政治正确性

前几天听网上的广播听到这么个消息
在美国的某个城市，有个议员提议允许孕妇使用残疾人专用停车位。因为孕妇行动不便，使用残疾人专用停车位可以省去她们找停车位的麻烦，而且一般这些停车位离建筑物入口也比较近，可以让孕妇少走些路。
要一般人都会说“这个建议多好呀，希望我们中华帝国的人民代表们也提一下。尤其听说明年是什么“金猪”年，孕妇特别多。”
可是不，女权组织反对这个建议“你们男的一向压迫广大妇女，现在不要假惺惺地提什么‘照顾孕妇’。你们提议允许孕妇使用‘残疾人停车位’分明是在歧视孕妇，认为孕妇＝残疾人。阴险啊，阴险！我们广大的即将成为母亲的女性朋友们看透了你们的阴谋。让孕妇们用也可以，但是要把停车位上的标志改成‘残疾人和孕妇专用’，否则，嘿嘿，姑奶奶俺不用！”
最后大家商量了一下，还是决定暂时不改标志，让孕妇们先用着，以后再改也不迟。而且该议员本人就是个女的，绝没有歧视女性，尤其是孕妇的意思。
为什么这个议员的好心会被当成了驴肝肺，就是因为她说得话没有“政治正确性”。

还是在美国，前年的飓风以后，布什同志的妈妈芭芭拉去新奥尔良去看看，看到广大的黑人群众们住在帐篷里，每天吃不要钱的东西，就说“我看他们的情况还不错嘛，可能比他们原来的还好一点呢！”。于是被眼睛雪亮的人民同志们抓住了把柄。“芭芭拉老太你说话不要太过分，我们黑人虽然没有钱，可是我们也是人！不要在我们面前表现你好像很有见地的样子。要是克林顿在，他就不会说这个话！”
你看看，芭芭拉虽然是老同志了，在“政治正确性”的问题上还是犯了错误。

什么是“政治正确性”呢？简单地说就是说话，做事要小心，不要在语言上，行为上冒犯了其他的(尤其是非主流的）政治，文化，等等群体。比如上面那个议员，就冒犯了妇女群体。芭同志就冒犯了黑人群体。

西方人讲究思想“自由”，觉得“政治正确性”然他们不能自由表达，所以很多人反对这个东东。你要是看过“南方公园”，你就知道什么是“政治不正确性”。“南方公园”就是“政治正确性”的反面，冒犯所有人，甚至包括汤姆.克鲁斯以及耶稣：－）。

我也觉得“政治正确性”是个没用的东西，尤其是在一个思想开放的社会。对非主流群体的尊重和保护应该是每个“思想开放”的社会必须的东西，而不仅仅是“政治正确性”的东西。所谓“政治正确性”的所带来的尊重和保护，远远抵不上他所带来的负面影响，尤其是如果有人把这个东西当真的话。

不过呢，我倒是觉得我们有着几千年的文明的中华帝国可以借鉴一些“政治正确性”的东西。我们中国人是最恨“特立独行”的了，没有“个人”，“不同”的概念，总想着自己是天下最正宗的（有一阵觉得自己是在白人以后最正宗的）“人类。“政治正确性”的板子至少可以让我们知道把印度人叫做“阿三”是不对的。

Happy Birthday Wikipedia

Today is Wikipedia's 6th birthday.
What started as an English Language project is now a community oriented, web based free encyclopedia.

Some facts about Wikipedia

1. The English language Wikipedia has over 800,000 articles and is larger than the Encyclopedia Britannica and Microsoft Encarta combined.
2. German is second with over 300,000 articles, followed by French, Japanese, and Polish. Thirty languages have over 10,000 articles, and 75 have around 1,000. Wikipedia has about 110,000 articles in Chinese.
3. Wikipedia is a Top 40 Web site.
4. Wikipedia has about 2.4 billion page views a month.
5. It is housed in multiple data centers on over 120 servers that are managed by volunteers.
6. Over half of the edits on Wikipedia are done by just 0.7% of all users (615 people)
7. and the most active 2% (1746 users) has done 75% of the edits.

