Be curious. Have empathy. Wonder what it is like to be someone else.

Adding this to my long list of Quotes I Love,

“Be curious. Have empathy. Wonder what it is like to be someone else. Make a friend who is not like you.” – Roger Ebert‘s final words from his 1994 PBS 11th Hour speech

Goodbye Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

Terrible sad day for movies lovers to hear the news that Roger Ebert is no longer with us. I’ve got the pleasure and honour to met him once in 2000 at the Toronto International Film Festival. He was pleasant, nice, and larger than life. I remember in one screening, a volunteer had no idea who he was and didn’t let him get into the theatre for a screening which got him quite upset. I think they eventually figured out who Ebert was and let him in.

I love how Ebert writes about movies and can bring out things that I miss even though sometimes our tastes are not quite the same.

Goodbye Ebert. I know wherever you are, they will be playing movies you love non-stop.

“Roger Ebert dead at 70 after battle with cancer” Apr 4th, 2013, Chicago Sun-Times obituary

EW, “Werner Herzog on Roger Ebert, ‘the good soldier of cinema’ — EXCLUSIVE“

I then read these two pieces by Ebert, “A letter to Werner Herzog: In praise of rapturous truth” and “review of Encounters at the End of the World“

Apr 5th, 2013 update:

via PBS, “In this 1994 clip, Roger Ebert answered the question: What final message would you leave for future generations?“

TorStar, “For Roger Ebert, it was always about the movies: Howell“

CBC, “Roger Ebert mourned by world leaders, film industry vets“

The Hollywood Reporter, “THR’s Todd McCarthy Remembers Roger Ebert“

Happy 57th birthday, “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung!

I want to wish “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung, happy 57th birthday, good health and all the best! Here is my 2005 documentary “Long Hair Revolution” filmed only two months after his election to Legislative Council of Hong Kong. I’m happy to say my first documentary has been added to the federal government “Library and Archives Canada” permanent collection in Ottawa.

Long Hair Revolution 長毛革命 @ national archive of Canada

“Chilling” effect on federal archivists and librarians

From “ABCs of ‘behaviour regulation’ for federal librarians and archivists“

“The code says that LAC staff, which includes Canada’s leading librarians and archivists, who set foot in classrooms, attend conferences or speak up at public meetings on their own time are engaging in “high risk” activities.

Given the dangers, the code says, the department’s staff must clear such “personal” activities with their managers in advance to ensure there are no conflicts or “other risks to LAC.”

The code is already having a “chilling” effect on federal archivists and librarians, who used to be encouraged to actively engage and interact with groups interested in everything from genealogy to preserving historical documents, says archivist Loryl MacDonald at the University of Toronto.“

Football and Why Malcolm Gladwell may never be invited back to speak at University of Pennsylvania ever again

Football and Why Malcolm Gladwell may never be invited back to speak at University of Pennsylvania ever again, I think! If you love football, learn more about Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Malcolm Gladwell at University of Pennsylvania 2/14/2013

Feb 15, 2013, DP, “Gladwell’s condemnation of football raises eyebrows – Students reacted negatively to the speaker’s suggestion that Penn boycott the sport“

Feb 20, 2013, The New Yorker, “HOW MUCH PROOF DO WE NEED?“

P.S. I would really really LOVE to know what the discussion was like at the post-talk dinner table ! :)

P.P.S. I am aware that some hockey players are affect by CTE as well and we Canadians should be ashamed of ourselves in doing nothing about it while enjoying our hockey games!

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness

Adding this to my long list of Quotes I Love,

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” – Mark Twain (full copyright free project gutenberg text)

[HT Leila Boujnane]

TED & related Talks (Some of my favourites)

Here are 7+ hours of TED & related Talks (20+ videos in total). Enjoy.

Precious and Candid Bob Dylan interview (1986) posted by Christopher Sykes

Here are a few videos about Bob Dylan posted by Christopher Sykes. I LOVE interviews, masterful interviews done well are awesome to watch. These interviews are very cool. You get to see Bob drew Christopher LIVE on camera!

