Archive Data in a cloud?

Just recently read an article where a company is providing the service of putting archived data in the cloud. However, I cannot think of the rationale behind this service.

Coming from the definition angle, I do not see the advantage of putting archives in the cloud. Information is processed data. Using the example of reports, reports consolidate data from single or multiple sources into a form where it's understandable by the user. Will the user understand data that consists of codes and text? BCNF data? Not likely...

The archived data will only be useful after the application processes it. Translated... The data should reside in the same place as where your application is hosted. Therefore, I do not understand the logic behind separating the archiving service, from your application hosting service.

When we talk about archiving, we need to also take into account how fast we can get the backup services online in the event of a system failure. By using an archiving service, you will have an additional external dependency while bringing your system back online. Personally based on experience, I have more trust in a tape or image backup, then using a service backup. Anything with a human factor complicates things.

I also couldn't imagine the load on the network to archive data into a cloud. And the security aspect? Just imagine your personal identity numbers being transmitted to a cloud for storage.

So what's the business rationale behind such a service? Further outsourcing of components within the cloud? Hmm...

P.S: On a side note, the Amazon Cloud was down recently after a lightning strike at one of their data centers.

Advance Due to Irrational Confidence

I quote from Joan L. Curcio:

Advances are made by those with at least a touch of irrational confidence in what they can do.


I believe this means that to advance in anything, you'll need to go out of your comfort zone. You'll need to be irrational enough to believe that something that few think is possible can be done, and go all out to achieve it. However, you may also "crash and burn" due to this irrational act.

Step back if you feel you're burning out... No use advancing if you cannot enjoy the process and the result.

Snow Leopard will only be available in September

Updated 10 Jun 2009: Snow Leopard only supports Intel Macs

Am I surprised that they delayed Snow Leopard till September? Actually not very. The reason is quite simple. Microsoft Windows 7 will be available in Oct 22. By releasing it just before Microsoft, Apple can add in new last minute features without fear of Microsoft copying it into Windows 7. I do believe that they did not reveal everything about Snow Leopard in WWDC.

Apple has also threw down the gauntlet by the pricing of Snow Leopard. USD29 for Leopard users! I've never seen an OS which is that cheap. By releasing it just before Windows 7, you can see that Apple is in it for the kill. For market share that is. I could never see Microsoft selling Windows 7 for USD29, looking at their past history. Anyone remember Windows 98SE and Windows ME?

For Snow Leopard, I was kinda hoping that they have in-built touch-screen functionality into the OS itself, preferably iPhone touch screen technology. If such technology is in-built into Snow Leopard, I will not be surprised if an Apple tablet suddenly make its appearance in September.

After all, Steve Jobs has not said his "One more thing".

Update 1: Just realised that Snow Leopard has one hidden feature. It only supports Intel Macs. Apple is finally saying goodbye to PowerPC. Hopefully applications can take advantage of their Grand Central Dispatch.

iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3.0

WWDC 2009 has just started and the hottest news is of course, the new iPhone 3GS. It will be available for USD199 (16GB) and USD299 (32GB). As I predicted in my previous post here, the low cost iPhone is the iPhone 3G 8GB (previous generation), that will be sold for USD99 (~ SGD 145).

The new iPhone 3GS promises the following:

• Faster loading time for messaging apps, games, and attachments (up to 2x).
  
• "Tap to Focus" feature which allows users to tap an item in a photo and it will focus immediately
• 3-megapixel autofocus camera
• Better light sensitivity, so indoor photos look better
• Video capture
  
• Auto macro focus, auto focus, auto white balance and auto exposure for both still and video
  
• Voice control (hold down the Home button) E.g. You can ask your phone, "What song is playing?" and it will tell you
• Digital compass app
  
• Hardware encryption
  
• Improved battery life. 9 hours on WiFi, 10 hours watching video, 30 hours audio, 12 hours 2G talk, 5 hours 3G talk (no change in 3G talktime)
  

The iPhone 3.0 software (finally cut, copy and paste functionality) which all iPhone users can upgrade to free of charge will be available on 17th June. You can refer to my post here on iPhone 3.0 features. The iPhone 3GS however will only come to Singapore somewhere in July, and not 19th June.

The good news is that it seems that tethering and MMS (iPhone 3.0 features) will be supported by Singtel. Tethering will be supported by both cable and bluetooth, and it does not require any software to be installed on your machine.

The bad news however is that it's true that Singtel still holds the monopoly for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Singapore. If you want an iPhone, you can only go to one telco for it.

I guess for Singapore, more news will be available in July.

No-Fault Motor Insurance for Singapore?

Recently, there have been articles in the newspaper talking about no-fault motor insurance to reduce fraudulent claims. So what is no-fault motor insurance?

No-fault motor insurance in the context of automobile insurance laws in the United States, Canada, and Australia, is a type of insurance in which a policyholder (and his/her passengers) are not only reimbursed by the policyholder’s own insurance company without proof of fault, but also restricted in the right to seek recovery through the civil-justice system for losses caused by other parties. According to Wikipedia:

The victim's insurance company would only pay out the claim, while the driver-at-fault's insurance company would pay out a claim and charge that party a higher insurance premium as they are now higher risk. While this may disadvantage the victim's insurance company, as the at-fault driver's insurance company can recoup the claims quicker through raised premiums, accidents happen between drivers of both insurance companies with an equal chance of drivers from both sides being at fault, so this in theory should even out.