Happy Birthday Wikipedia! Hooray!

Software I can not live without

My friend Harry posted on his blog a list of software he uses everyday. I thought I would do the same, since I feel good software can really make your day much easier. And seeing other peoples (e.g. my wife) doing things in much too complicated ways, simply because they are not aware that there are tools can help them out, really really annoys me.

So here we go, I present you a list of software I can not live without (in the Windows world)

1. Slick Run : From it's website, " SlickRun is a free floating command line utility for Windows. SlickRun gives you almost instant access to any program or website. SlickRun allows you to create command aliases (known as MagicWords), so C:Program FilesOutlook Expressmsimn.exe becomes MAIL.". And that's exactly what it does. You can define MagicWords for any of your favorite programs, and Win-Q will bring up a little floating box where you can type your magic word to bring up the application. And because it has auto-complete function, you'll never need to type more than 2-3 letters.
I have "eps" as alias for "eclipse", "mail" for Outlook, "im" for Miranda IM, "ie" for ... well IE and lots more. This little babe absolutely rocks.

2. Firefox with NoScript , AdBlock , Google Browser Sync and Google Search Bar : With those Extentions Firefox is better than ever. I have few other Extentions installed as well. But they are more Eye-candies.
3. Miranda Im or GAIM : I used GAIM on Linux for very long time and absolutely loved it. So when I switched to a Windows machine, the first thing I did was installing GAIM for Windows. Then I came across a small IM software called Miranda. Compare to GAIM with GTK, Miranda is absolutely tiny and as powerful (if not more so). The best feature i like about Miranda is its hot keys and you can use Esc to close your message window. Could come in handy when your boss is approaching :-)

4. MusikCube : you say winAmp, they say foobar. you say iTune and i say no no no.

I have always wanted to have a music player that is simple to use, organizes my music well and plays music well. On Linux you have Amarock, which is probably the best music player ever, unfortunately, there is no Windows version (yet). Other music players are either too thin in functionalities or too big and complicated to be .... just a music player/organizer. MusikCube has the right mix, it looks like iTune but is far smaller than iTune, uses about 2Mb memory. It synchronizes with your Music Folders, you can edit MP3 tag, you can even create your own dynamic play list using the build-in database. And with plug-ins, it supports MP3, WMA, OGG and other music formats.

5. MultiDesk : I have tried quite a few virtual desktop software and found this old program the smallest and the simplest to use. And it does what it is supposed to do very well. You can define the number of desktops you want to have on your screen, you can navigate to a different desktop using hot keys, you can move applications around using your mouse. Yes it lacks some flashy features like thumbnail desktop view, drag 'n drop to move applications around etc., but I consider those are mere eye-candy things anyway.

6. Free Commander : Two pane file manager for all Windows Explorer haters. It is fast, free and really really powerful. Let you define your favorite folders so that you can access them using hot keys. Tab to switch between those 2 panes, Shift + Drive Letter to access a different drive. Build-in zip/unzip facilities. Access Zip, RAR, Jar files as folders. It also supports Torsoise CVS/SVN icons.
I have other very handy software I use from time to time, maybe i will talk about them next time. Until then, see you.

我们是怎样打赢日本的

美国人Philip Roth写了一本书叫做The Plot Against America: A Novel 讲的是一段假想的历史，就是在１９４０年，反犹太的“美国英雄”Charles A. Lindbergh打败了罗斯福，成为美国的战时总统。对内积极反犹，对外推行所谓的“和平”政策，对陷入战争困境的英国不闻不问，反而和纳粹德国打得火热。在故事的最后，小说的主人公只好逃亡加拿大，加入反抗组织。Philip Roth是美国非常有名气的作家，不过这个小说我并没有读完，因为历史小说（哪怕是假的历史）不是我的爱好，大概读了一下就还给图书馆了。

