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.

More Spending Less Taxes? My foot!

I really think that all citizens should get a compulsory education in economics. Sometimes when I read about politicians promising more spending and less taxes, I really do wonder if they've any knowledge of economics.

Even though I do not major in economics, I do know that if I want to spend more, the income must come from where. In my case, either I get a raise or someone gives me money to spend. In terms of government, they get their income primarily from taxes.

Therefore, is "more spending less taxes" mathematically possible??

Announcement of Windows Mobile 7 is too late

I've just read rumours that Microsoft is thinking of announcing Windows Mobile 7. Personally, I think it's just a waste of time because lesser and lesser handset makers will support Windows Mobile.

The reason is very simple. Let's say you're a handset maker and you wish to have an operating system to power your handset. You will only have 3 choices for your operating system:

1. Create your own operating system
   
2. Licence it from someone
3. Use open-source

These are the current big players in the handset market:

1. Symbian (open-source)
2. Android (open-source)
   
3. iPhone OS (proprietary - create their own handsets)
4. BlackBerry OS (proprietary - create their own handsets)
5. Windows Mobile (proprietary - no handsets)

If you're a handset maker and you choose not to create your own operating system, will you choose to spend money to licence it from Microsoft, or will you use Symbian or Android? I believe the answer is very obvious.

Microsoft... You're caught sleeping once again and you're the last in the starting line. Note that the increase in Android market share seems to be at the expense of Windows Mobile.

Tax rate of 50%? That's crazy!

Just saw the news for U.K. today. Seems like the U.K. government is going to tax those earning more than 1 million pounds 50%! To me personally, that looks like a large ditch effort to swing votes to the current party for the next election. This will not do any good to the U.K. economy.

The reason is very simple. One of the best incentives for people to work hard is of course money. Now if the government is telling you that you can earn a lot, but I'm going to take half of it because you earn too much, what will be your reaction?

There will only be two. Either you migrate away, or you'll stop working hard so you'll earn lesser. Either case, it is not good for the country. Your boss is usually richer than you and if your boss decides to migrate away or close down the company, how will that affect the country's employment rate?

There are many side effects in chasing the rich away and many of the indirect problems will be less spending and even worsening unemployment. The rich are usually the ones with high disposable cash. I hope voters would be able to see that sometimes, the easy way out of resolving the problem might result in a even bigger problem in the future.

Learned something new about Curtain Rods/Tracks

Just had a talk with James from Lowe Living Concept just now. Looks like even getting curtain rods/tracks is not that straight forward. I didn't know that there are different ways of fixing the curtain brackets and you will need to find out how the brackets are fixed before buying the curtain tracks/rods. I guess there's always a first time. Hopefully the curtain rods/tracks that I bought could fit in.

Good news is that according to James, my flat would be ready by the end of the month. I guess that's partly because I gave him whatever he wanted quickly so that he could start work. These are some of the key stuff that you'll need to confirm before they could start work:

• Colors for the whole flat
• Air-con (so that it could be coordinated with the painting)
• Type of Grilles
• Lightings
• Hob and Hood
• Kitchen Sink and Tap
• Design for all fabrications
  
• Type of laminates used for all the fabrications
  
• Size of fridge and washing machine base
• Instant / Storage heaters
  
• Shower screens/shower tracks
• Bathroom accessories
  

That's about the information that the contractor will need in order to start work, at least for me. I'm not sure if its the norm but for this renovation, I'm actually quite hands-off. I let James have a free-hand with us just confirming the main stuff. I never like the micro-manage so I guess the first thing that I look for in a contractor is whether can I trust him/her enough to be hands-off. So far my trust seems to be correctly placed.

I will update again once things are up. Like I said previously, the furnishing of the new flat is much more exciting than the wedding preparations. :)