Note: This is a personal blog post that has nothing to do with Vonage, or any other company – if you’re an analyst, investor, or financier looking for tips & insights – you’re at the wrong place…

I spent twenty days in China, about seventeen out of them in Tibet. I met pure, welcoming, beautiful people with a rich & deep culture situated in one of the most special places on planet Earth. This post is about them, their culture and lives.

Tibet is a huge landmass made of two parts: Tibet’s Autonomous Region with 1.2 Million Square km; what most people call ‘Tibet’ today, and additional 1.3 Million sq.km already incorporated into the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai in China. For comparison, the State of California is about 420,000 sq. km, meaning California can fit three times into the Tibet Autonomous Region only..

Tibetan population in Tibet Autonomous Region is estimated around 2 Million, with probably the same number of Chinese Han and Hui and an unknown number of “Mix Banana”. This makes it about a total of 4-5 Million people in an area of 1.2 Million sq. km. California has over 36 Million people. Go do the math.

If you put together Tibetans outside the Autonomous region and those in exile, you get a world population of some 6 million Tibetans. The estimated Tibetans in exile at Dharamsala are approximated in few hundreds of thousands.

Except for vast Oceans, anything I’ve ever seen in life exists in Tibet. From Bryce Canyon to Judea Desert, from Alaska Tundra to picturesque Switzerland, from Tokyo, Okutama to Netherlands,Friesland : it is all there. Tibet has the largest lakes in China, The highest lakes in the world, the tallest Mountains, and the highest peninsulas with average elevation of over 4,000 meters. It is so quiet you can hear the water flow, and so sparsely populated you can see the stars. But if you get lost – nobody will ever find you.

Buddhism arrived at Tibet in the 7^th century AD from India, more than millennia after being founded. It got mixed with the than prevailing religion of Tibet: Bon (which still exists today). Some of the known rituals of Tibetan Buddhism: the “praying flags” originally came from Bon, which also contributed more to the mystical elements of Tibetan Buddhism.

While Buddhism in India lost popularity it gained more and more traction in Tibet. Tibet is considered today one of the most religious Buddhist centers in the world, and a destination for Kora (=pilgrimage) from all over the world. The peak is the “Kora” of Mt. Kailash:  a 55 km circling of the Sacred Mountain, and bathing in the water of the sacred lake. Do this 100 times and you’re up for sainthood. The Kora starts at around 4,500 m with highest elevation of 5,600 m…

People in the West know of the Dalai Lama, but actually, there are three important High Lamas: Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama, and Karmapa. The Dalai Lama also functions as a political leader, and in the past directed the Tibetan government.

But most of the above you can find in Wikipedia and elsewhere.

Religiously wise, the three are equally important. There are additional High Lamas, and past Kings all that receive high respect in Tibet. The current 14^thDalai Lama is at exile in Dharamsala, together with the widely accepted Karmapa. The Panchen Lama was seized by the Chinese back when they took over Tibet, he was forced at gun-point to marry (therefore no longer a monk), and the 11^th Panchen was selected by the Chinese and situated in Beijing. Only in Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet, and summer seat of the Panchen you can see pictures on the 11^th Panchen Lama; elsewhere he does not exist. There are also numerous other high-ranking Lamas presenting various schools and streams in Tibetan Buddhism. It is a fascinating yet complex  multi headed system, with regional influence, administration powers and politics.

It is also a money making machine, and many of the monasteries seems more of a financial institutes today than a place of religiously enlightened people. Some of the places give shows for tourists… Monks enjoy relatively comfortable quarters equipped with TV and other riches, while normal people have nothing. My heart goes to the poor and simple and much less to the repressed Monks.

And this is something you won’t read in Wikipedia…

There are a few reasons for that:

- Buddhism is not a religion in the Western sense; it is more of a moral philosophy with certain observations on the nature of life and a “method”: The Middle Way / Noble Eightfold Path to break the cycle of rebirth and suffering. The “method” is not easy to practice, requires long studying, meditations and personal sacrifices. While Karma, reincarnations and other elements of Buddhist philosophy are relatively easy enough to understand and follow, practice of the Middle Way is only for the elite religious Monks. The farmers, and moderately religious people, who make the majority of the Tibetan populations, worship the Monks and the many Buddha & protectors. But this does not seem as Buddhism in it’s purest form…? When visiting the Monasteries, you will see peasants giving hardly earned few Yuan’s to the Monks, or Buddha for better Karma. This is not pure Buddhism; it is a place where Buddha’s are painted with gold paints while people have nothing to eat. It is a place where Monks are well fed and kept by the farmers who don’t have hot water to wash. It is a sad place, where fat Monks sit openly and count their money in front of passing peasants with growling stomachs. Is that really what Siddhartha preached to? In one Monetary I saw seven relatively young Monks kept and fed by twenty or more elderly people cooking for them, cleaning and helping them. It was hard for me to watch.

