Amiram and Melanie shared their observations when they visited the US. That's a best practice.

While my fellow Beijingers enjoy the winter that hovers around warm 10°C, upstate New York was bombarded with record snow. In the US, schools shut down when the snow is too heavy. Kids enjoy the unexpected holiday and call it a snow day. The situation in New York was so bad that the TV showed a little grumpy girl saying, "I want to go to school. It is boring."

Imagine 10 feet of snow being dumped from the sky. That's about the same height of a normal house. People walk up to the roof to clear the snow so that the house does not collapse. (Picture from NY Times)

The top presidential candidates for the Democratic Party are a woman and a black man. It is already a historical break-through that they got so much attention and endorsements so early in the presidential election process.

Would Americans put Hilary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama into the White House in 2008? I am not that stupid to make such prediction, at least not now.

Silicon valley rich like to brew. Sun Microsystems's own Bernie Lacroute, who coined the phrase The Network is the Computer, is the owner of Willakenzie vintner (excellent Pinot Noir). Numerous people in Menlo Park campus create their own wine and beers. Many very rich people in silicon valley seem to like the semi-scientific and elusive art of fine wine-making.

That also makes it fashionable to hold up a glass, frown a little bit, and say something non-sensical and cryptic. Don't forget to swirl the glass absent-mindedly to look cool.

FoxConn spent 700 million on its New Year's party, in Taiwan money. That's about 21 million dollars. The head of the company, Mr. GUO TaiMing (郭台銘), tangoed on stage with a famous model and a actress. The grand prize of the raffle was 60 thousand dollars in cash.

Would I do the same if I were him? Hell no. There must be better uses of the money to reward employees and/or shareholders. What would I do if I won US$750k? Would I hope Sun will give out such prizes?