TV's Everywhere (full text below)

TV's Everywhere

I'll have the text soon for this video!

Mega Computers - In case you missed this video on our website in Feb., here it is!

Mega Computers - Math Software - Feb. News

Boss: Johnson! Johnson! Come in here!
Johnson: Yes sir, Mr. Schmedley, how may I help you?
Boss: I thought there was one more chocolate doughnut in here. I wonder where it went to. Hmmm. Well, anyway Johnson, I was just reading this month’s Advanced Magazine’s Newsworthy Clips, and it got me to thinking.
Johnson: Yes sir, you’re always thinking.
Boss: Well, that’s how I come up with all of my brilliant ideas. See, this news clip about Math Disguised as a Video game. Johnson, we need to increase our sales to kids. Mega Computers is the leader in P.C. s for business, but we’re just not selling enough computers to kids.
Johnson: How do you propose that we do that, sir?
Boss: Math, Johnson, math!
Johnson: Math? But math is boring, Mr. Schmedley. Kids don’t want math, they want games.
Boss: You, Johnson, are my software genius. You can make math engaging! You like math, don’t you?
Johnson: I love math, sir. I really like multiplication and division. And square roots, and . . .
Boss: See! Now what I want you to do is design a game for our computers, and sneak into the software all sorts of math exercises. Make it so they don’t even know they’re doing math.
Johnson: I see—make it a game, but have them do math as a way of getting good scores.
Boss: That’s right, Johnson. Be creative—make it kind of an adventure, something like a scavenger hunt. Kids love hunting for things and solving problems.
Johnson: How difficult should I make it, sir.
Boss: Not too difficult, Johnson—I need to be able to play it, you know, test it out. If it’s good, we can give away some free computers to the local schools.
Johnson: So we can be educational philanthropists, and help the students.
Boss: Exactly, Johnson. That way, Mega Computers looks good, and we can sell more!
Johnson: You’re a genius, boss!
Boss: I know Johnson—that’s why I’m the boss around here. Now, before you start work on that new math computer, go and get me a chocolate doughnut, and some of that Moonbucks coffee.
Johnson: Yes sir!
Boss: And get a chocolate doughnut for yourself, too, Johnson.
Johnson: Oh, I already had one sir.

Key Words

engaging-adj-something that is interesting, to be involved in.

sneak-v-secretly put something in, or to move without being noticed.

scavenger hunt-n.phr-a game where you must find items, follow directions, in a limited time.

philanthropist-n-a generous person, one who gives money or gifts to those in need.

A Ten-Year Decision (text below, MP3 at www.teacherbill.com)

A Ten-Year Decision

Okay, there is the neighborhood dog—Xiao Hei. He has been, uh, she has actually been adopted by the , uh, foot massage place, right here. So, at least they’re taking care of this dog.
Xiao Hei’s actually very lucky, because most street dogs here in Taipei, uh, don’t get taken care of by anybody.
Oh, yeah, you’re beautiful, beautiful, yeah.
Now, Xiao Hei is three years old, and I think, about uh, maybe 60 kilograms. So, this is a fat dog.
Go ahead. This is a fat dog, so, and eh, she should not be this fat. So, three years old, 60 kilograms, right.
So, the problem is, people don’t take care of their dogs, properly. I’ll come back to you in just a moment.
Hey! Xiao Hei almost got run over.
Come here, Xiao Hei!
Xiao Hei, you want a hamburger, right?
There’s a couple problems, what happens with dogs here in Taipei, and many other places, is that, um, people just, they don’t understand the decision to buy a dog. It is a ten-year decision. Let me repeat that, buying a dog is a ten-year decision. And too many people go watch a movie, and they see a dog like, uh, the Labrador in “Marley and Me”, or maybe the Husky in “Eight Below”, and, uh, they just don’t understand they’re not ready for that decision.
This is like inviting another person to live into your home
And then they bring these big dogs home, and live in these tiny apartments. A big dog needs a lot of room, and, uh, needs a lot of exercise, needs a lot of space.
And then what happens is also the dogs, uh, er, the people actually, they become bored after one year. Their children become disinterested—the children promised to take care of the puppy FOREVER—and of course, that never happens.
But, um, what we need to do is think about a decision to buy a dog. Don’t just go watch a movie and buy a dog because you think they’re cute.
And don’t just go and buy a dog in the market place because you see a puppy. This is a ten-year decision; why would you only take five minutes, or even an hour-and-a-half and consider that decision.
So—and then what happens is people just end up getting rid of the dogs, and, uh, they put them out on the street—like Xiao Hei here. Three years old.
We also need to feed the dogs properly. Don’t be giving them chocolate or fried chicken—they need dry dog food.
So, I hope I don’t see too many more dogs like Xiao Hei, here.
Alright everybody, take care.

Key Words

Adopted-v-taken in taken care of by a different family, person or group of people.
Properly-adv-to do something in the right way.
Disinterested-adj-not interested anymore, not caring about something.

What is Soup Ball?