不过读的时候我倒是在想，如果历史真的向作者所写的这样发展了，不光是美国，整个世界都不会是现在这个世界了。我们中国也不知道会是什么样。因为不管你愿不愿意，中国的抗日战争是在美国和苏联的帮助下才打赢的。没有美国的帮助，历史是会完全不同的。
然后有一天我在翻鲁迅先生的书的时候，看到了这个
“...
我回忆自己的得到一点知识，真是苦得可怜。幼小时候，我知道中国在“盘古氏开辟天地”之后，有三皇五帝，……宋朝，元朝，明朝，“我大清”。到二十 岁，又听说“我们”的成吉思汗征服欧洲，是“我们”最阔气的时代。到二十五岁，才知道所谓这“我们”最阔气的时代，其实是蒙古人征服了中国，我们做 了奴才。直到今年八月里，因为要查一点故事，翻了三部蒙古史，这才明白蒙古人的征服“斡罗思”，侵入匈奥，还在征服全中国之前，那时的成吉思还不是 我们的汗，倒是俄人被奴的资格比我们老，应该他们说“我们的成吉思汗征服中国，是我们最阔气的时代”的。

...”

--鲁迅 《随便翻翻》

看了这个我恍然大悟，喔，其实我们是根本就不需要别人的帮助的。我中华帝国几千年没被人灭过，就算没有人帮忙，我们还是可以打败日本的。

下面这个，就是我想象的历史，我们打败日本的历史。

（让我们回到６０－７０年前）
美国最终放下了他“和平”的幌子，加入了德国，意大利和日本。对中，苏等国宣战。
汪精卫政府被美国承认。
在美国的支持下，中国政府军和日本志愿军打败了蒋介石的军队和中国共产党的游击队。
蒋介石只好逃亡南美，成立中华民国流亡政府。
中共苏区政府逃亡苏联，建立苏维埃中国流亡政府。
大批华侨纷纷“慷慨解囊”资助流亡政府，为了争夺更多的资助，流亡政府们经常互相攻击。（和现在臭了街的所谓“民运人士”倒是一样！）
Ｎ年过去了，流亡的继续流亡。
二战结束了。德，意，日，美，苏，中等国签订“和平条约”。曰“世世代代再不打仗！”
战事已落，新的中国政府开始施行“新政”。照搬了日本国的宪法，规定女人都要穿和服，大家都要学日语。
于是大家不满“新政”，于是政府开杀，于是大家都老实了。
不老实的开始“反日复华”运动，于是杀，动了一阵也就不太动了。据说是因为大家都要和平，也要发展。
于是新政得以实施。
“日语速成班”在全国开花。
《和服的穿法》是当年年度最畅销书。
ＧＤＰ翻了一翻，后来又翻了一翻。
大家于是说“新政好呀！”，“新政开创了新的盛世！”
“反日复华”运动的首领被告密，处决。没有人知道，因为那天股票涨停了版。
然后，我们的知识分子考证，说“在历史上中日是一家人！”，喔！大家说“我们是一家呀！”
《我们是一家》是当年最流行的歌曲，ＴＯＰ１。
然后人民代表提出我们应该和日本国合为一国，要统一！日本的天皇就是我们的皇上，是一样的。国民议会全票通过《关于和日本国合并的议案》
然后有好事的大学生上街闹事
于是杀了几个，老实了。
来年，日本，中国，韩国，满洲国合并为东亚帝国。中华自治区区长建议天皇迁都北京－－“紫禁城，比东京的宫殿气派多了去了！”
于是天皇决定迁都北京。
北京改名东京。东京改名天京。
来年，朝鲜自治区发生动乱。中华自治区派兵平叛，杀了无数。从此中华自治区成为东亚帝国的中心。
天皇开始任用华人做高官。

Ｎ年以后，政府中华人掌握了大权，在华人议院的支持下，天皇解散议会，恢复“古礼”，以孔教为“国教”。天皇也不再叫天皇了，叫皇上，大家见了要行三拜九叩之礼。
皇上亲自祭孔，并拜孔子为师。全国人民好感动喔！
Ｎ年过去了
皇上改国名为“中华帝国”。日本自治区大怒，派兵攻打。皇上派人找美国帮忙。
美国在日本自治区投下原子弹。
“这是为了和平！”据说天皇是流着泪说的。
大家好感动喔！“皇上英明呀！”
于是又是盛世！
Ｎ年又过去了。
日本国也好，中华民国也好，都已成为历史。有的只是这个新的中华帝国，和这个新的“唯我独尊”的，“千秋万代”的皇上。
电视上演的是《戏说裕仁》，《铁血宰相东条英机》
历史书上是“我们的天皇，统一了东亚”！

