I am in the midst of attending a two day internal seminar on, to use something other than its official name, the digital future and how to milk more money out of it. Many of you know that I work for a division of a humongous conglomerate, one that is active on the Intertubes in many ways, yet is not seen as a thought leader in most. So they’ve organized this two day session and I get to attend. (I also attend many of the monthly Web Wednesday HK meetings, even though I myself don’t get to do very much web stuff professionally any more.)

This morning had numerous presentations on Web 2.0. I sat there looking at examples of what other companies were doing, wishing I was doing some of that. During a workshop, in which we were called upon to come up with ideas for merging disparate data streams within our company and coming up with a marketable product, I came up with something within 2 minutes that had some people talking the rest of the day.

But during another workshop, in which we were asked to note what we’ve learned, what insights had hit us during the day, I realized that if I wrote down what I really felt I’d learned, I’d be fired on the spot.

It’s even more frustrating when I think about my last job – one in which I had full charge of the company’s internet, intranet and extranet web sites (as well as all internal applications) and I had the chance to do some serious design and architecture for them, with what at the time were, I believe, fairly cutting edge designs (that would have provided real business value across the board). I was really proud of what I was doing. It was work that I was excited about and that energized me. And then I realized, that job was 7 years ago.

I think I proved to myself, and to others there, that despite my advanced age, I’m pretty much on top of what’s happening with the web now, and where it could be going. It’s just that I don’t have a chance to use any of that knowledge on my job. And the odds are that as long as I stay with this company, I never will.

The fact is, that within my division at least, all of the creative work and decision making has been centralized within the home office. Since I’m working in a “remote region,” none of that even trickles down to me or my team. All of the development is done in L.A. or London.

Zip back almost exactly 20 years ago. I was working for a start-up, before these things were called start-ups. I was the first employee hired by the company. I was promised equity in that company but never got it in writing and so I never got it. I realized I had to get out of there but didn’t know where to go.

As part of that job, I had taught myself DOS, dBASE III and Novell. I had designed a database, taught the staff, maintained the computers and the network. Yet what I didn’t know was the value of the knowledge I had gained there. I actually had no idea that these were skills that were in demand and for which I could receive a more reasonable rate of pay than what I was getting. I really thought at the time that if I left that company, the only option available to me was to get a job as a clerk at Tower Records. Then, thanks to a variety of accidents and advice, I found out the value of my knowledge, got some additional training and certification, and within two years was somewhere else at double the salary.

I’m at that same stage now. Odd as this may sound, I don’t think I’m cognizant of the full extent of my knowledge. I think I know more than I know, or more than I realize. But one thing I don’t know is how to take that knowledge and not just monetize it (as marketing folks love to say), but actually get myself into a position where I can use it. I’ve always been bad at self-promotion, at least where my career is concerned.

And that’s why I would have been fired if I’d written down what I’d learned today. I’ve learned that I’m wasting my life away, at least career-wise. I have no opportunity to use any of the technologies that were shown to me. I’m not doing work that’s challenging, I’m not doing work that comes anywhere near the level that I’m capable of doing, and the time I have for doing it is rapidly slipping away. Sometimes it’s just too easy to accept the status quo. I get a fairly fat pay check. I lead a pretty damned easy life. Some of my friends tell me that if I make changes, I’ll actually have to work again. Sometimes that is a pretty daunting prospect. Because when you stay too long in a shitty job, you get demotivated, and if I didn’t know it before, now I’m completely aware of it. I need to do something to keep what’s left of my brain from atrophying.

I need to make changes. And to do that, I need to make a plan. And then take action. And I will. “There is no try, there is only do.”

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Our meeting is at Cyberport. This is my third time here – the first time was to go to a movie, the second a concert. Now I’m here for two solid days, and staying at Le Meridien to boot.

Cyberport looks nice on the outside, and on the inside too. But it’s a fucking ghost town. I went wandering through the halls at one point this afternoon. I should have seen hordes of bright young minds running down hallways, laptops under arms, faces glowing with ideas. But most of those hallways are empty. Most of the display and demo rooms are dark. Most of the conference rooms are dark. Ah, the brave new world as presented to us by Richard Li.

