“I wish to share with readers my experiences with unsold yet clean food which could be made available to people in need.

Pret A Manger is known for its donation of unsold sandwiches to charities.

I learned from its website that it is seeking charities to collect food from those shops that currently do not have anyone going to pick it up. Based on my own experience, I assume there is a geographical mismatching problem.

As small as Hong Kong is, those who are in need do not happen to be near the areas of excess. When I volunteered my time at Crossroads for 10 months in 2007, I would drive to Ma On Shan every Tuesday morning from my home in Causeway Bay to pick up unsold pastries and breads from La Rose Noire bakery and deliver them to the Crossroads Foundation in Tuen Mun as part of a lunch for volunteers like me. There were two bread-runs a week then and the other one was performed by a full-time volunteer every Thursday.

You see Starbucks and Pacific Coffee outlets all over Hong Kong. They serve drinks and food and much of the food is pre-packed just like at Pret A Manger.

Nowadays, companies are expected to be environmentally-friendly and socially responsible. I was, therefore, interested to hear a Pacific Coffee barista complaining to a customer about the extra work involved in ensuring that all unsold foods was disposed of at the end of each day. So I e-mailed Starbucks and Pacific Coffee to inquire about their unsold food policy.

While Starbucks replied within a day, Pacific Coffee did not get back to me. Starbucks said it had to get rid of the food after it had passed its shelf life for “hygiene and safety reasons”, which I think is fair enough. I am assuming it has exhausted all other responsible solutions.

Thousands of people in Hong Kong are, on a daily basis, either deprived of basic food supplies or need supplementary food in order to get a full meal. It seems to me Hong Kong does not lack willing givers but lacks centralised efforts to co-ordinate the flow from the point of excess to where it is needed. “

Barry Schwartz, an American psychologist, gave a talk on virtue and practical wisdom at the annual TED Conference in the US last month. He explained how excessive incentives had demoralized work and how excessive rules are impairing American health care and education. He gave several compelling examples. Though given entirely in the context of the US, I find two relevant to Hong Kong.

Practical wisdom, Schwartz quotes Aristotle, “is the combination of moral will and moral skill.” Schwartz notes the job description of a typical hospital janitor involves only odd jobs and lacks anything to deal with human beings. But by employing moral skills to improvise and make exceptions to their job descriptions, a few janitors have displayed moral wills of care and empathy towards the people that have come into their ways while they perform their odd jobs. It reminds me of the unfortunate Caritas Medical Centre incident. If only a few involving had possessed adequate moral skills, a tragedy might have been avoided. According to Schwartz, any work involving interaction with human beings is moral work. And moral work depends on practical wisdom, not job descriptions.

Schwartz argues excessive regulations diminish moral skill and smarter incentives still demoralize moral will. As such, they are not ideal solutions to the current financial crisis. He suggests remoralize work by celebrating moral exemplars and acknowledging moral heroes. He mentioned Aaron Feuerstein of Malden Mills as a moral hero. Malden Mills received US$300 million from insurance in the 90s because its factory had burned down. Instead of retiring or re-locating to a low-cost manufacturing country, Feuerstein decided to rebuild the factory in order to keep his 3,000 employees. He even kept paying them in full during construction just because it was the right thing to do. I first came across this story from 60 Minutes on ATV World. Ironically, the show has been cancelled by ATV recently. Who knows? Maybe a re-run of the story might have had inspired a few executives (including those from ATV) to think twice about their downsizing decisions.

Schwartz says if teachers and organizations strive to encourage and nurture moral skill and moral will, individuals will strive to become ordinary heroes by doing what is right. He believes practical wisdom is the most important virtue because it allows other virtues “to be displayed at the right time and in the right way”.

