thumb tacks, thumb tech

Servers reliability and protection

2009-09-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

For disaster recovery and business continuity, reliable back-up and storage servers are critical in corporations. Double-Take for Windows is an affordable and easy-to-use product that provides real-time replication for your physical and virtual servers.

Over-protective is evil

2009-09-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, communication broke down with my D & M, once again. Repeatedly, they failed to realize I was not happy bound to my birth country. Weather could not convince them. Quality of living (I know that is too general) could not convince them either. They just want me to live THEIR life and not my own life. If that were the case, why was I born to this world and given my own lungs to breathe. I could jolly well be stuck to a external life support and breathing apparatus (them) and just wait till the day I die.

Life without heart is sad. Life without soul is equally the same. I am almost vivid clear that I will gain more happiness if my body and my heart (and souls) stays together. A fallen entity means failure, and I will not make the same mistake again.

D&M, sorry if I have broken your heart. It is your refusal to believe in me, your refusal to have trust in me, refusal to see that happiness can be mine by a simple act of being able to enjoy what I want to do, who I am with, and where I am, even when it means not able to stay close to you. If not being seen by you defines an act of losing filial piety, then mark me down with those hideous words. Deep in my heart, I know I am not. I can only choose a distant way of expressing filial piety, a way you consider NOT. I know you are not wrong but I can bravely stand on my grounds that I am not wrong too. As I have told D previously, if we cannot share a same vision and perspective, both of us will lose the battle altogether. You will not lose me by letting me go. Rather, you will win a part of my heart if you can understand that whatever I am doing now is to pave a better path for my own family. Happiness is not $. Quality of life is not $ either. It is all about an individual feeling comfortable in the state of mind and heart.

I watched Curious George this morning, taking one leaf from a book. The kite. It sounds cliché but it rings my heart. The purpose of a kite is to let it fly. If you refuse to release the line and wants to have total control, then a kite can never be a kite. It will not fly and merely be a decoration. If you want to tie it with a line and allow it to fly, then manage it with good control. The looser you hold the line, the better the kite flies in the environment. The extreme will be a total let-go (kite flies and be gone forever) which in this analogy is not the end-goal.

Not in the mood for Chinese New Year

2009-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I am not in the mood for Chinese New Year this year. I just hope this will be the last CNY I have to be in Singapore. Whoever reads this and knows me and my family, please don't give me away, just in case I don't get a chance to get out of Singapore and DUH!!!, it is going to be so darn embarrassing I said that. Anyway, I won't be celebrating much since I NEED to WORK. BLEH! Yes. Public sector. Work-life balance. BS. Just pure unlucky I am one of those three co-ordinating members in my organisation that are supposed to work with our HQ after the recent Resilience Budget. If you do not know, after the Budget comes the debate and preparation of answers to questions raised. Turnaround of each question - 24 hrs!

I really need to stay resilient! Almost going crazy.

Borrowing money is a bad thing ?

2008-10-10T01:27:00.001-07:00

BOA, Washington Mutual(WaMu - everybody says Wa-Moo), Wachovia - familiar names to us as we see those names whenever we go past Sunnyvale financial district in California.

Local and foreign media have put so much focus on the financial crisis and analysts have provided us with details of the causes and effects.

Why were Asian banks not hurt as badly as Western (US, and European banks) ? Many attributed to the way money was spent by the banks. If you go deeper, it is really in the culture and education we were nurtured in since young.

As an Asian brought up in a traditional family in Singapore, "borrowing" money is typically seen as a bad action. It means you are "poor". It means you are "not doing well". Mom used to say:

"Don't take on loans and incur the interest rates. It's not worth it".

"Pay off credit cards bills all at once. Don't delay payment and get fined for it. Don't pay by installments and get charged interests."

"If possible, pay the bills (that can include BIG items like house and automobile) upfront".

