IP: Singapore Diary #1

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

First let me encourage IPers to read the PITAC  report. It is available at http://www.ccic.gov/ac 

As old IPers know, when I go on a trip, often I send out a series of reports. I am now in Singapore where I will give a 
Keynote at the Apricot conference, visit some laboratories and  attend the ICANN "open meeting" (with Grey ribbon on).

I arrived in Singapore after the usual exhausting flight from PHL compounded by an initial screw up in United 
reservations; the cancellation of our flight from PHL to LAX (cracked windshield)  and a heroic rescue  by the Red 
Carpet folk at PHL.  Anyway we got here. Weather is hot 88 degrees daytime and 78 night. The hotel  -- the Marina 
Mandarin  is very nice and comfortable

As usual we started overeating especially since this is the end of Chinese New Years and the food is very good.. 

Yesterday   Meng Wang ,one of my UPenn  "former" students,  and Mark Laubach of Com21 -- also a "former" studnet, went 
to  the sim lim  computer building -- wild. The place had several floors of part, systems, peripherals and most 
interesting endless shops of pirated software. They sold for usually $8 each -- 3 for $18 and that is Singapore 
dollars. Not as clean and cool as Hong Kongs area but wild. 

Office 2000, Red Hat 5.2, MP3 CD rip offs and endless ripped off CD Videos of movies   -- you name it. as we were 
walking by the shops suddenly the metal doors banged closed -- all of them in all the software shops. The SG Army must 
have trained the shopkeepers in rapid deployment. The guards at the main doors had telephoned one shop that there were 
police arriving  and it relayed faster than the speed of light. Seems the SG police occasionally raid the shops when 
pressured by the Software Manufactures organizations  , raid and arrest the employees of one of the shops. The 
employees spend 3 months in jail at salary and the stores stay closed a few days -- then back to normal. The profits 
are high enough to make it make sense. 

As I said wild and we were lucky to see it happen. We went there to try to find some USB PC serial units that work with 
the RIO - no luck to date. 

Side comment -- Also I wish my new Pilot V could synch with my IR port on my Sony -- it CANNOT -- no Pilot software

Today, Sunday is relaxing and meeting family and Ivan Tam -- on eof my "former" students.

More latter

Dave

ps, we leave SG early Friday (local time) for LAX. For IPers in SG or attending Apricot, give me a ring and lets try to 
meet. My cell phone here is 96856393 till late Thursday evening.