“我们”又赢了！万岁！

Too much hype will hurt you

2007 Mac World SF conference will start in few hours. And the rumors are running high, actually, the rumors have been running pretty high ever since the last big Mac event (Mac developers conference?). Speculations about iPhone, iWork, iTv and Leopard have jammed Mac rumours oriented websites such as (what else can it be?) macrumors.com And God knows how many blogs, online forums are dedicated to those mostly mere speculations. Mac users, Mac admirers, Mac user wannabes and other strange people who consider Steve Jobs the ultimate American idol will go crazy whenever Apple releases a new product, opens a new store or do anything start with an "i". And Steve Jobs and Apple have done a pretty job too, they rarely disappoint their audiences (oops, I mean USERS), except for that $100 leather iPod case. (but honestly, that's not Apple's fault, nobody would thought that Apple would hold a news conference just to anouce a leather iPod case and a funny looking speaker, right? )

So far, this fanfare has been doing Apple more good than bad. We've seen iPod turning from just another MP3 player into some kind of fashion statement and then into some kind of world phenomenon. Mac OS X has become the new Linux (and Ubuntu the new Mac OS), MS' number one nemesis. A lot of people I know either have bought (at least) a Mac computer or/and (at least) an iPod or are considering buying one (me for one is considering buying a ng Mac mini)
.


But this could all change. Have too much expectations on something could lead to either high satisfaction when the expected results are delivered or big disappointment when expectations are not fulfilled. Just imagine this, rumors about a iPhone have been around for more than a year, every time Apple is going to announce something, anything, people will say .... "They are going to release iPhone, they are going to release iPhone!", and each time when it is not released, this just build up the expectation. Now i think it has reached a stage where people won't be totally happy, if Steve Jobs announces anything that is not truely revolutionary. Putting iTune in a cellar phone won't do it, a brick sized mobile phone with iPod look interface won't do it either. Not releasing it .... I am not sure how long this can be considered an option. Honestly, i won't be surprised if there are people taking their lives for Steve Jobs not announcing an iPhone this time around.

One might argue that this fanfare is not built by Apple or encouraged (directly) by Apple. That might be true, but at least Apple and Steve Jobs should have kept users expectation to a reasonable level. Instead, Apple and Steve Jobs have been (maybe unintentionally) inflaming the speculations. This could really backfire.

... well, enough said. With 2007 Mac World SF starting in a little more than 5 hours, let's see how Steve Jobs and Apple will meet Mac fans expectations this time.
P.S I do hope they will announce a Media Center Mac Mini. And ... a Mac smart phone with PDA would be cool too :-)

Monkey Write

Today I read this quotation from Robert Wilensky on the Internet.

We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.

Robert Wilensky, speech at a 1996 conference

with now more than 60 million blogs on the internet (including this one), and (i safely assume) most of those bloggers do use a keyboard, we should have got few sets of "complete works of Shakespeare" by now. Well, we all know that the sad truth is we still have only one Shakespeare. Random selection (event a large number of selections) will lead to nothing meaningful.

This reminded me of something else. In Richard Dawkins' 1987 BBC documentary "The Blind Watchmaker", this great evolutionist and atheist showed us a computer program (in C?) which could simulate natural selection on genetic structures. It shows that natural selection is not random or "by pure chances" ... random selection will lead to nothing. However, when "only the fittest survive" rule was applied, the program showed that computer simulated genetic structures can actually evolve. After number of generations, it will develop certain features that best suit it's surrounding environment.

What I am trying to say here is that by randomly selecting 1 million monkeys at a million keyboards probably would not produce any works of Shakespeare, however, if we can enforce certain rules (grammar) on those monkeys and their "writings" (typing), it could actually lead to something, not Shakespeare himself but something more like ... the current blog world maybe? just a thought :-) ....