Enoch Ko's Blog

Trying Out Google Wave

2009-10-09T23:35:00.001+11:00

I have (finally) received a Google Wave invite! No idea what Google Wave is? Well... watch this demo by Lars and co.:

So here's my attempt at embedding Google Wave:

Please try to join in! Google Wave is quiet when you don't having many friends on it!

Atul Gawande discusses performance at Authors@Google

2009-09-27T18:45:00.000+10:00

About Atul Gawande and the Talk

Atul Gawande discusses his latest book, "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance." Dr. Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, is the author of "Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science", a regular contributor to The New Yorker (where he wrote a wonderful article on "The Checklist"), and was named a MacArthur fellow in 2006. This event took place at Google's Mountain View, CA, headquarters on May 1, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google series.

He identified four attributes of top performers:

Diligence - attention to details.
Surveillance - measure and look for failures.
Do the right thing, despite obstacles.
Day-to-day creativity.

Other notes from his talk and the Q&A session:

Weekly meetings to discuss problems and solutions - patients get to benefit from the wisdom of the entire team.
Information technology to measure, notice problems, and spread information.
Look at ourselves as a process and engineer down the problems.
Measure ourselves - it's both simpler and scarier than we think.
Leadership is important and can affect everyone else - identify leaders!
Transparency - expose the best, so the rest can learn from them.

(HT Farnam Street for the great find.)

A Toastmasters Experience

2009-07-31T22:34:00.004+10:00

I attended my first ever Toastmasters last night.

Toastmasters is a non-profit organization devoted to developing public speaking and leadership skills through practice and feedback at local clubs. You can Google and find local clubs to visit and sign up.

The meeting started with two persons sharing jokes of the day, followed by another person shared the word of the day, "prospective", which we were to use as much as possible in our speech during the meeting.

The next activity was "Round Robin", where a "Round Robin Master" chose one topic and each person stands up to speak for approximately 15 seconds, and the topic of the day was "What is your favorite movie and why?". My favorite movie, I said, was Ocean's Eleven, because it had a good cast, a tight story, and a good mix of action and humor.

"Table Topics" is an activity where a few persons are called up to make a 60-90-second impromptu speech about a topic they are assigned on the spot. The purpose is "thinking on your feet" training, there is no reason why a person can't think as well when they're standing as when they're seated. The theme for the night was things that you regret to have done, or that you regret to have not done yet and would like to do soon. I volunteered at the start of the meeting, so I went up for Table Topics and was assigned the topic of "money". I thought I spoke alright, but was swaying my body and not in a balanced stance (I think I was leaning to my left).

There was evaluation for Table Topics speakers after all six of us had finished (everyone had a different topic on the same theme). I was disappointed to hear too much praise and not enough criticism or feedback. In my opinion, it is the criticism and feedback that will help me improve the most.

After table topics, there were four prepared speeches (5-7 minutes each), followed by evaluations (2-3 minutes). My evaluations of the speeches were that most of them had significant rooms for improvements, but the official evaluations of the speeches contained lots of praise and only a little bit of feedback. If I had given the speech, I would have liked more feedback.

The meeting closed with general evaluation of the meeting, club business, and handing out award certificates to the night's winners for each activity (there was voting after each activity).

My feeling is that Toastmasters is for people who really fear speaking in public and need a very supportive environment to get enough courage to speak.

I believe I am a relatively competent, though far from perfect, at public speaking. My aim is to become a better communicator, though not necessarily a great orator. My role models are Warren Buffett and Richard Feynman, who are great "explainers" of the complex world of finance and physics. They give me the feeling of a sincere, authentic communicator, as opposed to Barack Obama's smooth but mechanical teleprompter-based performance.

Toastmasters is, no doubt, a good place to practice public speaking. But if you want to make significant improvements in a short time, you will probably be better off recording yourself with a camera and replaying to spot things you would like to improve. That said, if you want a structured and supportive environment to improve your public speaking skills, then Toastmasters is the place to be.

Jamie Dimon's Speech at HBS Class Day 2009

2009-07-19T13:00:00.001+10:00

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., spoke at Harvard Business School Class Day 2009.

Brief summary available in HBS's Press Release.

Loyalty vs meritocracy

When someone isn't up to their job, loyalty to organization trumps loyalty to that person. I have seen a fair share of loyalty to individuals in businesses. While the job may be important to that person (keeping in mind that, someday, that person might be me), keeping a person not suited to the job harms both employee morale and the business! Granted that everyone should be given the opportunity to grow and make mistakes. At some point, hard as it may be, the right thing must be done.

