Arnaque de bague en or à Paris

Quand une arnaque se démultiplie, on sait que ça doit fonctionner très bien! Aujourd’hui, j’étais au téléphone dans la rue quand un petit homme, avec un air tout innocent, se penche devant moi et me remets dans ma main une bague en or. Je continue à parler sans rater une seconde. Il revient vers moi après que la conversation s’est terminée et m’explique qu’il me la donne. Je le lui ai rendu, ayant eu à passer en italien (il ne cessait de me dire “sono di Milano”) pour lui faire comprendre car il hochait les épaules quand je lui parlais en français (alors que j'étais en train de parler en anglais au téléphone). En tout cas, je lui ai fait comprendre que son truc ne marcherait pas et, ayant vérifié mes affaires, je ne pense pas avoir été arnaqué ou volé. En arrivant au bureau, je me fais la deuxième “opération” cette fois-ci avec une femme du sud. La bague, qu’elle a miraculeusement trouvée sur le trottoir était ex æquo la même que l’homme de Milan avait trouvée.

En tout cas, apparemment, c’est un classique. Toujours intéressant à découvrir l’aspect international des arnaques, tel ce chat board.

À vos gardes!

Mars bars not vegetarian?

Could you imagine that Mars bars would not be vegetarian? Mars officially reversed a controversial decision last week to remove animal by-products (rennet) which it was using in some of its chocolate bars. The company claimed the move was to allow them to have more suppliers. Some of the 3 million vegetarians in the UK took issue immediately and Mars has had to rescind since. Good thing too. It's bad enough being "naughty" eating a snickers without conjuring up images of eating animal by-products.

Getting rid of plastic shopping bags

When in Nice on holidays, I gladly paid 5 cents at the Monaco Carrefour for a plastic shopping bag. Upon researching the topic, there are apparently between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags used every year by consumers worldwide. I am glad to see that San Francisco has recently actually outlawed plastic bags. They claim that this move will reduce oil consumption by 800,000 gallons a year. Wow. Imagine if the entire US followed suit. Aside from the fouling of cityscapes (trees) and clogging up landfills, plastic bags are an expense for companies ("price of doing business) without providing much good(will) advertising. However, swapping plastic for paper bags is not the answer. People should be encouraged/forced to bring their own reusable bags. Plastic bags are basically bad for economics, much less ecology. When we bring home a plastic bag, we systematically re-use the plastic bags in our kitchen poubelle (garbage). But that is truly not enough. Paying for plastic bags is a minimum. If a country such as Taiwan is doing so (also Ireland), then surely this should be more commonplace in the US and Europe. Plastic bags are banned in South Africa, Rwanda, Bhutan and Bangladesh (because of blocking drains during flooding). Paris is banning plastic bags by the end of 2007 with the rest of France in 2010. The US should follow the French example.

Liber-T : le plaisir du peage automatique sur les autoroutes

Chaque fois -- et ce n'est même pas fréquent -- que je prends l'autoroute et que j'ai un péage à payer, je ressens un plaisir ("grave" dirait mon frère) de payer avec ma petite machine Liber-T, miraculée et crémeuse. Je la colle au pare-brise et, en roulant tout doucement, j'attends le buzz indiquant 'paiement effectué'. Ainsi, j'avance à toute vitesse et je prends de l'avance sur tous les autres paumés en train de chercher la monnaie et/ou en train d'attendre minablement. Quelle belle invention!

Mais, je me pose des questions, malgré mon euphorie. Comment se fait-il que les autres, aussi peu fréquents que soient leurs voyages, ne s'inscrivent pas au système Liber-T? Quelle peur les freine? Quelle paresse les fait préférer attendre pour faire la queue inexorable lors des journées orange ou rouge?

Aussi, je me demande pourquoi, pour ceux qui se sont gracieusement offert ce plaisir, nous avons besoin de passer à une vitesse d'escargot quand on franchit le détecteur quand, aux EU et ailleurs, ce système permet d'y passer sans vraiment freiner. Nous l'avons expérimenté une fois en France (voie "express" sur l’A14 en revenant à Paris). Pourquoi pas partout? Est-ce pour cela qu'attend les autres pour s'y abonner?

Enfin, expliquez-moi!

Left handed people are my kind of people

Being left handed is a minority problem (estimated up to 15%). I am not left-handed, but it is a characteristic that I systematically notice in people (I have never managed to detect left-eyed fish - see ABC report). When my wife asked me what image or expectation I had as a youth of my wife to be, the most concrete image I had was that I thought she would be left handed (she isn't; but we have two out of two left-handed children). While being left handed is considered, statistically, to be bad luck (prevalence of certain types of diseases, la sinistra in Italian), there is room (scientifically) to believe in the prowess of left-handers (BBC report citing Dr Nick Cherbuin's study). And, far beyond the competitive advantage afforded "lefties" in sports, I have always viewed left-handed people as having to be "different" and this I mean in the Apple way. There are thousands of sites on left-handers. I draw your attention to two of them that I found interesting.

1) Observations of a left-hander (Stanford Computer Science PhD student, Lucas Pereira)
2) List of famous left-handers courtesy of our gallant wikipedia folk. I cannot back up with any statistics, but it does appear that that list of people represents a higher percentage of the talented/successful people than a representative 15%.

I can only believe that having to battle all the right-favored accessories and accoutrements of daily existence, the left-handed people -- with a stronger right brain component -- end up with a more interesting, more complex and ultimately more extreme experience in life. And, yes, a leftie in tennis is also a fun challenge.

Un-derstanding the un-world, a new marketing concept

This is not an ode to the underworld. It isn't even a portrait of the world's [dirty] underwear. It is a description of a new marketing concept: The new Value-Added is Nothing.

In the un-world, the value added in the consumer's eyes is the lack of complication. We, as consumers, are looking for plain simplicity, what you see is what you get. We are fed up with over-gadgetized phones or the inevitable surprises in the small print of contracts. Witness the ad by phone company "3" in the UK selling "And no sneaky cash back.".

