Amiram Hayardeny's My China Experience

Winter Safety Tip - Heater plus AC = Visibility

It's winter.  It's cold outside, and the occasional rain clearly makes an impact on the crawling endless line of taillights...  But after a while the red taillights disappear, and just a split second before I get ecstatic about the sudden relief in traffic, I realize that I can see absolutely nothing from inside of the car, taillights included.  The driver is relaxed, as if assuming that it is sufficient that the other drivers see us, as if it isn't a requirement to actually see something through the windshield...

I point it out to him.  No reaction.  As I said, he's OK with the situation.

I try to explain in broken Chinese that it's dangerous.  It's very clear that I'm not comfortable with the current level of safety.  Finally I point out that the AC and the heater should be turned on, and the same for the rear defroster.  No understanding.  I did it myself.  The driver was shocked.  AC and heater?  Together in concert?  Unheard of.  Crazy.

Let me state clearly: the air conditioning unit in cars is designed to not only cool down or warm up the inside of the car.  It is also designed to get rid of the humidity.  To be safe in the winter, please take note of it. 

For winter time visibility, please turn on the car heater with the AC button turned on.  Please try it at home.

Posted at 07:00PM Oct 29, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[1]

United Airlines Jack Pot! or The Big Check Has Arrived

Part one and two of the saga can be found here: United Saga Part 1, United Saga Part 2

For being stranded inside the plane for almost eight hours, without food, at ridiculously high temperatures.  For missing meetings and arriving at my destination tired, upset, late and disappointed.  For losing the crew, waiting for another.  For not verifying the well-being of the aircraft hours before boarding.  For boarding a full flight, knowing that a technical problem exists.  For not having the spare part.  For all that I got the unbelievable compensation of, are you sitting down? $200.00.  Yes, two C Notes, two Benjamin Franklins.  Whatever you name it, this isn't enough.  What's worse, is that this isn't even real money.  It's not even fake money.  In fact, it's not money at all...  It's a voucher.

I'm expected to take this voucher, and apply it to my next United Airlines trip.  Or as they say, without shame at all: "...give United an opportunity to serve you again".  Right.  Excuse me when I faint laughing.  Who in their right mind will use a ridiculous compensation for a real nightmare of a trip towards his or her next one?  If it was a free first class trip I understand.  Entry to the 100K miles club, I dig.  But $200 towards an economy class trip with bad service?  Why?

So let me tell you.  Not only that I can't and won't use it.  I will continue to fly with United Airlines from Beijing to San Francisco and back, with the narrow seats and the bad service.  The reason: the alternative is even worse.

And the treasure? (the two hundred bucks) - thanks, but no thanks.  You can keep it.  I'd be happy to donate it.  In fact, here's a challenge to United Airlines.  Take the voucher in the picture to the right, and give it away to United Way.  Poetic justice.

Will they take the challenge?  Let me guess.  No they won't.  The reason being is simple.  This isn't real money, it's fake money if that, and it can't be donated...

But the bottom line, United Airlines, you did give me a 15 second thrill today.  As I was opening the envelope, I was shaking with excitement.  I was thinking of myself stretching my legs in first class, sipping champagne from a real glass, biting a nice piece of fillet mignon...

Don't worry, I'll show up again, three hours before takeoff, we will have our regular arguments about the amount of luggage allowed in the cabin, we'll have the emergency seat discussion - which I will promptly lose, we'll experience the amazing boarding process (you should definitely consider patenting it for intellectual property protection).  I will get to San Francisco exhausted and a little late.

Finally, if you do have the heart, donate $200.00 to the charity of your choice.  I will not use this voucher.

Posted at 03:07PM Oct 28, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[2]

Comments on Previous Entry

Indeed, as Brian says in a comment below, we may have failed to introduce our kids to an alternative set of morals.  Coming from Israel, the cultural discussion/argument/battle is very strong.  The religious, for many years, claimed and still claim ownership of all morals.  As a result, people who learned to live without the religion aspect of it, are sometimes stripped of everything.  All morals are seemingly associated with religion.  But it's not true, in fact it's very wrong.

