@T: ALWAYS THE TWAIN

This morning I read about Professor Stephen Hawking’s appearance on the Discovery Channel today, in which he explicates the probability of the existence of aliens and also warns that we should probably not contact them:

Bizarrely I also saw a man dressed in an Angel of the North costume taking part in the London Marathon:

Later in the afternoon, whilst wandering around London’s main shopping street, I saw a poster outside the HMV record store advertising that the Avatar DVD and BlueRay were available to buy so I decided to venture in. Once inside I began to realize that they were putting on a show or talk of some sort in the back of the store, so I walked in deeper. Before I knew it a store manager was explaining that Stephen Lang, the actor who plays the baddie Colonel Quaritch, was going to be in the store signing copies of the DVD / special box set!

Well, naturally, I decided to join the queue (even though I have only ever queued for an autograph once before in my life and that was for Jung Chang, the author of Wild Swans) since Avatar was such a remarkable visual and technical innovation in film-making that it made trekking through the snow and falling on my derriere a few times along the journey to the cinema in December 2009………completely worthwhile.

Here’s Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch:

Now here are the pictures from the signing. There was a make-up artist in the store who painted Avatar faces on request:

There was a moment right after I told him that his character scared me so much because Colonel Quaritch was SO MEAN that Stephen Lang gave me exactly the Colonel’s mean-eyed squint!!! Unfortunately my hands were full with the special box set so I didn’t manage to take a photo of that exact moment (and will regret this for a while, I know, :*)).

Nonetheless, all-in-all it was an absolutely amazing day filled with AWE.

Awe at how intelligent people can be with scientific discovery, how committed others are to charity (only people with good hearts run 26 miles in all sorts of costumes to raise much needed money for their chosen causes) and how there’s artistry in entertainment genius.

What a day and what a world, :*)!

This weekend I found myself cooking and eating skate wings for the first time. They were lightly marinated with soy sauce and sesame oil before pan frying on both sides for about 5 minutes each side. To accompany their soft silkiness, I made a tomato, aubergine and mushroom stir-fry with Zahter seasoning (a popular Middle Eastern spices base: thyme, cumin, zumac, oregano and sesame seeds). I also made some small batter cups with rice flour, eggs and vegetable oil to hold some of this vegetable stir-fry. There were also green leaves which were boiled in a miso base…………YUMMY AND HEALTHY!

I also went to one of the glorious parks in London (St. James, Hyde, Greenwich, Regent’s and Battersea) to enjoy the sunshine and the blossoming spring like a lot of people. In the first picture, a duck is swimming on one of the ledges of the waterfall (clue: she’s next to the ©).

I also caught up on some reading. Whilst leafing through the weekend papers I discovered that the class system is alive and kicking in the UK with various journalists highlighting the poshness of Nick Clegg and David Cameron, based on their privileged backgrounds and private educations. Interestingly, both my parents were privately educated and all of my closest friends likewise but since they’re from non-British cultures it’s not considered any barometer of “class” or “poshness” or used as a means to slur or sling shots at someone — simply that they benefited from a strong, classical education. Even more interesting is that the Times’ article picked up on how over-gentlemanly David Cameron was by not rudely interrupting his opponents during the TV debate (as I’d observed in my posting on 16 April immediately after the program).

I still believe the knockout punches should be about:

(1.)         POLICIES;

(2.)         PRAGMATISM; and

(3.)         PRINCIPLES and VALUES.

The rest of it (including what their wives are wearing and which biscuit they prefer to dunk in their tea) is meaningless, pure puff and pop psychology.

The BBC producer has been in touch and remains interested in featuring my family and I as a typical household that will be affected by this election and, yet, atypical since we seem to be less apathetic and more informed than most Chinese households. Awareness about global current affairs is a norm for us rather than an anomaly and we’ve had some extremely interesting and involved discussions over the dinner table. If we do take part it will be the first time a Chinese family has appeared on British media and not to talk about cooking, alternative medicines or feng shui but about economic policy, NHS reforms and education. That’s quite a responsibility to be entrusted with as a representation of the Chinese community. The 2010 election is particularly significant for the Chinese community because it’s the first time there are Chinese-origin candidates standing for MP.

