Perfectly Imperfect

I quote from Steve Maraboli:

We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path. Along this gravity-driven journey, some snowflakes collide and damage each other, some collide and join together, some are influenced by wind... there are so many transitions and changes that take place along the journey of the snowflake. But, no matter what the transition, the snowflake always finds itself perfectly shaped for its journey.

I find parallels in nature to be a beautiful reflection of grand orchestration. One of these parallels is of snowflakes and us. We, too, are all headed in the same direction. We are being driven by a universal force to the same destination. We are all individuals taking different journeys and along our journey, we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths, we become altered... we take different physical forms. But at all times we too are 100% perfectly imperfect. At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey. I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for my journey, but I’m perfect for my journey and you’re perfect for your journey. We’re heading to the same place, we’re taking different routes, but we’re both exactly perfect the way we are.

Think of what understanding this great orchestration could mean for relationships. Imagine interacting with others knowing that they too each share this parallel with the snowflake. Like you, they are headed to the same place and no matter what they may appear like to you, they have taken the perfect form for their journey. How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey.

Inflation is up 3.9%

These are the Singapore inflation rates for 2012:
January: 4.8%
February: 4.6%
March: 5.2%
April: 5.4%
May: 5.0%
June: 5.3%
July: 4%
August: 3.9%

Housing and Transport are leading the pack, rising by 8.7% and 6.7% respectively year on year, an increase compared to July's inflation. Inflation is also up across the board compared to July. Somehow my calculations (which I did not reveal in my previous post) seems to be correct now. I guess I will try to find time to find out how come I missed July's inflation by such a large margin.

Inflation should be around 4.5% for the year instead of 5% which I have indicated earlier. I will try to figure out why my July calculation is so far off.

iOS6 Maps, Singapore Perspective

There have been a lot of complaints on the iOS6 Maps in comparison with the Google Maps that were available previously. The most obvious complaints were that the transit routing feature and the traffic update feature are not available. The routing mechanism (for driving) also works in mysterious ways as it seems to like to avoid the expressways, and there are no ways to change that setting. However, every cloud has a silver lining.

The maps are much more detailed than the google maps, showing several of Singapore's popular landmarks, and I had no problems with the searching feature of landmarks within Singapore, including our train stations. What surprises me is that Apple Maps automatically cache certain parts of the Singapore map offline. I'm still not certain how the caching mechanism works though. I activated the Maps app by mistake when I was offline and I was surprised that it was able to show my location on the map. Zooming in and out was also not a problem when I was offline.

I guess this is useful if I am overseas. I will test this the next time I go on holiday.

3 types of people that block the door

After taking the MRT for more than a decade, I've identified 3 types of people who will selfishly block the door and refuse to make way for people to get in, or get out of the train.

1. Kiasu - Just want to be the first one to get into the MRT, and the first one to get out.
2. Kiasi - Afraid that they are unable to get out of the MRT (even though it may be an interchange and a lot of people will be going out), they will block the MRT door so that they can be the first one out.
3. Self Centred - Withdrawn into their own world, usually with a pair of headphones, their usual modus operandi is to slowly stroll in, stop at the door, look around slowly for a place to sit or stand, then decide to turn around and stay near the door. Any "excuse me" will be ignored by the ultra loud headphones that are around their ears or temporary deafness.

So how do we unblock such people without degrading yourself to their level? No idea... Maybe "public shaming" may help.

Secrets of a long and fruitful life

I quote from Ann Landers:

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed.

Nursing a grudge is very time consuming, and unhealthy. Let go, and you will find yourself leading a better life.

Disappointing iPod Nano

Looks like the new iPod Nano looks now more like the iPod Mini now. I'm disappointed because the dream I had for the iPod Nano which I have written in the post here will not be fulfilled now.

However, I still do not understand why Apple increased the size of the iPod Nano. This product now seems neither here nor there. Apple already has the iPod Touch as the music player, and the iPod Nano is suppose to fill in the niche area for small music players. Increasing the size of the iPod Nano don't really make much sense to me.

Pity... I was all ready to get the iPod Nano if they include those features I wanted into it. :(

99% 3G coverage??

Recently I was reading about the LTE vs 3G coverage of Singapore Telcos and I read with disbelief that they touted that Singapore has 99% 3G coverage. Personally, I question the way they calculate 3G coverage.

It's very easy to do a simple test. Enable your 3G connection on your smartphone, and take the MRT from Jurong East to Bishan. This route is above the ground so we discount the interference we may encounter when we go into tunnels. I traveled this route at night and there were countless occasions where my iPhone 4S dropped back into EDGE (non-3G) throughout the journey. When it was on 3G, there were several occasions that it could not even load a simple page like Google.

Is that called 99% 3G coverage? I seriously wonder how they calculate the coverage. Just because there is a base station covering that area doesn't mean that there is coverage. For example, if your base station can only support 200 users, but at any point in time there are 2000 users, is that considered full coverage? I thought Singapore is strong in mathematics.

If LTE is not fully covered in Singapore and we're paying a premium for it, what are we exactly paying for?

Inculcating the habit of returning the tray is not that easy

Recently there were talks on inculcating the habit of returning the trays to the tray return station in Singapore. However, they seem to leave out what I feel are some of the important points which is critical in inculcating this habit into everyone in Singapore.

The most important point is the size of the tables in all food centres. I'm sure all of us encountered situations where we bring all the food onto the table, and start to remove the trays so that we have space on the table for all the food. That is the crux of the problem. If you need a tray to bring your food to the table, how would you bring your food to the tray return station without the tray? Furthermore, a lot of the food served in the food centres cannot be eaten cleanly (e.g. chicken bones, etc). If you can eat your food with the tray, it is very simple to just return the whole tray when you're done.

Next, the efficiency of the cleaners are also very important. I have seen many cases in food centres where the tray return station is piled high up with trays that were returned, such that there is no space for any more trays to be deposited. If you have encountered such a situation, will you still return the tray?

Last but not least, the spacing between the tables also play a part into inculcating this habit. Will you bring your tray to the tray return station, situated right in the middle of the food centre, if the food centre is full and there is no clear path to the tray return station?

Instead of looking at only enforcing this habit, they should focus more at what will make people return the tray back to the tray centre, which may include reconfiguring the food centre. There is no cheap way.

Shape your own future

I quote from Elaine Maxwell:

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. 

Maintainability is always a problem

I was reading about the train breakdown at NEL when it struck me that few actually worry about the maintainability of things that they build. IT projects especially have this problem due to people thinking that software can be customised to do anything.

Let me explain... Software can be customised, and if your software is bespoke and designed correctly, customising the software should not be a problem, assuming of course that you have a decent IT team. The problem comes when your software is a product, and it has a defined framework where the software can be customised. Many users do not seem to understand that the framework exists for a reason, and push vendors to customise it beyond what it is capable of.

Software products have a defined framework for a reason as products usually have roadmaps that may result in additional features being introduced throughout the lifetime of that product. Furthermore, there may be security patches or bug fixing patches to the product.

If you have customised the product beyond the defined framework, it is likely that the patches or additional features introduced will cause problems to the software.

Software vendors who know this will refuse to customise it beyond the framework to ensure the software is maintainable throughout the lifespan of the product. Those who don't, will please the customer, but cause the project many problems throughout the lifespan of the product, and jacking up the cost beyond the initial budget.

So who cause this problem where something becomes difficult to maintain? One should always focus on the objective, and not on the looks unless it is critical to your objective.