Religion based morals, are first and foremost cultural, and they can be independent.  You don't have to be religious to figure out that you can't kill, steal, rape, lie, cheat and so forth.  You really don't have to be religious to know to honor your parent, your teachers, your friends.  Some people unfortunately figured, that morals belong in churches, synagogues, Sunday schools.  And once they stop attending, as I said, they are stripped...

To my religious friends and relatives: culture came before religion.  Religion was built upon cultural rules and morals, and evolved over the years into something that includes a deity.  However, it is absolutely fine to separate the two, practice morals and forget the deity.

In other words, unlike many religious people think: you CAN be a good, law abiding, moral, honest, respecting and helping - yes, atheist!  I consider myself one.  So can you.

 

Posted at 08:26AM Oct 26, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[3]

Spam - A Fake Letter from Ben Stein, and a Real Answer from Me

I get a lot of spam email.  Like many do.  And although I was able to reduce the amount through filtering and other tools, some still makes it through.  I usually delete the unwanted junk and move on with my life.  Occasionally, a friend, or a relative forwards something to me, and out of courtesy, I read and only then delete.  On really rare occasions, I go ahead and forward as requested.  And I always regret it...  Last week I forwarded a hoax to my best friends, what an embarrassment.  I apologized sincerely.  I must say, that I was amazed as for how many of them took the time to write back and explain to me that it was indeed a hoax...  And then came this.  A piece of junk, supposedly (but definitely not) written by Ben Stein, a CBS reporter.  I read it, replied to it, checked and found that it was a hoax, and now I'm posting it.  A little out of order, wouldn't you say?  Yet, I think it's important to know that you can't be careful enough.  For some reason, people who have too much time at hand, or have some really convoluted agendas, send this junk around, and undoubtedly, some innocent people take it as absolute truth.

First, the following is Ben Stein's response to this.  http://www.concours.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=35865.

This is the original email:

"I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
 
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
 
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
 
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
 
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
 
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
 
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
 
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock s aid we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
 
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
 
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
 
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
 
Are you laughing?
 
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
 
Funny how we c an be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
 
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards.
 
Honestly and respectfully,
 
Ben Stein "

Posted at 05:09PM Oct 25, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[11]

Happy Anniversary!

October 22 was a bright but cool sunny day in Ayia Nappa, Cyprus in 1997.  We woke up in the morning, and we were expecting a great day.  The limo came to pick us up at about 10:00.  I was wearing a dark suit and tie, and you were wearing a light  suit and a cream blouse.  We headed to the Ayia Napa city hall were our wedding ceremony was to take place shortly.  We were nervous and excited.  We dated for about a year before we decided to get married.  But we were happy together, and we decided that we should make it official.

It's been ten years!  You and I met following a big change in my life.  My previous marriage of six years ended.  I was disappointed, and suspicious.  I was worried about the future, and I was missing my two girls in the US very much.  You mended me.  Together we have forged a true partnership, a democracy with equal votes.

There are many things in a marriage that are taken for granted.  None should. 

Dorit, thank you for being the best partner.  I really can't complain, many good things have happened to me,  But of all the good things that ever happened to me, you are the best and I love you.  I know we promised no gifts this time.  I lied (sorry).  There's a small something for you hidden in plain sight.  Yes, I guess you'd have to read my blog to find out, unless of course somebody tells you...

Happy anniversary my love.  You are the best!

Posted at 04:45PM Oct 20, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[4]

謝謝台北 ! Thank You Taipe!

I had the honor and the privilege to give the keynote address at the Sun Techday in Taipei, Taiwan.  The convention center was shining on Friday October 19.  Sun, Solaris, Java logos were everywhere, and so were hundreds of excited people who came to see what Sun has to tell them.  It's always exciting when a company who has such influence on the way people conduct business and live their lives, invites an audience to listen.  And in Taiwan, the audience is special.  Taiwan is where many motherboards are designed and manufactured, even more computer based devices, and it has a thriving software industry.  It was particularly exciting to see Sun's sponsors, AMD, Oracle, CA and others present in booths, ready to tell how their business story fits into Sun's business and strategy.  Great music, great setup, and great message.

