世界稱霸戰

美國在第二次世界大戰後崛起，成為世界上最大的經濟體。美國在戰後，領悟到要稱霸世界如果用武力只會引起公憤。錢才是最有用的武器。美國的第一部就是把美金當作一個衡量國家財富的標準。美國第二步是用它的財富來發展最新武器。再用它的錢和武器跟“邦交國”做交換來鞏固它在地域的霸權。萬一邦交國不聽話，他就找機會把它職權者幹掉。美國第三步就是以高薪吸收全世界最優秀的人才來積極的研發科技並以智慧財產權的名義，威脅所有後起的新秀。

但是美國萬萬也沒有料到中國會在這麼短一段時間崛起。感覺像黃禍又要第二次的來到世界。臺灣人民天天都在擔心中國會把臺灣吃掉。其實美國已經吃了臺灣很多年了。想想看臺灣做代工毛利祇有5%，美國呢？

可能美國人比較可愛比較有禮貌，中國人個個面目可憎。請問這是事實嗎？我想你們應該是看了太多好萊塢的電影與電視吧。好萊塢最會推廣的就是美國是一個有血，有淚，有愛心的慈善國家。他們永遠為正義而戰，英雄永遠是美國人，壞人都是別人。臺灣人醒醒吧，剝削我們的是美國人還是中國人？

不義之財，不易之財

由於貧富不均的問題，而導致於年輕人對貧富的觀念有極端的看法；集團都是邪惡的。有錢人的財富都是壓榨個人而得到的。事實上一些成功的企業家，他們成功的過程是相當艱苦的。有些為了自己事業犧牲家庭，有些在過程中連續失敗到天天以泡麵為食，但是他們都有一些相同的優點，就是有信心，有毅力，有願景。我們的年輕人只想玩。賺錢是為了想玩。當然願景衹是^完^。

臺灣的基本薪資低，導致於他們玩的^力不從薪^。所以呀他們大家一起來請政府管管這些有錢人吧！房價高，打房！薪水低，加薪！所得高，加稅！窮富不均是不公平的。窮富平均才是公平的。等到有一天臺灣的競爭力歸於零的時候，大家都變成一樣窮這就公平嘍。奇怪呀！中國共產黨不是就是這樣子造反的嗎？

Disseminate the Nested Two-sided Network Strategy

Traditional one-side businesses are referred as supply-side economies of scale, cost is spread across a large customer base. Unfortunately, growth beyond some point usually leads to diminishing returns: Acquiring new customers becomes expensive as values are diluted across larger customer base. In contrast, a two-side network exhibits demand-side economics of scale, larger the customer base, greater is its ability to attract more customers; value improves as customer base grows (Eisenmann et al., 2006; Lee 2001).

Past papers on two-sided business model have mostly based on pricing decisions affecting the volume of transactions (Demange & Gale, 1985; Eisenmann et al., 2006; Evans, 2002b; Hagiu, 2006; Rochet & Tirole, 2003). The idea is to create a positive cross-side network externality when one side, attracted in volume, becomes highly valued by the other side. To bring both side on board, platforms usually subsidize the quality and price sensitive side (subsidy side) and let the other side (money side) paid the dues to reach it (Eisenmann et al., 2006). In other words, the price structure matters and platforms must design it so as to bring both sides on board (Evans & Schmalensee, 2013). Value grows as the platform matches demand from both sides (Eisenmann et al., 2006).

Indeed, pricing structure plays an important role in balancing the two sides, but past literature on two-sided network has not examined how the subsidy side is able to sustain its attractiveness to the masses over time, more specifically, past literature has not consider the existence of a two-side network nested within the subsidy side of its parent which could be responsible for large part of the overall value creation. With this research gap in mind, I am proposing that many of large two-sided business platform adopts a business strategy of hosting nested two-sided platforms as ways to add value to its primary business. In a sense, a nested two-sided platform could be viewed as a strategic asset that could either be indigenous to or acquired by a parent network. It also could be viewed as a group having a “stake” in the parent’s primary business that it is to the best interest of the parent to manage it effectively to achieve its primary objectives.

In our conceptualization of nested two-sided business strategy, we took the account that not all nested two-sided networks are created equal. Some are indigenous to the parent platform and others are acquired through merger or related through alliance. Those that are indigenous to the parent can either be pecuniary or non-pecuniary in nature and those that are acquired or allied are likely be able to sustain independently. With this note, we answer the question of how nested two-sided platform can increase the value of its parent’s primary business and what the mechanisms are through which the nested two-sided network can capture value.

