Is it better to put pressure on a corrupt ruler through sanctions, or to continue doing business for the good of the common people?

Not only is China receiving pressure to impose sanctions on Burma, but individual companies dealing with Burma are also being put under pressure. The Independent reports:

Paris, and the company, argue that Total’s presence is, on the whole, a force for good. Withdrawal would allow carte blanche for Chinese or other companies which would be “less respectful of ethical issues”.

“Our departure would threaten a worsening of the situation for the (Burmese) population,” Total said ina communiqué.

But if this is true, why are they also urging a freeze on new investments in the area? From the same article:

President Nicolas Sarkozy has also drawn criticism this week for urging French companies to “freeze” new investments in Burma. No other French company operates in the country. Total, as the President presumably knew, has not made new investments in Burma for years.

A French diplomat told the newspaper Liberation off the record yesterday: “Annoucing a freeze of what is already frozen is hardly revolutionary. It allows (the president) to surf on the notion of a French ‘new deal’ for human rights, while protecting French economic interests.”

The Australian government is coming under similar criticism:

Greens senator Kerry Nettle said Prime Minister John Howard has rejected trade sanctions against the south-east Asian country because Australia did not “have a lot of trade with Burma”.

“We now find that there is a Liberal Party-linked company that is doing business with the Burmese military regime in oil and gas exploration,” Mr Nettle said.

[...]

Senator Nettle called on Prime Minister John Howard to ask his “Liberal Party friends” to discontinue their investment in Burma until human rights conditions in the country improved.

“For Alexander Downer to say China isn’t taking action (against Burma) because of their trade relationship with Burma, at the same time as his Liberal Party family are making money out of their relationship with the Burmese military dictatorship, is great hypocrisy,” she said.

The arguments for investment in the country are not without merit. However, it is difficult to take them seriously when actions point more towards economic interests back home than the good of the Burmese people.

Politicians have a habit of ruining good arguments with too much spin. The latest report on Bush’s campaign for the Iraq war is a particularly worrying example. Even minor offences of this should be brought to account and challenged.

Straight talking and honest politicians? Almost makes the bid for world peace seem trivial.

I now have two accounts for receiving television over the Internet. One from the BBC; another from Channel 4. At the moment, I think this is pretty cool because it is something that I didn’t have before. It feels like progress.

At some point I’m sure another channel (that I want) will make their service available. That will mean three pieces of software in my taskbar, all doing the same thing; downloading stuff. Two is already too many, so I keep the applications closed most the time.

So far both services suck at making me watch much TV. About once a week (if that) I go looking to see if there are any interesting shows, and often come away empty handed. I’m sure some of their programming is good, but I have no way of knowing. I can’t channel surf because that means downloading an entire show. They don’t even bother to do promo videos. It’s pretty impossible to find new shows.

And if I do find a new show, I can’t subscribe to it. Subscription is a no brainer, but that’s not happening yet.

Also, these services are only available to UK residents, I believe. Just like NBC is only available in the US. The world is the biggest market, so it might make sense to target that one.

Remember why YouTube got popular. It made it easy to talk and share the content with everyone in the entire world.

Of course, these corporations have an engrained business model and contracts that keep them moving slowly. I’m not a fan of big corporations, but we shouldn’t be surprised that they move slowly and are scared of change.

The question is: will they figure it out faster than the smaller brave independents? There’s an opportunity here for smaller companies with little to lose. Maybe some new companies.

Here’s a thought: the channel I watch most often is called Ted.com. My TV guide is Google Reader. Not many shows are listed in my TV guide yet.

edit: aha! Quarterlife may be an early sign. Still no RSS feed though. But very interesting. (Quarterlife website and BBC news story)

I finally got on the ad blocking bandwagon yesterday. I’ve not minded website ads until quite recently. In fact, if it means I can read great content for free then I’m fully in support of it. But when you start flashing ads at me, I find it incredibly difficult to read the content.

The same thing has happened with a lot of pubs. They now have large screens mounted on the walls, advertising different drinks. Flash flash flash… they flicker away in the corner of my eye and I can’t help but look at them. I can’t help it!

But that’s not my idea of a good time. So I leave.

It’s not as if these places ever had difficulty selling drinks.

I just read the following on the blog of the wonderful Ben Casnocha. It was sent to him by his friend David Cummins:

Some people believe the modern Renaissance Man is an investment banker who likes to ride horses on his weekends off or take a wine tasting course. That’s not a Renaissance Man, that’s a guy with a hobby. A Renaissance man is someone that can see trends and patterns and is able to integrate what he already knows. A Renaissance Man is curious and interested in different things. You have to be willing to ‘waste time’ on things that are not directly related to your work because you are curious. But then you are able to, sometimes unconsciously, integrate them back into what you do.

Ben isn’t exactly clear whether Cummins wrote this or just forwarded it; but whoever it was, it struck a chord.

This is me exactly.