- Today’s Monks are officially appointed by the Chinese government and earn a monthly salary (in addition to donations from passersby). Before the Chinese took over Tibet, it was different: each family could have sent their smart boys or girls to the Monastery to get education and some of them later become Monks. Today when youngsters reach about twenty years of age they may apply to the government to get a certifications for Monkhood, if the government allow, and the candidates proves sufficient understanding of the scriptures they may enter the Monastery. Monks become the richer, educated elite, get monthly salaries and when they wish to leave the Monastery, they can get married and continue with their lives. A couple of years at a Monastery and a Monk can buy himself a nice house in Lhasa with toilet and running hot water, for the rest it may take twenty years to earn that much, if ever. You see Monks talking on cellular phones, have TV in their quarters, listen to western music and even drink beer after the Monastery shuts down at 6pm. In Shigatse I saw an old lady walking with a stick being help by a beautiful young girl, it was apparent that both came from far away to give their few Yuan, the young Monks were playing around them, shouting, pushing each other around more like Monkeys than Monks and paid no attention to the poor. I suspect, that even if the Buddha was walking among them they wouldn’t have noticed. We are all human, it is not that Rabbis, Priests or Imams act any better – but from the picture I had in mind, based on the movies and information received in the West – I expected them to act more spiritually. 

- When the Dalai Lama fled back in 1959, he was accompanied by the best and finest of the Tibetan elite, those who did not flee with him joined him later in Dharamsala. The people in Dharamsala, some of them second and third generations are not part of Tibet today. Their language evolved differently, their customs. They are now shepherds without the sheep.  When the Dalai Lama fled with the educated core they escaped the dilemma of immediate death vs bowing to the Chinese government, but paid with slow decay of their society. Tibet society today is diluted, step-by-step immersed in the great Chinese empire. History will judge.

There are two sides to every coin. The Chinese have spent billions of USD, and still continue the construction of roads in Tibet. Routes that used to take weeks, now take hours on newly paved roads. Construction work is everywhere. Cellular reception at distant areas is better in some cases than AT&T coverage in NY City. Food from Mainland China is being imported, electric facilities are being built, there are even Apple local resellers in Lhasa, iPad2 is a big thing!

Tibetan people are not always appreciative, they want to go back, but go back to what? Would any of them really give up cellular phones? Stop riding 4WD on paved roads and go back to riding Yaks on the hills? It’s hard to reverse progress.

Chinese try to portray how happy Tibetan life is. While at the other hand they do everything in their power to assimilate the population. Average salary in Tibet is still way lower than Mainland China. Even in Lhasa most houses don’t have running hot water or toilets. Tibetans are totally dependent on Chinese Medicine, the government subsidies Alcohol and smokes. A pack of smokes cost 5 Yuan, that’s less than $1 per pack… Beer is around $1. Tibetans smoke their brains out, and when workday ends soak their lives in Lhasa Beer, because it’s cheap and accessible. This is not the moral way to make people happy, it is a way to make them forget and pass away… A conqueror is a conqueror – Tibetan people may smile, but their soul is not.

China needs Tibet first of all for the country richest – Minerals. There are more than 126 identified minerals in Tibet from uranium to iron, gold, copper, oil and gas. Tibet is one huge mine, and it will be very difficult for China to give this up.

The Exiled Tibetan government’s strategy was to try to convince the world to pressure China into releasing Tibet. If that did not work twenty years ago, why would it work now? Every schoolboy knows about the Dalai Lama, with numerous books and Hollywood films -  but what’s next? It is unlikely that China can give up their hold on Tibet. Not after investing so much money, and not after having more Chinese than Tibetans living on those hills. US and EU first look after their financial interest in China. They won’t piss off the Dragon for few Tibetans.

Tibet should remember that the fifth Dalai Lama received respect and rule over Tibet from Mongolia and not from the UN. I can only hope, albeit maybe naively, that both governments can find the Middle Way directly and avoid further suffering.  otherwise I’m afraid that few generations down the road what I saw in those twenty days will end up as pictures in a museum not the vibrant culture Tibet is.

