Tag: Moores Law

disposable people

Industrial society once allowed to run its full course leaves behind many casualties: pollution, typhoons, unemployment and crime.

Kids with early exposure to the I pad and I phone, turn near-sighted if not bi-focal.

Adults with easy access to porn (free or paid) found real organic relationship something of a burden if not boredom.

Back in the early 70’s the US and its think tank already realized the limits to growth, disposable society, fail-safe situation…..

The resulting strategies were to outsource, M&A and mass production to shave off  some costs. Every attempt has been either to cope with the irreversible growth of the chip speed (Moore’s Law) or to increase subscriber base by capitalizing on the Network Effect (Facebook and Ebay), economy of scale (Wal-Mart) and logistics (Amazon).

People and diapers are disposable.

BPO now talks about Social Mobil Access Cloud.  What can be outsourced will be, first offshoring, then full automation.

First, cut down on the amount of pollution. Second, on operational costs. Third, mass production process has been much easier, thriving on the 24/7 economy to deeper penetrate foreign markets where the new smokestacks are located.

For the first time in their 200-year history, N America and Europe face a crisis loom large: the people are disposable economically, while constitutionally, they have more  human rights than any other time.

There lies the tension, the frustration and lock-jam. To keep up with population and information explosion, we will get to the point, like alcoholic or chemical-dependency people, who start selling everything to feed the habit. The irony of all is when color folks finally get to be heard, their social and economical platforms get shipped online or overseas, first to Mexico and S America, the so-called 2nd world, where Paulo Freire used to call “the oppressed”, then onto frontier and emerging markets of South East Asia.

Yes, the poverty level has been decreased in countries where BPO  is in full steam. But the industrial waste and social ills have also increased. You may call this a new form of colonization, or selective recolonization. The new bosses are the go-between, facilitating the flow of fund and the hunt for local talent. This is also a problem deserving a separate blog.

Meanwhile, poverty level is up in the West, especially Portugal, Spain and Greece, where young people are disposable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/kristof-where-is-the-love.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

Go East young men. Travel the world in 80 years. Take a bullet train, or bite a bullet. I have seen EFL “teachers” smoke pot in Vung Tau (VN) and God knows where (Thailand, Malaysia). They are the new Missing- in- Action, unable and unwilling to be reintegrated back into western society. Their voices are unheard and aspirations unfulfilled.

While primitive society disposed people of no or little economic values, in present day there are people who also by choice drop out of main stream. Call them the misfits, outsiders, the beats etc… But if their ideas can be monetized, then suddenly, they are one of ours. Charlie Chaplin first got exiled, then knighted. Sir Chaplin ably made fun of the social and psychological consequences of over-industrialization. His warning had barely been heeded when Foxconn‘s workers jumped from company dormitory. How many more suicides before we realize something is wrong with the way we conduct our lives and business, given all the machinery and software application. We dispose the diaper because it smells. Will we do the same with people once they are deemed undesirable and under-productive? Business leaders are paid to deliver results. At what cost? Empathy deficit disorder? obsessive compulsive disorder? Attention deficit disorder?

When a business runs afoul, it’s the leader’s inside that is eaten up. Imploded. And of late, there have been a few (JP Morgan 13 B fine, or Obama’s no-show at the Trans Pacific Pact due to government shut-down). Have you had the time to follow-up and see where those “reparation” billions go to? Food stamps? Perhaps not. Dreams crushed, career derailed and families torn apart.

And the house of cards got rebuilt, bigger than ever (having pac-manned Washington Mutual and a bunch of tier-3 banks).

It’s like asking Germany to pay for WWII damage done to France, but 2 million lives were somehow eliminated without a small echo from the mass graves. When in grade school,  I kept hearing it on the radio that this president got assassinated, and that the one who gave the order himself got whacked. Then the “I have a dream” orator also got shot. Then finally John Lennon “was not the only one” He was hoping someday we would join in. Then he got a bullet by Mark Chapman whose musical talent was almost nil, but whose name forever got associated with someone whose band once self-pronounced that “we are more famous than Jesus”.