I’ve been looking for a way to conceptualise what a modern Renaissance Man is for some time. Clearly, if Leonardo Da Vinci (the quintessential Renaissance Man) were alive today, he would not be cutting up bodies and designing parachutes. I believe his life would be much more like that described above.

An example from my life:

I really like learning how to use a computer. I’ve always done little bits of programming and learnt how to use new bits of software. Recently I came across a Content Management System called Drupal — a system one uses to easily update content on a website. I was originally interested in finding a way to keep easy track of my self improvement endeavours. Instead, the more I’ve learnt about it, the more I’ve realised I can use it for creating a community site for my main interest — improving human abilities.

Everything I do seems to eventually feed back into this subject. Sometimes I go wildly off-track, but eventually it becomes useful. I guess, in a way, this blog is my opportunity to get off track.

Ken McCarthy has just posted some interesting news about the migration of television. First it was obviously on the television, then it hopped to the Internet, and not it is heading back to the television again.

This week, Tivo announced that its customers will be able to view video content off the web on their television sets.

I love news like this because it’s a sign of the future happening as we speak.

I’m particularly excited by this other news:

Apple announced it has partnered with major airlines to let passengers power their iPods in flight and watch iPod videos in their seats.

This is an early sign of truly portable computers (computers that we can carry in our pockets). IPod videos are currently a bit pathetic because of the small screen, but when you can plug it into something of a decent size it makes a whole lot of sense. So essentially you have your videos always available in some form wherever you are, but when you find a screen, you can plug it in.

It’s not difficult to make the connection between iPod videos and fully functional computers. You can check your email wherever you are, but when you find a connection point you suddenly have the bonus of a big screen and a keyboard. I think video may be the one to drive this.

A final quotation from Ken McCarthy:

My prediction: When all this finally shakes out, every TV will come with a broadband connection and an easy search console that will enable users to search the Net and find the exact programming they want without leaving the living room sofa.

If they’re going on a trip, users will be able to insert an iPod-like device into their TV, grab the programs they want for the road and where ever they are - in a hotel room, on a plane, in an airport or train station, on a cruise, or the back seat of a car - they’ll be able to plug their video storage device into any video player and watch what they want.

What you want to watch - when you want to watch it - and the one I don’t here as often, but will be equally as important - where you want to watch it. That’s the future of video.

Read Ken McCarthy’s The Great Migration here.

I visited the Poppy Appeal website today. I read this:

This year, the Legion is offering you a different way to give to the Poppy Appeal! By texting the word POPPY to 85099, you can download one of three Poppy images to your mobile phone in return for a donation of £1.50

Each download (two of which are animated) feature the Poppy icon with the words ‘Remember’ and the time and date of the Two Minute Silence on 11th November

By downloading the Poppy you will also receive a text reminder on the day before 11th November to remind you to pause for the Two Minute Silence.

Seemed like a good idea, and perhaps a talking point which is never a bad thing when our ex-servicemen are concerned.

So I plugged the number into my mobile phone, typed POPPY, and waited for a reply with a confirmation of payment.

I’ve never ordered any ringtones or such like for my phone before, so I don’t know what usually happens. What I expected was a reply message with the image attached. What I received was a message saying ‘Poppy download’.

I’m reasonably quick witted and so I noticed the ‘Goto’ menu command. I clicked it. This sent me to the download page on the mobile version of the Internet. I’ve never used this mobile-internet before, and I have no idea if it costs money.

I’m presented with 3 pictures. I select one and click the ‘go’ button. That sends me to a blank screen.

Great.

I press backup and try selecting the next one. Same blank screen.

Backup again, but unfortunately 3rd time is not a charm either.

Then I spot the text hidden at the bottom of the screen and realise I may have paid 3 times. Either that or not at all. How do I know?

I decide to call it quits, and then I receive a succession of 3 messages all saying ‘to download later please visit’ and then a long web address. Umm. What do I do? Do I go to it on my computer or on the phone? I try the phone, it seems sensible. I arrive at that blank screen again.

Damn.

Has that cost me another £1.50?

One last try, I copy the web address into my computer browser.

Aha.

No wait, it’s telling me the address isn’t correct.

I double check and realise I’ve missed a ‘c’. I add it.

Blank page.

ARGH!

I don’t really care about the image and reminders, but I would like to know if I’ve donated or not. Are these ordering systems not tested properly — preferably by people who don’t know what they are doing?

I’m thinking the answer is no.

I spend a lot of time watching videos of presentations. I try to watch everything I can get my hands on because I want to professionally speak myself. This often means that I watch the same speaker give different versions of the same speech over and over again.

What surprised me was how much they repeat themselves from presentation to presentation. Obviously they’ve got a message so they will hardly give a speech only once, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

It’s the little things. The jokes. The way they put things.

For example, I’ve been watching Patrick Dixon.

There is a moment that I’ve seen in about 5 different presentations now. He talks about doing customer research and he always starts the same way:

“By the way: don’t believe market research”

He say it as if it’s just come off the top of his head.