So, is taking loan really a BAD THING ? Yes & No. Of course, thanks to the conservative teachings of Dad and Mom - I consider myself (and is) a risk-averse person when it comes to financial planning/investment. Also to the point I could not really understand - when some of the people I know (not so close that I could call them "friends") chose to pay 0% interest installment when they purchase a washing machine and a refrigerator from Courts. But when thought more objectively, maybe I can understand why. To them, it is not a matter of being seen "poor" or "rich" when they go by installments. They are using this ever-popular evil (especially in this turmoil times) word called LEVERAGE.

Similar to the Western culture (I don't know about Europe) eg in the USA, BEING IN DEBT may not necessarily be a bad thing. And they don't call it DEBT, they call it LEVERAGE. That is how people like you and me use loans to build credit. Till today, I don't know the specific dynamics behind this but put in simply - if you were to purchase an automobile today (say eg. a new Toyota Corolla cost only about US$16K), some people will advise you to go on a car loan even if you could pay the whole lump sum upfront. Because when you take a loan, and are able to re-pay the loan, your credit rating goes up? Then in future, when you want to borrow money for something more critical or important, you could get a loan more easily? Something like that. I told you I am not an expert in this!

Too much of a good thing becomes evil ! The cause of this crisis is the result of OVER-LEVERAGE!! I think the"ang-mohs" need to learn about being thrifty from Asians and Asians need to open up their concept of "borrowing" at the same time!

Then, all of us will be smarter in future.

New York Times, then now Malay Mail. Yippee!

2008-10-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

I chose this site to "announce" it first, since this site has LOWER (secret) traffic following, compared to my main blog at Teczcape - An Escape to Food. Freakonomics.

In fact, I just had a cooking post up in Teczcape - An Escape to Food and did not want to create another new post so soon.

OK. A-hem....my interview with Malay Mail is up! ^o^ I am The Food Escapist as featured in Malay Mail, 9 October 2008.

This "light" must have followed me, after my snippet feature in New York Times (online 30 Sept 2008, print 1 Oct 2008).

Hooray! At least something to brighten me up before I start the dreary work week from next week onwards.

Contrasting views all a matter of perspectives

2008-10-08T23:38:00.000-07:00

My Dad is going to jump at this - "S'pore top choice for expat parents" published in My Paper, 9 October 2008. It re-emphasized his point that Singapore......"is very good what ...a lot of foreigners want to come here..."

Yes & No. If your automobile and gas are paid for, your living (meals and transport) expenses are paid for, housing paid for, your children's education are (partially?)paid for, your medical bills paid for, who would NOT say - S'pore is TOP choice ?

TODAY, also 9 October 2008, had another report on "Here today, gone tomorrow" of expat children. I have no question about a good early education they are able to receive in S'pore. Most importantly, they can make use of this opportunity here to gain perspectives on the Asian culture, learn another language - all these eventually help them to gain access to MORE (note: I did not say "better") opportunities.

Get the missing link of these two tabloids? So, expat parents and children are just here to tap and make use of the good system and opportunity, but will eventually leave one day...back to their home country or somewhere better.

So, Dad (I wish) should know going out from Singapore does not mean not returning. Singapore is but so limited in the kind of industries it is trying to nurture. Other than IT, biotech (maybe) and oil & gas, I wonder where will all the engineering(civil, mechanical) grads go to - take some MBA and go into investment banking, probably ? And unfortunately, Singapore does not have many relevant opportunities for hubby. If other countries "need" his skills/knowledge, just like how Singapore "need" them, then we are just following the footsteps of those foreigners whom you cited as your example, right?

More convincing to be done to open up their perspectives.

And of course, still thankful we are alive today, to keep dreams burning.

Different views of employment

2008-10-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

Most of us who are employed or looking to being employed or even choosing "not to be employed"- we all have our reasons for doing so. The hierarchy of needs directs to a environment where the basic bread and butter needs to be satisfied first. Someone needs to bring in the bacon, right? With that, you come to decide other factors - eg. how big the bacon should be, how many people can that bacon feed, the taste of the bacon, the quality of the bacon, the fat content of the bacon, and maybe even the color of the bacon...blah blah blah...blah blah blah.....