There has never been a better time to live in terms of comfort e.g. electricity and emerging technology. Yet there has never been a worst time to live as far as managing one’s expectations i.e. we want more but enjoy less, got treated less humanly (try to get in line at a Wal-Mart in Long Island this Black Friday, be sure to bring some pepper spray),  breathe worse air and have fewer or no friends over during the holidays.

Having said that, I wish you Happy Holidays with your loved ones, those kids whose constant companion has been the I pad and I phone. And be sure to have their eyes checked out. Who knows they already need glasses, like, yesterday. Just don’t buy them disposable.

 

Trash or Treasure

With 50% youth unemployment in Spain, front-page news showed dumpster diving photos.

It shouldn’t be. But it is. Life is difficult, says Scott Peck.

And since when was it easy?

For years, I put myself in a selfless orbit which , at times, has done much damage to myself (self-sabotage).

My appetite for risks and adventure, for sacrifice and heroism, got me in a bit of trouble.

In short, I have been addicted to adrenaline. Life on the edge, hanging and dangling on the cliff,  literally, on the last day of  a Wilderness Survival course in the White Mountain of New Hampshire.

Now, seeing men in Spain,  not in white and red bandanas having fun at the running of the bulls (which I would like to be doing, adrenaline and all), but dumpster-diving (which I definitely can’t see myself doing), I prefer being chased by the  bulls than the bears.

Are we in a battle against modernity itself? How come I-phone 5 is in short supply, but workers in Spain are not?

What is the real benefits of globalization and modernization in its present form?

Who dare to pose the real and hard questions and to whom?

Democratizing unemployment?

The rhetoric has been to “flatten” the process of wealth distribution via technology and globalization. But hard data point to a much different conclusion: the  top 1% got richer by the day, and more are joining their ranks.

Go figure!

We will soon reach 9-Billion (2050). Will there be enough energy and food for consumption?

Enough I-phone and whatever comes after “I” for everyone? Malthus revival.

The Third wave of civilization is descending on us so quickly (as described aptly via Moore’s Law) that we can’t handle the truth (agricultural and industrial waves took off not as quickly as the information age’s hockey-stick growth).

I remember discussions in some circles that one day, we would all have a bar code imprinted on our foreheads.

Scan me. Zap me.

Brand me. The Who would have to change their  “See me, Feel me” anthem.

But for now, you can’t seem to get through a day without some guy (even gal) asking for a hand out.

Brother, can you spare a dollar (used to be a dime) “Anh cho xin mot dong” (in multi-language).

Inflation hit everyone, from Seoul to Spain, Singapore to Shanghai.

At least, in collective societies of the East, people can squeeze in around the table (round) for a dip in the rice bowl. The strength of Western individualism (Robinson Crusoe) has finally faced its logical conclusion: I can find food, as long as you help keep the trash bin cool and clean. Why all the post-industrial brains cannot come up with solar-powered refrigeration for the mass, where spare foods can be deposited there for those who are in desperate need (I have seen used clothing bins, but not food).

Combo number 1 or 2? They have always tried to sell you and I more fries than our bodies can take.

Meanwhile, the rain doesn’t stay mainly in Spain. Anyone with fresh eyes can see something is not going according to plan . Your trash, their treasure. Be grateful, but then be outrageous. We need your rage.

Time as equalizer

Presidential terms last four years.  Our life expectancy, used to be much less, now stands in the mid-70’s depends on the air quality near you. It’s an allotment. Non-negotiable. Except for a few variables e.g.unique gene pool, diet, exercise, stress level and accidents.

Some people even wish they were dead.  If you drag on day in and day out pushing the shopping cart, full of  discarded possession, then heck,  yes, you should.

I don’t expect our leaders to solve every problem . They got 9/11 memorial to attend to, reelection or election speech to give, and negative ads to launch.

But then, the homeless men and the presidential candidates both have on hand only a few decades left to influence the course of history and to deflect deadly and detrimental trajectories e.g. healthier school lunches, smarter curricula, wasted talent  (where would Bill Gates be today had someone not allowed him to practice programming skills at night in a computer lab).

Time is evil.

Rich men and poor men.

Strong men and weak men.

Faithful men and flirty men.

All got only that long to live, to learn and yes, to regret.

It’s part of the package: to err is human.

Those who risked nothing, gained nothing.

Money can be borrowed (especially today, when banks are pushing for it, but not without conditions) but time cannot.