As for me…

I reached Lhasa by a train that travels for 24 hrs and reaches the highest elevation on earth. I climbed and trekked,  met interesting people, learned about Buddhism and Tibetan culture. I learned to let go and do nothing. I lost 5Kg in less than three weeks and found out my body acclaims very well to heights.  I traveled ten days with unique group of individuals.  We saw the sacred lake, Mt. Kailash, the place where dead children were fed to the fish and dead man fed to the eagles. We climbed Guge Kingdom and crawled in the caves. We’ve seen sunrises and sunsets.  I’ve spoken to the Female Buddha of Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) and visited the meditation cave of the Famous Samboha . I saw the end of the earth. I completed what I set to do.

Big thanks to Shan for setting up the group and handling the logistics. Special thanks Xiao-Ya who traveled with me most of the way. She does not speak a word of English and I don’t speak Chinese but she’s one of the purest people I met and showed me the real essence of Buddhism by actions and not words.  Thanks to the team for the memorable celebration – I’ll never forget that.  To my best friends Joe and Akiko for hosting me in Beijing and sending me on one of the most interesting trip of my life. Special thanks for those who stayed behind and made this possible. Thank you all very much.

There’s a lot more, but that will suffice for now.

Amichay

The first start-up company I was part of was back in ‘98; the idea came few months before I was ‘honorably discharged’ from the IDF.  The endeavor was to develop a hand help device that will replace a book, allowing users to download content off a web-based storefront. Funny thing is that I was never much of a gadget person, and was very late to owning a cell phone. I made most of my calls from the Base public pay phone, and the concept of walking around with a ‘phone’ seemed quite strange at the time.  It was fun and very creating project encompassing software, hardware, and product design & engineering, web store, PC device connectivity and what have you.

CyBook miserably failed for various reasons, but the prototype we developed was not very far from Amazon Kindle that came good ten years later after CyBook returned it’s soul to the start-up heavens. I’ve been keeping an eye on the electronic book industry since than.

One of the things I realized somewhere in the middle of that venture is that Paper is a darn good piece of technology. A Chinese named Ts’ai Lun invented paper around 104 AD, but paper said to have existed in China since the 2^nd century BC. Paper is thin, flexible, tangible, crispy, smelly, and colorful. Paper has ‘presence’… You can write you own ‘user-generated-content’ on paper, print on it in color, double sided, formatted as newspaper, and articles. Not to mention that binding papers into a book used to be an art on its own.

You think electronic books are better for the environment? Think again: paper is recyclable, and several of treeless paper materials are in wide use today. Electronic Book require charging hence increase energy consumption, the devices radiate, and the materials they are made of are bad for you and bad for the environment. Tree-less paper fibers are a lot better for the environment, but not perceived as ‘sexy’ in the modern iPad age.

I love reading books, all kinds of books, but I’m far from being a technophobe. I strongly believe though, that we should be cautions about our electronic consumption habits and understand that an ‘overdose’ of technology is bad, and understand where to draw the limits. Technology should serve a good purpose and need, using a ‘trendy’ device that you don’t really have to use is just waste of energy.

For me, there is no real reason to buy a book on a Kindle (or similar source) vs. buying one in store. I know that maybe content is more ‘accessible’ this way, but I can wait few weeks (worse case) to get a book delivered to me, if it’s none existent in a near-by store. Not to mention that a visit to a bookstore is always an experience for me, and I’m willing to spend few extra $$ for that.

I do see reasons for electronic consumption of books, publishing a book requires a lot of money and makes economic sense on wide distribution only, content that fits a small audience makes sense to be consumed electronically (nobody will ever publish my blog for example…). Electronic consumption is great for academic usage, or when browsing for technical information. It has its uses and it has it’s place, but for entertainment or leisure? That’s over technology for me… I can easily see electronic content as an extension to printed materials, providing more background, references and discussions, but do we really need to replace a printed paperback novel with an electronic book? Why?

I think my major dislike is that electronic books try to imitate printed books, and I dont much see added value in them. I think this might be a wrong approach, even though it seems to be quite successful economically. Electronic books should be something else; they have the power to take the reading experience to the next level, but not in display technology but in knowledge structure terms. Think of an electronic book that adjusts the story telling to fit its reader’s preferences? Language? Age? Background? Think of the art of literature transcending beyond linguistics to the art of metaphysical descriptions and ideation? Thinking of writing as a form of creating ideas, building worlds, interactions, relationships and ‘print’ is only one ‘view’ of this imaginary world?