To demonstrate the validity of this setting, we present a longitudinal case study examining four major, but very different firms– Amazon.com, Apple, Inc., Facebook, Inc., and Google Inc. Each firm has a clear two-sided platform nested under its primary business. The analysis is conducted on Amazon's product review, Apple’s iTunes, Facebook’s Farmville, and Google’s YouTube. Our analysis is conducted using secondary data including annual reports and financial statements, news releases, as well as existing research evidence such as prominent case studies, journal articles, books, etc. The results of our study show that all four companies have successfully adopted nested two-sided strategies resulting substantial increase in value and growth.

The results contribute theoretically to the two-sided network literature by analyzing the role of nested two-side network on its parent, which was not explicitly studies in the past. The analysis also brought new insights from the perspective of network complementarity and stakeholder view. Empirically, we analyze how nested two-sided network are utilized and combine these insights with theoretical development, resulting in propositions on the nature of nested two-sided network and its role in value creation and reciprocation.

The remainder of this study is formulated as follows. First, we discuss the key concepts of the study. Second, we develop a theoretical model from existing literature. This is followed by a longitudinal case study of each of the four firms in term of their nested platform strategy. Next, we put forward a set of propositions on the nature and the role of the nested two-sided platform and the rationale of nurturing such network within the subsidy side of the parent firm. Finally, we present our conclusions and suggestions for further research.

How logic came to play in my nightmare

I had a nightmare last night. I saw myself walking through a traditional indoor market looking for something (couldn't remember much of what it was really). I asked around and was lead to a portion of market I have never been. After several turns, I was completely lost. In fact, I found myself in a maze of corridors that lead to more corridors. There were doors but most of them were nailed shut, some of them even had their aluminum covering peeled off. I wasn't quite sure how long I was lost but the daylight was slowly but surely dimming away. In my haste, I found myself entangled with a large sheet of dust covered plastic sheet hang from the ceiling. After I struggled free I was greeted with a door at end of the corridor. I turned the knob and open it. It was just a bathroom. As I walked away from it I felt a presence behind me. I turned and looked and instead of seeing the bathroom, it was the kitchen of my house and my wife stood here with her back facing me wearing a white rope. With a sigh of relief, I walked towards her and proceed to stretch my hand to touch her. Right at that moment, my logic kicked in; this could not be my wife. What came after was an incredible fear and yet it was too late to prevent my hand from touching her waist. I could almost felt the warmth of her body and even before she turned to face me, I screamed. The scream was real because I heard it as my wife shook me awake. I thought I should write this one down because it is rare for me to remember so vividly of my dreams. May be it meant something.

My Artwork

Most recently I decided to digitize all the artwork I did in my mid 30. Unfortunately, not all the pieces were well kept enough to show case their original luster, but with a bit of Photoshop, I was able to bring some of them back to their formal glory.

Slow Day

It's a slow day in the small town of Pumphandle, Saskatchewan - the streets are nearly deserted. Economic times are tough so everybody is in debt and everybody is living on credit.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying that he would like to inspect the rooms upstairs before picking one for the night.
The motel owner gives him a key and as soon as he walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill to the motel owner. The motel owner then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, so he picks up his $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything ... However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
......................And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.

Even Americans Cannot Spell

For those of you who study English as a second language, you must find spelling a really pain. Unlike Spanish that spells as it reads, English spelling is without definite rules. Here is an example of a "public display" of bad spelling. The picture was taken from a stretch of road leading to Southern Guilford High School in North Carolina. It proves that even Americans cannot spell.

尋找女師附小29屆六年信班同學

同班同學: 何德華、羅吉美、崔家豪、童全碧、吳偉國、楊陽、徐露、李文文、金約翰、沈子魁等請盡速與本人連絡

Foxcomm Suicide Spree: an Organization Point of View

Dr. Chen of my organization sociology class gave us his opinion on the Foxcomm suicide spree. He attributed the problem from organization point of view, which he pointed out as extreme Taylorism.

Foxcomm, in its pursuit for efficiency and cost reduction might have purposely refined the entire production line into simple but monotonous steps that any non-skilled labor can perform with least amount of training.

Employee quarters were built close to the factory so the deployment of extra labor can be mobilized in a whim. Securities are tight in these compounds in fear of industrial espionage. In the sense, these employees are merely paid captives of the company whose only goal is to produce.

He further added that workers are isolated socially, emotionally, and physically. The isolation lent its way to magnify any personal problems within which caused enough despairs that lead to eventual suicide.

My buddy Freddie found me in Facebook

The biggest present I got for the New Year is hearing from a long lost friend. My friend Freddie contacted me on Facebook couple of weeks ago. I have not heard from him for almost 14 years. I knew Freddie when I was 17. We were roommates.

