Visas...

Visa application forms. Oh how I love them. Not.

I seriously think visas are just some form of protectionism - people pay money for their application, only to find out they applied too late / didn't have the right supporting documents / can't afford to travel because of the application fees. We probably won't get back the application fees, and they avoid having us people in their country.

This is one form of bureaucracy that has dogged me whenever I want to travel. And it's not like the process is one that makes you feel welcomed in the country you plan to visit, either - you must submit a straight-faced photo of yourself, give them your biometric prints, and miss work/leisure time to wait a lot in a grim embassy office/building (often an office in an apartment, because they're too cheap to make a respectable building), before you can actually show the embassy staff your application form, only to be let known if you passed or failed the "visa acid test".

Nowadays, of course, you can fill in your application form online. But don't be fooled. The process is still not futuristic - you have to search for a PDF file in a website that probably looked modern in the Netscape days, and you have to print the PDF on paper - so much for environmental awareness. Then, you have to remember to bring the printed forms to the embassy. Forget that, even if it's a single page, and you're in deep trouble.

Oh, did I mention you have to book an appointment? Most often, the embassy opens in the most unhappy hours - my appointment with the US embassy, for example, is 7.30AM. And because I live in the North of Jakarta, while the embassy is in the central/South area, I'd have to try and beat the jams. Otherwise, I'd have to come back another day.

Embassies' consular services seem to open for 4 hours a day - 8am to 12am for the UK Visa application centre in Jakarta. I've been wondering why it's only open for such short hours, and why only in the morning, aside from security reasons. I don't know if the postal system have anything to do with the short opening hours, or maybe it's laziness, but who cares - I find it bloody annoying. If they open for more hours (I'm staring at the US embassy folks here), maybe they can serve more people in a day and have less of an appointment backlog that goes into the next century. Oh, maybe hire more staff as well? I know the US is trying to cut their budgets (well, not really, are they?) but I suspect the cost of taking on more staff will be less than the benefit of having more tourists and visitors enter your country.

The whole visa application process kind-of makes you feel second-rate. I understand they do certain things for certain reasons - the funding test is to see if we'll be milking from their benefits system, when we shouldn't be. The biometric scans and photo go into their databases for criminal investigation purposes - I'd want the authorities in the country I'm visiting to know who I am and where to send me if I were to end up in an accident. But sometimes, I wish the process was a bit more human and a bit less bureaucratic.

Oh, by the way, stop asking questions like "Have you done anything that may not characterise you as a person of good nature?". Who, in their right mind, would say "YES I AM A MENACE NOW GIVE ME MY VISA"? (That's not shouting, that's block letters - forms must be filled in in block letters, right?) I mean, come on, I seriously think the IQ level of terrorists are way higher than the person who though up this question. Maybe it's a cold or sleep deprivation that caused that question to go through, but can we not have such things?

On second thought, keep that question there. It certainly brightened my day/night when I read that question, thinking "LOL what if I said YES for eating meat from animals?". All sorts of scenarios of behaviours that may be perceived as 'bad' pop up in my head - stepping on ants, stealing the moon, taking candy from a baby, kiasuism, irrtating people, being lazy, etc. What if someone repents their sins in a visa application form and answered "Yes"? What would the immigration staff do?

Oh darn, maybe I should have answered "Yes"!

Heck. It's just bureaucracy.

Brushing your teeth.

Having a bit of a sore throat today - probably due to the dinner I had
lat night, and the fact that I didn't brush my teeth.

That got me thinking - brushing your teeth - why is it that I choose
not to do it, even though I know from experience what could happen if
I choose not to do so?

Well, I have a theory about this, so strap in, behavioural economists.

As a teenager (whose parents don't really police me anymore on whether
I brush my teeth or not), I can choose for myself whether I'm brushing
my teeth or not. I know that the cost of not brushing my teeth will be
a sore throat the next day.

However, last night, I chose to ignore the cost, because I didn't
really think about it. Furthermore, I didn't really care at that time,
whether I have a sore throat the next day or not. You could say this
is a case of discounting the future - the future cost of not brushing
is just not significant enough at that time to make me drag myself to
the toilet.

And besides, the tap water in my house smells fishy, which just isn't
right. So in my case, the act of not brushing my teeth, which seems
irrational, is actually rational.

Gosh, I love behavioural economics!

Sent from my iPhone

yes, it was on hiatus!

(Title says all)

Yes, I'm back to full-time blogging from now on! I'm sure many have missed me!

Or maybe not, if my Google Analytics number are anything to go by.

I don't think I need to explain why I've been inactive when it comes to updating this plot of land on the blog-o-sphere that I call 'da ron files' - exams, studies, Facebook, no reason to blog, you get it.

I thought I'd put up something just to let you know how I've been. I'm fine. Bored, but fine. Seriously, I'm bored from all these exams now, I just want to get home and play around with Objective-C. That's right, I'm planning on making an app for the iPad/iPhone during the holidays! Oh JOY! I, a dude with no coding experience what-so-ever (other than HTML, but arguably, that's just coding for babies), am going to dabble into the world of App-making. Watch out for my app in an app store near you (hopefully, if Apple doesn't think my app is junk)!

Oh yeah, I've been preparing to go back to Jakarta (departing UK this Sunday evening, arriving Monday evening) for the summer break while I wait for my A Level results and Uni. Come to think of it, assuming I don't blog anymore until I'm back in Jakarta, this could be the last posting from Brighton. So maybe I'd spend a bit of time to reflect on my time in Brighton over the past 1 year and 2 months.

Brighton certainly has its bohemian characteristics - in fact, if people were to ask me to describe Brighton in one word, that's the word I'd choose - bohemian. This city is quite alternative - a walk along the Laines is enough to prove my point. It's also a fun city - there's the pier, the beach, the music venues. And I'm glad to have met so many people from different backgrounds; in church, at school, and at the charity shop. My time here hasn't always been pleasant (I shall not say why on this blog). Nonetheless, I'm quite sad that I'm going to leave all these behind in a few days' time, but I guess I have to move on to the next phase in life, wherever that brings me, right?

Anyway, talking about vacation-time, I'm going to be transiting in Singapore for a couple of days, before my Uni Term starts (obviously). My only dilemma is when. My Uni Orientation/Welcome Week starts around 25 September, and I might arrive earlier so I can get my stuff moved over from Brighton to Exeter/Coventry. Aside from that, my parents were also planning on heading to Shanghai for the World Expo, but no dates have been committed for that. Then, I heard Founder's Day in SAS is late August - one month before I should start heading off to the UK. So, what's the plan? At the moment, I have none. But I'm definitely heading to Singapore between now and my Uni term. So, keep watching this space (or my Facebook status updates, or Twitter), as I'll update when I have updates! (redundant redundancy!)

Alright, then. Cheerios, people! I have an Accounting and MacroEcons paper left to study for. See you on the other side of the globe!

Macroeconomics: Things to check out

Since I'm revising for my Unit 2 (MacroEcons unit) exam, I thought I should share a few links to web resources/videos that might help/be of interest to Econs students.