A few days later I visited for the first time a newly opened salad place in Central. While at checkout, the cashier explained to me how they encourage customers to purchase and re-use their own bowls by offering 2 free toppings to returning customers with their own bowls. They all sounded “green” enough to me, especially when my bowl was actually given to me for free under their opening promotion, until my order for a soup was handed to me in a disposable plastic container. Then, as if the container wasn’t counterintutive enough, she offered me disposable utensils and a plastic bag to carry my food upstairs as I had chosen to dine in. I kindly declined both because I happened to have brought my own of both. This shop touts its root from New York. Since its Hong Kong website has only contact information, I visited the chain’s New York website and found the concept of “re-usable” bowls is indeed a very big deal to them because it is about “making environmentally conscious decisions”. Whilst I have never visited any of their New York establishments, my own experience at their Central shop is more like helping them to save costs in cleaning bowls than helping the environment.

Eating with my own utensils

But we don’t have to look far to see socially responsible companies making “true” environmentally conscious decisions. The same company in Hong Kong that operates the sushi restaurant above also operates a chain of coffee shop, also imported from the US, in Hong Kong. A shop near my office has been storing a tumbler I bought from them for almost 2 years. Every time I fill up my tumbler, they take HK$3 off my bill. Did I mention they also wash my tumbler for free?

My tumbler

To quote Nobel laureate Al Gore, “The climate crisis presents us with an inconvenient truth. It means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives.” I don’t mind the inconvenience of carrying my own bag and eating utensils but I do mind carrying a bowl for a company that does not truly practise “making environmentally conscious decisions”.

An edited version of the above appeared as “Environmentally conscious’ claims sometimes miss the mark” in the “Letters to the Editor” section of South China Morning Post today.

The salad bar in Central is Just Salad.

The coffee chain is Starbucks.

The kaiten sushi chain is sen-ryo 千両.

Both Starbucks and sen-ryo in Hong Kong are operated by Maxim’s.

Your article “Movers & savers”, published on December 28, has since served as my guide on how to minimise waste in Hong Kong. The organisations listed in the sidebar “Turn your trash into treasure”, along with a summary of what each one collects, is what socially responsible journalism is about, in my opinion – especially at a time when the community is beginning to take environmental issues seriously.

Reading the article inspired me to procrastinate no longer in dealing with the “waste” I had built up – either by buying things I didn’t really need or by upgrading to newer models.

I have since made a couple of donations to Caritas. Although the goods were in fine working order, they were impossible to sell and would have ended up in a landfill if I had thrown them away. With Caritas, I know computer items that cannot be reused will be recycled. Electronic appliances are taken care of in the same way by the St James’ charity. Since reading the article, I have also begun to donate my time as a volunteer at Crossroads.

Donating can sometimes be frustrating, though. I have been trying to donate a TV to St James’ since the beginning of the year without success. The first time I called, they said their collection fleet was busy and they could arrange a pick-up only after the Lunar New Year. While waiting, I managed to add two amplifiers and a DVD player to my intended donation. When I called again two weeks ago, they told me that, even though their website puts my items among their top 10 most in need, none was on their most-wanted list, and so they couldn’t pick them up.

Refrigerators turn out to be in demand instead. Since I have an unused mini-fridge, I happily offered that, and my whole lot has become eligible for pick-up again. But I still haven’t got a definite appointment. They’ve promised to call me early next month. I’ll just have to take their word that they will.

RODERICK KAR, Tai Hang

After loading the disc, my Windows desktop crashed and restarted itself without warning. It kept restarting every time I had the disc inserted. After spending some quality time with my system, I found the culprit by elimination. It was a feature called “Audio CD Free” that came with a software that I use to by-pass DVD’s region protection system. It allows ripping of audio CDs that are protected. Obviously, it needs to be updated. With it disabled, I was able to start my PC normally. The CD launched its own program to ask me what I would like to do with it, play it or burn a backup copy of it or rip its tracks into WMA. None of my software players, even Windows’ own Media Player was able to access that CD, let alone ripping from it. WMA files ripped from the CD using its own software have the usual digital rights protection. Therefore, iTunes could not import those WMA tracks for transferring to my iPod. Fortunately, one of the rights “granted” by EMI is the right to burn those WMA tracks onto a blank CD as Audio CD. iTunes is then able to rip from that CD. If this is EMI’s way to deter “fair use” (which in my case, format-shifting and backup) of their CDs, it surely has failed to dissuade me. I don’t know if there are any laws in Hong Kong that govern “fair use” of copyrighted materials nor are there any precedent cases for or against such usage. But “fair use” is recognized in the US and famous precedents include the 1984 Betamax decision and the 1999 Rio MP3 player decision. Personally, I think “fair use” is fair. I own and use 5 portable music players. Each of them fits a particular pattern of my usage. Am I supposed to buy 5 copies each of every CD?