I've come to terms with all these for a long time. Almost boils down to what our government says about having kids being personal choices. If you already have the basic bacon, employment then becomes more of a personal choice, at least to me. What deep social problems overall unemployment will bring....eg. it slackens the economy etc etc...another blah blah blah...blah blah blah session next time - to be put up by some great magnificent policy maker or statistician out there. Not me.

But I don't think the local government will ever encourage people, esp mother/father (depending who brings back the bacon) to NOT work. They even want old people to stay active and work till they are 55, 60 or even 65. For what? I ask. You see old people clearing plates/dishes and cleaning up in food courts and hawker centers. Well, they must "earn" their keeps because if they fall sick, nobody will look after them....they have no savings....CPF is not enough. OK. I know. They are always old people who are enjoying life. Sometimes, you just have to walk around different zonal estates in Singapore to know what is happening.

Such the mentality of different individuals. No one thinks the same. There are certainly people who LOVEeees working and gets HIGH the higher they climb up the career/status ladder. Well, this just does not excite me. I am the kind of worker who likes to go home on the dot (god, where to find such a job that does not scrutinize this?) if I am done with the work for the day. I make sure I am efficient and effective during office hours. I would rather go to office early than return home late. I am not really ambitious in my career (so I don't talk about how much value I can add to the organization etc), as long as I am able to do something I enjoy, learn what I want to learn, and finally reality bestowed...bring back some bacon bits.

In most corporations I have worked before - it seems that "coming in late" and "going back late" is the much preferred practice. Why ? Because when you go back late, your boss sees that. And when you come in early, your boss does not see that (in fact, nobody sees that). Yes, that is the difference. Unless, you are lucky enough to have a boss who chooses to come in early, and leaves promptly as you. Then, he/she will perceive you as a good worker/employee? Nah, I don't go to such extent of making other people happy and making myself unhappy. I stressed - I sought after QUALITY time at the work place and not QUANTITY. Bosses, if you see your workers staying late everyday, it may be because they are inefficient and ineffective...not because they are enjoying their work, and being diligent, okay? Bosses are smart, right? HA!

I digress too much.

The subject title was to talk about employment, in general. And this was what I heard and gathered from my peers in different instances. Their comments and thoughts -

"...in Singapore, being unemployed is a crime..." :O OMG!

"....I need $2mil cash to retire NOW..." meanwhile, this friend earns a reasonable (to me) basic and told me 10k (this is already heaven to me!) would be nice. OMG! But I see that he has more "free" time than others. At least, he goes for his Jap lessons during weekends and dive/windsurf quite regularly. I asked "is $Xk too low?" . I told him he has what other people found more difficult to achieve, that is, work-life balance.

C: Any lobang ? Are you working or Tai Tai?
Me: what tai tai? was nvr one. :P ...in SGP, even more difficult to be one.
C: Anyway what are u up to nowadays? to me not working is Tai Tai loh
Me: wah.....no wonder I need to look for job lah! If not, will be "branded" such term by pple like you leh! Told u many times already, Tai Tai in SG = not working yet living the high luxurious life leh!

Question: Give specific and detailed accounts where you have exhibited integrity.................and courage at work and also in your personal life.
Answer (it happened to be me): The most "courageous" decision I have made in my personal life that relates to work as well, was when I decided to resign from my job back in 2006, and follow my spouse to USA due to his work relocation. For me, it was a chance to adjust and adapt; to learn and appreciate other cultures and environment. I call it life experience and not work experience. Life experience in turn enhances work experiences in the future.

So it is true. If someone ever asked me for my opinion about going out of Singapore and to somewhere more conducive, I would say "Go". And I would not perceive unemployment as something bad. Hey, can't we be doing other constructive things even if we are not working ? During my "unemployment" times, I don't just sleep, eat, then eat, sleep okay? In fact, I was able to do MORE things that overall enriched myself. I definitely find it more satisfying and happier. Life was much better then.

