Why it's hard to be a moderate

I was playing basketball with a group of Chinese students in the other day. It was great and a lot of fun. We were playing half-court basketball and one end of the court was empty.
At the end of one of our match (about 10 people), around six non-Chinese (Lao Wai) students came and asked us whether we wanted to play full court. We got into a debate about playing one full court game vs. playing two half court games. I thought that the opinion among Chinese students might be diverse so I asked everyone to hold their hands up if they want to play full court (which was my preference). The vote didn't pass.
After the night ended, a few Chinese students half-jokingly / half-seriously accused me of siding with the foreigners. I merely tried to reach a democratic consensus without holding onto ethnic divisions. If a game of basketball can lead to ethnic hard-liners speaking out, no wonder racial genocide will still occur in the world. Not only that, I feel sympathy for those people who do not let their ideologies and decisions fall into racial groups. Such as the moderate Hutus. They are perceived to be extremists by the opposing group and traitors by their own group.

贝多芬的爱情和他后期音乐

今天早上听了几首晚期贝多芬作品 （第九交响乐， 后期弦乐四重奏）， 好像能感觉出来音乐历史家议论的贝多芬“永久情人”。 老贝一辈子都没结婚。 在1805-1812 年 （晚年）时期他爱上了一位女士。 学者至今还搞不清楚这位女士的身份， 统称叫她“永久情人”。 可惜好像是单相思， 带给了这伟大的艺术家不可衡量的痛苦。
贝多芬第九交响乐前两个乐章很有报复， 激情，起伏， 我觉得是代表了他暗恋和得不到回应的感情。 几乎能体会到他当时的内心矛盾和在痛爱中欲哭无泪的迷失。
第九交响乐第三乐章听起来好像是表现了贝的爱情的抒情一面。 丰满的法国圆号现表示了他感情的纯真和伟大。 过几分钟弦乐朗诵着美丽的旋律。 但是不是那种年轻人热恋的感觉， 而是包含着一种成熟感，责任感， 还有付出的精神。

很快， 第三乐章结束了， 第四乐章开始了。马上对比很明显。 就像从一场甜蜜的梦醒来， 发现了现实是多么残酷。

还有给我印象很深的是四重奏作品号135， 第三乐章。 (Lento Assai). 整个乐章都标着“pp" (安静的）。 主旋很单薄， 简单， 朴实， 给人一种绝望的感觉。

可见老贝晚年挺惨的。 又失去了听力与失去了情人。

卡拉扬指挥的柏林爱乐 表演 第九交响曲可以在 youtube 上找到。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2AEaQJuKDY&translated=1

Funny Chinese names

Sorry this is untranslatable to English because the humour lies in all the homonyms.

据公安部姓名查询系统, 全国最爆笑的人名 :
刘产 赖月京 (还是个男的)
范剑 姬从良
范统 夏建仁
朱逸群 秦寿生 (亏他父母想得出)
庞光 杜琦燕
魏生津 矫厚根
沈京兵 杜子腾
杨伟
排名第一的 : 史珍香
不准笑 ! 群发一下 , 大家捡捡牙(减减压) .Fu

PhD vs. Undergrad+Masters / 博士 vs. 本科

Xingbo and I were discussing the difference between PhD and Undergrad/Masters. We reached the following analogy.
If you're a undergrad/masters student, and you're given a paper to read, all you're required is to comprehend the technical points in the paper and know how to reuse it. If you're a PhD student, you need to write a significantly improved paper.