The 80/20 rule shows us there are times when we feel and actually are more productive.

Athletes know about and leverage their peak time performance.

And Moore’s Law makes planned obsolescence   a de facto (more apps with better speed of processing  keep coming down the pipe).

Just don’t wish to live on forever, as the joke goes ” a man wished he could live on forever. So God turned him into a tree”.

Plan your funeral ahead, preferably with standing room only. Work backward from there and cross out that check list, one by one (gotta see Paris for example).

You will laugh and cry, and beat yourself for not seeing the elephant in the room, or the Emperor without clothes.

It’s the spirit of the times. We have all been willfully blind when inside the bubble (Tulip? Railroad? Internet? Housing?).

The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

Might as well. Because to him ,with hammer in hand, everything looks like nails.

When you get hammered down, don’t stay down. Gabby did not. She got back onto the platform, and not just any platform, but the DNC platform. Her time has yet to be over. So has ours. Stand up and stand your ground.

Reading Idea Man

What would you do if you hit the PowerBall jackpot?

Paul Allen, Idea Man, had several ideas: space travel, mind mapping and music.

What would you do if you had no money at all?

You would day-dream (travel inside your mind), visualize what you would do if  you had money (like Charlie Chaplin, leaning out of the window to eat his home-grown grapes) and of course, go on free YouTube to listen to your favorite songs.

Rich and poor, we share the same hopes, fears and dreams.

The yearning to better ourselves.

Some do it the hard way (monk self-immolation, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela prisoner # 46664), others the ideal way (Bill Gates and Paul Allen).

I like the new tech billionaires.

They are more eco-friendly, more hip (recording studio on Octopus, world’s fourth largest yatch).

They got out of the tech boom and bust, while we continue with the real estate bubble.

Now when I hear of construction build-out, I got flashbacks.

Our next frontier lies in understanding the brain, the diseases and how our psychological make-ups (sub-conscious) dictates or hinders our choices.

We barely understood creativity. How one idea sparks another.

Paul’s best line in the book: often times, failure carries with it the seed of success.

Every so often, someone came along, did or said something that made us think .

We thank them for it. We are challenged by them. We build upon their shoulders, and yes their failures.

Paul Allen isn’t the only Idea Man. But he one who puts money behind those ideas he thinks might work. Ideas and action.

All along, he enjoys coding, playing music and reading. A classic American guy growing up in the 60’s: high-tech and high- touch (Jimmy Hendrix). Jam on. Even in between two cancer surgeries. That’s what life is all about.

Always between chapters. Always being rewritten and revised. Always tried and failed, then try again. Idea  Man. Action Man.

Last summer day

The academic calendar starts just about now.

A different season. Different drum beat.

Formula and conjugation.

Grades and test scores.

Cafeteria and classroom.

Principal and peers.

Pranks and punishment.

Same starting point, different finish lines.

Education is democratic in nature.

I admire people in wheel chairs, still being wheeled their way around the library, trying to reach up to the latest titles (Tillman or Unbroken).

I wish we could apply Moore’s Law to our cognitive development.

As it turns out, our brain capacity can process much more information, forming knowledge stream, and turning them into usable grains of wisdom (emotional and social intelligence).

The end of all learning should be to form a capacity for empathy, to see others in their historical and social context, from their frame of reference.

This is the underlining assumption of many art forms such as cinema and work of fiction.

In fact, we need escapism. During the Great Depression, Hollywood did quite well.

This time around, cinema still manages to stay afloat (without McCarthyism).

We also enjoy the news as presented live and downstream much faster thanks to broadband connection. Newsbreak has been more interesting than fiction (The Social Network, Arab Spring and London Summer – which BTW, an antithesis to the fairytale version of the Royal Wedding , same version as earlier centennials’).

This summer has been a summer of disasters, from environmental (drought) to economic *(drought), from political blunder to criminal assaults (Oslo).

But our kids are back to school. It’s a blessing in disguise. It brings back normalcy.

Or something like it. It reminds us that we have been there,and are still here years later.

Had we known then, what we know now.

That vantage point could only be viewed from hindsight.