I remembered contracting German measles and had to be confined in isolation for a week. I reacted to measles badly; I didn’t have any appetite and was too weak even to stand up. Thank God Freddie was there, he was the one who nursed me to health. He brought me water and food and helped me to walk about in my room. I remembered seeing him seating by my bed, praying for my recovery. In between my sleeps, I often hear him reading the scripture to me. I believed that God spoke to me through him and it was because of him I became a Christian.

We were in touch all the way through my early working years in the United States. I couldn’t even remember how we lost touch of each other. I did try to look for him couple of times on the internet but with no avail. But now I know he is in Singapore so it’s time for me to plan my next vacation to meet him. So Freddie, my buddy, I am coming soon.

Cutest Kitten Video

You have to like this. This kitty is so cute!

年度笑話冠軍

一隻蛇與一隻兔子在森林中的叉路相撞，兩人爭吵一陣後竟發現，彼此都是個瞎子，便惺惺相惜了起來。

蛇泣道：「我從小就沒了父母，連水中的倒影也看不見，到現在我還不曉得我是什麼動物。」「我也是耶！」兔子也感傷的說：「我也不知道自己長什麼樣子.....」

一陣長談，蛇想出了一個點子，它向兔子道：「我想到了，我門彼此觸摸對方，告訴對方是什麼動物好嗎？」

兔子興奮的大叫 :「好啊好啊好啊，我終於可以知道我是什麼動物了！」

蛇說：「我先來！！」

接著他便把小白兔捲起來......

「嗯！ 你有溫暖的身體，毛茸茸的身子，長長大大的耳朵，尖尖的鼻子，健壯的後腿，還有一小條尾巴，末端還附一個小毛球....」

「我知道了！！」蛇高興的大喊：「你是隻小白兔！！」

知道身世的兔子大喜：「該我了，該我了！！」

便蹦蹦跳跳到了蛇的身邊，開始用鼻子觸摸....「嗯？哇！！你是個冷血動物，臉皮跟身子皮都很厚，還有黏黏噁心的外表，嘖嘖！有長長可以到處鑽的身體，但是竟然沒有肩膀.........哇靠！頭小小的沒什麼腦袋，嘴巴竟是全身最大的器官......天啊！！嘴巴裡有毒牙！還有分叉的舌頭！！」

兔子突然大怒跳開：「你他媽的竟然是立法委員！！」

富人; 窮人

"當你得意的時候，它是你的一條退路； 當你失意的時候，它是你的一條出路。 我們並不缺少機會，而是缺少訊息； 我們並不缺少訊息，而是缺少貴人相告； 我們並不缺少貴人相告，而是缺少相信。 我們之所以不相信，是因為我們拒絕了解！ 富人都是相信再看見;窮人都是看見再相信~~~ 請問您想當哪一種人呢?!"

Catholic Coffee

Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee.

The first Catholic man tells his friends,
"My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."

The second Catholic man chirps,
"My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."

The third Catholic gent says,
"My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone says 'Your Eminence'."

The fourth Catholic man then says,
"My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, "Well....?"

She proudly replies, "I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38D breast, 24" stomach and 34" hips.

When she walks into a room, people say, "Oh My God."

Software as a Service

The first time I learned the term SaaS was when I attended a service science seminar in the Raddison Hotel in Taipei. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand.
Sounds complicated? You shouldn’t feel this way; if you have a gmail account than you are already the benefactor of SaaS. Gmail is basically an email service (an application) that you subscribe through your internet browser. There is no software to install or program to update even though Google upgrades its software almost once every quarter.
The advantages of SaaS are tremendous:
1. There is no upfront cost to buy the application software, which could run up to thousands of dollars.
2. You pay a monthly fee, kind of like paying for your phone bill
3. Application can be accessed anywhere and anytime as long as you can log on to the Internet.
4. Data is securely saved in a professional data center, backed up daily in several locations
5. Software upgrade is completely transparent
Salesforce.com, one of the pioneers in the adaptation of SaaS made millions with its CRM systems. Smaller company like Armorize Technologies is able to sustain its revenue growth without the aid of venture capitalists or banks. Could this be the next disruptive technology in software evolution? Would Microsoft follow Google’s footstep by launching its Microsoft Office in SaaS format? Let’s us just wait and see.

Judging a Book by Its Cover

The other day I told my wife that I found a certain celebrity exceptionally pretty. She laughed and said because she has an educated look. Then I told her I also like a newscaster from ET Today, she smirked and said she is simply a good looking brainless bimbo.