As for the shopping mall, it’s practically a ghost town. The only busy place was the Park ‘n Shop, filled with housewives and maids who live nearby. I needed something for a stuffy nose but this joint is so inconsequential that it doesn’t even rate a Watson or a Manning, even though I believe there’s a law stating that they have to have at least one in every shopping mall. Not even a 7-11. Just that “International” Park ‘n Shop, which had the saddest pharmacy section I’ve ever seen.

The hotel is not bad for what it is, a 4 star hotel trying to be a 5 star or a boutique hotel but not quite succeeding. My room isn’t bad – decent size, partial sea view, 42 inch plasma tv, rainforest shower (but no bathtub). While the hotel is booked solid, the 3/4s empty bar had a huge projection screen showing Korean music videos. The elevator has a monitor showing Mr. Bean videos – sound turned up to full. And while I was quoted a discount price for parking, the reservation agent had forgotten to note it in my reservation. It took 3 complaints and an email to get that straightened out. I’d forgotten a plug adapter and it took an hour and 3 phone calls to get one. No daily newspaper. A fruit bowl with no fruit. No bathrobes. $180 a day for internet. A hotel in Cyberport charing extra for internet for fuck’s sake? The hotel needs to understand that minor foul-ups like that can color one’s entire impression of the hotel.

Plus I hate the relentless way they try to upsell you. There’s this huge lucite contraption on the desk with things you can buy … candy, nuts, gum. And a teddy bear, baseball cap, t-shirt and flipflops. And a pack of condoms, which on the preprinted price list is listed as an “Intimacy Kit.” If that’s not bad enough, there’s a big bottle of Evian right on the night stand, with a huge price sticker on it.

It all just feels so uninspired.

It’s a little bit funny how right after the Sichuan earthquake, some people were saying there should be investigations into shoddy construction while others were saying, basically, shut up and mourn. But now the former group is getting more vocal.

From the NY Times:

Bereaved parents whose children were crushed to death in their classrooms during the earthquake in Sichuan Province have turned mourning ceremonies into protests in recent days, forcing officials to address growing political repercussions over shoddy construction of public schools.

Parents of the estimated 10,000 children who lost their lives in the quake have grown so enraged about collapsed schools that they have overcome their usual caution about confronting Communist Party officials. Many say they are especially upset that some schools for poor students crumbled into rubble even though government offices and more elite schools not far away survived the May 12 quake largely intact.

On Tuesday, an informal gathering of parents at Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan to commemorate their children gave way to unbridled fury.

Some parents said local officials had known for years that the school was unsafe but refused to take action.

The protests threaten to undermine the government’s attempts to promote its response to the quake as effective and to highlight heroic rescue efforts by the People’s Liberation Army, which has dispatched 150,000 soldiers to the region. Censors have blocked detailed reporting of the schools controversy by the state-run media, but a photo of Mr. Jiang kneeling before protesters has become a sensation on some Web forums, bringing national attention to the incident.

One of China’s boldest magazines, the business journal Caijing, used its main commentary article in its latest issue to call on the government to step up investigations of faulty school construction. Xinhua, the official news agency, also issued a commentary saying a speedy official response was warranted.

The authorities in Beijing appear to recognize the delicacy of the issue. On Monday, a spokesman for the Education Ministry, Wang Xuming, promised a reassessment of school buildings in quake zones, adding that those responsible for cutting corners on school construction would be “severely punished.”

To my mind, aside from a thousand other things, this also points out the complete nonsense in Regina Ip’s recent SCMP column, which I commented on a couple of items back. Because, first of all, it shows that Chinese do actually speak up and participate and protest when there is something that they care deeply about. And in no small part, the corruption that led to the shoddy construction, the unmitigated greed, the attitude of “fuck everyone else as long as I get rich” – is clearly a by-product of an appointed government that doesn’t have to worry about keeping their jobs by standing for re-election. Construction standards were in place. They were purposely not followed and those who should have enforced them only cared about lining their own pockets. They are not answerable to the general population and don’t need to worry about them … until disaster strikes.

Final post for today?

Hong Kong law mandates no smoking in restaurants. However, smoking is still allowed in bars until July 2009. But today, if you go to Wanchai bars and you smoke, there’s a surprise in store for you. Devils Advocate, White Stag, Heat, Mes Ami, Delaney, Carnegie and other bars are suddenly all non-smoking.

