Summary of Changes to Off-peak Car Scheme

It's amazing how some topics I have spoken about verbally will suddenly appear in the newspapers the very next day, with the exact changes that I've been asking for. Sometimes I do wonder if there's a hidden microphone somewhere around me. :)

Anyway, the off-peak car (OPC) licencing scheme is finally tweaked in a way that would encourage more adoption. I disagree that the changes are minor, and I feel that these changes may drive more people to convert their cars to the OPC scheme. One very strong motivation force behind it is the change to allow the use of OPC for the whole of Saturdays.

My guess is that if the take-up rate for the OPC scheme is good, the overall ERP charges may be reduced a year or so after the changes because there will be lesser cars on the roads on weekdays. The question now is whether there will be ERP charges on weekends! :) This I doubt for a very simple reason. The ERP scheme to me is used to facilitate business activities and weekends are more for "casual driving".

The following are a summary of the changes (in my interest) to the OPC scheme:

1. From 23 Nov 2009, day licence will become electronic (e-Day). You may purchase the e-Day Licence online before the end of the following day that you have used it, at the One.Motoring portal, AXS stations and using mobile-SMS service, in addition to Singapore Post outlets and Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) offices, anytime between 6am and midnight daily.
   
   
2. By end Jan 2010, the OPC scheme will be revised to allow unrestricted usage on Saturdays and the eves of 5 public holidays, namely, New Year, Lunar New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas. With the extended usage, the annual road tax discount will be correspondingly reduced from $800 to $500. The minimum annual road tax will now be $70.
   
   Existing OPC owners can choose to opt into this revised scheme to enjoy the extended hours in exchange for reduced tax discounts and an administrative fee of $100.
   
   
3. By end Jan 2010, owners of normal cars who convert to the revised OPC Scheme will enjoy a cash rebate of up to $1,100 for every 6 months' of registration as an OPC, until the car reaches 10 years old. The car must be kept as an OPC for at least 6 months after its conversion, except in cases of de-registration or when the OPC reaches the age of 10 years.

Work hard, Play hard

I quote from Mary Anne Radmacher:

Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.


In short, appreciate all that is around you. Work hard, play hard. Do not spend your time reminiscing about what ifs. Think about what you can do in reality.

iPhone is the number 2 top selling phone in the US

It's amazing how the iPhone can be the number 2 top selling phone in the US, even though it's only available through one carrier. Just imagine what the iPhone can do if there are no carrier restrictions.

In Singapore, I've already seen more and more people using iPhones compared to last year. For those carriers that think that iPhone is just a fad, well... They better think again. According to statistics, it seems that Microsoft is the biggest loser in this smartphone battle. Microsoft's global market share has fallen below 10%, while Apple has risen from 2.1% to 13.7% in 1 year!

In fact, I think you can write Microsoft off. Now the battle is between iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre. That will be an interesting battle worth watching.

Don't agree with EZLink cards being tied up with membership cards

Just read that Passion is going to introduce a membership card that also acts as an EZLink card in November this year. I do not agree with this concept of combining the EZLink card with other uses.

Reason is very simple. EZLink card is based on contactless technology. What happens if you have multiple EZLink cards in your wallet when you're making your payment? Will it deduct money from both cards? I guess we may not even know because I believe few of us actually keep track of how much money is in the EZLink card.

Having multiple EZLink cards in your possession may also lead to you being confused on how much money is in which EZLink card. Frankly, I do not understand why some people like to have backup cards. I find it a big hassle in remembering the value left for each card. One is enough for me thank you.

I believe for contactless payment technology, it's always best to keep things simple, especially when the technology allows the card to be read even though it is not taken out of the wallet/purse.

Singaporeans are happy back in 2006

Seems like there was a survey done back in 2006 that measured the quality of life, conducted across seven East Asian economies by a Japanese university.

Singaporeans scored 70%, topping the Happiness Index in the survey. People in Vietnam were in second place, at 64 per cent, while the Japanese were third, at 54 per cent. People in Taiwan were the least happy with only 30 per cent.

