I decided to walk the morning of May 6th. On my way to Moscone center I noticed cliques of people carrying the same designed backpack. Tricles became streams; streams merged into torrent rivers. I arrived at 8:15 and decided to browse the bookstore to kill minutes before the general session. When I was done, at 8:25, guards formed a line preventing more people from tailing the queue. They don't want a mob scene when the doors open. The crowd, I was part of them, waited for nearly 20 minutes before it was "safe" to proceed.

I was a resident in San Francisco bayarea for many years but rarely stay in the city. I arrived Sunday night and stayed in a hotel near Union Square, a lovely area full of shopping, restaurants, and activities. When I heard the bell, Tony Bennett's song came to me.

I gasped and ran up to John Gage to shake his hand when he had a break. He was helping James Gosling with their t-shirt launcher. He co-hosted JavaOne's opening session, talked about sensors, instruments, network, and, of course, his favorite subject: Earth. I saw lovely Rita and Fiona who came to help out the OpenSolaris launch. Everywhere are hugs of old friends: Diane and her staff, Solaris people, etc. Whichever Stephen Hahn's disease that made him wear a tie seemed to have infected David Comay too. Oh well...

Ian Murdock opened CommunityOne with eye-catching artistic slides. Rich Green, Jim Hughes, and Jeff Bonwick decisively upstaged him destroying harddisks with sledge hammer, anvil, and power drill, on the stage. The robustness of ZFS kept the system and application running while the boys were having a great time.

Jetlag overpowered and kept me from the OpenSolaris release party. Good thing that Fiona took pictures of everyone having a great time.

It was a pleasant surprise to bump into Lin Lee, Jonathan's newest staff member and an old friend in China. We sneaked out to Yerba Buena park for a cup of tea. As I sipped, I recognized a joke of globalization. I flew 7000 miles to have Chinese tea in San Francisco; my favorite afternoon drink in Beijing is a cup of Java. Lin ordered Lapsang Souchong, a Chinese tea that none of us heard of before. Google showed it to be "正山小种" or "星村小种". This makes the whole tea-drinking even more laughable: the dark tea came from my ancestor's hometown. My father grew up in 星村 (XingCun) and may have named me with it.

JavaOne was even more entertaining. Ian Freed from Amazon demonstrated Kindle, an electronic book the size of a thin paperback. After a few more guests, Jonathan unveiled the special guest Neil Young, the venerable rock singer. Neil Young came on stage with a cap and wrap-around sunglasses. His signature side-burns are all grey already. Instead of singing, he introduced his archive that includes everything about his music since 1963. At the end, he showed a LincVolt vehicle that records all energy going in and out of the old Lincoln when it tours the country. The visual of an aged Neil Young, a pony-tailed Jonathan, and a sleek black-t-shirted Rich Green on stage is just so special and memorable. I was hoping for a song, but got only several needle drops from Neil Young's archive.

Questions from netizens lingered on after the IT168 interview, “How Sun, pioneer of open source, makes money?” I shall always remember Solaris 10. It took almost 4 years and thousands of talented engineer. How do we justify the investment if we open source? I decided to make this the topic for my talk at China's Partner CTO Summit, featuring distinguished guests such as Hal Stern and Jim Baty.

The era of software licensing is over. Now, participation defines community; communities become marketplace; marketplace generates revenue and leads to profit. How do you get people to participate at the first place? You set your software free. Freedom feeds the hunger of creativity and attracts participation.

Communities, however, must avoid anarchy that hampers profitability. For software, this means the necessity of licenses. Free software combined with proper licensing terms creates healthy participation and leads, eventually, to profitability.

This path shapes like a funnel. The mouth needs to be huge for as many and large communities as possible. Over the other end, a much smaller subset of them generate enough revenue. It is always good to have the mouth of the funnel bigger. It is also foolish to expect a high conversion rate, even worse to manipulate the licenses to increase the conversion rate. Never weaken freedom.

The conversion is not automatic. The participants enjoy the software and require a good reason and an easy mechanism to pay for it, directly or indirectly. Google is paid for by advertisements. MySQL collection subscription and service fees. ITune is part of iPod and a channel for Apple's online music business.