As I’ve often highlighted on this blog, we are a family that registers and exercises our rights to vote — unlike the majority of the population who are either switched off from the politicians or simply “don’t get around to it”. Having said this, we are not the types of people who knock on doors or campaign on behalf of any party. There’s sufficient diversity amongst us that every party gets equal discuss-space at the dinner table. We’re less pro fluffy dogmatic ideology and more pro-smarts and pragmatism, so whichever party shows these qualities tends to be regarded more favorably. Generally speaking, we’re politically informed but also politically impartial; we try to critique the coherency of all parties’ policies on a level playing field.

Maybe this family practice explains why when I was at college the politics students elected me as Chair of the Social and Political Sciences Forum — despite the fact that I studied the natural sciences and was not even in any politics classes. Whilst they debated passionately about nuclear proliferation, whether Left / Right / Centrist ideology was the best and “how to revolutionize the world, end poverty and be good citizens” I simply ensured that the forums observed fair play and no one came to fisticuffs. Some people (including my mother and a boyfriend or two) would probably say it’s just as well that I didn’t study law or politics because I’d have natural advantages: articulacy, Devil’s advocacy, assertiveness that diverse perspectives have merits and absolute refusal to be bullied into accepting any position that makes no sense (this includes more senior people telling me mortgage CDOs and prop trading were the way forward prior to the financial crisis when my analysis suggested otherwise).

As it is, technology, science and business are infinitely more fascinating and open up avenues to innovation which is what ultimately makes me tick, so even though I can throw curve balls about Plato, Hobbes, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche, et al for fun……Galileo, Descartes, Tesla, Huygens and Nash et al are the ones who throw curve balls at us and make me really think. I like it when curve balls are thrown that challenge existing concepts towards some sort of “Coherent Super-Smart Solution”, btw.

Anyway………….

Today, the Conservatives launched their election manifesto with David Cameron making a call to arms that invoked JFK: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” There were also obvious nods to President Obama’s successful campaign approach with his “Yes, we can” notes, tailored towards British vernacular and tastes:

“Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: real change comes not from government alone. Real change comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, when millions of us are fired up to play a part in the nation’s future.

Yes this is ambitious. Yes it is optimistic. But in the end all the Acts of Parliament, all the new measures, all the new policy initiatives, are just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.

:

Together we can even make politics and politicians work better. And if we can do that, we can do anything. Yes, together we can do anything.”

This has been analyzed as a clear delineation between the Conservatives preference for a “Big Society” rather than Labor’s practice of a “Big State”. The details and implications of the Conservative manifesto have been picked apart by journalists on both the Labor and Conservative ends of the spectrum which makes for good sanity-checking:

* http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/13/conservative-big-society-corruption-warning

* http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7165000/Conservative-manifesto-2010-general-election-party-policy.html

Interestingly I paraphrased that JFK quote myself when I successfully campaigned for election to the Student Council at university. I designed a poster with a rocket launch pad accompanied by the tag line, “Ask not what maths can do for you. Ask what more I can solve for the students of the maths department.” This was after I created the Link-Up Scheme that meant third and second year students voluntarily mentored first year newbies (sold them their books; passed on lecture notes; provided tips on where to find good safe accommodation; which societies were worthwhile to join; etc).

Before readers assume that a mutual appreciation of a JFK quote means that  I’m gravitating towards the Conservatives, I’d say that a “Big Society” risks being bloated, even more bureaucratic, even more costly and is a bit “So what?” Now if David Cameron’s speech had said something along the lines of this:

“It’s time for this country to become a SMART SOCIETY again. A smart society that’s respected around the world for our strong economy, for our educational standards, for our democratic values, for our scientific innovations, for our ability to be tolerant as well as considered about our cultural diversity. A smart society that encourages world-class companies and entrepreneurialism and embraces success whilst also providing support for and reaching out with our hands to help the more vulnerable (children, the elderly, the under-employed) ….This is the opportunity and potential to achieve before us — as individuals, as members of our extended families, as contributors to our local communities, as citizens and shareholders in UK PLC.

Now…..To make this country worthy of its Triple A rating, we need to appreciate that we’re all in this together. That it makes sense to work together in order to achieve anything in life. That is… by our minds, our hearts, our hands and our collectivity WE WILL DO THIS. We will make our society better and become the benchmark and beacon of bright futures. Not simply that we can, but we will.