My impression

I haven't dealt with JP Morgan Chase nor do I personally know anyone working there, but from watching Jamie speak and reading his 2008 JPM shareholder letter, if he does what he says and the entire company operates the same way, JP Morgan Chase is a place I would want to work!

TV Trivia: Soundtrack Montage

2009-07-04T22:45:00.001+10:00

30 Shows in 57 Seconds. Can YOU get them all?

Music copyrights belong to respective copyright owners. Music used here under "fair use" provision of the Copyright Act.

Colossal Failures

2009-06-07T22:30:00.008+10:00

Link for RSS subscribers: MythBuster Adam Savage's talk on Colossal Failures.

Adam said his failures on the baseball pitching machine and the film set were part of what made him who he is today. Though I can't seem to recall "colossal failures" (what seemed like "colossal failures" at the moment now appear rather mild in retrospect), when I thought about my failures, I saw how they shaped me into who I am today.

Back when I was in secondary school (equivalent of junior high school), I was asked to do a speech during assembly in front of the entire school. Being "shameless" and willing to have a go at almost anything, I agreed! I don't remember what the talk was about anymore - but I remembered how I did it.

At that time, I was reading a book about mind maps and thought it was "perfect" for everything! So I drew a mind map and spoke off it - bad idea. My speech floated from branch-to-branch on the mind map and lacked a clear storyline. I managed to cover all the points I wanted to make, but without a clear structure or a memorable story to back it up, I doubt any of them stuck in the audience's mind.

Luckily, the shame factor wasn't high because I was only one of many selected to speak during the hour-long assembly. But after that speech, I thought, for a while, that maybe I wasn't made for public speaking.

I didn't give up, though. Over time, through trial-and-error, by listening to other people's speeches, and by reading articles and books on speaking, I developed a satisfactory level of competency in public speaking. I don't claim to be a great speaker or story teller, but now, I can confidently accept a public speaking opportunity and know that I'll be able to deliver it.

That said... perhaps the fact that I can't recall big, colossal failures means I haven't taken enough risks and done as much things as I could or should have! Perhaps it's time to take more risks and do more!

10,000 Hours to Becoming a Master, Expert, and World-Class Performer

2008-12-24T20:00:00.003+11:00

I watched Charlie Rose's interview of Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin. Malcolm Gladwell is a writer for the New Yorker and the author of Outliers: The Story of Success. Geoff Colvin is a senior editor at Fortune and the author of Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else.

Both Malcolm and Geoff talked about what it takes to become a master, an expert, or a world-class performer at a particular skill. A study on great, good, and average musicians says that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of deliberate practice become a great performer. They assume that mastering any skill will take the same 10,000 hours of deliberate practice and hard work. That is equivalent to 10 years of daily hard work and deliberate practice, 3 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Spending the time to becoming a world-class expert at a skill doesn't guarantee success. You also need an incredible amount of luck - being at the right place, at the right time, with the right skills, with the right people. But you need to master the skills before luck can bring you to great success.

Picking a skill to master
When I was watching the show, I realized (or at least think that) I don't have any particular skill that I've put in 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master. The only skill I think I'm good at is being curious and learning - I can get intensely curious about a lot of things (almost any subject), and I'm a fast learner if I'm curious enough about the subject.

The problem, though, is that being curious and learning things aren't "productive" - they are "consuming" skills. I think I will need to master writing or speaking to allow something to come out the other end from the information I've consumed. Or perhaps I should spend my time mastering skills that would probably bring in more income - security analysis, value investing, and financial planning.

What skills have you mastered? What skills should you spend time mastering now? What skills does the world need the most? What skills do you need to have to take advantage of the luck that will come your way?

I can't predict what the future will bring to me, but I know I don't really have much time (at least not as much time as a newborn child). I've lived for almost a quarter of a century, and I probably have less than half a century of "productive time" left in me. Whatever I want to master, I must start practicing now and putting in the hard work now. I just hope that the skills I master will be useful in taking advantage of my lucks in the future!

On write well

2008-06-09T22:00:00.000+10:00

I find writing a useful tool for organizing my thinking and checking whether I'm thinking clearly. Writing is linear, so you must get your logic right before you can write. Good writing is clear, so you must think clearly. Good writing is concise, so you must cut out all unnecessary ideas and words. If you can write something down in a clear and concise essay, then you must be thinking about it clearly.