Sun first cultivated communities that are interested in our technologies and products. Then we attract developers to create solutions based on those technologies and products. Monetization then starts: entrepreneurs launch businesses with our technologies; hardware products enjoy a bigger market; enterprises still pay licensing fees for various reasons; communities members pay for subscription, support, and services; enthusiasm generates demands for training and consulting services.

OpenSourcing got Sun noticed and media covered. It opens doors previous shut tight. In this complex world of technologies, many larger companies will pay dearly for the what Sun received from open sourcing our software. Hack, I even heard someone saying Microsoft is now open-sourced. Shows how envious they are.

Yes, you will read bad stories from the media. You are probably worrying about the company and its future. That's a good thing that you worry. You may be even worrying about yourself. That's natural.

Yes, we lost money and planned to reduce OPEX (that means we may layoff people) for about 100 to 150 millions dollars. That's lots of reduction and it sounds scary.

Let me suggest a way to handle this news.

Sun Microsystems is in the "knowledge industry." You are very likely a "knowledge professional." This means you compete in this world with what you know. The company competes with the management of its employees' knowledges.

Ask yourself, "Am I learning more and applying what I have learned?" Also ask yourself, "Can I learn faster and more effectively?" (The 2nd answer is always yes. Think of coaching, environment, project scope, etc.)

You should feel the comfort that whatever you have learned is always yours. You should feel the pressure that the whole world is trying to out-learn you. You should compel yourself to out-learn them.

And that will make you a great employee, make the company stronger, and give you the security and a good career too.

Today is number 1,000. Where were you on August 4th, 2005? How have you changed since? Did I play a part in your life? Hopefully nicely remembered.

China teaches. Everyday I soaked up and learned. I discovered things in me that were long forgotten. I watched China, the USA, Sun Microsystems, and other companies and institutes. I smiled, I laughed, I sighed, and, many times, I found myself almost in tears.

Things are happening here with such epidemic boldness. Billions, BILLIONS of people are marching to quiet orders and shaping the earth with forces this world has never experienced before. Clearly, the world does not know how to deal with China. I don't think China does either. March on, nevertheless.

The poor touched me the most. A young man told me that his parents paid for his 4 years of college. Each year cost 3 times their total annual income as rural farmers. After he "made it" in Beijing, he bought 2 houses: one for his own family and another for his elderly parents. He told me that he will never be able to pay them back. I agreed whole-heartedly. Another told me about his college friend who eats only one meal a day. He has 500 yuans to live by every month. When inflation drove up the cafeteria meal to 15rmb (2 dollars), he cannot afford 2 meals anymore. I thought of him whenever I ordered from Starbucks.

I found Chinese entrepreneurs emancipated. For every bureaucratic inefficiency, there is an entrepreneur offering services. For every cent of arbitrage difference, there is a business exploiting it. For every profit margin, there is a hard-working person earning it. Government tries to keep up with infra-structure build-up and found capacity soaked up instantaneously. China will be fully enterprised in a decade or two. The profiting model will then change from "vacuum filling" (claiming a segment as the 1st arriver) to "competitive advantage" (trying to out-do existing players). I am curious to observe the transition then.

I pondered long on the struggle of foreign enterprises, very few did well here. Root causes seem mundane and obvious: they have been inflexible, ignorant, and arrogant. Enterprises tried to import value systems with assumptions: they are poor and therefore must not know better, they are different and therefore must be inferior, they are inexperienced and therefore must be weaker. Educated will see the stupidity of these assumptions, yet corporations repeat them years after years while Chinese are agreeing with them all the way to the bank.

Everything is possible, nothing is easy. Cliché on the lives in China, yet so true. Getting a driver's license, for example, is definitively a blog-worthy topic. Most people resigned to the arbitrary, tedious, and ever-changing bureaucratic processes. For thousands of years, China governs more with processes and less with laws. In fact, the passage of a law means very little until the publication of implementation specifics. The adage "there is a counter-measure for every policies" (上有政策，下有对策) refers to the commonality of law circumvention and a reflection of the chasm between the legal systems and the reality. In China, people spend a large percentage of their attention and resources to circumvent out-dated laws and regulations creatively to get things done. Westerners gasp and Chinese just smile.

Personal milestones happened during these 1000 days too. My mother passed away, a niece married, my 2nd kid thrust me into empty-nester's club, and I re-bonded with childhood buddies. I guess milestones always happen, but China marks a distinct period for these 1000 days. I have been thinking of how to harvest from the learnings more and more these days. This means this phase will be winding down and the next will start soon. A few years from now, I will look back to see another distinct 1000-day period.