1. BBC Documentary: The Love of Money (2009)

This 3-hour documentary looks at the world financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the events surrounding it - the Greenspan years, the collapse of Lehman, and the response by politicians. It features accounts from key players in the crisis - Alan Greenspan, Tim Geithner, Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown, and many more. It's no longer on the BBC iPlayer, but fortunately for everyone (especially those not in the UK, I found them on YouTube. (I typed the title of the episodes as used by the BBC, as well as the title used by the YouTube member in brackets)

Episode 1: The Bank That Bust the World [The Fall of Lehman]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/1D8C7CC36500EA3E

Episode 2: The Age of Risk [The Boom and Bust Years]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/2E6957F5E51F78C1

Episode 3: Back from the Brink [The Last Days of the Banks]

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAngelStarQ#grid/user/A3C2F641D82BDDA5

2. iTunes U

A feature that was added to iTunes not too long ago, iTunes U is one of the places to go to for free, publicly-accessible web content (tutorials, talks, etc.) from some of the biggest universities/academies around. Obviously, some of these are way beyond A Level Economics. But you can watch them just to get a feel of what Economics (or whatever course you want to do) at Uni might be like, I guess

Some of the ones that I've downloaded (long ago and starting to watch now):

University of Warwick: The Global Credit Crunch and the Global Economy

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/warwick.ac.uk.2017263320.02017263328

MIT: The Economics Meltdown: What Have We Learnt, if Anything? by Paul Krugman

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/mit.edu.3609336962.03609336968.3599872997?i=1752459984

3. Spot of Economics Blog

A blog by one of the Econs teachers from my college, Mr Spottiswoode. It's more for the UK syllabus, so if you're reading this from Singapore, there may be some stuff that's a bit different/irrelevant (I don't think you'd care about the UK Balance of Trade as much as I have to for my exam). But still, it's a good read.

http://spoteconomics.blogspot.com

Hope you found the links useful!

On OECD's Outlook, BBC iPlayer, Intel GPUs, and Rupert Murdoch's empire.

Phew, that was a long title.

Yes, it's a posting of 4 topics. So treat them as 4 separate blog posts.

This first bit is on Econs - if you're doing MacroEcons, you might be interested. Otherwise, this is just a load of gibberish. It's a bit UK-focused, but heck.

--------

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) has recently released their latest outlook for the member economies (mainly US, EU nations, and Japan). One recommendation that they mentioned in the outlook was the warning that the US, UK and Canada should raise interest rates to 3.5% "latest by the end of this year". Another was recommendations for fiscal tightening in all member countries, to ease those budget deficits and please bond markets.

But there are problems with their recommendations, though.

In times like now, where the economy is still quite fragile, it seems a bit risky to use both contractionary fiscal and contractionary monetary policies together in such a short period of time.

Yes, these governments have to restore confidence and calm markets about their sovereign debts, so as to avoid a debt crisis like the one in Greece (especially in the PIIGS - Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain). And yes, George Osbourne, pay off debt now, and there's less later. But the concern now is whether it's too early to take away the support the economy still needs - unemployment in the States is still rising, as is expected in the UK until Mid-2010. Consumer confidence and spending is not exactly strong, either. And with the Euro still tumbling thanks to Greece and Merkel, I suspect the UK will be affected by poor exports as well.

And I've not even got to the raising of interest rates yet. Raise that, and people on mortgages would have to spend more of their income on loan repayments, assuming these people still have a job. Also, higher costs of borrowing isn't very helpful to businesses which are planning to reduce their workforce. This could have an impact on aggregate demand, employment, consumer confidence, and ultimately, economic growth.

Oh, and let's not forget what Mervyn King mentioned about the inflation rate in the UK. It was 3.7% CPI, above the 2(±1)% target. Reasons? Well, VAT went back up from 15% to 17.5% in January, oil prices rose 80% y-o-y, and so did food and clothing prices. Mervyn's concern is that at the moment, the upward pressure on prices are short-term, and they are masking the downward pressure on prices as a result of the spare capacity in the economy, created by the recession. 

With these factors in mind, I would think interest rates shouldn't go up until GDP growth has stabilised. Get the easy money flowing a bit more. before worrying about an overheating economy.

As for the fiscal policies, the governments would probably know best. They have to calm markets at both ends - on one end, you want to keep spending to get economic growth again; on the other hand, you want to keep bond markets and credit ratings agencies happy by cutting spending/borrowing. It's a balancing act. Looking at Greece, there appears to be strong pressures to cut spending/reduce borrowing. But not so much that the economy enters a double-dip. (PIIGS are an exception, I guess. They MUST cut spending.)

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article7136901.ece

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In other non-Econs news, have you checked out the new BBC iPlayer? It's in testing now, and it'll replace the current design in June/July. One feature that is planned, according to the Financial Times, is the ability to search for content from other networks (BSkyB, ITV, Channel 4, etc.) and click through to those networks' websites (e.g.: 4oD, ITV Player, etc.). Thought that was an interesting tidbit.

Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d293bfe2-68c1-11df-96f1-00144feab49a.html [FT article - may have limited access]

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And in Tech, I highly recommend reading this Ars Technica posting on the state of Intel and their GPUs. For techie Econs student, this could be an example of how monopoly leads to reduced incentives to improve the quality of the product (resources being allocated and used inefficiently in the market, perhaps?).

Link: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/05/intel-tells-users-you-dont-need-future-proof-gpus.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

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And in slightly upsetting news for proponents of 'free news online', The Times & The Sunday Times will start charging visitors to their websites, thetimes.co.uk and sundaytimes.co.uk from June onwards - £2 per week, £1 per day. News Corp. (which owns The Times and Sunday Times) said they will also start charging for their other news websites, The Sun and News of the World, later this year. The rationale for such a move is valid, though. They seem to have a harder time making money off online ad revenues, so they will have to move to a charged model to keep the business running. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out, since there are free alternatives to The Times - Guardian.co.uk (I love their iPhone App, by the way), The Independent, Telegraph.co.uk, just to name a few. I love the Times, so I hope Rupert Murdoch works this one out. Don't get me wrong, I hate the guy for what he stands for politically, and for the power he has in the media circles (he owns Fox News, WSJ, BSkyB, The Sun - most read tabloid in the UK, The Times, and News of the World). But The Times has pretty good cartoonists and columnists. Heck, even Clarkson is writing for The Times!

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7136619.ece

A New Government?

Well, looks like things are really shaking up in the UK today.

First, there's the speculation that the Tories and Lib-dems will announce a coalition by today.

Then, no.

If it becomes clear that the national interest, which is stable and principled government, can be best served by forming a coalition between the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats, then I believe I should discharge that duty to form that government which would in my view command a majority in the House of Commons in the Queen's speech and any other confidence votes.

But I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is ensured and the process of political reform we have agreed moves forward quickly. The reason that we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country. As leader of my party, I must accept that that is a judgment on me. I therefore intend to ask the Labour party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour party conference. I will play no part in that contest and I will back no individual candidate.

--Gordon Brown, in a speech outside 10 Downing Street

Gordon Brown announced he was going to resign as PM and Labour Party Leader before the next Party Conference in the Autumn. Meaning? New PM, new Labour leader. Something almost everyone seems to be happy about - the Electorates, the Lib Dems, the Plaid Leader, the former Labour MPs/candidates, etc.

