Saturday, April 29, 2006

How Did We Tell MIT Professor John Dower Is a Racist


Academic freedom or racism in disguise? Dr. John Dower was caught in the central of debate of an MIT open course in Japanese history. In the online content of the course, project 'Visualizing Cultures', he portraits an arising Japan that was set to save the Asian countries and people from brutal ruling and occupation of westerners. What a illusion while in reality millions people was brutally killed by the Japanese invasion army. It's a history that will never leave the nightmare of Chinese, Korean, Filipinos, Vietnamese and many more. As a history professor in Japanese history, Dr. Downer should have known better. Either he's an idiot, which is not very likely, or he is just pretending. He had gone through the most rigours training on how to stay unbiased in doing research. The only logical explanation left is that he is a racist. Picture: David River.

'Skydive' of MITBBS told us why Dr. John Dower was a racist by examining the class notes Dr. Dower put online:

Exhibit 1:

"Old" China was the Anti-West, the Anti-Modern (a notion China's own Communist leaders would later embrace with a vengeance themselves). As a consequence, while the corpses were unmistakably and brutally Chinese, they stood for a great deal more as well.

When the prints they showed were filled with died bodies of Chinese people defending their homeland, Dr. Dower denounced them to be more 'brutal' than the enemy. What kind of shit is in his mind?

Exhibit 2:

From the Japanese perspective, the denigration of the Chinese that permeates the Sino-Japanese War prints was really secondary to the obverse side of this triumphal new nationalism. It was secondary, that is, to the story of the surpassing discipline and self-sacrifice of Japanese from every level of society. That is why many of the most memorable war prints do not depict the enemy at all, but rather focus on the Japanese alone. Sometimes they are simply battling raw nature
(the fierce blizzards and turbulent seas), sometimes simply shown in control of the powerful machinery of modern warfare. Always there is a celebration of brave men engaged in a noble mission?athrowing themselves against an ominous, threatening, but also thrillingly challenging and alluring world.

The inherently racisim behind a stone faced college professor is that 'advanced' people have right to kill people not that advanced at the time. Dr. Dower must not be sorry for the dead Indians falling victim of 'civilized', 'advanced' and 'sophiscated' westerners. Dr. Dower's theory is that if a nation/people is not as 'educated' from the western perspective, they they are deemed to be shot in their own house. For years, Dr. Dower just can't wait to quote this theory from a second mouth.

Exhibit 3:

Kokunimasa offered a harsh “Illustration of the Decapitation of Violent Chinese Soldiers” that included a lengthy inscription. The benevolence and justice of the Japanese army, this text explained, equaled and even surpassed that of the civilized Western nations. By contrast, the
barbarity of the Chinese was such that some prisoners attacked their guards. As a warning, the Japanese—as depicted in the print—had beheaded as many as thirty-eight rebellious prisoners in front of other captured Chinese. The Rising Sun military flag still fluttered in one panel of Kokunimasa’s print; the stalwart cavalry officer still surveyed the scene; the executioner still struck the familiar heroic pose with upraised sword. The subject itself, however, and severed heads on the ground, made this an unusually frightful scene.

When describing a print of Japanese imperial army brutally beheading Chinese POW, Dr. Dower was as calm as he's walking through the Philadelphia garden show. However, the words he used on Japanese are: benevolence, civilized, heroic; while the words he used on Chinese POW are: barbarity, violent, rebellious. Which institution did he received his PhD training in history? Bravo for them to create a monster who can preach for God and drink human blood at the same time, in a stone face.

MIT CSSA's letter to the President of MIT:

Dear President Hockfield,

On behalf of the Chinese Students and Scholars on MIT campus, CSSA felt compelled to express our horror at the way Visualizing Culture depicts the art of the war. We are shocked that such cultural insensitivity could have occurred at the Institute and want to make our concerns known to the MIT administration.

Please find below the text of an email detailing our official response, sent to the professors of the OCW course.

