I initially felt reluctant to learn Japanese from a non-Japanese teacher

Said Fernando Katsuji Noda, 48, a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian banker - who was not taught Japanese by his parents - when asked about it by Motonobu Endo for his story on "Non-native teachers of Japanese growing among Brazil's immigrants" published in The Japan Times of September 26, 2013. 

Groups of Japanese immigrants began arriving in Brazil in 1908. More than a century on, the country has a population of around 1.5 million Japanese-Brazilians — the largest Japanese community overseas. While the first generation of immigrants is graying rapidly, the number of Japanese-Brazilians able to speak Japanese is declining equally fast. According to Masayuki Fukasawa, editor-in-chief of the Japanese-language Journal Nikkey Shimbun, only a few thousand Japanese-Brazilians possess the reading and writing skills required by Japanese companies for employment. Many early immigrants from Japan who became Japanese-language teachers have retired. However, an increasing number of Brazilians with no ancestral ties to Japan are studying Japanese and have become very fluent in the language and are now teaching it. Their number has continued to swell. Motonobo Endo concludes that the distance between Japan and Brazil’s Japanese community is undeniably widening.

Apple’s data centers are 100 percent powered by energy from renewable sources — solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal.

Apple’s data centers are 100 percent powered by energy from renewable sources — solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. And so are many of our corporate facilities. The ultimate goal is to power all Apple facilities entirely by renewable energy, Said Apple on its website. 

The first glimpse of Apple Inc.'s proposed 18-MW
photovoltaic solar array in Northern Nevada
(Credit : Reno Gazette - Journal)

Apple's Energy Management is based on a three-tiered strategy with the primary focus to achieve a net zero energy policy. In other words, to use 100 percent renewable energy to power its data centers, retail stores, and other facilities worldwide. More complete details can be found in Apple's 2012 Environmental Footprint Report

Apple sites powered by 100%
renewable energy (Source : Apple)

According to GigaOm, Apple - at its huge data center in Maiden, North Carolina - has built the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar photovoltaic array, and completed construction on the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country. Apple’s massive solar panel and fuel cell farm are now live and providing clean power for its huge data center in Maiden, North Carolina, which draws its power—totaling some 20 megawatts at full capacity from renewable sources. In addition, it relies on energy-efficient design elements, including a white roof and real-time energy monitoring and analytics. Apple has claimed it purchases 100 percent renewable energy for its other facilities around the world.

Apple has also proposed to build 18-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm that will keep the servers running in its Northern Nevada data center. The details of this were made public on July 1, 2013 and reported by the Reno Gazette - Journal. According to some news reports this 137-acre solar farm (it will generate approximately 43.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity) will be managed in conjunction with NV Energy, to power the datacenter located right next to it. The farm, called “Ft. Churchill Solar Array,” will be capable of providing between 18 and 20 MW to the data center. NV Energy plans to combine photovoltaics with concentrated solar-power mirrors, meaning the facility will supply energy at night as well as during the day. Solar company SunPower will work on the array's engineering and construction. Once completed, the Solar Array would save fossil fuel equivalent to taking 6,400 vehicles off the road each year.

It is worth mentioning here that NV Energy has agreed to be acquired by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company - a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The acquisition - for as much as $5.6 billion in cash - is due to be finalized in the first three months of 2014.

Astroturfing is the 21st century’s version of false advertising

New York State Attorney General
Eric T. Schneiderman

Said Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General, on Sept. 23, 2013, while announcing that it had snared and fined 19 companies for flooding the Internet with fake consumer reviews on websites such as Yelp, Google Local, and CitySearch. These companies have agreed to cease their practice of writing fake online reviews and pay more than $350,000 in penalties.

"Operation Clean Turf," a year-long undercover investigation project undertaken by the Attorney General's office found that many of these companies used techniques to hide their identities, such as creating fake online profiles on consumer review websites and paying freelance writers from as far away as the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe for $1 to $10 per review. By producing fake reviews, these companies violated multiple state laws against false advertising and engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices.

