Making mistakes are normal

I quote from Albert Einstein:

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.


Trying something new is what makes life interesting. We are not born to be able to do anything that is thrown at us, and we are bound to make mistakes. The key point is to learn from your mistakes. If we start the blaming game, we'll be moving backwards and rest assured, you will find yourself in the same situation again, and again.

Inflation is up 1.9%

These are the Singapore inflation rates for 2009:
January: 2.9%
February: 1.9%

Food and Housing is leading the charge, rising by 4.3% and 6.6% respectively year on year. Inflation has been treading downwards, where the biggest change is actually in the transport & communication, down by a hefty 5%. Food and housing have also moderated downwards compared to last month. Healthcare costs are still very resilient, with no change from last month.

The peak of inflation was reached in April last year. Co-incidentally, this year April is also the month where there will be a 4.6% reduction of transport fares. Most probably, there will also be a reduction in electricity tariffs in that month. It's highly possible that inflation will be below 1% from April onwards, and may continue for at least 3 months.

That's provided that property values are not revalued. Currently, the only areas that are holding inflation up is mainly housing due to the revaluation. Otherwise, deflation will be a possibility.

Opposing for the sake of opposition

Recently the problems at US leads me into thinking of the effectiveness of opposition parties in the government.

Many people look at the main problem at hand, which is currently the bonus of AIG executives. The public outcry is understandable. However, I'm unsure why the outcry is against the present government. Has everyone forgotten? Under whose administration was the bail-out money first given to AIG, and the banks? Who started the no conditions attached bail-out money?

The Republicans are saying that the current recovery plan is no good, but they neglected to give a solution. More of what the Republicans were doing for the past 10 years? More wars? Well, the only assurance for that solution is that the US economy will continue down the Great Depression path for the next 5 years. Then guess what? It's elections time again, and who has the upper hand now?

Sometimes, I think politics are really a big waste of time. Some people opposing ideas for the sake of opposing them, and neglecting to give any solutions of their own. Worst still are those people who just outright oppose the idea without even giving any solution. They just give the generic reply. "It will not work". So the question is, what will? In this current situation, remaining status quo is worst than doing nothing.

In my opinion, what President Obama is doing is that he is trying to force innovation to happen within the next 5 years. If innovation does happen, there will be an explosive growth that will propel US to the fore front, and at the same time lead to more money for the US government in terms of taxes. The target areas seems to be all related to innovation. Education, new research areas, healthcare, etc.

And from what I read from the news, it seems that the opposition is not asking any useful questions, but just putting road blocks at every junction.

The old school will think the only way to decrease the deficits is to increase taxes. They are forgetting the other side of the story. How about increasing the number of businesses in-corporated in the US? Won't that increase the amount of tax collected? Won't increasing the inflow of talent into US increase the amount of tax collected? This brings out my other grouse against politicians who have no knowledge of basic economics.

I wish President Obama the best of luck.

Comparing an iPhone 3G Photo and W595 Photo

There has been many complaints on why the iPhone 3G camera is only 2 Megapixels (MP) and that it is inferior to the other phones out in the market.

Just recently I had a chance to try out the camera. I needed some information which requires me to run back and forth from my colleagues desk to my desk. So I took a picture of the information (on screen) using the SE W595 3.2MP camera. I reasoned that since it has higher MP, it should be clearer. I was wrong.

Due to the low light, I could not make out the words that I was taking. After that, I tried using the iPhone 3G for fun. Surprisingly, I was able to take the picture more clearly than the 3.2MP camera. The words could be more clearly seen. Unfortunately, I am unable to post the pictures.

Sometimes, I feel that the normal users are just too hyped up over all these numbers. I'm sure most users do not know that a simple 2MP camera is able to take a picture of resolution 1600 x 1200 pixels. Clarity wise does not depend on the MP but more on the lens and image processor.

That is why recently, one of the SLR makers said that they are no longer upping the megapixels because as most professional photographers know, megapixels now have not much effect on the quality of the picture.

Likewise for computers. All those numbers like 2 GHZ, 2.2 GHZ, etc. Will the user be able to tell the difference between 2 GHZ and 2.2 GHZ? The answer is no.

