i can buy my own coffee

I'm glad that I can buy my own coffee.

Sometimes when I hear the good news about my peers getting employed by big companies, I can't help having some mixed feelings. On one hand I really give them my blessings and feel envious, on the other hand I would ask myself, am I really that inferior not to be hired by those companies.

It's a gray area whether I'm unemployed. Firstly, I've signed the letter of offer from an organization, but won't be starting work so soon. Secondly, right now I'm doing temporary work at an IT company. Doesn't sound very unemployed.

Good things come to those who wait, and I'm glad I can buy my own coffee.

singapore gp 2009

Last night I was pretty much glued to the TV screen for the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

I must say I'm not a diehard F1 fan. You can argue that watching 20 cars going round 60 laps is like watching 22 men chasing after a ball. The engine roar was like lullaby to me cos I went straight to bed after seeing Hamilton and friends wasted the Moet. I think the street lights tired the eyes out.

What I like to see is the action at the pitstop (team work at its best!) and sadistically, incidents. Toro Rosso almost did the hose thingie Ferrari did last year, Force India's nose got a punch, and did someone's mirror drop off?

I have this weird habit, if I like the sponsors, I like the team. Red Bull, Canon, Tata, 7-Eleven. Panasonic is a big no-no. Philips, well.. I had to go to their service centre a few times. And it's interesting how fast Renault took out the ING ad after they terminated the partnership. If you want to go technical, the technical page at the official F1 website tells you what specific modification each team make for the circuit.

Ok, back to normal life. No more speeding.

and suddenly the inventor appeared

If you have the belief that creativity cannot be taught, maybe this book can make you reconsider. I just finished reading the book And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared by Genrich Altshuller. Genrich Altshuller is the developer of TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch, or Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) during the Soviet Union era. Stalin put him to jail for 25 years cos of it.

I was reading a researcher's curriculum vitae and saw that his interest includes promoting of TRIZ methodology. I also came across the term TRIZ when studying product development and product design. That triggered my curiosity and I went to look up this book written by the developer himself.

TRIZ is a systematic way of tackling problems, which kind of leads to innovation and inventions. The author listed out 27 methods, some of them I find too specific (such as, "curie point of ferromagnetic materials" or "effect of corona discharge"), while others I find useful in different types of application, eg "do it inversely", "ideal final result", etc. There is this feel of "zen" in the book whenever the author says something like "it is there, and it is not there". Other than that the book also feels like those IQ quiz book, cos the author shared 78 problems for you to try solving using the tools and tricks.

The author says, anyone can become a professional.

And suddenly the inventor appeared.

the woman who breaks the norm

Usually after you've entered an elevator (aka lift), you will do an about-turn and face the door, right? But I saw something interesting at my workplace.

This woman (not very nice to call her an auntie though) entered the lift, and continued to face inwards. At first I thought she was with the group of women and was listening to their conversation. But apparently they don't know her and they were going to different floor. She really looked like she was with them the way she looked at their faces while they talked. The lift was far from being packed, and it only has 1 exit. If it has exits on both sides, I still can understand.

I just find it weird.

Reminds me of this lesson on body language, in which they conducted an experiment with a group of people entering the lift and facing inwards, cornering the other amused passengers. Can be very disturbing.

sum is equal to its parts

Saw this illustration in the book that I'm currently reading. It talks about this common mistake that some people make. They claim that if one finger is at 36 degree celsius, then a hand with 5 fingers will be at 180 degrees and enough to fry some eggs. Very funny.

I'll write a review after I've finished reading the book.

passing by the cave

The other day I was at a research institute on official business. I was walking to the pantry when I passed by this room, with its door open. Being curious I took a peep like how some busy-body looked into your house while walking in the corridor. What I saw was something like a CAVE: computer aided virtual environment.

That reminds me of one lousy term paper I did in university, talking about the application of CAD in virtual prototyping.

Guess it would be fun "walking through" a 4-stroke engine without having to dodge the pistons. Of course virtual prototyping is just one application of virtual reality. But I would say calibrating with that magic wand for motion capturing is a pain in the arse.

eid mubarak 09

To my Muslim readers, Eid Mubarak!