The catch? This was done back in 2006. I remembered back in 2006, the economy was just picking up and everything was quite good, especially if you compare back to 2003. Knowing that, it's no surprise that Singaporeans are generally happy in that year.

Even if you fast-forward to now, there is still a possibility that Singaporeans are still topping the index for East Asia. Reason is quite simple. Most of us still have a roof over our heads, and we're still working, abeit for a bit less. Considering the havoc some other countries are having over their financial and employment situation, our situation is considered quite okay.

Generally speaking... If I have a job, roof over my head, 3 meals, my friends and my guitar, I can be quite content. :D Won't you?

Apple Snow Leopard to Launch on 28 Aug 2009

It's official. Snow Leopard, the newest Mac OSX operating system will be launched on 28 Aug 2009, which is this coming Friday.

What does this translate to? You may see some shops have last minute "clearance" sales. Good to pick up a MacBook now if price is an issue. I recalled seeing a MacBook Pro 13" Alum Body for about SGD1.6K last weekend. :)

I just wonder if the 28 Aug is US timing. If it is, that means we'll only be getting it on Saturday. Hmm...

Reader's Digest files for bankruptcy!

Just read the grapevine that the US units of Reader's Digest filed for bankruptcy! Luckily, operations in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia-New Zealand are not part of the bankruptcy filing. I've been reading Reader's Digest for more than a decade now I think, and I like the stories and information it has been providing. Their interviews with celebrities sometimes can be thought provoking. I would miss it if its no more.

Apparently, Reader's Digest is using this bankruptcy filing, otherwise also known as Chapter 11, to transfer ownership to their group of lenders and cut debt. They do not plan to lay off any employees or sell any units in its restructuring.

Hope they use this chance to also see if they can add any more value to loyal readers like us. Good luck Reader's Digest.

Cloud Computing Heating Up

Looks like Apple may be joining in to the cloud computing wagon. Apple is building one of the largest data centre in the world in Northern Carolina that is bigger than Google and Microsoft.

One of the most likely reason for such a big data centre is that Apple may be jumping into cloud computing, and software as a service wagon. Thinking in terms of what the iPhone can do, I'm guessing that the AppStore may in future evolve into a store where you can subscribe to certain services for free/a fee.

It does makes sense to go down this path. There are certain applications that will warrant to be modeled on a pay-per-use basis. For example, some people may buy newspapers or magazines depending on the content of that issue. So it is possible to model such an application on a pay-per-use basis. If I want to access that particular copy, or maybe that particular article, I just pay for that.

Definitely this is more complicated than the traditional way of doing business, especially on the pricing model. However, this may open up certain avenues of income streams and open up the market to a wider range of audiences.

The success factor of cloud computing will depend on the "killer app". Can Apple do it? Judging from their successes in all the recent product launches, there is a high possibility.

Meanwhile, I will carry on pondering on what kind of applications will best suit the cloud computing model, taking into account the security and privacy aspects of the business functions. :)

Inflation is down 0.5%

These are the Singapore inflation rates for 2009:
January: 2.9%
February: 1.9%
March: 1.6%
April: -0.7%
May: -0.3%
June: -0.5%
July: -0.5%

Clothing and Footwear and Health Care is leading the charge, rising by 2.7% and 2.6% respectively year on year. In fact, the inflation numbers are negative year on year except for Food, Clothing and Footwear, and Healthcare. Although there is a 1.1% inflation rate jump from June 2009, it seemed that we started off with a high inflation base around the same time last year. That's the reason for the negative inflation rates since April.

Judging from the inflation data trend since April, it is highly possible that inflation will hold around 0% to -0.5% until the end of the year. That would translate to 0.1% to 0.2% inflation rate for 2009. Good or bad?

Only you can make yourself unhappy

I quote from Wayne Dyer:

Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.


Sometimes when the going gets rough, it is difficult to keep this concept foremost in your mind. Only you can make yourself unhappy. If you choose to be unhappy, no matter what others say, you will still be unhappy.