Chinese New Year Office Cleaning (full text below)

Chinese New Year Office Cleaning (MP3 at www.teacherbill.com)

Okay, I’m here with our pre-Chinese New Year cleaning, and this is a tradition here in Chinese culture, to clean before the new year, once a year. We actually have a cleaning contest to see which floor can do the best job cleaning.
I really think it’s kind of a neat thing to have, an organizational cleaning in the office. Because what happens is, usually in America, there’s no such organized cleaning, and then things just pile up, and they just, they start to look unprofessional, and it looks real sloppy around an office.
So, but uh, this is good not only for the organization, but also personally, because we accumulate things that we don’t need. Think about your desk—you’ve got stuff there for two, three, four years that you’ve never even looked at—you don’t even need. It’s time to get rid of them.
Go through your stuff now, and look at it. If there’s anything you haven’t even used in six months, you might want to think about throwing it out.
And, uh—I’ll tell you about accumulating things. Alex, you can show them some of the cleaning here, and see all the work that’s being done—right.
So, anyways I want to show you something. There’s an office in Scott Township where my father used to work. What they do—they don’t throw anything out—they actually have started to put garbage bags over chairs. (Come on Mabel.) And they actually use the garbage bags as, like a filing system. And their whole—they’ve got this big room full of these garbage bags. Of course, the tables are all piled up with things. And, uh, it’s really embarrassing; one, it’s embarrassing, it doesn’t look professional; two, I don’t know how they find anything, in this atmosphere.
So, don’t let your office get to this point. Have an organized cleaning once a year. We do it here in Asia, so do it back there in America.
Goodbye!

Key Words
Organizational-n-relating to the entire organization, involving everyone.
Pile up-v-to become more and more, not organized, unmaneagable.
Sloppy-adj-messy, not organized, untidy.
Accumulate-v-to gather things, collect many items.
Get rid of-v.phr-to discard, throw away.
Filing system-n-a way of keeping things in order.
Embarrassing-adj-shame, feeling of not being very good.
Atmosphere-n-the surroundings of a place, the environment.

Interview with Lenovo's CEO, Bill Amelio

If you would like the MP3 and text file of my interview with Lenovo CEO Bill Amelio, send me an email at billfnl@hotmail.com , and I'll email it to you. Thanks!

Don't kill yourself--why I don't miss Penn State (full text below)

Don't kill yourself--why I don't miss Penn State

Okay, here I am at Penn State University, my alma mater. This is where I went to college, or university. And in fact, this is where I lived. I moved in here 29 years ago, 1979, in Ewing Hall. I lived in this dormitory for three years, up on the second floor.
This whole deal about coming here, and being at my old dormitory from 29 years ago, is actually very weird. I don’t have, uh, very strong feelings about this place, about Penn State, or my old dormitory—because I actually have, uh, good memories, and I have bad memories.
And so what does that mean? Um, well first of all, let me tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m helping my brother bring my nephew back home. He is a student here at Penn State University. So, I came up for a visit—I’m all the way from Taipei—I’m in State College, Pennsylvania, here in the beginning of May.
But I wanted to mention to you the significance of not putting too much importance on whatever happens at your university. Because even though I had some really difficult times here, it doesn’t mean anything now. I had some really good times here—doesn’t mean anything now.
So, apply that to your day today. If things go really poorly, if things don’t go your way, if you lose a relationship, somebody tells you they don’t love you anymore, you lose a job—don’t go out and kill yourself because of it. You’ll survive.
I actually fell in love with a girl in this next dormitory over here—the girl’s dormitory, Cross Hall—and she broke up with me after six months; I was depressed for three years. I survived—I’m very happy today.
So, whatever happens in you university experience, or even in your job today, don’t make much of it. Okay.
In a short period of time, you’ll survive, you’ll make it past, don’t do anything stupid. Okay. So, I actually can’t wait to leave this place. I—I don’t even want to be here.

Key Words

Alma mater—n, the college or university you attended, graduated from.
Dormitory—n, building that students live in.
Significance—n, meaning or value of something.
Broke up—v.ph, to end a relationship with someone.
Depressed—adj, sad, gloomy, dejected.

"Don't Be So Cheap!" (Tips on Tipping--full text below)

"Don't Be So Cheap!" (Tips on Tipping)

Okay, we’re here a TGIFriday’s in Taipei. Free beer tomorrow.
This is William—Hi—“Hi, nie hao”. Say Merry Christmas—“Merry Christmas, Sheng dan jei kwai la”.
Okay, William’s going to help us out here with our video, and, uh, I’ve got my friend Christopher from Boston here. Say something—“As-alam-a-lakem”.
Oh, I don’t know what that means, but he says a lot of stuff that I don’t understand. Anyway, I want to make a point to all of our listeners today—is that, um, if you get good service in a restaurant, make sure you leave a good tip for your waiter or waitress.
There’s a problem here in Asia—restaurants serve—charge ten percent “service charge”—but they keep it! They never pass it on to the waiters and waitresses. So be generous, don’t be so cheap—don’t be so cheap! Remember that.
Think about all the money you waste on shoes and clothes and cars and everything—but we never treat our fellow human beings generously. So give a nice tip to your waiters and waitresses—they’ll treat you better the next time you come in, and you’ll feel better.
Christopher always leaves a nice tip when we come in, and, uh, he does it because it’s the right thing to do—it’s the right thing to do. So, don’t be so cheap—remember that!
Are you going to eat all that? “Yeah, I have to, I just got married.”

Key Words

Generous-adj-giving more than is expected. We can be generous with our money, time or attention.

Cheap-adj-cheap usually means that something has a low price. But when describing a person who is “cheap”, we mean that they are not generous, they are not willing to part with their cash, to the degree of this being a negative personality trait.