我和师弟Xingbo 那天谈了谈 博士和本科的区别。 最后达到了此下比喻：
如果把一篇技术文章给他看， 他只需要理解里面的技术内容还有领会此技术的应用。 但是，一个博士生就需要创造出更好，更深的新技术。

Science vs. Engineering / 科学 vs. 工程

I was discussing with my friend Xingbo today about the difference between engineering and science. He gave a good definition. Engineering research results in immediate added value to society while science research requires engineering efforts before their fruits can be reaped by the society.
IEOR Department joke: "When does engineering become science? When it stops being useful"

Xingbo 和我讨论了一下科学和工程的区别。 他很英明的发表出一对很吻合的定义。 工程研究是可以直接产生社会价值， 而科学研究是须要工程研究的加工才能导致可用产品。 两个都一样重要， 往往科学更加难，名利少很多。
我们系的玩笑是：当工程研究变得没用了，它就变成科学了。

Finite Simple Group

The path of love is never smooth
But mine's continuous for you
You're the upper bound in the chains of my heart
You're my Axiom of Choice, you know it's true

But lately our relation's not so well-defined
And I just can't function without you
I'll prove my proposition and I'm sure you'll find
We're a finite simple group of order two

I'm losing my identity
I'm getting tensor every day
And without loss of generality
I will assume that you feel the same way

Since every time I see you, you just quotient out
The faithful image that I map into
But when we're one-to-one you'll see what I'm about
'Cause we're a finite simple group of order two

Our equivalence was stable,
A principal love bundle sitting deep inside
But then you drove a wedge between our two-forms
Now everything is so complexified

When we first met, we simply connected
My heart was open but too dense
Our system was already directed
To have a finite limit, in some sense

I'm living in the kernel of a rank-one map
From my domain, its image looks so blue,
'Cause all I see are zeroes, it's a cruel trap
But we're a finite simple group of order two

I'm not the smoothest operator in my class,
But we're a mirror pair, me and you,
So let's apply forgetful functors to the past
And be a finite simple group, a finite simple group,
Let's be a finite simple group of order two
(Oughter: "Why not three?")

I've proved my proposition now, as you can see,
So let's both be associative and free
And by corollary, this shows you and I to be
Purely inseparable. Q. E. D.

What it's like at Columbia Operations Research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FULHGwPkw&feature=player_embedded

为什么有些人那么没有正义感？

今日根一个匿名同学谈话。 开始聊学术， 发现他人很投机。 那个山高靠那个山。 没有对一个学科的忠义和献身。

后来又谈了谈政治。 谈到了台湾问题。 他说台湾应该是中国的。 这是说的没有特别离谱， 但是他跟的原因让我很吃惊。

“有了台湾， 就可以采到南海的石油， 还可以控制南海的运输。 在多了， 可以在台湾建立军事基地。”

我 觉得， 这个理由太自私了。 国际社会， 虽然说是自由法则， 但是人类也正在逐渐走向一种道德规范。 国家应该有一种正义感， 公平对待所有民族。 像美国， 为石油大伊拉克， 被全世界大骂。 像英国，为了殖民地和赚钱抢香港买鸦片。 像希特勒， 为了所谓的“德意志民族生存空间”霸占澳洲。 这些是多么自私和不正当的行为啊！ 不能总想着民族利益。 如果民族利益战胜了人类正义， 这就是纳粹。 如果”国家之上”战胜了人类正义， 这就是最狭隘的丑恶，野蛮行为。

为什么有些人那么物质？ / Why are some people so materialistic?

(English below)
昨天跟一个同学聊天， 说到了工作和人生志向。

她说好多同学顶破头挤进了高盛 （Goldman Sachs) 做金融，但是一天工作十六十七个小时， 人很不开心。 去做那工作就是为了赚些钱， 但是赚到了钱又丢到生命的快乐。 我就跟她说， “那他们就辞职干其它工作吧？” 她说， “谁舍得穿的好还有住五星宾馆啊？”

我想了想，难道这些都受过中国最好大学教育的青年思想怎么拜金啊？ 他们觉得奢侈和金钱可以带了真正的幸福和精神满足吗？ 现在中国经济发展，确实有创业家作了极大的贡献， 但是我觉得一个创业家最自豪的不应该是他/她赚了多少钱， 而是他/她战胜了多少挑战而做出了一件伟大的事业。

只知道穿名牌和住 五星宾馆， 他们一辈子的志向就怎么短见啊？ 自己不想给人类留下一种影响吗? 我的最大愿望就是能死前发现我做的一切努力让人类社会变得更好， 能让其他人更幸福。

所以我选择了科学可科技。 我特别喜欢用数学作医药研究 （model-based drug development, bioinformatics). 希望我这辈子可以帮助解除一些人间疾病造成的痛苦。 这样或者才有意义。 光自己享受太狭窄了。

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday I was chatting with a young female colleague about life and career goals.