Bob Dylan, 1986 – Part 1 of 4

Bob Dylan, 1986 – Part 2 of 4

Ignorant talk of “Boys using girls bathroom” illuminated by BBC doc “Me, My Sex and I”

Two news items have been hotly discussed online recently:

“New Massachusetts rules allow transgender students to choose their own bathroom“, Yahoo News (The Daily Caller), Feb 25, 2013

“His or Hers? Transgender child locked in school bathroom debate“, CTV News, Feb 28, 2013

So I thought to spend a few minutes to look up an insightful documentary I watched in 2011 to try to illuminate the important issue that there are NO 100% male or 100% female. I am NOT 100% male. The real scientific reasoning is complex but not that difficult to understand. The human stories and the human impact take more compassion to appreciate and accept.

Here is the insightful BBC documentary “Me, My Sex and I” last broadcast on Oct, 2011. Someone posted the full documentary online that you can watch (video is flipped but you can still get most of the important points).

NOTE: I moderate comments on this post, any comments that appear to be made without watching the documentary or understanding the issues first will be deleted.

Part 1 of 4 “Me, My Sex and I”

Part 2 of 4 “Me, My Sex and I”

Part 3 of 4 “Me, My Sex and I”

Part 4 of 4 “Me, My Sex and I”

U of Toronto University Professor Emeritus Stephen A. Cook won NSERC $1 million Herzberg Medal – with interview by Kempton

Congratulations to University of Toronto Computer Science professor Stephen Cook, best known for formulating the P v. NP problem, for winning the $1M 2012 Gerhard Herzberg medal!

After all these years, I still remember the thrill in taking my first year UT Comp. Sci class in 1987 with prof. Cook! And it remains an honour (and bragging right) to have taken the famous third year CSC364 Computability and Complexity class with prof. Cook and seeing him proved to us 3-satisfiability and taught us P v. NP, etc. I am truly excited for prof. Cook!

Check out my 15 minutes interview with Prof. Cook this morning: Interview with Dr. Stephen A. Cook, 2012 Winner of NSERC’s $1m Herzberg Medal

By the way, as prof. cook mentioned in the interview, he came to the idea of the NP complete problem about 6 months after he came to Toronto in 1970. If you read the detailed & insightful oral history interview with Stephen Cook (courtesy of University of Minnesota), you will realize professor Cook could have easily stayed at UC Berkeley (if they had not denied him tenure) instead of joining us at University of Toronto! Lucky us!

Last week, I asked prof. Kelly Gotlieb “Father of Computing in Canada” for his thoughts about some giants in computer science, here is what Kelly has to say about Steve (video clip).

Here is “NSERC Presents 2 Minutes With Stephen Cook“

Here is an excerpt from a great Q&A from U of Toronto.

“What drew you to this field – and to this particular focus?
I enrolled as a mathematics graduate student at Harvard in 1961, thinking I’d concentrate in algebra. Computer Science did not yet exist as a discipline. After taking a course in `logic and computation’ from Hao Wang, my future advisor, I switched fields. My PhD thesis was inspired by a question posed by a pioneer in the field named Alan Cobham: Is multiplication (of large numbers) intrinsically harder than addition? Part of the challenge was to formulate this as a precise mathematical question.

Why U of T?
I joined the faculty of the computer science department at U of T in 1970. This was one of the world’s first CS departments, and Tom Hull, the department chair, had a powerful vision for its future. He already had recruited some aspiring young faculty, including my close colleague Allan Borodin, who continues to be a pillar of the department. It helped that Toronto is a good sailing venue on Lake Ontario, and sailing was (and is) a major hobby for my wife and me.

What advice would you give to a student just starting out in this field?
You’ve made a good choice. The possibilities are boundless.“

Via this UT page, see more media coverage about the 2012 Herzberg Prize at these links below:

“- Globe & Mail

- Canada.com

- Calgary Herald

- CBC News“

Argo, Oscars, Grateful President Jimmy Carter, Ben “WTF” Affleck

“90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception, the movie is very good.” — Former President Jimmy Carter on Ben Affleck’s movie ‘Argo’ to CNN’s Piers Morgan.

