My existence in the virtual world

Quelles interpellations m’ont préoccupé ce dimanche à la messe ?

Dans son homélie, le célébrant en référence à l’évangile parle des difficultés pour les contemporains de Jésus de le connaître.

« D’où cela lui vient-il ? Quelle est cette sagesse qui lui a été donnée, et ces grands miracles qui se réalisent par ses mains ?
N’est-il pas le charpentier, le fils de Marie, et le frère de Jacques, de José, de Jude et de Simon ? Ses soeurs ne sont-elles pas ici chez nous ? » Et ils étaient profondément choqués à cause de lui.
Jésus leur disait : « Un prophète n’est méprisé que dans son pays, sa famille et sa propre maison. »

Marc 6 1-6

Celui que tout le village a toujours connu, serait un grand prophète qui accomplit des miracles! Ce n’est pas compréhensible.

En effet la dualité de Dieu et l’homme, Dieu fait homme, Incarnation reste jusqu’à ce jour difficile à comprendre. Comment le créateur peut être en même temps la créature? Mieux connaître Jésus serait il d’être éclairé sur la complexité de cette dualité ? Le Créateur qui par amour, pour être exemple, se fait humblement homme pour nous ouvrir la voie de la rédemption. IL se présente comme modèle à suivre en frère tout en étant notre Dieu.

La pédagogie de Jésus, poursuit le célébrant, a deux composants : annonce de la bonne nouvelle et accomplissement des signes par des miracles. Par cette pédagogie, Jésus nous invite à une relation intime avec lui. Les contemporains de Jésus sont attirés par les signes mais sont peu sensibles à la bonne nouvelle. Voir l’invisible message du Christ derrière les faits. Jésus nous parle à chaque instant dans nos faits de vie mais nous ne le voyons pas ou nous ne l’entendons pas. Je souhaite que l’exercice de réflexion dominicale que je m’efforce de faire et l’écriture de mes interpellations m’aideront à construire cette relation avec Dieu.

Le cantique chanté à l’offertoire a eu une résonance extraordinaire ce matin. Je l’ai chanté moult fois !

« Tout un chemin pour te chercher, toute ma vie pour te chanter, chaque matin s’émerveiller de se savoir aimer »

Voila, j’ai trouvé le cadeau de ce dimanche. J’étais saisi d’émotion. « se savoir aimer » a pris une dimension si grande à cet instant. Jésus me fait réaliser que Lui et tout mon entourage ne cesse de m’aimer. Est ce que je suis conscient de cet amour gratuit qui me tombe du ciel? Jésus m’aime d un amour inconditionnel et pour l’éternité. Qui m’a donné la vie ? Mes parents diront les hommes mais, sans ce cadeau de l’amour de Dieu, serait il possible ? Qui fait ce que je suis aujourd’hui ? Vivant et plein d énergie, aimant mon prochain, je le suis grâce encore à ce cadeau de l’amour gratuit de LUI.

Je suis créature pour m’abreuver de cet amour gratuit et inconditionnel de LUI et pour être le reflet de ce don d’amour pour les autres. A penser à ce don d’amour, « se savoir aimer » j étais pour un bref instant comblé et au paradis.

Bon Dimanche a Tous

Who is he and who & why should One know him?

Paul Graham is an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer. In 1995 he developed with Robert Morris the first web-based application, Viaweb, which was acquired by Yahoo in 1998. In 2002 he described a simple Bayesian spam filter that inspired most current filters. He’s currently working on a new programming language called Arc, a new book on startups, and is one of the partners in Y Combinator.

Paul is the author of On Lisp (Prentice Hall, 1993), ANSI Common Lisp (Prentice Hall, 1995), and Hackers & Painters (O’Reilly, 2004). He has an AB from Cornell and a PhD in Computer Science from Harvard, and studied painting at RISD and the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence.

Paul’s ideas are published in Essays on his web site could help us to think and learn how to build our Cyber based development in Mauritius. I wish that we Mauritian specially Academia, Politicians, Government authorities, Entrepreneurs, Businessmen would be inspired by his writings to map out our model of development.

Paul’s dual track of Philosophy & Arts and Computer science educational back ground gives him insights which resulted in unbelievable achievement.

