Dot Com Mogul John Chow uploaded a presentation he did entitled "How I Make $40,000 a Month From a Blog". The video contains information that he has never written about before on his site including his business model. Lots of interesting stuff in the presentation. The guy works a few hours a day and makes like $500k a year. See the full post here.
Analyst Charlene Li talks online video at Web 2.0 Expo
Charlene Li is one of the most respected visionaries in social media. She shares the basics in how to build the impact for online video. She's everywhere on the tech speaking circuit. See her and other influential Asian Americans at SXSW.
Look into the future of Qualcomm with QTC engineer Vijay Bapu. He's got amazing new technology for Qualcomm. You've got to see it to believe it. He's at the 53 second mark.
2009 Forbes World Billionaires List - Asian edition
Forbes just released the list of 2009 World Billionaires List. We combed through the list to find the Asian billionaires. Of the top 50 world's billionaires, only 5 billionaire are Asian. Some of the interesting thing we learned were the way billions are made is pretty diverse. Billionaires on the list made their fortunes from things like Redbull, 7-eleven, Nintendo, Espirit, Kingston Technology and more. Take a look at he list:
#7 Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth:$19.5 bil
Fortune:inherited and growing
Source:petrochemicals
Age:51
Country Of Citizenship:India
Residence:Mumbai
Industry:Manufacturing
Education:University of Bombay, Bachelor of Arts / Science, Stanford University, Drop Out
Marital Status:married, 3 children
Oversees Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company by market cap despite stock falling 40% in past year. Merging his Reliance Petroleum with flagship Reliance Industries. As part of deal, will exercise right to buy back Chevron's 5% stake in Reliance Petroleum at $1.20 per share—the same price at which he sold it 3 years ago. Today the stock trades for $1.80 a share. Increased stake in Reliance Industries in October; paid $3.4 billion to convert 120 million preferential warrants into shares. Reliance Petroleum refinery on India's western coast began operating in December despite falling global demand and declining margins. Late father Dhirubhai founded Reliance and built it into a massive conglomerate. After he died Mukesh and his brother, Anil, ran the family business together for a brief time. But siblings feuded over control; mother eventually brokered split of assets. Brothers may be looking to bury hatchet; played joint hosts at mother's recent 75th-birthday bash. Has yet to move into his 27-story home that he's building at a reported cost of $1 billion. Ardent fan of Bollywood films. Wife, Nita, oversees school named after his father.
#8 Lakshmi Mittal
Net Worth:$19.3 bil
Fortune:inherited and growing
Source:steel
Age:58
Country Of Citizenship:India
Residence:London
Industry:Steel
Education:St Xavier's College Calcutta, Bachelor of Arts / Science,
Marital Status:married, 2 children
Indian immigrant heads world's largest steel company; ArcelorMittal was formed via hostile takeover 3 years ago. Stock in company makes up bulk of his fortune; shares at a 4-year low with steel prices down 75% since last summer. Company forced to pay heavy fines after a French antitrust investigation found 10 companies guilty of price-fixing in European steel markets. Arcelor posted $2.6 billion loss in most recent quarter; announced plans to slow acquisitions, cut capital expenditures, pay down debt. Started in family steel business in the 1970s, branched out on his own in 1994. Initially bought up steel mills on the cheap in Eastern Europe. Company bought 19.9% stake in Australia's Macarthur Coal last year. Also owns pieces of Mumbai's Indiabulls Group, London's RAB Capital; owns stake in, sits on board of Goldman Sachs. Holds substantial cash; owns 12-bedroom mansion in London's posh Kensington neighborhood.
#16 Li Ka-shing
Net Worth:$16.2 bil
Fortune:self made
Source:diversified
Age:80
Country Of Citizenship:Hong Kong
Residence:Hong Kong
Industry:Diversified
Education:High School, Drop Out,
Marital Status:widowed, 2 children
"Superman's" net worth is down $10 billion in the past year as stock of his publicly traded conglomerates Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa tumbled. The 2 companies are about to start construction on a property project in Shanghai. HW's retail group plans to open 120 stores in China in 2009. Through the 2 companies, Li is world's largest operator of container terminals, world's largest health and beauty retailer by number of outlets, a major supplier of electricity to Hong Kong and a real estate developer. His second-largest holding: Canadian oil firm Husky Energy, which cut spending by almost a third for 2009. Charitable foundation recently raised $510 million by selling 40% of its stake in Bank of China. Avid golfer plays almost every day; reportedly sank his 15th hole-in-one in September. Poor immigrant sold plastic flowers in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Eldest son, Victor, helps him run businesses; son Richard struck out on his own in early 1990s and is a billionaire in his own right.
#32 Kwok family
Net Worth:$10.5 bil
Fortune:inherited
Source:real estate
Age:NA
Country Of Citizenship:Hong Kong
Residence:Hong Kong
Industry:Real Estate
Education:NA,
Marital Status:NA,
Family behind one of Hong Kong's most storied real estate firms was thrown into tumult even before property prices tumbled. Eldest brother Walter stepped down from 18-year chairmanship of Sun Hung Kai Properties last May after disputing with his 2 younger siblings, Raymond and Thomas. Mother Kwong Siu-hing, 80, took over as chairman. Stock down 50% in past year. Firm still pushing ahead: opened a W hotel in Hong Kong in January and has plans to open another in Shanghai by 2010. In late-February sold 150 luxury apartments in its Kowloon residential development, generating $450 million in revenue. Family also owns interests in telecom SmarTone-Vodafone and city bus operator KMB.
#43 Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth:$9.0 bil
Fortune:self made
Source:real estate
Age:81
Country Of Citizenship:Hong Kong
Residence:Hong Kong
Industry:Real Estate
Education:NA,
Marital Status:divorced, 5 children
"Stock God of Asia" is proving mortal. His biggest holding, Henderson Land Development, lost more than half its value in past year. Lee has been engaged in property development in Hong Kong for more than 5 decades. Chairman of Henderson since 1976, also chairs the Hong Kong and China Gas abd Miramar Hotel and Investment; vice chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited and director of Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings) and The Bank of East Asia. Donated $16 million for a library at Shanghai's Fudan University.
Others on the list:
#59 Sunil Mittal & family (India)
#62 Ananda Krishnan (Malaysia)
#62 Robert Kuok (Malaysia)
#76 Tadashi Yanai & family (Japan)
#83 Azim Premji (India)
#86 Shashi & Ravi Ruia (India)
#87 Ng Teng Fong & family (Singapore)
#87 Patrick Soon-Shiong (USA)
#93 Kunio Busujima & family (Japan)
#98 Kushal Pal Singh (India)
#110 Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) - This guy owns Nintendo
#124 Kumar Birla (India)
#124 Akira Mori & family (Japan)
#132 Cheng Yu-tung (Hong Kong)
#132 Joseph Lau (Hong Kong)
#151 Eitaro Itoyama (Japan)
#151 Masayoshi Son (Japan) - remember his name from the dot-com days
#151 Chaleo Yoovidhya (Thailand) - This guy owns Redbull (yes, the energy drink)
#164 Nobutada Saji & family (Japan) - This family own Suntory (their drinks are everywhere)
#178 Hiroshi Mikitani (Japan)- this guys owns Rakuten (that's the Amazon of Asia)
#183 Adi Godrej & family (India)
#183 Tsai Wan-Tsai & family (Taiwan)
#205 Lee Kun-Hee (Korea) - this guy owns Samsung
#205 Liu Yongxing (China)
#205 Dilip Shanghvi (India)
#234 Savitri Jindal (India) - one of the few females on the list
#234 Lee Shin Cheng (Malaysia)
#234 Henry Sy & family (Philippines)
#234 Zhang Jindong (China)
#246 Malvinder & Shivinder Singh (India)
#246 Tsai Eng Meng (Taiwan)
#246 Peter Woo & family (Hong Kong)
#246 Zhou Chengjian & family (China)
#261 Liu Yonghao (China)
#261 David Sun (USA) - this guys started Kingston Technology (computer memory)
#261 Takemitsu Takizaki (Japan)
#261 Teh Hong Piow (Malaysia)
#261 John Tu (USA) - the other guy that started Kingston Technology
#296 Yang Huiyan (China) - she's only 27 and the richest female in China
#305 Masatoshi Ito (Japan) - this guy owns 7-Eleven stores
#305 Michael Ying (Hong Kong) - this guy made his fortune off Esprit clothes and married actress Brigitte Lin
#318 Masahiro Miki (Japan)
#318 G M Rao (India)
#318 Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (Thailand) - this guy owns Chang Beer
#334 Terry Gou (Taiwan) - this guys company assembles Apple iPods, iPhones; Nokia cell phones, Nintendo Wii systems (that's a lot of electronics)
#334 Micky Jagtiani (India)
#334 Shen Wenrong (China)
#376 Quek Leng Chan (Malaysia)
#376 Wee Cho Yaw & family (Singapore)
#376 Zong Qinghou (China) - this guy owns beverage maker Wahaha
#397 Gautam Adani (India)
#397 Chen Din Hwa (Hong Kong)
#397 He Xiangjian & family (China)
#397 Indu Jain (India)
#397 Yeoh Tiong Lay & family (Singapore)
Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh was on Celebrity Apprentice yesterday. The challenge for teams KOTU and Athena was to make the best comic book character to represent Zappos.com.
Tony Hsieh explains that the Zappos brand is about the very best customer experience. They've partnered with Image Comics to provide each team with artists and editors for this week's task: creating a comic book character to represent Zappos, along with a four-panel comic and the character's costume. The teams will present their ideas to a focus group to get feedback, and Tony will pick the winner. The winning team will have their comic book character featured on the Zappos website. Watch the episode below.
Sad news out of Austin. Chinatown Center is one of Austin's Asian American community key points of interest. The site is now a victim of foreclosure. With the bad economy, stores stand vacant and parking lots empty. What once represented a growing and cohesive Asian American population in Austin is in danger of going away. The center is appraised at nearly $23 million and is going up for auction March 3.
Here's a recent interview with Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos.com at TED. Tony explains how wow service and Zappos corporate culture have made them unique and helped Zapppos reach a $1 billion in sales. After listening to the interview, it make me wanna work there.
We are not sure why the interview was done in the bathroom. Maybe for better acoustics like Rin on the Rox.
Another film in Honda's Dream the Impossible Documentary Series. If you missed the previous one, check out Failure: The Secret to Success. This short invites you to discover the inspirational metaphor "Kick out the Ladder" that has helped impossible dreams come true. Watch the cinematic journey and unearth the unique way of advancement from Honda associates who have kicked out the ladder, as well as those who have achieved success as a result of it. Watch this Honda philosophy in action, and learn the meaning behind it.
Honda has a short film series online. It is a very inspirational series. We learned a lot from watching it. This short is about failure. We started channelAPA.com as an experiment. Not afraid to fail. Here's the synopsis of "Failure: The Secret to Success"
Failure. The mere thought can paralyze even the most heroic thinkers and keep great ideas off the drawing board. But is failing really that bad? We get an inside look at the mishaps of Honda racers, designers and engineers to learn how they draw upon failure to motivate them to succeed. From poor color choices to blown race engines, these risk-taking individuals provide an honest look at what most people fear most. Watch the film and discover the upside of failure.