No matter whether you are writing for business or science or travel, always remember to make your writing personal or you will lose the reader's interests. Write like a person, don't hide behind jargons and passive sentences.

Good writing is hard, but writing well will serve you well.

I recommend that you buy and read (and, every time you write, re-read) these two books:

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White (I have the Illustrated version by Maira Kalman).
On Writing Well by William K. Zinsser.

Important and knowable

2008-05-23T02:30:00.001+10:00

When you have a question or a piece of information, ask yourself two questions:
1. Is it important?
2. Is it knowable?

Is it important?
If it's not important, no matter whether it's knowable or not, it won't make a difference. Ignore the unimportant.

Celebrity gossip news and magazines are a waste of society's resources. They ask questions and provide information that are unimportant for everyone except (perhaps) their family, friend, or physician. "Is [celebrity] anorexic?" or "[Celebrity] checked into rehab." They are not important. Ignore them.

Is it knowable?
If it's unknowable, no matter how important they are, it doesn't matter. Ignore the unknowable.

"Where is the economy and interest rates heading?": If you're investing, it is important but unknowable. Some may try to provide information and predict the economy, but history has shown that those information are as good as useless. Don't concern yourself with the unknowable.

The important and knowable
There are enough things that are knowable and important in this world. Focus on them and forget everything else.

References:

Warren Buffett's University of Florida speech.
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin.

Have a good sense of humor

2008-05-19T02:10:00.003+10:00

I respect people who have a good sense of humor.

A good sense of humor helps others relax and drop their guard. A good sense of humor helps you get along with people.

Carl Icahn's stand-up comedy made me laugh. Telling jokes made him seem like such a friendly and funny guy - I forgot his reputation as a "fierce and greedy corporate raider".

Reference:

Carl Icahn's stand-up comedy:

Be positive, be an optimist

2008-05-14T22:00:00.002+10:00

Most of your fears will never become reality. For those that do become reality, most of them can be dealt with and will only be temporary. You are probably more resourceful in dealing with problems and difficulties than you realize. Don't let pessimism and fear stop you from enjoying life!

Avoid people who are negative - people that put you down, make you feel bad, be bad, and do bad things. They live in an unhappy world with limited resources, and they don't want you to leave or be happy and successful. Don't let them stop you from succeeding and enjoying life.

Make friends with positive people - people that support and help you, make you feel, be, and do good. They live in a joyous world with abundant resources. They believe that we can succeed together. We can all be happy and successful without putting others down. Positive people will make this world a better place - become one yourself!

Life will be more enjoyable if you are an optimist... so be positive. Be happy!

Challenge yourself

2008-05-12T01:30:00.003+10:00

Challenge yourself to something new.

Challenge yourself to something hard.

Challenge yourself to something complex.

What did I do today? I created a spreadsheet to analyze "Buy vs Rent". It was challenging, it was complex, but I felt great to have finished it. I expanded my circle of knowledge. (By the way, renting is better in most of my simulations.)

Never stop learning

2008-05-08T22:00:00.002+10:00

Read widely - don't limit yourself to a particular subject.

Read books, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias... read everything.

Be open to new ideas. Don't become tunnel visioned.

Try not to take the stance of extreme ideologies. Few things in life are that extreme... there are usually lots of middle grounds.

Never become so committed to a particular ideology that you become unwilling to listen to opposing views.

Never stop learning. Keep expanding your circle of knowledge and circle of competence.

References:

Wall Street Journal: Dartmouth's 'Hostile' Environment.
Street Capitalist: Annotated Berkshire Hathaway Q&A.
Reflections on Value Investing: 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting: Detailed Notes.

Work

2008-05-05T22:00:00.000+10:00

Do what you love and enjoy. You will be excited to wake up every morning for work. You will work harder and do better.

Do what have a passion for. Do what you have talents for. Don't just work for money. Work because it's part of your heart and soul.

Work for someone you admire.

Make your work contribute to the society and the world.

Simplicity and Occam's razor

2008-05-03T01:00:00.002+10:00

"All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." - Occam's Razor (William of Ockham).

I always build my Excel spreadsheets by starting with the simplest formula, then adding complex logics and calculations as needs arise. I usually get my calculations right faster this way. If I try to go straight to the final formula, I'm more likely to make mistakes and end up spending more time troubleshooting the formulas.