Introduction was given by Joe Pai, Country General Manager, and Paul Li.  Then came my turn.  Admittedly, speaking before well over seven hundred computer professionals is no small potatoes.  You have to be sharp, you have to be interesting, and you have to communicate the message.  But Sun' message is really simple, and it's so well covered in numbers all around, that the task is actually a lot of fun.

Imagine that I had to introduce some software development platform called (for the sake of the argument) Argos.  Argos has very few customers, it has no performance benchmark, it doesn't run on multiple platforms, it is not a part of a comprehensive software offering, and it most certainly doesn't have many developers around the globe.  Most certainly, it's proprietary, and expensive.  And if one of the few customers it has wants to change something in the content or presentation, they have to ask the marketing people, who begs from the development organization, who then places a note on the refrigerator, and maybe, they will have some resources to fix it next year...

But I was lucky, I got to present Java and Solaris.  Who can ask for more?  Java has over six million developers, Java is installed on over 5 billion (not a typo) devices, ans well over 2 billion phones.  Java is the most invasive technology in the history of the planet.  And it's OpenSource... 

I presented Solaris.  Solaris is the most advanced operating system in the world.  It has records in performance, availability, virtualization.  It has over 10 million registered licenses, it has DTrace.  Solaris is shipped (yes, preinstalled) with Sun, Intel, IBM and AMD servers.  Solaris is a great host to other operating systems, in fact, using Containers, and Logical Domains, it is possible to install instances of different operating systems, including Windows, Linux and VMWare on servers, and have them all work in concert.  Solaris is also a great guest when it comes to run under another OS.  Solaris, the most advanced OS on earth, also includes the most advanced file system on earth - ZFS.  In fact, ZFS is so good, that Apple chose to have it released with its new Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard! (http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/10/08/read.only.zfs.for.105/).  Security - military grade, service level - unbeatable with Predictive Self Healing.

I remembered the famous Isaiah verse: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid...".  I always thought that even the times comes for wolfs and lambs to dwell together, I'd rather be the wolf...  Solaris dwells well in the presence of other OSs whether it is host or guest.  But it is certainly a wolf!

And did I mention StarOffice, yes that powerful enterprise class office package which Google recently put in its Google Pack recommended software download?

Get the picture?  Take seven hundred excited developers, and tell them the story of a great innovative company, with great leading edge technology and products.  A company that gives them (and millions more) the tools and the opportunity not only to download and use the best technology, but to also get involved and make an impact.  In fact, I told my captive audience, that they can change the world.  I asked them: "do you want to observe? or do you want to participate?".  They were unanimous: "participate" was the roaring answer.  What more can I say?  Thank you Taipei!  謝謝台北 !

Posted at 04:40PM Oct 20, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[3]

A Day in Taipei

Visiting Taipei, I was told in a very stern voice: "you can't miss the National Palace Museum, and the Longshan Temple".  The Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall was also on the short list, and obviously the Taipei 101.  The 101 was easy and obvious (you can see it from every corner of the city).  I started with the National Palace Museum.  But as usual, my trip there was not less interesting than the actual visit, and my impressions from the museum were not only from what was on display...  King Mongkut of Siam, in "Anna and the King" put it nicely: "Roads are made for journeys, Ma'am, not destinations...".  I agree.

I chose to take the subway.  It gives you a better feel of the "lay of the land".  I stopped for directions for the nearest station, and I easily got there.  Not too impressed are you?  I certainly was.  Apparently, English is more spoken in Taiwan.  I figured out how to buy the token, and what platform to choose (I can read a few Chinese characters, north and south - Bei and Nan are luckily among them).  The subway was spotless, and I mean shining clean.  The lines were organized like in the London Underground - people lined up in two queues on both sides of the cars, to allow the disembarking passengers to leave, while getting on.  Even the escalators had all the lazy bustards (myself included) standing on the right, while the busy looking chaps were running on the left...