Wong Fu Productions is branching all over the place. In 2008, They did International Secret Agents Concert with Far East Movement. Another ISA Concert in March 2009 in San Francisco.
They are taking a stab at merchandising now. Coming in February 2009 is Toon Spencer. This cute and adorable stuffed animal is based on Spencer (Toon Spencer’s much bigger cousin) in Wong Fu Productions' short film "Give and Take". (You can see it below. The mouthwash scenes are hilarious.) Toon Spencer would make a great Valentine's Day gift. hint. hint.
The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the Celebrating Lunar New Year: Year of the Ox commemorative 12-stamp souvenir sheet today as the second in its 12-year Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The ceremony took place in New York City at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where Chinese-American stamp artist Kam Mak serves as an associate professor of illustration. All 60 million 42-cent First-Class stamps are available nationwide.
Art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, worked on the new series with Mak, who now lives in Brooklyn. They focused on some of the common ways the Lunar New Year Holiday is celebrated. To commemorate the Year of the Ox (Jan. 26, 2009 - Feb. 13, 2010), they chose a lion head of a type often worn at parades and other festivities. Dancers wear such heads, often made of papier-mâché and bamboo, as they perform for delighted crowds. Kam's 16" x 9.5" stamp illustration was originally created using oil paints on a fiberboard panel.
The Postal Service introduced its previous Lunar New Year stamps series in 1992 was designed and illustrated by Clarence Lee of Honolulu, HI. Mak, under Kessler's direction, is creating the second series that continues through 2019 with stamps for the years of the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar.
From new lithium ion batteries to updated hybrids, automakers are looking to step up the fuel efficiency of their cars. Toyota announced that the latest Prius model will get a combined 50 miles to the gallon.
The midsize third-generation 2010 Prius will offer even better mileage ratings, enhanced performance, and innovative design features. It will be quieter, roomier, and equipped with advanced standard and available features such as a moonroof with solar panels, four driving modes, Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA) and steering wheel touch controls that display on the instrument panel.
AsianWeek, established in 1979, is the long-running English language Asian-American newspaper. However, it will not celebrate its 30th anniversary in print. AsianWeek will cease publishing its weekly paper. The January 2, 2009 issue will be its last. They will let go almost all 11 of its employees at AsianWeek. (This adds to the list of troubled Asian American media outlets - AZN shuts down, Fallout Central goes RIP, iaTV layoffs, Save KoreAm Journal campaign)
AsianWeek was a mostly San Francisco Bay Area publication. 90% of the newspapers were picked up in San Francisco and Daly City and the remainder around the rest of the Bay Area. It had an audited circulation of almost 60,000 with 95% of the copies published picked up by readers.
For its time AsianWeek filled a need for the community by covering issue such as the killing of Vincent Chin, he innocence of Wen Ho Lee, and many other stoty. However, in February 2007 it suffered a major setback. An racist article entitled "Why I Hate Blacks" by Kenneth Eng caused a major stir around the country. The backlash was severe to AsianWeek not only from the Asian American community, but also to AsianWeek's pocketbook with a San Francisco resolution sponsored by the president of the board and co-sponsored by all 10 of the other supervisors "That the Board of Supervisors urges all City departments and other government entities to withdraw any money spent on advertising in AsianWeek."
We are not sure what the future holds for the rest AsianWeek, but we have noticed a couple things. Around Thanksgiving of 2008, Asianweek.com got a massive makeover. Also interestingly in early December 2008, AsianWeek had some job postings for a Sales Account Executive and Production Interns. Tune in to see what happens.
Expect to see AsianWeek to continue to support events like Asian Heritage Street Celebration
Here's the notice AsianWeek posted to its readers:
AsianWeek has played a long and significant role in helping develop Asian Pacific America, from publishing the first 1980 U.S. Census data on Asian and Pacific Islanders Americans to co-publishing the most comprehensive textbook analyzing 2000 Census data with UCLA.
AsianWeek has also changed itself to keep up with the rapidly evolving Asian American community. This includes the relaunching of AsianWeek.com, as the largest Asian American news site, using the newest delivery tools for electronic media. We also have worked to bring together the increasingly diverse segments of the Asian Pacific American community, organizing events like the Asian Heritage Street Celebration and community-wide campaigns like the San Francisco Hep B Free initiative. Our news focus has shifted in turn to reflect the growing focus of Asian Pacific Americans on their own career as well as their professional and business development. We are also producing more special newspaper sections around issues as diverse as heritage, health issues and car reviews.
The economy and the news business have experienced their own changes. There are fewer major newspapers, fewer newspaper readers and fewer newspaper advertisers than ever before. A faltering economy has accelerated the decline. Meanwhile, Asian Pacific Americans have led the way in the digital revolution, migrating away from print media and into receiving their news and information electronically.
To reflect these changing times, AsianWeek will cease regular newspaper publication immediately. We will continue to publish online and in special newspaper editions. Electronic versions of AsianWeek articles will be available free via email. We will also be more active than ever in the community, helping Asian Pacific America to grow, evolve and reach its full potential. We appreciate the support the community has given us over the last three decades and look forward to giving back to the community for many decades to come.
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has had a lot of major media this year including ABC News and Oprah. Tony made an appearance on FOX News just before Christmas. The keys to Zappos success are:
Word of mouth and repeat customers
New products
FREE shipping
We wonder how much Zappos sold this holiday season. Every time we see Zappos.com, we think they are quickly becoming more like Amazon.com.
Zappos on FOX News
Here's a photo of Tony Hsieh is an elf outfit for Christmas. He dressed up on Christmas Eve afternoon to spear holiday cheer to his employees by handing out candy canes.
We have been informed that the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition is now shipping. Just in time for the holidays. If you are still looking for that perfect gift, this might be it. The world's first digital clutch.
Bursting with the same fabulous florals found in Vivienne Tam's Spring 2009 collection, this special edition notebook seeks to satisfy the highly mobile, Internet-centric fashionista. It features a 10.2-inch diagonal BrightView display, fashionable wallpaper, 8-color finish and custom slip cover. You'll stay on top of what's "right now" with e-mail and Internet access on the go. The Vivienne Tam edition is priced at $699. Buy the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition
Vivienne talks about the launch of the HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook designed by her, why peonies are the design motif, and why the notebook for her is like a fashion accessory.
Besides the collaboration between Sung Kang and Jump Shoes, here's another way to sell shoes. The new collection of adidas Originals Safety, exclusively available at JD Sports in the UK, takes inspiration from life in Japan, and follows the life of one man in particular - Akira.
Akira offers a unique service to the people of Tokyo - he finishes relationships! Japanese people are too polite and too busy. He carries the guilt and soaks up the pain. His humble business is the 'No Sad Big Smile Break-Up Service'.
As you can imagine, Akira's line of work throws up a whole host of emotional reactions after delivering the news to his clients other halves, meaning he lives slightly on the edge - so he sports adidas Originals Safety gear. See the video below and check Akira's microsite nosadbigsmile.com.
Fox has chosen technology entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal to be among the group of guests on the new Secret Millionaire. Gurbaksh Chahal, also known as "G," left high school at age 16 to form Click Agents, an internet advertising company, which he sold two years later for $40 million. In January 2004, Chahal launched BlueLithium, a company focused on the next generation in online advertising, and just over three years later, BlueLithium was sold to Yahoo! for $300 million. Now, at 26 years old, Chahal is set to debut his third company, gwallet.com, and has written a memoir, titled "The Dream," which was recently released.
Secret Millionaire is a dramatic new unscripted series that takes America's wealthiest individuals away from their lavish lifestyles, sprawling mansions and private planes and places them undercover into some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in America.
Challenged with living on minimum wage, the millionaires will immerse themselves in situations beyond their comprehension. They work with with community members and befriend those in need. Then they decide who of their new-found friends, neighbors or co-workers should ultimately receive their extraordinary gifts, at least $100,000 of their own money.
G was born in the town of Tarn Taran, near Amritsar in Punjab, India to Avtar and Arjinder Chahal. In 1985, his parents received a visa for America through a lottery-based system in India, and the following year, when he was four, the family settled in San Jose, California. His parents had arrived with only $25 to their name, and they struggled at menial jobs to make a future for their four children.
For the Chahal family, as for many immigrants, education was paramount, but G left high school at sixteen to form Click Agents, an Internet advertising company, which he sold two years later for $40 million.
In January 2004, he launched a second company, BlueLithium – the next generation in Internet advertising. The company was focused on data, optimization, and analytics and became a pioneer of behavioral targeting. BlueLithium was named one of the top 100 private companies in America three years in a row by AlwaysOn, and in 2006, it received highest honor as Top Innovator of the Year. (Previous winners included Google, Skype, and Salesforce.com.) On September 4th, 2007, Yahoo! announced that it was acquiring BlueLithium for $300 million in cash.
G is living proof that no matter how humble one’s beginnings, there is truly no limit to what an individual can achieve.
After he completed his role from Yahoo, G signed up with the William Morris Agency.
In addition to being featured on the new prime-time network show The Secret Millionaire, Gurbaksh Chahal has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, FOX Business Network’s Cavuto, among others, and has been profiled in such publications as The New York Times, Entrepreneur magazine, and The San Francisco Chronicle. He completed his memoir, “The Dream” was released globally on October 23rd, 2008 by Palgrave Macmillan. G is also currently developing several other television shows.
IBM created an interesting ad campaign for their Rational Team Concert collaboration software. In the viral campaign, a character named Mr. Fong is lost in space and needs help reconnecting with his team. Ogilvy developed the creative concept complete with a microsite, facebook, myspace, youtube, flickr, and twitter. You can see a few of the ads below. We don't quite get how the ads connect to the software.
This is the last commercial in the JUMP Shoes campaign with Sung Kang. In previous weeks, Sung Kang was Footballer Chic and Tuxedo Man. The whole series has been a great collabo with actor Sung Kang, fashion shop JUMP, the crew from Arowana Films, and online retailer Zappos.com.
A few weeks back we posted Bruce Lee plays ping pong with nunchucks for the Nokia N96 commercial. That commercial had some sweet special effects. Now another Bruce Lee commercial is making the rounds. This time the master lights matches with his quick nunchuck reflexes. What will Nokia have Bruce Lee do next with nunchucks?
Sung Kang is Tuxedo Man as he continues to pitch JUMP shoes. That's right. He's spic-n-span with the tuxedo glam. This is the next short film in the series. It's number five in the series of six. Last week Sung Kang was Footballer Chic.
A conversation with Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup.
Pandit was the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for the overall management of the group and focused on the trading, sales, and infrastructure aspects of the business (2000–2005). Prior to that position, Pandit served as the managing director and head of the Worldwide Institutional Equities Division (1994–2000), and as the managing director and head of the US Equity Syndicate (1990–1994) for Morgan Stanley. Pandit left Morgan Stanley with a few colleagues to start a hedge fund named Old Lane Partners. Citigroup subsequently purchased the fund in 2007 for $800 million. Pandit received approximately $165.2 million for this transaction. Many analysts believe that this hefty price was paid for a hedge fund with only $4.5 billion under management to get Pandit onto Citigroup.