In my opinion though, if you want to take pictures, get a compact camera. Most compact cameras out there can beat a phone's camera hands down without even breaking a sweat.

Living your life

I quote from H. G. Wells:

We must not allow the clock and calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery


Very often when we're very focus on a particular task, we tend to lose track of everything that is happening around us. Life flashes by so fast, that we often neglect to stop and smell the roses so as to speak.

Sometimes just by slowing down, you might see something that might surprise you, or lead you to change your current course.

iPhone 3.0 updates

Updated 21 Mar 2009: Youtube videos of portions of the presentations

Apple is currently having a conference in the US talking about the new features of the iPhone 3.0. There are also some cool demos of the new apps that will be based on the iPhone 3.0. Developer beta is available now.

iPhone 3.0 software will be available to all iPhones free (including original). However, some features will not work on the original iPhone as the hardware does not support it. iPod Touch will have an update too, but you'll need to pay again due to licencing issues ($9.95).


The new version looks good for developers:

1. Over 1,000 new APIs
   
   
2. Supports App in App purchase. E.g. Buy a few new levels for a game app you have bought previously.
   
   Basically, I translate that to mean that you can access the App Store via API, so you can embed your "store" in your app.
   
   
3. Updated the APIs for Bonjour for peer to peer, and it has been enabled for Bluetooth too.
   
   
4. Allow developers to write apps that talk to the hardware either connected by the dock connectors, or by Bluetooth!
   
   However, the devices are limited to those made for iPhone/iPod accessories only. I guess it's because the protocol used is Bonjour.
   
   
5. Turn by turn navigation supported in the API, but maps have to be self provided due to licencing issues.
   
   
6. Google Maps access, iPod Library access, Mail access, Proximity sensor, Shake sensor, Streaming audio/video, etc from API.
   
   
7. Push Notifications (finally). E.g. Meebo
   
   
8. Cuy, Copy and Paste, and Undo/Redo API. :) Minimal work to integrate into your own apps.
   

How about end-user features?

1. Cut, Copy and Paste. :)
   
   The UI experience is quite different from other phones, from what I read. It seems to meet the approval of the people who attended the talk.
   
   This is enabled for all the iPhone default apps. You can copy a photo and paste it into Mail. You can also copy the whole SMS content.
   
   
2. In mail, shake to Undo, and shake to Re-do. :)
   
   
3. Landscape mode, and search has been enabled for all iPhone key apps. (e.g. Mail)
   
   
4. SMS is now called Messages. Able to forward, and delete single or multiple messages. MMS is now supported.
   
   
5. New Voice Memos App. Integrates to Mail and MMS.
   
   
6. Calendar now supports third party calendars using CalDav or ICS format.
   
   
7. Stocks App update. I think they made it a little similar to Bloomberg.
   
   
8. Spotlight is added into iPhone so that there's one common search screen for all the apps. It will be to the left of the main home screen.
   
   
9. Shake to shuffle (Nano anyone?)
   
   
10. Notes sync between iPhone and Mac/PC.
    
    
11. Wi-fi auto-login.
    
    Hmm... Does it support Wireless@SG?
    
    
12. Youtube account support, so you can see your favourites.
    

There are many more features (100 new ones) but I think these are the main gist. Looks like they are making it more appealing for the general users. Knowing Apple's calendar, iPhone 3.0 should be available in June, in their WWDC conference. They'll most probably introduce some new hardware too.

Below are some of the Youtube Videos I've found:

Azure down for 22 hours

With all those talk about cloud computing and my recent post here regarding it, the Microsoft Azure cloud was down for a total of 22 hours last Friday. I understand if it is 1 or 2 hours, but 22 hours? What happened to all the contingency plans?

Look with your eyes wide open if you're going into the cloud.

Interesting unemployment stats for December last year

CNA has threw out some interesting statistics on our unemployment rate for last December. The resident labour force unemployment rate has risen from 2.4% in December 2007, to 3.7% in December 2008. However, the overall unemployment rate has risen from 1.7% in December 2007, to 2.5% in December 2008.