Would this system help in Singapore context? The main problem of the motor industry now is that you can have thousands of dollars of claims from a dented bumper and thousands of dollars of "whiplash" claims, and somehow this kind of claims gets approved quite easily. To me, it seems like the due diligence for checking through the claim process is not thorough enough. Changing to the no-fault motor insurance will not make a difference.

Instead of mandating another type of insurance in Singapore, I would think a better move would be to analyse the claim processes and work on how to improve on it further. For example, how will the insurance company verify that the dented bumper really costs $x, and how will they verify whiplash claims.

I think the Singapore government though can help in that. The government could pass a law where a false declaration of motor accidents will result in a penalty (with a cap), made payable to the insurance company. Repeated offenders may be jailed for example.

With the deterrence in place, drivers would think twice before submitting inflated claims to the insurance companies. Using the concept of Singapore's 2 Ks, this would work in lowering the claims.

I still can't believe that insurance companies will accept claims of whiplash when the car only maybe has a dent on its bumper. Weird claim process.

Confirm that low cost iPhone is in the works.

Seems like Apple has announced in the US market that it plans to introduce a low-cost version of its iPhone soon. On a separate note, it has also announced that Steve Jobs will be ready to return to the helm after his medical leave.

Looks like the rumours were true. A low cost iPhone is in the works. How would they structure it though will be a mystery. Will it be something like the iPod Shuffle? An iPhone with bare minimum functionality? I have 2 lines of thought for this low cost iPhone.

The first line of thought is pretty straightfoward. Strip out some functionalities of the iPhone and create a low-cost alternative. I can think of the following changes in a low cost iPhone:

• No Wi-fi
• No GPS (means no Google Maps App)
  
• Less than 8GB of internal memory (maybe 4GB or lower)

I was thinking of adding reducing the size of the iPhone but it is not feasible due to the minimum size of the on-screen keyboard. I do not think Apple will want to introduce the stylus to the iPhone, and I do not think they will create a brand new Apple OS for a low cost iPhone. It won't make business sense.


I also have another line of thought for a low cost iPhone. The concept is actually quite simple. Use the previous generation iPhone as the low cost alternative. This would make business sense for Apple because:

1. They can reduce their inventories of their previous generations of iPhones and help their partners clear stock.
   
2. Tap the market where users get the previous generation phones due to the lower cost.
   
3. Naturally create a limited supply of low-cost iPhones.

I guess we'll know next week. Looking at the Steve Jobs news, I will not be surprised if he makes an appearance in the WWDC 2009. He might not be presenting the keynote, but he might "show face".

Disable .Net Framework Assistant Firefox Extension

I've just read an article talking about this Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant Firefox extension. Apparently, this extension is automatically installed to your Firefox if you've updated your Windows (Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1). And guess what? This extension is not even mentioned in the list of changes that this SP1 patch affects. Talk about stealth...

Why do you need to disable it? According to Annoyances.org post here:

This update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for websites to easily and quietly install software on your PC. Since this design flaw is one of the reasons you may've originally choosen to abandon IE in favor of a safer browser like Firefox, you may wish to remove this extension with all due haste.


It then teaches you how to uninstall it by accessing the registry. For me, I took the easier way out as I try not to touch the registry too often. I disabled the plugin. To disable the plugin, just do the following:

1. Launch Firefox
2. Goto Tools > Add-ons (menubar)
   
3. Click on the section for Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant
4. Click on Disable

It will prompt you to restart your Firefox. That's it.

I wonder what else Microsoft is updating without telling us.

Windows 7 available from Oct 22

As predicted in my previous post here, the official date for Windows 7 is Oct 22. According to Microsoft, there will be an upgrade option so that their partners can offer customers the ability to purchase a Windows Vista-based PC and install Windows 7 when it’s ready.

However, there's still no news of the Windows 7 pricing, and when the upgrade option is available. Read from the grapevine that more details will be out end June. Guess maybe they are waiting for the Apple WWDC to finish before they announce anything.

For me personally, I'll rather get a Windows 7 machine than an upgraded Windows Vista machine. Reason is very simple. An upgraded machine will not be as "clean" as a pure Windows 7 machine. I'm taking about the need for speed man. :) Not only that, based on my past experience with upgrading Windows OS, sometimes you'll get funny problems that will never occur if you cleanly install your OS.

Anyway like I remarked previously, if I will get another computer, it will most probably be a Mac. WWDC is next week. Translated... That means we'll know "what's cooking" by next Tue.

Difficult Life Experiences

I quote from Ayya Khema:

Eventually we will find (mostly in retrospect, of course) that we can be very grateful to those people who have made life most difficult for us.


Never thought of looking at it from this point of view. Usually for those who made life difficult for you, the experience will leave a very big impression on you and as a result, you'll remember the details of that situation.

However, it depends on how you view the experience. It's what you can take away from that experience that makes you stronger and better. It's usually quite hard though to maintain a rational mind when you're thrust into a difficult situation.

If life is too difficult, it can and will backfire.

CPF Changes from 1 July 2009

The following changes to the CPF will be effective from 1st July 2009:

• CPF Minimum Sum for those aged 55 years will be raised from $106,000 to $117,000
  
• Medisave Minimum Sum will be raised from $29,500 to $32,000
• Medisave Contribution Ceiling will be raised from $34,500 to $37,000
  
  Any Medisave contribution in excess of the prevailing Medisave Contribution Ceiling will be transferred either to the member's Special Account if he is below the age of 55 years, or to his Retirement Account if he is above the age of 55 and has a shortfall in the Minimum Sum.