“There’s nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie [Argo]. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It’s like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank.” – Ken Taylor

Many people (including me) are predicting Argo will likely win Best Picture in The Oscars tonight. So no time is better than now to set the record straight and urge Mr. Ben Affleck, director/actor of Argo to thank Canada and Canadians in his Oscars acceptance speech. If I may be frank and honest, Mr. Ben “WTF” Affleck, enough is enough. Your drama license to twist history to enhance your story telling makes this and other Canadians angry. What will Americans feel if filmmakers from UK or France rewrite history in a “based on real events” movie and minimize the US effort in World War II? Ben, Man up and thank Canada and Canadians in your Oscars speech tonight. If not, I’ve decided to change your name to Ben “WTF” Affleck!

President Jimmy Carter on Argo – Piers Morgan Tonight

President Jimmy Carter on Argo in Speech at Queen’s University Nov 2012

AP, “Canada deserves Argo Oscar mention, ex-ambassador says ‘The Canadians were brave’, says ex-ambassador Ken Taylor“

AP, EX-CANADA AMBASSADOR SLIGHTED BY AFFLECK’S “ARGO”

“The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn’t deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape.

Taylor called the postscript lines “disgraceful and insulting” and said it would have caused outrage in Canada if the lines were not changed. Affleck flew Taylor to Los Angeles after the Toronto debut and allowed him to insert a postscript that gave Canada some credit.

Taylor called it a good movie and said he’s not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate.

“He’s a good director. It’s got momentum. There’s nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It’s like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank,” he said.“

THR, “Ex-Ambassador Again Slams ‘Argo’ for Canada Snub“

The full convocation video with President Carter. (portion related to Argo, ~25:55 – 28:15) Queen’s University press release.

An excerpt from the transcript of President Carter on CNN Piers Morgan with my extensive notes,

“MORGAN: A scene from the Oscar-nominated film, Argo, about a daring rescue during the Iranian hostage crisis. I’m back now with former President Jimmy Carter, who was, of course, in the White House at the time. You’ve seen Argo, I take it? How accurate is it from your memory?

CARTER: Well, let me say first of all, it’s a great drama. And I hope it gets the Academy Award for best film because I think it deserves it. The other thing that I would say was that 90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA.

And with that exception, the movie is very good.

But Ben Affleck’s character in the film was only — he was only in — stayed in Iran a day and a half. And the main hero, in my opinion, was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process.

I was informed about it the first day. And I was very much involved with the Canadian government because the Canadian government would not legally permit six false passports to be issued. So the Canadian parliament had to go into secret session the first time in history, and they voted to let us use six Canadian passports that were false. [Kempton's note: Lets be clear, I doubt the Americans will issue false US passports to Canadians if our roles were switched. Agree? To me, I am so proud of my government, and the cabinet (?, not the parliament?) in approving the false passports to help our friends in urgent need.]

MORGAN: But when you first heard about this outlandish plan to create a fictitious science fiction movie to get these hostages out, you’re the president of the United States. I mean, if this had gone badly wrong, you would have been an absolute laughing stock. So it’s a bold moment for you, for the presidency, for the country.

CARTER: Well, I don’t deny that, but it was much bolder for the Canadian government to do it because the Canadian government was not involved in the hostage crisis, as you know. They could have been hostages themselves had it been revealed. [Kempton's note: This is absolutely the case! Remember, other countries (I will not shame them here) were asked to help the trapped Americans and they refused. Canada helped. And by helping, "Argo" is how Mr. Ben "WTF" Affleck decided to thank us?! WTF Ben!]

But as I said, you know, they did the primary work. And as a matter of fact, the American hostages left Iran and landed in Switzerland and landed before the Iranians ever discovered that they had been there.

When I left office, I ordained that we would not reveal any American’s involvement in the process, but to give the Canadians full credit for the entire heroic episode. And that prevailed for a number of years afterwards. [Kempton's note: This is a right tactical move by President Carter. Totally different from what the movie implied.]

But I think it’s a great film, and it tells a dramatic story. And I think it’s accurate enough. [Kempton's note: President Carter is nice. I am frank with Ben and is hoping I won't have to call him Ben "WTF" Affleck after tonight. Will see.]“

This article is cross posted in examiner.com by me.