Best Regards

Huan Zhang, President of MIT Chinese Student and Scholar Association
Lin Han, Vice President of MIT Chinese Student and Scholar Association


Though we are the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA), we come from an assortment of backgrounds and cultures. We value the diversity within our own group, and we are most grateful for the support and benefits the culturally-diverse MIT microcosm has afforded us and our members. However, the "Throwing off Asia" exhibit recently Spotlighted on MIT's homepage has shaken our confidence in the cultural sensitivity we have come to associate with this accepting environment. The exhibit has left us disappointed at the nonchalance with which this emotionally provocative and demeaning material was presented, as we struggle to understand how such negligence could have been overlooked at the Institute.

In particular, the vivid images of the wartime atrocities inflicted on the Chinese conjured up haunting emotions of loss and rage, not unlike those emotions people around the world feel toward the much better-known and more talked-about events of the Holocaust. Already, the outcry from MIT's Chinese community has been thunderous, and the distress levels severe. We do understand the historical significance of these wood prints, and respect the authors' academic freedom to purse this study. However, we are appalled at the lack of accessible explanations and the proper historical context that ought to accompany these images.

Phrases featured prominently at the top of the page under Old China, New Japan include "Still, predictable patterns give order to this chaos. Discipline (the Japanese side) prevails over disarray (the Chinese)," and "In short, the Chinese are riotous in every way disgracefully so in their behavior, and delightfully so in their accoutrements." The only circumstance under which these very racially-charged statements might be possibly acceptable is if they are being used to describe the depictions of the images. Yet at first glance, that purpose is far from obvious; instead, the text seems to suggest that it is reporting history itself. The issue of the blatant racism so prominently exhibited in these images and descriptions is not addressed until much further down the page, almost at the end of the article.

In light of this, we at the CSSA would like to request the following:

1) The authors should provide the proper historical context for the prints as an introductory paragraph at the top of the page. This text should include arnings stating that the images are graphical in nature and could be potentially emotionally-damaging. This text should also address the racist sentiment and provide the historical perspective (the woodprints' wartime propaganda nature), with which it encourages readers to bear in mind when browsing through the pages.

2) MIT should pay special attention to the presentation of culturally-demeaning content, particularly to its emotionally-damaging potential. As materials in MIT's lauded Open Course Ware, this online exhibit is accessible by anyone with a computer and an internet connection anywhere around the world. Is this careless disregard for cultural sentiments what MIT wants the world to believe to be MIT's "visualization" of cultures? Is this cultural insensitivity what MIT wants to associate with its quality and breadth of classes?

While we are particularly sensitive to the exhibit's contents, we are certainly aware of their historical significance. We have no doubt that the authors do not endorse the wood prints' contents in any way beyond their artistic and historical value. Nevertheless, we cannot condone the irresponsible nature in which such material has been presented. An exhibit should provoke discussion / debate, but in this case, it could have been done in a more delicate manner that would not involve offending the entire Chinese community. We are ready to confront the past, but we believe that authors have a paramount duty to delivering proper guidance as well.

We welcome continued conversations on this issue, and we eagerly await your esponse.


MIT Official Statement:

Visualizing Cultures is an interdisciplinary research project, history course and educational outreach program that uses historical images and texts of different cultures in order to learn from them. We deeply regret that a section of this web site has caused distress and pain to members of the Chinese community.

Visualizing Cultures is an important and pioneering undertaking by two esteemed members of our faculty, Professor John Dower of the history faculty and Professor Shigeru Miyagawa of linguistics and of foreign languages and literatures. Professors Dower and Miyagawa have MIT's strongest support.

One section of the web site -- Throwing Off Asia -- authored by Professor Dower, refers to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and displays images of Japanese wood-block prints that were used as wartime propaganda. Some of these images show the atrocities of war and are examples of how societies use visual imagery as propaganda to further their political agendas. The use of these historical images is not an endorsement of the events depicted.

Many readers, however, have indicated that the purpose of the project is not sufficiently clear to counteract the negative messages within the historical images portrayed on the site. Professors Dower and Miyagawa have been meeting with members of the MIT Chinese community to discuss their concerns and have temporarily taken down the web site while these concerns are being addressed.