It's Hari Raya (or, Eid) today and I went to Rizwan's place for celebration. Rizwan is my friend from Industrial & Systems Engineering. This year is different from last year, cos the all popular Ameet (my friend from Civil Engineering) is missing. So in his place I brought my girlfriend along :P

We got treated to great home-cooked Pakistani food and of course my favourite part, the dessert!

3 words to describe the gulab jamun: TO DIE FOR!

Thank you Rizwan for being the wonderful host!

inq mini 3g

Today I went to the INQ Mini 3G launch at Ngee Ann City. Singapore is the first city in Asia to launch the Mini 3G.


I generally like candy bar phones. And on first sight this phone has that very toy-ish plastic feel (I rike polymers. hur hur). Bright colours for the battery cover, funky artworks (which is what attracted me). From the exterior it seems like the target group is youths. True enough, it is a "social mobile" cos it has Facebook and Twitter and what-nots inside. A few minutes on the phone can't really figure out much about its user interface (maybe professional gadget reviewers can, but I'm not). Man, I'm so dumb I can't even find the main menu. I can't help feeling a little skeptical about it, cos Facebook and Twitter seems like the only selling point about this phone. What if Twitter whale comes?


I'm a Symbian user and I rely a lot on Wi-Fi (the Mini 3G doesn't have Wi-Fi). If I want to hook up to Facebook and Twitter and WLM and all kinds of social networking stuff, I can just use 3rd party apps like Fring. So except the exterior, the Mini 3G doesn't seem to be my type. However, if you want to upgrade from your "dumb" phone but not quite ready for a smartphone, at less than S$50 with plans, it seems to be a good try, even as a toy.

I still like its body.

giving to children

I just received a payment of my blogging money (all for write-ups, which I find it's getting harder to commit time and energy towards) and I'm donating part of it to charity. Looking back, all my previous blogging donations were to international organizations. This time round I've decided to donate locally, and I am giving to Singapore Children's Society.

I remember when I was in junior college I took part in fundraising and other activities for SCS. There was once we did night trekking with the "children" and I find that a very meaningful experience. (did I do rockclimbing with them? Can't remember)

I thank you (yes you) for reading this blog and just want you to know you have a part in the small humble donation.

stuck at mandarin

Some Chinese language-related observations I made:

• I was having lunch at a food court and saw a group of women ordering food at the noodles stall. The stall helper was asking one of the women if she wanted chilli in her noodles. Then another woman told the stall helper that her friend doesn't understand Chinese, then stood there with crossed arms, kind of expecting the stall helper to repeat herself in English.
  
  Would it be better if the second woman directly translate for the stall helper and her friend, instead of making things (slightly) difficult for the stall helper? Or maybe she knows her translation skill sucks.



• Another lunch, this time round 6 in total, all Chinese. We were chatting away in Mandarin when suddenly one told us to "switch to channel 5" cos one doesn't understand Chinese.

Is English the biggest barrier in learning/using Chinese? Or is it just the people...

between two oceans

Just finished re-reading the book Between Two Oceans by Malcolm H Murfett, John N Miksic, Brian P Farrell & Chiang Ming Shun. A/P Farrell was my lecturer for the module Military History of Singapore and the book was the official text for the exam. My previous read was more of skimming through the index and looking for information, while this time round it's like licking up all the juice on the plate.

The book talks about the military history of Singapore from first settlement to final British withdrawal (that's the official line). But it actually mentions a bit on the time before the British came, as back as something like 5th Century. Then came Raffles and friends in the 19th Century. I think the meat of the book comes in the part leading to World War II and post war Singapore. Secondary school textbooks would say something like the guns were facing the wrong side or the Japanese cycled down Malaya, blah blah blah. But the fall of "Fortress Singapore" was more than that. Then the final part of the book talks about the shift in British defence policy East of Suez, the Malayan Emergency, Confrontation, and final withdrawal.