The music industry needs to open up its mind to consumer behaviour. Please don’t make it any harder than it is already for people to transfer music from CDs to different formats. Don’t turn a blind eye to the millions of music players that have been and continuing to be sold in Hong Kong. With legal music download still an infant industry, how do you think consumers feed their players? If not from CDs, it has to be from illegal sources.

As for online music stores, WMA is great. Microsoft’s initiative of PlayForSure is also great. It offers seamless integration between music stored on computers and PlayForSure devices. All my devices are capable of playing back WMA protected music, but only one of them is PlayForSure compliant. Until sales of PlayForSure devices match those of iPods, I am not so sure that many iPod customers are as patient as myself in finding ways to work around rights protected WMA files to make them playable on their iPods. The music industry may consider these are necessary measures to combat piracy. But I can appreciate it how some users may see them as excuses for getting music the easier way.

While I admire greatly the recent efforts spent by the music industry to fight piracy by using the judicial process and increasing public awareness, I hope they are also working with the education system to educate children during their formative years the importance of respecting intellectual property. After all, intellectual property plays a vital role in a knowledge-based economy, if Hong Kong is to becoming one. It is not enough to teach them how to use the computers and the Internet. Parents, of course, also have responsibility to set an example for their children to follow.

I don’t have any children, so I have no idea what is being taught in schools nowadays. I consider myself lucky to have spent my pre-university study in a Jesuit-run school in Hong Kong. We had ethics lessons that taught us the value of righteousness. I didn’t own a PC until I went to university but yet I always know it is wrong to consume pirated goods. If I cannot afford it, I will just pass or work for it. Judging from the staggering rate of piracy in Hong Kong as reported in the news, at least a generation or two behind me had already ‘forgotten” the value of righteousness.

To fight piracy, a concerted effort to educate our younger generation is desperately needed.

(An abridged version of this letter appeared today on the Technology section of South China Morning Post)

Meanwhile, Dell said it would provide x50V owners with an upgrade to WM5 when it became available. Knowing my XDA Mini from O2 was not going to get an upgrade, I ordered myself the x50v. I made sure a Dell saleswoman in Hong Kong confirmed with me in a July 15 e-mail that I was indeed entitled to the free upgrade before I confirmed the order.

Dell announced in October the new x51v PDA, which is basically an x50v with WM5 pre-installed. I asked the same saleswoman about the promised upgrade. She replied on October 4 to say Microsoft was holding it up. I could wait no longer, and ordered myself an x51v.

Things started to go downhill from there.

First, I discovered the Chinese language add-on software bundled with x51v was not fully compatible with WM5. (All Dell PDAs sold in Hong Kong are native English and require add-on software to read Chinese.)

I tried to visit the website of the company that makes the add-on to see if there was any update, only to discover that its domain name was up for sale.

Next, I called Dell’s technical support on November 1. They confirmed they were aware of the incompatibility, but only after the products had been shipped. Dell has since removed the bundling. Technical support said an update was being developed and would be shipped to owners, hopefully in another two weeks.

I then called the saleswoman again to check the status of my x50v upgrade. She surprised me by saying the upgrade was no longer free and would be available for purchase in a few weeks’ time. I complained, reminding her of the free offer, and she simply said she did not know the upgrade was not free at the time.

Dell: congratulations on beating your competitors to be first in Hong Kong to offer a WM5 PDA. I do not fault you for not making extra efforts to localise your PDAs, as HP and O2 do. Bilingual users like myself have a choice between English and Chinese.