To borrow Mark Twain, he said that, “I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won’t.” In the same way, this society — the people of Britain — have the chance to show that we have higher and grander principles than Gordon Brown. He could not deliver on previous Labor manifestos — whether as Chancellor or as Prime Minister; we can and WE WILL.”

Now that sort of speech would have more of a punch and commitment to action rather than what the Conservatives conveyed today at Battersea Power Station.

As for the Liberal Democrats, I read that Nick Clegg wants to ban bankers’ bonuses or at least cap them at GBP2,500 with any other benefits being payable as shares which have to be vested and cannot be exercised for at least 5 years. Hmmn…..let’s examine some consequences of introducing this policy:

(1.) Bankers would be less incentivized to competitively chase down those US$ billion dollar transactions that earn US$ hundred millions in revenue fees that go into a bank’s balance sheet ===> EARNINGS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO CORPORATION TAX that then gets funneled back into government spending on public services;

(2.) Bankers wouldn’t be out there spending any of those huge cash bonuses to help drive the retail or housing economy (on client lunches, in wine bars, in clothes stores, on healthcare, in investment properties — all sectors that employ people for whom bankers contribute notable revenues); and

(3.) Brain drain because those bankers would simply relocate to Singapore, New York, Rio etc. and stimulate those countries retail and property economies. Their children would be educated in those countries which means those educational fees would not flow back to the UK and the next generation of professionals (who would otherwise belong to UK PLC) will belong to Other Country SA / INC.

I am as disappointed as the next person about the global financial crisis and I also believe reforms are needed. However, any poorly thought out / knee jerk populism reform for electioneering purposes is as unhelpful as any “business as usual” modus. We need to have the imagination, the knowhow and the commitment of purpose to properly examine the information that’s going into systems which affect the decision-making process and economic models — whether that is at global CEO and board level or at local Joe/Jane Public commercial level.

There was a lot of quantitative information available about a potential market for subprime mortgages, about interest rate movements, about debt repayment schedules, about the risk layers of compounded CDOs, about governments wanting to stimulate investment by foreign funds seeking higher returns from those subprime CDOs.

However, there was insufficient QUALITATIVE INFORMATION about the perceptions, tastes, emotional states and time dynamics of those subprime mortgage households, the bankers who constructed the financial instruments, the risk exposure of the banks and the culpability of governments, regulatory agencies and external consultancies. So if we are to get any cogent handle on the global financial crisis we need to grasp the importance of those missing QUALITATIVE ELEMENTS that drove and affected the quantitative value losses.

See? It requires more intelligence than simply pointing lazy fingers at the bankers and abjugating the contributions to the global financial crisis by governments, by those who borrowed to buy housing for which there was no way they could meet the repayments for, by regulatory agencies and by professional entities (accountancy firms, management consultancies, the media etc.). The latter group are mentioned since they’re supposed to form a sort of Fifth Estate that sanity-checks the strategic coherency of companies, governments and economies.

Most importantly, the contribution of INCOMPLETE AND INCOHERENT INFORMATION IN THE I.T. SYSTEMS AND ON THE INTERNET which —instead of enabling informed 360-2020 perspectives for sound decision making — only enforced blind spots and ignorance that resulted in the subsequent implosion of the global financial system in multiple ways and from different directions.

No reader should underestimate how much I iterate 360-2020 with these questions:

* What is information? Is it a mere series of 0′s and 1′s? Yes and no? -1 / 0 / +1? Or does it have dimension (quality, color, context, time and more)?

* How are we capturing information PRIOR to them being processed by the machines and algorithms?

* Where in the algorithms are the improvements needed?

* How will we include and convert quantitative AND QUALITATIVE elements into differentiation objects that can be read and processed smartly by the machines?

* To what extent will this affect and improve business, economic and decision-making models?

* How will this change in approach to information reduce the risks of another global financial crisis occurring at this level?

So……….it’s not “Big Society” or “Big State” or “Big Ban on Bankers’ Bonuses” which will revolutionize the future as far as I’m concerned.

It’s IMAGINATIVE, SMART, COHERENT THINKING AND REALIZATION on the nature of information as it’s applied to the Internet and the interfaces between humans and the machine algorithms which will affect all our futures (way beyond any national politics or cultural differences).