The book is really a good read if you want to know more about the Malayan Campaign and the so-called biggest military blunder in British history. Gives you a better appreciation of total defence as well especially when you realize how many decades the defence plans were pushed back until the Japanese landed.

engineering other jobs

Saw the article about "工程师治国" (Engineers running the country) in the Lianhe Zaobao and suddenly stirred up some thoughts in me. For the benefits of those who can't read Chinese, the article basically talks about the situation in China where most of the national leaders are from science and technology background. For example, both Hu and Wen are engineers. (that's arguable, since they are now President and Premier, and not really doing engineering work) The article argues that those from humanities may not necessarily have the humanities touch, while those from engineering can have that attribute as well.

I used to have a less-than-neutral view on people who studied engineering but ended up in other sectors, thinking that engineering graduates should apply what they have learned in university and contribute to society. Now I am a job-seeker (a nicer term than say "unemployed") myself, my view has changed. Even I myself have branched out to other sectors when searching for jobs. With a dose of reality, let's say it's hard to talk about ideals when your stomach is empty. To sugarcoat it a bit, you can say you can still apply what you've learned in engineering into other sectors, and contribute to society. I've friends doing banking and marketing now. *shrug* I dunno any coursemates working as national leaders yet.

Oh well...

how they erect the cranes

I've always wondered how do they erect the cranes at construction sites (yes, the national bird) and how they increase the cranes' height as the building under construction gets taller. No way do they disassemble it just to add in a section, right?

So here's a clip from San Marco that has overflowed many tech blogs these few days.


Ah, now I know.

the dead sea scrolls & the ancient world

Yesterday I went for the Dead Sea Scrolls & the Ancient World exhibition at he Arts House with xizor and xinyun. It was xizor's second visit to the exhibition, and you can read his write-up on his first visit here.

Being a non-Christian, at first I thought the exhibition is heavily Christianity-themed. But it turned out to be more like a civilization history exhibition. The fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls no doubt is the highlight of the exhibition, but majority of the exhibition talks about the history of the Bible. The Holy Bible is arguably one of the most influential books (they joked that it outsold Harry Potter) in human history, so to learn about human civilization shouldn't exclude the Bible. If you look at it from another perspective, you can also see how technology evolves revolving around the Bible. Printing press, movable type, and even the Bible that went to moon with Apollo 14.





Limitation posed by the venue did make the flow of exhibition a bit confusing. But the curators did a great job in presenting to visitors stories beyond what was written on the walls. I would say the exhibition is suitable for visitors regardless of religion. The exhibition will end on 20 September 2009.

hey yo

It seems like yoyos become popular every few years. It sure appears like they are back recently.

Nowadays yoyos are not simply just a string coiled to the round block, like shown in this patent of 1866. They've got all sorts of weird parts like ball bearings and what else... then kids can disassemble them then upgrade the parts. Then they have all sorts of stunts with fanciful names like "walk the dog".

But playing yoyos don't seem to make kids smarter. Or at least the parents. The other day I was at the supermarket and I saw this kid doing the "ferris wheel" with his yoyo right at the supermarket entrance. Hello, this is not a dungeon with booby traps, it's a supermarket entrance with shoppers. I can't imagine the hard solid yoyo spinning at hight speed hitting someone in the head, or the string coming loose and the yoyo becoming a deadly hammer throw.

Then they will blame the toy maker for not including warnings in the instruction sheet.

sampling noodles

Today I went for a visit to Tat Hui Foods Pte Ltd, organized by omy.sg. Tat Hui Foods is the manufacturer of the Koka brand of instant noodles. From what I gathered from them, 90% of their sales comes from export, so they actually help to spread our Singapore brandname worldwide.