Gordon Brown has taken a difficult personal decision in the national interest. And I think without prejudice to the talks that will now happen between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Gordon Brown's decision is an important element which could help ensure a smooth transition to the stable government that everyone deserves.

--A Statement form Nick Clegg via Lib Dem HQ

Gordon Brown has done the decent thing following the overwhelming rejection of his premiership last Thursday. It was clear that he had no mandate from the people to maintain his position in Downing Street, and he has now shown that he has heard that message loud and clear. Mr Brown's announcement is a signal to other progressive parties that Labour is willing to talk in order to explore the possibility of establishing a progressive alliance to govern in Westminster.

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru Leader in Westminster

Then, Nick Clegg released a Press Release saying he's not happy with how talks are going with the Tory representatives, so he's going to talk with Labour.

Over the past four days we have been working flat-out to deliver an agreement that can provide stable government that can last. The talks with the Conservatives have been very constructive and I am grateful to David Cameron and his team for the effort they have put in. But so far we have been unable to agree a comprehensive partnership agreement for a full parliament.

We need a government that lasts, which is why we believe, in the light of the state of talks with the Conservative party, the only responsible thing to do is to open discussions with the Labour party to secure a stable partnership agreement. We will of course continue our discussions with the Conservative party to see if we can find a way to a full agreement.

--A Statement form Nick Clegg via Lib Dem HQ

So, it appears like we might have a Lab-Lib-SNP-Plaid-SDLP-Alliance-Green Coalition, if one analyst is to be believed...

For reference, here are the numbers.

There are 650 seats in the Commons. But there are five Sinn Féin MPs who do not take their seats, leaving 645 MPs. So to get a working majority you would need 323 votes.

There are 258 Labour MPs and 57 Lib Dem MPs. That makes 315. The SDLP (a sister party of Labour's) has three MPs and there is one MP who represents the Alliance (which is allied to the Lib Dems). If you add them, you get to 319. Plaid Cymru is in coalition with Labour in Wales. They've got three MPs, and if they join the total rises to 322. The SNP has also signalled its willingness to join a progressive pact of some kind, and its six MPs would take that total to 328. If the Greens' Caroline Lucas were to vote with this bloc, that would take you to 329.

The Tories have 306 seats. (One is the Speaker, but two Labour MPs – and another Tory – are likely to become deputy Speakers, and so they cancel each other out.) When the contest in Thirsk takes place, that is likely to rise to 307. If the Democratic Unionists (eight MPs) were to vote with the Tories (as they normally do), the Tory-DUP total would rise to 315.

Gordon Brown is right to say that the "progressives" could form a majority. But they would be dependent on several small parties and they would not have much of a cushion for when people started to rebel.

All I can say is that things are getting interesting, and possibly a bit heated, judging from the Tory response as delivered by William J Hague,

That is the choice that they will now have to make ... We are absolutely convinced that we should not have another unelected prime minster and we should not change our voting system without a referendum... Under the Tory plans, Tories would be free to campaign against AV in a referendum.

--William Hague, during a Conservative Press Conference

Thanks to The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow's Election Live Blog for all the excerpts. Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/10/general-election-2010-live-blog

Hope they wouldn't mind me condensing their material before they get swept under continuous updates!

Using Maths and Logic.

I'm back in Brighton from my trip to Birmingham and Manchester.

Right now, I have 25 days to decide where I want to go for my University studies (due 4 May 2010).

Been thinking real hard, but I'm having problems deciding, especially after visiting the universities. I really like Warwick, and I'm undivided when it comes to Manchester and Exeter. The good thing about this is that I know what one of my option will be - Warwick. Also, I don't want Manchester to be my firm, since their offer is the lowest of the 3. So, that The bad news? Well, there's 3 options in my mind to choose from -

Scenario 1:
Firm Exeter, Insurance Warwick.

Scenario 2:
Firm Warwick, Insurance Exeter.

Scenario 3:
Firm Warwick, Insurance Manchester.

Basically, my dilemma lies with the requirement for Econs, assuming I drop Psychology A2 - Exeter would want an A, while the other two would take B. If I take Psychology A2, Exeter would also accept an A in that.

My concern is that my Econs Jan exam results weren't what I'd call 'bullish' - I thought I did alright after the paper, and the result came out to be B, instead of the A that I needed. And that was just Unit 2. Now that I'll be taking all 4 units, and seeing how Unit 3 is being covered so quickly, I have doubts over my ability to get an A in Econs.

Psychology is not a good fall-back safe harbour either - the essay mark schemes in A2 are vague, and our teacher (bless her, she tries her best, but she) isn't very helpful in terms of being explicit on the requirements of a good, credit-worthy essay in the new syllabus. Come to think of it, the AQA board's marking methods are as specific as the Labour & Tory Parties' description on how they'll cut spending. Efficiency Savings - what does that even mean? And what counts as evaluation? Does a description of a study which contradicts another person's theory = evaluation or description?

E.g.: for a question on describing and evaluating the role of hormones on gender role: Troche et al. (2007) vs Rommsayer & Troche (2007) on the correlation between 2D:4DR ratios and an individual's sex role. The former showed no correlation, but the latter indicated significant results in males by suggesting that masculinity may be linked to pre-natal exposure to androgens and oestrogens. So, does the mention of a contradicting study count as evaluation? After all, of the 25 marks for an essay, only 9 goes to description, and 16 to evaluation.

This brings me to my next question: should I drop Psychology A2 (yes, I know it's late, but better late than never), so that I can take one slab of burden off of me and focus more on Econs? Or should I just keep diving deeper into this 'mess', as I chose (well, sort-of) to do with HCL at O Level?

Don't get me wrong - I really like Psychology as an area of academia, in the same way I like Biology. It's deeply thought-provoking, fascinating, and impressive to learn so much about human behaviour, only to discover there's so much we don't know. But I don't think knowledge in these areas are what I need to be tested on at this stage, nor in this way. Not when there's loads still left to be covered for Econs in just one month!

---too tired to edit/continue with this post. If you read my FB statuses, you'd know why.---

Warwick - To Firm or not to Firm?

I promised Daniel Lim that I would write a 'post or something' after I've gone to Warwick. Well, here it is.


The Warwick Report...
What do I think of Warwick? Well, first off, I'd like to start with the negatives.

The Negatives.

It's a campus university. Some say it's the most 'Campusy' of all campus universities in the UK. What does it mean? Well, your social life and whatnots will all occur within the campus. To put it in another way, it's a bubble. That's because you'd hardly have a reason to get out of the Uni premises and into Coventry. There's not a lot in Coventry, as far as I'm aware, and you're quite probably going to live in the accomodation within the Campus in the first year, which further isolates you from the rest of the city.

(Oh, you have to move out of the Campus accomodation in year 2 & 3. But they have various services to help you find accomodation in Coventry, Kennilworth, or Leamington Spa. The Campus Tour Guide that I had, a 2nd year student, lives in Leam, and he said it only takes about half an hour by bus to get to the campus.)

However, there are upsides to living in a bubble.

The upsides.

