I was reformating my old Acer to run Windows 7.

The first thing I setup my Windows 7 is not to run Windows Updates but to install a software called 360. This software is a god-sent for people still running on Windows (I am on Mac most of my time now). It does several things:

1. It detect and recommend what Windows patches you need, and once you confirmed, automatically download (via P2P of cos) and install the patches. It runs constantly in the background and only pop-up when there is a new patches available.

This feature alone outstrip what it is offered by Windows Update. In fact, this is the reason I installed 360 first before anything else, because it do a much better job.

2. It scan and monitors your PC configuration and make recommendation to optimize the PC and once you confirm, it does it automatically for you. It does simple things like checking for what temporary files scattered across your harddisk, what program you can stop running so it speed up your startup time etc.

3. It scan for malwares and if you like, it also has a free anti-software. I cannot compare this to other commercial anti-virus but it is good enough for me.

4. It has a software management, that recommends software you should download. It also it has an extremely powerful uninstaller (much better than what is offered Windows again) that it scan and delete all the left-over files and registries entries on your computer so you know you totally get rid of it.

After I setup my new Win7, I found out I have lost my driver discs. Normally, this means I will have to head over to Acer, look through a whole set of links to find the relevant drivers, download them and install them one by one.

Instead, there is another Chinese software I use DriveTheLife. What it does is that it automatically detect your hardware, the missing drivers, makes recommendation for you and with a click, it downloads, install and reboot for you. It save me hours of sitting in front of the computer to setup the drivers. btw, it continues to run and monitor updates for you if you like to keep it around.

There are hundreds of these small software like this, not available in English, no equivalent in the English world, that makes me really happy sometimes I am a Chinese speaking geeks.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I finally bent and accepted my first Chinese (video) interview, on the request of an old friend. I spend a morning at 光明网 a couple of days ago and did an hour long video interview. We spoke on many things and I don’t think I can remember every detail. Neither have they release the video yet.

But I was quite surprised when they picked one of the things I said and put out as a news report. And more surprisingly, that is also picked up by others and now making rounds in Chinese news wire. I didn’t know about it until friend emailed me.

Anyway, the news is about that the IDN ccTLD for China “.中国” is now activated in the root and therefore fully functional. The only mistake is that the article said it happens on 12th July when actually this was done on 9th July.

I didn’t know if the mistake is mine (I think so) so I have to wait for them to release the edited video interview.

* Therefore, it is RESOLVED, (2010.04.22.10), that CNNIC be notified that the .中国 (xn--fiqs8S) and .中國 (xn--fiqz9S) IDN ccTLD request has completed the Fast Track String Evaluation and that they may enter the String Delegation step in the Fast Track Process, using the standard IANA ccTLD delegation function, and that delegation is contingent on completion of the IANA process criteria and publication of CNNIC’s detailed Implementation Plan to be finalized in consultation with ICANN.

* Therefore, it is RESOLVED, (2010.04.22.11), that TWNIC be notified that .台灣 (xn--kpry57d) and .台湾 (xn--kprw13d) IDN ccTLD request has completed the Fast Track String Evaluation and that they may enter the String Delegation step in the Fast Track Process, using the standard IANA ccTLD delegation function, and that delegation is contingent on completion of the IANA process criteria and publication of TWNIC’s detailed Implementation Plan to be finalized in consultation with ICANN.

Cheers!!!!

This dysfunctional, agitating approach to Sino-US negotiations and communications only continues to erode the relationship between the two countries, which has already been weakened recently as a result of US comments over internet censorship and the sale of arms to Taiwan. This should not become the normal way for the two nations to engage, particularly when it comes to bilateral issues.

One obvious difference between US and China is the ‘Culture Differences’. ‘Culture differences’ is often used to explain the disagreement but seldom really understood. The background and construct of the political system between the two country couldn’t be greater, that leads to misunderstanding and mistrust.

Let me give two examples:

(1) On Google stop censorship in China,

Google has publicly stated that they do not condone China hacking of their system and therefore stop censorship in China.