Long Hair debates Lawyer Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) in LegCo

After watch this f-bomb ladened debate in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Some people may have a point in thinking Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) may have single-handedly raised Leung Kwok-hung’s (長毛 Long Hair) approval ratings! Have a watch of this LegCo video recording of the heated exchange and decide for yourself.

長毛舌戰山西政協民建聯澳洲大律師馬恩國,大律師公然立法會講粗口!

Feel free to check out my first documentary Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命) which I’ve finally got it fixed and viewable on YouTube some weeks ago. Enjoy. For more info about Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命), read it here.

eps02 chat with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof. Kelly Gotlieb

This is the second (eps 02) of a series of extensive chats with Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb, (Wikipedia) “Father of Computing in Canada”, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto. In this video episode (as oppose to audio recording only in episode #1), we further discussed Google Driverless Cars and Google Glasses in a bit more details, and a few other topics. (I will try to provide a time code key when I have time later or if someone can help me with providing a time code key to the interview.)

eps02 chat with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof. Kelly Gotlieb

P.S. Incidentally, I am happy to claim credit for suggesting Kelly to setup a Google+ account and then also helped him to setup his computer this morning so that we were able to conduct a successful Live Broadcast using the Google+ Hangout On Air technologies using its YouTube engine! It puts a smile on my face in helping the man who helped bought the second electronic computer (a Ferranti machine for $300,000) in the world in 1951 to use Google’s cutting edge technologies to broadcast live from his and my home!

I LOVE & adore Richard Simmons – epic Fox LA Hangout

I LOVE & adore Richard Simmons especially after this #epic  hangout with him this week. It is a tragedy of our times that many people are unable/unwilling to see straight through to the heart of people like Richard, who has a heart of gold and truly kind hearted to his core despite a tough life he has lived!

People may look and act differently from us, but until & unless our society progress to love and care about others who may look & act different to us on the outside, the human race has a long way to learn and progress.

FOX 11 Google+ Hangout: Richard Simmons Cries, People In The Hangout Cry… INTENSE!

Thanks +Maria Quiban +Tony McEwing +Tshaka Armstrong at +FOX 11 Los Angeles for this treasured experience.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Simmons

Sarah Rafferty’s Donna in TV series Suits is as good as my mom!

To me, Sarah Rafferty’s Donna in the TV series Suits personify the best of the best executive assistant (EA)!

The passable EA does what you want after asking for your clarifications and help.
The OK EA does what you ask competently without bugging you too much.
The best of the best EA knows what needs to be done before you ask and do it so well that you realize he/she has saved you so much time so you can focus on other important matters!

FOX 11 Google+ Hangout: Sarah Rafferty Talks Suits <== This links jump right into my question for Sarah, who plays the super executive assistant to the lead lawyer Harvey in  #suits !

To me, my mom is one of the most #awesome executive assistant I know of! You ask how good? Well, after the first few years of a manager running the office with her help, the HQ decided to eliminate the manager position and have her run the office without a manager for the following decades! I’ve learned so much from my mom! LOVE you mom!

Thanks +Maria Quiban +Tony McEwing +Tshaka Armstrong at +FOX 11 Los Angeles for the awesome experience!

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Rafferty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suits_(TV_series)

Priceless: Tommy Hilfiger Defending my “Fashion Honour”

I LOVED & enjoyed the chance to ask Tommy Hilfiger @tommyhilfiger a question. (Tommy’s Facebook) And then it turned into a super #epic moment (at 2:07 of the clip) for me to watch Tommy defending my “Fashion Honour” at Fox LA Google+ Hangout! Thanks +Maria Quiban +Tony McEwing +FOX 11 Los Angeles for the #awesome hangout!

