Relax when you don't have the time for it

I quote from Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris:

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.


I've absolutely no idea how am I going to do that. It seems like I'm getting more stress every month. I hope this really helps. I need it.

Breathe...

11 more stations from Circle Line to open on 17 Apr 2010

The second phase of the Circle line is finally opening coming 17 Apr 2010 (Sat) after the opening of the first 5 stations on 28 May 2009.

The second phase of the Circle Line from Bartley (existing) to Dhoby Ghaut (new) comprises of 11 stations - Tai Seng, MacPherson, Paya Lebar, Dakota, Mountbatten, Stadium, Nicoll Highway, Promenade, Esplanade, Bras Basah and Dhoby Ghaut in that order. Looks like there's more new places to explore. For those without a car, opening of stations is always a chance for new exploration. :)

Hopefully with the opening of Paya Lebar station, the congestion at City Hall and Raffles Place MRT will be eased since you can now bypass the 2 interchanges. Anyway, you can refer to the map of the Circle line in my previous post here.

Multi-tasking reduces productivity!

Recently, there has been a lot of talk of people multi-tasking at work. However, they should do some research on how multi-tasking affects productivity before commenting further. On the contrary, multi-tasking has been proven in research that it reduces productivity.

The reason is quite simple. Will you be able to finish a task faster if you concentrate on it solely or if you're happening to do 2-3 tasks at the same time? Will you be able to do a task more efficiently and with greater accuracy if you're concentrating on it solely, or if you're sharing your brain power with 2-3 other tasks at the same time?

I think the answer is pretty obvious. If you concentrate on resolving a single task at a time, you'll end up saving more time because you'll be able to get your results more quickly. The scary part is that some people can actually be hooked on to multi-tasking, end up unable to finish any task on time, and yet think that they are great multi-taskers.

Note that there's a difference between people multi-tasking and people who are good multi-taskers. Multi-taskers are usually masters in time allocation, while multi-tasking people are not. Having said that, that doesn't mean that there is no one who is good in multi-tasking. It's just that in general, our human brains are not suited to it.

There are several articles that comment on this topic. If you're interested, you can take a look at the post here and here. (not related to any of these 2 sites/authors)

No Inflation!

Updated 23 Feb 2010: Added the average inflation rate for 2009 using the new CPI basket

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%
August: -0.3%
September: -0.4%
October: -0.8%
November: -0.2%
December: 0%

Transport & Communication and Health Care is leading the charge, rising by 4.7% and 2.3% respectively year on year. Housing costs once again decreased the most (-5.6%) but will most probably increase from 1st January 2010 due to the increase in property tax, and will be mitigated slightly by the tax rebates. Transport & communication inflation should on an upwards trend due to increasing price of oil and resources...

The average inflation for 2009 is 0.2% as I've indicated since August and confirmed last month. Inflation will start rearing up its head from January onwards, especially in the middle of the year. Looks like I have to watch my budget this year.

Update: The average inflation rate for 2009 will be 0.6% using the new CPI calculation due to notable changes in housing & communication.

Earth Hour: 27 March 2010, 8.30pm

On March 28th 2009 8.30pm, many has demonstrated their growing concern over climate change by turning off their lights for 1 hour. Earth hour for the year 2010 has been set on 27 March (Sat) at 8.30pm.

However, showing concern over climate change need not be only demonstrated on that day. Singapore's National Environmental Agency (NEA) has already launched the energy efficient campaign some time back. For more tips on how to conserve energy, you can refer to their website here. Singapore's site for Earth Hour can also be found here. It doesn't seem to be updated though as of the date of this post.

Whether climate change is man-made or not is irrelevant. Reducing energy wastage is good for the environment and your wallet as well. Whatever steps that are initiated (e.g. not switching on your air-con for tonight) does make a difference. Start now.

Resolving the problem where all your iPhone Apps cannot be launched

Just recently I helped someone resolve a weird problem on the iPhone. It seems that all the iPhone apps cannot be launched except for those apps that comes with the iPhone (e.g. Contacts, Weather). I did a little digging and it seems to be due to a syncing problem.

To resolve it, just do the following:

1. Ensure that your iPhone is not plugged in
2. Launch iTunes on your computer
3. Click on Store > Deauthorize Computer (follow the instructions)
4. Quit iTunes and relaunch it (may be optional)
5. Click on Store > Authorize Computer (follow the instructions)
6. Plug in your iPhone and do a sync

That's it. After this, all your apps will work. Apparently from what I understand, the iTunes software somehow indicated to your iPhone that all the apps are unauthorised which is why you're unable to launch your downloaded apps. Doing the above steps will help "reset" the iPhone authorisation.

Hope this helps...

Listen to the full story before commenting

I quote from Robert McCloskey:

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.


How often do we make the mistake of saying that we're listening, but in actual fact we're not? How often do you cut people halfway through their conversation. We should always try to listen and understand whatever is being said in totality before we form our own views.

Listen to the full story before you give your comments. Otherwise, people might not feel that you're interested on what's being said and brush you off with a "Nevermind".

Reiterate Johor hotline

Recently someone told me that there is another case in Johor where someone was made to pay up for an accident that is not their fault. Always try to travel in a group and take note of the important numbers to call when you're there. Remember that looking at your rear view mirror is as important as looking in front.

The Johor hotline number was communicated back in 2008. You can find more information in my post here.

Google is right in exiting China if such activities are still not contained

I admire Google for the guts to indicate to people that they are willing to leave China as they are evidences that someone is trying to gain access to the information that they have in their servers. This shows that they take privacy seriously and are willing to put their foot down hard to protect the Google brand.

It also seems that one of the reasons (rumours or facts?) why Google was hacked was because of a flaw in Internet Explorer. Steve Ballmer also commented to the news after Google's "shocking" announcements was that Microsoft will be staying put in China. See the irony?

To any company, I personally feel 2 things are quite important and should be upheld regardless:

• Company Branding
• Intellectual Property Rights

Bear in mind that when we give our personal information to anybody, there are usually terms and conditions that govern this exchange of information. Usually there will be clauses that says that they would not use or resell the personal information to third parties. Do you think someone who hacked into a system to gain access to your information will follow the terms and conditions?

What I think is unfortunate was that Microsoft and Yahoo kept silent over these attacks. There were no comments so far from them on these attacks, which Google says its a regular occurrence.

I believe any company should take steps to protect their branding and IP rights, even to the extend of exiting the market because in the long run, you'll be able to retain your unique advantage over your competitors. In the end, it's always the innovative companies that win. They have the capability to keep regenerating new ideas.

Speaking of that, I wonder what Steve Jobs will announce on Jan 27. Hmm...

Tell FIFA that we're no pushovers

Singtel and Starhub should just give FIFA a price and tell them to take it or leave it. The reason is actually quite simple. Let's just imagine that you're working in Singtel or Starhub and your boss suddenly puts up a memo that all staff needs to take a pay cut of x% to subsidize the FIFA world cup rights. Would you agree to it? Of course not.

The problem is that if they accept this "hefty" price increase, it would send a message to FIFA that we're willing to pay so much just to watch football. This would also inevitably increase all the other rights for the other soccer leagues. Are you sure you're willing to pay more and more every year for each season?

If not, stand united with our telcos and send this message to FIFA.