The response from some outside the community, on the other hand, has been inappropriate and antithetical to the mission and spirit of MIT and of any university. This is not only unfair to our colleagues, but contrary to the very essence of the university as a place for the free exploration of ideas and the embrace of intellectual and cultural diversity. In the spirit of collaboration, MIT encourages an open and constructive dialogue.

We need to preserve the ability to confront the difficult parts of human history if we are to learn from them.

Phillip L. Clay
Chancellor

Friday, April 28, 2006

EMC Laughed at, Thanks to Soon-Choo Loke


The secretary resigned, and the software sales who's name appeared in the long forwarding path was fired. But the image of EMC was also tarnished.

the moral of the story is the Loke can't even get along, or effectively restraint his own personal assistant.;) It was said the secretary was a senior veteran at EMC who should have known how to handle professionally, but obviously chose not to (by using Chinese and cc 'EMC All' mail lists). It seems everyone can't wait to see he becomes a piece of joke. Soon-Choo Loke had long been known among EMC China employees that he never met with his employees, never met with customers and never met with business parteners. How did he get hired by EMC after being kicked out of Oracle? Regardless of whatever the real issue at stake, where did Loke learn his broken English?

Scroll down and start reading from the bottom, enjoy.

"Yang, Qing SLC PL PEK"
18-04-2006 15:41
From: Gu, Fan SLC A&D PEK
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:38 PM
To: Cui, Pei SLC A&D PEK; Duan, Hui Jun SLC A&D SHA; Jiang, Xia SLC A&D PEK; Jing, Long SFAE M&C PEK; Li, Hong SLC A&D PEK; Li, Min Dong SLC A&D PEK; Luo, Wei SLC SMI PEK; Ma, Wei SLC A&D PEK; Ma, Yuan Yuan SLC A&D PEK; Wang, Yan SLC A&D PEK; Xu, Jing SLC A&D PEK; Xu, Xu SLC A&D PEK; Yang, Qing SLC PL PEK; Yu, Ling SLC HR PEK; Yu, Wei Jia SLC A&D PEK; Zhao, Yan - Fiona SLC A&D PEK; B Funny_ Wang Hong; B Funny_Carol Chen; B Funny_Li Zhao; B Funny_Liu Chunyu; B Funny_Lu Vivienne; B Funny_Luo Jie; B Funny_Sun Li; B Funny_Tao Ye; B Funny_Wu Bo; B Funny_Wu Xiaoming; B Funny_Wu Yanli; Ma MingHao
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Sun, Wei Wei (EXT)
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:25 PM
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Chen, Chen (EXT)
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:13 PM
To: Wei, Yi Ting SLC A&D PEK; Wang, Jian Jian SLC A&D PEK; Wang, Yan -Valen SLC A&D PEK; Mona.Huang@citicpru.com.cn; Meng, Xia SLC SASC PEK; Ma, Yao SLC A&D PEK; Jiang, Ling SLC A&D PEK; Amy MY Ma; Hugh.Hu@bmw.com; Liu, Yao SLC A&D PEK; Deng, Xin SLC A&D PEK; A&D CD Intern SLC PEK; Chen, Xue Lei SLC A&D PEK; Ni, Ya Xian SLC A&D SHA; Su, Wen Wen (EXT); Sun, Wei Wei (EXT); xjiang@adb.org; joannawu55; Edward; eric.jing@cn.pwc.com; Liu, Li - Lilly SLC SASC PEK
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Gao, Zheng SLC PL PEK
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:06 PM
From: chenyan@ciic.com.cn [mailto:chenyan@ciic.com.cn]
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 1:55 PM
To: 朱 朱; ZhangMaggie; simon; Max; Zhou Lilian; Yang, Li - Katherine SLC Com PEK; Jacky; xin huang; Bai Bessie
From: He, Tingchen (GE, Corporate)
Sent: 2006年4月18日 13:06
From: Zhang, Summer (GE, Corporate)
Sent: 2006年4月18日 11:23
To: Yang, Jun (GE, Corporate); He, Tingchen (GE, Corporate)
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Wang, Menglong (GE Healthcare, consultant)
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 10:29 AM
To: Mao, JieLin (GE Indust, Security)