Citibank CEO Vikram Pandit on Charlie Rose
More about Vikram Pandit
Vikram Pandit is the Chief Executive Officer of Citi. Before being named CEO on December 11, 2007, Mr. Pandit was Chairman and CEO of Citi's Institutional Clients Group, which includes Markets & Banking and Citi Alternative Investments.
Mr. Pandit serves on the boards of Columbia University, Columbia Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Trinity School. He is a former board member of NASDAQ, the New York City Investment Fund, and the American India Foundation.
Mr. Pandit earned a PhD in Finance from Columbia University in 1986. He also received an MS degree in 1977 and a BS degree in electrical engineering in 1976 from Columbia.
Back in September, White Rabbit Candy and Chinese Milk were pulled in the US. As part of its ongoing strategy to address the present problem with melamine contamination of consumer products exported from the People’s Republic of China, FDA has expanded its import controls on Chinese dairy products, and food and feed products manufactured in China that contain dairy ingredients. Since Oct. 10, 2008, FDA has had an import alert in place for specific products found contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. FDA has collected additional information on the scope of the melamine contamination problem in China, and determined a countrywide import alert is warranted. You will probably see your favorite cookies, crackers, drinks, etc. held up in customs until the product is cleared of melamine . You can find details of the alert here.
No adverse health effects have been reported in the United States from contamination with melamine of dairy products or dairy containing products. But melamine is not approved for direct addition to human or animal foods and no manufacturer is allowed to deliberately add it to any food for U.S. consumers.
As part of ongoing activities, FDA will also examine a range of protein-containing products beyond just dairy and dairy-containing products for contamination with melamine and melamine-related compounds. FDA will continue to take appropriate regulatory action if these efforts uncover additional contamination.
The FDA is advising consumers not to consume the following products because of possible melamine contamination:
* Fresh and Crispy Jacobina Biscuits
* Koala’s March Crème filled Cookies
* YILI Brand Sour Milk Drink
* YILI Brand Pure Milk Drink
* Blue Cat Flavored Drinks
* White Rabbit Candies
* Mr. Brown Mandehling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
* Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
* Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
* Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
* Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
* Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend instant Coffee (2-in-1)
* Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)
* Infant formula manufactured in China
After surviving a board battle with Carl Icahn and an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft, Jerry Yang is out as CEO. He will remain as a Yahoo board member and continue his role as "Chief Yahoo". Jerry Yang co-founded Yahoo in the 1990s and assumed the CEO role in June 2007 after the resignation of Terry Semel.
Here's the email sent out by Jerry Yang:
To: all yahoos
Fr: Jerry
Subject: update
yahoos -
i wanted to address all of you on the news we’ve just announced. the board of directors and I have agreed to initiate a succession process for the ceo role of yahoo!. roy bostock, our chairman of the board, is leading the effort to identify and assess potential candidates for consideration by the full board. the board will be evaluating and considering both internal and external candidates and has retained heidrick and struggles to help in this effort.
i will be participating in the search for my successor, and i will continue as ceo until the board selects a new ceo. once a successor is named, i will return to my previous role as chief yahoo and continue to serve as a director on the board.
last june, i accepted the board’s request that i assume the ceo role to restructure and reposition the company as a whole in order to more effectively meet the fast-changing needs of both users and partners. since taking on the ceo role, i have had an ongoing dialogue with the board about succession timing. thanks in large measure to your tireless efforts, we have created a more open, competitive yahoo! and we believe the time is now right to transition to a new ceo who can take the company to the next level.
despite the external environment we face, the fact remains that yahoo! is now a significantly different company that is stronger in many ways than it was just 18 months ago. this only makes it all the more essential that we manage this opportunity to leverage the progress up to this point as effectively as possible. i strongly believe that having transformed our platform and better aligned costs and revenues, we have a unique window for the right ceo to take ownership over the next wave of mission-critical decisions facing the company.
all of you know that I have always, and will always bleed purple. i will always do what I think is right for this great company. while this step will be an adjustment for all of us, i know it’s the right one. i look forward to updating you on this process as soon as the board has developments to share, and will continue to do everything i can to make yahoo! fulfill it’s full potential.
thank you,
jerry
Asian American collabo at its finest. This collabo involves actor Sung Kang, fashion shop JUMP, the crew from Arowana Films, and online retailer Zappos.com.
Sung Kang was hired as the spokesperson for JUMP shoes's Fall/Winter 2008 campaign. A bunch of print ads were created with Sung Kang wearing the stylish shoes (like the one above). Adding to the print campaign is a series of six short films shot by Arowana Films (the guys behind the some of the music videos for Far East Movement, Jin, and Lyrics Born). You can see part of the JUMP short film series below.
Since JUMP is selling shoes, who are you going to work with online? JUMP partnered with Zappos for their online shop to utilize Zappos' reputation of impeccable customer service and fulfillment capabilities.
More on JUMP
Jump has built an impressive global presence in over 30 countries from its beginnings in Taiwan. It was there that the Chen family established the brand in 1975. The brand gained popularity in the mid 90s when Chinese celebrities, shopping at Mirabell, Hong Kong’s largest footwear chain, began discovering Jump’s sporty take on the platform wedge. As its fame grew in Hong Kong, footwear powerhouse, Belle Group, began distributing Jump in exclusive department stores in China’s major cities. Today, Jump continues to be recognized as a fashion leader in China’s developing market.
Jump has now arrived in the US to solidify its global brand presence and truly offer footwear, for the people, the world over.The Jump experimental store in SoHo is the brand’s first arrival point in the US. Located in New York at 89 Spring St., it is a strategic move to test the brand’s directional product in one of the world’s foremost fashion environments.
The 800 square foot store provides consumers with an opportunity to experience the Jump brand brought to life. It features Jump’s collection of footwear for men and women, already experiencing considerable success globally. Customers are invited to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee courtesy of Jump and to shop and relax in an environment a cut above the typical shoe store.
With the success of the SoHo store, plans are in place to open more flagships in key markets throughout the country. Through these stores, Jump hopes to reinforce its brand presence, build its consumer following and increase traffic to its retail partners.
Korean American Grace Kim is the Playboy Playmate for November 2008. Grace is the first Korean centerfold in Playboy history. The Los Angeles based model was a former publicist for Guitar Hero, a video game she also likes to play. You can see some of her Guitar Hero moves here. (The footage may be NSFW.) You can add her as a MySpace friend.
Here's the entry in her blog post about her selection as Playboy Playmate for November 2008
Okay this is pretty damn funny, I must admit...people in Gamerville are in upheaval b/c they don't understand 1) why I'm posing nude with a Harmonix/MTV's Rock Band guitar controller when I used to work for Activision, publisher for Guitar Hero. The main reason is pretty simplistic, actually-- when I was asked to bring in both my RB and GH guitar controllers, my thrashed GH one was a mess! I'd crudely etched my name in it, there were crinkly, peeling stickers all over it (you know, the cheesy ones that go with the kit), and the whammy bar was bent (my dog Cubby got to it), so it wouldn't have made for an aesthetically-looking pictorial.
Then there are those who are a bit confused as to why I made the decision to jump ship from ATVI to pose nude for Playboy if I'm "so in love with musical gaming." I know it's a little weird and hard for some people to fathom, since we all know that the gaming industry's pretty tough to get into since most applicants LOVE games, and I'm especially lucky b/c I had zero gaming industry experience, just a passion for Guitar Hero (when I heard there was an opening in the PR department for the very popular GH account, I never thought I'd get the gig since there were over 100 applicants, many of whom had gaming industry experience, already had worked at Red Octane or ATVI, and ALL of whom had a strong passion and love for the game. I mean, it's fun as hell! (And with GH:World Tour, I don't think my friends and I will ever leave the house- you can create your OWN songs? Watch out, Zepagain! New LZ cover band in the house!) So back to the subject- the answer to that is that I simply COULD NOT turn down the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pose as the first Korean centerfold in Playboy history-- no matter how good of a gig I had at ATVI. Even if my parents wouldn't be happy about it at first, even if my job at ATVI had some pretty damn good perks (although I noticed that after GH:3, and with the lackluster advent of GH:Aerosmith and the DS handheld, my passion for GH kind of dwindled down....and I started playing RB on the side with total gusto....ssh!) Aside from that-- hey, testing out the DS and GH: AS prototypes, coordinating pretty cool launch parties, and working with some really cool co-workers who were truly passionate about the game (big ups to Production!) was pretty sweet. But I'm a risk taker, and I knew that I couldn't say "no" to Holly and Hef when they found me. They personally hand-selected me, and I wasn't a model, I never was. There was no hesitation. I'm getting a lot of props from people who think it's a gutsy and smart move ("high five!"- proverbial o'course); then there are people who just need to stop overanalyzing it and/or put down the Hatorade (it's not your life, you aren't the one posing butt nekkid, so why do you care so much? especially when I don't know ya?) Plus, in all honesty, I thought I could balance my newfound parttime gig as a new Playmate and my current fulltime job as a GH publicist and do both without anyone finding out- b/c Holly and Hef asked me to try out for Playmate, RIGHT after I started my first day at ATVI. I tried to do both-- aaaaand let's just say I almost had a freakin' ulcer...
And THAT's the real story. :) I know I made the right decision in taking up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pose for Playboy(especially in representing not just Koreans, but Asians in general, who aren't typically in the classy rag much). I just rolled with it, especially since it kind of came out of nowhere, and it was a pretty big compliment (I didn't submit photos b/c I never thought I could be in it, obviously). I absolutely did NOT do it for the money (ATVI's salary and perks were excellent). Moreover, becoming a Playmate opens me up to a new host of overwhelming possibilities and endless opportunities (in fact, it became the catalyst for my goal in writing a dating book for guys and dating in LA (kind of like a Leykis 101 through the eyes of a girl born and bred...and now a Playmate- the perfect "wingman," so to say). I have an education (anyone watch the Bruin game the other night??!) and even if being a nude model doesn't seem as "stable" or "prestigious" as being an overworked, unhappy but still "publicist for ATVI's Guitar Hero account", I have the credentials and education to obtain a 9-5 (or should I say 9-midnight in the PR world) position should Playmate-dom come to a standstill (which I'm putting my money on that it won't). ;) (wink!) I owe everything to Playboy and how much it's changed my life and opened (and strangely, re-opened) doors to so many opportunities. I never have looked back, and I never will.
Btw- something's that's been bugging my gamer self- I meant to compare the PS2:PS3 analogy as such: Pinto:Lambo. (the XBOX360 can be compared to a vintage Shelby, and the Wii to an NSX. (I'll come up with better analogies later, I had my first (hush hush) issue release soiree last night so I'm pretty tired...I'll spruce up my console analogy later b/c I KNOW it's buggin' you hardcore gamers already....sheesh! :) Much Love!
