Gesture Motion Becomes Real

(2/27/2013) This is a good innovation becomes real. Watch this video.

Boeing 787 Battery Problem

(2/21/2013) If this finding is final, then the reason caused many airlines to ground their Boeing 787 aircrafts is due to miswiring.

According to this news: "A probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 that made an emergency landing found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday. ... The Transport Safety Board said in a report that the battery for the aircraft's auxiliary power unit was incorrectly connected to the main battery that overheated, although a protective valve would have prevented power from the auxiliary unit from causing damage." At this moment, it is not clear that the miswiring is a single episode or a more systematic problem that spreads to all 787 aircrafts. But Boeing needs FAA to certify a fix to lift the grounding and Boeing need to show this solution is adequate.

How much will it cost Boeing? It is hard to estimate. But ANA (that found 787's problem and ground the flight first) will experience $1.1 million per day to ground its 787 flights. This quality issue definitely shows that it is very costly to airlines and Boeing. (Note, on 3/12/2013, FAA approves Boeing's solution for the battery problem.)

Watch Out the Seafood We Eat

(2/13/2013) This is a disturbing news as I still eat seafood. Quite a lot of seafood sold in the supermarket is mislabeled. Oceana (an international ocean advocacy group) tested the DNA and the label of the food and found snapper and tuna are those most commonly mislabeled. This is their report in PDF. A longer food supply chain definitely alienates consumers with the food they eat. But I wonder whether a shorter supply chain will fix this problem.

Source: Oceana

VA Will Punish Hybrid Vehicle Owners with New Tax

(2/21/2013) This is probably one of the most stupid proposals of transportation policy(Jones' Act too) in the United States. While scratching the transportation funding, the senate and the house of the Commonwealth of Virginia come up with a new tax: taxing $100 annually on the owners of hybrid vehicles. One possible reason, the hybrid vehicles use less fuels and pay less fuel tax to the states. Your must be kidding me.

Health Awareness Can Become Ecosystem's Disaster

(2/21/2013) Health awareness may trigger an ecosystem disaster in Bolivia. When people around the world start realizing the benefits of quinoa, it triggers price spikes on quinoa. So the farmers in Bolivia are rushing for planting more quinoa and skip rotations that is necessary for the fragile landscape in the Andes.

Delicious and healthy quinoa salad.

Farmer's Supply Chain In Taiwan

(2/20/2013) The increasing fuel price doubles down the overproduction of Asian eggplant in Taiwan. According to this report (in Chinese), the wholesale price of Asian eggplant in Taiwan at this moment is less than 8 cents per pound. One culprit is the warm weather that makes eggplant overgrow. The farmers have to let go the crops without harvesting because the fuel price is too high to ship from the farmland to the market (Taipei) and stay profitable. The unpredictable weather in Taiwan has been a big problem to farmers: The weather in Taiwan is subject to huge variation in heat, rain, typhoons and drought.

Source: http://udn.com/NEWS/FASHION/FASS16/7706429.shtml

Data's Limitation

(2/16/2013) You probably know the dispute between a New York Time Reviewer and Tesla, an electric car leader. Both sides show data that they claim are indisputable and favor their claims. This article points out the limitation of data: "The problem is that the data shows what happened, but not why, argued David Weinberger." Now the business collecting data (your web browsing history, search, mobile phone, contacts, emails, GPS locations... ) like crazy. It reveals a lot of us, but does it really say something right about us?

Japanese and the Fax Machines

(2/15/2013) Are you still using fax machines in 2013? Most people in the U.S. don't, but Japanese are still using it "a lot." As an Asian, it is still very bizarre to me. In a country that has most advanced robots and once a leader in consumer electronics, people at home and in the office are still using fax machine for communication. It says a possible reason is its aging population. But I think it can be a more deep rooted culture issue: Japanese do not like changes.

Make An Elephant Dance

(2/13/2013) When a company grows big, it is hard to make it continue to grow at the same rate. Sometimes, we see business expands by opening more shops (like Walmart or Bestbuy). This geographic expansion pays back really well, but it can only last for a short period of time (several years) till the company saturates the whole market. (Now Bestbuy is closing its shops facing fierce online competition) How did IBM turn to a software service company?

Network technology giant -- Cisco -- was facing the same situation after early 2000's bubble. It is good to see Cisco diversification strategy finally pays off. Cisco is still a network equipment giant, but it now is in data center and online video services too.

No to Social Media Is Not An Answer

(2/13/2013) This is another interesting news. Marc Rubio gulping a tiny Poland Spring water after Obama SOTU speech became a media sensation. Poland Spring was not planned to be the media focus; however, it is. After that video spread, media is approaching Poland Spring for their comments. However, Poland Spring is nowhere to be found.

Fourteen hours later, this is what Poland Spring respond on Facebook. Media analysts say Poland Spring lost a great PR chance. How do you think?

Poland Spring's official respond on facebook: “Reflecting on our cameo. What a night!”

(6/29/2013) This is another serendipity for the footware maker -- Texan Congresswoman Wendy Davis wearing a pair of sneaker for 13-hour standing filibuster. After that, it triggered a lot of query and reviews on Amazon.com. However, I don't see this Japanese shoe maker (Mizuno) grasping the great opportunity to market their shoes.

Apple's iWatch or Google Glass?

