Life As It Goes By

Life is made up of surprises and unexpected events. I know the greatest moments of my life have yet to come, but the recent change of pace and surroundings do give immense pleasure. A new home… Something I had been waiting for the last 3 and a half years. The wait was extended as I or rather both my wife and I have to add many more things to the new empty flat. Like the number of parts that make up an automotive, the number of stuff needed or wanted in a new home is comparable.

Yes, we have worked so hard to save in the past three years. Only to see the savings evaporating rapidly as in return, we perfected a dream home. I guess the price is a worthy one. It didn’t start off as an ambitious project. We heeded advice from close relatives and friends about perils of over-budgeting. Keep within a tight budget, they say. And we did. At least for the beginning. To defend our stand, the truth is prices are really high for everything now. With devalued USD and inflated world currencies, who can prevent a world wide inflation. As a country, you either bring down the value of your currency to the level relative to the USD or with strong backing, you increase the value of currency. But neither can stop inflation.

Therefore, we found a midrange interior design company to do some design works for us. We also engage them to do up all nice stuff they chunk up with. Amazingly, we kept within our budget.

We have long prepared the furniture in the new house, making quite a number of purchases during sale seasons of the year. Our purchase could be back-dated to last December. Though we had been warned of making purchases that won’t fit or suit in our “future” home (then), we were lucky that nothing serious turn out in the end. A couple of changes added costs but were definitely worth it. The rest of the earlier purchases fits perfectly. Some models have even discontinued and became great deals as new models cost almost double.

Well, the thing is the more confident you are, the more likely you can let things get out of hand. Due to the success we were enjoying with our purchases, we continue to buy everything that we think we may use in our new home. While we are still buying the right things and the right brands, we are no longer buying for basic needs. We have stretched beyond lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. So at the same time, we blew the budget.

We are now both bearing the fruits of our smart investing and suffering from overdose. Currently, I am still waiting for the final shock of the month. Bills from the third bank that we have happily used their credit to make some “wonderful” purchases.

Only consolation now is the joy I derive from watching the large flat screen internet tv, getting automated massage from petite chairs, and building castles in the air while laying on the king sized bed…

I was at a loss a couple of weeks when I was searching high and low for music stores in one of the most dense place in the world. Yet, I couldn’t find what I was desperately looking for: Bruno Mars’ latest album. First of all, finding a music store among the shopping malls is an extremely difficult task. Next, the few that remain after the iTunes saga are too conservative in move to bring in albums in large quantity. The best that I could get was “it’s out of stock at the moment”. So, I turned to iTunes for help but its location specific feature had prevented me from making a purchase. Not willing to give up, I continued my hunt in the World Wide Web and then I found the Ovi (Finnish word for door) website,  a place where Nokia users are familiar with.

Signing up to purchase songs is as easy as using the Nokia phones. Surprisingly, the price for each song is consistent for all, something which is no longer true in iTunes. The choices available, I must say, are just as astonishing. So far, all my desires have been met. I have spent nearly USD50 in the space of a week and I expect more to come till my thirst for entertainment in music is quenched. Downloading is simply a click away. No extra software download is required and hence, no troublesome upgrades to be monitored later. The songs are in MP3 format, which can be easily converted to other formats suitable for your playback, i.e. you don’t need tools like iTunes or Media Player. In the modern world with less and less music stores physically around us (I even have this idea of opening up an online music store myself, until the discovery of Ovi online music store), this is a real gem for music lovers.

The mobile phone giant, who has so far resisted the temptation of making phones on Android platform (eco-system created by search engine giant Google, in a bid to challenge Apple’s non-computer products), has something more than music to offer via its Ovi website. One can find applications (Symbian-based), online storage for contacts, events, photos and mails, map. According here, there are about 22 downloads per second (as of 28th Feb 2010). In some countries, Nokia has allowed its phones buyers unlimited songs downloads. There is no wonder this portal is so hot.

It’s still early if Nokia can emulate the success of Apple. At the moment, it seems to be providing special services to its fanbase or customers: Ovi may be a catch for new users but competition is tough with Windows 7 upcoming and Android expanding rapidly.