In a press release, Attorney General Schneiderman said : "This investigation into large-scale, intentional deceit across the Internet tells us that we should approach online reviews with caution. And companies that continue to engage in these practices should take note: "Astroturfing" is the 21st century's version of false advertising, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it."

According to a recent Gartner study, by 2014, 10-15 percent of social media reviews will be fake and paid for by companies. “With over half of the Internet's population on social networks, organizations are scrambling for new ways to build bigger follower bases, generate more hits on videos, garner more positive reviews than their competitors and solicit ‘likes’ on their Facebook pages,” said . “Many marketers have turned to paying for positive reviews with cash, coupons and promotions including additional hits on YouTube videos in order to pique site visitors' interests in the hope of increasing sales, customer loyalty and customer advocacy through social media ‘word of mouth’ campaigns.”

According to Wikipedia, astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message (e.g. political, advertising, or public relations) to give the appearance of it coming from a disinterested, grassroots participant. The term astroturfing is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass. On the Internet, astroturfers use software to mask their identity. Sometimes one individual operates over many personas to give the impression of widespread support for their client's agenda. 

Terror Warning : Anyone sheltering terrorists in Bahrain must share responsibility for their crimes

H.R.H. Prince Khalifa
Bin Salman Al Khalifa

Said Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa while chairing a security and civil work meeting in Manama (Bahrain) on September 25, 2013. 

His remarks - aimed at protecting communities from violence - are reported in the Gulf Daily News. 

He also said that direct and indirect calls for violence, hatred, sectarianism and violation of the law will never be tolerated. The first and most important human right is the right to live in peace and security, and this is just what the government wants to achieve, he added.

It is ridiculous that fines for fly-tipping can be as high as £50,000 while that for non-payment of the minimum wage is £5,000 in the UK.

Edward Miliband

Said Edward Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (MP for Doncaster North, UK) while addresses shoppers in Brighton town centre on the eve of the Labour Party annual conference on 21 September 2013.

Miliband also said : "I want a high wage British economy, not a low wage brutish economy".

According to a report published in Belfast Telegraph as part of efforts to prevent the exploitation of workers he also promised a huge increase in the fine for employers who failed to pay the national minimum wage, with the penalty set to rise from £5,000 to £50,000 under a Labour administration.

Note : Fly-tipping is the ‘illegal deposit of any waste onto land or a highway that has no licence to accept it.’ Illegal dumps of waste can vary in scale and the type of waste involved.

In China, justice serves the cause of party politics

Steve Tsang

Says Prof. Steve Tsang

Director of the China Policy Institute and Professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham 

Steve Tsang says the rules of the game held firm in Bo Xilai's life sentence and treatment of his son.

in an article published in the South China Morning Post website.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as 

"In elite Chinese politics, justice serves only to uphold party's code of conduct"

70-80% Of Venture Capitalists (VCs) Add Negative Value To Startups

Said Vinod Khosla, an IIT Delhi alumnus and a well-known Indian-American venture capitalist (Khosla Ventures) in an interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington at the Disrupt SF 2013 event in San Francisco, California, USA on September 11th, 2013. The event is organized by TechCrunch and the interview is published on line on their website. A video recording of the full interview was also included in the related post. 
Story credit : Kim-Mai, a technology journalist

Vinod Khosla (Left) and Michael Arrington (Right)

Michael Arrington : Who is the VC who is the most full of shit that you’ve ever heard?

Vinod Khosla : The vast majority of VCs aren’t in a position to offer decent advice to startups. Substantially larger than 95 percent of VCs add zero value. "I would bet that 70-80 percent add negative value to a startup in their advising.” Most VCs “haven’t done shit” to know what to tell startups going through difficult times. Founders should listen politely and just do what they want to do anyway. In fact, most of them probably hurt startups.

Picture courtesy : TechCrunch.com
Vinod Khosla's Wiki Introduction