In the search for un-complicated, we lust for the simple, stripped down product. The product provides us what WE want, HOW we want it. Brands that are on the case in different domains include Apple, Target or Trader Joe's grocery stores. These companies are providing unfettered value. A transparent combination of simple and functional (best in class). Other examples of the power of the the un-complicated are "Real Simple" (US magazine) or M&S' 173 Simply Food outlets, of which M&S is opening up on average 3 per week and showing that proximity and customized offering is very much necessary and possible for a large chain.

Consumers are nonetheless eager for the Un-expensive. Armed with at-your-fingertip price comparison sites, we know a penny saved is another penny to spend. If a bargain doesn't cost too much time...

A survey by Outlaw Consulting of 21-27 yrs old showed the appreciation of brands like Jet Blue and H&M, where un-expensive doesn't rule out being hip. In fact, Un-attractive or dorky (example in-n-out burgers) can be entirely "in".

For some, the un-commercial brands garner a more authentic trust (e.g. Ben & Jerry's cow to cone communication inset). And trust is a key word in the consumer's mind space.

And, in a slap at the overbearingly commercial conferences with repetitive, stultifying formulaic (preset agendas, speakers, badges, rooms, agendas, microphone challenges, cheap pens and bad sweets), comes the creation of Unconferences. These are "gatherings" that break the mould by permitting the attendees to all come as speakers, with topics that can be ad-libbed. [Note to self: attend an unconference asap].

And, in these days of turbulent, time-starved activities, it was fun to see the advertisement to "Unwind at Earls Court". In un-wind, we are looking to eliminate the toxins, remove ourselves from the ratrace, untangle our emotions. Another off the wall example, Karen Ryan's Unmade 07 vases--where "Ryan partially removes patterns from antique plates and vases." The result is a 'simplified' pattern with an echo (or a recycling) of the past.

The unworld is everywhere once you start to look for it. And, of course, there is no harm in being Un-ique as well.

Grateful Dead or Mozart

I have been enjoying the music that never stopped for more than a quarter century. Living in France, or Europe more generally, it is a lonely passion. The Grateful Dead are never played on radio stations here. People typically look at me blankly as I explain the "why" of the Dead (over an espresso). On the other hand, for almost as long I have been passionately listening to Mozart's music, interpreted by many a virtuoso. No problems with getting an audience here.

In rock'n'roll (Stones, Floyd, Clapton, Dylan...) there are many other extraordinary talents all of whom I saw multiple times (except Zeppelin). And in classical music, there are scores of exceptional composers. But in both categories, I reserve a special--and shared--sense of appreciation. In songs like Althea, Unbroken Chain or Birdsong, I feel a certain chill that I also have the pleasure of experiencing when I listen to Mozart's Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Symphony No 25 or the introduction to the Requiem. Of course, in both cases, it depends on the performance and the mood I find myself in at the time. But that's the magic.

BMI beats BMW

I don't know about you but health, healthy eating and keeping my weight down are [at least] a daily consideration. It's a topic that far outstrips male banter about cars or critical comments about politics. It may be on par with the weather for its frequency, but it is dramatically more important [and sometimes more urgent]. In France, its context is generally around food and the wonderful tradition of the French meal. But in France, like much of Europe, the rates of obese and overweight people has been spiraling upward toward the [awful] US rates.

In a recent Daily Telegraph article entitled "Soaring obesity rate 'will cause cancer time bomb'" I was reminded to evaluate my own Body Mass Index (BMI). And despite recent [kind] comments from people saying "but you are thin," my BMI indicates that I am overweight (by 5 pounds). And even being overweight (not obese) is enough to provoke all those bad diseases that one doesn't believe one is going to get.

Someone once said to me that driving a BMW is good for safety. I am not at all convinced. But, I am definitely promoting that a low BMI is safer than my driving a BMW. I am an Audi man myself, but BMI remains the focus.

What's a Finance Minister?

As much as we might spend time defining the role of the different functions in a company (what is the title? whose responsibility is what? what are the measurable objectives?...), an article in Le Figaro on 21 May presented the conundrum of the definition of the role of the "Finance" Ministers of the G8. Whereas competitive companies may not liberally share this information, governments are obliged to understand each other's structures & responsibilities. The article, entitled "Les droles d'avatars du ministere des Finances," explains that in the US, the Treasury Secretary [Paulson] is responsible for the management of the economy, including taxes, financial regulation and the USD. However, he is not responsible for the Federal budget, international commerce, industry... In Japan, meanwhile, the Finance Minister [Omi] is responsible for public finances and the Yen. The role of overseeing the economic strategy falls to the man in charge of the Minister of the Economy, Commerce and Industry [Amari], who is widely seen as the man who rebooted the Japanese economy over the last five years. In the UK, the title is "Chancellor of the Exchequer," again another angle. One can imagine the complication of deciding who to send to which international meeeting - an affair of State. In any event, the separation in France of the roles under Jean-Louis Borloo, the new Minister of Finance, Economy & Employment--whereby one side handles the creation of wealth and the other handles the wealth distribution and obligatory withholdings--seems quite sensible. In any event, it sort of follows a capitalist ("liberal")-to-socialist split.

I was curious to see what Breton (outgoing) said to Borloo. During the transfer of power, the former Minister for Finance warned his successor that, with the change in responsibilities, he was going to have to comment on the figures of the French economy, “an exercise which is not always simple, which requires a little tact, much of modesty and humility”.

In mourning this morning, Reds drowned in 'pool (of sweat)

The Reds ran hard, had decent shots and, in the form of Xabi Alonso had brillance equal to any Kaka. In the end, AC Milan managed the deflection while Kuyt failed to put a leather deflection on a Gerrard shot. Then the "old" Inzaghi squirted around the defence and goalie and made it a double. In the end, the 89th "miracle in the making" goal was a nice thought (thanks Kuyt), but not enough. The red face of Carragher at the end said it all. The Reds were downed, if not drowned, in a 'pool of sweat. An ugly affair. Can't say Kaka played brillantly and can't muster enough good spirit to say Milan deserved to win. Just that Liverpool, the underdog, lost the chance of a true double. Am looking forward to what money bags (American owners) will do to the face of the club over the summer. Gerrard wasn't in top form last night, but certainly look forward to a few more years with Stevie at the helm.