Grace Kim is the Playboy Playmate for November 2008
High fashion meets high tech. We first got a glimpse of the Fashion Designer Vivienne Tam's HP Laptop last month. It has been quickly billed as the first Digital Clutch. We got word that you can get the fashion inspired laptop sooner than expected. Due to huge demand, HP is moving up the production of the Digital Clutch to get it in your hands before the holidays! You can reserve yours today by calling 1-800-230-5752 or online - Buy the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition. By making a reservation now, you are guaranteed the opportunity to purchase an HP Mini Vivienne Tam Edition in early December.
Here's some of the product specifications:
* 10.2" High Definition display
* Under 1-inch thick
* Just over 2 pounds
* Windows(r) XP Home with SP3
* Intel(r) Atom(tm) Processor
The price is $699.99 with protective Vivienne Tam silk sleeve.
HP Mini Vivienne Tam Digital Clutch
The top of the notebook is gleaming red and bursting with peony flowers. The peony design is meticulously carried inside the notebook, under the keypad. The notebook also features a complementary embroidered storage sleeve that helps keep the exterior protected while being carried as a clutch, as well as an attachable peony charm.
This is a sleek, thin, light, and stylish "digital clutch". The HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook represents the first time a computer company has partnered with a globally renowned designer to create a notebook PC that offers all the style and power needed for a delightful technology experience. Tam also worked with HP to design the notebooks accessories and packaging.
Yo-Yo Ma performed and talked about his new holiday album, Songs of Joy & Peace, on the Colbert Report. For his latest album, he invited many of his favorite artists from the worlds of popular and classical music to collaborate on a selection of songs -- some sacred, some secular, some traditionally seasonal, some simply beloved -- connected in their sense of wonder and appreciation of the holiday season. Yo-Yo Ma conceived of Songs of Joy & Peace as a universal holiday house party of music "uniting different forms of joy" with the idea of combining familiar material with songs that would offer the listener the gift of discovery performed by old friends and new. Songs of Joy celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and good cheer animating seasonal festivals -- Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, Kwanzaa, Yuletide, Winter Solstice, New Year's, Ramadan -- the world over.
Yo-Yo Ma is iTunes Pick of the Week at Starbucks! Anyone who visits a Starbucks beginning on Tuesday November 4th will be able to pick up a free Yo-Yo Ma download card redeemable for the music video "The Wexford Carol" featuring Alison Krauss. So, don't forget to visit your local Starbucks next week and get your card and maybe one for a friend while supplies last. Offer ends 11/10. Vote and pickup a free Yo-Yo Ma download.
Yo-Yo Ma talks about his collaboration with friends.
Yo-Yo Ma performs "Panxolina" from his new album "Songs of Joy & Peace."
More about Yo-Yo Ma
The multiple Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma is currently celebrating his 30th anniversary with Sony Classical and Sony BMG Masterworks. Yo-Yo Ma is an exclusive Sony Classical artist, and his discography of over 75 albums (including more than 15 Grammy Award winners) reflects his wide-ranging interests. He has made several successful recordings that defy categorization, among them Hush with Bobby McFerrin, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey with Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer and two Grammy-winning tributes to the music of Brazil, Obrigado Brazil and Obrigado Brazil - Live in Concert. Yo-Yo Ma's most recent recordings include Paris: La Belle Époque, with pianist Kathryn Stott, Appassionato, which contains some of the world’s most romantic music and New Impossibilities, a live album recorded with the Silk Road Ensemble and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; he also appears on John Williams' soundtrack for Rob Marshall's film Memoirs of a Geisha. Across this full range of releases Yo-Yo Ma remains one of the best-selling recording artists in the classical field. All of his recent albums have quickly entered the Billboard chart of classical best sellers, remaining in the Top 15 for extended periods, often with as many as four titles simultaneously on the list.
Yo-Yo Ma is strongly committed to educational programs that not only bring young audiences into contact with music but also allow them to participate in its creation. While touring, he takes time whenever possible to conduct master classes as well as more informal programs for students - musicians and non-musicians alike. At the same time he continues to develop new concert programs for family audiences (helping, for instance, to inaugurate the family series at Carnegie Hall). In each of these undertakings, he works to connect music to students' daily surroundings and activities with the goal of making music and creativity a vital part of children's lives from an early age. He has also reached young audiences through appearances on Arthur, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street.
Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four and soon came with his family to New York, where he spent most of his formative years. Later, his principal teacher was Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. He sought out a traditional liberal arts education to expand upon his conservatory training, graduating from Harvard University in 1976. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Glenn Gould Prize (1999), the National Medal of the Arts (2001), the Dan David Prize (2006), the Sonning Prize (2006), and the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award (2008). Appointed a CultureConnect Ambassador by the United States Department of State in 2002, Yo-Yo Ma has met with, trained and mentored thousands of students worldwide including Lithuania, Korea, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and China. He has performed with and conducted master classes for members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. In 2006, Secretary General Kofi Annan named him a U.N. Messenger of Peace and in 2007 Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon extended his appointment.
Tough times at Yahoo! and for co-founder/CEO Jerry Yang this year. Lots of things happening to Yahoo!: Carl Icahn tried to remove Jerry Yang during the summer, on and off deal for Microsoft to buy Yahoo!, Department of Justice examining the Yahoo!/Google advetising deal, and the potential acquisition of AOL. We hope Jerry Yang can pull off this turnaround for Yahoo! During rough economic times, Yahoo! announced that it would layoff about 10% of its workforce. Here's the memo from Jerry Yang:
yahoos,
i feel it's important for me to reach out to you after our earnings announcement, and before our all hands meeting tomorrow.
we as a company have been through a tremendously challenging year; and managing the increasingly turbulent global advertising climate has been an important focus for the last three months.
throughout the first three quarters of 2008, we have been balancing between investing in our top priorities, and managing our cost structure. beginning in september, with the help of Bain & Co., we initiated a series of steps to determine how we can become more efficient and productive as an organization.
we heard from you through the YEES survey, and through your suggestions on backyard, and we've identified many areas that we all feel we can improve upon. our productivity efforts, based in part on what we heard from you, will involve initiatives such as streamlining our organizational structure through reducing layers and increasing spans of control, and eliminating redundancies. longer term structural efficiencies include consolidating facilities, improving procurement, and standardizing our global technology platforms.
today as part of our q3 earnings release, we said that our goal is to reduce our current annualized cost run rate of roughly $3.9 billion by more than $400 million before the end of 2008. we are targeting non-headcount expenses wherever possible, such as facilities and outside services. however, because compensation expenses are the single largest part of our costs, we anticipate a reduction of at least 10% of our global workforce by year-end.
affected employees will be notified of layoffs in the next several weeks. we understand that hearing this news now creates uncertainty, but we are moving ahead in a way that balances speed with a clear focus on accomplishing what is necessary to set the organization up for long term success. going forward it will continue to be important for us to make the right decisions to keep our business efficient and strong.
having layoffs is very difficult, particularly in light of all we've experienced this year. but we don't take these decisions lightly, and are committed to treating affected employees fairly, offering severance and outplacement services.
the steps we are taking are not easy for us as a company, but as we become more fit as an organization, decision-making will be faster and it will be easier for us all to get more done and stay focused on our strategy. these changes will also prepare us to better deal with the macroeconomic downturn. as with previous downturns, yahoo! continues to be a place where consumers turn for information and communications, and is an integral part of their internet day. as the global economy improves in the future, i certainly believe that we will be stronger and benefit from the actions we are taking now.
KCET Los Angeles presents SoCal Connected, a new hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people of Southern California. The program features a repertory company of some of the best broadcast journalists in Southern California, including contributors Lisa Ling, Judy Muller, and Patt Morrison.
SoCal Connected debuts with an unsettling look at the biggest issue in Southern California and the nation today-the economy. Lisa Ling (ABC, CNN, Nat Geo) looks at foreclosure from a different point of view-from the people left behind. For the past few years, the Inland Empire has been one of the fastest growing counties in the state of California. But now the Inland Empire is pretty much the poster child for the foreclosure crisis.
Look for Lisa Ling's part in the debut of SoCal Connected.
Over the summer, ABC spotlighted Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. Next stop, Oprah. On October 23, 2008, Oprah takes a look inside the lives of the world's most famous twin moguls: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. And, meet the young CEO Tony Hsieh who runs an 800-million dollar internet sensation- Zappos! A camera crew from Oprah went to the Zappos.com offices a few weeks ago and filmed the daily crazy activities, and Tony Hsieh did an interview with Oprah via Skype last week.
Zappos on Oprah
Here's a bonus post from Tony Hsieh's presentation "Top 10 Lessons Learned in E-Commerce" from SXSW
Did you ever think about what it would be like to have an Asian American for President of the United States? Now you can. Paltalk.com has a viral campaign where you can put anyone's name in a news broadcast as a potential Presidential candidate. Plug in your favorite Asian American and away you go. You can try it here.
Hollywood meets Bollywood. Steven Spielberg will be leaving Paramount Pictures and partnering with India's Reliance Big Entertainment. Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks have already divided up about 200 projects in the DreamWorks development pipeline. Next step, Spielberg is getting about $500 million from India's Reliance Big Entertainment and another $700 million that JPMorgan Chase to set up his new company. The new Dreamworks studio will invest $1.5 billion in film production and is expected to roll out about 30 movies over four years.
Reliance offers a large growth opportunity for Spielberg. The Indian film industry produces more than 1,000 movies a year and is growing 17%-20% annually, but still smaller than Hollywood. Clearly, Reliance wants to be a bigger player in the entertainment and media industry. With major Bollywood talent booked for several years into the future, the place to collaborate is Hollywood. At Cannes earlier this year, Reliance announced deals to make films with the production firms of Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage (Saturn Productions), Jim Carrey (JC 23 Entertainment), George Clooney (Smokehouse Productions), Tom Hanks (Playtone Productions) and Brad Pitt (Plan B Entertainment), and filmmaker Jay Roach (Everyman Pictures). With the addition of Spielberg, India's Reliance Big Entertainment has a huge opportunity to grow bigger.
As the trend of collaboration between Hollywood and Asian film studios continues, get ready for more crossover films and hopefully Asian/Asian American faces on the big screen.
Chinese American Johns Wu ran into money problems while attending University of California, Berkeley as a Neurobiology major. So he started Bankaholic.com (a Web site owned by Blackshore Properties, Inc.) about 5 years ago to discuss financial issues like college loans, budgeting tips, and debt. The initial focus was focused on CD rates, which eventually expanded into other financial categories. Now Bankaholic provides rate information on savings products, such as certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and money market accounts, as well as insurance quotes and a comparison of the best credit card offers. In addition, Bankaholic offers consumers advice and information that allows consumers to comment and rate banks and their promotions through social networking features.
His wordpress blog ranked high in natural search for both deposit and credit card keywords. With the quality and volume of traffic, Johns Wu was able to convert the traffic to revenue with affiliate deals. This guy had a very high margin business, since he was the only guy running the site. He started a co-brand relationship with Bankrate in July 2008.
About a week ago Bankrate, Inc. announced it has acquired Bankaholic. Bankrate paid $12.4 million for Bankaholic, with up to an additional $2.5 million
earn-out payment available for the attainment of certain performance metrics in the next 12 months. That's $15 million!!!