Being gracious

2008-09-25T21:11:00.001-07:00

I did not experience/observe this personally but hooby did. He saw a mother pushing a pram(with kid, of course) into the MRT train one day during morning peak hours. With the pram, this mother was occupying about four "standing spaces" in the train and guess what!....she got many "dirty looks" from other passengers! OMG! Those passengers were frowning! They must be thinking..."why is she here?...now I don't even have a space to stand!" .

So much for being gracious. DUH!

Making personal choices, just let us be

2008-09-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

There is something that sparked off this post. These days, even a single sentence in a full long article can have me make inferences to how I feel. It is about what Ms Teo Ser Lee (TODAY Newspaper, 16 Sept 2008) said "Men want to have a successful, good-looking woman who will still be submissive..." -AND- "...if I meet someone tomorrow and he asks me to give up my career, I would...".

~~"Men~~ Parents want to have a successful~~, good-looking woman~~ children who will still be submissive..." . In my case, maybe? ...Healthy and Happy yet Submissive?? Hmmmm.....

I do think most parents would want their children to be healthy and happy (over rides being successful). If you can be healthy and happy AND successful, it is a triple bonus for parents of course. But I can hardly agree with being affirmative and aggressive at work yet be submissive to parents at home. If it happens, it will be one of the toughest "task" to accomplish, IMO. Too many roles to play and too many situations that conflict and contradict your own behavior. The child will ultimately turn crazy and suffer from schizophrenia. :O

Parents should not assume ~what they think is good~, ~will be best for their children~. Helpful advice based on long years of experience is useful (I am not discrediting that) but the children (of decision-making age, say above 25? I'm not sure, kids mature early these days) should be able to make their own decisions with the help of parents' guidance and advice. And with decisions made by their children(already adults!), parents should support their children and give them their blessings, whether the decisions made by the children turn out right or wrong in future. I am not sure if this sounds too ideal. Or am I dreaming ?

This brought me back to the scenario two years ago when I (we, including hubby) had to convince my parents for an opportunity to venture overseas for hubby's career. We were "disallowed"! The constant series of negative preaching came "Why?" "Can't you find another job in Singapore?" "Why must it be overseas?""What will happen to your own career when you follow him(my hubby)?" "Why?" We took great efforts to convince them it is a good opportunity. And really, I am not lying. And finally, we told them it will probably just be two years - this may be a partial lie, but even so, it was a "white lie". During the two years in California, we get the SAME question repeating every time we connect via the web - "when are you coming back?"....there is just this deadline of "2 years" in their mind though we tried very hard every time, conveying the message that there is no work contract (of 2 years) at all. Nearing that two-year deadline was more and more of reminders "it is nearly two years, when are you coming back?" Come on, can't you give us time to settle down? We were thinking of staying put for good...at least for a while (that does not mean not returning to SGP). We just did not have the guts to break your hearts.

To them, everything in Singapore was GOOD GOOD GOOD (thanks to the govt. and SGP media). Why did they not ask - "are we happy there?" They thought I was not really happy there. They assume I will be bored, thus not happy and keep asking us to return to SGP. They ASSUMED. And due to constant questioning of our return, my hubby realized I was under stress - yes, I was indeed pressurized to return to SGP. He did not want me to be unhappy due to the stress. To be frank, both of us were happy in California. I am not saying California is ALL GOOD and Singapore is ALL BAD. However, I think we prefer CA to SGP in some ways (more on that in future posts). These are all personal choices.

I feel sorry for my hub that he married me - someone with over-protective parents who cannot let go even if I am already married. I confided in my girlfriend. I told her I was unhappy. I told her I returned to SGP because of my parents (that is a fact!). I told her my parents controlled me too much to the extent of controlling my hubby. She said something which was true and reflected what I was feeling. She commented "poor thing...your hb...being tied to an invisible string". Oh I think both me and hubby are tied to invisible strings. It's like a dog leash. You let them go, but not totally. You make sure they are within your line-of-sight just to know they are ok. Hmmm....perhaps, "invisible leash" for us is a better analogy. Stop pulling us back! And don't treat us as kids anymore. How are we going to learn survival skills this way? We need to face the real world outside, you know.