Cc: Zhang, Summer (GE, Corporate)
Subject: 转发: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
Importance: Low
发件人: Qin (GE Healthcare)
发送时间: 2006年4月18日 9:38
主题: 转发: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
-----原始邮件-----
发件人: Huang, Zheng (GE Healthcare)
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 17:21
主题: 转发: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or
take things for granted
发件人: Cai, Jia-Chun (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH) [mailto:clare-jc.cai@hp.com]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:49
收件人: Pan, Xuebo (GE, Corporate, consultant); Wang, Xinlei (GE,Research); Hao, Lydia (GE Healthcare, consultant); Cao, Patrick (GE Healthcare, consultant); Zuo, Chenguang (GE Healthcare); Huang, Zheng (GE Healthcare)
From: Yang, Yang (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH)
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 4:46 PM
To: Cai, Jia-Chun (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH); Ding, Jing (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH);
Zhuang, Qi (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH); Zhao, Bo-yang (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH)
From: Faver.Sheng [盛夏] [mailto:Faver.Sheng@mic.com.tw]
Sent: 2006年4月17日 16:40
To: Eric.Shen; calves09@gmail.com; Yang, Yang (PSG-VSDB-ISR-SH);
yew_ray@hotmail.com
发件人: Albee.Li [李喆]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:37
收件人: hellen.lin [林蘇穎]; Cary.Chang [常任遠]; Scott.Shen[沈世祥]; Fly.Wang [汪菲]; Stelia.Wang [王賢婕]; Faver.Sheng [盛夏]; Cretia.Zhang [章莉莉]; Kelly.Wu [吳燏瑛]
主题: 答复: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
发件人: hellen.lin [林蘇穎]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:26Albee
收件人: Albee.Li [李喆]; Cary.Chang [常任遠]; Scott.Shen[沈世祥]; Fly.Wang [汪菲]; Stelia.Wang [王賢婕]; Faver.Sheng [盛夏]; Cretia.Zhang [章莉莉]; Kelly.Wu [吳燏瑛]
咔咔,是呃~~牛就牛到底呗,赫赫~~
发件人: Albee.Li [李喆]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:26
收件人: Cary.Chang [常任遠]; hellen.lin [林蘇穎]; Scott.Shen[沈世祥]; Fly.Wang [汪菲]; Stelia.Wang [王賢婕]; Faver.Sheng [盛夏]; Cretia.Zhang [章莉莉]; Kelly.Wu [吳燏瑛]
主题: 答复: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
发件人: Cary.Chang [常任遠]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:19Albee
收件人: hellen.lin [林蘇穎]; Scott.Shen[沈世祥]; Fly.Wang [汪菲]; Albee.Li [李喆]; Stelia.Wang [王賢婕]; Faver.Sheng [盛夏]; Cretia.Zhang [章莉莉]; Kelly.Wu [吳燏瑛]
主题: 答复: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or
take things for granted
这个是个mm把.这么强的回复.强~!!!
发件人: hellen.lin [林蘇穎]
发送时间: 2006年4月17日 16:14
收件人: Cary.Chang [常任遠]; Scott.Shen[沈世祥]; Fly.Wang [汪菲]; Albee.Li [李喆]; Stelia.Wang [王賢婕]; Faver.Sheng [盛夏]; Cretia.Zhang [章莉莉]; Kelly.Wu [吳燏瑛]
主题: 转发: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Chen, Ivona
Sent: 2006年4月17日 15:51
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Yang, Elena
Sent: 2006年4月17日 15:39
Subject: FW: secretary response in EMC..funny..---FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
Original Message-----
From: Brent Yuan [mailto:gwyuan@microsoft.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:28 AM
Subject: FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
From: Nan Zhang [mailto:zhang_nan1@emc.com]
Sent: 星期一 2006-04-10 16:25
To: Tian,Uko (HW)
Subject: FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
知道soon choo是谁吗?
俺们EMC中国区老大呀!
公司的老爷们儿们这叫一个汗呀
_____________________________________________
From: Hu, Rui [mailto:Hu_Rui@emc.com]
Sent: 2006年4月10日 13:48
To: Loke, Soon Choo
Cc: China All (Beijing); China All (Chengdu); China All (Guangzhou);China All (Shanghai); Lai, Sharon
Subject: FW: Do not assume or take things for granted
Soon Choo,