"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein.

While it is possible to memorize complex ideas, try to learn the basic principles first. By understanding the principles, you can build on them and understand, rather than just memorize, complex ideas. I learn things best this way.

"Our lives are frittered away by detail; simplify, simplify." - Henry David Thoreau.

When planning something complex, break it down. Simplify. A seemingly overwhelming task can be broken into manageable pieces.

"Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means." - Koichi Kawana.

When you have a complex problem, try to simplify it to its core, then find a simple solution. The simplest solutions are frequently the most effective solutions.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Reference:

Wikipedia:

How to build our character?

2008-04-29T13:45:00.002+10:00

List of 5 persons you admire the most and 5 persons you despise the most. Then, under each name, write down why you admire or despise them - their attitudes, behaviors, characteristics, habits, qualities. Now you know what you should or should not do if you want to become someone you would admire.

Starting today, be mindful of what you do. Behave like the 5 person you admire. Spot and remove your negative characteristics. In a few years, your name may just pop up on someone else's list.

Related post:

Be a person of unquestionable character and integrity.

Reference:

Warren Buffett: Whenever he speaks to college students, he suggests this exercise to them.

Focus on the important

2008-04-27T13:58:00.000+10:00

The Pareto principle says that 20% of your work produces 80% of your results, and 80% of your work produces only 20% of your results. The key to a more effective and successful life is to filter out the unimportant many (the unproductive 80%) and focus on the important few (the productive 20%).

Here are a few activities that are unimportant and can be eliminated, avoided, or changed:

Most TV programs: Don't waste your time watching them. Do something useful and important instead.
Most news: Scan the headlines, but most of the details won't affect your life.
Most web surfing: It's easy to spend hours on You Tube, Digg, Facebook, but they seldom make a meaningful impact on your life.
Pointless phone calls and meetings: Avoid phone calls and meetings without agendas - they can go for hours without conclusions or decisions.
Endless e-mail interruptions: Make it a point to check and respond to email at specific time points only (try 11am and 4pm). You will work much better without interruptions.

For further reading, I recommend:

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill.

What is happiness?

2008-04-25T22:00:00.001+10:00

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." - Aristotle.

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." - Dale Carnegie.

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Albert Schweitzer.

"Happiness is tap dancing to work every day." - Warren E. Buffett.

"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about." - Dale Carnegie.

"Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it." - John Templeton.

"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more." - David Steindl-Rast.

"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." - Benjamin Franklin.

Social skills: Getting along with people

2008-04-24T00:00:00.000+10:00

Social skills are some of the most important skills we need to learn. If we want to be successful in life, we will need to interact and get along with people.

Here are some social skills that I think are important (with some tips):

Remain relaxed in social situations.
Introduce yourself and others, as appropriate.
Remember and use names during conversations.
Active listening.

Be genuinely interested in what the other person has to say.

Maintain an appropriate amount of eye contact.

If you don't know where to look, look between the other person's eyes (bridge of the nose).

Look away once in a while; for example, when you are thinking about what to say.

Speak with confidence, speak smoothly, speak at an appropriate volume, and speak with a variable (non-monotonous) tone.
Engage in small talks and in-depth discussions.

It helps to keep up with the news: Current events, science, technology, sports, movies, music, fashion, etc.
Politics and religion may be emotionally-charged topics. Avoid them, unless both you and the person you're talking with can discuss without arguing.

Read other people's body language and notice your own body language.
I recommend The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease.
Know when to talk and know when to stop. Know how much you should or shouldn't say (i.e. disclosing otherwise private matters).
Have an appropriate sense of humor.
Diplomacy - handle disagreements with tact.

Many of these skills deal with communication because that is what we do when we interact with other people. Don't mistake extroversion for social skills, though. You can be an introvert with great social skills.

As with all things in life, I am still learning and improving my social skills, and never intend to stop. If you are just starting out, I recommend reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I have never attended their meetings, but I heard Toastmasters International is a very good place to learn to speak with confidence.

References:

The Definitive Book of Body Language from Allan Pease
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Toastmasters International.
Vocational Information Center - Communication Skills.
Air War College, U.S. Air Force - Communication Skills.

Stop regretting over past mistakes

2008-04-22T01:59:00.002+10:00

We will make mistakes and have regrets in life. There is no avoiding it. Nobody is perfect. Just do what you believe is right, and do it to the best of your abilities. When we make mistakes, deal with them, learn from them, and move on.