Better (or worse, depending on the type of personality you are).  The loaded train cars were quiet.  People were talking on the phone (quietly), reading (quietly) or quietly minding their own business.  And then a young couple with a cute baby came on the train, and a young woman gave up her seat for them.  I was crying inside.  "Why", I was weeping, "Why have I never lived in a dream place like this?".  In Israel, as in Beijing, and many places throughout the world, people think that their business conversation and their hemorrhoid problems are a public matter.  They discuss it on the cellular phone as if there's nobody there.  I haven't figured out a way yet to filter out stuff like that, any ideas?

The museum, was modern, like the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York.  New building, nicely decorated, and with a rich variety of displays.  I have seen displays dating from 6000 BCE (Before Common Era) all the way up to just a few years back.  The  museum claims and delivers on displaying an eight thousand year old culture.  The displays are neat, and the explanations are written (or spoken) in impeccable English.  I was grateful.  Check out the official site - http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/home.htm.

On a short sidetrack, flying here from Hong Kong, I was sitting next to lovely young woman who works in Hong Kong as an actuary.  She kinda destroyed my image of actuaries as middle-aged, big-bellied, eye-glassed nerds (no offense meant).  She was as far from it.  Anyway, she said that the National Palace Museum was not worth more than an hour visit.  Wrong, miss, it was worth a few days which I don't have.  And worse, it was worth a visit with my wife, without whom my touring experiences are dull.  I spent a few hours at the museum.  It is indeed a "can't miss". 

I saw many jars, containers, work tools, jewelry, furniture.  Two items and one particular display caught my eye.  I saw a sickle, made of stone.  There was nothing special about it, except, the marks of use on it indicated that it was used by a left handed person.  Can you imagine?  Another one was a red jar, which was so simple, yet so beautiful, and a few thousand of years old.  There was a display commemorating the centennial of Lee Tze-Fan's birth.  Lee Tze-Fan is a painter, whose paintings will touch your heart whether you like art or not.  (http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/leetzefan/05_en.html).  Again, I was impressed with the artwork, but even more of the collection of letters and pictures which were put together in his honor.  Particularly, his letters to his children when they were away schooling.  His affection and love for them was almost touchable through the words.  And I couldn't help registering, that his son won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry...

Then I took the subway again south to the Longshan Temple.  I have seen quite a few temples in the last eighteen months.  This one was special.  The architecture and the design was very detailed and colorful.  But what was more touching was the large amount of people praying and bringing gifts.  And they didn't seem offended at all by the camera (I asked).

To top it off, I walked for a couple of hours, enjoying the city on foot, and then, like a sign from God, there was a foot massage parlor on my right.  My feet just walked there and there I was.  It was too late to deny my appearance, and my feet were too happy with this new development, so we all (my feet and I) sat down for a foot massage.  Apparently, the woman who did my feet is a world class Eastern German athlete who gave my feet a workout they will never forget.  We all left the massage parlor limping...

Late lunch at Sizzler.  Don't shoot, let me explain.  It was there, I was hungry, one thing lead to another and I sat down for lunch.  Don't get near.  Both the joint and the food make a bad name to the original (which is or at least used to be reasonable in the US, and is very reasonable in Beijing). 

Posted at 04:06PM Oct 18, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[4]

Intel Developer Forum - Taipei, Taiwan

IDF, the Intel Developer Forum, Taipei.  If you are in the hardware business, systems or components, if you are in the software business, operating systems in particular, IDF Taipei is where you want to be.  In fact, this is where you must be.

Watching the keynotes of the second day was intriguing.  As intriguing as watching a global revolution happening before your eyes.  Speaking of which, I am positive that whatever it is that's going on in the world, there are many Intel chips that are involved in covering it, transmitting it, filming it, recording it, rendering it on screens on a large variety of devices.  Sun servers too, many of them, are involved in the process.  It makes my presence here quadruple the fun.  Representing Sun Microsystems at an Intel Developer Forum is an unusually exciting honor.

Back to the keynotes.  The Tic Toc model presented a roadmap, a commitment from Intel to the world, to keep delivering on Moore's law.  Intel promised to deliver its 45 nm technology on time, and already stated that the 32 nm technology which is right behind it is on track.  Amazing.  How many companies know precisely what they are going to deliver in 2008, 2009 and even 2010.  Based on past experience, it will be delivered. 