She mentioned that many people worked tireless at getting into Goldman Sachs, only to find out the miserable long work hours after they enter. These people enter GS mainly to earn good money. But they cannot find time to enjoy the material that the money can buy. So I mentioned to her, why don't they just quit and find a different job? She said, how could anyone forgive a life of wearing brand name apparels and living in five-star hotels?

I was shocked. How can the best educated students in China be this materialistic? Could they possibly think that money can bring true happiness? As the current economy of China booms, we must admit to the great contributions that new generation of entrepreneurs made. However, their satisfaction should be based on the accumulation of account balance but rather from a sense of achievement for overcoming obstacles.

If you only know about living in luxury hotels and wearing expensive clothes, isn't that a rather short-sighted view of life? Ask yourself, what impact do you want to leave on society? What do you want your legacy to be? A life time of ostentatious hedonism? My own personal goal is to leave the world seeing that it is better place based on my efforts.

This is why I chose science. I hope to use science and technology to make people's lives better. To discover knowledge that would benefit mankind for years to come and to lay foundations for future generations. Living like this instills meaning in life. A lifetime of self-enjoyment is not for me.

Veteran

I was riding on the train and met this fellow Joe. We chatted a bit about baseball. Soon, he told me he spent five years in the U.S. Marines. You can see that such experience had made the man immensely mature and determined.
Before he got off, he showed me his uniformed services card. With shocking casualness, he mentioned that he's discharged now because he got "blown up a few times". It was hard for me to tell but I think one of his leg was a prosthetic attachment.
Now I feel even worse about Bush. For he sent such brave loyal young souls to die for the rich man's oil.
Joe, take care.

Amazing O.R. Analyst, Officer, and Rhodes Scholar from West Point

Check out the incredible story of Joshua Lospinoso. Top graduate from West Point Operations Research, NSF Scholarship recipient, and Rhodes Scholar. This man is incredibly intelligent with a strong sense of service and duty.

远在异国他乡华人的婚姻其实很传统

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4bf5868d01000708.html

身在异乡，深有体会。 但这个作者也太以偏概全了吧？ 我有个加拿大好友是混血人。 人家家里也活得挺好的。 吃惊的是， 他爸是华裔（马拉），他妈是犹太人。 两个特别保守的文化居然碰到一起了。

每人有每人的选择。 现在世界通讯特别方便， 人不受地区的局限性了。

只不过每人应该做出一个成熟，真诚，长期，负责任的决定。 不要被媒体谣言迷惑住了。 很多老实的老外男女（男的多一些）想找亚裔女/男因为他们喜欢亚洲人的传统文化。 但是也有一些，像上面的作者描述的, "是本国的垃圾和losers。混不下去，找不到对象，才到中国凭着一张洋脸来混口饭吃泡个中国姑娘“. 要睁大眼睛把人看清楚了。

Un-"Gentlemen's Club"

On the way to school the other day, I saw a taxi cab ad advertising "Gentlemen's Club" in New York City. It got me thinking. A gentlemen used to be a man of honour who upheld the values of chivalry which included justice, courage, politeness, civility, loyalty, and duty. A gentleman is supposed to be courteous and loyal to his lady. Under the Oriental interpretation of the word based on Confucianism (君子), similar values are preached. It is ironic and sad that New York City strip joints, which house the anti-gentlemen of the modern age, call themselves by a title that should be reserved for those with the highest level of conduct. Calling a strip club "gentlemen's club" is comparable to calling a biker's pub "intellectual's club", or calling a strip club in China "君子俱乐部".

