Village Hiker Conversations—On Our Minds

Maybe it’s time to outlaw MS Windows

villagehiker — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:37:44 +0000

With all the freedoms we are giving up in the name of security, maybe it’s time to let go of Microsoft Windows. Windows, however, is not exactly a freedom. It’s more like a prison. For the past 20 years Microsoft has been the premiere developer of security flawed operating systems and office products. While its products most definitely are feature rich, the company has almost no understanding of how to provide security for computer software. While we are not experts on computer software development we know people who are, and this is how they summarize the situation.

Windows NT—the core technology for Windows 7, Vista and XP—was designed in the 1980’s for business systems running on a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) or both. While the Internet existed at the time, no one at Microsoft envisioned it as a worldwide system for everyday use by everyday people. If Windows product managers saw such a vision, surely they would have specified security features for the core of the operating system. But they didn’t. And still haven’t. Instead, Windows tacks on security to its perimeter. Some of its products, Microsoft even calls edge security. In effect, Microsoft sticks locks on glass windows, short gates and sliding screen doors, all of which are easy to defeat. Windows pushes almost all security decisions out to users. Not being computer security experts, users make lots of mistakes and criminals break in. These dark-side business operators—breaking in really has become a business—install barely noticeable applications on Windows. The programs are designed to quietly steal private financial data and launch denial of service attacks against web hosting companies.

While the security problem is rooted in human greed, Microsoft Windows is an enabler. Take Windows out of the mix and the Internet becomes a much safer place. Easy break-ins become much less likely. Replace Windows with Linux, whatever Google is creating, and, of course, Unix, which includes Apple’s operating systems. Mix it up. Don’t use operating systems from one vendor. The sameness of Windows over the past 20 years has made breaking in and stealing easy for the developers of viruses and other security scams. Eliminate the insecure sameness caused by Windows and the Internet becomes safer for everyone.

All of a sudden pronouns appear in your head

villagehiker — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:52:55 +0000

Language immersion really works. Even simulated immersion in front of a computer screen. It works more slowly for one of us, than the other. But it works. Here’s what happens.

You are looking at photos—listening and repeating. You stop, go back and do it again. You don’t cheat by trying to translate. You puzzle at the change of words from boy, girl, man, woman to something else. Then it clicks. Pronouns. We have no idea how they translate literally into English, but we definitely know what they mean in Japanese. They are eating, running, swimming—things people do in everyday life. They are singular and, maybe, plural. Are they masculine and feminine? Hard to tell. But that will come with time. Hearing is becoming easier.

If you just jumped in, we are attempting to learn Japanese using Rosetta Stone Totale. This fits with our need to have some Japanese for our writing and publishing venture related to Japan.

Just a note on this. We are becoming convinced Emperor Showa was most definitely not the architect of the Pacific War. Basically, his office was used by some in the military to gain support for the war. While we respect other points of view, they are starting to look like conspiracy theories. Emperor Showa as aggressive warrior fails to fit the known circumstances. It makes no sense.

From the movie The Sun, General Douglas McArthur and Emperor Showa discussing responsibilities. It fits the personalities of both men.

Originally appeared in the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Learning Japanese—Going with the New

villagehiker — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:55:11 +0000

You never know what happens next with Rosetta Stone Totale, an online program for learning foreign languages. You look, listen, repeat and go with new things as they happen. Everything takes place in the language you are learning.

While our memories fail us about acquiring American English—our native speech—the discoveries must have been similar to this. We stack square objects and someone says, “Let’s play blocks.” A big person reaches for you with the words, “Take my hand.” When crossing a street, you hear, “Watch out for cars!” You learn by seeing, listening and going with new things as they happen. Natural curiosity takes over.

So far, we have kept to the Japanese language course, not yet trying the online practice with a native speaker or the activities, including games. While you must pay attention, trying to memorize holds you back.

We now know enough to ask for water, tea, juice, a book or a newspaper. We are starting to recognize written words. If you try too hard, you get a stiff neck. If you look, listen and repeat, you pick up some of the language. This is better than a universal translator.

Star Trek VI—The Undiscovered Country.

Originally appeared in the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Learning Japanese and Na’vi by Immersion

villagehiker — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:21:04 +0000

Many people learn to swim by falling in or being pushed. Splash! You drown, someone rescues you, or—as with most people—you swim. The will to do better is amazing. This is learning by immersion.

Immersion is the method Rosetta Stone Totale employs to help you learn a language—you absorb a lot in a very short time—if you are willing to put in the time. Because each of us learns the basic skills of our native language by immersion—not by studying grammar and vocabulary—the developers of Rosetta Stone say they believe this is the best way to learn a second tongue.