China Government: US government is behind this.
US Government: Huh?

Most of us outside China probably have the same reaction as US Government but most of us inside China is consistent with China thinking.

It certainly does not help with Hillary Clinton’s speech which only adds to the speculation.

The reason for Chinese logic is because such things don’t happen normally unless the government is behind it, as some major events are in China, like the arrest of the richest Chinese man or foreigners businessman.

It is unimaginable that a company has integrity and social responsibility like Google risking their bottomline to make a point. For that matter, most US companies don’t behave like Google either.

To the extend, there are speculation that Baidu been hacked is part of the coordinated plan of US government. No kidding, I am serious!

(2) On Hillary Clinton speech,

Clinton focus on on Internet freedom. China respond by slamming the speech, not surprisingly.

US Government: Internet Freedom is good for everyone and makes it easier for US businesses to operate in China.
China Government: I am also a victim of hacking and you are ‘Information Imperialism’.

This one is a little harder to decipher so I have to give a little more context.

In general, American are generous and altruistic people, who cares about the freedom, democracy for everyone in the world. That’s the social values, despite the dog-eat-dog capitalist economic views.

Chinese couldn’t be more opposite than American. Economic-wise, despite the move to market liberalization in the last 20 years, there is a deep rooted communism, that resent that some people are more rich. Socially-wise, Chinese are more “to each its own” due to the historical background of China.

The difference are clearly illustrated by American and Chinese approach towards Africa. One focus on social problems, like democracy, human-rights, provety etc, while the other is all about business even with dictators.

Btw, I am talking about the people when I say American and Chinese, not the government. Both US and China governments adopted the same Realist foreign policy.

But in US, the government may for political reason take an altruistic moral high-ground posturing, in order to appease the American electorates and possibly political financiers. This explains the first part of Clinton’s speech. Sometimes the posturing may lead to further action like Obama meeting with Dalai Lama.

Incidentally, this is also why it makes US government looks hypocrite as well as confusing; US have one time or another, for national interest sakes, support regime that does not follow some of the principles (e.g. human rights) that US government public condemn on other country like China.

Of course, China do not understand the domestic political implication of US statements and had taken it totally at face value. China politics are different; It is a myth that the China government don’t care about the Chinese people opinions but they certainly do not react to vested interests the same way as US government do. They do not talk, they just do, in big way to make a statement (in this case “Yes, we are serious about corruptions!”)

China also believes there is a “cyberwar” on-going with the rest of the world. It has to build up its offense as well as defense, as she believes US is also doing. (No one knows for certain since such spook information is not publicly available).

Thus, China response that she is also a victim of hacking implies that US is been hypocrite as usual; US is also hacking us, so what’s your problem? Crying foul because you lost out to the race? I am (not) sorry I got caught.

The second response, the exact words from the China is “China’s real stake in the ‘free flow of information’ is evident in its refusal to be victimized by information imperialism“. This got most of the non-Chinese shaking their heads in amazement at how China twist the situation around; Afterall, everyone knows US has a free press and China don’t.

Americans believe strongly in the First Amendment and thus do not tolerate any intervention from the US government with its media. If you are (almost) liberal, you can tune in to CNN and if you are conservative you have Fox. There are hundreds of other channel of all political spectrum if you are neither.

But that’s not how China see the situation. US has a free press but all of them are singing the pro-American tunes and heavily bias against China. It does not matter if it is CNN or Fox, they are the “same” towards China. (Actually, that’s how non-American’s view US media in general - there are little differences between Fox and CNN as both are pro-US as evidence by the news reporting on the “War on Terror” over the last few years.)

Secondly, China may be growing stronger economically but they admit they are are very far behind the “soft influence” the US has over the world. The media all over the world is heavily influenced by US (Hollywood) culture and not CCTV. For every Jackie Chan, there is 100 more Tom Cruise.

View from that perspective, the “Information Imperialism” comment make a weird logical sense; that it is the vested interest of the US government to further exerts its soft influence to China as well as the world, so goes the thinking in Beijing.