In the eyes of parents, kids will be kids forever but PUH-lease, don't treat us like kids in all your actions. Being 听话(obedient?) does not mean I am being submissive and definitely does not equate to being filial. Put it clearly this way, when you are filial, it does not mean you have to be obedient always, and submissive always, to your parents, ya? Many times, I just wanted to avoid conflicts and clashes by being obedient. But I think my tolerance may just wear off some day.

If I had to make the same decision again - to be out of Singapore and to be at somewhere more conducive (it does not have to be California but at least we know CA is reasonably conducive), I will make the same choice. No regrets. And hear me, this choice is mine and nobody forces me (though my parents would have jumped to the conclusion that I was influenced!). That shows how well they understand me. "...if I meet someone tomorrow and he asks me to give up my career, I would...". I don't think I was ever asked to give up my career then and will not be asked to give up my career in future. However, if certain decision needs to be made, it will still be a personal choice, ultimately.

I miss California so so much...

2008-08-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

I did not sleep well on Saturday night. In fact, I have been feeling sad ever since I came back to Singapore.

I miss California so much! Sunnyvale and the surrounds....

I miss the freedom. It is hard to define. It is just a feeling deep inside my heart.

I miss the weather. The weather which I could just walk out in the outdoors without much thinking. As and when I like it.

I miss the peace. It is just so pleasing to the mind and heart to be peaceful everyday.

I need to get myself back there again.

Singapore transport system sucks!

2008-08-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

You will not feel it if you are staying right in the city, steps away from the MRT station. Unfortunate for you if you are staying in the East working in the far West such as Jurong or up extreme north in Woodlands. Well, just not all parts of Woodlands are well-connected - take an example...the building named "Semi-conductor" building in SBS transit website.

Typical transport route starts like this.

1. You take bus 12 in the morning in order to get to the MRT station @Kallang
2. From Kallang MRT, you take the MRT to City Hall and transit to Woodlands/Marsiling
3. From Woodlands/Marsiling MRT station, you have to take a taxi into the Industrial Park. Yes. No bus goes in there and the company bus cannot be taken by company suppliers, vendors, visitors.

In the evening, you take a taxi out from the Industrial Park to the MRT station, and take the MRT back to Kallang. But the torture is waiting for the bus at the bus stop at Kallang MRT station! Torture during evening peak hours!

Few days have passed and data is telling us, from Kallang MRT to Tanjong Rhu - it takes almost 45mins!!! Can you believe it?! 45 mins just to get home from the nearest MRT station. Adding the total commute time, it is almost 1hr 45min from work to home!

How inefficient can this be? The frequency of bus services needs to be improved during peak hours. I can fully understand the issue of bus delays due to traffic in the city causing a backlash in delays in the sub-urbs. This is only telling me there are flaws in the transport system.

I think SBS needs to be reminded that during peak hours, the frequency of the bus services needs to be carefully studied. And puh-lease......don't send single deck buses during peak hours. You are worsening the conditions since a single deck bus can only manage half the typical load of a double-decker bus.

You increase the fare price and we pay for it. Where is this money going to? Go and get more double-decker buses!

About Positive Thinking

2008-07-10T00:08:00.001-07:00

What is Positive Thinking ?

I was skype-ing my friend yesterday and had a non-heated debate about this. She says she is trying to THINK POSITIVE of late and discovering the benefits of it.

Me. I.

Am not overlooking this word. Neither Am I saying it is something bad. In fact, it is good to think positive. However, I choose to believe only people at an "OK" encompassing situation tend to say "THINK POSITIVE".

I asked. Put yourself in the shoes as if you become a roadsweeper one day, would you then still tell yourself to "THINK POSITIVE" ? Would you turn negative and unhappy?