Of particular interest to me is his essay :HOW TO BE SILICON VALLEY http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html

In short, Silicon Valley (SV) happened at the confluences of various factors and absence of other factors.

Learning about the factors will help us model our own.

The founding and creating element of a technology hub lies in two essential types of people: Rich People and Nerds.

No Bureaucrats

Bureaucrats by their nature are the exact opposite sort of people from startup investors.

Not Buildings

But it’s the people that make it Silicon Valley, not the buildings.

Universities

So if you want to make a silicon valley, you not only need a university, but one of the top handfuls in the world.

So if you managed to recruit, en masse, a significant number of the best young researchers, you could create a first-rate university from nothing overnight. And you could do that for surprisingly little.

Personality

It has to be a place where investors want to live, and students want to stay after they graduate.

There has been a lot written lately about the “creative class.” The thesis seems to be that as wealth derives increasingly from ideas; cities will prosper only if they attract those who have them.

What exactly is personality? I think it’s the feeling that each building is the work of a distinct group of people. A town with personality is one that doesn’t feel mass-produced. So if you want to make a startup hub– or any town to attract the “creative class”– you probably have to ban large development projects. When a large tract has been developed by a single organization, you can always tell.

Nerds Attraction

If you want to attract nerds, you need more than a town with personality. You need a town with the right personality. Nerds are a distinct subset of the creative class, with different tastes from the rest.

What nerds like is the kind of town where people walk around smiling.

Most nerds like quieter pleasures. They like cafes instead of clubs; used bookshops instead of fashionable clothing shops; hiking instead of dancing; sunlight instead of tall buildings.

Youth

It’s the young nerds who start startups, so it’s those specifically the city has to appeal to. The startup hubs in the US are all young-feeling towns. This doesn’t mean they have to be new. Cambridge has the oldest town plan in America, but it feels young because it’s full of students.

Time

That has two important implications. The first is that you need time to grow a silicon valley. The university you could create in a couple years, but the startup community around it has to grow organically. The cycle time is limited by the time it takes a company to succeed, which probably averages about five years.

Competing

One of Silicon Valley’s biggest advantages is its venture capital firms.

Does the impetus given by the spirit of the new Budget speech encourage the creation of a technology hub?

What are the gaps to be bridged?

Too much Bureaucracy! The battle to wage against the heavy bureaucracy has been ordered.

How will it be fought successfully?

We need infrastructure. High speed internet connections at competitive costs have to be available. More importantly we need to attract Nerds or brains and set them in right environment.

We have the youth and need to get them at university level.

Where are the venture capital firms? How long have we got to wait?

You will be glad to know that of the list of selected words, I have chosen to sense the essence of our minister’s speech, the word NEW was said 65 times, INVEST* 65 times, EMPLOY* 59 times, JOB 41 times, DEVELOP*37 times, SME 32 times, SKILL 24 times and ENTREPRENEUR 24 times.

Who is an entrepreneur? Where do the terms come from?

Lucky us Mauritian for being bi-lingual. Our French vibes might give us a better understanding of the word.

I quote the world business guru, Peter Drucker:

“The entrepreneur,” said the French economist J. B. Say around 1800, “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” But Say’s definition does not tell us who this “entrepreneur” is. And since Say coined the term almost two hundred years ago, there has been total confusion over the definitions of “entrepreneur” and “entrepreneurship.”

WIKIPEDIA gives:

An entrepreneur (a loanword from French) is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture, and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.

Most commonly, the term entrepreneur applies to someone who establishes a new entity to offer a new or existing product or service into a new or existing market, whether for a profit or not-for-profit outcome (see entredonneur).

Business entrepreneurs often have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and are willing to accept a high level of personal, professional, or financial risk to pursue that opportunity. Business entrepreneurs are often highly regarded in US culture as being a critical component of its capitalistic society.

Famed entrepreneurs in America include: Henry Ford (automobiles), J. Pierpont Morgan (banking), Thomas Edison (electricity/light bulbs), Barron Collier (advertising), Milton S. Hershey (confections), Bill Gates (computer operating systems and applications), Steve Jobs (computer hardware, software), among others.