I sometimes find myself bashing myself (mentally), regretting mistakes I have made in the past. I stop myself as soon as I realize I'm doing it. You will only make yourself feel bad dwelling over past mistakes. History cannot be changed. The what if of the past won't change things. Only engage in the what if exercise to learn from the past - if I did this instead of that, I could have done better, so next time I will do this.

Stop regretting over your pasts. Do what you believe is right. Do your best. Never give up!

Be a person of unquestionable character and integrity

2008-04-20T01:00:00.000+10:00

Be honest, fair, and trustworthy. This is the least we can do to make our society a better place.

Character building takes time, so we need to start working on our characters now. Even if you had done things you are not proud of, you do not have to continue that way. I, too, had done or said things I wish I never did. But we cannot go back in time. History cannot be changed. What matters is what we do from this moment on.

Make the decision now and be a person of unquestionable character and integrity.

How you can contribute and support my blog

2008-04-18T03:00:00.006+10:00

I you find my blog informative and useful, and I hope you enjoy reading my blog. If you would like to contribute and support my blog (and me), here are a few ways you can help.

Increase traffic and contribute to the community
The best way you can support my blog is to keep reading, help increasing traffic to my blog, and contributing to this blog community:

Subscribe to my blog by RSS or e-mail.
Visit my blog when there's a new post.
Use the comment section to discuss the blog post - Ask questions, share stories, give suggestions, or add more information.
Add links to my blog or, if appropriate, to specific posts.
E-mail your friends URL links to posts that they may be find useful.
Submit my posts to social networking sites, such as Digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and FaceBook.

Editing
If you spot a factual, mathematical, spelling, or grammatical error, please let me know. If you have writing style suggestions or tips on improving logic and clarity, please email me. By helping me produce clear and easy-to-read essays, you will help me attract and retain readers.

Advertising
I use Google AdSense and get paid by per-thousand-impressions (thus the above request to help increase traffic) and per-click basis. If something genuinely interests you, please feel free to explore the links. Please, however, do not click on ads just to "be nice" - you may do more harm than good. I can get banned from Google AdSense because of "invalid clicks" or "click fraud" (so I report suspicious clicks). But, again, if something genuinely interests you, then, by all means, explore it.

If you would like to advertise on my blog, please e-mail me. I can accommodate 250x250 and 125x125 square ads on the sidebars, or 468x60 banner ads at the bottom of every post.

Affiliate links
I participate in the Amazon.com associates program, so there are some links in my blog that lead to the product pages on Amazon.com. I also have The Wealth Accumulator Store, where you can buy a selection of books. Whenever you buy something through those links or in the aStore, I will be paid a small percentage of sales (4%-8.5%).

Donations
If you would like to donate, please consider making donations of US$5 or more. Although I will accept smaller donations (why not!), PayPal takes a commission of US$0.30 plus 2.4%-3.4% of the amount transferred, meaning a large chunk of the donation will be taken by PayPal.


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Gifts
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Contact me
You can support me by telling me how you have benefited from reading my blog. Knowing that my blog is helping someone gives me motivation to continue. If you have stories to tell or suggestions about topics to cover, please let me know as well.

You can contact me by e-mail:
contact [ at ] enochko ( dot ) com.

Legal Notices: Terms and Conditions

2008-04-18T02:00:00.001+10:00

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In no event shall we nor any of our affiliates and subsidiaries be liable for any entity for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or other damages (including, without limitation, any lost revenues or profits, business interruption, loss of information or programs or other data on your information handling system) that are related to the use of, or the inability to use, the content, materials, and functions of the site or any linked website, whether or not we are expressly advised of the possibility of such damages or losses and regardless of the theory of liability.

Third-Party Websites
As a convenience to you, we may provide, on this Site, links to Web sites operated by other entities. If you use these sites, you will leave this Site. If you decide to visit any linked site, you do so at your own risk and it is your responsibility to take all protective measures to guard against viruses or other destructive elements. Some of the content appearing to be on this Site is in fact supplied by third parties, for example, in instances of framing of third-party Web sites or incorporation through framesets of content supplied by third-party servers. We have no responsibility for these third-party Web sites, which are governed by the Terms of Use and privacy policies, if any, of the applicable third-party content providers. We make no warranty or representation regarding, and does not endorse, any linked Web sites or the information appearing thereon or any of the products or services described thereon. Links do not imply that we or this Site sponsors, endorses, is affiliated or associated with, or is legally authorized to use any trademark, trade name, logo or copyright symbol displayed in or accessible through the links, or that any linked site is authorized to use any copyright, trademark, trade name, logo, or symbol of Enoch Ko, or any of our affiliates or subsidiaries.