(2/13/2013) Even though it is still a rumor, Bloomberg says Apple is really serious about iWatch to compete with Google Glass. Which one will you pick to be a trend rider? Which one do you think will work better for innovation early adopters? I will pick Google Glass. Look at the video recording function of both gadgets. Google Glass will give you a more reasonable and stable video recording. Plus, if you want to embed voice command on this gadget (like Apple Siri or Google Now), a pair of glasses is much closer to your ear to extend James Bond's earplug. Wearing an iWatch? You will have to keep your hand straight and still to record a video and you will need to raise your hand every time you talk. What is your pick?

Apple iWatch imaginary product

Google Glass

Look at what Google just released about its Glass.

Crisis Management

(2/13/2013) Even though we know mistakes in business happen everyday, but a Carnival cruise stranded on the sea is really testing the crisis management of this company. This cruise ship is expected to be towed back to Mobile, AL tomorrow. Though people can use facebook or twitter to be in contact with their friends and families to let them know the people on board are fine, but the social media is also broadcasting the mess around the world. In the social media era, if a company does not know how to react a crisis and handle it well, it will be hemorrhage of business reputation and public trust.

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Want to Be More Creative? Can We Try tDCS?

(2/13/2013) Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of neurostimulation which uses constant, low current delivered directly to the brain area of interest via small electrodes (cite from Wikipedia. One researcher (see around 37:00 in "Through the Wormhole") finds that by stimulating medial temporal lobe with tDCS will help military trainees increase the accuracy of detecting suspicious objects. So can we make ourselves being more creative with tDCS kit too?

There are some videos on youtube teaching you how to make tDCS kit and sever commercial tDCS kits are also available online (like this one). But to be safe, you probably want experts to guide if you really want to try. Read this article first.

(5/23/2013) Now an English research found that by stimulating a certain part of brain can boost our numerical skills. I think I would like to try. I bet many Asian parents will buy it to give their kids a head start.

Trader Joe's Store Label

(2/12/2013) This is an interesting article. As a Trader Joe's shopper, sometimes I wonder how can they sell the stuff so cheap and whether I should trust its quality. Trader Joe and potential manufacturers won't tell you the truth. So, the staff of the Huffington post did a taste test and had their guess. Look at the price comparison below, it's amazing how much is the difference. Will you still buy from a brand name if you have a Trader Joe alternative?

GPS Technology That Can Change Cattle Industry

(2/11/2013) A new GPS technology that may change the cattle industry. Equipping a GPS headset on the head of a cow, the cow will follow the 'instruction' of the GPS to graze only in a limited area without actual fences. This is how the equipment looks like:

The Directional Virtual Fencing headset in its patent illustration.

Next, the German shepherds will be out of job.

Facebook's Bug Spreading

(2/8/2013) I also got caught by this bug when I tried to share some weather information on my facebook. Webpages are forced to close after that failed sharing (Weather.com, Huffingtonpost.com..) . I guessed that was a Weather.com website's sharing issue. Now we know it's Facebook's bug. Gee, a mistake of Facebook can take down so many sites. I learned a new lesson.

Post Office's Loss is Netflix's Gain

(2/7/2013) U.S. Post Office announced yesterday (2/6/2013) that they will stop delivering mails on Saturday. Some congressmen are upset with this painful decision. However, Netflix will be happy about it. According to that report, Netflix spent $600 millions delivering their video DVDs to subscribers. If you just take simple calculation, it will save Netflix at least $100 millions per year in the future. Netflix mail-DVD subscribers will be the losers. They pay the same amount of subscription fee, but they have one day less to received the movies they want.

(CC)

Ethanol Refinery Suspended

(2/7/2013) One ethanol refinery in Missouri will suspend their operations because it cannot find enough corn. The drought has taken tolls on U.S. farmers and corn is one crop that took the biggest hit. Corn price on 2/7/2013 is $7.22 per bushel, which is close to its 2008 peak. The dream of sustainable biofuel fades away very soon.

2011 Traffic Congestion Cost - 2012 Report

(2/5/2013) This research is done by Texas A&M University. They do this traffic congestion survey every year, and each year it gets worst. Based on 2011's survey data, the US congestion cost is $121 billions. To the trucking industry, it costs them $27 for their wasted time and fuel. Since the US federal and local government did such a poor job for providing good public transportation or diverting people's driving, the worsened traffic cost will only come back to haunt everybody (from the upstream suppliers to the end consumers).  If you are interested in the full report, this is Texas A&M's webpage.

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Popularity of Self Service

(10/10/2010) Many consumers like me really enjoy self-service. I love self check-in of Southwests Airlines (Southwest don't assign seats and let early check-in passengers choose the seats! Now they have $10 early-bird to give you an early-check-in number). I would prefer to self check-out in the supermarket if the machine is not too tedious. Now some airlines want the passengers to self-boarding.

Think about what are the benefits of self-service to the customers? (1) Customers know themselves better. (2) Avoid meaningless chic-chat. (3) Self-service is faster for sophisticated consumers.

However, self-service is not for everyone. First the self-service system has to be simple, intuitive.

Our Believe System

(2/2/2013) It's a very interesting video and you have to watch till the end. Hilarious!

Apple To Open Supply Chain Management Center Instead Of R&D Center In Shanghai

(2/1/2013) This is a not a big news, but it is surprising. Apple -- the most valuable company in the world -- may establish a supply chain management center (not an R&D center) in Shanghai. Do I need to say more about the importance of supply chain?