The presenter, Kirk Slaugen,  went through the airplane – computer evolution comparison (an older version, comparison with automobile was done a decade or two ago).  Obviously the comparison results were in favor of the computer, with astonishing numbers.  A Boeing 747, which was first introduced in 1970, changed marginally in almost forty years.  If it was to evolve at the same rate Intel changed the computing industry, from a power consumption, performance, I/O speed, and a few other metrics which escape me, it would take 12 ms (that's milliseconds)  to load the aircraft with the few million passengers it is to be able to have aboard, to their fraction of a second trip from New York to London...  Consuming 2.4 litter of gasoline in the process...

It's an interesting comparison, but a completely unfair one.  A few thoughts come to mind (not to be taken seriously):

1. Why compare to an airplane, why not compare to human beings who hardly ever change at all (and if they do, they do so over thousands of years, way slower than aircraft...
2. Why pick on the airline industry again?  I flew with Dragon-Air this Sunday, on an Airbus 330.  New out of the box, it was shining.  The seats were actually smaller than any aircraft seat I have sat in (yes, I'm big, but not THAT big).  The connecting flight, a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 which seemed to be older, was much more accommodating, the seat was actually comfortable.  But really, compare the fastest changing industry of the world to the dragging-behind-never-to-recover one?  Unfair.  It's like comparing a turbo charged hare and a dead tortoise.  No Xenon paradox will have THIS tortoise win.
3. Cockroaches evolve much faster than commercial aircraft - offense meant...

Another thought.  Actually, resolved mixed feelings.  Listening to the Tic Toc model, watching the really fast paced videos along with the rhythmic music (loud too), brought me to ask the question: where are we running?  Do we have a destination?  Are we delivering more performance in our computers so some gamers can see a better shadow in the game reality?  Or better reflections on their virtual glass?  The answer was delivered a few minutes later by Kevin Kahn in his "Technology and Research" keynote presentation.  The gaming industry, as well as the virtual reality, important as they are, are beneficiaries of the technology, but are not the reason.  The reason is virtual surgery, oil searching and other applications which simply cannot run without this amazing computing power delivered by Intel's technology.  This technology helps making the world a better place.  I can easily see it.  Aaron Oliker from BioMedical Systems presented his company's technology which helps in plastic surgery.  This application can't run without the increased computing power.  Some children's around the world can smile now, because this technology was used to fix their clef pallets.

Another observation.  In the first keynote, the word “security” repeated numerous times.  Hardware supported security, particularly in virtualized operating systems is becoming a necessity.  I was thinking: if the human race took its incredible investment in security over the generations, and placed it in well being, health and education, we would have been in a different place today.  Am I allowed one hope per day?  I hope that we don't have to invest in security in the future.  But in the meantime, we will keep developing protection for our customers against malicious human who try to mess with their data...

The keynote also talked about the revolution of the Web.  A server catering typical web usage can probably have over 30K users concurrently.  A WoW server, maybe 2.5K.  A Second Life – virtual reality server can only have 160 concurrent users.  In other words, without fast, efficient hardware, accompanied by operating systems which can exploit the computing power – we will not be able to do what we want to do in our Web life.  The need for performance is not only on the server, there's pressure on the client to have much better performance as well.

The difference is in the applications.  The typical - “today” web applications reflect a hardly changing reality.  Data which represent the client's “world” is hashed on the client, which saves server computing power, as well as network bandwidth – only minor changes are communicated to the client in real time.  But with the virtual world applications, this will be impossible.  The users' virtual reality is quick and dynamically changing.  Computing power is needed on client and server alike.