首先,我做这件事是完全正确的,我锁门是从安全角度上考虑的,北京这里不是没有丢过东西,如果一旦丢了东西,我无法承担这个责任。
其次,你有钥匙,你自己忘了带,还要说别人不对。造成这件事的主要原因都是你自己,不要把自己的错误转移到别人的身上。
第三, 你无权干涉和控制我的私人时间,我一天就8小时工作时间,请你记住中午和晚上下班的时间都是我的私人时间。
第四,从 到EMC的第一天到现在为止,我工作尽职尽责,也加过很多次的班,我也没有任何怨言,但是如果你们要求我加班是为了工作以外的事情,我无法做到。
第五,虽然咱们是上下级的关系,也请你注重一下你说话的语气,这是做人最基本的礼貌问题。
第六,我要在这强调一下,我并没有猜想或者假定什么,因为我没有这个时间也没有这个必要。
/******** Translation by the Seagull:
First, I did what I had to do. I locked the door in security concerns. EMC Beijing Office had been victim of burglary in the past. I could not afford the consequences if that happened.

Secondly, you have your own keys. You can't blame others when you forget to take it with you. It is unfair to accuse others of your own mistake.

Thirdly, you don't have right to control my personal life. I work here eight hours a day. Please notice that lunch break and after hours are my private time.

In the fourth place, I have been working diligently ever since day one I joined EMC. Many times I worked after work without complaint. However if you ask me to stay in office for something else other than work, I will not be able do that.

Fifthly, although you are my boss, but please have manners when you speak. This is a basic courtesy a human being should be capable of.

Lastly, let me emphasize, I did not assume anything or take anything for granted. I do not have the luxury of time, nor do I see the necessity to do that.
********/
_____________________________________________
From: Loke, Soon Choo
Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2006 1:13 AM
To: Hu, Rui
Cc: Ng, Padel; Ma, Stanley; Zhou, Simon; Lai, Sharon
Subject: Do not assume or take things for granted

Rebecca, I just told you not to assume or take things for granted on Tuesday and you locked me out of my office this evening when all my things are all still in the office because you assume I have my office key on my person.

With immediate effect, you do not leave the office until you have checked with all the managers you support - this is for the lunch hour as well as at end of day, OK?

Monday, April 24, 2006

Python

Why Python on Windows XP?
Python on XP: 7 Minutes to "hello World"

Science and Engineering Degrees, via Digg

via Digg, via Leisure Class


BS/BA Degrees
unit 1000
BS Engineering
unit 1000
% Degrees
Engineering
US1,253.059.55%
China567.9219.639%
S. Korea209.756.527%
Taiwan117.426.623%
Japan542.3104.519%




Students Receiving Ph.D's in Physical Science or Engineering
19872001Growth
US Citizens getting degree4,7004,400(6.4%)
Asian Citizens getting5,60024,900345%

Sunday, April 23, 2006

How did a political dissident infiltrate the White House?

Wang Wenyi was not a nobody when she entered the White House to threaten visiting Chinese president Hu Jintao. Her track record including a face to face confrontation with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. In addition, the newspaper Epoch Times who sent her there is not a real news agency, but a propaganda outfit for the banned Falun Gong cult. The newspaper is distributed free of charge in ten languages to superstore door-sides. Down to the bottom, Wang was never a reporter for Epoch Times.

During the White House ceremony, Wang was allowed several minutes to rant and curse before she was led away by the security.