Yes, you are in a bubble. But that can be good, too. There are banks in the uni, there's lots of places to grab a bite (one cafe in every department, if I saw correctly). There's an Arts Centre, which does play host to some great acts from time to time. There's a sports centre for your sporting needs (membership £100-ish a year, apparently). There's a post office, a few barbers, a bookshop, a library with online services accessible from the web, etc. The uni is quite self-sufficient, I think you'd agree.

And yes, it's in Coventry. But if you zoom out in Google maps, you'd find that Birmingham is just a 15-min train ride away, and London isn't too far, either - 1 hour on Virgin Trains. Compare this with Exeter, which is 2 hours + from London.

The accomodation is relatively cheap by UK Uni standards. £70-120/wk for campus accomodation, and when you move out to Leamington Spa, you're not in London, so rent isn't going to be overly expensive either.

Also, it's the Unbiversity of Warwick. It has good reputation within and outside the UK. Which probably helps explain the diverse mix in the Uni.

The good rep also comes with its own perks. Lots of major employers will come down for career fairs. That's really useful in a competitive job market.

Oh, and they have a really awesome-looking pub (The Dirty Duck).


On Academics...
(You can probably research more about this on your own from the Warwick website and the various Good Uni Guides, so I'll just post what I learnt from the Open Day.)

From what I gathered during the Open Day, the University's research have received high ratings. This is important as it means you are learning from the people involved in the cutting-edge of the latest developments in the subject you're studying.


For Accounting & Finance, they bring in people working in the trade from time to time, e.g.: to teach on Taxation. And the degree is well-received by major accounting bodies - ACCA might allow up to 8 exemptions (out of 14 exams), depending on course choices.

For Economics, I've heard (from Shu-Yee :p) that they've been bringing in other Sciences into the subject, rather than just numbers. Think Psychology, Sociology, Biology, and Maths all combined into Economics. That's the 'in' thing at Warwick.

One thing I should point out though, before you get all excited about studying these things - Exams still form a major part of the Uni system here. They have project works, essays, and other assignments, but there's no escaping from exams. But then again, I think most UK Universities are reliant on exams, so if you choose to come here, you're going to face them eventually.

Did I mention the library? They have a digital catalogue of journals which are accessible from your computer (so you should be able to access them during the holidays), and they're starting to bring in eBooks, so it's good to hear that they're still improving.

Closing Statements...

Warwick is not a perfect university. But I can see myself going there. My only dilemma now is whether to make it my Firm or not.

If Yes, then I have to decide if I want to do the stupid thing of making Exeter my Insurance, or do the sensible thing by making Manchester my Insurance.

If not, then Exeter will be my Firm, and Warwick my Insurance.

(Requirements: Exeter: AAA, Warwick: AAB +C/b, Manchester: AAB)

I'll think about it before May comes. But for now, I really think I should go to Warwick.

(P.s.: When picking accomodation, try and avoid Whitefields - it's really near to the Student Union, which can be nice if you're a party animal, but not during exam time. Can get a bit noisy.)

exams over!

Yay! Finished my exams! At last!

Well, not quite. I still have a Psychology Class Test next Tuesday. Bummer.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a list of things to remember, so that I remember them, in case I get amnesia/dementia. Which, judging from the way that my memory's been going, is quite possible.

Alright.

Tonight, 6pm: Apple announcements.
Tomorrow, 28 Jan, 10am: Some Teleconferencing thingy that my College is organising with a school in Russia. Sounds interesting.

2 Feb: Psy Class Test on Eating Behaviour - Obesity.
6 Feb: First day for the Safehaven project. (Goes on every Saturday)

10 Feb: Exeter Open Day
14 Feb: V-day. B-day. CNY-Day.

17 Feb: Owl City in Concert @ Komedia!
18-19 Feb: Mid-term break

22 Feb: Owl City's Album release in the UK (at last!)
3 Mar: Warwick Open Day

19 Mar: Driving Practical Test (Subject to changes)

23-27/28 Mar: Matthew Lim coming to the UK (subject to changes, tbc)

Phew!

My fears about the "iSlate"

I've been reading the papers, many of which have at least one article woffling on about how this Steve Jobs guy will help save them all (and let mainstream journalists keep their paycheck).

So they're assuming that Jobs know what he's doing, and that Apple's tablet-cum-eReader will be a huge success.

Well, hold on a minute there, wild stallions. Let me knock some sense of reality and tell you why the tablet might not succeed. And mind you, I'm your typical Apple fanboy, so my doubts over the possibility of this tablet thing being successful must be quite strong.


1) The Form Factor.
Anything that Apple does, Apple can deliver the X-factor. Look at the iPhone. Apple came from 0% market share, to an icon that everyone tries to emulate. So I have no doubt that the reality distortion field would still be there next Wednesday when Apple lifts the veil over the iSlate. But let's be real. My theory on why the iPod and iPhone are much more successful than something like the Apple TV is its portability and convenience factor. These things fit in your pocket/handbag/man-purse/whatever - they fit right into your lifestyle, they go where you go, and as a result, you become somewhat attached to them as these things pipe music into your ears and video or web pages into your eyes.

The rumors all say that the iSlate's screen is 10" diagonally. 10" is not exactly small. It's quite massive for a device you want to carry from place to place in your purse or pocket. Even if Apple can make it thin and light, it'll still be a burden to lug around, and you'll be worried sick about cracking that screen. That's not very convenient - that's not very Apple.

If this device was meant to surf web pages on the toilet bowl, it better be cheap, or it'll only sell as well as the Apple TV. Which brings me on to the next topic.


2) The Price.
When the iPhone first came out, everyone agreed unanimously that it was ludicrously and absurdly expensive. US$599 for a phone, tied to a US$30/month contract? And you don't even get MMS with that? Everyone thought that was insane. True enough, it was. The first few days did see queues of the mental Apple fanboys and bloggers who HAD to get one. The rest of us just said 'nay'. And yes, it was US-only (I'll get on to this in a minute). When Apple dropped the price down, to $399, then $199 with the 3G, sales grew exponentially within the US (of course, we have to factor out the fact that it actually went global. Fair test, right?). Activation servers were brougth to their knees as more people bought the 3G than the 1G, probably because of the great new price tag.

Will Apple continue with their pricing mechanism experimentation with this iSlate? I suspect they will. Don't be surprised if you hear the words "Nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars for a 32-Gig model, WITH contract on Verizon or AT&T". Apple really likes to gain as much revenue as they can from the early adopters while they face supply constraints. Just watch.


3) The Availability.
Not going to say much. except that the iPhone was initially only available in the world's 4th most populous country. That's just one market. But when it went on to sell in 70+ more countries, what happened to sales figure? It doesn't take a genius or economist to answer that question, does it?

Yes, I admit, there might be problems with the telco agreements. But if that's the hurdle, then can I suggest a model without the 3G chip in it? I mean, Wifi is almost everywhere, anyway, with hotspots and MiFis (Mobile Wifi). Look at the iPod touch. It doesn't have 3G or GPS, but it's selling as well, if not better, than its bigger brother, the iPhone.