For me,  this concept was first create by Neal Stephenson is one of his earlier books ‘The Diamond Age“,  where Stephenson described an electronic book-like device that grows and protects the person it grows with.

Until such devices exist, I think I’ll stick with my old reading habits. Let me sign off for now and get back to the novel I left for writing these lines…

Amichay

I’ve never been a theoretician of processes, and always believed in intuitive approach to getting things done, but recent establishment of Innovation Process had me take a step back and do some thinking. There are a lot of creative people in our industry, but not all companies register as innovative. At the same time, a lot has been written and said about Innovation by better and greater than me. In this post I try to crystallize three points, which in my mind are obstacles when transforming an organization into an innovator. Comments are welcome…

#1 – Feel the Pain

Anyone going through “Start-up 101” knows that first step in forming any solution is identifying the pain to be addressed. But that’s trivial. My point is different: pain should be felt in the organization in order to drive innovation. It’s not by chance that a lot of the most timeless, unique creations through history were done by artist in pain; either physical or mental. When an organization has its belly full, there’s no real need to innovate. In my mind, having a large group of people working on innovation, with limitless resources is no more than a group of people trying to fill their workdays. Innovation should be done in small teams, short on resources, limited on time with lots of passion. Innovation organizations need to be hungry.

Israel is considered as a place with impressive amount of innovation per capita, but many don’t understand where it comes from. Innovation might be rooted in our culture, but it’s not something we do, it necessity to survive in a hostile environment. Just throw couple of guys in a hot dessert with short supplies: if they don’t innovate they won’t walk out of there. Give us enough resources and time, and it becomes a disaster (don’t believe me? read a local newspaper) .

#2 – Independent decision making

Innovation for sake of innovation is no more than an academic exercise. The tipping point is when the organization needs to make the decision if to take an innovative idea / concept / product into the mainstream. That decision point is somewhat of a dichotomy, executives have a lot on their minds: tons of emails to handle, board members who hassle them, fires to put down, annual objectives to met and what have you. Now go convince them your innovative idea is the next big thing. Good luck. It’s nearly inhuman to ask bandwidth to make a decision on something new under those conditions. Three ways around this, if you’re in an organization lead by an inhuman person – you’re lucky. But just before you move to the next point, might want think if you’d like to work for an organization run by an inhuman person..that normally backfires in other alleys.

Some organizations make innovation their core business and by-pass this, well actually only one organization really does that, but he’s now on a medical leave.

So for the rest of us, we need to get to a point where the organization let us make independent decisions that does not need to go through all the approval processes. When that happens though, and you’re out there independent (and hungry) its now up to you – nobody to roll your faults on – just make sure to get an extra pack of big balls.

#3 – Failure is not an option, but it will always happen

When you go through all that, and you’re sure your innovative product that finally got a chance, is going to be the next big thing, keep in mind that you’re likely to fail. Statistics. That’s the point to put on that extra pack from the previous point. However, the possibility to fail should not deter you; just keep you sharp and focused. Never be afraid of failure, and most important, once you fail – don’t be afraid to push with same vigor on the next idea. Why? Because eventually, you will be successful: Statistics.

Best,

Amichay

Yesterday we’ve completed the setup of Vonage offices in Israel. When writing these lines I’m sitting on a high chair, overlooking the park and the Mediterranean Sea from the top floor of the Gamla Project. Behind me sits a very talented group of people , focused on creating new product(s), innovating and expressing themselves. Unlike past experiences I don’t need to look back to make sure it’s case – and that’s probably part of the learning experiences of the past months.

No doubt we have the best location, designed and equipped office in our area. Starting fresh is not easy, getting the office setup and hiring the right people is a long and tedious task – but rewarding once completed. Yet, it’s not about cool offices, getting fibers, video room or state-of-the-art equipment – It’s the DNA, the atmosphere – the people. Last week while witnessing the collaboration between the teams in Israel and US it dawned on me that we’re on the right track – the synergy, the assistance and above all the positive energy focused on creating regardless of titles, location, nationality or personal aspirations is what makes it different. It’s pure, and above all I’m happy with the R&D management we now have in place at both locations : mature, experienced, smart, innovative and co-operative. Management that doesn’t escalate but able to resolve issues and help each other, execute, mitigate stress and that’s my personal growth; learning from past mistakes.

At the same time I’m grateful for the support we got from upper management in getting to this point, the credit and leeway we received.