Bankrate will take over the operation and management of the Bankaholic Web site immediately. Johns Wu, the founder of Bankaholic, is the sole employee and will work with the company for a specified period of time during the transition.
Kari Unebasami and Eric Nakagawa, founders of icanhascheezburger.com, are in large part responsible for the massive popularity of the LOLcats meme-one of the biggest in Internet history. The pair started the blog in January 2007 and the submissions started flowing in. With millions of visitors coming to the site, the original founders sold to Ben Huh for about $2 million.
We hear the story of how Hawaiian computer programmers Kari Unebasami and Eric Nakagawa turned a funny picture of a cat with an even funnier caption into the seed of a true Internet sensation-and profitable business venture. And now, they're coming out with an 'I Can has Cheezburger' book, which will hit shelves October 7.
Kari Unebasami and Eric Nakagawa interview about icanhascheezburger
Ben Huh acquired icanhascheezburger in September 2007 and took the site to the next level.
As of September 25, 2008, the FDA testing of milk based products imported into the United States from China has not found melamine contamination. The classic candy favorite of Chinatowns around the world are seeing White Rabbit Candy banned. It is also affecting the US.
The FDA is working with regulatory agencies in other countries. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority reports that its testing of White Rabbit Creamy Candies has shown melamine contamination at high levels. In light of the widespread contamination of milk and milk-based products in China and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s finding, the FDA recommends that consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy and that retailers and foodservice operations remove the product from sale or service.
To date, the FDA is not aware of any illnesses in the United States stemming from consumption of either White Rabbit Creamy Candy.
White Rabbit Candy and Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products recalled
On September 12, 2008, in light of reports from China of melamine contaminated infant formula, the FDA issued a Health Information Advisory to assure the American public that there is no known threat of contamination in infant formula manufactured by companies that have met the requirements to sell such products in the United States. That advisory also warned members of Chinese communities in the United States that infant formula manufactured in China, possibly available for purchase at Asian markets, could pose a risk to infants.
The FDA had contacted the companies who manufacture infant formula for distribution in the United States and received, from the companies, information that they are not importing formula or sourcing milk-based materials from China.
At the same time, the FDA—in conjunction with state and local officials—began a nation-wide investigation to check Asian markets for Chinese manufactured infant formula that may have been brought into the United States. In particular, this effort focused on areas of the country with large Chinese communities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York. To date, investigators have visited more than 1,400 retail markets and have not found Chinese infant formula present on shelves in these markets.
The FDA also advises consumers not to purchase infant formula manufactured in China from Internet sites or from other sources.
The FDA has taken, and will continue to take, proactive measures to help ensure the safety of the American food supply. In conjunction with state and local officials, the FDA will continue to check Asian markets for food items that are imported from China and that could contain a significant amount of milk or milk proteins. In addition, the FDA has broadened its domestic and import sampling and testing of milk-derived ingredients and finished food products containing milk, such as candies, desserts, and beverages that could contain these ingredients from Chinese sources. Milk-derived ingredients include whole milk powder, non-fat milk powder, whey powder, lactose powder, and casein.
Chinese dairy products banned amid fears over a widening tainted milk scandal
This is Gwen Stefani's Japanese inspired perfume. What do you think of this product and how it's being marketed? Here's the product below.
Harajuku (hara•joo•koo) n. 1. A style and attitude of Japanese girls from Harajuku, Tokyo. n. 2. Anything goes: outrageous, layered, and eye-catching.
Harajuku Lovers Fragrance: n. 1. A fatal attraction to cuteness.
Inspired by the electric street scene of the Harajuku shopping district in Tokyo, the Harajuku Lovers fragrance collection captures the lyrics and iconography from Gwen Stefani's albums. These unique fragrances, in their adorable doll-decanters, will appeal to anyone with a "fatal attraction to cuteness." Choose the girl that best fits your personality, but (trust us!) after meeting one, you'll have to have them all!
G
Never one to get lost in the crowd, G leads her crew in a white, corseted top and a blue miniskirt á la Alice in Wonderland. Quirky, unique, and undeniably cool, G is the leader of the pack. Her scent is an oriental, fruity, gourmand fragrance with notes of fresh coconut, jasmine, and cotton woods.
Music
Always looking to make someone laugh, charismatic Music has no qualms telling it like it is! Stylin' in a smocked sailor outfit and black lace-up boxing boots, Music marches to the beat of her own drum. Her scent is a fruity floral with notes of pear, sweat pea, and sleek wood.
Baby
One bat of her lashes and Baby has all the boys in the palm of her hand! Pretty in pink, Baby steps out in a short baby doll dress and sweet Mary Janes. Her scent is a powdery floral with notes of white rose, orange flower, and white musk.
Lil' Angel
Lil' Angel is a woman who is compassionate and caring towards others, but is no saint. She sports a classy, yet sexy, schoolgirl outfit complete with a plaid pleated miniskirt, white knee-highs, and shiny black Mary Janes. Her scent is a citrus floral with notes of pineapple, candied violet, and lollipop accord.
Love
Sweet, caring, and free-spirited, Love is always off in her own little world. Stepping out in a cute, striped mini-dress and fashionable red kicks, Love wears her heart on her sleeve, or rather, in her hair! Her scent is reminiscent of a floral bouquet, with notes of pink pomelo, rose, and creamy vanilla orchid.
Tokyo Dance Trooper Danny Choo is the son of shoe designer Jimmy Choo. He ditched the world of high fashion to follow his own passion, Japanese figurines and Star Wars. He learned Japanese and started designing web pages. 2.5 million users now visit dannychoo.com adding up to 20 million pageviews per month. People love the Tokyo Dance Trooper. You go Danny Choo. He did all this with out asking his dad Jimmy Choo for a dime. Also check out Danny Choo as the Tokyo Dance Trooper with G4TV's Olivia Munn.
Tokyo Dance Trooper Danny Choo on CNN
Tokyo Dance Trooper Danny Choo on CNN (hi res version)
We posted a Guy Kawasaki video in our first post. Now, Guy Kawasaki explains the art of raising venture capital. This was part of the Montgomery & Hansen online learning site and conference. Here's a few highlights:
1) Create a company worth funding
2) Getting Venture Capital is like dating
3) Present a clean deal
4) Powerpoint basics
5) Drill a lot of holes
LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens released the following statement on the LPGA's policy on effective English communication. (Previous post on LPGA English speaking Requirements are racist.)
The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications policy. We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions.
After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.
During that time we will continue to provide support under the three-year-old Kolon-LPGA Cross Cultural Program. This popular program provides all LPGA members with the best cross-cultural training in the form of tutors, translators, Rosetta Stone®, the official language-learning system of the LPGA, as well as assistance from LPGA staff and consultants.
LPGA was definitely feeling more heat from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California State Senator Leland Yee, California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, Californai State Assemblyman Ted Lieu, Filipinos for Affirmative Action, California Immigrant Policy Center, Korean American Coalition, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC), and many more. The announcement to rescind the English policy came hours before a coalition of multienthic groups holding a press conference. The groups would send a signed letter protesting the LPGA Tour's policy that would require all tour members to speak English.
Here's the controversy on the LPGA's English Policy
In his book "Innovation Nation" author and former Harvard Business school professor, John Kao, explains how the United States, once the world's leading innovator, is losing its standing in the world. Chinese American Kao suggest steps that the country should take to regain its leadership.
2008 Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women - Asian edition
Women are having a major impact in this year's election whether it's Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin, but who are the most powerful women in the world. Last week, Forbes released their list of the 100 Most Powerful Women for 2008. We scoured through the list for the Asian women and we found 17. Here they are:
#3 Indra K. Nooyi
Chairman, chief executive, PepsiCo
U.S.
Nooyi continues to grow PepsiCo, the $39 billion food and beverage giant, through new product offerings and acquisitions. Company subsidiaries Quaker, Gatorade and FritoLay introduced a new line of whole-grain oatmeal and granola bars called Simple Harvest, and G2, a low-calorie "lifestyle beverage" for athletes. Nooyi orchestrated a major expansion into international markets, most notably with a $1.4 billion acquisition of a 75% stake in Russian juice giant Lebedyansky.
#8 Ho Ching
Chief executive, Temasek Holdings
Singapore
The wife of the prime minister of Singapore, Ho Ching has been credited with converting Temasek from a Singapore-focused firm to a leading investor in Asia. She earned accolades by making investments in Indian and Chinese telecoms and banks, and as a result, brought the portfolio to roughly $100 billion. Temasek has bought a 15% stake in Merrill Lynch since last December in the wake of the bank's write-downs. Another deal, Temasek's tax-free takeover of Shin Corp., one of Thailand's biggest telecom companies, sparked a wave of protests. The tax-free deal eventually led to the overthrow of Thailand's prime minister
#19 Andrea Jung
Chairman, chief executive, Avon
U.S.
Under Jung's leadership, the world's premier direct seller of beauty products continues to benefit from a restructuring she implemented in 2005. With 5.4 million independent reps across 100 countries, Avon's annual revenue for 2007 increased 13% to $9.9 billion, and first-quarter revenue for 2008 increased 14% over the first quarter of 2007. Business in North America may be sputtering, but it's exploding in emerging markets in Latin America, Europe and Asia. China, which lifted its ban on direct selling in 2006, now boasts 600,000 sales reps
#21 Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress Party
India
Gandhi, the Italian-born leader of India's most powerful political party, the Indian National Congress Party, has by now assumed the role of elder stateswoman. Although she remains firmly at the head of the country's ruling party, a rising star, known by the single name Mayawati, is challenging Gandhi's position as the country's most powerful woman. Mayawati has aligned herself with the nationalist Hindu BJP party and joined its members in vociferously opposing Gandhi's party's historic agreement with the U.S. on nuclear cooperation.
#23 Sri Mulyani Indrawati
Coordinating minister for economic affairs and finance minister
Indonesia
Since Indrawati's 2005 appointment as Indonesia's finance minister, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $50 billion, and foreign investment skyrocketed. She has fought against government corruption, created tax incentives and simplified investment laws. Her performance earned her a promotion. In June Indrawati was named to run the country's economic affairs.
#38 Aung San Suu Kyi
Deposed prime minister; Nobel peace laureate
Myanmar
The recent Myanmar cyclone disaster has raised the profile of this country's political situation. Since the democratic elections in 1990, when she was elected prime minister, Suu Kyi, 63, has been kept from power and is now in the sixth consecutive year of house arrest. Having nullified the 1990 election with a new constitution in May 2008, the junta has even prevented her doctor from visiting her in recent months. The recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, she was recently awarded the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor and became an honorary Canadian citizen.
#41 Gloria Arroyo
President
Philippines
The scandal-tainted president's popularity fell to a record low in June over escalating food and energy prices; Arroyo soon announced a deal with oil companies to trim diesel prices. A recent imbroglio: Arroyo's husband is among those accused of accepting bribes in a $330 million deal with a Chinese telecom firm. Despite rumors of another ouster campaign in the works, Arroyo has survived three impeachment attempts and three coup plots since taking office in 2001 and is sure to fight back.
#46 Christine Poon
Vice chairman, Johnson & Johnson
U.S.