"THINK POSITIVE" to me, should be independent of CHOICE, and SITUATION. If you tell me "the roadsweeper" is a bad scenario to illustrate positive thinking, then I think it is not even the tapping of positive thinking here, since we can choose NOT TO BE A ROADSWEEPER and NOT TO BE UNHAPPY.

THINKING POSITIVE is such a overused Corporation or rather Human Resource mantra. Of course, you can tell me to THINK POSITIVE. All the benefits...blah blah blah...

THINKING POSITIVE, to me, is fool-proof only when you can do so in whatever situations you are, either you choose them or not.

California High Speed Rail - still need for debate ?

2008-06-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think it's a superb idea with the rising prices in fuel - making air travel and driving more costly than before. If Taiwan can have a high speed rail, I don't see why California can't get it's own. If the bill does not go through, it just has to be a conspiracy among the US govt and the petroleum giants. Yes. It must be.

We have to know this. If high speed rail becomes such a convenience and relatively inexpensive way to travel, who wants to travel by air ? Air travel means delay, especially in the US and now, they even want to charge checked luggage? And remember the authority that disallow fluids with carry-on luggage ? If I can't bring it with me and have to check them in, then I have to pay????

I digress.

Now travel from San Jose to Los Angeles in less than 3 hrs!! WOW! I remember our 5 hr + road trip from Sunnyvale to LA and being caught in the LA city traffic was no fun.

Go for it, California High Speed Rail, it's time!

Inside the latest iPhone

2008-06-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

We have...

3G wireless chipset - Infineon.
GPS chipset - Broadcom unit Global Locate
2MP camera - Micron
Memory chips - Samsung, Hynix, and IM Flash Technologies (JV of Micron and Intel)
3G technologies - Qualcomm: who owns several patents related to a technology known as WCDMA used in the 3G chipsets. Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia

Chinese manufacturing partner for iPhone: Hon Hai Precision Industry.

Laptop cooling pad - as portable as a bamboo sushi roller

2008-05-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get a notebook cooling pad for a long time. I procrastinated for a while because I kept thinking of my "inactivity" on my notebook.

I may be wrong now since I use my notebook more often than the desktop PC , even when I'm at home. It is approximately 12hrs of daily usage of my notebook. Maybe it makes sense to get a cooling pad now. The Gigabyte Rolling Pad (picture, left) really caught my attention. It was featured in a Taiwanese show last night. With this rolling pad, it becomes more mobile for me to carry the pad in my laptop bag. You can roll up the cooling pad, just like a bamboo sushi-roller and stuff it in my carrying case. It is the design that fascinates me. No wonder this won the iF Product Design Award 2008.
Well, you can compare the flexibility factor with the Belkin Cooling Pad that appears so much bulkier.

How effective is heat transfer of a standard cooling pad and rolling cooling pad for the laptop/notebook, I am not sure. First, let me check the price of the rolling pad and if I could get my hands on it in Taiwan.

P.S My hub read this and asked me to use two chopsticks to create a cooling "gap" between the laptop base and the working table. :(

Nothing technological about JEANS - what shoes goes with skinny jeans

2008-05-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

It is about sense. I've always been a "jeans" person. Counting from university days, I think I have 20 or more jeans. 10 years past uni, I believe I have about 8-10 pairs of jeans to-date of which there are 2-3 pairs I really like. I am not a person who goes along with fashion even when jeans are concerned. I have always preferred straight-cut jeans to tapered jeans. However, ever since I got a few pairs of leggings (cropped and long), I thought of trying skinny jeans. Well, the fabric is different but to me, the "cut" is similar. I have no Kate Moss type figure that goes perfect with skinny jeans but I've been trying to think - what shoes goes with skinny jeans.