We are using Totale to learn Japanese. Due to our business and personal interests, this language is becoming important—almost essential—to us. But you have to put in the effort.

While Totale appears to be working for both of us—one with natural ability and one disinclined toward foreign languages—repetition is important.

Immersion also works for the language of Na’vi.

Institutional Lying

villagehiker — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:23:37 +0000

Sometimes purpose gets confused with profits. While profits are important, relationships in business provide a higher purpose.

One of my major concerns with business today is the way we ruin relationships through institutional lying in sales and service, specifically emphasizing strengths, while covering up weaknesses. The practice has become the norm in marketing to the point where we no longer see it as deception.

Here is a real world example. I was writing a sales document for a security product and was discussing a major feature with the marketing director. The conversation went something like this:

“This really doesn’t solve their problem,” I said. “It’s not addressing their primary security issue.”

“That doesn’t matter,” he replied, “Our job is to make them feel insecure, so they will buy the product. You don’t have to lie. Just don’t mention it.”

I was puzzled. Deception through omission is lying. The marketing director who said this is not really a bad guy. He loves his wife and son, is fun at a party, behaves well on the freeway and, generally, wants to be fair in life. But, somehow, spin in business has become acceptable to him and it has started to effect his relationships with his employees, vendors and customers. He really doesn’t understand this.

The problem is, he is not alone. Discussing this situation in casual conversation with my banker, she said, “Well, it’s really okay. Everyone spins like that. It’s the job of the customer to read the small print and discover the limitations of a product.” When I asked if she reads the small print, she admitted she does not, not even for the products she sells. She just knows the major sales points, not the disadvantages.

This is institutional lying. As we have mostly eliminated institutional racism, we need to work against our current acceptance of institutional lying in business practice. By covering our weaknesses to make ourselves look perfect we limit our customers’ abilities to make intelligent decisions. By telling the truth, we can learn to listen to our customers and adjust our products and support to their real needs, which is the higher purpose of business.

This is republished from a Village Hiker answer to a question in LinkenIn. It originally appeared here. Since we wrote it it nows appears in the writing section of the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Looks like a Space Shuttle, Flies like a Moth

villagehiker — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:19:51 +0000

So, we were running up steps in the Hyde Park section of Cincinnati and saw this moth, unlike any we had ever seen.

Hyde Park Cincinnati Stairs—Hiding Place of Mysterious Moth

At stairway running speeds, it looks like a soon to be retired, totally pimped out NASA Space Shuttle. Its yellow and black attire takes us down two steps, then on to our knees for a close-up. Sadly, lacking booster rockets and an orange tank packed with explosive gas, it under qualifies as a space craft. Out comes the $55 Saigon Snapper.

Cheese! A photo zips at the speed of light to cousin Ron, who identifies Ohio insects and twists off their heads. Okay, slightly overstated. Ron actually helps Buckeye farmers manage bugs more or less organically, hand picking only when necessary.

Anyway entomologist cuz Ron says:

“Bob, I’ve not been able to find out what it is yet, but it’s giving me something to do.”

A couple days later the truth arrives:

“The first moth you sent is Haploa clymene, aka, Clymene Moth. It feeds on various trees. You can find more about it here. It also mentions it can be found around Dallas. Maybe you brought this one with you!”

Thanks, Ron.

The first moth? Hum? While there must be another insect, here is the Clymene Moth from Hyde Park, Cincinnati, Ohio:

Clymene Moth, Like a Space Shuttle

Clymene Moth Nose First

Originally appeared in the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Learning Japanese

villagehiker — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:06:20 +0000

As an English speaker visiting Japan you can get along okay at the Narita International Airport and in Tokyo using your native language. While not everyone speaks your tongue, many Japanese know some English. Also, as a practical courtesy, all announcements on trains and subways are in both languages.

Outside of Tokyo, for a short visit to the resort community of Kawaguchiko—popular with Japanese vacationers because of its location at the northern base of Mount Fuji—you can order food, find an inn and get directions using English because of the kind acceptance people show to foreigners. However, when you do business in the smaller cities seldom visited by westerners, knowing some spoken and written Japanese is helpful and polite to the local people.

Because we plan on making several trips to Wakayama, Japan, to research our book about a US Navy veteran, we are learning to speak, read and write some basic Japanese. On our first visit, many locals went well beyond common courtesy to help us locate sites and historical resources. Before our next trip, we are using the Rosetta Stone Totale program to gain some verbal and written language skills in Japanese.