The only way I can think of is to think of the situation in a different perspective. Do not think of the situation from the criticism point of view, but instead think of it as an opportunity for further improvement.

It's easier said than done though. But still we have to try. No use living your life unhappily.

RDBMS is here to stay

Recently I have been reading about Object Oriented Database Management Systems (OODBMS), and how it is better than Relationship Database Management Systems (RDBMS).

Well, I'm not sure about the technology now, but the previous versions of OODBMS that I've tried before is quite slow, especially when I need to do a mass retrieval of a particular field in all the records. Having said that, that was quite a few years back since I played around with an OODBMS.

Maybe I'm old schooled, but I still think that the data layer should be abstracted away from the application layer. With OODBMS, it seems to me that the application logic and interaction will also be embedded in the data store, because how the objects interact with one another are usually defined by the application.

What RDBMS forces you to do is to abstract the data store away from the application logic. It forces you to think from the data perspective on how the information will be stored, regardless of how the application functions. Not every database design needs to be in BCNF form, and I do not think it's true that RDBMS are always slower than OODBMS. My previous experience is actually quite the opposite. I believe it may be the way different applications retrieve the data.

Anyway, whether it is RDBMS or OODBMS, note that it's only one way of doing things. Every type of technology has its uses. :)

QuickTime X in Snow Leopard

Apparently, Quicktime X is something that is much touted for Snow Leopard, other than the MS Exchange integration and the speed boost. According to some of the news, it seems that there will no longer be a QuickTime Pro. QuickTime X given free in Snow Leopard, will not only be able to record video and audio, but it will also allow you to edit it. This is something that is quite different from the current free version of Quicktime.

For those who did OS X Programming before, QuickTime X actually supports Core Audio, Core Video and Core Animation. Those who are familiar with these APIs can imagine what QuickTime X can do with this kind of support. QuickTime X may become one of the best looking media players around. In fact, videos played on QuickTime X may even look better than other media players.

I guess we'll know next month, or maybe even earlier. Seems like Amazon already started their pre-order for Snow Leopard. Check it out here.

Asking what to do when powering off the computer

This is a simple way to prevent your users from pressing the power button accidentally, and causing your laptops to go to the shutdown / hibernate mode. It is to force Windows to ask you for your preferred action after pressing the power button.

To set up the above, do the following:

1. Goto Control Panel > Power options
2. Under the "When I press the power button on my computer", click on the drop-down list and fill in the details.
3. Select "Ask me what to do" and click on OK
   

That's it...

Religious Harmony is Important

"Teach them about accommodation."

This was something that stood out to me while listening to the National Day Rally on the topic of religious harmony. This was something our Prime Minister said when addressing the different religious groups in Singapore.

Why did this strike a chord with me? That's because I find that increasingly, certain people in Singapore have been pushing their faiths to others without any considerations of the people's own personal space.

I could never find the reason why this had to be the case. I meet up with my friends of different faith once every week. Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Free Thinker. We meet up, talk for hours, and we eat together. The only time where religion came into our discussions was when we had to eat. Even then, some of us could be eating chicken, beef, pork, etc. It never matters to us what are our different religious faiths. The only thing that matters to us were the years of friendship we had between us.

This is religious harmony. Let's not disrupt this, or take this for granted.

Windows 7 promises better Graphical performance

According to Nvidia, it seems that Windows 7 promises better performance for Nvidia due to DirectX Compute, the new graphics API interface for Windows 7. The API suppose to take full advantage of the parallel processing power built into today's high-end graphics cards, and enable use of advanced technologies like SLI-based, multi-GPU gaming, etc.

Windows 7 is not the only operating system that is taking advantage of the GPU. Last year during WWDC, Apple has already been advertising OpenCL that is one of the main core technologies in Snow Leopard, the newest operating system by Apple which will be released in September 2009 just before Windows 7. OpenCL in Snow Leopard will initially be supported on the NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GT, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GTS, Geforce 9400M, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, ATI Radeon 4850, and Radeon 4870.