In any case, I still enjoy the Ovi’s music services available in this part of world. I am sure there are many others who find the local taste of Ovi unique and close to heart. So who really need iTunes here…

3 years on, the global financial crisis or “tsunami” has not only subsided but completely overturned. Today, markets around the world are breaking new highs, except for a few in Europe. Asia is a hot spot now, with tons of panic money pumping in. As the fear factor begins to lose its weight, speculation slowly shifts in the balance. Risk taking could be more visible, particularly in Asia.

Looking back, we may ponder about the big bets taken by the U.S. government (and at one time, leading all other governments). Optimism was scarce and is still in U.S. As it all seems now that the true beneficiaries of all the stimulus are the so-called “too big to fail (TBTF)” companies. Not long from now, we will see the fairy tale of General Motors: from the verge of diminishing to dawn of a re-birth. It would only take a fool to realize the simplicity of a deal. Buying stocks of a TBTF is not only the safest “insurance” (which you know nowadays is becoming less credible) , but also the best bargain in town on returns. If the government can bring a dead company back to life, you must believe in the great potential in it. Fret not if you don’t have enough cash on hand, there are other available options such as Citigroup and AIG (or not…).

In a sense, it demonstrates the highest level of protectionism a country may enforce in subtlety. When a government became the greatest investor in a gloomy market, even the worst company in the industry can instantly become one of the greatest in the world. All others (productivity, product quality, brand etc) matter less. This should be the trump card on the table. All companies should strive to grow and extend beyond its physical limits. In this way, they can secure a ticket to the government’s deep pockets (this is why I don’t see a slowdown in any leveraged buyouts or acquisition through borrowing) . Those who are sad over missing the opportunity should not despair. If the economy is going for a double dip recession, they would still stand a chance. Now that employment is a big political issue, the number of employees you have will determine how big your chip is. A word of advice: don’t take your corporate jets (or your private ones as well) to meet the officials when you are asking them for money.

These two (dragon and eagle) creatures could be the icons for the decades to come. Maybe clash of titans would be a more appropriate title. As the world quietens down after financial woes in the past 2 years, the world’s greatest economy, US, and the newly installed number 2, China, are tugged in a series of trade wars (primarily anti-dumping duties). The conspiracy behind is said to be currency-driven. US hopes that the Chinese yuan to hold a higher value and hence, shifting the balance of the overall trade more to the US side. There remain questions that need to be answered. What should be the satisfied value for the yuan? As China progresses slowly towards this forced move, US accelerates the process by letting the dollar to fall not just against the yuan but also against all currencies.

This creates political resonances around the globe and has much of its desired effects. Now, the world is pushing China to speed up its currency reforms. Much lobbying efforts can be seen from both sides. International bodies such WTO and IMF are basically stuck in the middle, giving neutral opinions and unforced warnings. China should not be as surprised as they are now. If they learn from the history, this would be how US treats its biggest trading partner. It cannot be a win-lose situation. In fact, the only possibility of that happening is when US is the sole winner.

While China is complaining that US domestic problems are not caused by them, they have to pick themselves up to adapt to the game play at the highest level. No one dares to defy the US. No one can even describe the Americans as “buxxxes”. They are just better negotiators and they fight for the best deals they could get. You have to give credit to them, really, otherwise they won’t be what they are today. Ask the Japs, the Europeans and those who had been at wars with them.

One cannot underestimate the intelligence (or stupidity…) behind all the accusations towards the currency ploy. It takes certain courage for someone with a certain status in the society to make such statements. Someone just have to take the gun and start firing. If you can’t solve the problems internally, just take them outside. At worst, we all die together and we see who recover faster. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. What do you expect? Honeymoon is over. It’s time for the real thing.

Besides, it takes all the attention away and buys the much needed time and space for the brainy guys to work out something. Many had failed as it seemed and the number of bullets left are disappointing. A big shot has to be made sooner or later. What China has to do is to admit that fact it has gotten itself a tough-to-accommodate partner and continue to live on with it. This is what happens in marriage when you start to see the true colors of your partner. Basically, this partner is in deep shit and it needs lots, and lots of help to get itself back in shape. It cannot afford a ten-year recession like in Japan. Too much is at stake. It has its people to look after even though it is these people who bring these to themselves. It’s a sad story. We must learn to give empathy in times like this (and I mean it).

