Current Affairs

The "Highline" is probably going to be one of the most interesting things that happens in NYC in the next couple of years. A little searching and summarizing gets us photos, renderings and information from Wikipedia and other sources online:

The "Highline" is an abandoned 1.45 mile (2.33 km) section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line, along the lower west side of New York City borough of Manhattan between 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center and Gansevoort Street in the West Village. The High Line was built in the early 1930s by the New York Central and has been unused since 1980.

The community-based group Friends of the High Line was established by neighborhood residents Robert Hammond and Joshua David, leading to plans to turn the High Line into an elevated park or greenway. In 2004, the New York City government committed $50 million to establish the proposed park.

On April 10, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the beginning of construction on the High Line project, turning it into an elevated park. The project is being undertaken by landscape firm Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. If work goes as planned, the southern section of the High Line, from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, will open to the public in early 2009.

環球大海嘯引致近日金融市場風高浪急，當身邊各人都因為股市大跌而損手爛腳，小弟這類典型的電車男 (其實英文詞 Geek 比較貼切一點，有譯科技/技術怪客) 因為掙來的錢都花到電腦和其他玩意上，沒多餘錢拿去投資，故可算是這災難性跌市中比較幸運的一群。

可是我們這些幹 Corp Com 的勉強也可算是執筆換飯吃，總不能因為沒錢而完全不問世事吧? 最近報章財經版上就有一件新聞引起我這個福士迷的注意。於德國法蘭克福上市的福士集團(Volkswagen) 由於股東保時捷 (Porsche)放風增持致其股價飆升，但保時捷這毫無先兆的一著導致一眾拋空福士集團股票的對沖基金慌忙平倉，加上福士股份在市場流通量不足 6%，故上週五才以200 歐羅收市的福士集團股價於10月28日曾一度被搶高至 1005 歐羅，並以 3700 億美元市值超越 Exxon Mobil 的 3430 億美元一度成為全球最值錢公司!

雖然福士股價後來回落至400-500 歐羅水平，但經此一役，受牽連的對沖基金損失便估計達 300 億歐羅。

While former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld was testifying before the House Oversight Committee Oct. 6, CNBC reported he had been punched in the face at the Lehman Brothers gym after it was announced the firm was going bankrupt. CNBC and Vanity Fair contributor Vicki Ward said Fuld was attacked at the gym on a Sunday following the bankruptcy.

"He was on a treadmill with a heart monitor on. Someone was in the corner, pumping iron and he walked over and he knocked him out cold.", reported Ward.

Surely beating him up doesn't make the present mess any better, but I was delighted the moment I read this.

Lehman bankrupt, Merril Lynch sold and AIG in big trouble.
Winter comes early in the US this year.

近日教會轄下的基督教崇真中學因為學生離校事件被商業一台主持黃永於早晨節目內罵個狗血淋頭，今早駕車途中聽了一下，我的自然反應是一個陳冠希式不屑歪咀微笑。其實大家不必動氣，你聽過他的節目就知道這廝不過是一個受過高深教育，而且懂得利用媒體力量的現代流氓。稍為有常識、主見的人根本就不屑去聽他的節目，他能煽動的群眾不過是一些不願意接受子女學習能力未如理想的衝動家長罷了。

有姊妹回應黃永學歷高，又做過 AO 云云。我上網查了一下，他的學歷依次為拔萃、多倫多大學、劍橋、倫敦大學，擁有這樣的學歷是否就代表他有資格在節目中辱罵嘉賓和受訪者呢? 他可能有個發育得不錯的腦袋，但這傢伙的人格並不配獲得別人尊重。

Wikipedia 中便有這樣的記載:

「2008年，因為在《在晴朗的一天出發》屢次不禮貌對待嘉賓，以及經常發表無意思的意見，有網民於Facebook發起《反商台881黃永大聯盟》，有會員更直指黃永並無真材實料，及經常拾另一主持潘小濤之牙慧；更有不少網民表示因為黃永做主持表現令人討厭而轉聽周融主持之《千禧年代》 (香港電台第一台) 其後，黃永於2008年7月9日之聲音專欄《聲東擊西》中作出反擊，指《MyBO》比『大家「柴娃娃」、一群烏合之眾於《Facebook》 內去反對甚麼、對抗甚麼，有著一大進步，兼且更有效果』。但隨即被網友取笑其心胸狹窄。」

別人要以罵人來混飯吃是他的選擇，有機會我倒想問他一句，你憑咩?

時鐘在這一刻停住了，每一個中國人的心也在痛。
天佑中華。

I urge you all, please pray for our fellow countrymen, for shelter and for peace.

For the latest update (in Chinese), please visit: http://news.sina.com.cn/z/08earthquake/index.shtml

Although I am pretty sure I would like to see the Clintons returning, but guess what... tonight I came across a logically better candidate that has ALMOST changed my mind.

visit the page HERE.

Macgyver 2008 - A decision America won't regret

Macgyver understands the needs of the average American, tax breaks, free swiss army knifes for every child. A free Houseboat for every American! War on Terror? Macgyver will take care of this in under twenty four hours once elected, no blood shed, just common sense. His solution for Iraq? a roll of toilet paper, a piece of coal and a bit of string. That's all Macgyver will need for a democratic and free Middle East...

This all within a week of Macgyver entering the White House...

Macgyver 2008, The smart choice.

In response to CNN host Jack Cafferty's comments on China and the Chinese-made, there has been massive anti-CNN protests throughout China and overseas Chinese communities. At the core of these activities, there is this civilian-made song named "Don't behave like CNN", with lyrics that say lies do not come true no matter how many times they were told.