Changes
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add or remove any portion of these Terms in whole or in part, at any time. Changes in these Terms will be effective when notice of such change is posted. Your continued use of the Site after any changes to these Terms are posted will be considered acceptance of those changes.

We may terminate, change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of this Site, including the availability of any features of the Site, at any time. We may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Site without notice or liability. We may terminate the authorization, rights, and license given above and, upon such termination, you shall immediately destroy all Materials.

International Users and Choice of Law
This Site is controlled, operated, and administered by us from within Taiwan. We makes no representation that materials at this site are appropriate or available for use at other locations outside of Taiwan and access to them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. You may not use the Site or export the Materials in violation of Taiwan export laws and regulations. If you access this Site from locations outside of Taiwan, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws. These Terms and Conditions of use shall be governed by the laws of Taiwan, without giving effect to its conflict of laws provisions.

These Terms constitutes the entire agreement between you and us with respect to your use of the Site. Any cause of action you may have with respect to your use of the Site must be commenced within one (1) hour after the claim or cause of action arises. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of these Terms or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to affect the intent of these Terms, and the remainder of these Terms shall continue in full force and effect.

User Postings
You acknowledge and agree that we shall own and have the unrestricted right to use, publish, and otherwise exploit any and all information that you post or otherwise publish on the Site in postings, comments, and otherwise, and you hereby waive any claims against us for any alleged or actual infringements of any rights of privacy or publicity, moral rights, or rights of attribution in connection with our use and publication of such submissions. You covenant that you shall not post or otherwise publish on the Site any materials that (a) are threatening, libelous, defamatory, or obscene; (b) would constitute, or that encourage conduct that would constitute, a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate law; (c) infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third parties; (d) contain a computer virus or other destructive element; (e) contain advertising; or (f) constitute or contain false or misleading statements. We do not and cannot review all information posted to the Site by users and are not responsible for such information. However, we reserve the right to refuse to post and the right to remove any information, in whole or in part, for any reason or for no reason.

Notices of Infringement and Takedown by Us
We prohibit the posting of any information that infringes or violates the copyright rights and/or other intellectual property rights (including rights of privacy and publicity) of any person or entity. If you believe that your intellectual property right (or such a right that you are responsible for enforcing) is infringed by any content on the Site, please write to us at the e-mail address below, giving a written statement that contains: (a) identification of the copyrighted work and/or intellectual property right claimed to have been infringed; (b) identification of the allegedly infringing material on the Site that is requested to be removed; (c) your name, address, and daytime telephone number, and an e-mail address if available; (d) a statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the copyrighted work and/or exercise of the intellectual property right is not authorized by the owner, its agent, or the law; (e) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that the signatory is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right that is allegedly infringed; and (f) the signature of the intellectual property right owner or someone authorized on the owner's behalf to assert infringement of the right. We will remove any posted submission that infringes the copyright or other intellectual property right of any person under Taiwan or U.S. law upon receipt of such a statement (or any statement in conformance with 17 U.S.C. SS 512(c)(3)). U.S. law provides significant penalties for submitting such a statement falsely. Under appropriate circumstances, persons who repeatedly submit infringing or unlawful material may be prohibited from posting further submissions. You may contact us at: contact [at] enochko (dot) com.

Copyrights
All information, content, and functionality on the Site, including text, graphics, logos, icons, and images and the selection and arrangement thereof, are the exclusive property of Enoch Ko or the respective information provider and is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. If you download any information from this site, you agree that you will not copy it or remove or obscure any copyright or other notices or legends contained in all such information. You may link to any page or article on our website for free. Reproduction or distribution of any materials obtained on this website without written permission is prohibited.

Trademarks
The trademarks, service marks, brand names, product names, designs, and logos (collectively, the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site are the registered and unregistered Trademarks of Enoch Ko, our affiliates, and our licensors. You agree that you will not refer to or attribute any information to us or our licensors in any public medium (e.g., press release, websites) for advertising or promotion purposes, or for the purpose of informing or influencing any third party and that you will not use or reproduce any Trademark of, or imply any endorsement by or relationship with, us or our licensors.

All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.