But we’re only starting and it is now time to execute. We have new targets, processes and all it takes to succeed – it’s now in our hands : success or failure is ours. I still have few heros on my shortlist to hire, more capacity to build and optimize, but that work never ends.

The engine is warm – now let’s have some fun

Amichay

I left JAJAH  late January after four interesting years. I still have some friends in JAJAH (I think) and some which are not anymore (pretty sure). I recently saw some posts about JAJAH launching services with O2. I am glad that the integration of JAJAH services and technology into O2 is progressing well. I think that JAJAH impact on O2 services may go way beyond what is currently implemented, and I guess this will be figured out sooner or later. I am very curios to see the long lasting impact on a small technology company on a large mobile operator, if this works well, it will resonate through out the mobile industry. Disruption from the inside, pretty nice, hope the guys understand this mission.

It took me several long month to join Vonage, which were not simple in many aspects. During this time I was involved with two start-up companies Karaboo (that will launch a new cool version in the next few days) and Talkatives (that took life of it’s own with a new CEO) . It’s hard to explain in words the ‘need’ to create, I don’t know how to express myself in singing, or dancing or painting, I can only do software products. It might be pompous, but for me software development and product creation is an Art. It’s not for money, it’s not for fame – it’s the need to express oneself…

At first I didn’t really think I’ll join Vonage, it took several long months for me to get to know the people. On the other hand, it also took a lot of time and convincing to get me into JAJAH in the first place. Maybe it just takes me time. I’m glad I jumped on that ship though. This is by far the most talented group of individuals I ever worked with. It’s kind of amazing how such a large group of talented people have gathered around from various places around the world with a joint missing to disrupt the communications industry. We released our first product last week TalkFree – which spreads like wild fire.  But this is only the beginning.

I’m fortunate to work for a company that gives the space and means to innovate and create without muddy politics and personal aspirations (and no, I’m not up to salary review any time soon…).

I moved from Purple (JAJAH) or Orange (Vonage). For me, Purple represents the boyhood, noisy, kick-ass approach JAJAH once had,  and Orange is the mature passion burning to give a new perspective on communications.

But let’s put things in perspective, we release products, as successful as they may be, but we are all just people, we came from the same place and end in a similar place, and there’s still a lot more in life…

The Internet is the most wonderful place invented in the past few years; it truly turns our world into an electronic village. More than anything else the Internet fosters communication: free communication accessible to everybody. But FREE communication comes with a hefty price: we pay with our privacy and quality of interaction. This price lurks in the shadows and creeps into our lives step by step, as if unnoticed.

Our teens grow into a hyper-communicated and exposed world where shallow communications are being broadcasted around the net to match a fictions face they want to present. If you talk with teens about this they wouldn’t even know what you’re talking about – mostly because they know no other way.

We understand why our emails, messages and communications are being scanned, it’s not for the Big Brother conspiracy, but rather to pay the operational costs and lubricate the share price to drive the industry into more innovations. Users (=we) demand FREE services, so communication providers resolve to advertisement… We ‘understand’ but we don’t agree…

PROJECT CODENAME “T  is about providing FREE communications without giving up our privacy or compromising on the quality of expression.

If you share our vision of  FREE communication without giving up privacy, and want to join the T revolution, leave your details here.

Amichay,

On behalf of PROJECT CODENAME “T”

More later…

This whole trip started some seven years ago. About the same time of the year 2002 Shani started to practice Capoeira , with Amarildo (a.k.a. Sapo). I made a promise to her than, that if she continues when she turns 12 I will go with her to Brazil. However, when she did turn 12 and still continue to train, Amarildo suggested to delay this in a year, since than he’ll be able to join too. And so we did.

When we set out to Arraial D’Ajuda in Bahia, Brazil it was not only Capoeira that I had in mind – it is also a rare opportunity for me to re-educate Shani on values that are dear to me: Keep an open mind to different culture, don’t criticize but observe and learn, see how people live on basics – little money, little technology, little possessions but big happiness, mutual respect and support – and live like they do, even for a short while. It also an opportunity for Shani to live with no so many rules and boundaries and learn to loosen up, go to the beach, enjoy the sea and just have fun without thinking so much like she normally does.