During the next several months, we will be reporting on our progress. This may be especially interesting because one of us has a natural ability to learn languages and the other is less gifted.

We have just signed up for a three-month starter program using the Rosetta Stone.

Wakaura Harbor in Wakayama Japan—the USS Montpelier CL-57 anchored here in September 1945

Originally appeared in the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Followed by an experienced tailgater

villagehiker — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:13:50 +0000

This one had obviously done it before.

Being followed by experienced tailgater.

Originally appeared in the On Our Minds blog at Village Hiker.

Pickpockets in Ho Chi Minh City and Tokyo?

villagehiker — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:44:56 +0000

We were warned by friends and advisors—in print, online and in person—about pickpocketing all across Ho Chi Minh City and on the crowded trains of Tokyo. While annoying if it happens, petty thievery normally consumes very little of our limited thought power while traveling. Depending on your point of view, life is either too short or too long to spend a lot of time worrying about unauthorized withdrawals.

This time, however, the warnings came with intense frequency. “They’ll grab your daypack from behind, pull you to the ground and steal it,” the red flags continued about Ho Chi Minh City, in particular. Someone even emailed us a link to a security camera video tape from an Asian country—it showed a backpack swipe from a speeding motorbike. Of course, all of these cautionary tales did influence our attitudes a bit.

Some awareness of predators feeding on foreign travelers is probably advisable. When wayfaring we normally carry money and important documents—passports, visas and customs papers—in travel wallets. These zippered fabric folders fit around your neck or waist, inside your clothes. Also, as journalists, we remain observant, scanning our environs, mostly looking for interesting photos or stories. Pickpockets or purse snatchers seldom strike the attentive. Nevertheless, in Vietnam and Japan we were sensitized to look for quick, stealthy plunderers.

Nothing happened. In Vietnam, our security was never an issue in downtown Ho Chi Minh City or in Nha Trang. We did receive slight sarcastic verbal abuse in one outlying neighborhood, until these locals got used to seeing us daily. Then they smiled and spoke, “Hello.” In Japan, we walked the streets of Wakayama safely from early morning until 11 pm without threats. While the trains of Tokyo were crowded, not one single person patted our wallets. Mostly, the people of both countries were polite and helpful to the foreigners.

Given human nature and the financial stresses created worldwide by the US-generated recession, we assume Vietnam and Japan may grow some petty thieves, yet the only pickpockets we have noticed recently are the investment banks, wall street short sellers and government mortgage agencies of our home country.

While warned about pickpockets in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the people were friendly and helpful

The streets of Wakayama, Japan, were quiet and safe at 11 pm

The people were intense but polite in the busy Tokyo transit system

This originated at villagehiker.com.

Replacing a Leaky Waterproof Camera in Vietnam

villagehiker — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:16:12 +0000

A few days ago in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam, our Olympus Stylus 720 SW leaked. Until now it has been wonderfully waterproof, as advertised, for two years. It gave up without warning—underwater for two minutes, then a soft popping sound. That was it.

We needed an inexpensive replacement and found one secondhand—a Panasonic Lumix DMG-LS60—at an open-air corner store for Nikons in Ho Chi Minh City.

Five weeks out of its two-year warranty, the Stylus is heading back to Olympus for an examination to find its cause of death. They may replace it—or maybe not. They certainly have no obligation to do so.

While being warned by Saigon locals to wait until Japan to replace our drowned Stylus, we leapt off on our own and discovered our camera store, about 10 blocks from the beautiful downtown post office. After our potential purchase passed all of our quality tests—zoom, focus, clarity, functions, playback and click are the only tests we know—we shrugged, “how much?” Our reply came in perfect American English, “more or less 50 US dollars.” Since no one carries US dollars in Saigon, the math brain automatically started rustling and calculated 950,000 VND, pretty precise for numbers-deprived gray matter. Not being much for haggling in a poor country, we settled on 1 million VND, or $55, more or less.

When we asked about batteries, a wrist strap and an SD card, the store added these, plus a carrying case.

Back near the post office we snapped photos of the grand facility itself, plus some of Regina Pacis Ora Pro Nobis at the adjacent Notre Dame cathedral.

Action in the Post Office, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Outside the Post Office, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Regina Pacis Ora Pro Nobis as a delightful resting place - Notre Dame, Saigon, Vietnam. Being wonderfully human, we believe the mother of Jesus is just fine with this photo

Regina Pacis Ora Pro Nobis. She overlooks the people from Notre Dame, Saigon, Vietnam

For 55 bucks we think we got a fair deal.

This originated at villagehiker.com.