The life cycle of a [successful] company and the importance of the brand

Inspired by this blog on "Pink Slip," "Business Darwinism and the will to survive", I ponder how even great companies survive long term. The very concept of lasting [forever] can almost seem counter intuitive (in the world of capital markets). I see the cycle of even those companies "built to last" as destined to un-last or unravel. In the beginning, there is great euphoria. The future is bright, money is raised. As [sales] growth continues, so stock price climbs. Then we track growing market shares. As market share grows ever higher, growth starts to slow. Pricing goes premium and the real game becomes growing the industry. The goodwill of the brand name becomes current currency. Stock dividends come into the picture and the stock stops its ascension upwards in anticipation of further deceleration. Because of the slower growth, there is rotation in the institutions owning the shares. And if market share does continue to grow (depending on how much the industry itself still grows), finally the threat of anti-monopoly or fat cat management inevitably set in. Brand extensions fall flat or dilute the original brand name. Stock price crumbles. Time for reinvention. Merger, takeover, MBO, LBO or other follow to start another cycle. If the company has created a true brand with a real DNA (and a passionate consumer base), then one has to believe the brand may survive, even if the company does not. Whether or not the few companies cited in Jim Collin's Built to Last continue to survive given the ever changing consumer habits, all the remainder of the "normal" companies are subject to the laws of a true life cycle. Even entirely private fully funded companies that can shun the pressures of their [capital market] stakeholders face the issues of life cycle when it comes to handing over the baton to the next generation of the family -- and that could be the subject of another blog altogether. In the meantime, you might enjoy reading this well crafted blog and several comments "Built to Last - Not."

Management theory

I have long held that I prefer to have all rowers in the boat rowing in unison, even if not necessarily in the perfect direction, rather than seeking the perfect direction and pushing all rowers to row hard (and independently). Depending on how one words this phrase, one can easily sway the argument one way or the other. In any event, I was seasonably and happily surprised to find, courtesy of the Economist article of March 31, "Rhythm and Blues," that some academic research had also been poured into this very metaphor of management. Specifically applying his theory to the annual Oxbridge boat race, Mark de Rond, a management theorist from Cambridge's Judge Business School -- and Cambridge's coach -- favored a flamboyant well-liked rower over a stronger smoother rower believing he would get the most out of his crewmates. The trick of the selection is finding a careful balance between competitivity and co-operation. There is mention of supporting evidence in a Harvard Business Review article "which found that workmates prize amiability over ability, preferring the 'loveable fool' to the 'competent jerk.'" It must have been quite gratifying for deRond as Cambridge won by more than a length in this year's (153rd) race. I think the metaphor can easily lead into the notion of how good rock'n'roll bands need a good (flamboyant) drummer and base guitarist.

London so wild and live

They say that what most makes London the capital of the world (today anyway, sorry New York) is that it is the premier financial hub. Attracting immigrants from everywhere -- immigrants that want to work and achieve -- London is abuzz with activity. Building cranes span the horizon despite the world famous grey clouds.

And, inspite of the ever growing population, burgeoning cost of living, traffic circulation challenges (being fought aggressively by congestion fees, etc) and a relatively ramshackle tube underground, London continues to thrive. And the charm of it is that the people remain globally so courteous (not just the cabbies). The defining English touch: you can still find milkmen doing their rounds with crates of fresh milk and grain-fed chicken eggs.

In addition, it is obvious that "natural" and/or "organic" is spreading like mushrooms no matter the category. The latest concept that caught my eye: The Natural Kitchen (77/78 Marlyebone High St) selling 'organic, wild and artisan food.' The part that got my attention was the "wild." The store was just a day old when I visited, but the selections were tantalizing and the setting was agreeable; the staff were visibly fresh. A concept restaurant is planned as well.

Following the "eco" flavour, I ate a yogurt on the Eurostar that is qualified as Bio Live Yogurt, where each ingredient is Organic, including the starch. Along side "wild" you have to love "live" food, especially which never once had a heartbeat.

And then there is the discovery of the Fairtrade Chocolate & Raison Geobar with 30.9% Fairtrade ingredients certified to international Fairtrade standards. Eating this bar "guarantees a better deal for Third World Producers."

I also felt that there were a lot more bicyclists - even as commuters. Not exactly Amsterdam, but a far more civilized feeling than the zippy motorcyclists dominating many mainland European cities.

And, I constantly admire the Fair Queueing practiced by the English. Thinking of the 300,000 transplanted French people living in London (making it the 7th largest populated city of French citizens), how much do they love (and respect) those habits? In any event, it is lovely to see a London so "wild and live."

Nice one Cyril, nice one son.... "Let's Go Flyers"

Oddly enough, I am not referring to my friend and step-brother (who is called Cyril and comes from Nice). It is more of an old football (US read: soccer) chant from the UK, but I couldn't help mixing metaphors and intoning my step brother's name.

In another remarkable moment during our family visit to Nice (south France, duh), I spotted a poster featuring John Leclair in a Philadelphia Flyers uniform (CCM advert) at the Super Sports store near the old town. While the ad was in French, it is curious that they picked an American whose name is French, rather than a Quebec native (like Gagné for example). Anyway, glad to think ice hockey has an international reach.

Big city living - the big not-so-easy

Having spent basically all my life living in big metropolitan centres around the [western] world, I am prone to wax on about their long vaunted advantages: cultural centre, variety of people, business opportunities, anonymity, blah blah blah. Then there are the ordinary complaints, such as the cost of living, getting kids into schools, parking, rudeness, pigeons, and more parking (towing mafia, etc).

For purposes of this blog, I wanted (initially) to refine my analysis, to limit to those things that are true today about big city dwelling, but may not have been so 30 years ago.

The good things today include:
-On any day (in NYC), you can find a $20 bill lying on the ground (used to be just a $1 bill).
-Wifi coverage is generally good (this is the case for whichever new technology will come next) -- 30 (nay 20) years ago we didn't have mobile phones with which to contend.
-Less SUVs than in the suburban towns.

