How China Steals Our Secrets

Clarke basically laments the state of US cyber security (who uses this “cyber” word besides the US govt.?) in regards to the incessant hacking of US businesses by Chinese hackers. Clarke believes that giving the Department of Homeland Security the ability to:

“inspect what enters and exits the United States in cyberspace.
…
And under the Intelligence Act, the president could issue a finding that would authorize agencies to scan Internet traffic outside the United States and seize sensitive files stolen from within our borders. “

If this proposal is not basically an identical copy of what the Chinese government has set up in with their Great Firewall of China, I don’t know what it is.

US businesses need to take responsibility for securing their own servers, documents and networks. That they have not done so to date is their own fault.

The proposal to give the US government the right/ability to scan/filter the Internet is not only like trying to filter the entire ocean to catch a few fish (i.e. the wrong way to do it), it’s also asking the government to provide Internet security for US commercial businesses (which they should do on their own, not on the US taxpayer’s dime.)

A future that Richard Clarke wants for the US is a mirror image of what China has created today with the Internet in China. That he does not see the irony in this vision is probably the most troubling aspect of his op-ed as well as his “special adviser to the president for cybersecurity” role.

The US government needs experts who understand the Internet in roles like these, not people like Clarke, who clearly do not understand how the Internet works. And US businesses need to take their network security seriously. Focus on securing your networks, not just next quarter’s profit margins, and you’ll see less successful hacking.

Our dear family friend, from before I was born, Eiko Ishioka, passed this weekend.

For those of you who don’t know of Eiko Ishioka, she was (and probably will be for a long, long time) the only person to have won a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award as well as two Tony nominations. She was a visionary artist who worked in graphic design, stage design, costume design, and many other formats.

Eiko was also of that era of Japanese artists who were internationally recognized when few were. That she was also female made her even more rare among Japanese artists.

Although we will miss her, we all can have the pleasure of seeing her work, whether it’s Miles Davis’ album cover from “Tutu”, her movies with Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”, “The Fall”), Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, Cirque du Soleil’s “Varekai”, Bjork’s music video for “Cocoon”, or the new “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

For those of you who want to study Eiko’s work, I strongly suggest tracking down two books she produced, “Eiko by Eiko” (1983) and “Eiko on Stage” (2000).

One of my favorite pieces Eiko did was the art design for a huge poster for the release of Apocalypse Now in Japan. It’s now very valuable and hard-to-find.

My condolences to her husband Nico and the Ishioka family.

Eiko Ishioka, Multifaceted Designer and Oscar Winner, Dies at 73

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The Beat Broker – Cosmic Kind Buds Winter Mix | Cosmic Disco.

Comparing a Harvard MBA to a Hitotsubashi or Globis MBA is completely laughable.  Comical in a way that is hard to express.  Utterly absurd, is maybe close.

M.B.A.’s in Japan Struggle for Respect – NYTimes.com.

Federal Reserve Rains Money On Corporate America — But Main Street Left High And Dry.

Referring to her stint as U.N. leader on the refugee issue, Ogata stressed the importance of knowing one’s capabilities, being able to grasp the situation, and . . . learning English.

“Language is the foundation of understanding yourself and the others. . . . English is the international language. Without speaking English, it’s hard to communicate overseas,” she said.

Embrace the world, English, too: Ogata | The Japan Times Online.

With Japan’s domestic market expected to shrink because of the low birthrate and graying society, Japanese companies are expanding into overseas markets. Hiring people with experience abroad is simply part of their global strategies.

Japanese students who remain in Japan are finding themselves in a seemingly no-win situation. If they study abroad, they will miss the early recruitment drive by companies in Japan. But if they stay at Japanese universities, they find themselves taking a backseat to foreign students here in gaining employment.

In addition, companies view Japanese university students as vulnerable to adversity and overly eager for job security.

via asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Japanese students being left out in trend of international hiring – English.