Yesterday the Labor Party launched their election manifesto with the word “renewal” making a frequent appearance in the speeches. Interestingly I’ve recently been elbows deep in a renewal / restoration / rediscovery project during spare time squeezed in between 360-2020 to do’s, and I can say that Labor’s attempts at “renewal” over the last 13 years don’t look or cost anything like my project.

This is “Bob” who had been neglected and was in a pitiful state when I discovered him in an antiques store. Maybe he could be an analogy for a poorly economy, a run-down hospital or an underperforming social system? With lots of patience, tenacity and TLC (and, obviously, a lot of cotton buds) but not much cash burn I’ve managed to make him………SHINE:

Meanwhile the government has thrown so much money at society and yet it couldn’t be said that it shines. To borrow Monty Python’s “Don’t mention the war!” (when in the presence of any Germans), there seems to be a “Let’s not talk about the GBP178 billion deficit but about some nominal ‘future’ (because the electorate have short memories and most of them are not that smart anymore anyway because of various educational reforms)” approach by the current government.

This was a party which was elected in 1997 on the mantra of “Education, education, education!”

Educational standards have dropped according to 2009 OECD reports, the budget for science & technology research has been cut by GBP600 million and, noticeably there are no British Googles / Facebooks / Twitters / Bloombergs / Apples, etc. The most recent OECD report shows that in the past six years, the UK has fallen from eighth to 24th place in the international league table for maths, from seventh to 17th place in reading and from fourth to 14th place in science:

• http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3343,en_2649_35845621_42592351_1_1_1_1,00.html

This is a LOSS OF VALUE in society, over and above what was lost when Gordon Brown as Chancellor sold half of the UK’s gold bullion reserves at a substantial market loss (GBP3 billion has been cited by the broadsheets).

On the business side, I recently read that some major UK hedge funds that generate in excess of GBP500+ million per annum each have moved to Continental Europe because of the UK introducing that higher rate of tax on those earning GBP150,00+. The founders are all British-born, from working class backgrounds (the demographic which traditionally would favor Labor), happened to have been educated during the Conservative years — being the first people in their families to go to university, worked extremely hard for their successes and became reasonably wealthy.

These are people who would otherwise conduct their business in the UK and are major social philanthropists. They earn a lot of money, pay a lot of taxes and they also donate a lot of what remains of their personal wealth (of their own volition) to hospital trusts, art colleges and inner city projects. However, this top tax rate of 50% implemented by the government, the upcoming National Insurance increase and the capital gains and VAT proposals means that these successful and smart British business people have taken their talents and their money elsewhere and will now donate it to NON-UK hospital trusts, NON-UK art colleges and NON-UK inner city projects.

Whilst the main political parties play fussball with “efficiency savings” of GBP6 billion here or GBP12 billion there, a multiple of those GBP billions is flowing out of the country as a direct result of businesses moving elsewhere because they are disenfranchised with working extremely hard but for the value of those earnings to not go very far after taxation and various fees they have to pay (corporation, school, property). Moreover, after tax and fees, they simply cannot afford to donate GBP1 million to that hospital or GBP1 million to that school, etc.

So it will be interesting to see the next government — whoever they are on May 6 — renew and recoup those lost revenues, lost knowhow and lost aspirations in society.

As for me………Well…………..”Bob” was a birthday gift for a friend and I haven’t lost any of my aspirations for 360-2020. It is a friendship which has endured Life’s rollercoasters over many years and informs me greatly about the concept of VALUE. Value is not measured by how much money we throw at something. It’s a manifestation of the time, effort, smarts and consideration we reciprocally share with someone else.

As for how the political system affects business value, I will share that I recently approached a UK government investment fund about co-investing in 360-2020 with a lead investor being a Silicon Valley entity. The reply I got would surprise most people and explains why there are NO BRITISH GOOGLES, FACEBOOKS OR TWITTERS. I read about various policies to “sustain the recovery” and “invest in the future” but from direct experience I question whether this is really happening.

Anyway, it should surprise no one if the UK experiences an exodus of brains, money, talent and social commitment if the wrong party is elected. Or maybe I’m wrong……….Maybe society and businesses think that value is generated by excessive cash burn — in which case I should tell potential investors, “Give me a GBP10 million and I’ll burn it within a week. Oh and in return I’ll give you a platform that’s all about some ‘raw / half-baked promise of the future’ rather than a platform that actually has potential, works, progressively improves and increases value on a 360-2020 basis for more not less people.”