Many Americans are proud of the US of being a 'great' nation. In the least, the US is a 'large' nation. People in a large nation got to realize that playing little crook pranks like this is nothing to be proud of.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Mao Yisheng: The First PhD Recipient of CMU

from Carnegie Mellon News Release:

Carnegie Mellon to Unveil Campus Sculpture of Famous Engineer and First Ph.D. Recipient

Statue Will Be Sited in Exterior Alcove Alongside Baker and Porter Halls


Mao Yisheng during his younger days.

As a young engineer and pioneering bridge builder in China, Mao Yisheng had to do the unthinkable. To stop the approach of troops from Japan in 1937, Mao destroyed the Qiantang River Bridge near Hangzhou. It was a bridge that he had helped to build.

A history of Mao's life written by Engineering Professor Emeritus Steve Fenves, tells us that when World War II was over, Mao supervised the reconstruction of the Qiantang Bridge. He was the chief engineer for many other projects in China, including the first Yangtze River Bridge at Wuhan, and the structural design of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. He also holds a unique position in Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Institute of Technology) history as its first Ph.D.

Carnegie Mellon will dedicate a statue of this famed Chinese engineer, educator and alumnus on its campus during a ceremony at 4:30 p.m., April 18 at the sculpture site in an exterior alcove alongside Baker and Porter halls. The statue, designed by two famous Chinese sculptors, includes an inscription from China's Premier, Wen Jiabao.

Mao had come to Pittsburgh, a city of bridges, to gain practical experience in bridge construction before completing his thesis on stress analysis of long span bridges. He also worked for a steel fabricator in Wilkinsburg for a brief time, according to Emeritus Engineering Professor Tung Au.

Mao is widely considered to be one of the preeminent engineering minds of the last century. He was on the faculty of five major universities and served as president of four, including Beijing Jiaotong University, where he had earned his undergraduate degree. He helped to transform Chinese engineering education by introducing new subject matter and problem solving techniques into university curricula. He also was a distinguished scholar of the history of science in China.

During his lifetime, Mao was honored as an academician of the Academia Sinica of China and the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China. He was a foreign associate of the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S.

Mao died in 1989, at the age of 93.

The dedication of the statue is not the first time that Carnegie Mellon has honored Mao's accomplishments. In 1979, during a return trip to Carnegie Mellon, Mao received recognition for his lifetime accomplishments from then President Richard Cyert and former president Jake Warner.

Last December, Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon made a trip to Mao's undergraduate institution, Beijing Jiaotong University, to commemorate Mao as a distinguished alumnus of both universities. Mao graduated from the Tangshan campus of Jiaotong University in 1916 before coming to the U.S. to earn his master's from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Tech.

The Mao Yisheng statue will be unveiled in an exterior alcove alongside Baker and Porter halls.
"Carnegie Mellon is immensely proud of the accomplishments of Mao Yisheng, our first Ph.D. graduate. His contributions to major engineering projects and his immense impact as an educator in China make him truly one of the most important engineers of the 20th century. His career illustrates Carnegie Mellon's global reach, and adds further luster to Carnegie Mellon's history," said President Cohon.

"The statue of Mao Yisheng symbolizes Carnegie Mellon's leadership as a global institution for change. Dr. Mao took the skills he acquired at Carnegie Mellon and changed modern bridge building techniques. We are proud to have him as our first Ph.D alumnus in civil engineering," said Pradeep Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering.

"With the gift from Mr. Zhang Yue, his family and other donors, all from China, we mark the beginning of a fruitful cooperation between our university and key Chinese agencies and industries dedicated to our common goal of developing sustainable building practices at the beginning of the 21st century," said Architecture Professor Volker Hartkopf, who has been actively involved in the historical recognition of Mao on this campus.

The Broad Air Conditioning Company based in China donated the statue to Carnegie Mellon. Its installation was supported by several donors: Astorino, China Construction America, Inc., China State Engineering Corporation, Cost Company, Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Fund and Sheen Harbour Ltd.