But please find a vendor that is reliable. Please do not release a product that has not been thoroughly tested. And please do not put so much pressure on your sales staff so they make promises they cannot keep.

(This letter appeared today on the Technology section of South China Morning Post)

The song I bought was encoded in WMA using a sampling bit rate of 256 kilobits per second (kbps). I don’t have discerning ears, so sound quality is not a great concern. I bought the song because it was a ‘pre-release’ and it wasn’t available as part of a CD album. A few days later, I bought another version of the same song from Eolasia.com.

When I read about Soundbuzz.com (Technology Post, August 9), I checked it out that morning and found that the two songs I had bought at Eolasia.com were available for $8 each, almost 24 per cent cheaper. While Eolasia.com listed those songs at $10.50 each that morning, it had cut the price to $9.50 each in the afternoon. Soundbuzz.com was still about 16 per cent cheaper.

I therefore signed up with Soundbuzz.com for a free account and purchased three songs right away. After downloading them, I soon found out that I didn’t overpay Eolasia.com after all. While Eolasia.com clearly and prominently lists the digital rights and sampling rate used to encode each song, Soundbuzz.com does not.

I could not find such information during the entire ordering process. It turned out the songs I bought were encoded with a sampling rate of 128kbps. They are available at Eolasia.com at 256kbps. I suspect most of Soundbuzz.com’s catalogue, if not all, is encoded at a 128kbps bit rate. But I can’t say for sure unless I purchase and download more songs.

Mathematically, music at Soundbuzz.com is 50 per cent more compressed than songs at Eolasia.com. So unless they are 50 per cent cheaper, I will stick with Eolasia.com in future. I can also take advantage of the points that I earn from purchases made to redeem even more songs. Digital or analogue, consumers like perks in the absence of a bargain.

Cheaper internet access is now being offered with the 3 Data Card and its choice of access plans.

The past few months, in particular July, have been quite eventful for 3G globally.

Operators in Britain, other than Hutchison 3G UK (the first to launch 3G in the country), have arrived at the same conclusion – that consumers there are not ready to embrace a voice/video 3G service – and they have embarked on launch strategies focusing on data service.

Vodafone was the first to launch its data-only 3G Mobile Connect service in May and Orange launched its data-only 3G service in July.

In the United States, AT&T Wireless, the third-largest wireless operator there, launched the first UMTS-based 3G service in four cities last month.

Verizon Wireless, the No1 operator, launched its CDMA2000 1xEV-DO-based data-only service in two cities last October and expanded coverage last month.

In Australia, Telstra announced last month it expected to complete its CDMA2000 1xEV-DO deployment in October and will roll out another 3G service based on WCDMA by the end of next year. Now that we know it is going to share the infrastructure of Hutchison 3G Australia, the launch date may be closer to the beginning of next year.

With the pace of 3G deployment picking up globally, consumers are the ultimate beneficiary and we can expect to see a proliferation of services and handsets to choose from.

I have had my 3 Data Card for almost a month. The card is easy to set up and does not require users to configure dial-up networking. It looks like ubiquitous wireless high-speed internet has finally arrived … sort of. The missing component is a 3G BlackBerry with a thumb keyboard, VGA resolution touch screen and a megapixel CCD camera.

During my first 24 hours with it, I composed close to 100 text messages and a couple of dozen of e-mail messages.

One does get addicted to the BlackBerry.

No wonder it has got the nickname ‘CrackBerries’.

The BlackBerry service in Hong Kong was first introduced by Three Dualband (then Orange) in 2002. CSL joined the offering this March.

They both offer the same two flavours of the BlackBerry service, namely enterprise and individual (this is called the web client service).

The lack of both Chinese support (I heard this would be made available in a few months) and BlackBerry version of my favourite Pocket PC programs mean I still have to carry my Xda II as my primary personal digital assistant.

I have compared the two devices to see which is the better ‘smartphone’.