Well, I don’t think that any time soon I’m going to believe that a deficit of GBP178 billion (with little to show for that investment in society) is good value or that burning GBP10 million (with little to show for that investment in a business) is good value either.

In fact, if I still did Strategic Investments I’d write down both propositions on my balance sheet and……EXIT BOTH.

These were the events in and around London on Sunday 21st February 2010:

* Chinese New Year celebrations

* BAFTA 2010

* London Fashion Week

These are some of the reasons London is such a diverse and vibrant city to live in!

Well whilst romantic Westerners preoccupy themselves with St. Valentine’s Day, the Chinese are celebrating the start of the New Year so here’s a card and a message for the Year of the Tiger:

Typically Chinese families gather on New Year’s Eve and have a family feast; the Chinese need little encouragement to cook, eat, converse, wish each other fortuity and enjoy ourselves — LOL. Amongst the dozen or so delicacies served at the family meal, the centerpiece is always……….the fish (our two were braised with shallots whose homophone in Chinese has links with “smartness / intelligence” — what a language, hmmn (?) when even shallots have semantic meanings, LOL):

Anyway, I wish everyone a “新年快樂!”

2010 is the Year of the Tiger and also an important election year in the UK. Current polls suggest that it will be a hung Parliament and the vote from minorities will be the deciding one on the fates of the Conservative, Labor and Liberal Democrat’s electoral endeavors. That was the theme at the Chinese New Year reception at Westminster. Every MP, councillor and the six Chinese PPCs (prospective parliamentary candidates) who attended made this the focus of their speeches in addition to the reminder that it is critically important for the Chinese community to register to vote and mobilize themselves to find out more about the political process.

At the moment there are no Chinese MPs so attendees were and are hopeful that 2010 could prove to be a breakthrough year for the community.

A by-product of the evening is that a BBC World Service producer wants to include me in various program strands in the lead-up to the general election. This is because she asked why people are so apathetic to the political process in the UK and how the Chinese community seems to be part of that apathy and lack of engagement. I shared with her that my family isn’t representative of that apathy; as soon as the electoral registration forms appear I ensure that we register and on polling day we make time to put our ticks in the ballot boxes. In fact, there was one recent occasion where there was a local council election and an anomalous oversight meant that my mother wasn’t able to vote and she was upset about this.

So……..MY FAMILY ARE REGISTERED AND WILL DEFINITELY BE VOTING IN THE MAY 2010 ELECTIONS.

Now, as a general rule we are apolitical — in the sense that we each have our own political affiliations (independent of anyone else in the family), we vote and we discuss global politics, but we don’t get into political stand-offs with other people. We respect that perspectives and political philosophies are diverse because the nature of human experience varies, culturally and ideologically.

Moreover, in our family history, politics has been the source, cause and solution of various situations. Without going into too much information, on the maternal side of my family there have been some important Chinese community figures.

In my own case I would say that I was more involved with political processes and interests when I was younger. At college, I was elected Chair of the Political and Social Studies Group (even though I wasn’t a humanities student like the other participants) and Treasurer of the Student Council. Later, at university, I was elected to the Student Council and subsequently to the Academic Board. All of these experiences involved listening to fellow students about improvements and changes they wanted, ensuring their interests were appropriately communicated to the teaching body and/or providing a platform for students to explore issues that mattered to them.

What I will say is that anyone who is elected into a position of responsibility and representation needs to be genuinely committed to their audience’s interests and to convert any concerns into implementable actions.

The reason people disengage from the political process and elected officials, I noted to the BBC producer, is for the simple fact that the operational turnaround of policy manifesto to legislative passing typically takes at least one term of office (4 years) and the small progress steps are rarely and inappropriately communicated. Ergo, people question what the point of voting is if they can’t directly EXPERIENCE any policy changes. This then makes them perceive politics and politicians as abstracts, removed from them, rather than as realities implementing solutions.

Anyway, amongst the 6 PPCs, there was one candidate I thought represented their party and themselves in an articulate and coherent way and has a good chance of being elected — despite campaigning in a constituency which is a long-time stronghold of another party. They also seem to have a smart online approach to communicating and engaging with their potential voters which will make a difference. People want candidates and information which are accessible, easy to track and comprehensible.

