Ged Carroll

Blog

  • Cristiano Ronaldo & things from last week

    Football star Cristiano Ronaldo is sponsored by a Japanese company to promote a facial fitness device resulting in a cringeworthy advertisement and some of the most uncomfortable event footage I have seen in a while. It is worthwhile watching just for the cringe factor. There is no word on how well the Cristiano Ronaldo promotion has been doing for manufacturer MTG.

    The deal looks like a triumph of money over fit with the Cristiano Ronaldo’s profile. It is a freakish spectacle. More related content here.

    Amazing video of how the FBI used to handle fingerprints prior to digitisation of records. The filing cabinets are impressive and the process is laborious. The sheer scale of the filing cabinet room is mind boggling. It is more like a factory than an office space.

    Finally a great presentation from New Zealand conference Webstock on the benefits of quitting, which seemed appropriate content to round this post off on

  • Ghost in the Shell

    Masamune Shirow’s Ghost In The Shell is a three-volume manga series (volumes 1, 1.5 and 2) that is based on a Japanese security service team who try and solve cyber-crime related issues.

    The stories deal with a future where technology is embedded into human beings and augment them. It is also based around a world where the internet of things is an everyday occurrence. Shirow’s future is believable. Unlike Star Trek, he recognised that the future is built in layers on the past. So you see this in the architecture in the background of picture cells.

    You also see that layers in terms of everything from clothing and personal effects to vehicles of the protagonists.

    The author obvioiusly goes deeply into the story as a thought experiment with copious side notes explaining either technological developments or why he has made certain decisions. The stuff that he incorporated was cutting edge scientific research at the time. Whilst I love the anime adaptions, this insight into Shirow’s thinking makes the books invaluable.

    The books seem to have been remarkably prescient about hacking and the risks of technology. In previous literature, hackers were generally on the side of good or libertarians. In Ghost In The Shell you have cyber warfare and cyber crime similar to our own reality today. A crumbling healthcare system, organised crime, private military entities and shadowy state actors.

    Unfortunately, the designers of smart televisions and refrigerators didn’t pay much attention to these books, otherwise they would not have left these products so open to being hacked. Come for the sci-fi stay the course of the books for the underlying ideas. More book reviews here.

  • Pirate friendly platforms + more

    Govt waves stick at pirate friendly Google search • The Register – regulators upset at pirate friendly sites surfaced by the likes of Google. The problem is the momentum it starts towards mass censorship. Which begs the question, rather than just removing pirate friendly sites, why don’t they just go all the way and ask for Chinese style ‘harmonisation’ of the web and be done with it? Why not have one-party rule as well? It’s not about what they’re asking for, it’s the precedent for what might come down the line.

    Interview: Inside Google Brain Founder Andrew Ng’s Plans To Transform Baidu | Forbes – really interesting article on how Baidu is using AI or deep learning. And how Google has lost key talent to go and build these services in China instead.

    Anonymous Analytics: Tianhe Chemicals – interesting Chinese business report, the problem is one of trust and transparency make reports like these seem more credible. Audits of Chinese companies are too opaque, state secrets cover anything that China wants it to cover. It almost looks like a gangster state. More China related posts here.

    Nixon pardons Nu Skin | Bronte Capital – interesting article about network marketing beauty and wellness product company Nu Skin. Disclosure – I had consulted on Nu Skin business problems in China and Hong Kong when I worked out there.

    How China’s Mobile Ecosystem Is Different from the West | TheNextWeb – interesting how WeChat is driving app behaviours in Chinese consumers. The big impact will be felt in terms of operating system differentiation. A mid market phone becomes good enough eroding the premium phone sector.

    A billionaire’s son designs an app to keep nosy parents at bay | Quartz – interesting positioning away from WeChat and LINE, Hike has been around for a good 18 months and is only now getting publicity

  • Jacob & Co. Epic SF24

    The EPIC SF24 is a bit of a curate’s egg. Jacob & Co. is a brand that I knew of through it’s connection to hip-hop culture. They are referenced in the lyrics of 50Cent, Jay Z and Kanye West. The brand is positioning itself with more conventional luxury customers with a mix of high-end jewellery and watches. They had a recent exhibition in Monaco of their latest range on August 5 – 23, 2014.

    Whilst none where something I would normally pay attention to; the most visually interesting watch they came out with was the EPIC SF24 which had an unusual take on creating a world time display. The top is a 24-hour time indicator that seems to flip around like an electromechanical airport or railway station sign giving the watch a steam punk vibe.
    Epic SF24
    Some of the other details like the crown on the side of the watch reminded me a little of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Compressor series, but with a more practical lower profile that would avoid snagging whilst on the wrist. The movement is said to be a JCAA02 with SF24 module; I don’t know whether the movement is in-house designed; or more likely, a modified version of an existing movement by one of the big movement manufacturers like ETA. Raiding the parts bin is perfectly respectable in Swiss watchmaking.

    It comes in a number of types of gold and titanium – titanium is a particularly interesting choice given the challenges working with the metal on such an intricate case design. Its aimed at the kind of person who thinks that Hublot is no longer making statement watches and Frank Mueller bores them to tears. We’re talking a tiny global customer base. More luxury related content here.

    More information

    Jacob & Co. website profile page for the Epic SF24
    Jacob & Co. Annual Timepice And Jewelry Exhibition In Monte Carlo | Cision

  • Dual class listings + more things

    Don’t change listing rules until lawyers have to change theirs | South China Morning Post – interesting take on dual class listings. Not viable unless there are other protection measures in place like class-action lawsuits and contingency fees – which makes sense when one thinks about how Facebook, Google and Alibaba have gamed the dual class listing system in the US against shareholders. I am surprised that dual class listings hadn’t come into Hong Kong earlier to support control of local businesses by their oligarch family founders. I can understand why dual class listings would be attractive to the kind of mainland companies now looking to list in Hong Kong (paywall)

    ‘Closest thing China has to a presidential debate’: face-off between two geeks over a mobile phone | South China Morning Post – not too sure how much good this did either brand, but it did seem to provide good entertainment. I would love to see Richard Yu of Huawei do one :-)

    Wakie.com — Social Alarm Clock – I really like the idea of this, plays to the dynamics of sleeping through an alarm whilst becoming wide awake from a call

    Lessons to be learned from Yahoo’s native ads | VentureBeat – interesting op-ed by an OutBrain executive

    Fujifilm just one of several struggling manufacturers jumping into medicine | Japanese Times – it used to be that Japanese companies were pointed in the direction of markets by a government ministry, it is interesting that they are all now flocking towards healthcare

    Charting the rise of Generation Yawn: 20 is the new 40 – Telegraph – I heard a similar thing about gen-x, particularly around apparent apathy for causes. Don’t believe it, generations aren’t amorphous: for every hippy there was a young conservative in the boomer generation

    Fast-moving consumer goods market saturated in China | WantChinaTimes – bad news for Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive in the FMCG space. It is in these kind of circumstances where local brands will break out

    Technohyperbole | The Economist – takes on Gartner’s hype curve

    Apple To Developers: No Selling HealthKit Data To Advertisers – does this mean that marketers can’t use the data for other things? For instance, pre-screening for insurance premiums or weight loss classes?

    Beijing Scientists Replace A Boy’s Vertebra With A 3D-Printed Bone — The First Surgery Of Its Kind – titanium used, so I suspect sintered metal powder rather than a printing process