The Two Million Minutes Blog

China Has Last Laugh at World Cup Soccer

The Chinese National Soccer team ostensibly failed to qualify for the World Cup.

But sources close to the team insinuate that they intentionally did not make the cut due to knowledge of what lay ahead; to wit, that Chinese manufacturers would dump over 1,000,000 vuvuzelas on to the market in South Africa.

 

 

Yes, those annoying plastic horns that drone only a single irritating note at 127 decibels are - Made in China. 

More precisely, they are produced in "The City of Toys" - Chenghai, China.

This city boasts over 3,000 toy factories and is arguably the center of global toy manufacturing. From the fertile minds and adroit manufacturers of Chenghai sprang the plastic, low-cost vuvuzela. 

Originally developed on the African continent to drive away wild baboons, the modern equivalent has served to drive away all but the most ardent soccer fans. 

Despite many major sporting events now banning the vuvuzela (e.g. - Wimbledon), the market for these despicable horns is expected to increase globally. The Chinese government has already approved vuvuzelas for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou - giving local companies one more leg up in dominating this industry.

"The exposure at the World Cup will expand the market," stated Chen, who was unwilling to provide his full name for fear of soccer fan reprisals, "I can see vuvuzelas at every sporting event - particualrly at American college and high school sporting events where annoyance and irritation, mixed with alcohol, are points of pride."

The vuvuzela is but one more example of technology innovation in one region - in this case Africa - being copied and mass produced in China. Like so many products before it, the vuvuzela market has been ceded to the manufacturing might of China.

Update From Beijing

I'm in Beijing right now, on my way to Mongolia. You can follow my Mongolia travels at www.bobcompton.typepad.com/mongolia

Scanning the business section of the newspaper, China Daily, I noticed a few interesting items:

Fund to Aid Patenting of Inventions - from Liaoning (far northeast China)

"Provincial authorities are aiming to strengthen local industries by helping fund the patent application process. The focus is primarily directed at smaller enterprises with a technological edge that can be protected. Roughly $3 million has been used to support the filing of nearly 20,000 patents in the province over the past 4 years."

Intellectual Property Expo in Confucius' Hometown - from Qufu (northeast China)

"The 10th Annual China Patent High-Tech Product Expo was held June 23 - June 26, 2010, in Qufu. Over 600 universities, research centers and high-tech companies were represented. The 3-day event highlighted patented technologies in renewable energy, advanced materials, medical products and information technology.

In addition to the technological innovations, a series of forums were held on capital markets and start-up companies and a job fair was conducted to introduce engineers and scientists to emerging high-tech companies."

Tencent Ranks #3 Among Global High-Tech Companies - from Guangdong (southern China)

"Developer of the widely used online instant messaging software, QQ, this Shenzhen-based internet company was ranked #3 in the world by Business Weekly. BYD and Apple Computer were the only companies ahead of Tencent, Inc.

More than 60% of Tencent's employees are in Research & Development. The company has applied for 2,800 patents and has already seen 689 patents granted. The company's IP portfolio centers on Internet security, data mining, peer-to-peer computing and multi-media applications."

Broward Teachers Union holds firm: Seniority outweighs student achievement

The Teachers Unions are fighting school improvement at every level - Federal, State and Local. The Union has 3.5 million educators as members and those teachers pour over $300 million per year into the Teachers' Union War Chest.

With ample financial resources and a loyal cadre of "foot soldiers" in the 3.5 million teachers, the Union is willing to block, impede or derail improvements in education at every turn.

The Union's job is to "protect and serve" their dues paying members - i.e. - NOT to care for or about our children!

So, in Broward County, Florida, the Teachers Union is fighting this:

The Broward school district in April asked for flexibility in placing teachers at the three schools academically ranked in the bottom 5 percent statewide.

It would have applied only to about 12 of the 568 teachers who received layoff notices as the district grapples with a $130 million budget gap.

The Union reaction to this reasonable request to help children get a decent education:

Hell No. "There are no provisions to exclude schools or specific positions in schools based on the achievement level of their students,'' the union wrote to the district. 

"The procedures contained in the contract . . . should be observed.''

Anyone who believes the Union propaganda that they desire a better education for your children should pay attention to the Union's actions, not their words.

More on this story.

Dewey, Cheatham & Howe - Law School 2010

Whereas, law students are struggling to find jobs in this economy, and

Whereas, most law students have spent $150,000 to attain their law degrees, and

Whereas, Law Schools are a business that need a steady stream of paying, happy customers, and

Whereas, Loyola Law School just increased every students' GPA by 13%, and

Whereas, their reason was "to make students look more attractive in a competitive job market,"  

Therefore, all law schools are changing, dropping or distorting GPA's and other academic achievements under the precedent that "everyone's doing it - even Harvard and Yale,"

Therefore, Graduate Law Schools of America have discovered what the K-12 public schools in the U.S. learned decades ago, to wit:

Inflating grades make students happier, parents happier and, if everyone does it, employers will not be able to ascertain which graduates have superior capabilities.

In the legal profession, this is viewed as a WIN-WIN. Next logical step - take all grades to "A's" - what could be better than to show that all of your graduates are not just above average, but intellectually perfect.

Moreover, the firm's clients will be none the wiser that the caliber of lawyer they hire in the future, in fact, landed their job by being the "Cheatham" in the firm of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, LLC.

"Well, the Chinese leaders, they try to do things by thinking big."

A great NPR segment on the rapidly advancing technology hub in Dalian, China. Just across the Yellow Sea from Korea, Dalian is becoming a center of software and computer animation research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

 

"About a dozen years ago, the government created the Dalian Software Park to serve as an innovation center. The park is just huge. It covers several square miles and it blends classrooms with office buildings. They're occupied by hundreds of foreign companies. 

There are research facilities, apartments, bilingual grade schools, restaurants, recreation facilities - all the ingredients that you'd need to attract the best students, the professors, workers, all kinds of deep thinkers from around China and, really, from all over the world."

Can the Chinese move from copying great products to creating them? With a very long view, enormous amounts of capital, an outstanding K-12 education system and thousands of overseas Chinese migrating back...I'd bet money we'll see a lot of Chinese-inspired innovation in the years ahead.