4) The Utilitarian Device Beyond Toilet Bowl.
What is the purpose of a tablet? Yes, many of us (fanboys) will swipe our debit and credit cards for an iSlate. But what do we do with this slab after we pull it out of the box? Do we just sit on the toilet bowl and read books/surf the web with this thing? I thought we had similar devices that do the same thing already? The Kindle, the iPod/iPhone, or if you're not fortunate/interested enough to afford/invest in these tech stuff, the newspaper. What's wrong with these things? Nothing. And they are what the iSlate is going against.

There has to be a convincing reason why I would want to drop my iPhone and use the iSlate instead. And I just can't think of any right now. It'll be too big to go anywhere, and it's not meant to replace the desktop. So what is it?

Sure, Steve-O and Co can think of something to say - "The iSlate can cure cancer patients (i.e.: can be uses in a hospital). It can lead you from Nuremberg to Edinburgh, something the Nazis couldn't do. (i.e.: It's got GPS.)". It's the reality distortion field effect that you get from watching the announcements, you see. It hypnotises the Apple fanboys into saying "Take my money". But for the people who think about opportunity costs all the time (i.e.: Main Street), what is the benefit of buying this device? I, for one, am not interested in a Kindle-esque or iPhone-ish device. I don't need a netbook. And frankly, I think the whole world's had enough of these things, too.

This iSlate is supposed to answer lots of questions that people in the Tech circle have been asking: What is the purpose of a tablet? What is the way to interact with one? What size/shape should it be? If we see imitations, then this question's probably been answered. Otherwise...


5) A Load Of Hype Over A Journalist's Pipe Dream.
I now see why the iSlate is getting more hype than interest (from me, at least) at this point.

We all know that the Print Media industry is starting to suffer. It's been on a downhill ever since they started posting news stories on the Web - Why would anyone want to pay for a dirty, grey piece of paper about the news stories from 24 hours prior to 3am this morning, when you can check for the latest update (often for free, I should point out) on the website of the newspaper in question? Some have responded to the threat of Online. Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp and News International, has long been threatening to charge for access to their online content. And I suspect more will cave in to the demand of profits soon, too.

But imagine being able to keep profits (and shareholders) happy by charging for the electronic content, presented in a new and awesome device that consumers will all go gaga over. This device that the CEOs of media companies dream of, ladies and gentlemen, is the iSlate.

I really believe that if the iSlate becomes a hit, it'll do to the publishing industry, what the iPhone did to basement-based iPhone developers. And I'm guessing the media industry agrees. That is why, as I said in the beginning of this post, I've seen at least one article from each of the leading newspapers mention something about the iSlate, even though it's all just rumours at this stage. All of them really want this to happen, because it could very well save them from being a dying trade. That's probably why Apple gets a lot of press, even without saying a word.

In a SuperFreakonomics way of thinking, what incentives do journalists/newspapers gain from giving a company (which said nothing, did nothing, nada) so much hype? Normally, none. But in this case, quite a lot (A revenue stream that will help them survive the digital age, for example). Which is why I'm guessing that a lot of journalists will try to create their own reality distortion field to get people onto this platform.

---------------------

Maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic. Maybe I'm being cynical.

But maybe, just maybe, for once, I am right. Maybe this iSlate is another "hobby" of Apple. Just like the Apple TV - too good to be .... well, good.

Merry Christmas!

To all:

Merry Christmas!

Ok, this is not going to be as short as that - just 4 words. If I wanted to say only 4 words, I'll use Twitter.

I'm trying to clear up my HDD, since I just realised that I'm down to my last 14GB or so. Not good.

So much for my plans to move over to an SSD drive - I think that will have to wait, since I'm barely able to cope with a 256GB drive. I'll probably need to move on to a 0.5-1.0 TB SSD in the not-too-distant future - probably when my MBP reaches 2 years old.

By the way, just curious - How far back does your digital photo catalogue go back? Also, how many of the shots you keep are 'bad' shots? I ask, because as I've been finding out, sometimes, you need to go through your photos and delete some of them - it might be when you're taking, or later on once transferred to your PC, or like me now - when in desperate need of some spare capacity (no, not the macroeconomic one).

So here's a tip from me, if you're bored or if you need to take your mind off something - go through your old photos, and start deleting stuff you don't want to keep.

Once again, 

Have a blessed Christmas!

P.s.: If you're really bored, read this long post from Touch Arcade on iPhone Gaming in 2009.

Untitled.

I realised that the titles of my blog post are quite meaningless, because I tend to choose a title, and then make a post, forgetting that I had a title at the top of the post. So, there you go. Untitled post. So I'm free to talk about what I want, without thinking of following a thread. (You have been warned.)

If you're wondering where on earth I am (literally), I'm actually at home in Jakarta. Home sweet home. The unfortunate thing is that I'm still kind of jet-lagged. Sleeping 2-5am, waking up 12noon-ish. It's slowly moving back to a normal 12mn-9am sleep cycle, but till then, I'm staying off caffeine.

Been trying to study for the AS (plus a few A2) papers in January. I have to confess - I feel that studying in December is like child-labour - it's unethical, because it robs the person of the freedom to enjoy, relax, and celebrate the festive season (and gain weight). But that's my opinion. Must. Study. Psychology. I mean, I'm not too worried about Maths and Econs, and I just need to read up a bit more of the Accounting theory and stuff, but Psychology is a lot harder to study for. Tons of different theories, explanations, approaches, models, treatments, etc. intertwined with hundreds of researchers' names to remember. But since I got myself into this mess (nobody forced me to take Psychology. Just me and my ego.), I have to face the music like a man.

Oh, I've been thinking of embarking on a multimedia project soon. Much like my 'O' Level Art Coursework - a video, coupled with an original audio track, depicting a certain theme/story. At the moment, I need a theme to work on, so that I know what to work towards. So far, I have 2 on my mind - the urban/city life, or the earphones/speakers/mp3 player. The former, because I just want to try making stock-like video. The latter, because I think many of us listen to music on our commute to school/work, and sometimes, you see people behaving in a way that shows they're rocking to the music, but suppressing it really well. And I thought I can use my video to show an amplification (heh. no pun intended) of this perhaps-innate response to Lady Gaga. Of course, this is a spare-time-only project, because I really shouldn't be doing this when I have exams to prepare for. It's just that I've been having itchy fingers lately, if you know what I mean.

Gosh, I really want a 7D and a video-friendly ballhead (Reccos, anyone?).

Anyway, speaking of video, I was watching this HD short-film that I downloaded from the BBC iPlayer some time ago. Hooked my Mac up to my 720p TV, and gosh, did it look good. The story was good, too. Entitled "Pop Art" by Amanda Boyle, it's about this strange friendship between Toby, a kid who's lost him mum and Arthur, a new classmate who's born with a 'genetic disorder that causes him to be born a balloon' (hence the title, I guess). It's an odd story, yes, but I think it's a bit of a reflection of how people sometimes let their negative emotions overcome them. If you're geeky enough to know how to set up a proxy or search on Youtube, do try to watch it. It's a heart-warming clip, IMO. http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004x9xt

But if you have no idea how to set up a proxy (it's alright. me neither.) then you can have this as a consolation prize. If you're a fan of The Bugle - Audio Newspaper for the Visual World podcast, then you should listen to "Andy Zaltsman's History of the Third Millenium", a comedic view of the past decade. It's on the iPlayer, but because it's audio-only (radio broadcast), it's available for streaming worldwide, as with most other BBC Radio programmes. Other programmes I recommend - The Now Show [also available in podcast form worldwide]. But please, don't let these links be your only source of news. You'll sound really weird in conversations about the latest news.

