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Preamble: wrote this article a while ago… so it is not “news” any more…

Google just launched its googlepedia to compete with wikipedia… what is googlepedia? It is just like wikipedia with several notable differences: 1st, article authors are identified; 2nd, articles cannot be modified by others; 3rd, authors may make money out of their articles….

What a stupid idea… I first thought… the sale point of wikipedia is its impartial opinions…. and impartial opinions are due to anonymous contributions of the entire community… and now… how can the googlepedia ensure impartiality? obviously the articles will be biased… right?

However, at a second thought… I totally changed my mind… what a brilliant idea…

Wikipedia has its own problems, first of all… An article may be modified by parties of interests anonymously… though some technology can detect such actions, it only solves the problem from the surface…. Also, why people contribute? people want to spread the words… that’s the only reason for people to write to wikipedia… coz it’s anonymous… there are two other causes to write… be famous… and be rich… it’s a real, practical fact… unfortunately, wikipedia cannot use either of them… also because it’s anonymous… some wiki-like websites enforce named contributions… without much success… coz they only increase author’s responsibility… but not author’s motivation…

On the other hand… googlepedia can somewhat do better… people can still spread the words… names undersigned…. have more responsibility… and potentially can be more famous… and be richer… be impartial? well…. other people can comment on the articles… maybe that can partially solve the problem…

googlepedia is actually more similar to books…. both are named, both cannot be modified by other people… and both collect loyalty (kind of)… In that sense, google actually simplifies the procedure to publish books… simplifies the work of writing a book… coz even an article can be published… though it doesn’t come with a physical paper back… who reads books these days anyway?

google starts with some less conflicting areas such as science and technology… and invites some relatively well known people to write the articles… a great start move… let’s see how it works out…

Some time ago, I made a connection at Los Angeles airport, having only two hours to catch the next flight with another airline at this foreign airport… Even though I checked the floor plan in advance, I felt quite nervous. Fortunately, my plane arrived on time.. so I rushed out of terminal 4 with my carry-ons, figuring out the way to terminal 2. That was quite a bit of walk… needed to cross half of the terminals… well… far it was… I had to start my first step…

When I walked half way there, I wanted to take a break… so I was kind of distracted, looking for a place to sit down… just at that moment, a voice came to my ears: do you have a question? I followed the sound, a man standing at the edge of the side walk, looking at me. Well, that’s really nice, I thought. Even though I knew my destination, it didn’t hurt to ask again… so I asked him the question, again. His answer confirmed my information. So I thanked him, started walking again. But he asked me at my back: may I just ask you one more question, just one more? Yeah, sure… he just helped me… I noticed that he held a folder in his hand, and he opened it towards me. well.. it was a flyer asking for donation. Would you donate some Christmas gifts for the children? damn… I was ambushed… I told myself… it was a trap from the very beginning… but at that time… what could I say? I gave him some cash even though it was against my rule: never donate in the street, because you never know whether the money will go to the right place.

Later I figured that the person was really smart… and the donation collection strategy was great…

No. 1, position, position, position. It is the number one rule in sales. He chooses airport, a place with a large throughput. He can meet lots of different people… at the same place… in a short time….

No. 2, strategy: if you want to get, you need to give first. He doesn’t ask for donation at first. In fact, at first sight no one can tell his real intention. Instead, he asks: do you have a question? It seems that he is a nice person offering to help (and he indeed is). It again goes back to rule No. 1, the position. At airport, lots of people are from other cities, or other countries. Many of them are not familiar with the place and in deed need help from locals. He first offers his help to other people, making them feel obliged to give something back in return. And then, he goes directly to rule No. 3.

No. 3, get to the point. After he offers help, he asks: can I ask one more question? Just one question, and that question directly ask for donation… no reasoning, no description… just ask for money… Most people will stop when he shows his intent to ask a question… because he has already offered help and the receiver would like to give something back… Remember, the receiver is in the mood of giving something back… so he catches the chance and ask for donation immediately… doesn’t give the other person a chance to jump out of the mood. Also, most people at the airport are in a hurry to catch planes. Nobody has the time to listen to long stories… the longer it takes the less the people is likely to give… it’s another reason to get to the point.

This strategy plays much better than the money for information trade… it is indeed very smart…

1937年12月13日，南京沦陷，国民政府迁都武汉。日军在南京进行长达数月之久惨绝人寰的屠杀、奸淫、掠夺、放火。其间具体遇难的人数已不可考。坐落于南京的南京大屠杀纪念馆外赫然刻着“遇难者三十万”，可为参考。

今天，2007年12月13日，大屠杀已整整过去70年了，当年屠杀的幸存者及制造者多半早已作古。今天，屠杀幸存者直接或间接的后代们对此事有何感想呢？今天，我们“一衣带水的友好邻邦”对此事又有何感想呢？今天，世界其他地区对此事有无感想呢？很简单。我们只需看看电视，听听广播，上上网，答案便一目了然了。如果我们进一步问问自己，在一百年后、两百年后的世界里，人们对此又有何感想呢？可有人知道？

我们可能并不能活在那时的世界里，对此事有个确切地观察。可我们可以问问自己对世界上其他一些事件的看法，开动开动脑筋，便能有一个大致的估计了。

秦始皇墓可以说是中国历史上最宏伟，最壮观的陵墓了。其建造过程也可以说是最血腥，最残酷的。相传秦始皇墓动用了72万人38年时间，也只是部分完工。其殉葬的人数以万计，包括建筑工匠、王宫嫔妃、甚至王侯将相，这种规模可谓无人能右。这是国家有计划、有组织的屠杀。秦始皇已作古两千余年。大家在谈到他的时候，这件事能排第几呢？