Going back in time & Crusaders

I was cleaning up my parents' computer today (optimizing all the accumulated electronic junk similar to how people clean out their attic & garage) and came across some of my history essays from high school. Needless to say I was appalled by my unintellectual discourses from my teenagehood.
One essay I read was about the impact of Crusades on Byzantine. The essay was so hollow it was than a joke. Its thesis seems to be that the Crusaders "destroyed?" Byzantine. The essay's body is more a regurgitation of ideas from secondary sources rather than a product of original thinking. It only focused upon the superficial military impacts of the Crusaders on Byzantine but doesn't address more fundamental questions such as
1. Why did the Crusaders, who were supposed to "Reconquista" Jerusalem and Anatolia, decided to ravage Byzantine and sack Constantinople? Especially when Byzantine was supposed to be their Christian brethren?
2. Why did Byzantine, the continuation of the mighty Eastern Roman Empire, not able to fend off a disorganized army of nobles and peasants from Western Europe?
3. Can't the downfall of Byzantine be attributed to the Turks/Muslims more so than the Crusaders?
On the flip side, I'm glad that university education has had an effect on my cerebrum.

Taiping Rebellion - Piece of history usually unknown in the West

I've been reading about the Taiping Rebellion recently. This curiosity was stirred by the recent Chinese movie "The Warlords" and a discussion with a friend about Christianity in China. Most people in the world don't know it but it's the largest civil war in the 19th century and the casualty is close to that of the Napoleonic Wars.
To summarize, it is a large scale sectarian rebellion that took place in Southern & coastal China at the end of the Qing dynasty. Number of deaths is around 25 million. The Taiping rebels managed to control Nanjing and certain major Chinese cities for quite a while and established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The leader, Hong Xiuquan, claimed that he was told to be the brother of Jesus through a vision.
This movement lasted about 15 years and took place simultaneously with other ethnic rebellions in Ningxia, Gansu, and Shanxi.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion

Upcoming search engines

Bing from Microsoft
www.bing.com

and this interesting "computational knowledge engine" from Wolfram (maker of Mathematica) called WolframAlpha
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Open letter to all gun rights activists.

1) There are basically two functions to gun ownership, self-defense against criminal violence and organized defense against government tyranny. If the 2nd amendment was written to ensure people's ability to defend against tyranny, shouldn't ordinary people be able to own grenades, automatic heavy weapons, artillery, tanks, fighter jets, and gun ships? It's hard to stand up to a US military junta with just semiautomatic M16s.

2) I think the phrase "criminals will ALWAYS get guns" is false. Strict weapon control on "military grade" weapons makes it very hard to criminals to get any heavy firearm, bazooka, or grenades. If we declare all firearms to be in the category of "military grade" weapon and make REAL concerted effort to control them, then we can pretty much make sure that criminals don't get guns.

3) Under the assumption that gun control can keep most guns out of criminal's hands, then the only validity to owning firearms is self-defense against government tyranny. It's true that superseding your right to own firearms makes it easier for government to abuse its power. Shouldn't we weigh this against the risk of big criminals (terrorists & school shooters) getting ahold of dangerous weapons?

The crux of the argument is whether people are willing to reign in some of their personal freedom and transfer that to state control. But isn't that what organized society is about? We relinquish our natural freedoms (like the free ability to kill someone) to establish a set of rules that can maximize everyone's utility.

Philosophy of Science, Google, and Machine Learning in Information Age

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-07/pb_theory

This is a blog article that argues for the end of deductive science. With the amount of information available on the internet, the author Chris Anderson argues that simple model built upon mountains of information can generalize much better than complex causal relationships. He calls this the Petabyte Age and uses example from TextRunner project, Google AdSense, and Google Translation.
Is this the end of deductive science?
On a related note, check out this notion of "transductive science" pioneered by Vladimir Vapnik.

Google Tech Talks

It's an awesome channel on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/googletechtalks

machine learning + computer vision at the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture

Bunch of kids can play a racing game by leaning left and right. Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXLR2QEvmYA

Part of the 2008 Royal Institution Christmas Lecture "Hi-Tech Trek"