How exciting!

Fog completely shrouded ShangHai on the 2nd day. The hotel window, instead of framing the spectacular river-side cityscape, showed nothing: only lights without sources. I thought, "How long will the taxi line at the lobby?"

For 11 consecutive years, China's Ministry of Education and Sun Microsystems jointly held the conference for China higher education community.

The 1st day's morning has 4 Sun speakers, and several distinguished guests from China government. Jason Tong is the MC. Chris Lin, Sun China GM, welcome all attendants. Crawford Beveridge, Sun's EVP, talked about government's role in education and innovation. He started with a history of innovation and showed the trend of urbanization. He showed the list of largest cities in the world: both Beijing and ShangHai are on the list. Joe Hartley, VP of Global Government, Education & Healthcare, talked about personal roles in communities. His speech motivates people to become leaders, activists, or influencers in their communities. It earned a long applause from the audience.

Yours truly shamelessly plagiarized Greg Papadopoulos's Cloud Computing presentation. Greg observed the big trends in education and IT technologies are conveniently, and coincidentally, amplifying each others. I needed to shorten the material for the time. Hopefully, I still delivered the essences of his presentation. Simon See, Architect on HPC, ended the conference with a talk about the trend in high performance computing (HPC).

In addition to keynotes, there were several tracks of interactive sections and about a dozen or of exhibitions on various technologies and products. Overall, the conference was well-attended with IT professionals and professors from universities around the country. This is the 3rd time I participated this event. I am definitely coming next year too.

Cross posted at http://www.nomadicminds.org

HuangPu River carved the lovely Bund, the prime financial real estate since China leased this area to Britain in 1870s. It slices the city into halves.

ShangHai City started from the west side (PuXi) and expanded east, toward the sea. The river exacted a distance tax to PuDong, or the east of HuangPu river. It accepted to be the lesser part of ShangHai.

No more. Its rural land provided growth space for high-tech industries. The adjacency to the new airport and sea ports makes it a better choice of trade, light manufacturing, and the steel industry. PuDong is now rich, modern, and vibrant. PuXi, however, remains charming, classic, and the choice location for the best restaurants.

The necessity of crossing the river is a daily nightmare. Subway network is not yet mature. Tunnels are frustrating. Bridges are inconvenient detours. Then, I found the lovely alternative: the ferry. I like ferries.

There are two commuter ferry lines (and many tourist ones). The shorter one costs 0.50 RMB and the longer one 2. A short wait beacons the boat and begins the leisure crossing. I soaked in busy river activities and understood the role this river plays to the prosperity of this biggest city of China.

Then the taxi thrusted me back to the mega-city's arteries.

Across the Universe Directed by Julie Taymor Pub. Date: 2007

Cross posted at http://www.nomadicminds.org

My iPods collects 128 Beatles songs.

They have cryptic lyrics, but mysteriously beautiful, bringing tears or smiles from the heart. You can't talk when the music is still playing; and have long buried the moment in your heart when the song ended. When the song starts, they all came back up.

Maybe it is a clever musical strung together with Beatles? No, that’s possible only with ABBA. This is Julie Taymor’s interpretations. Nicely done.

She was giddy talking about Paul McCartney at the pre-screening. Oprah joined her like a teenage slumber party girl. "Wow," I thought. "The power of Beatles."

Cross posted at http://www.nomadicminds.org

"I insist," said a friend. "How can you live in Beijing for almost 3 years without experiencing it." She sounded just like myself when I said to Maggie a couple of years ago, "You grew up in Beijing and never visited the Forbidden City?" So I sheepishly follow them into this dimly lit massage parlor.

Foot massage, that is.

Many Chinese believe in reflexological therapy. The general theories associate vital organs and circulation to areas on one's feet. By stimulating the corresponding areas, one will heal or strengthen the associative organs. You can also diagnose by observing how areas of your feet react to massage actions.