There are far too much misunderstandings between the two countries. With the rise of China to be the 2nd economic power, it is important for both China and US to understand and cooperate with each another. Unfortunately, it does not look like anytime soon.

—- Amendment 1 —

I am sorry I gave the impression that both side need to keep their mouth shut. That was not my intend. I meant to explain the differences how China and US view the same issues.

China is concern over social stability over anything. She remembers how US have assisted KMT during the civil war and also the Tibetan movement. This is why they are very concern over Taiwan and Tibet especially when US is involved.

I am sure US have very smart people working and advising them on China. They correctly calculated that China would makes a lot of noise over Dalai Lama but would not have any serious repercussion so long nothing sustainable come out of the meeting that can change the situation with Tibet.

With China’s US$70b annual military spending, US$6b one-time arm sale to Taiwan is not going to change the balance of power in the region. So I am sure they also calculated the repercussion of the arm sale to Taiwan wouldn’t be too bad; esp considering that China is not going to buy US arm in any massive scale anyway.

The problem is US see these issues in isolated silos and make calculation based on case by case basis. But China see the climate issues, the re-evaluation of yuan, the Internet freedom, the arm sale, the dalai lama, etc etc as a single foreign engagement issues.

Are you a friend or foe? If you are a friend, we can quibble over the details, but at the end of the day, we are still friend. But increasingly, US is not giving that impression at all.

On the other hand, China is very suspicious of US. US have far better understanding of the China system than the other way round. The lack of understanding of how US government vs American’s vested interest vs Americans, means China leaderships often come to a wrong conclusion on the motives of US.

The Copenhagen Summit is a great example: China think US is trying to cap the growth of China using climate as an excuse, while US is trying to fulfill campaign promise. The fact it may contain China growth comes as a secondary benefit, maybe.

China also have smart people working for them who understand how US politic works, but China political masters cannot grasp the behavior of US politicians due to the differences in political background. The way you get to the top in China is vastly different from US.

I sense it will take at least one generation of China leadership to truly understand US. And I sense this US administration is making all the right decision and compromise on issues but miss the big picture of Sino-US engagement.

Therefore, I can think both side will get increasingly hardline towards each another, and I don’t think it will get better anytime soon.

—- Amendment 2 —

I am really concerned how Obama’s administration approach towards China. If the silo approach is to proceed further, I can imaging China will stonewall and not cooperate with US in major international issues. Then US hardliner will have an excuse to push their agenda to “contain China”, forcing the administration to be even confrontational on China. This will lead to a downward spiral.

There is no doubt US and China is going to be the two largest economy in the world. Last thing we want to see is an “Economy Cold War” between the two.

Americans would likely to thinks that the ball is in China court to avoid that. Re-evaluate your RMB, close the trade deficits, get your people to spend more, come to the table on climate issues and do more in the middle east.

Chinese would think why should they cease ground before we start? Beside, you are the one who is provoking and making demands on us.

Green gas control is going to hurt China growth, not to mention the critical national energy interest (China is 100% self-sufficient on coal). At this moment, China growth is very fragile; If GDP growth slow down to 6% or less, China is going run into social unrest. The China leadership is aware of the problem and is preparing for that but it is going to take time.

Re-valuation of RMB is something China would do at its own pace at its own time. More importantly, while many American thinks that the root of China-US deficits lies in RMB valuation, but it is much more complex. During the Bush administration, the RMB-USD was adjusted 20% to US favor but trade deficits continues increases.

Getting Chinese people to spend more is like trying to get American to give up your guns. It is very common to see people saving up, and buying a car or house, and pay 100% in cash. Chinese are bought up with a extremely strong mentality to save and avoid debt like a plague. In fact, I won’t buy a car unless I have the twice the cash in the bank. But China is trying; portion of the US$700b stimulus package goes into matching consumer spending in tier-2/3 cities.

So how do we get China to the table?

I believe the best way is … cox. Some warm smiles, a big hug, and sweets words would go a long way. Silly but Chinese always has a soft spot for people who brush their ego and make them feel good.