July 22nd – July 23rd : Arrival @ Arraial

For some obscure reason we decided to fly with EL-AL – that turned out to be a big mistake: The flight from Tel-Aviv to Sao Paulo was terrible : the airplane was much crowded, the food sucks, the on board entertainment system is outdated and worst of all is the service. It’s kind of turndown to fly for 15 hours with air stewardess that the sign ‘I deserve a better job’ is written all over their faces , it’s been years since I saw such an unprofessional service. We arrived at Porto Seguro at 5 Pm on July 23rd and Amarildo rushed us to the port to take a ferry to Arraial, I’m very thankful for Amarildo to show up, it would have been very difficult for us after this long day to find ourselves around without him. Amarildo arranged for us to stay at a local Pousada. Our room is Spartan but that’s all we need. Home away from home. We went for local home-made dinner before calling it a day. Kind of funny though, Amarildo explained to the restaurant owner that Shani is a vegetarian and does not eat meat, so the owner said “Ok, no problem, I’ll get her a chicken than”. The local cuisine is very good: lots of meet (cooked in various gravies, fried, and the famous Brazilian BBQ), but also rice with wide range of beans seasoned with local roots and fresh vegetables.

July 24th – First Capoeira trainings

We started the day with a walk to the beach and a breakfast from groceries with bought at a local store (including some special sweet bread).

At 10 AM Shani joined the first training session with the adult group lead by Mastre Railson at the Sul Da Bahia Capoeira Academy. Shani practiced till noon time, we rested some and got ready for the evening training and we called it a day. This all place is around Capoeira, training, clothing, instruments and partying. Seems like this place never sleeps and never stops, very energetic place.

July 25th – Trancoso, and first big Roda

We took a local bus to Trancoso, a very beautiful village some 50 minutes drive from Arraial. We walked from the beach to the city center and around the city, and took a break at a local coffee shop where Shani had a Passion Fruit Juice.

We got back, went to the beach and Amarildo caught up with us saying there’s a Roda at the Academy outside Arraial. We took a MotoTaxi (a Motorcycle Taxi, first time for Shani). We found ourselves outside Arraial, at a hard core poor area where kids practice instead of working the streets. There was one Roda inside the Academy, and one outside in the village center. The Brazilian kids were amazing. Amarildo & Shani also joined the Roda.

We than took a very bumpy bus drive back to Arraial, and went out for some drinks (Shani was not drinking..) and went to see a big Capoeira Show in the shopping Roda area. Actually Amarildo forgot all about it, and he did not join due to the consumed alcohol. It was a long show with lots of energy and it ended after 11 PM.

July 26th – Birenbau Workshop

We started the day with a nice breakfast and watching flowers and parrots in the Pousada garden and cleaning up our room.

We went to Amarildo friends for a Birenbau workshop in the outskirts of Arraial. Shani prepared her own Birenbau from Bimba wood, sharp knife and pieces of broken glass, the string to the Birenbau is taken by cutting strings from a car tire and polishing it. It took about 4 hour to build and tune a Birenbau, but it was a fun process and friend people.

I used the time to play some soccer with the kids and climb a tree (which is somewhat higher than what looks in the picture…)

Once the instruments were done, the group started playing and singing together.

(you can see Amarildo in the center)

One the way back Shani found a butterfly, Shani’s Caopeira name is Borboleta (which means butterfly in Portuguese).

At night we went out to the have some good food and fun in Arraial

July 27th – Day 1 – Capoeira Mundial …

The 4th ECONTRO MUNDIAL 2009 Capoeira Sul Da Bahia starts! the day begins with three hours of intensive training ending at group singing.

At the end of the first training session Mestre Railson gathered the group to finalize the 3 hours of first training with a group singing.

After a short break, the Capoeirists meet again for a two hour session of playing the Birenbau – this may sounds easy, but it’s far from being the case. Shani played on the Birenbau she made herself the day before:

I used the time to swim and walk the never ending beach Arraial

There is no idle moments in the Encontro and we learned that on day one, in between the sessions people just grab instruments and play informally, the below is just one example or Amarildo and Maxwell play:

At night the group meet again from 8 pm to 10pm for an open Roda with participation of several Mestres and gave a great Capoeira session starts with low Capoeira (Capoeira Angola) and continuing with high energy high games (which Shani joined as well).

Amarildo, Shani and I finished the day at a great local fish restaurant (which Shani did not appreciate much, but I did).