The place is subtly decorated with staff quietly busying around. We were led to a room lined with easy chairs and foot stools. Soon, a waiter came in to confirm our services and take orders for drinks and foods (all complimentary). A few minutes after, 4 masseuses came in each with a wooden bucket of hot liquid. Flower petals float on the slightly colored water. It was scorching hot, yet soothing to soak your feet in. The masseuses then start work on our shoulders and backs. Knots that I did not know exist disappeared and tension from neck loosens. Just when I noticed the water is getting cold, the masseuse took my feet out, wrap them with warm damp towels, and took out the bucket.

They came back and start working on my feet. With lubricant, she pressed, rub, pinched, or rolled pretty much every parts. It hurt a bit, but not too much. Some parts generate unfamiliar sensations that are part itchy, part a bit pain, and part soothing. It was the "good hurt." I found myself getting drowsy and becoming quiet.

Too soon, they stopped and bid us farewell. We stayed to finish our drink and chat. As the conversation ends, we put our shoes back on (I don't want to) and left, very refreshed.

Hmm, I can get used to this...

	His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) Philip Pullman ISBN: 978-0440238607 Pub. Date: September 23, 2003 Publisher: Laurel Leaf
	The Golden Compass Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards Director: Chris Weitz

Cross posted at http://www.nomadicminds.org

Excellent books, disappointing movie. But is it possible to produce a good movie of such a richly written book? There has been two attempts to cinematize Dune; both failed too.

What an interesting concept that everyone has three parts: body, soul, and spirit. These three parts can exist independently — body can live on without spirit, soul goes to hell/heaven after body dies. Pullman made the spirit exist in the form of an animal that has to stay close to the body. When the tie between the body and spirit gets severed, two things happen: a great amount of energy releases and the person either dies or becomes very dull.

Lyra, the main character, reads the Golden Compass, an oracular instrument. That skill comes from the rare ability to intensively focused on emptiness. With that, and Golden Compass as the channel, Lyra communicate with Dust, a substance both generated by and stimulates human intellects. Human becomes more creative when exposed to Dust; the creativity also generates Dust. Apparently, multiple cultures discovered the same and created their own version of the instrument. Chinese's I-Ching is one of them. Astrology, Taro cards, crystal ball, and other fortune telling skills are all the same thing.

The movie ends up with inconherent fragments and under-devleoped characters. Nicole Kidman, however, almost perfected the role. I cannot think of a better actor for Mrs. Coulter. But maybe it is not fair to critize the movie as a book reader. Only Lord of the Rings, after all, met my expectation as a successful adaptation. I watch Harry Potter movies mainly just to reminisce: like a quick re-read and recollection of the details.

Just wrote an entry, in traditional Chinese, on my recent visit to YangZhou. Check it out

IDF this year was next to the lovely Bund of ShangHai, overlooked by the strangely shaped Oriental Pearl Tower. This is my 3rd time in two years attending IDFs. Intel packed their usual power executives and attracted estimated more than 5,000 attendants. At 9am, long line snaked out to the street waiting to enter. Hordes of brightly jacketed youngsters cradling a pen-laptop to search people's registration codes when they are still in the line. I was one of them, she tried my name and then my email address. Finally, she located my code and directed me to a counter to retrieve my badge.

I herded myself to the meeting hall and sat down right before Pat Gelsinger's keynote. After the fanfare, he showed up on a wide screen! I was in the simul-cast room. The instinct of getting up quickly subdued. The screen did a good job; Pat spoke, polished, well-rehearsed, and obviously from a stage at a much larger hall upstair. I learned my lesson and attended the great hall for Renee James's keynote the 2nd day.

The evening reception was a packed house — stand-up cocktail style. Exuberant Intel employees and invitation-only guests celebrated another successful IDF. A small stage featured "live statues" of motionless pretty women. A commontion sparked when 3 dancers, to the tune of New York, New York, dragged Intel senior executives on stage. They were good sports, but bad dancers. I re-acquainted myself with several of them and made several new friends too.

Sun is a Gold Sponsor at IDF. Amiram Hayardeny attracted a standing-room only attendance with a topic of "Let Sun Shines on your Intel Platform." We exhibited various Software and Hardware technologies. People checked us out in a steady flow; everyone left with a nice stylish t-shirt too. All registered attendants also get a OpenSolaris CD in their bag.

ShangHai is a nice break from Beijing that is intensively focused on the Olympic. I took the opportunity to meet several customers and partners. I will also take a long detour back home via YangZhou, mixing business and pleasure together. That will be another blog.