Sometimes this comes off quite well; other times it seems forced. Whatever, I don’t like it. If you’re doing that, you’re not being natural. If you’re not being natural you probably haven’t got a great connection with the audience.

Is it that difficult to present off-the-cuff?

A basic outline and a deep knowledge of your subject should be all you need.

This is an excellent (and personally highly relevant) post by Ian Ybarra about parents and their kids’ dreams. It wisely takes the point-of-view of the parents and explains why they often don’t support projects that could be incredible for the child, instead encouraging them to take a more traditional career path.

I suffer this very problem because I can barely contemplate working a traditional office job. If it’s temporary then fine, but the idea of taking on a permanent position sends pulses of dark death cascading down my body.

It’s well worth your time to read Ian Ybarra’s full post, but below are my personal responses.

Parents don’t get much of the reward, but absorb a lot of the risk

While I get oddles of reward for researching and writing, none of that reward is evident to my parents. I’m really bad at explaining what I’m researching and getting them excited about it. I expect them to just read what I write, but why should they if they don’t have an interest? I didn’t expect them to read all my essays at school or reports in college. It’s up to me to sell my ideas to them just like anyone else.

Even when I was at university, my weekly phone calls were often less than enlightening. My mum is very good at telling stories of how her week has gone, but I lack this ability.

When I can afford to join a public speaking group this should improve, but I should also keep in mind the problem whenever I converse with them and push myself to talk more and share my ideas. In fact, not just with my parents, but with everyone.

This is a great quotation by Ybarra:

I have a friend who quit his high school teaching job in Kansas to move to Nashville to play music. He sends a documentary video of his new life to his parents about once a month. And they get so excited that I hear about it the next day from my mom who heard from my dad who works with Scott’s dad.

It makes a lot of sense. If I can tell the story well, they can live my dream with me. It’s all about sharing that dream.

Losing Face - Failure isn’t just a problem of taking care of your child. Its also dealing with questions of “what is junior doing these days?”

I find answering this question difficult myself, so it must be really difficult for my parents. What makes it particularly difficult is the fact that at the moment I’m making very little money from ventures. This makes the work I do seem like a hobby rather than real work. Again, this would be easier if I was able to sell what I’m doing to my parents, but it would still be difficult. They need something like ‘he’s a writer’, or ‘professional speaker’, or ‘psychological researcher’. But I don’t have a title and I probably never will.

This is Ian’s suggestion:

You have to be to your parents what Karl Rove is to Dub-ya. Feed them the lines, tell them what to say, explain why it’s good, show them how to sell it. [...] I, for one, don’t have an official title in my day job and I have several other projects that are important to me. But for now I just tell my parents to say Ian’s a writer. and mention one notable thing I’ve worked on. If you’re not employed in the traditional sense, then that needs to change to She’s working on ______.

So what is the line I should give. I think something like ‘Alan is researching and writing about learning and brain fitness’.

That isn’t my favorite way of explain what I’m doing, but it is probably the best way for other people to understand it. I’d like to change writing to teaching at some point, but that will wait until I’m at least practicing public speaking.

Not Wanting to See Your Child Hurt. Kill the dream early, so they won’t get hurt later on when they don’t get it.

Get your parents to realize that you will hurt a million times more if you don’t go after your dream than if you just don’t quite reach it.

I know this already, but the more I explain it to my parents the better.

I think my mum understands it. She told me recently that when my dad was made redundant there was the possibility of using the redundancy money to start a gardening business. It was risky but my mum was excited by the idea.

About a week later my dad landed himself a managing director’s job. The redundancy had turned into a nice promotion and my mum was frequently congratulated on becoming a managing director’s wife.

But Mum wasn’t all that excited. In fact she was a little disappointed. She was looking forward to taking that risk.

I think Dad ultimately enjoyed the work, but I do not think he was passionate about it on a day to day basis. It was stressful, took a lot of work and involved a lot of traveling — which is fine if you really care for the reason behind the stress, but I don’t think Dad was.

When I was doing work experience is the offices of a factory when I was back in college, I was talking to one of the workers about careers. I asked, a bit rudely probably, whether her job is what she dreamed of doing when she was growing up. She dodged the question, but explained how when you’re a kid you have big dreams and want to do all these amazing things, but you reach a point when money becomes important. I can understand where she is coming from, but as I listened to her tell her colleague about the fancy new mirror she had just bought, I vowed that I would never let my dreams die like that.

I broke that vow without even realising it. And it’s tempting to let them die again. It really would be easier it the short term. But I think letting a dream die is like letting your soul die. I’m not prepared for that depression.

Financial Concerns

This is the big one for me because my finances are not strong at the moment. I’m taking a very difficult career path, and money is even my prime concern. This is probably what is eating my parents the most, and to be fair it is my own concern as well. I have plans for improving this, but it’s going to be difficult to get it going.

When I do it’s going to be important to share everything with my parents so that they feel like they are part of the project.

The big message, however, is communication. I have to communicate more.

Ian Ybarra’s post can be read here.

The original prompts for Ybarra’s post come from Jason Sheen.