Sun introduced the SunFire X4450 server (in the picture to the left Kevin Song of the Sun Beijing Stroage Team, next to the brand new server).  It made a show on the IDF stage, narrated by Sin-Yaw Wang, and then it made a guest appearance at our booth.  The 4450 is one of the first results of the Sun-Intel OEM agreement.  It's the smallest server of its type.  It can have up to four quad core Xeon 7300 processors (that's sixteen CPU cores!), 8 SAS disks drives, 32 memory DIMMS (up to 128 GB RAM), all this in a 2U rack machine, which is power and cooling efficient.  Plus, listen carefully, it runs everything: Solaris, Linux, Windows and VMWare.  Easy to maintain – everything is hot swappable: disks, power supplies, fans.  Easy to monitor remotely.  and all in a 2U rack machine!  I said that, I know, but watching the design of this slim server you got to be impressed...

Best Intel hardware, best Sun hardware design, best OS, friendly to the environment.  Did I mention this is the smallest server in its class?  You can have double the amount of them in a rack!

Bottom line: great event, exciting presentations, exciting partnership.  Thank you Taipei!  Thank you Intel! It's been a great experience.

Finally, just in case you didn't know: Taipei 101 IS the tallest building on the planet.  (http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/) 

And just in case you would like to watch yours truly present the new SunFire X4450, here's a link to YouTube's Intel Channel: Sun Showcases the new X4450.

Posted at 10:57PM Oct 16, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[4]

Figuratively Visiting Thailand, Buddhism, Myanmar

Back to Bangkok, then to Myanmar or Burma.  Figuratively speaking, for the time being.  One morning, in Bangkok, we got up really early to go to the Floating Market, which is quite a ride away.  The driver parked on a street corner, and we waited for a few other people who were joining our trip.  Sitting in the van at first, I started noticing a slow stream of monks in orange robes, walking slowly, separately, but in one direction.  They were all holding a large metal bowl, and some plastic bags with what seemed to be food.  Occasionally, a regularly dressed person was following a monk just a few steps behind, with more bags.  It was early morning, the sun was not fully out yet.  Knowing the hustle and bustle of this street later in the day, the current scenery was so awkwardly serene.  It was captivating.

After spotting the tenth or so monk, I decided to get out of the van and follow.  Curiosity, as usual, took over.  I left the van, and armed with a camera, I went on an investigative search.  Don't get your hopes high, I only had to walk about a hundred feet to understand what was going on.

Just around the corner, there was a big monastery.  The monks living in the monastery go for their food collection walks in the morning.  It appears that they walk aimlessly, and people stop them to put some rice in their bowl, fruit or candy.  But unlike my original perception of charity, collections, handouts, this was completely reversed.  The people on the street looked like they were waiting for the monks.  They looked like they were asking the monks to take their gifts, and that the monks were agreeing to accept.  The people whose gifts were accepted were bowing before the monks, sometimes they were on their knees.  I almost felt ashamed.  Let me explain.

From a very young age, my father taught me to give.  To give to charity.  Not huge amounts, and never to institutions, never to organized charity.  The reason was simple, the organized charities were measured by the percentage of the donations which ultimately received by the needy.  The real outstanding ones were coming in at 50%.  The other 50% were spent (or wasted) on extraordinary salaries and dinners.  I always thought that giving cash to needy people before the holidays was a better way of doing it.  I am doing the same with my kids.  When we see a beggar on the street, I always let them give some money out.  They have developed a sense for it, and when I miss one, they always remind me.

But here's the difference.  The beggars were begging and I agreed to give.  Yet in Bangkok I saw it done in a different way.  The givers were begging for the monks to accept their gifts, and the monks were graciously agreeing to take it...

This is a much higher grade of charity.  I was standing humbled.  In fifteen minutes, I have learned a wonderful lesson.

We have seen many monks throughout our trip in Thailand.  The ones we met were all nice, shy, warm.  They connected with the kids instantaneously.  They were always helpful, and most of them spoke English.  This is were Myanmar comes in.  How can someone hit, kick, shoot, torture, kill, lock away, or send a monk to a labor camp.  It's inconceivable.  I was watching those monks in Myanmar in the last few weeks, and I salute them.  For being brave to stand up to the dictatorship, for representing an oppressed people who doesn't even have the strength to stand up to its corrupt and ruthless leaders.  Shame on people who hurt Buddhist monks, or any monks.  Shame on everyone who's watching and saying nothing.