It’s called exposure and experience. It’s called empathy. It’s called optimism, because the last summer day, actually signifies the beginning of a beautiful Fall, with foliage and cool fronts. In Vermont and Maine, Fall actually is the most beautiful and livable time.

Hopefully, it’s a start of a new fiscal year and fiscally restrained calendar for leaders around the world. Remember, they once started this season like everyone else: in an elementary classroom. Same starting point, different finishing lines.

Think, Act, and Think again

We conjured up symbols, codes and instructions for machine to act.
Now that the machine does most of the work. It’s time to play? Not necessarily, because machines get smarter. So, we have to upgrade our own software to keep up since there is no return to hunting and harvesting.From Malthusian and Moore’s law.  from Bowling Alone (without a friend) to Karaoke (without a band), we have evolved beyond recognition. Meanwhile, the Highest court is burdened with same-sex marriage, while American children grow up in motels.

Think again.

Moore’s Law for Tech Giants

If Rip Van Winkle woke up today, he would be surprised to see Facebook. If he had waken up a decade ago, he would have read about Google.And the decade before that, Microsoft.

Except this time, Mark Zuckerberg is much younger than the other founders, dominated the media landscape quicker . And he donated part of his earnings to charity, much earlier (Bill and Melinda Gates took off to India a few Window versions later).

In short, everything (concept to contribution) seems to follow Moore’s Law which was first applied to the speed of chips.

When Microsoft opened its Silicon Valley branch, and Facebook its first summer frat house on the West coast, we know where Mecca for techies is.

One can only hope the rise of Facebook inspire others, despite its floundering IPO.

Tech year, like dog year, ends quickly. It just seems like yesterday, when Bill Gates

tried to size up Netscape, or Murdoch MySpace and WSJ mix.

Today, half of the staff  are clearing their desks, leaving behind half of My Space For-Lease. Moore’s Law is ominous when applied outside of chip manufacturing.

My machine vs yours

When Henry Ford put together two motor cycles side by side to invent the automobile, he wasn’t interested in pleasing his customers, “you can have any color you want, as long as it’s black”.  Now, car turns commodity, the Chinese came up with Cherry, the pink car designed to please its female customers  Bye bye Alpha Male.

We are moving swiftly to post-industrial society, where valued apps differentiate services (the Application layer).

My android app vs your I-Phone‘s. More women play games that fit their lifestyle, instead of shooting down the enemies in Mortal Combat. And medical records can be made available to avoid cross-drug effects. Ironically, pornographers are way ahead in tech curve (money-motivated people adopts invention very quickly).

How much more the “good” guys can advance if they put their mind into it.

My machine vs yours.

Let’s race.

We went to the Moon, collected rock samples, and returned safely.

Now, we just have to sit down in a chair and think.

Let our fingers do the walking on the keyboard, not feet on the surface of the Moon. Let them glide, and be the extension of our speed of thought.

Besides speed (Moore’s Law), and network effect (Melcafe), we need Movement (macro-wiki?)  to lift ourselves above the mundane.

Google’s “don’t be evil”, Steve Job‘s “be hungry”.

Sadly but truly, hunger and fear are good driving forces. The former compels us to hunt, the other to invent weapons to protect ourselves. Peter Drucker once said “organizations exist to do two things: innovation and marketing”.

From Taser to Tommy, it is not unusual to find in a woman’s bag: car alarm, I pod, I phone, flash lights, garage door openers, remote control of all sorts etc….

Wireless technologies have liberated dancers/singers so they can move around the stage, and their laptops around the house.

My machine vs yours.

Surround sound. Shared sorrow. The Japan that can now say NO.

Once thrived, now disheartened, Japan has quietly moved on to robotics to serve its aging population. If any country that could work technology into health care, Japan should be it. I had a chance to sort through first hand, all sorts of machines junked by hospitals. Brace ourselves for 21st-century hospitalization, where you can’t affor having allergy to all things machine. From Youtube to test tube, you will instead of viewing your music video, end up breathing from one.

My machine vs yours.

The Who will change its tune, from “see me, feel me” to “test me, read me”.

The machine won’t prolong life, but at least, it can give exact reading of time of death. That’s when the cursor blinks, without going to the next alphabet.

No period. Just blinking, incessantly.

My machine vs yours. Learn to live and love it while you can.