The British entrepreneurs include: Richard Branson (travel and media)

It would appear that entrepreneurship would ooze us, Mauritius out of our predicament and to propel us into the coming era of global competition.

I quote relevant extract of the speech:

A cycle based on trade preferences that has allowed our country to make significant progress since independence. We have used these trade preferences and also overseas development assistance well. However, the world has changed and we have not adapted. The preferences are now being swept away but we have not reacted. We have been naïve in believing that these preferences would endure and that we could continue to obtain concessionary finance to sustain our now outdated socio-economic model.

It is time for the nation to embrace radical change and build a new, open and competitive service platform that is fully integrated into the global economy, like Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubay. More important, by also removing other disincentives to small businesses and to hire workers, we will increase employment, reduce vulnerability and alleviate poverty.

This is why the first Budget of l’Alliance Sociale is not, as many feared, about austerity but instead launches the changes needed for a new era of growth, wealth and employment creation.

Broadening the circle of opportunities

To broaden the circle of opportunities we will

1. set up an innovative and comprehensive Economic Empowerment Programme;

2. tackle high female unemployment and low earnings of women;

3. radically improve the support framework for new entrepreneurs and SMEs;

4. Expand the range of financing instruments for micro enterprises and SMEs.

I am setting myself to ponder, to encourage and if possible to building more entrepreneurship in the future. I consider myself to have been through out my carrier an entrepreneur. Sharing my experiences could trigger hopefully more entrepreneurship so much needed and sought of.

A fortnight ago, at a charity lunch at Ebene Hotel School, I had the very great pleasure to meet in the assembly Sylviane. I must admit that I do not really know her well but was a friend of her husband in the glorious days when I was energetic enough to play badminton. This meeting brought back the memory of her works and drove me to go back to her website.

A few years ago, through a friend I was introduced to the works of Philippe Lim, a keen photographer I knew in my teens, today a professor of photographic art in Montréal. Philippe encourages talents by publishing the works of passionate photographers on the web. He makes it possible for us to attend a permanent art exhibition on the web. http://www.imageriecreative.ca/ This is really a great gift of technology and of Philippe.

There and then I discovered the works of Sylviane. She proudly shares with the world her passion for travel and photos. I invite you to visit her site: http://www.rochecouste.net/

From what I conclude, like Sylviane,” Passion drives interest in living”. Nurturing a passion, a keen interest, a goal to attain, give one a reason to live and to live happily.

May I wish you dear reader, a Passion and Passion to live happily?

La lecture de l’Evangile nous nourrie de la parole de Dieu. Encore ce dimanche quel est le message que j ai recu?

” Dieu n’a pas fait la mort, il ne se réjouit pas de voir mourir les êtres vivants.” Sg 1,13-15

” Mais Jésus reprit : « Ma fille, ta foi t’a sauvée. Va en paix et sois guérie de ton mal. » “Mc 5,21-43

“Il saisit la main de l’enfant, et lui dit : « Talitha koum », ce qui signifie : « Jeune fille, je te le dis, lève-toi ! » ”

Certes, la mort est la forme fondamentale du monde tel qu’il est actuellement. Mais la victoire sur la mort, sa suppression réelle et pas seulement en pensée, est une aspiration et une recherche de l’homme, aujourd’hui comme depuis toujours. La résurrection de Jésus nous dit que cette victoire est effectivement possible, que la mort ne faisait pas partie de la structure du créé, de la matière, en son principe et d’une manière irréversible… Elle nous dit de plus que la victoire sur les frontières de la mort est impossible à atteindre par des méthodes cliniques perfectionnées. Elle n’existe que par la puissance créatrice de la Parole de Dieu, et de l’Amour. Seules ces puissances sont assez fortes pour changer la structure de la matière de manière si radicale que les barrières de la mort deviennent surmontables…

La foi en la résurrection est une profession de foi en l’existence réelle de Dieu et une profession de foi en sa création, au « oui » inconditionnel qui caractérise la relation de Dieu à la création et à la matière… C’est ce qui nous autorise à chanter l’alléluia pascal au milieu d’un monde sur lequel plane l’ombre menaçante de la mort.

” Mais Jésus leur recommanda avec insistance que personne ne le sache ; puis il leur dit de la faire manger.”