So far, I'm not sure if any games are using these new technologies so it's too early to say if there will be better graphics performance, or will less power be used to produce equivalent or better graphics. However, these new APIs can be one of the pushing factors on whether we should upgrade, especially for gamers. :)

Tired but happy

Saturday is actually one of the busiest day of the week for me. I can get up as early as 8+am, and I will only reach home close to 1am every single week. Surprisingly though, it is one of the happiest day of the week for me, and I look forward to it. Maybe the reason is because I am having the most fun on that day. It's the day where I release all my stress either through my guitar, or through talking with my friends. Somehow, saturdays always seem to be too short for me.

Yesterday was the most hectic day I had this year so far. Went for a lunch appointment at 12, rushed to perform in a welcome tea at 2.30pm, and met up with my friends later on at 4pm til midnight, and did an impromptu performance for my friend's son (Chris) so that he could stop crying. :)

The cutest thing that happened yesterday was actually the impromptu performance I gave to Chris. He is less than 6 months old, and he has a very interesting reaction while I was playing. He will alternate between staring at me, and my fingers at the fingerboard. The funny thing is as he was staring so intensely at the fingerboard, I started to feel uncomfortable. I think all guitarist will agree that if someone stares hard at the fingerboard, you will start to feel uncomfortable and there is a higher chance you'll make mistakes, unless the piece is simple and/or you're familiar with it. Sad to say that even babies have that effect on me. I started to fumble at the less familiar pieces because he was staring so intensely at my fingers. :p

To top it off, when I stopped playing, he stared at my fingers for a while, and he started crying. All of us couldn't resist laughing out loud. He stopped crying and resumed staring at me when I played a few rescarado chords, but he started crying again when I stopped playing.

That was so funny. Babies are really cute. :D

Personal Satisfaction Leads to Success

I quote from Denis Waitley:

Personal satisfaction is the most important ingredient of success.


I believe this is one of fundamentals of being successful in whatever that you're doing. If you derive a personal satisfaction in what you're doing, the success is just a byproduct. The satisfaction you'll get in doing usually drives you to achieve more than what is expected.

That's why most, if not all of the successful people in the world loves what they are doing. Do not doubt the power of self satisfaction.

Should not pay more if the house is near the MRT

With all the different MRT lines coming up in Singapore (e.g. Circle line, Downtown line, etc), it just makes me wonder. Does it make any difference if your house is near the MRT now?

Anyone who tries to rent/buy a house knows that there is a premium to be paid when you get a house near the MRT. I myself wanted to get a flat near the MRT because of the convenience.

The future for the MRT lines in Singapore should still be based on the hub and spoke model. This may translate to every housing estate having at least one MRT station as the hub. If this is true, that means in the future, the premium paid for flats near the MRT will be almost non-existent because if every flat is near the MRT, why pay the premium unless your flat is right next to the MRT station (underground)?

In fact, any premium that you pay for the flat should be relative to the distance to the main town centre, or city. That kind of premium will stay throughout the years.

Paying a premium for a flat near an MRT may "depreciate" over the years, so beware of paying too much for such a flat. Why did I suddenly think of this? That's because of the news recently where developers put "planned" MRT stations (which may not even be true, according to URA) near their development.

Why did they do that? So that they can charge buyers higher lah. So buyers beware.

Unemployment Rates from Jun 08 to Jun 09

Recently our Ministry of Manpower has released some interesting statistics on the unemployment rate for Singapore. Refer to the table below that shows the unemployment rates from Jun 08 to Jun 09.

	Jun 08	Sep 08	Dec 08	Mar 09	Jun 09 p
Seasonally adjusted
Overall (%)	2.2	2.3	2.5	3.3	3.3
Resident (%)	3.1	3.4	3.6	4.8	4.6

^P: Preliminary estimates


I am looking only at seasonally adjusted rates to remove the effect of tertiary graduates entering the job market, and students finding employment during the school holidays.