July 28th – Day 2 – Capoeira Mundial

Training continues at the same intensity as the day before, people already start to receive injuries mostly because the bodies are not used to the training or have been partying too long the night before (which is what people here are doing nearly every day..), Shani got a nice mark on her right eye too…

You can see Shani is still having fun despite the fatigue and injuries

After the training we went to a traditional Brazilian home cooking place went Amarildo and friends, Shani was very tried that day and went back to the Pousada to rest. Afternoon was Latin dancing which Shani decided not to attend followed by a Movie in Portuguese so Shani mostly rested we played some Billiard and went to the night training (8 pm – 10 pm) with Mestre Mao Branca who’s a third level Mestre which is highest in the world. I gave Shani some sips of black coffee before the training and she was full energized.

Somewhere in the middle Mestre Mao Branca made an impressive entrance and took over the playing, with already 3 more Mestres this turned into a world class show. It was so intensive and interesting that I forgot to take pictures …

July 29th – Day 3 – Capoeira Mundial

The day started with a lot of energy and training

After the training Amarildo took us to eat Acai, which is a protein rich drink that people eat here before and after training to revitalize. Acai is  rich with Vitamins and  Fibers (and some other stuff I better not think about).  We than went to a Pitinga beach (which is about an hour walking each way) for Capoerista gathering at the beach. On the way Amarildo showed us places he played in as a child and explained how much Arraial has changed in recent year. We first went swimming, but the gathering soon turned into acrobatics show off…

Amarildo was a big star on the beach, from playing football to saltos and ending up with nearly 20 continues back flips..

At first Shani was very much opposing Acai, but since she tried it once it was hard to get her disconnected. One the way back we have to stop for Picolo Acai too… This is how Shani looks like after 3 hours of training, 3 hours of walking on the beach and swimming…

The afternoon started with a lecture on Capoeira history and origins

As you can see people where thrilled and highly interested in the lecture:

After the lecture there was an open Hoda, and Shani played a lot and played well too

A 12 year old from the US joined as well, and it gave Shani extra energy to work hard and participate. After training we (Shani from practicing, and me from watching…) were staved and went for a big Pizza…

July 30th – Day 4 – Capoeira Mundial

We started the day with a nice breakfast

Followed by yet another day of intensive training, she trained hard on two different workshops

After the training session and lunch Shani went to rest and I went to swim in Patinga beach (about an hour walk each way)

The afternoon session was a Capoeira competition which Shani was not allowed to join though she had a good chance against some of the contestants.

The competition attracted a lot of energy and attention and was a very fun event. The below video is a dance performed during the fights by the US team, cheering up each other. I think the competitions were very successful and it showed how the contestants improve from one fight to another.

The competition end late at night, we took a break in the middle and returned to the same fish restaurant we had dinner the other day with Amarildo.

July 31th – Day 5 – Capoeira Mundial

I must confess that the change in Shani is much more rapid than I anticipated. She is has been growing stronger by the day, aside the evident improvement to her Capoeira, her self confidence improved, she allows herself to do more things, she’s getting a long with everybody, our basic life style does not bother her and she’s genuinely happy and having fun (though I still think she does not realize she’s actually in Brazil…).

Shani practices hard, she’s actually one of the only participants that actually join all training sessions, while people here tend to party all night, she goes to bed around 10 PM reading a book so she can be up early morning for training (although I gave her opportunities to go out later, she’s rather read and rest for training). Shani is getting a long very well with people more than twice her age, one of the main reasons is that she is showing a lot of sensitivity and understand when to push and when to take a step back. I’m very proud of her.

My day here starts and doing laundry

Than it continues with buying and preparing breakfast, waking up Shani (which is NEVER easy) and checking on things at work. In the mean time Shani is enjoying intensive training, you can also see her talking to her sisters which are at the time traveling in Italy

Amarildo has been sick for the past couple of days, he’s specially upset since this causes him to miss the first competition event, as you can see, he is in no shape to compete…

Shani is resting after the day’s training, note she has blisters all over her feet, her muscles are tired but she will not quick, part of it is the fact that Amarildo is encouraging her to train harder and stronger, and the effects are quite evident.

Before the day’s competition and finals we went to do some shopping, Shani seems to enjoy this activity . The competitions were really good, France and Chile did well but Brazil won in most events (at time with the assistance of the judges …), it’s interesting to see that when Brazilians play there’s always a smile on their face (btw, also on Shani’s face), but with the French its mostly competition and winning. It was a good events, with lots of energy – this is the future of Capoeira.