The main agenda of this visit was to sample Koka's latest noodles flavours that are not available in the market yet. So we were given samples of unknown brands of noodles of the same category (ie, chicken flavour of brand X pit against chicken flavour of brand Y) We were asked about our preference based on attributes such as aroma, taste, mouth feel, texture, etc. And we had to clear the aftertaste in our mouth by eating crackers and sipping water after each sample. Consumer review and questionnaire are useful steps in New Product Development (NPD) process.
I can't remember how many samples of noodles I sampled.
We also visited the production line while at the factory. My most exciting part of the visit. Machines! It was indeed very fascinating to see how the instant noodles that we eat in daily life are made. From flour then become one flat piece like sheet metal, going through a set of rollers (seriously, like metal work), then drawn into noodles, cooked, goes into the cup, add the seasoning pack, seal, package, go into box. I was quite impressed with their stringent quality control. For example I saw one cup topple in the production line. Straight away the line operator discard that unit cos the noodle came out of the cup. Then at another station I saw 1 cup didn't meet the weight requirement, automatically discarded by the machine.


The staffs (including the production line workers. Sorry, I disturbed them) were very happy to answer my many questions (problem kid here). The visit was really an eye-opener for me and I came back with 2 bags full of noodles. Really looking forward to similar events in the future.

taking the hsk

After some 9 years since my last Chinese class, I took the HSK test last week. Even I myself find myself bold to take up the challenge.

The HSK test, or Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, is like the Chinese version of the TOEFL to test your level of language proficiency. The test has got 3 different test ranks, namely Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. The one I took was the Advanced level =_="

You can get a taste of the difficulty via the sample paper here.

At first I thought the composition would be the one giving me trouble, but it turned out the compo was alright, no fumbling over words. It was surprisingly the oral that knocked me off the seat (not literally). I have always been confident conversing in Mandarin, hardly mixing in English terms in my Chinese sentences. But imagine 15 over candidates in the same room doing the oral all at once, not to an invigilator but to tape recorders. That was weird. I am not used to talking to a machine.

Let's see when the result is out.

gundam fiesta 2009

Being a long time Gundam fan, I wouldn't want to miss the Gundam Fiesta 2009 held at Compass Point. It is Gundam's 30th Anniversary this year and it is the first time a Gundam theme event is held in Singapore.

(mouse-over image to see descriptions, click to enlarge)







I think it was really a great event cos it is dedicated to Gundam and not sharing an event with anime or comics. Decent share of stuffs for all the series and not just concentrating on the recent Gundam Seed or 00. Gundam fans are like Star Trek and Star Wars fans, some of us like the oldies. However I kind of wish there are more dioramas showing classic scenes, like the 3 Zaku II entering Side 7, Char's Z'gok KO the GM at Jaburo, etc etc. And if White Base and other ships' models were there, it would be nice.

Really looking forward to the next Gundam event :)

smart/stupid elevators

The office building where I work at has these smart slash stupid elevators. Smart cos they were designed with smart intention. Stupid cos they behave stupidly.

What makes them special is the weight sensor. The elevators are equipped with weight sensors so sensitive that the buzzer will sound and the word "FULL" will light up on the panel before the elevator car is fully filled. Once the FULL is lighted up the elevator won't stop at any level until it reaches the passengers' destination. Ie, if the elevator is filled at level 10 and everyone inside is going to level 1, the elevator will go straight to level 1 regardless of whether levels 9,8,7 lobbies have people pressing the button.

So during knock off timing, something amusing will happen. People at levels 2,3,4 (lower floors) are not willing to take the stairs, yet always unable to catch the elevators cos they are always full by the time they finish ferrying the top floors people. So what the lower floors people do, they press both the up and down button, and more often than not travel in the empty elevator all the way to the top floor then back down to earth.

And if you know how the sensor works, it's weight, not mass. So if you jump a bit inside the elevator, it will go "FULL" and skip the floors. I'm waiting to see genius trying to reduce the weight by standing on one leg.

the bus driver marches on

It is just one month to the People's Republic of China's National Day.

I was on the way home after dinner. I settled on an empty seat behind the bus driver. Halfway through the journey suddenly I heard the ringtone of the Chinese National Anthem, 义勇军进行曲 (March of the Volunteers) coming from the front. There was no one in front except the bus driver, so the ringtone definitely came from the bus driver, if not the dashboard.

I bet the bus driver is a Chinese national since lately both the bus companies have hired quite a lot of drivers from China. Such patriotism. Luckily he didn't stand up and salute halfway on the road.