Of course, China has its own domestic problems: poverty, social change, (unorganized?) urbanization and so on. Being the only large economy making growth in the past 2 years, it may have more burdens to bear now when the whole world situation has changed. It’s time to decide if China can carry the world on its back and move forward. Helping to heal US might lighten the load. China has to work out its own sums though. It has to be clear about how much percentage growth it would have to sacrifice in return for the higher valuation of its currency. It should have enough savings to stimulate the economy back by a certain percentage points. It’s not a test anymore. It’s for real. To be honest, I am still pessimistic of how much help would the revaluation of yuan will help the US. US has just too many domestic problems (mainly debts) to solve. Anyway, they are grabbing everything they could reach for to make the U-turn. So, any help is welcome, I guess.

Chinese companies can take the opportunity to expand their market to international if not regional by acquiring sales channels and distribution outside China. Employment for Chinese can be kept. Government should also be supportive in such activities. Stronger yuan will command cheaper prices for inputs. Perhaps it is time to shift manufacturing, which will take the greatest hit from the currency change, from labour intensive to capital intensive. Productivity per person should be raised. There still exists many infrastructure work for people. The same applies to service sectors such as retail, finance and IT in big cities. These changes have to be driven by the government. Only rapid and smooth transitions would keep the economy vibrant. It would be like a revolution.

The meaningless trade wars can go on so long as China can bargain back some, but not all, that it would have to sacrifice because it should be clear that after all this, no one would be truly grateful for what it has done. So what’s fair is fair. No doubt about it, the chips are definitely on side of the Dragon. The Eagle has shown its hand, so it’s up to the Dragon to take the bet or not.

About one and a half year ago, I wrote about the turning point of PC market with the introduction of netbooks. Recently, market researchers are dishing out reports claiming that the hype of netbooks might just be over. One main cause cited is the birth of iPad, a reincarnation of tablet PCs (though it’s not so PC). In just 80 days, iPad sales hit 3 million in all sorts (just a few days ago, Apple reported 4.2 million iPad sold). Projected sales for netbooks will dip, giving a sense of passing its peak.

Big guns such as Intel, and AMD suggest otherwise. Sales of netbooks estimated by ABI Research will hit 58 million this year, up from 39 million in 2009. This is about 19 times that of iPad’s. If this is to represent the full potential for iPad in years to come, then this might be motivating for Apple (as it translates to about $28 billion revenue). However, this might not be the story that will unfold in the future.

First of all, when iPad was launched this year, its immediate target seemed to be Amazon Kindle: adding e-books to list of offerings from its online store, iTunes (now it is already selling audio and video products). The noble idea of using the same platform as iPod and iPhone has extended the capabilities of iPad; way beyond a user-friendly and visually enticing book reader.

Availability of 300,000 over applications marked the growth of the eco system around Apple’s i-family. It reminds us all of why computers come to our lives. It is not because computers are intelligent machines that can perform complex calculations and run simulation models. The uses of computer were greatly extended by the range of applications running on it. Physically, it look just as normal as any standard IBM PC/AT machine. Inside, its capabilities are determined very much by the types of software you run on it. The growth of software applications was further fueled by the growth of networking (or Internet simply). Connectivity then became the reason why people purchase PCs. E-mails and web addresses replaced those of the postal equivalents. There remained a problem: it’s really inconvenient to bring your desktop outdoors, hence keeping your productivity indoors. Laptop provided the solution to this.

Coincidentally, the advent of mobile phones broke the same barrier faced by telephone users. To cut the story short (as everyone in this age should know), innovation for mobile phones continued for some 20 years on. To date, mobile phones are closing gaps with those of mobile computing though the magnitude of the distance remains huge. This is especially true in terms of software applications.

Coming back, iPad has an entry price that is way off that of netbook. In this sense, Apple has positioned iPad in a totally different target market, even in competition with Kindle. It is also in this perspective, that I think, iPad won’t replace netbooks. They are basically 2 different types of animals: built and sold differently. To be exact, iPad is replacing the dead tablet PCs: something not in Apple product lineup. This revival is slightly in nature (used to be Windows-powered with sliding/turning effects), but has been successful so far. In my own words, it is simply an old story told in a new manner (improved from the previous experiences).