But alas, it would be political suicide for Obama to “bow down” to Chinese.

(1) I am still trying to figure out what part of my work in China can I blog and which I can’t. Even the fact that I met so-and-so may not be something I can put on the blog up here - culture differences.

(2) I have only been in China in-and-out for 10 years and really stayed here for a year plus. The longer I stayed in China, the less I seem to know about it. I don’t like to blog about China as-if I am an expert. There are enough “China expert-bloggers” to fill that need.

Anyway, this shanzhai Macbook Air is what I bring me back for a min. It is too good not to blog about it.

It is one of the best “shanzhai” machine I seen in China. Except for the white plastic casing, the moulding is exactly like an Macbook Air - I can use my Macbook keyboard protector and it fits perfectly. The packaging looks and feels like from Apple. There is even a remote control which actually works pretty well!

The specs is decent - N280 Atom 1.6Ghz, Intel 945M, 2GB RAM, 320GB harddisk, 4 cell batteries, win7 - what you expect from a standard netbook.

Cc: Tina Dam
Director, IDN Program
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6601

Dear Mr. Beckstrom,

In July 2000, CNNIC, JPNIC (now JPRS), KRNIC (now part of NIDA) and TWNIC jointly established Joint Engineering Team (JET) to develop and implement IDN technology. JET is responsible for drafting RFC 3743 that is commonly known as JET Guidelines for Chinese, Japanese and Korean IDN.

1) IDN Variant Problem. On 27th March 2003, ICANN Board endorsed the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Internationalized Domain Names” 1 with the following:

3. In implementing the IDN standards, top-level domain registries will (a) associate each registered internationalized domain name with one language or set of languages, (b) employ language-specific registration and administration rules that are documented and publicly available, such as the reservation of all domain names with equivalent character variants in the languages associated with the registered domain name, and, (c) where the registry finds that the registration and administration rules for a given language would benefit from a character variants table, allow registrations in that language only when an appropriate table is available.

The implementation of IDN variant is of utmost importance to our community as variants are often used interchangeably, similar although not the same, as uppercase and lowercase characters in English.

JET would like to urge ICANN to implement TLD with IDN variants, at least for the Chinese, Japanese and Korean strings, in according to RFC 3743.

Not implementing RFC 3743 would results registrants having to pay multiple times for the “same” domain name.

2) CJK Three Characters Problem. With reference to “Draft Application Guideline, Version 2” Page 2-11,

Policy Requirements for Generic Top-Level Domains – Applied-for strings must be composed of three or more visually distinct letters or characters in the script, as appropriate.

We would like to highlight that the policy of three or more visually distinct letter or characters is not practical for Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean are phonetic languages and CJK Ideographic characters are used to express the phonetics. A morpheme (“word”) can be expressed in one or more ideographs. This is quite different from English where a single or two characters are unlikely to have any meaning.

It should be noted that final report2 of the GNSO new TLDs Committee dated 23rd May 2007 include an sub-group report specifically on “Single and Two Characters Labels” dated 10th May 2007 recommended that for Single and Two Characters IDN labels,

Single and two-character U-labels on the top level and second level of a domain name should not be restricted in general. At the top level, requested strings should be analyzed on a case by case basis in the new gTLD process depending on the script and language used in order to determine whether the string should be granted for allocation in the DNS. Single and two character labels at the second level and the third level if applicable should be available for registration, provided they are consistent with the IDN Guidelines.

We would like to take the opportunity to address some of the objections raised in the “Discussion about 3-character String Requirements”3.

a) With respect to “Fairness of Treatment”,

There are 74,394 CJK Unified Ideographs in Unicode Version 5.1 where as there are 26 English alphabets. In other words, each ideograph has equivalent “information encapsulated” to more than 3 English alphabets (26*26*26 = 17,576).

It is not unusual to find Chinese or Japanese translation of an English text shorter by a magnitude of 3 times or more by character counts.