成吉思汗也开创了一代帝国：元朝。虽然只有短短几十年，但其疆土的辽阔却是旷古未有的。中国人对这段历史有一种矛盾的情感。一方面，汉族被蒙古族人统治着，有一种亡国的悲凉。另一方面，元朝定都于现在的北京，作为中国的代言人，控制着广阔的疆域。而当时的蒙古人也成了中国人的一支，各位有没有一丝暗喜呢？抛开这些不说，成吉思汗西征时却也是及其残酷的，城池如被攻下，即被屠城，妇孺不留。这在金庸的“射雕英雄传”中可略见一斑。就是现在，西域的一些国家对此还是有所畏惧的。而成吉思汗的基因也成了世上传播最广的基因。我们对成吉思汗的认识是不是只识弯弓射大雕的天骄呢？

屠城的暴行满清也有染指。大家听到“扬州十日，嘉定三屠”时是不是首先想到韦小宝呢？是喜？是悲?还是无所谓呢？

南京大屠杀也被称为南京事件，Nanking Massacre，Rape of Nanking。对此我就不多说了。

二战时德国对犹太人实行了种族大屠杀，有说将近六百万犹太人惨遭杀害。由于西方传媒对此宣传很多，西方人了解的也较多。我们为什么会对此有所知呢？是热衷于西方文化吗？

二战的末期日本也尝到了被屠杀的痛楚。广岛和长崎成了日本永远的痛。几十万人在瞬间灰飞烟灭了，也许这样走会没有什么痛苦，也许。这是报应吗？这是他们应得的吗？

社会主义文化大革命是什么呢？

1994年，一百万人在短短三个月内被屠杀，是南京大屠杀的三倍。发生的地点却是长期被人遗忘的黑非洲：卢旺达。我们对此了解多少呢？一百万是一个数字吗？
紧接而来的是1998年的印尼反华人大屠杀。the first thing coming to your mind… is… what?

然后是911以及反恐战争。 有人说，当世界其他地方的人看见双子塔倒下的时候是兴奋，这是美国的悲哀。我说，这是美国的悲哀，也是世界的悲哀。。。

生活在其他地区、其他时间的人对南京事件有何看法呢？这正是我们对秦始皇、成吉思汗、扬州、嘉定、奥斯维辛、广岛和长崎、文化大革命、卢旺达、印尼反华、911 etc.的看法。

One million, is a number; three hundred thousand, is a number; three thousand, is also a number; and one, is still a number. But does number matter?

Recently, the US House passed a resolution urging the Japanese government to formally apologize for the wrong doings of the “comfort women” in WW II. Yes, it is the right thing to do… we can say that because we know our history… More recently, the US House committee voted to call the mass killing of Americans in Turkey in WW I as an act of genocide, almost one century after the killing. Is the purpose of the bill really to reveal that forgotten history? Or is it just a result of the dynamics of domestic politics? Can we nod our head and say: yes, it is the right thing to do, with the same confidence? If we can’t, can we expect other people view the “Nanking affair” from the same angle as we do?

I cannot list all the holocausts in history. Frankly, I only know a small portion… but same is for everyone else in the world… they may just happen not knowing the rape of Nanking. How is Nanking any different from Auschwitz, Yangzhou, Jiading, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Rwanda, Indonesia, New York, Iraq, and many other places in the world? In some sense, maybe it is not. Maybe we need to know what happened, learn the lesson, and focus on the future.

Don’t make me wrong, we have to remember the history, if we don’t, no one else will… we have to remember our history, because there are people in the world only remembering their own history… but simply remembering “our” history is not enough… if we do, everyone else will follow… You may say, we have to do this, it is how the cards are played right now… yes, it is the current situation… but are the cards played under the right rules? for the right purpose?

Hatred, hatred, hatred… but hatred alone does not solve any problem… and do we hate the right target? For this, I like what the Japanese American said in the panel discussion at Stanford a month ago: it doesn’t matter whether it’s Japanese or German, it’s war, it’s war that make people lose themselves. it’s war that make people inhumane. it’s war that make people insane.

and it is war…

I went to a panel discussion on Nanking Massacre at Stanford today, Room 370, Bldg 370. When I got there, I was surprised to find out that the room was quite small. Less than a hundred people sat through the discussion. What happened? Is this the difference between the east coast and west coast? Frankly speaking, the discussion was still enlightening… I just wished to hear opinions from both sides, debates of some kind… but only found out its education purpose… what’s the purpose of a panel if everyone thinks the same?

It was the first time I saw Iris Chang’s parents, describing their daughter’s story on the best seller book “Rape of Nanking”. They must have talked the same story to people over and over again…

Talking about Iris Chang, I recall the first time I saw her. It was in late April, 2003, at Princeton University, the closing event for APAHM. APAHM means Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, in case you don’t know. At that time I had no idea who Iris was, but a friend dragged me there. The place was McCosh 50, the biggest classroom on campus, seating 500 people. Big the room was, it was packed, literally packed. Iris went to Princeton to promote her new book, “The Chinese in America: A Narrative History”. She did not mention Nanking during her speech at all. However, all questions from the audience were about Nanking… How popular the book was? That raised my interest… Later I talked to Paula and other people, and found out how significant the book was… The book was the first one to educate Americans on that piece of history. It was the best seller in New York times when it was first out in 1997. I kept an eye on her after the event… only sadly found out her suicide one year later…

Well, it’s 70th anniversary of Nanking Massacre… it’s time to think about it again… I actually wrote something last year, but never finished… maybe it’s time to complete my assignment…