August 1st – Day 6 – Capoeira Mundial

I spent the entire morning in Portu Seguro trying to fix our flights. It seems like we’ll have to fly to Salvador and catch the flight back from there, this is somewhat unexpected and also quite expensive. In the mean time Shani was doing two practices with two old Mesteres whom apparently still got it. Afterwards Amarildo (who’s now a lot better), Shani and I went to Sao Joao, a great fish restaurant and probably the best meal we had in Arraial till that point. We spoke on how badly foreigners are treated in Israel and Amarildo shared with us his experiences with the notorious ‘Immigration Police’ and the injustice around it in Israel. After the late lunch it was already time to get ready for the 2009 Batizado – where Amarildo was getting his Professor belt. He was very excited and tensed before the event. The Batizado started at 5pm and ended after 11pm, it lots of energy and good games

Shani was a little upset for not getting the first belt for adults (though seeing some of those who did get the green belt I can say she’s not lesser than them, yet I think it’s not a bad idea for her to train more – better to get a belt later and earlier I think).

There were quite a few shows, magic and dances as well as Mesteres plays during the Batizado which was well organized.

After the event Shani was taking everybody’s pictures with Meital’s camera (ours run out of battery…), followed by a late but good dinner at Manguti which ended around 2pm and we called it a day…

August 2nd – Day 7 – Capoeira Mundial

This was the last day of the Mundial, which consistent mostly of a beach party and people saying their goodbyes. We spent the day at the beach, followed by the gateway party on Pitinga beach and started packing our stuff for the way back.

August 3rd – Goodbye Arraial

That’s it, time to leave and say goodbye to Arraial d’ajude. Looking at Shani now, I think my work here is done…

Recent moves and announcements by Google, can’t stop me from wandering if there’s some (dark, or not, that’s for you to decide) plan in Google’s cellars to take over the world. While Google as a software monster makes measured steps in releasing software, it does seem to be there’s a bigger plan behind recent moves with the aim of providing a web based, ‘network computer’ like solution and take over as a major application provider. Some may see this as a Google Operating System, but I think it might not be exactly that:

1. Google release Chrome, a web browser with optimizations to various Intel platforms.

2. Google release of Google Gear for Firefox & IE. Google Gear is an infrastructure allowing local caching of web applications. This technology allows web based applications to work even when disconnected. It also means that if you’re working on a mobile environment with in unstable network connection you might still be able to run your apps smoothly. This was a central barrier in the past for the ‘Network Computer’ revolution.

3. Google Application engine – I actually wrote a blog post on that and Google’s move into Web based OS about a year ago you can check it out here.

4. Google Wave – Google released a preview of Google Wave, Google Wave is a web based communications tool combing emails, IM and VOIP.

5. Google Voice – A solution for a single number plus advanced telephony services, also moving into Android.

Now try tying all ends together and you get a web based application server, with lots of web based utility tools providing emails, IM and other communication tools running asynchronously on top any browser, either desktop or mobile. What else do you need? Just run any browser, on any device and get all your applications running either locally or remotely with all your data and productivity tools. Add to that the fact that Google actually started by providing a web based Office-like solutions before providing a search engine you can see where all that is heading.

The impact on Microsoft in this case might be devastating, by pulling more a more developers towards Google, providing web based disconnected productivity tools, and given Android as a potential OS for Mobile it leaves MS OS as an empty shell – not to mention MS investment in the new office suite.

However, keep in mind that the last guys who tried to take on the world were Pinky and the Brain, and see how well this turned out for them:

 

Amichay

My daughter is in  the 7th grade, and her class is part of a special studying project called KATOM (orange in Hebrew). This project started few years ago by the Weizmann Institute of Science – if you can read Hebrew you can follow this link for more information.

Students in the KATOM project receive a laptop (in my daughter’s case it’s a 13” HP Laptop). The laptops are partly subsidized by Weizmann Institute of Science, in part by the local municipality and in part by the parents. Annual cost per student for the parents is around USD 200. Aside laptops for students, the school perimeters are equipped with a wire-less network, each class as a projector device and teachers carry laptops as well. Instead of writing on the blackboard, teachers step into class with a well prepared presentation. Students submit their homework via the net, and become proficient with MS Office tools, Wiki, blogging, IM and more.  ‘Goggling’ during class turns students into net-citizens instead of memorizing things by heart.

As part of science studies, a group of students (including my daughter) had to do science project on Israel’s Water Problem, as Internet Savvy users they created an amazing video clip to explain the problem and their suggested solution.

You can watch the link to the video here, and are most than welcome to put in your vote.

Just watch what 12 year olds who care can do, boy am I proud!

Amichay