However, this doesn’t translate into good news for netbooks as well. The fight for the money in the consumers’ pockets is still on. In existing economic conditions, every dollar spent on these intelligent devices (machines are bigger in size) could affect the very survival of their makers. Netbooks have a contrasting image: cheap. It’s good to be cheap as it guarantees volume but lacks the potential for growth. For me, netbooks are in the matured stage of the product life cycle. Its amazing rise to stardom has also resulted its rapid climb to the top.

It’s time for Netbook 2.0 or something similar. It is not about competition with iPad, but rather its very own livelihood. Of course, an ordinary netbook on the shelf will still command some interest from needy users. High-end netbooks (with HDMI connection for example) has to be downgraded to attract existing users. In fact, more could be offered: 3G connectivity and sensors capabilities). This will bridge gaps with iPad and even AppleTV, as well as its Google equivalents.

In closing remarks, who hates a cheap and handy device that provides the basic needs of modern day computing?

When I heard the news of Oracle suing Google over some Intellectual Property rights for the Android’s Java Virtual Machine, namely Dalvik, I was shocked and enraged. I could not prevent my hatred for Oracle from growing. It was a sad day for the open source industry though it had long begun with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems. On the surface, the takeover seemed to be aimed at the server hardware (Sparc) and its accompanying software, Unix-based Solaris (another open source operating system). But the fact that Sun Microsystems is a major contributor of open source software ranging from programming language, Java (created with the noble idea of portability and distributed as free as it promised to be: it’s compiler is freely available until recently when Oracle requires you to register in order to perform a download), office application bundle, OpenOffice, virtualization software (which allows you to install different operating systems on 1 host operating system), VirtualBox to database software, MySQL, Oracle’s newly added possession had provided itself a dimension in the software industry.

Of course, Oracle did not start off selling software for free. It almost monopolized or rather dominated the database industry for a length of time that was or is still sufficient for it to accumulate great wealth and resources. It then tried to adapt to the changing face of the industry. The attack of Linux was too huge to be ignored. Oracle quickly ported its key product to Linux and due to Linux’s licensing policy, Oracle was forced to open up some of the sources and labeled them as open source software. However, it was a gamble that paid off (the use of Linux in servers increased) and hence strengthening Oracle’s belief in open source.

Personally, I always have felt that the future of database is a rather bleak one. I mean, the idea of database itself is no longer new. I used to study database systems in school and learnt there are basically 3 types of database: relational, object-oriented and hybrid (both relational and object-oriented). I can’t deny that there are ongoing activities on how to improve the speed of data access (maybe via better indexing), the reliability of data storage and retrieval, and management of ever increasing data size. The point is what you can do or enhance are pretty much trapped within the box.

For this reason, I could empathize Oracle’s continuous, aggressive moves in the takeover business. In one sense, it seems Oracle has given up developing their own products or making new product innovations. It just relied the acquired businesses to boost its revenues and tapped on their technological talents to create products of the tomorrow. To put it plainly, Oracle is just using money to make more money.

I never thought that Sun is going to be acquired by any company. I always felt that it is self sufficient (with the Java licensing). Though it cannot grow into giants like IBM, HP, Dell or even Oracle, it is already a great company with products that change the lives of many PC users. Java is like a disease that spreads so widely and for so long. It definitely does not pale in the competition with Linux for the adoption of open source software. In fact, it has reached areas that Linux can’t even have access to. With its newly acquired technologies, MySQL and VirtualBox, Sun seems to position itself quite well in the industry. However, the truth is Sun is constantly searching for its direction. It is locked within the two domains of both hardware and software. Unlike IBM, it can’t shake off its hardware unit and concentrate on its software (which is not earning much for Sun). Declining hardware business simply imply that Sun had to find an antidote fast and suddenly IBM came into the picture.

For what has happened today, I have to attribute part of this to IBM. Yes, thanks to their strategic hindsight, Oracle has obtained what it has long wished for. If not for IBM, I seriously don’t think the executives at Sun would consider the option of selling the company. Perhaps they were tired after so many years of struggling to find the right way. They had changed enough top guy to have a sense that nothing is working great. IBM makes the perfect match to the marriage, likewise, a strong open source contributor with strong financial backing. If Sun is with IBM now, Java is deemed to be free for life.

I guess this is what life is all about: villains or powerful barons with monetary rights took possessions of something of great value to all and re-offered these valuables at much higher prices with the single-mindedness of bagging all the benefits to themselves. Shame on you and those that played a part in making this happen. I believe the souls of those in Sun had been wrongly sold. For a mere 7.4 billion, our freedom in the software world have been compromised.