Poon is the top-seated woman of this $61 billion pharmaceutical giant. Before joining J&J in 2000, she spent 15 years at rival Bristol-Myers Squibb. She's a director at the U.S-China Business Council and on the boards of Prudential Financial and the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Poon holds degrees in biology from Northwestern and St. Louis University and also has an M.B.A. in finance from Boston University.
#59 Mayawati Kumari
Chief minister, Uttar Pradesh
India
In the running to be prime minister, from her perch as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. In 1995, at 39, she was the youngest politician elected to the post and was also the first Dalit (India's lowest, "untouchable" caste) to head a state government. Commands a large following and goes simply by Mayawati. In 2007 she shrewdly built an alliance with Brahmins, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which she heads, has started to increase its national presence. Some say she could trail-blaze again as India's first Dalit prime minister.
#68 Zhang Xin
Chief executive officer, co-founder, Soho
China
Beijing property developer. Rose from Hong Kong slum to get a master's from Cambridge and a job at Goldman Sachs. With husband Pan Shiyi, returned to China to found Soho in 1995. Calls herself a middle-market developer, but has upscale ambitions. High-profile current project: the Commune by the Great Wall, a series of villas designed by 12 famous architects. Soho raised $1.7 billion in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2007.
#70 Yang Mian Mian
President, Haier
China
As president of Haier, the world's fourth-largest maker of household appliances, Yang Mian Mian is one of China's most powerful businesswomen. Haier lost its bid for U.S. white goods maker Maytag to Whirlpool in 2005, but it's now one of the contenders for GE's appliance unit, which is being spun off. In order to regain traction in its market share, Haier is considering spinning off its divisions into five separately traded, listed companies, beginning with its computer business, which is slated for an independent listing next year. Yang graduated from what is now Shandong University in eastern China in 1963; she joined the Qingdao Refrigerator General Factory, which later became known as Haier, in 1984.
#73 Hyun Jeong-Eun
Chairman, Hyundai Group
South Korea
A housewife, Hyun came to power in 2003 as a scandal widow. Her husband, Chung Mong-Hun, Hyundai's chairman and heir apparent, apparently committed suicide after he was charged with hiding government fund transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars to North Korea to set up a historic summit in 2000. Now she leads daily meetings with Hyundai's six affiliates. Grew the company solidly; now dealing with high oil prices and material costs that have hurt Hyundai's results.
#80 Lee Myung-Hee
Chairman, Shinsegae Group
South Korea
Korea's richest woman heads powerhouse retailer Shinsegae, where she handles the company's overall direction, leaving the daily management to professionals. She is the youngest daughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung Chull and sister of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee, who stepped down in April amid charges of corruption. The family has been caught up in a scandal alleging they bought valuable art with Samsung money. Still quotes her father's management aphorisms to her employees. Shinsegae has grand plans to expand into China and become one of the top 10 retail distributors in the world within four years.
#84 Margaret Chan
Director-general, World Health Organization
Switzerland
Now in the second year of a six-year term, Chan goes after the ramifications of climate change on global health, including heat stroke, malnutrition due to drought, and the spread of waterborne disease. Her first position with the WHO in 2003 was head of the Human Environment Protection department. Prior to joining the WHO, the Chinese native headed Hong Kong's Department of Health, where she won international respect for her calm handling of the avian flu outbreak. Chan studied home economics at the University of Western Ontario before medical school.
#88 Eva Cheng
Chief executive, Greater China and Southeast Asia, Amway
China
Also chairs Amway China and is an executive VP of the global parent firm. Started as a secretary at Amway Hong Kong in 1977; now her domain makes up 40% of Amway's global sales, with China the company's top-selling country for the past five years. Today 279,000 independent reps sell 114 products in five categories, up from five household cleaners when the unit started in 1998. (Current top seller: Nutrilite protein powder.) Serious about Cantonese opera.
#95 Jing Ulrich
Chairman and managing director, JPMorgan Chase China Equities
China
Based in Hong Kong, familiar to American business-TV viewers. Helps international investors understand her native market; guides Chinese ministries and regulators on foreign investment. Frequently named "Best China Strategist." Came to JPMorgan Chase in 2005 after stints at Deutsche Bank and Crédit Lyonnais. Organized JPMorgan's "Hands-On China" seminars and also established a China investor forum with speakers such as Bill Clinton and former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.
#99 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Chairman and managing director, Biocon
India
Trained in Australia as a brewer, she founded Biocon in 1978 to make industrial enzymes with a small Irish company, Biocon Biochemicals. Now a top-20 global biotech company, Biocon makes drugs, including insulin and anti-cancer treatments, and its chairman is the dean of India's rapidly growing biotech industry. Donates half of her dividends to fund hospitals and a health insurance program for poor villagers. Has won the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors
Forbes Co-editor Chana Scheoenberger discusses the 2008 Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women
The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing a "Labor Day" on one day or another, and Congress passed a bill to establish a federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.
The Asian American civilian labor force totaled 7,326,000 in July 2008, with a participation rate of 67.8% . A total of 7,030,000 Asian Americans were employed during this month.
The number of uninsured Asians remained statistically unchanged, at 2 million in 2006, while their uninsured rate declined to 15.5 percent in 2006, from 17.2 percent in 2005. Based on a three-year average (2004-2006), 31.4 percent of people who reported American Indian and Alaska Native as their race were without coverage. The three-year average for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders was 21.7 percent.
Real median household income of white households rose 1.1 percent between 2005 and 2006 (from $50,100 to $50,700), the first real increase in annual household income for this group since 1999. Asian households had the highest median income at $64,200, followed by non-Hispanic white ($52,400), Hispanic ($37,800) and black ($32,000) households. Income levels remained statistically unchanged between 2005 and 2006 for each of these groups.
Among Asian American workers aged 16 and older, 6.1% are engaged in management, professional, and related occupations; 4.3% are engaged in service occupations; 4% have sales and office occupations; 1.8% are in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; and 3.6% are involved in production, transportation, and material occupations.
iaTV, America’s only 24/7 television network for Asian pop culture, announced a program acquisition deal and strategic ad sales partnership with TOKYOPOP, the leading publisher and distributor of manga-oriented entertainment.
Through this agreement, iaTV’s ad sales team will represent the advertising sales activities for TOKYOPOP’s digital assets including www.TOKYOPOP.com, brand integration within original and user-generated video content, mobile advertising and other applications. TOKYOPOP.com averages over five million page views per month and over 400,000 unique visitors (according to Google Analytics), 70 percent of which are in the valuable tween and teenage demographics, and 60 percent of which are female.
Programming acquired by iaTV from TOKYOPOP includes two popular Japanese anime series – Initial D and Psychic Academy – and anime film Spring and Chaos have also been acquired, with Initial D being televised Monday through Friday, beginning September 1, at 5:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. PT and Psychic Academy joining the network’s Tuesday primetime A-Pop lineup at 10:30 p.m. PT on September 9. Also coming to iaTV are several short-form (three- to four-minute) ‘iManga’ series: bite-sized programs based on TOKYOPOP’s top manga titles, combining animation with still art, music and English voiceovers. In addition, iaTV has acquired the hardcore FMW Wrestling, which will air Fridays at 10 p.m. PT starting September 12, leading out of Pancrase: Legends of Mixed Martial Arts, and creating of a two-hour primetime block of male skewing sports entertainment.
JC Penney created a back to school marketing campaign entitled "Get That Look". With a theme of "The Breakfast Club" - one of pop culture's ultimate teen movies that is currently experiencing a resurgence among today's youth - the campaign highlights the array of lifestyle brands available at JC Penney. Created with Saatchi & Saatchi New York, the campaign features both traditional and non-traditional media components. The mainstream campaign can be found here.
What's interesting with this campaign is that the grassroots online version of "Get That Look" has college age Asian American Youtubers as spokespeople. Among the four Asian American used include Kina Grannis (HAPA - Japanese), David Choi (Korean), Natalie (Filipino), and Kevjumba (Chinese). JC Penney fused the popularity of these YouTubers with the fashion and style of each person. Kina Grannis and David Choi created a duet entitle “my time with you”. They also each created their own music video. Natalie and Kevjumba utilize their comedy as part of the campaign. Also of note is that the whole Asian American version is run on xanga.com, a site where many teens blog.
Check out the Get That Look - Asian American edition here. You can also vote on the best outfit and could win a $400 JCPenney gift card.
Here's a bunch of short Nike ads that ran in China for the Olympics. (What we want to know is when are they gonna air this stuff on the US television?) The commercial covers a bunch of Olympic sports including fencing, weight lifting, relay race, discus throw, basketball, track and field, and judo. The great thing about these short commercials is that you don't need to understand the language to understand it. Overall, these commercials are hilarious.
Asian American media companies have been having a rough year. AZN TV shutdown in April, when we started channelapa.com. Now, KoreAm Journal could suffer a similar fate. This publication has been delivering a Korean American perspective for 18 years. They are finding it tough to get advertisers. As they point out:
At KoreAm Journal, we believe in providing you a window into Korean America. But ironically, the reason for our very existence is also the reason behind our ongoing financial struggle. Most mainstream and Korean companies and businesses would rather advertise in Korean-language or mainstream publications, but not in the media representing the in-between generations who have a foot in both cultures.
Lack of advertisers was also the main reason why previous Asian American media outlets shut down and Comcast pulled the plug on AZN TV. KoreAm Journal may suffer a similar fate.
Just a week after that phone conversation, KoreAm’s editor-in-chief James Ryu gave the staff some sobering news about our own company’s financial woes. Fortunately, no one was let go (yet), but significant cuts to salaries and budgets were announced. Last year, we suffered a 30-percent dip in advertising so, of course, there would be consequences. Still, the news felt surreal because, for the first time, I felt an urgency greater than ever before that we could lose this voice in our multicultural forest, just as Tu Ciudad was suddenly gone. Just as A Magazine, an Asian American monthly, had gone before that. Just as the English-language Korea Times Weekly had gone before that.
To prevent the potential closure of KoreAm Journal, they have launched a three-month Save KoreAm campaign. Learn how you can help them here.
2007 Koream Jounral & Audrey's Anniversary Party (Koream Jounral & Audrey were bother started by James Ryu)
200 Million Americans watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Through 11 days, NBC's Olympic coverage has reached 200 million people and more than 83 percent of all U.S. television homes. It has also delivered the most dominant margins of victory for any network in any primetime week in the history of Nielsen's People Meter sample, which dates back 21 years to September 1987.
Through just 11 days, the networks of NBC Universal already have reached 200 million total viewers, 12 million more than the first 11 days for Athens (188 million) and 4 million more than the Atlanta Games (196 million), which was the most-viewed television event in U.S. history. The 11-day total for these Games makes it the fourth most-viewed television event in U.S. history. Additionally, 94 million of the of the nation's 112.8 million television homes (83 percent) have tuned into the Olympics.