Considering that 36% of the 2.95 million people working in Singapore are foreigners, those results would translate to mostly Singaporeans getting the cut. It will also be interesting to know the definition of resident labour force, since the government likes to mix PRs and Singaporeans together as one group.

With this kind of statistics, it's no wonder that the government came out with the Job Credit Scheme in Jan to stem this flow. They are also going down hard on phantom workers, which has been going on for quite some time. I mean look at the statistics and you can see something is wrong. 36% of the working population are foreigners?

I guess they've finally realised that the guys who live here are being priced out. And rightly so. How do you fight price with someone who just rents a flat with some friends, live minimally, and mostly will be remitting most of the money home?

I also do not think that the jobs that they are taking over are the jobs that Singaporeans do not want to do. In fact, I know quite a few people in my line who can do the job, and do it pretty well too. But most have been "driven out" of this line.

Sometimes, it's not that Singaporeans are choosy. Just that for the most of us, we have a life other than work. We have families, we have friends, and we have hobbies. That's what life means, and this work-life definitely has a direct impact on Singapore's birth rate.

You want us to work like no tomorrow, rarely see our family and friends, and have no time for hobbies, then I might as well be an expat and work overseas instead of working in Singapore. It would make no difference to me. What I can see at least in my line is that at the very least, Singaporeans do not have a communication problem. And that, is very important in any line of work.

The unemployment rate will be interesting for Jan and Feb. That was when the Job's credit scheme was announced. Logically, the unemployment rate for locals should improve. Hopefully...

Speaking the truth

I quote from an old Arab proverb:

When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.


I always tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Sometimes, I really feel so tired. I speak the truth, I piss people off. I choose to remain silent, I also piss people off.

Truth sometimes hurt, but the problem of finding the "honey" to lessen the hurt sometimes is either elusive, or non-existent. Where can I find this "honey"? I'm tired of feeling so frustrated.

Given the choice, I will still piss people off. To tell people what they want to hear is all too easy. To tell people what they need to hear. That's the art that I need to grasp.

iPhone Apps no allure? I disagree

Recently, there has been so-called surveys of certain people in the industry that says that most people do not use the iPhone Apps after a month of usage. The figures are supposedly higher if it is paid.

My first impression is who did they interview for the survey? What's their sample size? What's the demographics of the sample size? Are they interviewing those people who use the jail-broken iPhones or the un-touched ones? Do they have a data plan together with the iPhone they are using?

This is coming from a iPhone user. I use at least 5 iPhone Apps everyday. All free!

1. Bloomberg
2. Straits Times
3. ChannelNews Asia
4. Free RSS Reader
5. iToday

I use these iPhone Apps sparingly throughout, depending if I need the information:

1. SG Buses
2. SG Transport
3. Air Sharing
4. Maps
5. Notes
   

Just recently, my friend was commenting to me how useful the apps are, when we were trying to find a connecting bus at a certain bus-stop around midnight. I've also told my other friend about the Puzzle Quest on the iPhone, and he was surprised that there were more classes on my version than his PSP version.

There are other apps that I use that I will not list here because it depends on my mood, but you get the general idea. I do use apps more than once, and I've been using the iPhone for almost a year.

What's my point? There seems to be a general misconception among those people who do not use the iPhone. They always think that all phones must be hacked to get all the good stuff. Not true for the iPhone. My iPhone is totally untouched. I'm surviving just on the AppStore. All my apps are free, and I can amuse myself totally with the iPhone for hours. There are of course problems of apps crashing, but that's the fault of the app developer, not the iPhone.

Just imagine... The iPhone Apps have someone overlooking the quality of the apps, and the apps still crash under some circumstances. Just imagine what happens if no one is overlooking the quality of the apps.

iPhone might not suit Singapore users because of the SMS/MMS, and cut and paste problem, but other than that, it's a very good mobile device. I personally though will not use unless it's purely for business usage. Why? Because in business, you rarely SMS. Most of the time you're calling each other. It's a very good business phone I would say, but a lousy personal phone. I've used the iPhone quite frequently in my line of work.

This incident reinforces my opinion that all surveys are a waste of time, and to me, I will take it with a pinch of salt.

Anyway, iPhone 3.0 info might come out next week. Who knows what they have up their sleeves this time?