By the way, for people who often look at my Last.fm scrobble charts, there's been a slight glitch with the Last.fm Scrobbler App on my Mac, so I had to uninstall it and use a different scrobbler, which seems to also have its own share of bugs. Seems like upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard, and then from iTunes 8 to 9, added with the zero-response from the Last.fm coders, might have led to me being unable to submit about half of my scrobbles. So, fingers crossed, let's hope things work with this new 3rd-party scrobbler. If you were reading this paragraph and scratching your head, head over to www.last.fm and use the Last.fm service.

Ok, got to sleep now. Post ends here.

Incentives.

I've just finished reading SuperFreakonomics (finally! after 48 days, with constant interruptions!). If you're doing any form of Economics, I suggest you read this book - it'll help with your microeconomics, not because it's a revision guide, but because it makes the subject come alive. Just make sure you read this book with an open mind and from a matured point of view. Because it does talk about prostitution patterns around holiday seasons.

I've been pondering about one theme that constantly pops up in a subliminal way in the book - Incentives. Economists would like to think we, being rational human beings, react to incentives.

People choose to Bit Torrent their favourite TV shows rather than buy a DVD because they have the incentive of saving money and travelling/waiting time, while enjoying, maybe, a higher quality version (HD?).

People have an incentive to take public transport because they won't have to worry about the cost involved in owning a car - taxes, fuel, insurance, etc.

Secondary school students used to join CCAs because that meant they get more CCA points, which can potentially cut off 2 points from their L1R5, allowing them to gain access into better JCs. But if the CCA Points system was to be stopped in a certain year, will people continue to join CCAs? Or would they prefer something else - maybe LAN gaming? or sleeping at home? or TV?

Students in my school tend to leave 3 days before the end of the term because they know this is the time when all the students disappear, and the teacher don't do much other than chat with you in an effort to, well, kill time before the period ends. Because they can't carry out their lesson plan, or else 80-90% of the class would be left out. And besides, extending your holiday back home by another 3 days - who wouldn't want that? And furthermore, there's no loss by going back home 3 days earlier, because there's no way to punish, and if the teachers were to alert the parents, erm, the parents kind-of knew the students skipped 3 days of lessons already, actually. So what's the point?

The above examples are pretty obvious cases of incentives in action.

But then I've been thinking of some other scenarios where incentives don't seem to fit in to the reason people do certain things.

1. Twitter. Facebook. Web 2.0 stuff.
What is the incentive for people to use social networks? If you were a media company, that's obvious - marketing. But if you're John Doe, an ordinary folk who happens to own a computer, why should you spend time on Farmville?

2. Charity. Altruism. Good deeds.
What is the incentive for people to do charity work? What makes people volunteer to serve? Why do people lend money to strangers?

3. Crime.
What is the incentive for people to commit a crime? I mean, there's a lot of disincentives, but there are people who constantly challenge the law. So there has to be an incentive there, right?

Well, what do you think? Toss in your theories on the tagboard or in the comments section.

Before I end off this post, I want to talk more on number 2.

We all like to think we are nice people. We think we enjoy helping others, and sometimes, we help others, through direct or indirect means, often expecting nothing in return. We call in when there's donation drives on TV (ok, there's some corruption in some organisations, but we'll overlook that in this post). We might even go on visits to institutions and meet people who need help.

But why is it that in a world where there are people who can afford to own a yacht, there are also people who worry if they can find water or food tomorrow? Why is it that in a city where there's Lamborghinis and Mercedes SLKs parked outside the houses in it, there are also people who sleep on the streets and beg for money? Why is it that in a country where there's people who are well-off, there's also people who are starving?

I've been involved in the 'Helping People' team in my church, and we've been trying to find ways to reach out to the community and help those in need. It's quite shocking to see the homeless people all around Brighton. And that's not the only problem in this area. Sexual abuse, domestic violence, drug abuse, there's so many areas that need help.

But then I realised - if God has blessed me with the abundant provisions in the form of physical ways (as well as social ways, in the form of love and care from the people around me), perhaps I should share these with others who lack them.

I really believe that if you feel that you have been blessed, you should bless others and fill someone's need. It can be academic, it can be social, or maybe someone just needs a little encouragement. If you have the ability to help, then go forth and lend a hand, an ear, or whatever the need is.

It's Christmas season, a time of giving. Think of doing something nice!

Album review...

I've never done one of these before, but seeing that there's so many new albums out for this Christmas season, I thought I'd round up a couple of albums and pass my judgement on them. See if you agree with any of these.

Ok, where shall we start? How about SuBo?

Susan Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, has been charting very well in the UK (and apparently, the US, too). The frumpy lady, who claimed to have never been kissed before, went on Britain's Got Talent, emerging as an Ugly Duckling with a beautiful voice that melts hearts. Now that she has an album, we get to hear more of that voice. Before I get all fanboy-ish with this review, I will say (to prove some objectivity in this review) - yes, the songs are all covers, and you probably won't want to listen to some of the tunes after Christmas, because yes, there's some Christmas songs in there. But heck. She's got great (not perfect, but great) vocals, and I think she's brilliant and likeable. She scores 3/10 for creativity (her rendition of Wild Horses - that's something), but overall, it's an 8.5/10.

Must Download: Wild Horses / I Dreamed A Dream / How Great Thou Art / Daydream Believer

Next, Lady Gaga, the crazy musical genius. For the sake of this review, I will review Fame Monster in 2 parts - The EP (CD1), and the album (i.e.: The Fame, CD2).

Fame Monster: 8 tracks. As many of you probably guessed by now, I'm a big fan of the electronica genre (think Owl City). So you'd expect me to love Lady Gaga, right? Well, yes and no. I have this bad habit of judging songs by their first 10 seconds, and that's the litmus test Gaga songs often fail. But to be fair, her latest EP isn't all bad. If you see my Last.fm weekly charts, you'd see that "Telephone" is in joint number 2. Many people also like Bad Romance. Aside from these two songs, I think the other songs are marginally above average, which = "Just OK". Not terrible. Just so-so. So I give this EP 6.5/10.