As Wikipedia (and coincidentally Google) is given a new face lift, we are reminded how the progress of Internet has helped to improve our lives. The power of collaboration is clearly shown in this mighty encyclopedia, created by volunteers. An information source that is built free and meant to be free, creates the paradigm shift in the business of encyclopedia. Regular updates and editing ensures the validity of the topic over time. Simple to use, quick referencing, easy access over the Internet and consistent web presence (not known to have many connection or server problems) have given Wikipedia a great edge over its competitors.

To date, Wikipedia has 3,301,848 English articles (of the million English words), and 20,429,470 pages in total. In January 2010, it has nearly 68 million visitors.

At personal level, Wikipedia has contributed greatly to both my work and my part time studies. It helps to answer all kinds of possible questions I could have in my work and studies. Sometimes, I just needed some clarifications on a term or jargon (for software or MBA) and I knew I can grab something off Wikipedia. I almost felt like an expert instantly. This is what it should be like living in the Information Age.

What’s more is the power of links. You can never find this feature in multi-volume, hardcover and extremely encyclopedia. A primitive word for this is index, which is highly dependent on efforts put in by the author or the publishing team. Now, the knowledge from Wikipedia is built into a tree that extends to the level of depth (of the links or limited by the “capacity of your mind”).

Acceptance of Wikipedia knowledge is much higher at work than at school. Academics doubt the quality of the articles and warn students of quoting or referencing them. Instead, other websites (probably created by the professors themselves) are encouraged. For me, Wikipedia is the default starting point of any research topic. So long an external link is quoted instead of the Wikipedia article, I should get some decent scores for the assignment.

The explanation that I can find is everyone feels more assured with a product they pay for. There got to be some quality assurance behind the brand. A brand closely associated with the word “free” should be considered worthless. Well, you just give people what they desire. Charge them a price and immediately you will see the rise in value.

But the beauty of all this work is that it costs nothing and yet worth everything. I can’t live a day without Wikipedia. I have learnt more about world history from Wikipedia than my history classes. I have seen more illustrations than any textbook has shown. As a poor student struggling to make both ends meet, Wikipedia had indeed saved my academic life. Who can really afford to buy all the related materials, and read all of them? Burying your head in piles of library books doesn’t help much: you have to ensure that you always have the access to the materials you need, and for those materials that need further research, you might want to join the queue for copier. Life has been made simpler. So, just learn how to enjoy it.

Well, I know I am not the first to glorify the benefits of Wikipedia (a search on Amazon returns 3,000+ book results though quite a number already out of print). I just love it. It provides me answers to more than half of the questions I google for. I don’t really care whether it is not a dictionary (I still use it as a dictionary) or the most accurate reference. It serves me just fine. My life has been better. Nowadays, discussions among my colleagues begin like “according to Wikipedia, blah blah blah”. It doesn’t matter how it gets started. What matters is the end point or points.

I would just like to take it to another level. Not too long ago, I found a great tool called WikiTaxi. What it does is it takes Wikipedia offline by creating a database of Wikipedia snapshot. This database can then be downloaded to your PC and viewed offline with WikiTaxi. I dumped everything to my pendrive and walked around, feeling very secured with what I know or may know. The only issue is that the database file has now grown so huge that it is almost impossible to have a quick download. And having gone through the hassle of downloading it, you will realize that the images are stripped off. This might have been caused by the same tool that creates the collaborative framework of Wikipedia. The XML tags could be a great overhead. Anyway, I have learnt to live with it. Guess you could do the same. For the pampered ones, you can choose to pay for the DVD version of the offline Wikipedia or some other commercial tools.

Finally, I would like to end off with a comment to Wikipedia team. To encourage endorsement from academics, perhaps one approach is to set up a so-called “Wikipedia Labs”. I don’t mean to physically set up a lab. I mean the “Lab” should work in the same way as Wikipedia. Anyone who has done some tests or verification on the article could post his or her result in the “Lab”. If there is any controversial result, then it should be stated clearly as the conclusion. This, I hope, helps to raise the credibility of the knowledge installed in the article. By collaborating in the same way, I believe certain doubts can be removed and confidence re-installed.