Now here are the pictures and some accompanying comments. Yes and, alas, the iPhone doesn’t take great pictures at night.

(1.) To enter the Westminster complex, there is a thorough security process to pass:

(2.) This is the Great Hall which has recently been renovated:

(3.) The speakers in a group photo and the 11-year-old girl is standing for Junior Parliament:

(4.) The photographers and press show their presence:

(5.) A side room for press and video interviews:

(6.) Simon Woolley, Chair of Operation Black Vote, tells the audience, “The Chinese Barack Obama could be in this room!”:

(7.) Later I open the Chinese fortune cookie handed out to me:

(8.) The message reads, “The opportunity to show your leadership will soon be here.”

LOL!

No, I will not be standing as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in 2010 and have no plans to become the first elected Chinese MP in the UK.

I’d much prefer to be the person who contributes to cracking the conundrums of synergizing global human and machine consciousness to interconnected on+offline spheres of coalescence, coherence and contextualization.

Every year, there’s a Chinese New Year reception at the Houses of Parliament (by invitation) and this year I’m accepting and will go along. It will be interesting to hear what’s ahead for Sino-Anglo relations, particularly since Madam Fu Ying (an excellent Chinese Ambassador to the UK, imo) is returning to China following her promotion to become the second female Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Chinese New Year in 2010 coincides with St. Valentine’s Day, btw, so maybe we’ll all receive love and prosperity!

Here’s what I got for my Christmas present:

That’s right, I got the best Christmas present anyone could give another person: unforgettable memories. Those are more valuable than receiving another pair of shoes, a handbag or the latest Chanel make-up kit (these, apparently, are what women covet the most).

Incidentally, of the two cars, I think the beaten up old Fiat that’s being held together with the sticky tape has a lot more character and pulls a person in more than the Lamborghini. Unequivocally, the Lamborghini has a “WOW” factor and it would be on most supercar fan’s wish list. However, the Fiat is the one that arrests a person on a street, makes them smile at its quaintness and then wonder, “Who are the owners? What type of conversations and adventures has this little machine experienced? Why on earth did they use brown stick tape instead of send it to the scrap yard? How cool would it be to be weaving over the narrow cobblestones of Roma in this?!”

My Xmas trip was partly a vacation and partly a reconnaissance trip for Project ART. I’m going to the Venice Biennale this year for reconnaissance too, :*). When I’m in Roma I stay in a beautiful rooftop apartment near the Spanish Steps which is convenient for walking to all the major landmarks: the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Village Borghese, the Pantheo, the Trevi fountain and all the main shopping areas.

Mostly, I simply liked wandering off the tourist hotspots and experiencing what the locals did on a daily basis. One Sunday, after I went to listen to the Pope’s New Year message, I walked all the way to the Villa de Pomphilij where an armed military guard kindly escorted me across a busy road. He was shocked to see me emerging from one of the side roads because there was no pedestrian footpath on the side road and I was laden with groceries I’d bought from the supermercato that doubled up as a petrol station.

Anyway, that was strange to see: armed military guards and a military jeep in the city.

Then I found myself watching two brothers in the park (about 18 months and 4, respectively) kicking a football around whilst their family of 12+, including grandparents, watched on from their picnic. That’s right, a picnic at Christmas time — how cool is that?! Of course, the temperature did hit about 20 degrees Celsius and it was sunny, so………..

The scene was especially touching because the toddler was unsteady on his feet and kept falling onto his derrière (as evidenced by the notable patches of mud there), but his older brother seemed to be completely oblivious to his plight and kept running with the ball until, finally, he realized the youngster was no longer chasing him or the ball but plumped on his backside and struggling to get up again. At which point the older one would abandon his football and run over to help the baby up. It was very sweet.

Something else magical I managed to video was the thunder and lightning over St. Peter’s Square on New Year’s Eve. It was quite an experience being stranded under the colonnades, waiting for the torrential rain to stop, and hearing one of the nuns say, “Oh, Papa!” as if she was sure God was sending us a message about the new decade.

After the rain eventually stopped, I managed to navigate my way to the Via dei Fiori near the Coliseum to watch the fireworks and the concert that augured in 2010.