The less good things:
-On any day, you can easily lose a $100 bill (via rip off, mugging, or just leaving an object of value unobserved on a table) versus a $20 bill 30 years ago.
-At any point, you can get run into by a pedestrian absorbed by his/her mobile phone, texting while also listening blithely to the ipod.
-And the topper: a big city has more than one airport, which means you can screw up the departure or arrival. Alternatively, you can have a different arrival airport than the one from which you departed which is a problem when you decide to drive in your car to one airport (happened last week).

In the end, each big city has its tale and it is impossible to generalize [anyway]. Perhaps, it is more appropriate to examine what lies in store for us who have preferred city living. More profoundly, as the city populations continue to grow, real shifts are going to occur. City centres will increasingly become merely cultural or tourist centres and retail spaces, and less and less business offices and even less residential.

As the first world populations age, the retired people will have no call (nor means) to live in cities. The shift in demographics, the stress of space, the expense and the lack of community will all converge to create more "retirement communities" (exacerbated by a lack of the younger generations taking care of their aging parents) outside urban centres.

Travel will become a desperately important criterion as we face the congestion on the roads, the escalating price of fuel (as fuel sources diminish) and higher real estate prices forcing, especially the younger, further afield. Given the propensity to provide only low paying/non paying "stages" or internships, the younger adults may well prefer to stay at their parents' home where the rent is free and the location may be closer to the city.

And then there is schooling. As far as I can tell, finding good schools is at a premium in any big city (either because there are limited spaces [including playing fields] or there just aren't any good ones). With the inevitable departure of living quarters, schools will follow the migration. Perhaps, it is or will be the reverse that provokes the change. In any event, education will be another key component to the changes.

I would prefer city centres to remain thriving, creative experiences in which to live, but by the force of economics and demographics, it seems the greener pastures await us (of meeker means) all.

The name game

Following only a couple days after posting a comment on old-fashioned marketing (starting with your ABCs), I came across an article in the Daily Telegraph (Tuesday May 22, page 29) entitled “Is your name to blame for your life?” The article featured an online study of 15,000 readers, declaratively, showing that their lives were indeed better (criteria based on health, finances, career and “life in general”) if they had a surname beginning with a letter near the start of the alphabet. What the article also stated was that there had been numerous other studies in and around the same area, two of which are cited. The first was a study in 2006 by Liran Einay (Stanford) and Leeat Yariv (California Institute of Technology), was published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives and demonstrated that academics working in US universities with initials early in the alphabet were more likely to be in the best-rated departments and to become fellows of the Econometric Society and even to win a Nobel Prize. The study concluded that this effect was likely due to the convention of listing published works by authors in alphabetical order. I suppose Yariv needed to buddy up with Einay for that survey? The second study cited was by Nicholas Christenfeld (University of California San Diego) who, in 1999, found evidence supporting the notion that people whose initials formed positive-sounding words (such as J.O.Y. or H.U.G….) lived longer than those with negative-sounding initials (such as P.I.G. or B.U.M.). And the margin of difference was quite noteworthy with men with positive sounding initials living 4.5 years longer than average and those with less positive initials dying 3 years earlier than average. For women, the positive effect was only 3 years and there was no negative effect. This seems to reassure me in my mania to find acronyms of interest for our family (YAMO as opposed to OA-MY).

As the article suggests, we can’t do much about our last name, and maybe we should not fret so much about the forename we give to our children. A quick look around well-known figures today reveals a resounding bell: Arnault, Blair, Berlusooni, Brown, Bush, Branson, Cheney, Clinton, Chirac…(dare I say Christ). The contest between Sego and Sarko was between two end-of-alphabeters. A possible new generation?

Ipod - old fashioned marketing

I remember in my entrepreneurial days thinking that it was a good idea to have the name of the company start with an "A" so that we would appear at the beginning of the [old concept] yellow pages (sort of the ABCs of marketing). Today, we are confronted with two realities that are interesting in regard to this notion. First, the alphabetical listing of music has never been more pertinent than with itunes and the ipod. In my car that is configured with my ipod feeding directly into the sound system, I find myself listening to ABBA a lot more frequently than in the past until I manage to set to shuffle. Anyone else find they are listening to more A... bands? Think of poor old Zappa.

On the other hand, Google's search engine does anything but alphabetic searches. It seeks out the active sites, the sites with perfect matches, the sites with recent updates, the sites posted more than 3 months, etc. Now, that is a new form of marketing that speaks to me... oh father [abba] of all marketers.

NYC Presidential Race (courtesy Freakonomics)

I found refreshing, as a pseudo New Yorker, this blog by Freakonomics duo, Levitt & Dubner, on the possibility of having three of the US Presidential candidates coming from New York: H Clinton (D), Giuliani (R) and Bloomberg (Independent)...! When you know that NY or New England historically speaking isn't good at producing Presidents, it would make for a seismic change... What do you think?

Nice airport

If only for the English sounding name of this city, Nice might well have been named the City of the English. As it stands, we have the pre-eminent Promenade des Anglais. Yet, flying Easyjet, the French crew spoke of "boarding" instead of "embarquement." And, the kicker, Nice airport's most original title: "Kiss and Fly" for the passenger drop-off zone. A nice touch.

N.B. Chicago, Atlanta, Edinburgh, Salzburg among other airports use the same term.

L'âge adulte en pleine crise...

Madame Figaro ce weekend met à la une un entretien de deux professeurs de philosophie à la Sorbonne, Pierre-Henri Tavoillot et Eric Deschavanne. L'article intitulé "L'âge adulte en pleine crise," reprend le thème abordé dans un billet antérieur, La Crise, dans lequel on retrouve la crise de modèle adulte à offrir aux jeunes. Dans cet article de Mme Figaro, ils parlent de la "jeunesse interminable" d'un côté et des "jeunes seniors" de l'autre. Les jeunes, suivant un modèle d'adulte, recherchent tout de suite l'épanouissement et un "accomplissement" tandis que les seniors sont vénérés pour leur représentation de la liberté et de la possibilité de s'épanouir. Entre ces deux phases, les adultes se retrouvent coincés avec beaucoup de contraintes et qui peinent pour trouver la paix, le soi. L'article alors que court et bien synthétique me parle en tant qu'adulte à la chasse... La chasse du temps ‘perdu' est devenue une préoccupation des adultes, un frein à la maturité des jeunes et une grande liberté pour les seniors. Les adultes se heurtent aux besoins d'être parent, travailleur, amant, ami ET soi-même.