Must Download: Telephone / Bad Romance / Monster

The Fame: 16 tracks. Admittedly late, considering this album was out last year. But because this album is stuck inside "The Fame Monster", whether you like it or not, I have to review it. I'll make this quick. It's Gaga. And you probably have the album already if you like her. 8/10

Combines weighted score: 6.5*8 + 8*16 / (8+16) = 7.5/10

Next up: John Mayer, with Battle Studies. I was just tweeting @thejellyhunter (formerly @ryanleee) about this album - I don't love it, I don't like it, it's not growing on me, even though it's John C. Mayer. Why? Well, I've been thinking about it, and I think the answer can only be summed up in 2 words - it's dull. And I mean that in a "dull and not entertaining" sense. I mean, I loved Continuum, mainly because a few tracks were likeable - Heart Of Life, Waiting On The World To Change, Stop This Train, etc. - you listen to those, and you'll want to shake your head to the beats. If only he would stop tweeting and make his songs more impactful. And what the heck was Taylor Swift doing with John Mayer, singing only 2 lines? If she's in a studio with John Mayer, I expect more from Swift than just "Can't Stop Loving You, Can't Stop Loving You" and a suppressed, almost inaudible alto line. (The lyrics are great, though, if that's any consolation). 6.5/10

Must Download: Heartbreak Warfare / Who Says / Half Of My Heart / War Of My Life

Moving on: Norah Jones, with The Fall. Just as you forgot about her, she's back with a new album. It deviates from what you'd call Jazz, but that's fine by me. The music paints a picture in your head, and that's good. This one's growing on me. And as a "Welcome back" present, Jones gets an 8.5/10.

Must Download: Chasing Pirates / Young Blood / Tell Yer Mama

One last album - Queen. I talked about this before - It's a "Best Of" from one of those bands that probably earn millions in royalties each year. Buy! 9/10.

k. That's all for now. Got some tests to prepare for. More reviews to come!

University help...

Ok, I don't know who reads my blog anymore. But since I just joined TSR (The Student Room), I thought I might get some 'fallout' from that forum site.

I need help with my University options.

At first, I wanted to go to LSE. But that was plan A, and with their rejection letter, I must switch to Plan B.

Unfortunately/Fortunately, I have 4 Plan Bs, and 3 of them are deployable (I'm still waiting for an offer from City University, for what I suspect might be the wrong course, because I chose Economics/Accountancy, and my Personal Statement was all about Finance & Accounting). As such, I need help in deciding which Plan B to make as a Firm Choice, and which as my Insurance Choice for my UCAS application.

The 4 Plan Bs are as follows:

Exeter:
I don't know what kind of place Exeter is, but from what I see, it's a vibrant scene with a great campus and relaxing surrounding. Highest Student Satisfaction Rating (citation: TimesOnline Good University Guide), so it has to be good, right? But highest entry requirement of the 3, too, at AAA. Then again, seems like Exeter might be the 'cheapest' place to live in amongst all my options (citation: Virgin Alternative Guide), yet it's the furthest from a major airport (I'm a foreign student.)

Manchester:
The lowest-ranked for Finance & Accounting (amongst my choices), but low = 10th (which is high, actually), according to The TimesOnline Good University Guide, and it's in a major city, with a big student population (is that a boon or a bane?). Near a major airport. Also, it's in the QOS international ranking of top 100 Universities worldwide. Great Music scene, from what my church friends told me.

Warwick:
Great teaching, I heard, and popular amongst UCAS applicants, but not much nightlife/shopping/POI around - Is that accurate?

City:
Haven't gotten an offer (not even an acknowledgement) yet. But this Univeristy's in London, which probably means vibrant nightlife, but high living cost and parking. Then again, there's good transport link (Tube, Bus, etc.)

So, that's my shortlist.

Which 2 should I choose?

[btw, my blog's back on Facebook!]

Of flight tickets and train tickets

Just to let you know, I just booked my flight ticket for the last part of my A Level school year. Long story short, here's the plan:

6 Jan 2010: CGK-SIN, arrive 7:35pm.
8 Jan 2010: SIN-CGK, depart 12:55pm.

And I'm going to be transiting in SG on my return trip in July, but the transit is just one hour, it's not even worth mentioning.

There are many reasons why this stayover is short.

•Firstly, I have to be in the UK before the 11th, because I have exams on. I need to be in the UK earlier to adjust to the climate, time, duration of daytime, etc.

•Secondly (extending reason number 1), I tried to book an SQ flight for the 9th of Jan, but the site just won't cooperate, and tell me SQ only flies SIN-LHR on 4th, 8th and 11th of January, even though it has a code-share flight with Virgin Atlantic on the 9th (though it transits in Dubai, making my trip a 2-stop route, but who cares!). Been trying, believe me, for 2 weeks now.

•Thirdly, I want to spend more time with my family (and my bro's Honda Jazz).

•Fourthly, I need more time with the books.

•Fifthly, Singapore's broadband speed will spoil me. Must not get too used to it.

•Sixthly, what I want to do in SG, most of them, I can do in Jakarta, so what's the point of staying too long?

•Seven, I have a longer, more relaxed break between the end of my A Level exams in June and my A Level results collection in August. And by that time, I think the choir peeps were suggesting we have a get-together to celebrate Ms Gan's return to SG or something, so I thought - why not pop by?

And there you go - 7 reasons for the short stay in SG.

Now that I've clarified my reasons, let's start arranging stuff, yeah?

I'll probably need to go to a Guardian store and a Popular/Art Friend shop, btw.

And I must eat Roti Prata / Yoshinoya / 咸鱼炒饭 with green pickled chilli. Gosh, I miss these things.

And btw, I have a fisheye treat (hint hint).

So yeah, do drop me a Facebook message about this, alright?

While we're still on the topic of my flight ticket, I just realised that my flight ticket, even though it'll bring me half way across the globe and back, it still costs less than rail ticket.

And I'm not talking about some bullet train or rail journey to the ends of the earth.

I'm referring to this recent news article about the most expensive UK railway journey ticket. £1002 (that's £11.40 more than my flight ticket, based on current USD-GBP exchange rates) gets you a First-class "Walk-on" Return journey from some place in Scotland to some place in Cornwall. (See Map)

View Larger Map

That's 1,700 miles in total. (Map above can only show car journey. See source article for actual rail journey route)

To put things in perspective, I'm paying less than the tickets for an economy class seat on a 14,000 mile journey.

That should really makes you wonder about 2 things:
a) How does the airline industry do it?
b) How much dough does the railway companies in the UK make anyway? It's not as if they involve as many employees, or use more expensive vehicles for transporting people.

This is just laughable. For the same amount of money to go on a holiday in, say, Bali, I can go from one end of the UK to the other and back. That's just not the same, is it? And yet, in terms of £££, it is.

And mind you, even though it says First Class, you don't get the same treatment as a First Class passenger on a plane. The size of those seats are (most of the time) the same as standard class seats; they're only slightly cleaner, because fewer buttocks have been on them, since you need to pay more to get on them.

Well, that's all the bickering I can do now. Need to sleep. Got church tomorrow morning, and I'm watching 2012 with my housemates tomorrow afternoon/evening (tbc). Am I the only one to see the irony in that, or what?

Some things I've learnt.

Been thinking recently of posting a list of things that I've learnt
about studying abroad over the past few years, and putting them in a
blog post. But seeing as how these things just keep on coming into my
rear view mirror, I thought I shouldn't put everythin in one post, but
rather, scatter it.

So here is my first one of such posts.

Firstly, you need friends to help you along the way. They can be your
moral supporter, and they are your rock - they keep you sane and in
touch with the world.

Secondly, if you believe in God, you need to keep close to him in your
daily life. Go to church, read the bible, pray for guidance and
wisdom, and also, give thanks to God for the blessings in your life.