What happened is that one of the nearby restaurants has complained to the authorities that these bars are really restaurants pretending to be bars. And the authorities then stepped in and decreed that these venues are restaurants and therefore must be smoke free.

Sure, these places all serve food. Some of the food is quite okay, too. Did you know that every Monday night at Devil’s Advocate you can get a 12 inch pizza with your choice of topping, an appetizer and two standard drinks for just $89? And how many people know that Dusk Till Dawn has a dinner for $105 every night – 3 courses and a glass of house wine? So food is a steady part of their business, but definitely not the largest part.

These places all complied with the law a year ago that said they must prove they get over 60% (I think) of their revenue from drinks. But now some spoil sport took a look, figured he was losing business because he can’t allow smoking and decided to ruin it for everyone. “If I can’t have it, neither can you! Nyah, nyah, nyah!”

The bars in question are going to court tomorrow to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, one is left to wonder, which restaurant is run by babies who would make such a petulant claim? No one is publicly saying, but there are only a few in that area (ones that cater to a primarily foreign clientèle) – Outback, Curry Pot, JoJo’s Mess, a couple of others.

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Years ago, something similar happened to me. In the mid 80s, I was manager and co-owner of a CD shop in New York’s Greenwich Village. At the time, all the good rock stuff was only coming out on CD in the UK, or at least weeks in advance of US release. And I had a guy in the UK who would call me every Monday and read me the list of the week’s new releases. I’d have them in hand by Thursday, same week, and at a wholesale price not too much higher than domestic releases.

Word got out and my business boomed. On Saturdays, people were coming from Philadelphia and Connecticut to my store. I was even starting a small wholesale business, selling these imports to other stores.

And some of the stores near me got jealous of the business I was doing. They were also selling UK imports, but they couldn’t figure out how I was getting the stuff so fast and so cheap. One store figured out that the best way to complete with me was to report me to the RIAA, because at the time it was illegal to sell parallel imports (though everyone was doing it).

The RIAA sent detectives to my shop, they bought stuff, and soon I was the recipient of a cease and desist letter. My partner said we had to comply and, truth is, we didn’t have the money to hire lawyers to fight this.

Overnight my business dropped by about 60%. And the hundreds of people who came to my shop every week had no new source for their weekly music fix. Everyone lost.

Luckily for me, one of my steady customers was a guy who worked in syndicated radio and had a vague idea about using my CD knowledge as the basis of a new syndicated series. But that’s another story for another time …

Of course these bars won’t suffer a 60% drop-off if they have to remain non-smoking. Most are open to the street so it’s just two steps to get outside and light up. Just another jealous asshole somewhere.

I wouldn’t have thought Fox “News” could possibly go any lower than they already have. Yet they manage to find new depths to plumb.

On air, Fox “News” Channel contributor Liz Trotta wished for the assassination of Barack Obama and then laughed. The person interviewing her responded with a lame, “talk about how you really feel” while she was laughing.

You can see the clip here.

When asked her opinion of the recent scandal surrounding some comments made by Sen. Hillary Clinton, which Trotta described by saying that, “some are reading [it] as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama.” Hemmer quickly corrected Trotta, having noticed that she had said “Osama” when she meant “Obama.” At this point, Trotta said, “Obama. Well…both if we could!” Trotta then laughed gleefully.

You can certainly make a case for Hilary just being unaware when she made her RFK comment but Trotta is unequivocal in her comment. Apparently this woman is so terrified of the possibility of a black president that she hopes someone kills him. Was she fired or even censured after making that deliberate comment on air? Of course not. This is Fox “News” – News For AmeriKKKans.

The SCMP published another essay by Regina Ip today. Some excerpts:

Why does the west find it so hard to stomach China’s Olympian ambition? A major source of the conflict must be China’s radically different government system.

Why “must” it be? If you’re waiting for her to offer proof or examples, don’t bother. Instead the rest of this is a defense for the continuation of government by tyranny.

Western liberal democracy, to use Yale political scientist Robert Dahl’s polyarchy concept, is marked by political participation, opposition and contestation, and buttressed by such political rights as universal suffrage and access to sources of information free of official bias. Against this benchmark, a communist oligarchy lacks legitimacy. By western standards, such a system is bound to be detested by its people. Yet, by historical Chinese standards, and viewed in the context of China’s traditional values, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the way its government is organised today.