J'ai trouvé aussi deux autres phrases parlantes dans l'article, dont je profite pour citer : [de P-H. T.] "Sagesse, plénitude : on veut tous accéder à cela. C'est devenu un idéal démocratique. Alors, au lieu de signifier une période d'existence, l'âge adulte est devenu un idéal philosophique." Et plus loin [de E.D.] "Aujourd'hui, l'adulte, c'est toujours celui qui a de l'expérience, mais, en plus celui qui sait faire face à l'inconnu, à la surprise, à l'inattendu."

Pour le coût, cette crise semblerait bien répandue sur Europe de l'ouest -- sans savoir si cela est aussi le cas pour la Japon ou ailleurs.

Clavier AZERTY à modifier

Bon, j'aimerais vous dire que je commence à m'accoutumer au clavier AZERTY. Ca ne veut pas dire pour autant que mon français s'améliore. Ca reste tout autant compliqué, mais je m'en sors plus au moins avec les accents divers, le "m" placé au fond à droite du 2è rang, le point final, etc. Cependant, le seul caractère qui m'agace profondément, c'est l'arobase (@ pour en savoir plus sur l'origine) qui est à faire avec la manipulation laborieuse "Alt Gr + à". Je propose qu'on fasse une proposition officielle (à qui?) pour la déplacer parmi les lettres plus confortable. Echangeons avec le $ ou bien le ²? Suivez-vous moi?

Tennis for life

In a prior comment, I posited that tennis is a great guide to leadership. Yesterday, I met a female [French] pro in Nice (Beaulieu) who at the age of 23 had a career ending injury (ruptured miniscus, operation, infection, re-operation...). At the time, she was ranked 20th in France. Now, at age 54 (estimate), she was still going after the ball with vigour and hitting nice shots on both sides despite limited movement in the affected leg. Afterwards, we got to speaking about how her approach to tennis has helped craft her approach to life. Here are some of the pearls from her experience:
- life is constructed day by day, like a point is constructed shot by shot.
- life is like a tournament of 5 set matches, not a warm up.
- life is everything tennis is not, or rather life is not just tennis (relaxation, good food, etc.) but even those non-tennis activities help your tennis.
- winning isn't everything, but it sure is worth fighting for.
That said, we had a great sweat and a philosophical chat; in short, a great game of tennis.

a little break for the brain (and fingers)

Off for a Nice break (on the Cote d'Azur). Back in 5 (days).

Biodegradable Coffins - Death goes green

I could not help but smile at the pleasantness of the subject: death goes green. And of course, they are doing it down under, witness this Australian museum (on-line). There are 2150 hits on google for "biodegradable coffin" (although just 700 on yahoo). Then, in good 'ole Green Britain, there is an organisation called "natural death centre" which comes replete with eco-friendly burials, including how to be "planted" below a tree of your choice as a burial site. This gives a whole new meaning to "green fingers."

This morning, listening to Europe 1 radio (in Paris), I heard the announcers speaking to the arrival of the concept in France. A good idea sometimes indeed travels underground. (Note that Google has just 44 hits in French for "cercueil biodegradable").

Serious games - innovations in France

You may have heard of the notion of "serious games"... edutainment in its latest form. You play, and you don't even see the time pass as you learn. Have a few examples of positively interesting games, in part courtesy of Le Monde article yesterday. (the examples are all in French, sorry!)

1) France has a game helping to learn about how to manage France's national budget! Cyber Budget I am most impressed... for such a dull, yet important topic. Lots of fun interactive games sprinkled throughout...some of which are based on classic video games. Watch out for the press!

2) In a less constructive way (from McD's corporate POV), there is McDonald's video game... try it (in French)! You will learn what you don't want to know every time you go to Mickey D's--from a hacker's pov. Try to spur the sales and profitability of McD's.

It's great to see France pioneering in this field (obviously many other countries have examples... which would love to hear about!).

Where is the brain's brand button?

As a consumer, I do not want to spend oodles of time comparing prices and the quality(-ies) of the product. In the shop, or whenever and wherever I buy, I want trust and a preferred relationship [I may sound like a snob, but our current condition encourages this behaviour]. And, in order to create that link, the BRAND is essential... In the New (read: Net) Order, getting that trust (and the good relationship) via the web is intimately related to such ordinary measures as ease of access, the time it takes to process the order (do they ask for only pertinent information?) or even just the length of time it takes to load up the pages. This is a far cry from how we operate in a brick & mortar store (the friendly smile, ability to trial, lighting...). Our brains are definitely evolving, but I don't want to subscribe to the idea of a purchase button in the brain as nascent neuromarketing "science" is suggesting (reference to the Pepsi Coke MRI test in this 2004 article from US News). [Or see the French article http://tinyurl.com/2j5u6u].

What of the evolution toward a softer, gentler opt-in marketing? It would seem that the human being will create anti-bodies to common advertising and even viral marketing. Thereby, I see the human brain in constant flux and I don't believe a one-time (MRI) snapshot of a brain will enable us to do better marketing. We must remain more than ever on our marketing toes and learn to shift with the southweberly winds.

What's your favourite sport to play?

Some of you will know that I love (lawn) tennis, but if I had my druthers, I would spend my time playing Paddle Tennis. If there more courts and players, I would be a devout paddle afficionado (more for the European or Argentinian variety with the walls as opposed to US platform tennis). But there appears to be a new concept (at the very least a new marketing angle) and certainly a shared enthusiasm invading the US. You have got to check this little video clip out: it is called "Battle Tennis".

My favourite game to play, bar none, is paddle tennis; although, for practical reasons, I play lawn tennis most frequently (with a recent cameo appearance on the Real Tennis courts of the Queen's Club in London). So, what's your favourite all-time sport to play?

Paying taxes in France

After attending a briefing meeting by KPMG on how to pay French taxes (we are getting close to tax day here), I found a few items worthy of note.

Unlike most [modern] countries, there is no salary with-holding (by the employer) for taxes. Just for social security -- proof of the importance of the social system. Don't worry about paying your taxes (which are always paid a year later); but we need the social security!