Merci Seigneur dans le dialogue personnel Tu me nourri . Tu as institue le sacrement de l’Eucharistie pour nous faire manger .

Site a visiter http://levangileauquotidien.org

What does one do when one retires and continue to stay young?

I came across a wonderful piece of advice written by General Mc Arthur over some sixty years ago. The General’s quote is said by somebody who I respect and admire. At age Ninety, in spite of his recent illness, this person, young in mind, is busily everyday working on his PC browsing the intnet and getting his thoughts published.

Robert Bathfield who I met recently, told me that the 90 years old senior, though broken by age and illness would regain vitality immediately once you talk of his web site and the internet.

I guess you would be able to recognise his voice.

Dear friends, Blogging gives me vitality also because each blog written is the result of yet another project.

The web site to visit: Here

The global economy is changing the rules in the game of business.

For the last 200 years or so the most important consideration was efficiency—producing products for the lowest cost. But now we are part of a global labor force. Mauritius can no longer compete on efficiency alone because their labor costs (also known as our salaries) are so high compared to labor costs in countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and so on…

In Mauritius were we conning ourselves when we thought that we were a low cost producer of goods, namely textiles? How much of the economic success of the past twenty years were due to productivity, protection, innovation and entrepreneurship?

Today in comparision with the emerging economies, we are definely no more a low cost producer protected with customs barriers preferences and quotas for our export.

The rule of the game has changed.

What is to be done? Will the economic boom for some countries be economic doom for others? It could be if the only economic force we consider is efficiency. But we are missing something important when we do this. In addition to efficiency there is another economic force called responsiveness. Efficiency is what provides us with basic products and services at the lowest price. Responsiveness is what wraps those products and services in a blanket of value-added services that make them more valuable to each of us. The environment has changed. We are passed the Uruguay, Doha rounds. The new WTO world is our reality. Our responsiveness has to evolve to match our new challenges of today and tomorrow.

People in the global world want what they want. They want a good price but that doesn’t mean the lowest price. They pay extra for other features as long as those extra features meet expectations. Responsiveness includes things like how products are produced, delivered and consumed. People willingly pay more for a good cup of coffee made just so and served in a cozy setting. People willingly pay more for fresh organic food grown in a sustainable manner. These value-added services make us happier and healthier than is possible with just the basic products themselves.

The key to success in the global economy is to sustain an evolving mix of products and value added services that create wealth for many different types of customers. All businesses live on a continuum with efficiency at one end and responsiveness at the other. If you are a business in Asia you are probably more focused on efficiency. If you are a business in North America you need to move your focus more toward responsiveness. These are the realities created by the division of labor in a global workforce. A variation of efficiency and responsiveness depending of the industry we are and the maket we are serving.

Here’s another thing to consider: All value added services are information based. That’s because they must be customized to meet particular needs of particular customers. What is valuable to one customer in one situation is not valuable to another customer in a different situation. And since customers and their needs are always changing, companies themselves need to get good at continuous change. They need to sell a continuously evolving offer of products and value added services that they mix and match to meet the individual needs of their customers.

Finally we are Back to Basics. The right product at the right place at the right time at the right place for the right person is what should be sought for.

Inspired by Michael Hugos

I have been lagging behind in posting news and events on my blog these days. Time was the issue. Reading and studying the impact of the budget speech on Mauritius for the coming years took my concentration, and most of my spare time.

I personally feel that in a few years this speech and thinking behind it will show results, provided the present Government is able to work the plan. The map is drawn, we the nation has now to toil in the distance.
“SECURING THE TRANSITION: FROM TRADE PREFERENCES TO GLOBAL COMPETITION”is the title chosen by Minister Rama Sithanen. See link.

Mauritius is now at a turning point of its economic development. We have to take the right turn. Gone are the days of protectionist era, the post independance years,where the colonist powers granted us preferences for our Sugar, Textiles exports. WTO has dawned. The world economy is becoming the arena of free for all, battle of the most innovative brains, the fittest and the smartest….

Entrepreneurship is the key word I have retained. That is the reason, I am now stretching my wits to come up soon with some notes on Entrepreneurship.
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We just came back from a wonderful, pleasing & enyoyable , fruitful week end in Cilaos Reunion island.