According to Wikipedia’s article on Polyarchy, “the fundamental democratic principle is that, when it comes to binding collective decisions, each person in a political community is entitled to have his or her interests be given equal consideration. A polyarchy is a nation-state that has certain procedures that are necessary conditions for following the democratic principle.” These procedures boil down to everyone having a vote, voting results are final and laws passed by elected officials are enforced. Apparently this system would not work for China.

In Ms. Ip’s view, things like “universal sufferage” (which she deems a political right and not a human one) or “access to sources of information free of official bias” are Western concepts and not Chinese and so there is nothing wrong with dictatorship, censorship and all that go with them.

… from early days, the Chinese people had always accepted the emperor, “the son of heaven”, as the natural ruler. The business of government was left to the ruling elite of scholar-officials.

(Presumably Ms. Ip sees herself as one of the “ruling elite.”)

Embedded in the Taoist ideal is the notion of life free from meddling by, and knowledge of, government. Until the west started gatecrashing China in the 19th century, the masses had preferred “to live and let live” in blissful ignorance of state affairs, except when life became intolerable. The low rate of Chinese political participation in the west is an indication of this mentality.

Did they prefer this? Or was it that anyone who didn’t prefer it led a revolution, toppled a dynasty or was executed? And where are the statistics about “low rate of Chinese political participation in the west”?

Another important distinction is the fact that western liberal democracy revolves around the rights of the individual, while China’s political system has, from early times, been built on the family as the basic unit. That is why modern political scientists never tire of talking about freedom as the first criterion of democratic quality, followed by others such as human rights, pluralism and transparency. In the case of China, Confucianism, with its heavy emphasis on family values, unity and social harmony, has been adopted as the state ideology since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (157-87BC). The Chinese have always accepted government by “guardians”, not dissimilar to Plato in ancient Athens, who are supposedly endowed with a superior art of government. Such a system might seem nightmarish to the west, but can you blame an apple for not being an orange?

Just another dingbat kowtowing to Beijing and offering up phony excuses for a non-elected non-representative government that oppresses and murders its own people. Ms. Ip likes running for elected office and having access to media to publish her views but she doesn’t care if other people don’t enjoy the same freedoms because she is a member of the elite and you’re not.

Also in the SCMP letters section today, a Mr. Richard Wright, presumably not the keyboard player from Pink Floyd, writes in to complain about height restrictions for new buildings in Mid Levels. Apparently he doesn’t grasp the concept that filling a district of single lane streets with huge towers will result in increased traffic, noise, pollution and decreased quality of life for residents. More important is that he receive a decent return on his investment.

Many owners in Mid-Levels purchased their flat because of redevelopment potential. Owners have the right to benefit from future redevelopment of old buildings.

The new proposed building height restrictions will negatively affect the value of many sites in Mid-Levels. The broad brush approach which imposes arbitrary height limits should be dropped and studied in detail so a fair and balanced plan can take shape. Hong Kong’s reputation as a centre of investment depends on it.

Yes, right, Hong Kong’s reputation depends on peoples’ ability to replace 20 story buildings with 70 story ones? No, apparently it’s Mr. Wright’s investment portfolio that depends on this.

Well, it’s Monday, you expect me to not be grumpy on a Monday?

A year ago, if anyone had bothered to ask, I was supporting Hilary. Gender (and some troubling Senate votes aside), I thought she was someone whose beliefs somewhat aligned to mine and with enough knowledge of how Washington works to actually effect some change or at least undo some of the Damage done by Resident Tush.

One big reason that I’ve switched to supporting Obama has been the increasingly despicable way in which she has run her campaign this year. She has been bordering on downright evil. And as the nomination slips further and further from her grasp, she shows signs of seriously losing it. The latest being this quote:

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.

The New York Times makes the point that she basically said the same thing back in March:

Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn’t wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.

There’s a lot of different ways to read this, but none of them are good. Primary campaigns run as long as they need to run before someone locks up the nomination. The fact that sometimes it’s a close race and goes all the way out to the convention isn’t a given; that’s just how it happens in some years. But the only example she can find of this is RFK? And she has to mention RFK’s tragic murder in conjunction with Obama’s run and the fear that the US is so filled with hate groups that some might stoop to any depths to stop him?