The location and organization for where you send in your tax return is separate from the tax collector. A very antiquated system -- sounds like a hangover of the regal days. For extra headache, the return should not be accompanied by any payment. Just a little more bureaucratic inefficiency and overhead.

You have to love the CSG/CRDS taxes which were originally temporary "surtaxes" to fund social security deficits and public debt. Then they became permanent. First they were deducted on salary only. Now they form an additional income tax on investment income (flat 11%).

Tax credits take up a full page of the 4 pages of the 2042 form. Among the (sometimes rather obscure) credit options, you get a whopping 61E per child in further education at the 'college' level (5-8th grade). Just another incentive to have children (pervasive concept in the tax return).

Finally, there is a television tax in France (as in UK). The origin of this tax was to fund public television. Since tv is slowly dying out and tv's will be mutating to computers, I wonder how long the government will take to figure out that the bigger money lies in computer screens (I.e. as multimedia center).

No taxes are fun or straight forward. But you have to love the history and "meanings" within.

Crotte de pigeon impressionante

Récemment, en revenant du travail, j'ai mis 35 minutes à circuler en ronds pour trouver une place pour stationner ma voiture. En soit, assez agaçant. Mais la cerise sur le gâteau, ou bien la crotte sur le toit, c'était l'arrosage de la voiture par une dizaine de défécations bioniques de pigeons. Ces crottes étaient d'envergure. Impossible de les enlever à la lave voiture. Non plus avec le gratte glace. Enfin, il faudrait des super détergents et une bonne brosse pour les enlever. Ce sont des crottes tenaces qui marquent. D'autres auraient eu cette même expérience?

Raising money (without raising hairs)

Got this nice story courtesy of Bill in England. Lewis Cullman - notable NYC and Yale philanthropist - has written a little book about raising money, "Can’t Take It With You. The Art of Making and Giving Money."
The story goes along the lines :
"Raising money is serious business, but keep your sense of humor. Things are bound to go wrong. Don’t worry. I’ll never forget the time Dorothy and I were at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan, at a party being hosted by Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral, the big armaments maker. When Dorothy greeted him, she asked Bernard whether his company could donate its products as prizes for an upcoming fund-raiser. Naturally, Bernard’s jaw dropped in disbelief: Who is this crazy woman who wants rockets for door prizes? On the way to the party, I had told her that Bernard was head of Loral, but she thought it was L’Oreal, the cosmetics maker. The confusion was cleared up!"

Sarkozy better/mieux for/pour les relations France/USA

Here is the first "thread" for this blog: Will Sarkozy be better or worse for relations between France and the USA (compared to Chirac)? And whom among the 2008 Presidential candidates in the USA will be his best complement?

---------------

Voici un premier "filon" (pas de reference au futur PM potentiel) du blog: Est-ce Sarkozy sera mieux ou pire pour les relations entre la France et les Etats-Unis (par rapport à Chirac)? Qui parmi les candidats pour le Présidentiel 2008 aux EU sera son meilleur contre partie?

Smart aleck - La Smart car n'est pas si smart

Vous ne reconnaîtrez pas forcément l'expression anglaise "smart aleck," mais je décèle chez les conducteurs des voitures Smart (fortwo) un comportement souvent peu agréable. Deux caractéristiques qui agacent:

1) Conduite esquivant, faufilant entre les voitures autant que les motocyclistes, étant limite voire hors la loi quant aux feux rouges, voies supplémentaires, non-utilisation des indicateurs...

2) Stationnement n'importe comment... dans les arrêts de bus, sur les trottoirs. Autant le stationnement en perpendiculaire séduit, autant leur côté vis-à-vis de la loi est déplaisant.

J'ignore l'origine de ce comportement fréquemment retrouvé chez ces smart alecks (vous connaîtrez sans doute l'autre expression anglaise "smart ah-2s") mais ça sent une attitude surdimensionnée par rapport à l'effort écologique (pour lequel je suis totalement en faveur). Est-ce le comportement de la tribu Smart? Dans ce cas, je n'adhère guère.

Rip Off Tourist Bus in London

If only a cathartic exercise, we would like to share with you our disappointing family experience on a recent tour with The Original London Sightseeing Bus Tour. 1-/ The buses were dirty. The smell was disgusting, particularly in one bus. 2-/ The buses were packed, with not enough seats (inside), especially on a rainy day. 3-/The information provided by the audio system was insufficient and the sound quality was mediocre. 4- The price was much too expensive for the mediocre quality offered. A negative publicity can only be the consequence of such a poor service. Let this be the beginning of this negative paragraphs of mouth.

Lessons from French Elections for USA

Ok, the old news is that UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has won the 2007 French Presidential elections. Argue what you will about the benefit of one or other candidate, the campaign and its results seem to carry several good messages that the American electorate would do well to heed.

1. Turn up to vote. 86% of the French electorate voted in the final round (nominally higher than the first round). Whereas in Belgium voting is compulsory or in Australia where one is obliged to show up at the polling station (you are not obliged to vote), it is the force of a democracy where the vast majority votes voluntarily. In any case, show up.

2. Stay focused on policy. While the French at times complained about the "personal" nature of some of the attacks and/or discussions, the debates and arguments were still very largely oriented policies, not about personal ethics or bedroom habits. That said, the French politicians (let's say the "younger" generation as represented by Royal and Sarko) showed pains to "be in touch" with the electorate, each citing personal encounters with individuals in France. It's a step in the right direction, but they would do well to avoid making an entire pitch out of a single encounter -- equally delusional to think they are as a result "in touch" with the peoples.

3. Vote for, not against. While this is regrettably Utopian and obviously not the case for everyone (witness the riots over night) in France, I did feel that there were more people stepping up to vote FOR their candidate, as opposed to AGAINST the alternative. Naturally, as compared to the farce of the 2002 final between Chirac and Le Pen, in 2007, there was a clear segmentation of the "socialist" vs "liberal" (in the French interpretation, i.e. capitalist) camps. And, personally, in the French context, it was refreshing to see such wide ranging and clear differences between the two candidates. Of course, the consequence of that may be more divisive than desirable. Nonetheless, the debate was not positioned (in words used) as merely the debate of the socialist versus the capitalist. It was a debate of policies and styles (political philosophies, implementation strategies) . It certainly helped clarify for whom I would vote were I to have the right in France.