The APM team, Victor Chaneman, Rene Fontaine, the organiers did a very good job. We were welcomed by Victor at PierreFonds Airport, the south airport of Reunion island where we were wisked out of Etang Sale in a very comfortable bus to Cilaos 1800mts high in 1 hour 30 minutes.

The hotel were informed of our arrival the check-in took only 2 seconds and soon after our welcoming drinks, there we were in a meeting room with our APM friends attending a first 3 hour session on sustainable development through technology.

Jean Michel Billaut a 61 year young homosapiens full of energy but more importantly full of knowledge was provided as hors d’oeuvre for the brains. In brief, JM Billaut transmitted to us his resolve to make his town PAU to step in the forefront of the coming Nano Revolution.

What a wonder to listen to JM Billault! He provided some possible paths to explore & to make our to-morrows in Mauritius and Reunion islands economically better.

Do visit his blog, you will not regret your action and time.
After the cocktail and drinks, a delicious typical Cilaos meal was served. The low temperature of 11 C helped the consumption in quantity and quality of yonder day’s grape juices.

The next day followed with a beautiful sunrise which can only be experienced in the circle de Cilaos. Darkness gave way to a slow transformation of a dark purple tint of the surroundings to gradually finish up with a clear blue sky.

The freshness and chill of the morning opened up our apetite for breakfast, & our need to knit exchanges with the 70 strong delegations there.

Two other sessions with in turn, Isabelle Lauger’s vision of economic model and “the tale of a world tour in 80 men” by Mathieu leRoux made our day.

A convivial lunch with the delegates, where delicious lentilles de Cilaos and Curry Canard et son riz de Mais were the stars.

After a second night in the fresh atmosphere of Cilaos, & a pleasant sightseeing down hill drive of the mountain we reached the airport for our 45 minutes flight to Plaisance.

We are back happy and satisfied of our short escapade.

A la messe du dimanche, le pretre dans son homelie conjugait la celebration de la fete de la sainte trinite a la marche de charite Amene to bloc au Thabor.

Comme souvent est mon cas, mon esprit vadrouillait vers d’autres lieux pendant ces envolees spirituelles et retrouve mon retour a l’eglise qu’a la fin. A moins que l’officiant puisse maintenir un interet et une curiosite de l’audience dans un discours pas trop long, il me semble que sans l’Esprit Saint et un don special de la Sainte Trinite il m’est tres difficile de tenir jusqu’au bout 20 minutes.

Aussi, je pensais que c ‘est cela ma demande et ma priere a la Trinite. Donne moi Seigneur l’interet et l’esprit de comprendre l’homelie de notre celebrant, Fais qu il soit bref et concis et il puisse ouvrir mon esprit a ton enseigement.

En moi meme je me disais :Je fete la Sainte Trinite a chaque fois que je fais le signe de la croix et dit “au nom du Pere , et du Fils et du Saint Esprit” n est ce pas.”
Par contre la proclamation du CREDO, avait hier une resonnance particuliere pour moi.Car notre cher celebrant , au lieu de la recitation du texte ” Je Crois en Dieu……”a opte pour la formule :

“Croyez vous en Dieu le Pere tout puissant qui a cree le ciel et la terre” et l assemblee repondait nous croyons.

“Croyez vous en Jesus Christ fils du Pere descendu sur terre nee de la vierge Marie……” L ‘assemblee d une seule voix repondait nous croyons.

“Croyez vous en l‘Esprit Saint qui procede du Pere et du Fils….” Nous croyons de l’assemblee resonnait plus fort dans mon etre me disant “oui ” c est la fete de La Sainte Trinite et l’enigime du meme Dieu en trois personnes est elucide. Je voyais une triangle lumineux dans un ciel bleu comme signe de La Sainte Trinite.

Une touche chinoise vient parfaire cette pensee. Le chiffre 3 n’est il pas bien le symbole de grandir. Toujours faire un choix a partir de 3 alternatives! En conflit toujours recourir a un tier. Et la regle des 3…. le logo de WAY…Et oui.
Merci Sainte Trinite pour ta fete.