There are two Buddhas on the left.  One is standing up, hands joined.  The other is making a "stop" sign.  As we were told while visiting in Ayuthaya, the old Thai capital, the stop sign is a request to stop the war.  The war with Burma.

I grew up Jewish.  While admittedly I am an atheist, I am respectful of organized religion.  Admittedly again, I'm not sure I understand the need of an individual to belong to an organized community of worshipers.  Never mind that.  The point is, I liked the way Buddhists worship.  Monotheism, I was taught, meant no idols.  The Buddha is certainly an idol.  But as I was watching, I realized something very significant.  These people were worshiping no idol.  They were worshiping a concept, which is depicted by the Buddha.  To many, Buddhism isn't even a religion, it's a way of life.

I am new to this part of the world.  But I intend to stay here, observe, learn and participate.  I have visited more new places in the last eighteen months than I have in the twenty years before.  And these places, along with the new concepts they represent, are placing an attack on old  concepts with which I grew up.  I like it.  It's like having a second chance, or exploring some exotic and remote places that I already resigned myself to the fact that I never will see.  It's exciting, it's an opportunity.

Posted at 08:52AM Oct 14, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[4]

iPhones, Bananas, and Innovation

Have you ever seen an ad in the paper announcing a special sale: 1 lb of bananas for $0.25, limit two lbs per household?  Stop for a second and think about it.  Do they really mean it?  And can they enforce it?  And should they enforce it?  The answer is always no, no, and no.  Because if the answer was yes to any of these questions, you might see long lines of people holding bananas on one hand, and their social security cards on the other, registering their household for the precious bananas, making sure no monkey business (pun intended) is taking place, like the little brother with the funny ears looking nothing like the rest of us showing up in line, picking more bananas for the "household".

In actuality, many households end up with black rotting bananas, which they obtained simply because there was a restriction on the amount they could purchase...

So why bother?  Why do they do it?  The answer is simple.  When resources are scarce, competition starts on obtaining those resources.  The more scarce the resources are, the fiercer the competition is.  If they are not really scarce, maybe it's possible to make them look as if they were.  Maybe, just maybe, if a competition starts forming on obtaining these seemingly scarce resources, more of them will sell?  Is that a plausible explanation?

iPhone is everywhere.  If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that restricting it, and binding its service contract to AT&T is just brilliant marketing.  It's restricted, and it's limited in distribution, which must mean it's excellent and worth competing for, and yes, scarce.  In fact, if I were to be Apple (wishful thinking), I would hire a few hackers to "crack open" my iPhone, and make sure that the fact is well advertised on any single advertising channel I have access to...

Soon enough, millions of people will be dumping their own phones, buying brand new iPhones, which I must admit, are really cool.  By the way, you can buy a brand new iPhone, in the original box, in every street corner in Bangkok, Thailand for slightly over the "old" American price of $600.00, negotiable.

To sell more, start a rumor that production will seize in three months, and that the stock will be sold on a first come first served basis.  You'll see many distinguished people leaving their homes and sleeping in shopping malls' parking lots, so they can be the lucky ones to get a new scarce, rare, iPhone.

Nicely done, Apple.  Again.

And who said innovation only happens in laboratories?  I spotted this guy at the Bangkok airport, I thought it was a really innovative way of using what you have to get a little more comfortable.  Kudos.

Innovation exists everywhere, but necessity is a natural trigger.  You should find necessity and innovation residing close to one another very often.  Many times I said to colleagues who claimed to "not have enough time for innovation", that innovation has some needs and pre-requisites, but time isn't one of them.  Innovation needs a tough problem, it needs creativity, and most of all, the strong desire to find a solution that solves the problem, in a way that's different, better, faster, more elegant than was ever done before.  No compromises.

What I always say is that people innovate without even knowing they do.  They see a problem, and they solve it without ever knowing that it's a novel solution.  The realization of innovation is done many times in retrospect.

Next time you solve a problem, look back and try to assess whether you have solved it in a novel way.  When you realize that you have, this is the point where innovation turns into invention.

It feels good.  It really does.

Posted at 03:11PM Oct 10, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[2]