Despite not spotting a touch screen, I find navigating the BlackBerry by using keyboard shortcuts, trackwheel and pop-up menus a breeze. It means you can do many non-inputting tasks with just one hand.

On the Xda, performing the same tasks such as reading the calendar entries and managing a long list of mail messages would require holding it with one hand and using the other hand to navigate.

The 7730′s built-in QWERTY thumb keyboard also makes it the better of the two for inputting text. Although I am typing this letter on my Xda with its add-on thumb keyboard, the combined weight and form factor is just a bit too much.

Under out-of-the-box conditions, the BlackBerry web client version is more suitable and efficient at performing traditional PDA tasks such as entering and looking up contacts, and managing calendar entries.

This is probably the reason it was the third-biggest seller during the first quarter of this year.

It became particularly popular after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, when it proved to be the most reliable messaging service in the immediate aftermath of the tragic event.

But beyond basic PIM functions and messaging, the BlackBerry is slightly inadequate. Except for the built-in MemoPad, it cannot create documents. It can, however, view popular business documents.

But the ability to read is not quite up to that of create and edit. The Xda, like most Pocket PCs, comes with a stripped-down version of Microsoft Word and Excel.

As I am determined to make my BlackBerry the replacement for my Xda once Chinese support is available, I have looked hard for third-party programs that would allow the BlackBerry to become ‘office-enabled’, and found Dynoplex (www.dynoplex.com).

Through a combination of its eOffice software and a subscription service, the company allows BlackBerry users to create, view and edit Excel and Word compatible documents.

Users can even send them as attachments (that’s the ‘service’ part of their offering) and edit attachments.

I think operators should bundle such programs to increase the appeal of the BlackBerry service as a business tool.

In the past few months, an increasing number of hardware and software vendors such as Nokia, Motorola, O2 and PalmSource have announced their upcoming support of the BlackBerry service on their devices under the BlackBerry Connect licence program.

So, be prepared to see a proliferation of communication devices being offered other than RIM that are actually the BlackBerry in disguise.

In addition to its messaging capability, a built-in camera and MMS are all that the BlackBerry needs to broaden its audience. After all, e-mails are probably just as much a way of life for individuals as they are for enterprises.

The ‘bad’ experience that has bugged so many early adopters is largely the result of handset glitches rather than the overall 3G service.

I bought two NEC c616 handsets a week after its official launch for my wife and myself. After almost two months of use, my conclusion is the combination of video call functionality and high-speed internet access has proved 3G is more than hype.

In the first month of use, I did experience, to a lesser extent, the problems that Mr Batra identified. Fortunately, they did not occur to me at the rate of up to 10 times a day. And they were not serious enough to keep me from recommending that my father, sister and close friends get on board with 3G.

Early adopters of the 1G and 2G mobiles phones would have experienced similar teething problems when they first used their handsets.

The problem that I have found the most annoying is the phone itself. Automatic reboots and hangs in the operating system reminded me of my experiences with Ericsson’s T68 (one of the first colour smartphones).

By the end of my first month, I had my fourth upgrade of software for my c616. But at least Hutchison acted responsibly by adopting a policy of upgrading software whenever ‘newer’ software becomes available. My fourth c616 software upgrade is now almost a month old and the occurrence of problems has been less than a handful so far, which I find acceptable considering this is a very sophisticated mobile device and a new technology.

I don’t have information about the batteries used by Mr Batra or his usage patterns. But I managed to make 1,246 minutes of voice calls and 432 minutes of video calls, and consume in excess of 600 multimedia content units (a lot were video clips) and 400 text content units during the first month using mainly the medium-sized battery (1,360mAh).

The following ‘problems’ prevent me from making full use of the current capabilities of 3G:

Lack of roaming support in Japan, the country that has the most 3G users, and more importantly, where my wife roams regularly;

WebCall is not easy to set up, and;

Limitation of 100kb per video message.

Internet-access pricing (that is, surfing out of the 3 portal and using the phone as a modem) is too expensive to make full use of it as a Wi-fi alternative

I hope the above problems can be addressed so I can make the best use of my 3G device.