The news have been talking about unemployment treading downwards for residents. At first glance, I thought that the Jobs Credit seems to be working and more jobs are given to residents (Singaporeans and PR). However if you look at the table, something doesn't add up. If the jobs credit scheme did help, it should have been reflected in the Mar 09 statistics. Instead, you see a jump of 1.2% from Dec 08 to Mar 09.

The difference between Mar 09 and Jun 09 unemployment rates is also not very substantial, and according to the statistics results released, the decline might be the result of more people deferring job searches and pursuing courses, thereby removing themselves from the job market. Comparison between Jun 08 and Jun 09 also shows that graduates have a harder time finding jobs upon graduation.

Translated, the statistics only show that unemployment stabalised between Mar 09 and Jun 09, and the Singapore economy is still no better since Mar.

Granted that without the Jobs Credit scheme, the numbers may look even worse. Anyone who keeps track of the news knows that quite a significant number of foreign workers have been sent home due to the recession and the "phantom" workers saga. This may explain why the unemployment rate has been holding steady since Mar 09.

I do not see any basis that the economy has recovered, but the property and market fever in Singapore seems to have restarted recently. If you look at all the statistics however, there is no basis for this "fever" to start. The job market in Singapore may get worse (e.g. Segate layoffs) in the 2H09, especially when the people that has finished their courses goes back to the job market.

Morale of the story. Do not be too carried away by this property and market fever. It is most probably going to get worse, before getting better. Remember, the global household saving rates are going upwards. Where's the demand coming from, and is it sustainable?

Don't Be Afraid To Fail

You've failed many times , although you may not remember.
You fell down the first time you tried to walk.
You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn't you?
Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat?
Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot.
R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.
English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs.
Don't worry about failure.
Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.

A message as published in the Wall Street Journal
by United Technologies Corporation,
Hartford, Connecticut 06101

Beware of Storing Sensitive Data in the iPhone 3GS

It seems that the encryption technology in the new iPhone 3GS is not that hot after all. Recent news revealed that with physical access to the iPhone 3GS and some free software tool, data can be extracted within 2 mins and you can get the entire image of the raw disk of the iPhone 3GS in 45 mins.

What's astonishing is that the iPhone decrypts the data stored in the phone the moment the extraction of data begun. Meaning... Your data is as good as not being encrypted. User friendliness is one thing, but this is going a little overboard.

Anyway, just beware of storing any confidential information in any hand phone. Usual caveats apply.

On a separate note, the iPhone 3.01 OS update fixes the SMS attack flaw that allows a hacker to send a specially crafted SMS that will allow the hacker to take control of your iPhone. Better get that firmware update. Don't worry about updating the firmware. It's quite painless.

Finally a USB 3.0 Device?

USB 3.0 specifications have been out since last quarter of 2008, and devices supporting it are rumoured to be out by the end of this year. USB 3.0 is touted to reach speeds of up to 4.8Gbps, compared to USB 2.0 480Mbps. Seems like finally USB 3.0 is going to see some light of the day.

Fujitsu recently announced a USB 3.0 to Sata bridge chip, with in-built AES encryption/decyption for secure storage. What does this mean? I would say faster copying to portable storage devices. An example was given that a 2 hour HD movie can be copied to a USB 3.0 3.5 inch hard disk drive in 3 to 4 minutes (I assumed no encryption). Now... That is fast.

USB 3.0 is backward compatible with the previous versions of USB too, so do not be too worried about your previous USB 2.0 devices.

However, one catch though to this piece of news. It would most probably be only available next year. Chicken and egg problem again I assume. How to sell USB 3.0 devices if there are no machines with USB 3.0 ports?

Trust in your own Uniqueness

I quote from James Broughton:

Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open


Simple, but powerful statement. Following the herd may allow you to lead a normal life, but if you're doing what you truly believe in, in your own unique way of looking/doing things, you'll feel that there's a greater sense of satisfaction in whatever that you do. In the process, you may show other people that your way works just as well, or even better.

It's up to you to prove it to them.