(1) Ballerina flats
(2) Non-chunky wedges that are almost like flats
(3) Heeled shoes - pump or sandal-like, provided they are not chunky
(4) Knee high boots that goes over your jeans
(5) Pointed toed shoes to make you look even taller. Rounder toed shoes if it could be pulled off

Because the skinny jeans are supposed to make you "look slim"knee down to ankle, you should not pair off with any chunky shoes or it will tend to make the bottom look bulky ALL OF A SUDDEN, and especially spoil the visual effect of slimness knee-down.

Color of shoes - I prefer neutral colors such as black, brown, beige and on the shimmer-side ~ either golden or silver. Take note if you wear a brightly-colored shoe, it will draw all attention to your shoes and create the effect that "you are short" (skinny jeans or not). Unless you have the height to pull that off, stick to plain boring colors like myself.

Since long leggings have a softer lighter feel (due to thinner fabric) compared to jeans, you could pull it off with (1)-(5) as long as it does not add too much bulk to ankle and below. Remember: proportion, proportion and proportion.

Make ethanol at home washing machine style

2008-05-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Instructions:

1. Open the "washing" machine
2. Dump in sugar, yeast and water
3. Close the machine door
4. Click the "Make" Button
5. After full cycle, go collect 100% ethanol

Yes. That is basically the gist in Wired's Feature on Micro-Fueler. A stacked washing machine+dryer- sized machine you can place at home and easily make ethanol. Then, pump and go. The car, I mean. My hb was telling me one could make alcohol with this. OK. I don't deny that. It says Micro-Fueler but did not specify if it's for the vehicle or the beer-belly.

I'm not advocating you to dump food for fuel but it is just interesting to see how easy the concept is.

Portfolio management vs Program management

2008-05-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning, suddenly thinking of project management. Don't ask me why. Must be one of those weird days. I could not remember the differences between program and portfolio management all of a sudden. Started referring to some "old" notes.

What will make me remember in future ? In a gist (I'm leaving out most details and capturing the essence) :

Program management - a pool of INTERDEPENDENT projects, working towards a greater company objective or goal.

Portfolio management - a pool of projects, some of which may be INDEPENDENT to one another, towards a strategic objective of the company.

More specifically, if Company A has a business strategy - to develop Green Energy in the Road Map.

Then PROGRAM BIOFUEL can be broken down into smaller interdependent projects -
Project A - growing fuel-ready corn for ethanol production
Project B - using used vegetable oil for diesel
Project C - researching into cellulose - algae to breakdown biomass for energy production

Then I could also have PROJECT SOLAR that is independent from BIOFUEL (sort of) but together, all these projects forms a portfolio and works towards a common strategy of GREEN ENERGY.

Am I right or wrong ?

ShopWiki - a shopper friendly site

2008-05-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

I enjoy online shopping sites even if it is not for shopping and just for browsing or researching. That is because most online shopping sites have the basics of allowing me to compare different online store prices. Sometimes, I could even use the online reference price and check out if the on-site store itself carries a same product which is cheaper or more expensive. What I like about ShopWiki.com is that it does not just focus on online stores that have paid for advertising placement in the internet. Instead, ShopWiki finds every store on the internet for you and me (the consumers) and this means...I can do a thorough and more objective comparison, translating to better deals and savings. To the consumer, this is all good news.

I was researching about video game consoles under Gaming and interestingly found good reviews and opinions being offered around each product. I could also link to established and reputable brands for popular gaming consoles. With a specific video game console like the Xbox+360, I could easily find supporting and compatible gaming accessories - out came a list that allows sorting by prices and linking to stores that carry each specific accessory product. ShopWiki is such a shopper-friendly site.

Asus Eee PC - bigger mouse pad, larger screen size

2008-04-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

Bigger mouse and bigger screen anyone? That's the ASUS Eee PC 900 for you.

With the popularity in Asus Eee PC, will this revive the UMPC line of Dell ?But I find it funny. The beauty of Asus Eee PC is the size. But there are consumers who want bigger screen sizes. Why not just stick to smaller notebooks or laptops. Those who want 17-, 18- and 19-inch screens can jolly well stick to notebooks. Those who seek lighter and smaller notebooks can try the 7- inch Asus Eee PC.

