones for the Internet.
它是网络的第一批支柱之一
So, we had a pretty good connection to the BBS systems,
所以我们有一个很好的BBC网络系统
the bulletin board systems, back then.
就是电子布告栏系统
I found all these databases of this information,
我发现了这些信息的数据库
although this was after the fact.
尽管这有点事后诸葛亮
But it was still interesting to watch and to see unfold
但是看着这些事物一点点展开非常有趣
So, now I had this picture of real-live data
现在我得到了现实的城市里
of a real-life city operating in front of me.
现实生活的数据就在我面前运转
And I just thought it was the most beautiful
我就是觉得这是最美好的东西
thing ever that I could visualize,
我能看到
a city living and breathing.
整个城市在生活，在呼吸