FOX 11 Google+ Hangout: Tommy Hilfiger Talks About His New West Hollywood strore

Interview with “Father of Computing in Canada” re Google Car, Google Glasses, Alan Turing

Interview with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof Gotlieb re Google Car, Google Glasses, Alan Turing

This is an extensive interview with Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb, (Wikipedia) “Father of Computing in Canada”, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Feb 2013 interviewed by Independent reporter Kempton Lam
KL: Kempton Lam
KG: Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb
Table of content (with time codes):
0:00 KL: Introducing Professor Emeritus C.C. (Kelly) Gotlieb, “Father of Computing in Canada”, University of Toronto
0:29 KL: My question about Google Driverless Cars. Three US states already has law permitting testing of Google Driverless Cars. Talking about California governor signed the bill, “SB-1298 Vehicles: autonomous vehicles: safety and performance requirements” into law.
2:07 KL: Bill SB-1298 allows Google to test the Google Driverless Car provided Google pays a $5 million insurance, and provided there is a driver in the car.
2:21 KG: “That’s what I expected.”
2:35 KL: My concerns were concerns raised by Kelly in an earlier speech of his.
2:47 KG: listing some of the concerns he has with concepts like Google Driverless Cars. “United States is a very litigious society.”
3:12 KG: Google Driverless Car gets into an accident, whose to blame? And who can you sue? The person who wrote the program? Google who authorize the car? Car manufacture? The person who is in the car? Or all of the above? […] Lots of questions to be asked when failure happen.

WTF? Girls aren’t allowed to curse at this NJ school, but boys are?

Today at Reno +KRNV News 4 Forum, we discussed “WTF? Girls aren’t allowed to curse at this NJ school, but boys are?” Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/1ocd98WScjc?t=3m29s <= Click this link to jump to 3 mins 29 sec (beginning of discussion)

NEWS 4 FORUM TOPIC: We had some Tech issues yesterday so we are trying it again.. Double standard? Gotta start somewhere? What do you think about girls being asked not to curse.. but “Hey boys, just don’t do it in front of the ladies”?

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/wtf-girls-are-not-allowed-to-curse-at-this-nj-school-but-boys-are-192907192.html

[Great show +Melissa Carlson +DeAno Jackson +Justin Hill +Jeff Downs +Patty Olmstead ]

Oreo Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign – Chat & Analysis

“This is an opportunity. The entire world is watching and there is nothing on. So  quickly, everyone pull together a design, a caption, the folks from Oreo were in the room, and we got something out in just a few minutes [kempton's note: 360i was ready in only 5 mins after the power outage but waited for 5 more mins to confirm people were safe before the tweet].“ - Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i (WSJ Video interview, Feb 4th, 2013)

I LOVE smart Ad campaign especially during the Sunday surprised/not-so-surprised Super Bowl Power #fail. Great job @Oreo with its Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign! As I was telling a prospective client recently, the best ads are often the ones, once you paid to get it created, you don’t little to get it spread because people are sharing it as content!

It was my pleasure the Monday morning after Superbowl to host an event to have an insightful chat with Kim Beasley and Trev Warth to specifically talk about the very successful Oreo’s “Power Out? No problem.” tweet campaign. Here is a video of our chat.

Oreo Super Bowl Power Outage Twitter Ad campaign – Chat & Analysis

References:

Official blog post post account by 360i: “How Oreo Won the Social Media Bowl with a Single Piece of Content“

- WSJ Video interview, Feb 4th, 2013: “ How Oreo Stole the Super Bowl Spotlight - A quick response from Oreo’s social media turned a timely tweet about the power outage into the brand’s most successful social media message yet. Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i, joins digits.“

- Oreo’s “Power Out? No problem.” tweet

- 360i Company site

- 360i leadership

- Cool tweet by Adam Kerj, Chief Creative Officer of 360i

Nobel Laureate professor Ronald Coase on China’s One-Child Policy

Photo credit: by Zhaofeng Xue (薛兆丰) 2009

Yesterday, in our bilingual Google+ Hangout LIVE YouTube show Wallace and I talked about “Little Emperors: Behavioral Impacts of China’s One-Child Policy” (with LIVE recorded video).

Last night, I reached out to professor Ning Wang (co-author of “How China Became Capitalist” with professor Coase) to ask him about his take on China’s One-Child Policy. Ning mentioned that a 2013 Jan video had been filmed in part to promote the launch of the Chinese edition of their book where professor Coase shared his critique of China’s One-Child Policy. I was so excited and immediately watched it twice. Here is the China’s One-Child Policy segment. (full transcript of interview here and full unedited interview video here)

Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase on China’s One-Child Policy