Come to think of it, you can, to some degree, judge a person’s culture background by his or her looks. Here are my personal observations:
1. Highly educated people tend to have more elegant manner (with an exception of our past minister of education who seems to take pride in picking his nose in public).
2. Construction workers are usually tanned, muscle bound, and red faced (excessive alcohol consumption?). Their teeth are stained with betel nut juice and the facial muscles are marred with harshness and brut.
3. People who dress nicely gain more respect from others

I am particularly puzzled by my last statement because choice of clothing can easily upgrade one’s look without too much of an investment. A simple but well pressed shirt, a color coordinated pair of pants, and a nicely combed hair makes all the difference.

Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part V

The move
My term as the president finally came to an end in June of 2002. Even though I was able to hand over the club to Paul Chang, he accepted the post of the presidency reluctantly. Fortunately, the reluctance was short lived. Paul’s first decision was to move the club out of the Science Park. We found a small conference room in the Empire Building with capacity of 14 and with a little push, we could cramp 20. The move put us in deficit of $3,000 a month. If nothing improved, we would run out money in less than 2 years.

The venue was clean and well lit. It had a big U shaped table where members could see each other during the meeting. The new location attracted a variety of people from all works of life. We started to see participation from students, teachers, insurance agents, business people, salespersons, and homemakers. Before we knew it, we started to run into space problem. We quickly moved to a bigger place on the 6th floor with a meeting capacity of 60. But the venue cost us $5,000 a month. This time, if nothing improved, we would run out of money in about 14 months

The breakeven analysis
The formula was simple; we needed 36 members to break even, which meant any extra cost would have to come out of the club treasury; we needed extra source of income. After a heated debate, we came up with the following ideas
1. Increase the annual membership fees from $1800 to $2400 paid in full and none refundable
2. Charge a fee at $100 per guest
3. Sign a longer lease and bargain for a discount
The fee increase cost us 8 members, but the newer members didn’t seem to mind. Guests were happy to pay the fees. We got a 10% discount by committing our club on an annual lease. The combined effects reduced our breakeven point down to 30.

The Business News Weekly
The president of ChungLi Chinese Toastmasters club which I helped to sponsor was a personal friend of the formal vice president Annette Lu. It was through her connection, the district office was able to invite Ms. Lu as a guest speaker in the Spring Convention 2002. As a result, Toastmaster was written as a featured article in the Business News Weekly along with interviews on several prominent Toastmasters.

eMarketing finally paid off
If you were to use “Toastmasters” as a keyword to search for the district website in Google or Yahoo! at that time, Toastmasters Hsinchu would come up at the top 3 listings. Needless to say, we were flooded with inquiries and from that day on we never had a meeting without guests. Membership stood at steady 35+. Monetary problem was no longer a treat but the thing of the past.

If you were to attend a Hsinchu club meeting today, you never would have guessed that the club had gone through so much hardship in the past. But much of its success came from all the successive presidents, each brought with them a brand of leadership that made what it is today. After all, Toastmasters is where leaders are made.

Protesters or Mobters

When I was overseas on vacation, I was kept in touch of the news events of Taiwan from BBC World News and CNN. Apparently, the world sees the signing of the free trade agreement between China and Taiwan as a landmark event that will change the once tension ridden cross-strait relationship to a point of harmony. I smile with the gratification knowing we have finally emerged from the shadow of formal president Chen.

But when I returned home and turned on the TV, I was greeted with news clips of violent clashes between the police and protesters. Angry protesters were in a brutal frenzy, hitting the police with their fists and feet. Rocks and homemade petrol bomb were thrown aimlessly. I quickly turned off the TV thinking just what went wrong with our nation; those are not protesters, they were but bunch of mobsters.

To make matter worse, TV commentators, instead of condemn the act of violence, were quick to blame the government of not handling the situation democratically. “The implementation of the marshal police policy is the root of violence,” said one of the commentators. But in my opinion, it’s simply the blatant disrespect for the law and order.

The Chinese delegates have gone back to China and it’s time to find those who incited violence and throw them in jail. After all, we have enough footage to nail these mobsters, don't we?

Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part IV

With a healthy member size and steady influx of guests at every meeting, it was time for me to work on the attitude of the officers and the club as a whole.

The Officer Handbook and Expense Subsidies
Toastmasters Headquarters provided handbook for each officer. They were wordy and applicable mostly to clubs in North America. I broke the lengthy documents into bullet points and modified the duties to suit Hsinchu Club. Off site trainings were then conducted over dinner or lunch with all expenses paid from the club treasury. We also decided to entice the officers to attend Area level officer’s trainings by providing travel and meal subsidies.