All-in-all, an eventful and revelatory trip with lots of videos and photos taken; far too many to post!

Here’s a clip from one of my favorite movies, La Vita è Bella! In 2010 it’s likely that I’ll be in Italy quite a bit; I’ve already been asked to return to Rome where I spent some of Xmas 2009.

Last week in my Italian class we were asked to design a psychology test for job interview candidates. Naturally, whilst the other groups created fairly simple three-question tests of the type “Are you easily stressed? Yes or no?” I came up with a three tiered test involving multiple choice questions with a scale of probability and a scenario. This was my scenario:

* The building has to be evacuated because of a fire. What would be the order that you’d evacuate your fellow employees?

(a.) Top floor first and then work your way down?

(b.) Middle floor, then bottom floor before the top floor?

(c.) All the women and children first, and then the men and the pets?

Quite mischievously, to my group, I said that anyone who answers (c) has a great sense of humor — or twisted nobility. The answer which indicates that the person has good leadership skills and powers of deduction and judgment is (a).

Anyway, as it happened, the guinea pig for my test unwittingly answered (c). He’s a journalist so who says chivalry is kaput? Lol.

Ok and below is the Google Translate version of what I just wrote above. As we can see, the translation’s fairly good except in one or two places so I’ve corrected the Google Translate mistakes (in brackets).

It will be quite something if one day my sense of humor in Italian is the same as my ability to read the financial newspapers in Italian or as good as Roberto Benigni!

Ah and what’s the point of attending Italian classes when there are such good online translation services?

Simple: reduce lost in translation occurrences and know where the misunderstandings can and are occurring.

*************************

La settimana scorsa nella mia classe di italiano ci è stato chiesto di progettare un test di psicologia per i candidati colloquio (potenziali) di lavoro. Naturalmente, mentre gli altri gruppi creati abbastanza semplice a tre prove questione del tipo “Sei facilmente sottolineato (stressato)? Sì o no?” Sono (sono) venuto con un test di tre livelli che coinvolgono domande a scelta multipla con una scala di probabilità e di uno scenario. Questo era il mio scenario:

* L’edificio deve essere evacuati a causa di un incendio. Quale sarebbe l’ordine che avevi evacuare i vostri colleghi?

(a.) Top primo piano (L’ultimo) e poi proseguite verso?

(b) Piano Oriente (Piano mezzo), poi piano terra prima che il piano superiore (l’ultimo)?

(c.) Tutte le donne e bambini in primo luogo, e poi gli uomini e gli animali domestici?

Molto (Un puo) maliziosamente, al mio gruppo, ho detto che chi risposte (c) ha un grande senso dell’umorismo — o nobiltà contorti. La risposta che indica che la persona ha una buona capacità di leadership (comando) e le competenze della detrazione e il giudizio è (a).

In ogni caso, come è successo, la cavia per la mia prova involontariamente risposto (c). Lui è un giornalista così che dice la cavalleria è kaput? Un sacco di risate (LOL).

Ok e sotto è la versione di Google Translate di quello che ho appena scritto sopra. Come si può vedere, la traduzione è abbastanza buona, tranne in uno o due posti in modo ancor più sotto ho corretto gli errori di Google Translate (tra parentesi).

Sarà cosa da poco se un giorno il mio senso dell ‘umorismo in italiano è lo stesso che la mia capacità di leggere i giornali finanziari in italiano o in buono come Roberto Benigni!

Ah e qual è il punto di frequentare corsi di italiano quando ci sono tali buoni servizi di traduzione on-line?

Semplice: ridurre la perdita di eventi di traduzione (perso nella traduzione) e conoscere (sapere) gli eventi in cui i malintesi possono e si stanno verificando.

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By the way, just the simple fact that Google Translate chose to use CONOSCERE (to know someone, a place) when the correct verb to use in this situation is SAPERE (to know about an inanimate object or subject) is a reflection that as smart as AI and translation software is, human understanding and grasp of a language remains more semantically attuned…….for now.

Ah and good leaders should have good senses of humor. Otherwise, they’d sink into a DEEP AND IRRECOVERABLE DEPRESSION about how it’s possible that seeming academic superstars graduated from the top MBA schools, Ivy League / Oxbridge institutions, law establishments, and ended up creating the global financial crisis and all the other messes.

Ironic, hmmmn?