Taiwan High Speed Rail

2008-04-16T01:49:00.001-07:00

Have I talked about the Taiwan High Speed Rail before ? I forgot. But anyhow, the high speed rail is one of the things I am most impressed with here. Nothing much impresses me here, really. Maybe I need a long time to explore, discover and appreciate.

The Taichung station

Arriving train

There are cars for reserved (assigned) sitting and the last few cars (I think from car 9-12) are free sitting. Free sitting tickets are usually 20% cheaper.

An information map and guide of the train

Quite comfortable if you ride long distance, since it is not as bumpy as a 2-hr taxi ride from Taichung to Taipei.

So if you are working on a laptop, the high speed rail is definitely a much better option.

Safety at the MRT tracks

2008-04-08T00:03:00.001-07:00

With several cases of suicides and accidents on the MRT tracks in Singapore, maybe it's time to build an automated gate or door along the train tracks, similar to those in the underground MRT stations. This will definitely prevent accidents during rush hour traffic when people are rushing for trains. Who knows, you might get pushed around by running masses and fall off to the tracks? :O

The Taipei Metro does it this way in crowded stations -

Food elevator

2008-03-26T18:04:00.001-07:00

This (picture) should jolly well work in Luk Yu Teahouse, Hong Kong. You can argue about holding on to dim-sum traditions but the heavy loads of dim sum over the waiters'/waitresses' shoulders, need to be lightened, especially when they have to climb steep stairs to serve the customers. If you have not seen them, read about them here.

A FOOD ELEVATOR...to the rescue.

I know that is no new invention but it just surprises me when an old store -老店 can embrace that.

Using a food elevator when your eatery establishment has two or more storeys will certainly make operations more efficient.

How it works?
1. You order your food after you are seated (assuming you are not seated on the ground floor)
2. They will take down your orders on a chit and you are given a number
3. They "drop" your orders (somehow, but I don't know how) to the kitchen which will then prepare your food
4. When ready, the dishes will be place on trays and up the elevator they go
5. Your order number is called
6. You collect your food at the food elevator/station

Photo was taken at A-Gei -阿給老店 in Tamsui, Taiwan.

Tag: taiwan eating, tamsui, street food

Travel without luggage

2008-03-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

While I was reading about Luggage Free and Luggage Forward in NY Times today, I thought of a similar convenient service here in Taiwan - 黑貓宅急便. It all seems new but who would have thought Japan has this convenient service - Takuhaibin- that included the transportation of luggage long time ago. The point of having convenient service, domestic or international, is to have ...yes, CONVENIENCE. Taiwan's T-Cat (黑貓宅急便) has made it so by partnering with 7-Eleven. Well, you could arrange pick up at 7-Eleven since 7-Eleven is touted as the most dense network in this country.

And if all these services are reliable, transportation of bulky luggages while you travel will indeed cut down on air traffic and delays. You just have to put your luggage through a different transportation route when you travel on a plane in future. With so much air traffic restrictions, this might be a good idea. Plus, you don't have to claim your baggage at the destination airport if the luggage transportation service offers door-to-door delivery (means from your home, straight to the hotel you staying, just an example). Now, you can even think about almost any items when you travel. Golf vacation - your golf clubs and sets. Cycling - your bicycles!

Innovative ways to reduce solar panel production cost

2008-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

I was browsing Technology Review and found this short article on reducing cost of solar panels. One reason for solar panels not being accepted as mainstream is because of COST. The use of silicon in manufacturing of solar panels has made it expensive to produce and costly to buy. These are a few innovative ways to reduce cost.

1. Using clear molded plastic (cheaper raw material) as a collector. To gather the light and funnel it to silicon strips. Since silicon strips only account for half the panel's real estate, less Si material is used

2. Using manufacturing equipment already developed for the semiconductor industry, instead of expensive customized equipment

3. Effectively locate the wires for collecting current and optimizing wires to collect electricity more efficiently

4. Mass production

Partial source: Technology Review