Therefore, ICANN cannot rely on “character counting” for fairness.

b) With respect to “Statements concerning the Chinese words and numbers of characters”

It should be noted that the statement “few Chinese characters are words” is wrong.

Every well-form Chinese character, on its own, has a meaning.

c) With respect to “ICANN ccTLD delegation function”

We agree that there is certain elegance in simple rule like two characters TLD are reserved for ccTLD that allows one to immediately identify the type of TLD it is from the string.

However, such rule may not be feasible in IDN ccTLD in the long run. For example, Singapore in Chinese is “新加坡”.

It should be noted that ccTLD Fast Track Draft Implementation Plan has no restriction that IDN ccTLD be two characters only.

We are also unaware of any intention from the Maintenance Agency for ISO 3166 country codes to expand the list beyond ASCII character codes.

Therefore, we do not recommend that this legacy rule should apply when it comes to IDN.

We understand that removing the three character restriction is a major policy decision. We have spoken to several would-be TLD applicants from Chinese and Japanese community, majority have expressed interest in TLD shorter 3-characters strings.

We share the same view that ICANN should be careful and prudent. We believe that IDN TLD should be carefully considered by ICANN with consultation with the relevant community.

For further correspondence, please contact us via James Seng (james@seng.sg).

Additional Note: While Korean language community has the same issues as Chinese and Japanese, it would take sometime to reach a consensus. We hope the three characters limitation for Korean IDN TLD would be removed when the Korean language community reached the consensus.

Best regards,

References:

1 http://www.icann.org/en/general/idn-guidelines-20jun03.htm

2 http://gnso.icann.org/issues/new-gtlds/final-report-rn-wg-23may07.htm

3 http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/three-character-30may09-en.pdf

Jet Open Letter to ICANN - Original PDF

Lee Felsenstein and his wife Lena.

Meet them last year in Bay Area via Nick Palevsky. They are in Sydney to give a talk on OLPC and I am here for ICANN.

Yesterday, I tweet: *doh* When would US clueless hardliner learn how to deal with #China? RT @CNBCtopStories: Knocking Down the China Myth http://bit.ly/bda3m.

I am not surprised that Tony Fratto, ex-Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for the Bush Administration would take a hardliner view on China. He is absolutely right that China did not buy US debt out of altruism and it is in China self interest to continue to do so.

For those interested, one should read the excellent article by Paul Krugman China Dollar Trap.

But what he is wrong is the attitude with the assumption that US is in the position of strength in the negotiation. Squandered by the 8 years of Bush administration, in global goodwill as well as economy strength, US has to come to terms with the new reality.

Still, people in Washington continue to believe that US has the power to command or the very least, to bend China to her will, as we witness in the latest saga with the North Korea.

Washington’s think tanks are concerned with North Korea’s nuclear missile test, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates “raised the idea of a tougher approach toward North Korea’s recent nuclear test … including the prospect of building up United States military forces in the region should six-nation diplomatic talks with North Korea fail” (JS: ST reported Gates does not plan to build up American troops in the region…Hmm…)

At the same time, they are appealing publicly (and privately) that China should do more in the saga, and it is not in the interest for China and US and China must stand up to North Korea togther.

Promfret got it absolutely right that when he say “First, there’s a silly assumption in Washington that our interests (no nukes in North Korea) are the same as China’s. But they’re not. China’s first interest in North Korea is making sure the Kim regime doesn’t collapse. China’s second interest? Making sure the Kim regime doesn’t collapse. From Beijing’s perspective, nukes in North Korea rank somewhere around 10th.”

Asian mentality on society values stability above anything else. I quote Kishore Mahbubani “An imperfect government that commits some human rights violations is better then no government, in many societies”.

China emphasis of Harmonious society is a broader reflection of that philosophy. Western interpret that as working towards a better society of equality, freedom and prosperity. Chinese understood it as tolerance for imperfection in society and when inequality occurs, look at the cup half-filled not half-empty.

North Korea having nukes? Okay, bad idea but chances that North Korea will unleash it in China is next to zero. A unstable North Korea is far more dangerous to China. A known devil is better than an unknown friend.