Savings Rates Going Up, Up and Away

Before anyone thinks the economy is going full steam into recovery, I would like to bring out some statistics to bring us down to earth.

OECD recently has published household savings rates (net savings) statistics based on disposable household income and I'm bringing out some countries' household savings rates as an example:

Country	2008	2009 *
Australia	2.6%	5.4%
Canada	3.7%	5.1%
Denmark	0.6%	5.0%
Finland	-0.9%	5.0%
Korea	2.8%	5.1%
Norway	2.0%	4.6%
United States	1.8%	5.4%

* 2009 estimates

Savings are good, especially for those countries where retirement is self-funded, but if people are saving more (especially United States), where will the strong demand for goods and services come from? Do you think China and India can take up the slack? Do you think developing countries can save the day?

Beware of the current "rosy" outlook. Governments are right to say that the recession still have some ways to go.

Windows 7 available from Aug 6 onwards

Official news are out that Windows 7 will be available to selected groups of users (ISVs, IHVs) from Aug 6 onwards. However, consumers will still have to wait until Oct 22 for the official release of Windows 7.

The Windows 7 pricing is super complicated, and it's the first time I heard that an operating system Family Pack is sold while supplies last. Translated... Limited quantities. Not sure if it's because of the recession but I think this is a big mistake on Microsoft's part in pricing a product. Sold while supplies last? I won't go into details of the Windows 7 anytime upgrade etc because frankly, I don't get it. So many different types of pricing levels.

At least Snow Leopard's pricing is quite straight forward.

Anyway, for those who're going to get a PC, hold on for Windows 7. Seems like there are many improvements made to Windows 7 that is superior to Vista. Again I would say that this looks like Windows ME, and Windows XP all over again.

How to update Sony Ericsson W595 Firmware

Recently I have upgraded my Sony Ericsson (SE) W595 firmware because it has been "rebooting" frequently. I guess I've been "spoilt" by the iPhone firmware upgrade process but I find that the SE W595 firmware upgrade rather unfriendly. This post is to sort of guide you in the upgrade. The steps here assume that you are using a Windows machine. I've upgraded mine using Windows XP Pro.

I'm not sure what was upgraded but after the upgrade, I found improvements in the following:

• My phone has stopped "rebooting" itself (1 week so far)
• In the calendar, the days are bold in the month view if there are events/appointments scheduled for that day
  

There are a few things you should prepare before upgrading the firmware:

• Ensure that you have the USB cable to connect to your phone
  
• Ensure you have installed the Sony Ericsson PC Suite (Download from here) and backup your phone
• Ensure you have installed the Sony Ericsson Update Service (Download from here)
• Ensure that your phone is almost fully charged

Take note of the following:

• All your SMSes will be erased after the firmware upgrade
  
• All your settings will reset back to the default after the firmware upgrade
• All your game settings will be reset (Not sure about the new games installed)
  

Yes, I was surprised at the above. Previously when I upgraded the iPhone firmware like nobody's business, I never had such problems. In fact, the upgrade was seamless and nothing is lost. Oh well...

After you have prepped yourself for the upgrade, do the following:

1. Switch off your phone
   
   
2. Remove and insert the battery (I believe this is to "reset" the phone)
   
   
3. Connect your phone usb cable to the PC
   
   
4. Launch the Sony Ericsson Update Service
   
   
5. Choose the W595 phone from the dropdown list (easier to find your phone)
   
   
6. Press and hold down the C button (not the power button), and plug in your usb cable to the phone
   
   
7. After holding the C button for a while, you should see your computer detecting a new device. The Sony Erricsson Update Service will download and install the firmware.
   
   
8. Just follow the instructions on the screen. You will be asked to disconnect the USB cable after the software has installed the firmware. The phone will continue the installation for a while.
   
   
9. Launch the Sony Ericsson PC Suite to restore your phone after the firmware has been upgraded.
   

That's it. After all these steps, I had to start the painful process of setting back all my phone settings (including wallpaper, screen saver, area info, etc). However, my phone has stopped rebooting so I guess this is worth the effort.