MOST VIEWED EVENTS IN U.S. TV HISTORY:
1. 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, 209 million (17 days)
2. 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, 204 million (16 days)
3. 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, 203 million (17 days)
4. *2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 200 million (*through 11 days)
5. 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, 194 million (17 days)
For the week of August 11-17, NBC generated more than four times the household rating of the No. 2 network, and more than five times the total viewers of the No. 2 network to claim the biggest week-long wins in those categories for any network since Nielsen initiated its current People Meter sample in September 1987.
According to data provided by Nielsen Media Research, NBC averaged 28.7 million viewers overall and a 16.8 rating/28 share in households for the primetime week of August 11-17. Those averages were strong enough to deliver record margins over the week's No. 2 finishes of 463 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. CBS's 5.1 million) and 394 percent in households (16.8 vs. CBS's 3.4).
NBC also beat the combined ABC-CBS-Fox results in these categories and again by margins that are the biggest for any network in People Meter history, 143 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. 11.8 million) and 113 percent in household rating (16.8 vs. 7.9).
Below is the Total Audience Measurement Index measurement through Sunday, Aug. 17
Coach Liang Chow helps Shawn Johnson get Olympic gold
Liang Chow had been a former co-captain of China's men's national gymnastics team for more than a decade. He represented China all over the world and won over 30 international gold medals and national championships. Chow was also the first gymnast in the world to perform the double front release with piked position on parallel bars.
In 1990, with his athletic career over, Liang Chow came to the United States, where he was offered a scholarship and a job coaching at the University of Iowa. He barely spoke any English when he arrived. To adapt to Western culture, he westernized his name from Qiao Liang, his given name, to Liang Chow. He also went back to Beijing to marry Liwen Zhuang, who Liang met when they were both at the national team training center in Beijing. She joined him in Iowa and built a new life together. Chow spent 7 1/2 years at Iowa, but he and his wife had dreams of starting their own gym. In 1998, they moved to West Des Moines and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute with hand-me-down equipment.
Here's the mission statement for Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute
"We believe all children are precious gifts. Every child, regardless of ability, deserves the best instruction possible. It is our goal to provide a safe and loving atmosphere in which each child knows he or she is valued. We will strive to provide an environment that cultivates listening skills, confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline and responsiblity. Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute is a place where all children can feel great about their accomplishments."
Shawn Johnson signed up as a pupil of the gym at the age of 6. For the next ten years, Liang Chow trained Johnson using both American and Chinese methods. His star athlete has shown the world what she is capable of at the Olympics. Not only is Liang coaching Shawn Johnson, but he is also the USA Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team Head Coach. For the Olympics, he returned to his native city of Beijing for the first time since immigrating to the USA in 1991. So far, the USA Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team has won a team silver medal and Shawn Johnson has won two silver medals one for Women's Individual All-Around and another for Women's Floor Exercise. Shawn still has one more shot at a medal for Women's Beam. Shawn Johnson captured the gold medal in the Women's Balance Beam event.
As the world prepared for the opening of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China, on August 8, 2008, United States Mint Director Ed Moy invited reporters to the United States Mint at San Francisco, where he introduced the 8-8-08 Double Prosperity Set. This set of two gold coins is the second installment of the United States Mint Celebration Series, meant to provide special numismatic products for gift-giving occasions. The new set features one 24-karat American Buffalo One-Half Ounce Gold Uncirculated Coin and one 22-karat American Eagle One-Half Ounce Gold Uncirculated Coin. The coins will be packaged in an elegant hardwood box and accompanied by a custom-designed certificate of authenticity signed by the Director of the United States Mint.
Director Moy discussed the significance of this new set of gold coins, saying, “The 8-8-08 Double Prosperity Set presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for coin collectors and the general public. The date 8-8-08 (August 8, 2008) occurs only once every 100 years. To mark this occasion, this is also the first time the United States Mint has paired two gold coins in custom-designed packaging, making this set a unique product for the Asian-American community.”
Both coins in the 8-8-08 Double Prosperity Set are legal tender with a nominal face value designation of $25. But their gold metal content and artistry make them worth far more. Inscriptions on the coins include the “W” mint mark for the United States Mint at West Point, the date, the fineness and the weight. The coins are packaged in an attractive hardwood box with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Director Moy.
My Time With You is sung and co-written by David Choi and Kina Grannis. The duet's song is being used as part of JC Penney's "Get That Look" marketing campaign. JC Penney provided the clothes used in the music video. Enjoy the music video.
Video edited in iMove by: David Choi
Video filmed by: Peter Yim
My Time With You video - David Choi version
My Time With You video - Kina Grannis version
My Time With You Lyrics
We're going to the beach today
We're gonna laugh and sing our cares away
The sun is shining on our face
We can take it in and let it out and say...
I do enjoy my time with you
Making the best of everything we do
We're gonna try on something new
And we'll make it ours before the day is through
CHORUS
And now the sun has said goodnight
Just want to say I had a real good time
I think I really feel all right (all right)
I don't ever ever wanna say goodbye
Dot Com Mogul John Chow wants you to party with him in Vegas. You can win one of two full conference passes to Blog World Expo, the biggest blogging and new media expo in the world. Blog World takes place September 20-21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The passes also include tickets to the opening night gala party. If you win, you’ll still need to arrange your own hotel and transportation to Las Vegas.
To enter this is what you need to do:
To enter for a chance to win a full conference pass to Blog World Expo, write a blog post on why you want to go, what you hope to get out of it and why you deserve the pass. Link to this post and send a trackback (or comment with the URL). The two best posts, as judged by me (John Chow) and a few other Blog World people, will received the passes.
This is our entry to John Chow's contest:
There is only one reason we have to go to this conference
We want to be a dot com mogul too.
We want to meet, greet, and network with Asian Canadian dot com mogul John Chow. He can teach us a thing or two about being a mogul. (He's one himself.) The guy's total blog income for June 2008: $40,125.99. That's bank, money!! He travels around the world and throws parties at CES. BlogWorld seems to be where fellow dot com moguls congregate. Last year Mark Cuban was there. Here's some Asian moguls this year: Shama Hyder, Pat Kitano, Amra Tareen, and Lynn Truong. So John Chow hook a fellow Asian up.
John Chow on Breakfast Television telling you how to be a dot com mogul
The company that brought you the Kevjumba vs Baron Davis vs Jessica Alba stare down and NigaHiga vs Will Ferrell Straight-Faced Staredown is ibeatyou.com. This internet startup was founded by venture capitalist Abdul Khan, basketball star Baron Davis, and Hollywood producer Cash Warren. The company has raised under $1 million in seed funding from Prism VentureWorks, individuals at Crosslink, basketball star Baron Davis, and football legend Ronnie Lott. They've also got the Chairman of Seagate, Steve Luczo, to throw in some cash as well. CEO Abdul Khan, formerly a venture capitalist at Crosslink Capital, made investments in other web startups like Pandora, Omniture, and Ancestry.com, talks about ibeatyou.com.
ibeatyou.com CEO Abdul Khan talks about his business.
Hear all the founders of ibeatyou.com (Baron Davis, Abdul Khan, and Cash Warren)talk about their company
Disney/ABC Digital Chief Albert Cheng talks online videos
Albert Cheng, head of digital operations for Disney/ABC Television, talks about DRM (digital rights management), advertising in online videos, distributions of ABC videos, and more.
Disney/ABC Digital Chief Albert Cheng talks online videos
Tennis superstar Serena Williams was hanging out at the Zappos HQ with CEO Tony Hsieh. She answers some questions from Zappos Twitter readers. Serena talks Wii Sports Tennis, music, being a role model. and more.
Another Asian American site is about to go RIP. Fallout Central is an online space designed to inform, spur dialogue and mobilize Asian Americans against the racism and prejudices facing us in the United States and beyond. Their goal is progressive social change through education, organized action and other non-violent means and methods. They accomplish this through their podcast, services, and blog. This note appeared on the Fallout Central site recently:
Dear Faithful Fallout Central Fans,
The last Fallout Central Podcast (for the foreseeable future) was held on Sunday, 7/20/08 at 2:00pm ET. The Fallout Central Podcast, formerly composed of announcers William Lee, Albert Lim, and John Kwak, will no longer be recorded until an Asian American person steps forward to lead Fallout Central. The historical podcast episodes and news archive will remain intact until I am no longer willing to pay for the retention of the Fallout Central web server which currently houses the podcasts that have been recorded, or until an Asian American person steps forward to pay for the maintenance of it.
If you would like to step up to the plate and take control of Fallout Central, please contact me, William Lee, at william@falloutcentral.com. I would be happy to assist you in either purchasing your own podcasting equipment (I have very detailed knowledge on every aspect of podcast broadcasting, and I can easily teach you how to do it) or give you FREE studio time at the Fallout Central studio in NYC. All of us (William, Albert, and John) would be happy to serve as announcers on the Fallout Central Podcast, but none of us want to invest the time to lead and produce it.
William Lee
Producer
Fallout Central
Here's Fallout Central @ the 2008Asian Excellence Awards
Rocky Aoki, beloved husband, father, friend, well-known entrepreneur and founder of Benihana restaurants, passed away on Thursday, July 10. He was surrounded by his wife Keiko and his six children. The cause was complications from cancer. The family celebrated Mr. Aoki's life in a private ceremony.
Rocky Aoki opened the first Benihana restaurant in 1964 in Manhattan. Although the company has grown to encompass three brands (Benihana, Haru, and RA Sushi) with nearly 90 restaurants worldwide, Rocky’s legacy is much greater than the company. He was also a well-known sportsman, philanthropist, environmentalist and author.
Friends and members of the public who wish to pay their respects to Rocky Aoki are invited to a public visitation in Manhattan, New York on Wednesday, July 16. Visitors will be welcomed between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Frank E. Campbell The Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street, New York, NY.
Zappos and its CEO Tony Hsieh were profiled on ABC. Zappos, if you don't know, is an online shoe store with over 1,000 brands and 4 million pairs of shoes. (If you were wondering, the name Zappos is an adaptation of the Spanish word for "shoe.") The nine year old company is on track to sell $1 billion in shoes. (That's a whole lotta shoes.) Headquartered in Las Vegas, the company prides itself on its company culture and customer service.
The company culture starts at the top with the CEO. Tony Hsieh makes about $36k a year. (Don't worry about his pay. He sold LinkExchange in the dot com days to Microsoft for about $250 Million.) Watching the video you will see that employees work hard and have fun at the same time. (It's like Tony transported some of the glory day of Internet startups to Vegas. There are free food and snacks. (Remember those days.) And 100% of medial and dental are paid for by the company.
This company culture is exemplified in Zappos customer service - Free shipping both ways with a 365-day return policy. (At our office, we see Zappos boxes all the time.) While 95% of the business is online, Zappos customer service is trained thoroughly to support any calls that come in. Here's the Zappos.com Core Values:
1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble
These core values and customer service is part of the Zappos brand and that has driven customer loyalty. If you don't believe that, take a look at the revenue growth at Zappos:
1999: Almost nothing
2000: $ 1.6 mm
2001: $ 8.6 mm
2002: $ 32 mm
2003: $ 70 mm
2004: $184 mm
2005: $370 mm
2006: $597 mm
2007: $850 mm
2008: $1 billion+
While their foundation is shoes, Zappos has since branched off to handbags, clothing, eyewear, watches, accessories, and possibly even airlines. You can experience Zappos firsthand, shop at Zappos.com
Dennis Hwang, aka Hwang Jeong-mok, is probably the most famous unknown artist in the world. He started as an intern at Google in the summer of 2000. At the time, he was a Stanford undergrad majoring in art and computer science. When founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin found out he was an art major, they tapped him to do his first doodle. (Bastille Day, July 14, 2000 - see above). He's been making whimsical logos for Google's homepage ever since.