Let see what the US can or wants to learn from its "ally" as well.

Spending on US political campaigns

Until recently, I wasn't aware that US presidential candidates were only allowed to accept $2,300 from a single individual in the primaries and another $2,300 for the presidential campaign. The only exception is the candidate him/herself who is allowed to invest as much as he/she wants. A candidate such as Michael Bloomberg therefore has a significant financial advantage should enter the course. Meanwhile, given the direction of consumer habits and the choice and consumption of media, the way that money will be spent will likely make the bigger difference in 2008. John Edwards' presence in Twitter.com is an example. Just make sure he doesn't spend $400 per haircut every time! We know the candidates have to spend on image, but...

Diners à Thème - Diner Web 2.0

Alors, nous avons tenté un nouveau concept de diner à thème ce samedi soir, la veille des élections présidentielles. Le thème nous a bien occupés et, hormis la guitare et le vin, nous nous sommes concentrés de façon à ne pas rentrer dans la ixième discussion politique. Les jeux sont faits pour aujourd'hui j'ai envie de dire (avec le beau temps qui encouragera les gens de sortir!). Alors, ce diner avait comme particularité d'être le premier diner dit "web 2.0". En effet, nous avons demandé à nos invités de concevoir un personnage célèbre et artistique et ensuite de préparer des indices qui seraient dévoilés au fur et à mesure du diner pour que les autres invités le devinent. L'option web 2.0? Le premier indice a dû être posté en ligne (sur un blog spécialement conçu). Je vous y invite pour vous demander si, à partir de ces premiers indices, vous auriez pu deviner le(s) personnage(s)! Diner à thème. Le virtuel a beau et bien fait rendez vous avec le réel chez nous. (merci aux invités d'avoir jouer le jeu)

Services Internet en France: Au secours.

Alors, vous avez entendu parlé de sociétés co-opératives en blogging. Voila une autre version: les individus coopératifs. Ainsi, j'ai invité mon amie Benedicte Bro à partager son sujet sur mon blog. Je vous invite d'y participer vivement.

"Hola Camarades...

Please please please Aidez moi...bon j'espique...

Alors, d'abord j'étais avec Noos, mais régulièrement le truc tombait en carafe et je passais des heures à expliquer a des cons qui ne comprenaient juste rien au milieu de je ne sais pas ou mes problemes multiples et variés avec l'internet ou la tele; et finalement, un jour mon contrat s'est termine et je suis partie en courant chez...
France Telecom... ou regulierement le truc tombait en carafe, internet surtout et ou le Wifi ne passait pas les murs me condamnant a travailler de mon lit (pendant sa premiere annee ma fille pensait qu'allongee sur le lit etait la position naturelle de sa maman,,,,classe non?) le cable etait en travers de la piece et impossible de ne pas avoir tous ces cables et fils partout, et quand je parlais au service technique, c'etait comme si j'etais la SEULE en France a avoir un Mac, bon fin de contrat... exit France Telecom...

Arrivee de.... Darty Box! Et la, on est juste mort de rire... moi aussi mais alors super Jaune voyez en fait... style j'ai les memes cables en travers de la piece, Internet/wifi doit etre configuré manuellement a chaque fois que j'allume mon ordi, le son saute sur toutes les chaines quelques secondes par 3 minutes... et les visages sont souvent decales par rapport au dialogue, et souvent un peu cryptes, je n'ai pas le son sur TF1... pas grave mais quand meme.... je paye extra pour pouvoir enregistrer mais ca n'enregistre pas en fait parce que Darty n'as pas les droits pour autre chose que les chaines de base... pas d'enregistrement de Canal, Disney, Jimmy etc!!! Il faut en moyenne 30 a 40 secondes pour changer de chaines etc... Ah j'oubliais presque.. je devais avoir les appels sur la Suisse, les UK et l'Espagne gratuits.. ce qui m'arrangait plutot beaucoup voyez.. et je me suis mangée presque 300 euros sur France Telecom... Meme Darty ne s'explique pas comment... Morte de rire je vous dis... bref, Darty Box n'est pas une bonne idee.. Ils sont fous d'ailleurs parce que je ne veux plus qu'y mettre le feu en fait... meme un presse-agrumes, j'irais le chercher ailleurs...

Alors ma question a vous tous braves gens c'est:
VOUS ETES CHEZ QUI POUR TV/INTERNET ET C'EST COMMENT?????

je craaaaaque et dois changer au plus vite.... merci d'avance de tous vos conseils... Je pense meme retourner chez Noos ou FT mais je ne sais pas si ca s'est amelioré vraiment depuis...
Merci mille fois et dites moi si vous voulez individuellement les résultats du sondage..."

Luxury prisons - rent your cell

I was quite titillated by an IHT article last week (April 30) entitled "For $82 a day, a cozier way to do hard time." This article opened my eyes to the concept of how wealthier prisoners in certain California prisons (ex Santa Ana) are able and allowed to pay a daily fee to have an upgraded cell (double occupancy). The charges apparently range from $75 up to $127/day. While I truly applaud the notion that prisoners who--otherwise live their life behind bars paid for by the taxpayer--are paying their own rent, it does seem difficult to gauge how many privileges one should allow. For example, why not allow single occupancy room, with internet and cell phone for $300/day... or more? Where does it stop and at what price?

Débat présidentiel en France à débattre

Je vous fait un billet à deux temps. Le premier paragraphe était écrit aux premières heures ce matin, mais je ne l'ai pas publié parce que je ne l'avais pas relu en temps avant de partir au travail. Le deuxième paragraphe correspond à la vision 20/20 et ayant lu un peu la presse. Je publie les deux quand même.