So Washington’s think tank who really think China will do anything to step into the affair right now is just dreaming in their ivory tower. And as I noted early, US is no longer in the position of strength to bend China to its will.

China needs US as much as US needs China, economically. One is a producer, one is a buyer. One is a lender, and the other is a debtor. The two economy is tightly coupled and therefore, one yield to the other not because of differences in power but in the mutual interest of both party.

US may have greater military power over China as a whole. But with a war in middle east, and a mess-up economy, China know US cannot sustain a (cold) war in the Far East. US “threats” of greater US military presence is at best laughable.

Japan, who is traditionally US ally in this region, is also mindful of China rising power is also evaluating their position. Japan is honestly concerned over North Korea but unfortunately has little clot in the matter beyond making motherhood statements.

It is left to South Korea who feel the immediate threat to flex its military muscle with US support. North Korea immediately responded that South is nearly an act of war.

Perhaps that’s what Washington has in mind all along. Not exactly what I like to see but perhaps that’s what it takes to bring China to do something.

* Also read the excellent article by Eric Anderson.

First, they complaint that TheOnlineCitizen and similar sites coverage was biased to the extend of being anti-Christian. Then they go after Siew Kum Hong blaming him being impartial, pro-gay and worst, hinting he is corrupted. Siew has to take action to stop the nonsense. The latest is going after Straits Times claiming they are biased in their coverage.

What is truly sad is in all these, they have not sit down and reflect what did they go wrong.

Instead, its ST fault for uncovering the story in the first place (don’t they get a hint when we didn’t respond to any of their interview!?). If not, no one would know we taken over Aware and everything would be fine. Its TOC fault for extensive coverage and gathering voters to the EGM to vote us out, using anti-christian sentiment. Its Siew fault interfere with the EGM, or else we would have legal backing to hold on even we lose the vote of no confidence.

If you are doing something that cannot be said in open, it is good idea to evaluate what you are doing. If what you are doing angers people enough to spend 2 hours to queue up and 8 hours to vote you out, then its good idea to think over what you have done wrong. Christians are embarrassed by the saga not because of the coverage of ST or TOC but by the action of a few extreme fundamentalists.

Conservatives are free to believe in what they believe in and lead the life they choose. But they have no rights to impose that ideology to the rest of us.

I share the same sentiment as A. Prof Koo and I quote “Intolerance, not the economic crisis, poses the biggest threat to Singapore.”

Singapore recovery depends on everyone in Singapore working together, regardless of race, language or religion, regardless where a native Singaporean, PR or foreigner. Everyone is in a little boat called Singapore. Differences in opinions are okay but at some stage, one should say “We agree to disagree” and move on.

Bus 44

Last week, I found out we have a new neighbor in Zhangjiang, two story below us. We are located in the building behind The9.

There is this big sign board outside the building by NetEase recruiting people with experiences with World of Warcraft, strategically place so that staff from The9 can see it across the window :-)

One of the hottest vids going around in China right now.

Whether it is bad PR or lack of experience or bias of the media, the following remains:

1. They were telling half-truth in an NGO, an environment that requires and values transparency. In some cases, they either out-right lie or they changed their position often. The appearance of the puppet master, a feminist mentor, and the church (please don’t give me the BS that COOS is not involved) behind all these is the last straw for us.

2. (1) is not about whether they are christian or their views of homosexuality, which I disagreed but my wife agreed. As I said, she is pro-family - but at least she don’t see people who disagreed with pro-family as anti-family.

3. Their action so far in Aware speaks volume of their modules of operation: shutting down all sub-committee, firing long-time staff members, changing locks, security cameras, and uncontrolled spending of reserves.

This is not how you takeover a society. This is not even the way you handle a hostile takeover of a company. NGO is a totally different beast, and far more political and sensitive for you to run it as if you own it.

4. If there is one thing the ex-new Exco would be disqualified to run Aware, it is their value of Pro-Family they wear with pride. Aware is not just about helping woman to be successful (and by that count, the ex-new Exco is fully qualified) but build upon Suffrage movement.