Thirdly, jeans are your best friends, whatever the season, weather,
and gender. They're comfortable, they work in all weather and climate,
they work with any top, and they can be worn for a week before you
need to change them. They're the only type of pants you should wear if
you want to survive in a temperate country.

Fourth, music. Unless you're Teh Chee Yang, who hates music, music can
take your mind of things, change your mood, or give you inspiration.
You need music.

5: find student discount opportunities, or discount cards, and abuse
them, but not too much. Look out for lobang, too. To quote a certain
European supermarket chain's ad campaign: Every little helps.

Some of these can apply to any student, really. But yeah, that's how I
stay sane in an insane world.

More to come in future.

Sent from my iPhone

Economics and music patterns

I'm going to swinging from topic to topic, just so you know.

I have to do a presentation for Key Skills Class (think of it as learning skills). The topic has to be related to what we are studying. So for me, it has to be relevant to either Maths, Accounting, Psychology, or Economics.

So let's narrow down that list...

Maths - What the hell am I going to present? That Fibonacci number pattern + Pigeonhole Principle thing? again? really? Wasn't the first time not very successful?

Accounting - Another big problem. What can I present that is going to be interesting and not difficult to put into words for me to speak (the powerpoint isn't a problem. but the 'speech that goes with the PPT, that's a problem)?

So it was down to Psychology and Economics. In the end, I took the easy route - I chose Econs.

I'm doing a presentation on how the tiered pricing model in the iTunes music store affects the demand and supply of digital music download, and how the competition (Amazon MP3) affects iTunes with its cheaper prices. Basically, I'm focusing on the demand & supply bit in microeconomics.

Interesting, yah?

I have to say, I love the Amazon store for its prices. You can get tracks for 29p - 79p (most that I want are 69p), much cheaper than iTunes' 59p - 99p pricing (and most that I want are either 79p or 99p). 

But of course, that doesn't mean I stop buying things from iTunes. I still get Heroes episodes from iTunes, and let's not forget movie rentals (I like to rent movies for the weekends) and Apps. I just bought Cooking Mama for my iPhone. Yes. That Wii / DS game is now on the iPhone. very fun. Made me smile while I was playing the game, for some strange unexplainable reason. It's an awesome game for the iPhone.

Back to music: I realised that my music taste has been changing over the years. It's like every year brings something new for me to like. Just look at the bolded words that describe the theme of the different years.

2001 till 2005 was largely The Corrs, mixed in with other stuff that I can no longer remember. But after I learnt to accept the fact that The Corrs is on a long-term hiatus, I moved on.

2006 gave me the more obscure stuff like Les Choristes, Imogen Heap, and more.

2007 was the year of the punk rock (ish) with Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne, and some extras with KT Tunstall, Radiohead and Timbaland's gang at the side. Also, the Umbrella became the word of the year, thanks to Rihanna.

2008 saw the rise of Coldplay, Jason Mraz, and Fall Out Boy. Emo-ish (if you listen to their songs / lyrics), towards both ends of the gentle-vs-rock spectrum.

This year, though, the theme appears to be Dance-ish.

Just look at the artistes / songs that I've been liking so far this year.

•Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You

Slightly techno + dance theme.

•AR Rahman and PCD - Jai Ho!

very upbeat, and just look at the movie - the original song was used in the closing dance credit in Slumdog Millionaire.

•Metro Station - Shake It

Shake it! sounds like a dance number to me...

•Noisettes - Don't Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)

Reminds me of a dance instructor's song.

•Lady Gaga

The song "Just Dance" says it all. I think she might have started my addiction to dance beats...

So, perhaps this is the big theme of the year? Dance-ish music?

We'll see...

Why Microsoft shouldn't bother advertising Windows.

Ok. Let's face it. The only people using Windows are those who have no choice. I'm talking about most gamers, enterprise who run legacy software, system modders, server environments who depend on ActiveSync [a Microsoft Technology], and the casual users who want a familiar interface.

And mind you: that's about 90.66% of the market. That's ubiquity that even the iPod hasn't achieved, after 10 million units.

So, with such ubiquity, why are they having the 'I'm a PC' ad campaign?

The answer lies in one of their main competitor: Apple. Their 'I'm a Mac' ads have tarnished the Windows brand name to a new low, so much so that Windows' market share has been on the decline.

So, to tackle the bad press, you inject good press. Simple as that.

But unfortunately, I think Microsoft may want to reconsider focusing on improving their product before advertising the nuts out of it.

Exhibit A: Malware vs Antivirus software. Many professionals mentioned that Macs do not need antivirus software because they do not get major viruses, so much so that there's only ONE major antivirus software for the Mac [oh, I don't have an antivirus software on my system. I'm a living proof.]. Nobody has complained of having to reformat their Mac once every month to keep their system speedy. This was in the times of the PowerPC, pre-2006. Now, no difference. Macs do not need regular reformats. On Windows, things are different. There's tons of antivirus software products, with exponentially higher numbers of virus and malware programmers. Why? Windows has a higher number of users, and higher number of corporate users.

Exhibit B: Crapware. I wouldn't blame Microsoft for this point. But I must say, I've never seen a clean install of Windows, except when I installed Windows on a Mac, and when my brother built his own PC. What is up with the PC manufacturers, like Sony, Dell, HP, and Acer? Why must you bundle so much crap with the product you are selling? Has any of the managers of these companies used a Mac? You only get the important stuff, and non-intrusive trial & softwares, like iWork, Office for Mac by Microsoft, and iLife. I understand having more crap cuts costs, but when is it too much? We don't need screensaver and wallpapers that advertise your product, or a Yahoo! toolbar.

Exhibit C: Ignorance to the press. Microsoft needs to deliver perfect products if they want to get rid of Apple once and for all. Why is there a virus on a PC on the International Space Station? It is fortunate the computer was not responsible for control of the station, but if it did, what would happen? And by the way, Microsoft, you can run Windows on a Mac. Don't say that you're locking yourself when on a Mac. No, you're getting the best of both worlds. Dimwit.

Oh, for the creative types, Microsoft lets you enjoy quality media and make phony video clips with Movie Maker. Macs let you create exam-quality videos [proof: me, with my 'O' Level project. 50% done on iMovie '08, 50% done in AE CS3, Premiere Pro CS3, Soundbooth, and Aperture 2, 100% done on a Mac] that looks professional, and enjoy quality media, both made by you, and those you bought.

Why do you think so many people in the Media industry, such as Marketing & advertising, Studio production, Music, Movies, and also celebrities, use Macs?

And don't even get me started about Windows Vista. Apple has poked fun at the many versions of Vista, and what's up with Aero? Is Windows 2000 and XP so bad that you guys need to put on a new mask? and is the GPU so underutilized and not powerful enough, you guys need to whip it?

Microsoft should not advertise Windows. Microsoft should just clean up their product, and then prove to people the usability. Otherwise, Snow Leopard, combined with the new low-margin 'product transition' Apple has been hinting at, may just be a chance where Apple could turn the tides.

Get Windows 7 / Vienna right, Microsoft. Don't do a Mojave II. And don't do a 2nd Windows ME [Millennium Edition].