Teresa Thomas
April 13, 2006

Nikon D200 this bad (compare to Canon 5D)?

from a Chinese photo site: link

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

2006 ACM ICPC World Finals Standings of Participating Chinese Universities

No. 1 Saratov State University (1st place Russia)
No. 5 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (1st place China)
No. 8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1st place US)
No. 13 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (1st place Korea)
No. 13 Beijing University
No. 13 Zhejiang University

No. 19 Kyoto University (1st place Japan)
No. 19 National Taiwan University
No. 19 The University of Hong Kong
No. 19 University of Science and Technology of China
No. 19 University of Tokyo
No. 19 Sun Yat-sen University
No. 39 Fudan University
No. 39 Fuzhou University
No. 39 Renmin University

No. 39 The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Honorable mention:
Carnegie Mellon University
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (1st place India)
Sichuan University

Monday, April 17, 2006

Authority and Legistamacy of the Wikipedia

A client made a comment on the blocking of the Wikipedia by the Chinese government. I replied, that was not as bad as blocking Google (which did happened, and it was believed that Baidu was the culprit).

By all means, Wikipedia has become such an important factor in everyday life, that I had throw my other versions of encyclopedias away. I was not concerned a bit over user vandalism because Wiki has build-in machinism to combat that effectively. However, it emerged that another kind of abuse could be very hard to prevent. That is, the vandalism conducted by the administrators.

In the case of the deletion of 'Jerry Taylor', not only the Wiki page, but also the discussion history were deleted. This is not acceptable, but people who are looking for information on Jerry could see the sign of deletion notice hanging there, and get a sense of not being totally lost. This is bad, but not the worst.

The worst nightmare came true in a related page, the wikipedia entry for the city of 'Tuttle Oklahoma', there was a paragraph of the neologism 'tuttled'. That paragraph was vaporized without a trace. Nothing in the history discussion, and no record in the article history to be tracked. A group of people can make administrative decisions as specified in the rules of wikipedia. However, the very decision should not include wiping out every trace of the decision itself as well as the decision making process.

The legitimacy of the wikipedia is built on the clearly cut rules and the theory of wit of mass. The wiping out of trace of 'tuttled' shows the administration of the project has no confidence in the mass, and that they think they can play the mass as it calls necessary.

Google's Localization in China

Google has officially announced their localization plan in China, which includes setting up Chinese search servers inside mainland China so that they would allow easy access for the monitoring agencies. The whole incident has been broadly publicized, but overshadowed by the Yahoo's tragedy exposure of Chinese dissidents which results in at least two cases of long term jail times.

Nothing can be perfect, as Google and Yahoo's administration put it. The only way to conduct business in China may require some extend of comprise to the authorities. However, there should always be a bottom line, one that should not be easily crossed. Alas, Yahoo crossed it. I had thought Google did not, and would not. I was wrong.

Google direct all of searches originated from mainland China to its servers in mainland server, even including pure Google English searches. As a result, even the results were re-ordered. In other words, if you reside in mainland China, two Google search at www.google.com would generate two different answers if one went through a proxy and one did not.

Monday, April 10, 2006

HUST and NKU ranked first in economists

Nineteen Chinese professors were ranking among top 1,000 economists in the world. Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan and Nankai University in Tianjin ranked first in China with three each.


  1. Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST): 3
    Nankai University: 3
  2. Qinghua University: 2
    Wuhan University: 2
    Jilin University: 2
  3. Zhongnan University: 1
    Nanjing University: 1
    Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU): 1
    Zhejiang University: 1
    Beijing University: 1

11 Craziest Mental disorders

Via Digg at 2Spare.


  1. Dr. Strangelove syndrome: hands with a life of its own

    Alien hand syndrome (or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is a neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a life of its own.

    Sometimes the sufferer will not be aware of what the hand is doing until it is brought to his or her attention. Alien hands can perform complex acts such as undoing buttons or removing clothing.

  2. Foreign accent syndrome: speaking your language with an accent

    The syndrome causes people to speak their native language as if they had a foreign accent; for example, an American native speaker might speak with a French-sounding accent. It usually follows a severe brain injury, such as a stroke.