Heure: 06:24. "Après 24 heures, je vois que le débat sur le débat présidentiel français continue. Néanmoins, je récolte la vision suivante: on aime débattre du débat et que la conclusion est confuse. À mes yeux, il semble difficile d'imaginer que les résultats du débat aient été autant mitigés. Alors, au lieu de m'avancer sur exactement qui j’ai trouvé meilleur, je trouve plus pertinent de discuter des critères de jugement. Pour moi, je me concentre autant que possible en premier lieu sur le fond -- sachant que l'impact du non verbal est plus que conséquent. Je cherche des réponses justes, bien sûr, mais aussi des réponses qui sont claires, concises et concrètes. En terme de forme, je regarde le caractère lors de la confrontation, car c'est le clin d'oeil a comment le candidat serait dans des discussions diplomatiques sensibles. Est ce le comportement d’un homme ou femme d’état ? Je paye attention ensuite à la posture du corps, les tics aux moments "décisifs" et la gestuelle. Je reconnais tout autant le poids du non-verbal. Et sur ces points, je suis plus que sûr de qui aurait gagner le débat."

Heure 10:15. Ça y est. Le Figaro annonce la couleur. Ceux qui ont pensé que le débat était match nul devront revoir le score. Peu importe pour qui on vote, l'intérêt que j'avais pour ce débat était tout autant sur l'aspect duel -- dans le fonds et la forme. Une leçon d'avenir pour les prochains débats. Voir le blog du Figaro de ce matin.

Je rajouterai un dernier point: quid de la politique externe. Il n'y avait pas beaucoup de discussions sur les vrais enjeux à l'étranger. N'est-il pas vrai que le rôle d'un président(e) devrait être plus axé vers l'extérieur et que la politique interne est le sujet du premier ministre et son gouvernement?

Blogger as journalist

I have recently found out about the presence of "pro bono" blogger, Matthew Lee, who has been accepted at the United Nations as part of the press corps -- see www.InnerCityPress.com. Lee is part of 200 full-time permanent correspondents at the UN. This brings up the question of what or who exactly is a journalist? In a land of free speech, it becomes very tricky to "rubber stamp" who is allowed to cover the news and, with the ever increasing presence of blogs, to control or censure it. As it is, figuring out the bias of certain newspapers (or TV stations, etc.) is already a fun exercise. On top of worrying about the thoroughness and/or veracity, here we need to consider whether the blogger can become an advocate of one or another camp. And, I can only imagine how President Putin is trying to figure out how to manage (read: subdue) that "individual" press -- given how he has been clamping down on the traditional press channels and given the Russian heritage for clandestine writing (see samizdat), one can only imagine the scope of the upcoming struggle.

Grass versus Clay, Nadal v Federer

The recent battle of the champions' surfaces, featuring Nadal versus Federer on a hybrid court, half grass and half clay, was completely innovative. When I read about the concept, it felt instinctively distinctly weird. The bounce on your side and the movement underfoot changed at every changeover (they changed their footwear at the same time). And yet, it worked like a treat. And the final score was worthy of the innovation: Nadal in 3 sets 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12-10).

Queen's Day in Amsterdam

Queen's Day is a weekend of extravagance in Amsterdam. Concerts, orange shirts, beers and garbage sprawled across the streets. It is a moment of tremendous frivolity, much aided by the glorious sunny weather on this weekend. On this trip, I was spoiled by two 'different' events:
(1) being the very first passenger for my taxi driver (a rather portly, if nervous, Pakistani) who took me from Schiphol airport to my hotel (passing through a very dense and rowdy crowd).
How many times in one's life is one a taxi driver's first ever passenger? He was very well intentioned and discrete.
(2) a lucky find. My elegant wrist watch malfunctioned over the weekend so I was quite disappointed about the prospect of having to fix it... when I stepped out of the cab (mentioned above), I looked down and found a brand new Fossil watch. Although not exactly the same calibre as my regular watch, I can only say I felt little remorse in picking it up out of the trash lying on the floor. I would not have been nearly as content, I believe, had my real watch not been on the blinker. Such is the serendipity.

LIVERPOOL

I have been a supporter of Liverpool FC since 1972... for silly reasons really (my best pal liked 'pool at school). So, here I am in Amsterdam, 35 years later, in my hotel room, just having watched Liverpool win the Champion's League semi-finals against Chelsea via penalties (how do professionals miss penalties?). And I feel odd admitting that I still get nervous and excited watching Liverpool play. Truth be told, I have never put my feet in Liverpool itself, land of the Beatles. Talk about being blindly loyal. Anyway, just happy to see them through to the finals yet again. Quite appropriate that the clinching penalty was scored by Dutchman Dirk Kuyt.

Times are a changin' - In Search of Moments of Change

A convert of the “tipping point” concept, I am most interested in the exact elements that bring about change in a person’s personality or career. In particular, I think of how certain people in my circle have gone from "super popular" to super drop-out, or from super nerd to super successful, etc. But, there are less obvious evolutions in which the paradigm shift is more in the nuance and, yet, just as powerful. In one case that I don't want to mention explicitly, I found an entrepreneur who, one day, decided to go from a small time operator to an industry leading, national icon. The character traits seemed to involve discipline, vision (clear objectives) and a winning concept (client-centric...really). So how does one literally and explicitly seek out these moments of change? In a world when there are so many who want to succeed--it would seem only natural to pursue these moments of change (reference to Carlzon's moments of truth). Anyone have any insights or other interesting examples?

Travel pleasures... another improvement on the road

Sometimes, when traveling, you want to just be able to pick up all the good things and bring them back to your home country… like food specialties or quaint cultural traditions. So, on this trip, speaking as a frequent traveler, I found yet another “good thing” to bring home. At the Amsterdam airport (Schiphol), I actually enjoyed waiting for my luggage. That was because there was a convenient screen above the carousel indicating the current time and the expected arrival time of the first bags (there were just our minutes to wait). This concept, much like the tube in London (and some metro lines in Paris), seems to take the pinch out of waiting. Of course, the unfortunate anecdote here is that my suitcase didn’t come out after four minutes. The screen flashed “First bags on the belt”… but then the first bags came (and disappeared with their owners) and the belt stopped. It turns out that my suitcase was diverted into the “transit” set. As such, my suitcase along with some nice Chinese fellow passenger’s last suitcase, appeared 15 minutes later. Human error foils technological progress (again). Why don't all airports invest in this type of signage!