You do not have to dig any deeper to realize that the Tibet riot and the boycott against Chinese-made, etc., all happened coincidently right before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Listen to the song on YouTube.

The Pirate Bay is perhaps the largest file sharing community online, if you are looking for something mainstream, be it a pop song MP3, Hollywood movie, or almost any up-to-date software suite, chances are that you can grab it from the bay in just 2 clicks.

The massive scale and extensive reach of the Pirate Bay has drawn close attention to its existence from the record industry, movie distributors and various legal bodies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has recently won a court victory to force Denish ISP Tele2 to block its subscribers from visiting the Pirate Bay.

The madman living in that big white house in Washington D.C. admitted the U.S. is "undergoing a period of economic uncertainty".

SOURCE: BBC News 29 January 2008

The truth is, every single politician and economist knows exactly what is behind this so-called "uncertainty". It may sound ridiculous to some, but in fact there is one major (if not sole) factor associated with recent skyrocketing inflation rates in the U.S and obviously, Hong Kong - OIL, take a look at the above charts you should be able to tell the logic behind.

Some of you may immediately blame our middle-east neighbours for the hardtimes and expensive meals we are suffering; however, according to my in-house economist (my dad), the U.S. government is the mastermind behind all this shit. Why? Simple enough, bump up oil prices to slow down economic growth of... (No... not the U.S!) the fastest-growing energy-dependent economy in the world - China.

We'll see how it turns out to be, trust me, my old man has pretty good insights.

蜆殼宣布午夜起調升油價，無鉛汽油加至 14.71 元。

對於小弟這種居於偏遠地區需要駕車買時間的人來說，油價飆升也只能夠啞忍... 你當然可以選擇投資能源股期望借升幅補貼汽油開支，也可考慮投身這行業為油公司工作分它一杯羹!

如果閣下暫時沒以上打算, 則可考慮重溫小弟今年 9 月 「石油政治」 一文並細心研讀 马宏的石油政治博客 裡面的文章，保證各位對石油價格背後的故事有更深認識。

大部分香港人對蒙牛這個內蒙古品牌都不會感到陌生，除了蒙牛蓋裝消毒全脂奶近年在本港零售市場作風進取，曝光率高之外，蒙牛乳業 (2319) 在港交所上市，亦令品牌在全民皆股的香港知名度倍增。

老實說，因著傳統中國人口味和人人到了某個年紀會戒奶這古怪習慣等因素，個人認為香港這彈丸之地對奶製品的需求量不會高，食品零售市場又幾乎給李氏富商旗下的超市全盤壟斷，售賣奶製品這類 FMCG 在香港不會是賺取極可觀利潤的一門生意。香港市場對於蒙牛乳業來說，除了籌集資金外，還有增加品牌曝光率和可望作為將來品牌國際化的跳板等積極作用。

在內地，超過 50% 的乳製品市場由人稱中國乳業前三強的蒙牛、依利和光明瓜分。繼蒙牛在香港初嘗甜頭後，另一巨頭依利亦於最近安排旗下產品銷港，並開始了積極的廣告宣傳攻勢，據聞依利更有可能於稍後在港上市。位列三強之末的光明乳業，則集中火力希望以增值 (value-added) 奶製品搶佔更大內地市場佔有率，拉近其與蒙牛、依利兩大巨頭的差距。

References:

中國乳業前三強總銷量占國內液態奶市場的 50%
伊利奶品銷港 挑戰蒙牛
光明乳業欲演王者歸來

我們的祖國因著人口眾多，市場潛力深厚而且尚待開發的緣故，近年成為各路商人兵家必爭之地。就在各國零售商如 Bestbuy、Walmart 等爭先恐後的到中國搶灘的時候，商品的銷售渠道和營銷模式卻靜悄悄地在中國起了根本的變化。在地廣人多的中國，若能夠在傳統 B2C (Business-to-Consumer) 銷售層面分一杯羹固然吸引，但新一代線上 C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) 銷售模式卻正以驚人速度改變新一代中國人的購物概念。

根據中國互聯網信息中心 (CNNIC) 於 2007 年 1 月發表的中國互聯網絡發展狀況統計報告表示，中國網民總數已達 1億 3,700 萬人，同期美國的數字為 2 億11,10 萬，全球總數為 11 億多，中國約佔其中 12%。

國內最大的網上商城 — 淘寶網剛於 2007 年 3 月發佈其 2006 年交易額，以人民幣 169 億元之鉅遠超零售業巨人 Walmart 沃爾瑪在華的營業額 99.63 億。當然，交易額和營業額是兩碼子的事，營業額 (revenue) 是企業真正營收並曾經收進過口袋裡的金額 (最少也是 cash flow 的一部分吧!)，交易額 (transaction) 不過是水過鴨背，並不能直接和營業額相提並論。值得留意的卻是現時網民只佔中國總人口十多個 percent，單一 C2C 網上購物交易網竟然有間接製造這 169 億元商機的能耐，線上 C2C 銷售模式在中國的發展潛力就立刻格外顯得炫目。

當然，世上哪有必賺的生意，C2C 網上拍賣老大哥 ebay 就是一例。ebay 在中國的分支 ebay 易趣剛於 2006 年 12 月宣佈跟 TOM 在線組成合資公司，兩者分別持股 49% 和 51%，據悉 TOM 在線對新公司擁有完全控制權，eBay 從此不再插手新公司的運營。內地媒體和市場分析員就普遍把這單交易看成 ebay 不夠本土化 (localize)，難敵淘寶這等地頭蟲，被迫變相出賣品牌並抽身中國市場這樣的一個 C2C 失敗案例。