While the doodles are only a small part of his actual job, Hwang's favorite doodles are the birthday series honoring Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and other famous artists. You can see list of past logos here. BTW, next time try clicking on the Google Doodle, the doodled logos link to Google search results about that topic.
Here's Dennis Hwang showing you how a Google Doodle is made
Here's some example of Google Doodles over the years
Tim Chang is a Principal Partner at NorWest Venture Partners. Tim holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in electrical engineering/system engineering as well as a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He focuses on investments in wireless and digital media as well as business development initiatives in Asia-Pacific.
In this interview, he covers the changing shifts between Hollywood and Silicon Valley (can you say Hollywood 2.0?). With MySpace and Yahoo! in Los Angeles as well as the amount of money in Hollywood and number of celebrities, it only a matter of time when you see more entrepreneurs coming out of Hollywood. It's already starting with weplay.com and ibeatyou.com. He also covers why an ad-support model is a lazy entrepreneurs business model. (Read: you need to sell stuff). Video analytics may be the next hot thing.
Earlier this month, we told you that Adam Ware, a former UPN and FOX Executive, joined Imaginasian. Changes are starting to take place over at there. Gone are the subtitled Asian dramas and Asian entertainment programming from the prime time block. A new television lineup will kickoff on June 30.
iaTV unveiled its new prime time line up for the 2008-2009 TV season, featuring programming that targets fans of the rapidly growing Asian pop culture craze. The lineup emerges from a counterprogramming strategy that targets primetime with unique shows on each night of the week. (Imaginasian is probably concerned with programming at ABC with "Wipeout" and "I Survived A Japanese Game Show" and Fox's "Human Tetris" aka "Hole in the Wall".) Mr. Ware has orchestrated agreements with SONY Pictures Television, MGM and Bandai Entertainment that will bring both TV series and movies to iaTV. “New Japanese-influenced game shows like Hole in the Wall on Fox and Wipe Out and I Survived a Japanese Game Show on ABC provide an affirmation of Asian pop culture as a mainstream success, at the core of which lies the fastest growing, most upscale and tech-savvy demographic: Asian Americans. Our new schedule is the first of many steps for iaTV as we build America’s preeminent Asian pop culture media destination,” stated Mr. Ware.
iaTV has also greenlit four new prime time originals: The Popper (iaTV's version of E!'s "The Soup" - a weekly look at the top Asian pop culture moments, game show highlights, online clips, etc.), Chix Kix Flix (featuring bikini-clad girls hosting vintage Kung Fu movies), music series iaRadio and daily lifestyle strip iaLink. Additionally, iATV is renewing original comedy series Uncle Morty’s Dub Shack and Comedy Zen, and original mixed martial arts showcase Pancrase: Legends of Mixed Martial Arts, hosted by top-ranked heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett.
Here's the new lineup schedule for primetime:
PT
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7:00PM
IALINK starts June 30
IALINK
IALINK
IALINK
IALINK
7:30PM
PACIFIC FUSION starts June 30
PACIFIC FUSION
PACIFIC FUSION
PACIFIC FUSION
PACIFIC FUSION
8:00PM
GOOD MOVIE NIGHT starts June 30
CHIX KIX FLIX starts July 22
MAI HIME starts August 6
BANZAI starts July 31
THE MINISODE NETWORK
8:30PM
SCRAPPED PRINCESS starts August 6
THE POPPER starts August 14
UNCLE MORTY'S DUB SHACK: BIGGEST HITS
9:00PM
PLANETES starts August 6
UNCLE MORTY'S DUB SHACK: BIGGEST HITS starts July 3
RETROFADE FRIDAY starts August 8
9:30PM
GHOST SLAYERS AYASHI starts August 6
JOHNNY SOKKO starts August 7
10:00PM
BANZAI repeat
PANCRASE starts July 22
THE GREAT HORROR FAMILY starts August 6
THE MINISODE NETWORK starts July 3
10:30PM
THE POPPER repeat
BLOODHOUND starts August 6
COMEDY ZEN starts July 3
With the changes in TV programming, we wonder how this will affect investors Japanese-based Fujisankei Communications Inc (undisclosed investment in February 2008) and Korean-based Sidus Corp ($20 million investment in August 2007). Their programming may be relegated to the weekends.
Beyond television, Imaginasian is also parting with it theaters. Adlabs has acquired both ImaginAsian movie theaters in Los Angeles and New York. New York has already converted over to Adlabs and Los Angeles is in the process.
RockYou is a leading provider of applications and widgets on the web. RockYou widgets include photo slideshows, glitter text, customized Facebook applications and voicemail accessories that are simple to use and enable people to frequently refresh their online style. Founded in 2006, RockYou has over 35 million users, serving over 180 million widget views per day in more than 200 countries. RockYou applications are customized for easy integration across all social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Tagged and hi5. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, RockYou is funded by Sequoia Capital, Partech International and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The company raised $35 million at a roughly $230 million valuation, plans to double its staff to 100 people by the end of this year, Jia Shen, RockYou's 28-year-old co-founder and CTO talks to Bambi Francisco in this interview. According to Jia, Super Wall is the No. 1 application on Facebook. The site is shooting to be a top five Web destination in the world.
PBS' FRONTLINE presents Young & Restless in China. In Young & Restless in China, airing Tuesday, June 17, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE presents intimate portraits of nine young Chinese over the course of four years, examining the reality of their lives as they navigate their way through a country that is changing daily. They are westernized, savvy about today’s interconnected world, ambitious – and often torn between their culture and their aspirations. Set to an original soundtrack of Chinese rock and hip-hop music, this provocative film presents an in-depth look at what it means to be young and Chinese today. FRONTLINE follows these Chinese lives as they struggle to find their paths in the nation's booming economy and confront the opportunities and challenges of modernity. As China prepares for its global "coming out" party at the Olympics, they highlight themes of capitalism, nationalism, identity and globalization that are creating the new China.
This video has several people putting cell phones near popcorn kernels. A few seconds later you can see the popcorn kernels popping into popcorn. Real or fake?
We think this is a fake. Probably a viral video made by a company like Kobe Bryant jumping over an Ashton Martin pitching Nike Hyperdunk shoes. We don't know if this video is trying to sell popcorn, cellphones, or something else.
Over the weekend, about 8 Quickly cafes across the San Francisco Bay Area added frozen yogurt to the menu with more locations coming soon. Quickly is known for its tapioca milk tea and has over 2000 locations globally. Look for fro yo coming to a Quickly near you. Not a bad way for Quickly to capitalize on the fro yo trend and potentially increase business across all Quickly locations.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, corporate raider Carl Icahn accused Yahoo's board of "sabotaging" a takeover bid by Microsoft and wants to oust the Yahoo board members including Jerry Yang. Recently, a lawsuit revealed that Yahoo turned down an offer as high as $40 from Microsoft back in January 2007. A Yahoo spokesman said the company is not aware of such an offer. There will be two camps when Yahoo's annual shareholder meeting takes place on August 1 - Jerry and Yahoo vs Carl Icahn and Microsoft.
After failing to open a Red Mango fro-yo (frozen yogurt) shop in San Francisco, looks like Survivor winner Yul Kwon will have success further south in Palo Alto. Here's recently engaged Yul Kwon and Sophie Tan enjoying some Red Mango.
Red Mango's first Northern California store will be opening in Palo Alto on Sat May 17, 2008.
Red Mango Palo Alto
429 University Ave (at Kipling)
Palo Alto, CA
The company also is known for using natural ingredients in making "authentic frozen yogurt" that is both tart and creamy. Come by and taste what you have been missing out on for the longest time. It's simply irresistible. Red Mango is the most popular fro-yo chain in South Korea. Red Mango competes with Pinkberry, which was also started by Korean Americans.
UPDATE: Yul Kwon has opened another Red Mango Location in the South Bay in Northern California. This time in San Jose at Valley Fair Mall. Store opens January 2009. Here's the address:
Valley Fair Mall
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Space 1293 (next to Playtown)
San Jose, CA 95050
Here's Red Mango CEO Dan Kim talking about his company's fro-yo:
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, so every day this month we'll try to profile Asian Americans and Asian American videos on the 'Net.
The first person we are profiling is Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube. According to ComScore for Janaury 2008, 78.5 million viewers watched 3.25 billion videos on YouTube.com (41.4 videos per viewer). YouTube.com also accounted for one-third of the 9.8 billion videos viewed online in the U.S. during the month. You can also watch Steve Chen's channel.
Steve Chen is Chief Technology Officer of YouTube and co-founded the company in 2005 after he and Chad Hurley resolved to provide a more simple way to share videos online. Steve has been instrumental in building YouTube into a viral video phenomenon and helped lead YouTube through the Google acquisition for $1.65 billion less than a year after launching the site.
As the company's key technologist, Steve is credited with developing the company's massive data centers and helping build YouTube into a premier entertainment destination and one of the most popular Web sites on the Internet today. He oversees all areas of both engineering and product development, including managing site operations, and developing features and services that are compelling and easy to use for everyone.
Before YouTube, Steve was one of the first product engineers at PayPal. He led development efforts and served as an engineering manager on a variety of critical projects. Steve studied computer science at the University of Illinois.
Here's a video message from co-founders Steve Chen and Chan Hurley after Google 's acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion:
Learn more about Steve from the 2007 Committee of 100 Panel: Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 1 of 6):
Comcast's AZN Television - The Network for Asian America sends its last broadcast signal at 12pm today. AZN R.I.P. (March 28, 2005 - April 9, 2008)
Although AZN is shutting down, channelAPA believes a market still exists to broadcast Asian American Entertainment. We are launching the same time the AZN is closing. This site is as an experiment building an Asian American "channel". While we don't have a huge war chest of funds (this site was started with less than $60), we can uncover new and exciting Asian American talent across the country with the help of the viewers of this site. In recent weeks, we have seen JabbaWockeeZ become America's Best Dance Crew and Cung Le become the Strikeforce middleweight champion. The time to build this "channel" is now. Strike while the iron is hot!
The concept is simple: every day we will try to post a video of interest to Asian Americans such as music, movies, and comedy. If you know of a video or have a video you want to promote, let us know. Email us at webmaster@channelapa.com
We got some motivation watching Guy Kawasaki's "Art of the Start" video
As we continue to grow, we hope to "make meaning" and "niche ourselves."
This is a sleek, thin, light, and stylish "digital clutch". The HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook represents the first time a computer company has partnered with a globally renowned designer to create a notebook PC that offers all the style and power needed for a delightful technology experience. Tam also worked with HP to design the notebooks accessories and packaging.
