$1.65 Billion? COME ON~

2/5/07 Update: Viacom asks YouTube to remove 100K clips

I have a hard time believing that the earlier-this-month acquisition of YouTube by Google is a good move, if Google's goal is to capture all the top-10 website traffic YouTube was getting up 'til the acquisition. YouTube website traffic mainly comes from two sources: 1) users uploading and 2) users watching. But what are they uploading and watching exactly? 1) copyrighted and 2) non-copyrighted material. I would love to get a number on what ratio is between the time spent viewing these two categories of video content. Why? Because once the acquisition is done, Google, as a public company, will be forced to obey the basic laws of distributing copyrighted material (which they haven't done so thus far). After they actually start taking down videos of such popular shows as "Friends", "Entourage", "Chappelle's Show", and the countless ones of other countries' sitcoms, what are they left with? With mostly the types of videos that I wouldn't waste my time with, the ones where 2 guys with a video camera decide to film a hot girl, or themselves doing stupid things. Of course there are those mini-films that aspiring directors/actors upload to get themselves known... but that's pretty niche compared to the YouTube community at large. YouTube this month has already reacted to a Japanese group's request to remove their copyrighted material from the site by removing 30K videos (article). Only more will follow.

Let's say that they didn't acquire YouTube for its website traffic... did they do it to get their video technology? Maybe, but I doubt it, as Google already has it's own Google Video (from a user perspective, works the same way, just isn't as popular a destination site by far). Plus, isn't Google "the" end-all in technological prowess, through hiring only the best and brightest and subjecting them to grilling technical interviews? They don't need to buy technology! Further, there are tons of other video-sharing sites which have similar technologies, like Revver, Yahoo Video, Grouper, Eyespot, OurMedia, VideoEgg, Vimeo, vSocial, etc........ Incidentally, Revver is one of the few which allow users to monetize their uploads, by shelling out 20% of what revenues they generate of the content. Further, they actually police what is uploaded, and I've found out first hand that their review process works (even for a Taiwanese TV show).

About 6 months ago, I actually wrote YouTube to ask them what they thought of their hosting of many copyrighted tv shows, but they didn't respond. I thought that was indicative of their attitude towards the issue - just pretend it's not there. Further evidence of this type of attitude is their new policy that while they can't be sued for this material, they will GLADLY turn over the user information of the person who uploaded the copyrighed material in question! Sure, just stab the very users who made you a top-10 site in the back with a fat blunt dagger. Google probably does the same thing for users in China who post anti-government messages.

Anyways, I can't wait to see what happens in the next year with YouTube. Wonder if Google's legal fees will take a big hit... I guess YouTube has already begun to make nice with some of the major US networks, by uploading legitimate promo videos for new shows, but it doesn't mean the networks can't still get together and sue them for the tons of other illegal content that's up. Also, YouTube has illegal videos from everywhere, so they could potentially be facing lawsuits in every major country. Yes, I am a hater... but only where they deserve it. Burn, burn, burn!

In case you want to remove your YouTube account, go here and send them a message (they did it quickly for me).

FYI-Page updates

If you want to see new photos, just check the Photos section, as I add them there instead of creating New Posts. This reduces clutter on the site/blog. Incidentally, I believe that blogs are just websites/homepages remarketed...

逛街

今天很開心因為終於有機會跟朋友逛街。為什麼是那麼難得的事情是因為我只是一個死華僑﹐所以朋友大都在美國(我本國) 。 我朋友叫Charn, 研究所同學。她這個禮拜請假﹐從上海回來台灣。我下午跟他在西門丁碰頭﹐喝了半杯冰咖啡﹐聊了一會儿。之後我們去參觀了她妹妹組織的 “筆記展覽”, 也是在同一區。我當時以為是一些專門設計筆記本的人的產品﹐後來發現其實是一些有技術的愛畫畫的藝術家。展覽是讓我們看他們畫完的筆記本。有多數的也有寫一些自己的思想或者日常的生活。真的蠻有趣的. 很多有Graffiti的 “經驗”. =). 雖然Charn 的妹妹沒有出現﹐有在樓下看到她的手工製飾品。只能說那些手工製飾品非常有特殊。

看完展覽我們到士林夜市跟她的朋友們碰面。吃了很多不同的台灣小吃﹕Scrambled egg with little Oysters (蚵仔煎), Squid stew (魷魚粳), Fried chicken (炸雞排). 最誇張是雞排的大小-比我手掌大三倍。只要40元就可以吃到。蚵仔煎還好, 但是有不少的蛋殼在裡邊。魷魚粳也還好﹐但是魷魚煮太老了。後來也吃了水煎包﹐到家才當它是宵夜。

那一天真的走得很累。

學了一個新的成語: 醜人多作怪。

Chinese massage

If you're from the West, the words, "Chinese massage" may conjure up certain words in your mind. Well, I would like to abruptly disspell that myth by showing you the results of one type of Chinese massage. This type applies a vacuum type machine to your back, and supposedly improves your circulation. The result is bruises, the darker the red, the poorer physical condition you're in. I'm not doing so hot, and now I look like an advertisement for Target (Cost: $1000 NTD or about 30 USD for 1.5 hrs) The second time was while I had the flu, and some serious neck pain, which adds to the redness.

(Left: First time, Right: Second time)

Taiwan presidential recall survey results

So the people have spoken overwhelmingly in favor of relying on the legal system for presidential recalls, versus ceding to the people's 倒扁movement. I admit that a sample size of 6 is far from statistically significant, but it's at least a data point for the audience to consider. The movement has been going on for close to a month now, and nothing tangible has been achieved.

Office stories

10/23: I recently heard of 2 examples of the results of working too hard in the consulting industry. Both involve fast-risers in a well-known firm, on the cusp of becoming very young partners in Greater China. One had a heart attack at work, at the age of...30. The other began spitting up blood at work, the day before a final presentation, perhaps at the age of ~34. While somewhat shocking, they are only the most recent in a history of collateral damage within this company. Stories of stillborns and people fainting at work are well-known within the Asian offices. That said, I believe that these types of occurences are actually worn as a medal of honor at the company. Further, they are actually beneficial to their careers. Semi-jokingly, I said that the firm doles out heart attack bonuses, paralysis bonuses, etc. The ultimate is if you die during the job, you get a post-mortem partnership appointment (your family can benefit from x years' profit sharing).

10/1:
A friend told me about a recent conversation they had with their boss, which reveals how hard core one working environment is in Asia.
Situation #1 - Boss to favored employee: The world is divided into those who "have" (有) and "don't have" (沒有). It's not a matter of "can" (會) and "cannot" (不會), because those who "have" can go from "cannot" to "can". Your co-worker...is in the "don't have" category. One cannot go from "don't have" to "have".

Situation #2 -
Unfavored employee to boss: Do you drink coffee everyday?
Boss: Yes, but I wouldn't have to if you could understand what I tell you to do.