Pro-Family oppose abortion. Pro-Feminism, on their first agenda list is reproductive rights, including abortions. Pro-Family and Pro-Feminism have a lot of things that don’t see eye to eye.

Don’t get me wrong: There is nothing wrong with Pro-Family values, although it is not one I subscribe to, but there are decent people (like my wife) who believes in it. But that value has no place in Pro-Feminism group.

via mrbrown

Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, world’s greatest stock market investor.
Bill Gates, Billionaire Computer Genius, world’s richest man.

We tend to overemphasis on the man and overlooked the fact that successful men are successful because they are surrounded by a team of talented people.

Warren have Charlie Munger. Bill have Steve Ballmer.
Liu Bei have Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun.
Sun Quan have Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Cheng Pu.

Empires are not build by one man. 江山不是一个人打出来的。

As a leader, people skill, of recruiting and retaining talents, is far more important capability than his own capability.

But speaking to one of the staff recently, I just realized how bad it could be for the moral of the company, esp the company is small in a close-nit group. He reminded me that it is sending a very wrong signal when his friends are being let off and a new one is joining at the same time. Worst, a good talented new staff may end up being ostrichized by the rest of the company, even though no fault of his.

One of the few things that makes managing a Chinese company quite different; “Relationship” is stronger than anywhere other company I used to work in.

No, I am so silly to fly back to PVG (Shanghai) only to take a PVG-PEK-SFO cheaper ticket.

Anyway, back in SFO yet again. 3rd time this month. The guy at the immigration was puzzled. Me too.

Dragon

Phoenix

Wofo Temple on the west side of Beijing

See the little building up in the mountain? Ya, we went up there…

View from the top…not as breath-taking as I thought it would be. Perhaps it is the polution :(

The handicraft man who made these dragon and phoenix that I got. Ya Ya, RMB 10 may be a rip-off but I think it is worth it, even just for the photo.

It is a wonderful article of how the whole financial sector breakdown, to the world we have today, in simple terms of how CDO and CDS adds to the mess we are in. (I understand CDO, but I never fully grasp the implication of CDS until I read this article)

Actually, I was made aware of something called “sub-prime problem” in US in late 2006 by a very smart investor I worked with. He told it is going to be the biggest problem the world going to face and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how a lending problem in US could lead to a worldwide breakdown. I also remember sitting down with some analysts over lunch in mid 2007 trying to make sense of this subprime thing, and we never got it except to get out of the market.

I remember asking “If something going to crash, then someone somewhere going to made money”. I don’t know how back then and wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. I didn’t bother to dig further either (not my field anyway).

But it all make sense now and I wish I did ask a lot more questions then.

—
[I wrote the following and then deleted it, and then wth, I am not giving out anything that is important anyway]

While I lost money in the crisis, I am a little proud I wrote the following in 15th Aug 2007 for an investment report I made for my investor.

“The other risk is timing of the IPO. Many market analysts believe that the US market has being growing for too long and the housing loans problem will bring a major correction to the US market within this year. We must be prepared that the (COMPANY) may not be able to go IPO in 2008 as planned.”

Like sitting at University Cafe talking to some friends (Nick, David and Andy) yesterday and turning my back to see Loic, who is meeting Benjamin, another new friend I just got to know just 2 hours ago. Small world!

And waking up in the middle of the night, jetlag, login to World of Warcraft, only to realized Joi Ito (who is also jetlag) is in SF holding a party tomorrow. (guild-only, no links). Very tempting, almost made me wanted to stay for another day.

Or just an hour ago, as I am about to go through security clearance, to see Ole Jacobson standing inline in front of me on his way to Osaka, and then Nakayama joined us in the lounge who is on his way back to Tokyo.

I guess March is an active month, with ICANN (Mexico), Demo (Palm Bench), ETech (San Jose), IETF (San Francisco), APAN (Taiwan) and WIDE (Japan). The geeks are certainly busy traveling.