  3. Capgras' syndrome: believing there's an impostor in the family

    The Capgras delusion or Capgras' syndrome is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that an acquaintance, usually a close family member or spouse, has been replaced by an identical looking imposter.

  4. Triskaidekaphobia: fear of the number 13.

    Adolf Hitler was triskaidekaphobic. A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. Tetraphobia is the fear of the number 4 in China, Japan, and Korea.

  5. Bigorexia: working out too much

    Bigorexia or Muscle dysmorphia is a disorder in which an individual becomes obsessed that they are not muscular enough. Sometimes referred to as bigorexia or reverse anorexia nervosa, it is a very specific case of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

    Muscle dysmorphia can cause individuals to:
    - Constantly check themselves in a mirror
    - Become distressed if a gym session is missed
    - Take potentially dangerous drugs (e.g. anabolic steroids)
    - Neglecting jobs/relationships/family due to exercising

  6. Bibliomania: collecting too many books

    Bibliomania is an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged. The purchase of multiple copies of the same book and edition and the accumulation of books beyond possible capacity of use or enjoyment are frequent symptoms of bibliomania.

  7. Exploding head syndrome: a loud noise in the head

    It causes the sufferer to occasionally experience a tremendously loud noise as if from within his or her own head, usually described as an explosion or a roar. This usually occurs within an hour or two of falling asleep, but is not the result of a dream.

  8. Trichotillomania: urge to pull out scalp hair

    Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder characterised by the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, beard hair, nose hair, pubic hair, eyebrows or other body hair. It may be distantly related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, with which it shares both similarities and differences.

  9. Androphobia: fear of men

    Androphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of men. Sufferers of this disorder experience anxiety even though they realize they may face no real threat. Androphobia is one of infinite possible phobias, and as such can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age.

  10. Munchausen syndrome: faking illnesses to gain atention

    In Munchausen syndrome, the sufferer feigns, exaggerates, or creates symptoms of illnesses in himself or herself in order to gain attention, sympathy, and comfort from medical personnel. The role of "patient" is a familiar and comforting one, and it fills a psychological need in people with Munchausen's.

  11. Celebriphilia: pathological desire to have sex with a Celebrity

    celebriphilia is an abnormally intense desire to have a romantic and/or sexual relationship with a celebrity.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Li Ruihuan's Will

Mr. Li Ruihuan will donate all his properties to assisting education of poor students. Li has been giving to poor students at least $60,000 since 1996. The money came from his book royalty, his and his wife's salaries and gifts from his children. Reported by Tianjin Daily on March 24, 2006.

Most popular programming languages in the world


According to TIOBE, Java is the most popular programming language in the world, replaces the status of C of this time last year.

From the first data point at June 2001, C has been holding the line, while C++ withdrawn almost 30%. Beyound other reasons, probably because for today's college students, C++ is even hearder to grasp than notorious hard C. Perl is being replaced by PHP, which is not a surprise. The surprise is that C# is barely doing any better than Python.






















































































































































































































Position

Apr 2006
Position

Apr 2005
Delta

in Position
Programming LanguageRatings


Apr 2006
Delta

Apr 2005
Status
12

Java21.275%+4.29%A
21

C17.688%-0.95%A
34

C++10.900%+0.71%A
45

PHP10.880%+2.15%A
56

Basic10.109%+3.32%A
63

Perl5.847%-4.35%A
78
C#3.948%+1.13%A
89
Python2.759%+0.06%A
911

JavaScript1.567%-0.07%A
107

Delphi/Kylix1.443%-2.23%A
1112

SAS1.428%+0.07%A
1210

PL/SQL1.009%-0.74%A
1343
30 *
Visual FoxPro0.834%+0.74%A--
1415

Lisp/Scheme0.721%-0.09%A--
1524

ColdFusion0.542%+0.16%B
1626

VB.NET0.541%+0.18%B
1714

COBOL0.517%-0.47%A--
1832
14 *
Ruby0.493%+0.20%B
1918

Ada0.490%-0.15%B
2030

D0.484%+0.16%B