Silicon Valley
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Old Time Rock and Roll, Get Ready, I Just Want to Celebrate etc.. will “soothe your soul”. Take time out to massage the affective part of yourself. Ancient culture or atomized culture, we all need to gather around the “fire”, to warm up, to celebrate and to belong. Music as equalizer, as motivator. A call…
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Technologists are enthusiasts. Their progress are documented in hockey-stick trends. Meanwhile we as ordinary human are still reacting out of fear as if we were still living in caves. The reptilian brain vs rapid rise of chip speed, guns vs germs, technology vs anthropology! As early as 1950’s, graduates would hear something like: “boy, you get…
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Got jolted last night. 4.1 shock. And this morning, some more aftershocks. It reminds me we share a vulnerable surface: ozone layer all around and a sea of lava underneath. While we receive pictures of Mars surface, we are reminded of Earth surface as well. It takes some getting used to, living in California. But…
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Silicon Valley that is. Palo Alto. The hype, the anticipation and burst. Dream and dread. It’s here for the taking. You game? Pine trees and even banana trees. Years ago, one would see Vietnamese technicians and Indian engineers. Now, the work is mostly outsourced and off shored. The design and creative work are still here. But…
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“The crowd call out for more…” Procol Harum’s one-hit wonder, with his indelible organ solo, still mystified many on YouTube. Legacy companies in a mature industry such as HP, have moved too far away from their roots, hence, at great risk of being irrelevant or turning into wax (Icarus paradox). In HP’s early days, Bill and Dave…
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Imagine you can slurp a spicy, mouth-watering noodle bowl on a rainy night. Even when it is instant, thanks to the King of Noodles (they even have a noodle museum in Yokohama). Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thailand and Vietnamese; all love this staple. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/marketing/259168/tf-eyes-vietnam-for-noodles Take the Korean and Vietnamese samples. Both are known for North and…
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You know you got it right when others tried to copy your every move. An Apple-like store in China, a Sony or Microsoft retail store in the same mall (Galleria, Houston). Steven Jobs, the enchanter, is quitting as Apple has reached its apex, once surpassing Exxon (Google also had this Everest experience). Maybe some Chinese CEOs like…
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Tech campus turned Mall (still keeps the “DOMAIN” name). Borders out of business, but Apple store is thriving. Austin, ranked as most tolerant city in America, saw Chinese Graduate students hang out leisurely on a Sunday afternoon, complete with rocking chairs, very well be made in China. Welcome to America. Welcome to Starbucks. What’s your name buddy? My…
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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…
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Subtitle “Time to remember”. When I was in high school, the consumer society began to take shape in Vietnam: beer, cheese, cigarettes, toothpaste and vinyl music albums. Then we moved on to AKAI tape. By the time I got to the US, the first item I purchased was a portable cassette recorder (to record music…
Thang Nguyen 555 