The Distinguished Club Program
For a club to be successful, the accomplishment must be measurable. The Toastmasters Organization, in its infinite wisdoms, devised 10 achievements to measure a club’s success in leadership, teamwork, education, recruitment, and paperwork. An achievement of 5 out 10 is considered as successful. My goal was to attain that goal. Paperwork, recruitment, and teamwork (officer training) were easy, but getting members to complete their education program was tough. I had to push a C6 member to complete 4 more speeches and a C8 member to come up with 2. Funny it may sound; it was the C8 member who gave me the hardest time. He waited until the very last meeting of my presidency to complete his C10 speech. Nevertheless, the club got its Distinguished Club Award.

The Christmas Party
President sets the tone of the club. I liked to see our club as place where people can mingle, network, and at same time, pick up their communication and language skills. I wanted the words to get out, not through the website or fax, but through the month of every member. Christmas celebration seemed like a good starting point for members to invite their friends. The main attraction of the party was a raffle with first prize of NT$3,000 in cash! The cash was encased in a block of ice to symbolize the “Cold Hard Cash”. Winners had to break the ice to get to the prize. The party was a success; I got 2 more members out of it.

The District Involvement
For the past 5 years, Hsinchu club never participated in any speech contests; we couldn’t even get members to agree on a club level competition. We never sponsored any officer trainings; our officers always had to travel to another city, which was one of reasons attendance was so poor. So I volunteered to sponsor an officer training in Hsinchu even though I knew I could be the only person putting the show together. Fortunately, Bruce was kind enough to help. Despite the home court advantage, we only had 4 officers in attendance whereas Taoyuan club had 7 plus 3 more tag along members. ChungLi Club only had 3.

I guess my attitude must have moved the heart of officers and members, I started to see more attendance and more enthusiasm but when I told them Hsinchu was going to sponsor the Area Speech Contest, I quickly realized my optimism was premature; no one in the club would participate but the officers agreed to prepare the venue under the condition that I represent Hsinchu as the contestant. The contest went well; I won the area contest. A month after, I also won the 2nd place in the Division contest, which meant I was one of the finalists in the District Contest also. Yes, we only had 4 divisions at that time; each division needed 2 contestants for the District contest. Although I didn’t get anywhere in the District contest, but I made lasting impression with district officers. From that day on, Hsinchu club was no longer anonymous; we finally emerged from our shell.

Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part III

It appears from the SWOT that the root of the problem is lack of members. Members bring varieties and energy to the club which in turn attracts more members. Large membership means more qualified officers can be elected to manage the club. Our goal was therefore to put together a membership drive to improve our membership stand.

The key to promote anything is marketing. Marketing is expensive. But cyberspace marketing is relatively low cost. Public Relation (PR) doesn’t necessarily cost money. One just has to find ways to publicize Hsinchu Toastmasters without putting a dant on the club treasury.

The Toastmaster Hsinchu Website
In the September 2000, Hsinchu Toastmasters website was officially launched. A string of keywords was embedded in the HTML code, mostly to do with English learning even though in my heart I knew Toastmasters mission is to do with communication and leadership. I even put Hess English School, Jordon English School, KOJEN English Language School as keywords to attract would be English students. The same set of keywords was repeated in Chinese. The idea was that whenever a person search for anything related to English learning, our website will appear first. I also indexed our site with all the major search engines at the time such as Yahoo!, Google, Openfind, Yam, Lycos, AltaVista, and Excite.

The WinFax marketing
In my search for no cost marketing, I came to learn that there was a certain Mr. Lin, a past VP of Public Relation 3 terms before who demonstrated overwhelming success with fax marketing. Having met with him for few hours, we put togethered a plan to periodically fax to all the companies in the Science Park and all the schoools in the Hsinchu district. The act of faxing was easy, but entering fax numbers and updating them in the WinFax database was a real chore; it took me an entire week. (But this was nothing compare with the time I spent putting the website together).

The Grand Science Park Magazine
The Grand Science Park Magazine is the most the popular magazine in Hsinchu. It is distributed free at all companies in the Science Park, major resident estates, and restaurants. I contacted the chief editor to publish an article on Toastmasters but was turned down because an article on Toastmasters was published only a year prior. (Good job former President Chris Chang). But instead she allowed Toastmasters to appear at “What’s New” column.

For a month or so, nothing! then it happened. I began to receive phone calls and enquiries, mostly from fax initially and then the website. By November 2000, we added 8 new members. Andrew Budai and Paul Chang were among them.