If she can’t control the crap coming out of her mouth now when she’s just a candidate, if her judgment is so careless now, how would she handle herself if she actually got elected and the pressure was on her? It’s a future I’d rather not contemplate.

Of course I’d sooner vote for a 1958 Studebaker than John McCain. And probably a Waring blender would do far less damage to the US than he would.

One thing I often grapple with, “behind the scenes,” is how much of me to reveal in the blog. Of course in years past I was a lot more open, a lot more heart on my sleeve. There are several reasons that I don’t do it any more, or at least I don’t do it as often as I used to.

This extensive article from the NY Times magazine section by Emily Gould is a painfully honest first person account from a woman who blogs in NYC (her own blog and for awhile she worked for Gawker). For awhile she got a lot from blogging but she possibly lost even more.

Anyway, I will say I’ve made some very hard choices lately and in many cases have possibly made the wrong decisions, but in making those choices I’ve also unfortunately burned some bridges as well. I’m not amazed that it’s so difficult for me to get what I want in life; I’m amazed that at such an advanced age and after having given so much thought to the topic, I still don’t have a clue as to what it is I really want.

Oddly enough, a couple of recent evenings out – the first with my writer friend from L.A. who was in town for a bit, the second just last night with a longtime friend in Shanghai – have served to tell me that those are the kinds of evenings that I want more of.

I did gain a lot of useful information from last night’s dinner. That friend has led a life of accomplishment and achievement. When I look at the list of things he’s done, I always feel like I haven’t even learned how to tie my shoes by comparison. I told him this and he said, if I can recall it correctly (he also said I should start to carry around a digital voice recorder for nights like that, wish I’d had one then), that we both possessed similar drive, energy and intellect, but we’ve focused our efforts in very different areas. I know he meant it as a compliment and yet it couldn’t help but make me feel as if I’ve wasted my life in pursuit of things that provide only momentary pleasure, distraction or relief.

Add to this the break-up with my girlfriend last month. The dinner with my ex-wife last week. Followed by an unusually bad bar experience (even for me). The feeling that I’m just marking time at my job, trading my soul for a very nice paycheck each month, giving my life to a corporate entity that couldn’t really care much either way. Yes, I know, I’m not unique. Most of the world has it far worse than I do. But these are things that tell me my life is on the wrong track right now.

And yet knowing all of that and actually doing something about it are two very different things.

It’s sort of like that board room meeting scene in Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, where one character says that studies have shown that man doesn’t pursue meaning in his life because he is too easily distracted and also that people aren’t wearing enough hats. And the next character asks, “What was that about hats?”

And it’s also true that many of today’s new hat styles don’t look good on me. I look silly in those Ed Hardy hats, as one example. I’ve thought about going the Samuel L. Jackson route with the Kangol thing and I think it looks kind of okay but worry that others will think I’m a total prat. Perhaps paired with the proper sunglasses?

Oops.

As promised ….

This shot taken around 8 PM, Tuesday night. You can see how the street fills up at dinner time.

Most places doing barbecue, and people are lined up at every shop for the goodies.

Just look at that mountain of prawns.

Here’s one of the branches of Yang’s (not Yan’s, my bad), with people lined up.

Inside, they’re working as fast as they can

That big bowl is minced pork, dumped out of a huge plastic bag

And here they are

Oh, I wish I was back there already!

The Paul bakery has 20 branches in Japan. 330 in France. 20 in London. 6 in Florida. 5 in Shanghai, including one at the Shanghai Centre, right next to my hotel – didn’t need to go all the way to Xintiandi for one of their chocolate tarts. All in all, they’re in 16 countries.

But not in Hong Kong.

I doubt anyone else remembers, but last year when I went to Paris, I had two enjoyable visits to the Paul patisserie. One commenter mentioned they also have a shop or shops in London.

And now they have a branch, or a franchise, or a something, at Xintiandi in Shanghai. (The sign says they can also be found in Casablanca, Dubai, Miami.) I want one in Hong Kong! Actually, strikes me a little weird that they went for Shanghai rather than Tokyo; I’d think they’d be huge in a spot like Midtown or Roppongi Hills.

And yes, I did buy a few things there. ‘Scuze me, I’m about to get busy.