You know there are people who complain about things, complain, WHINE WHINE WHINE...
and there are those who stop whining and stop doing something about it.
Moving on to the latter...
Sunday, November 08, 2009
NOW THEN YOU TELL ME...
From the New York Times:
Phys Ed: Why Doesn’t Exercise Lead to Weight Loss?
By Gretchen Reynolds
Sven Hagolani/Getty Images
For some time, researchers have been finding that people who exercise don’t necessarily lose weight. A study published online in September in The British Journal of Sports Medicine was the latest to report apparently disappointing slimming results. In the study, 58 obese people completed 12 weeks of supervised aerobic training without changing their diets. The group lost an average of a little more than seven pounds, and many lost barely half that.
How can that be? Exercise, it seems, should make you thin. Activity burns calories. No one doubts that.
Phys Ed
“Walking, even at a very easy pace, you’ll probably burn three or four calories a minute,” beyond what you would use quietly sitting in a chair, said Dan Carey, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, who studies exercise and metabolism.
But few people, an overwhelming body of research shows, achieve significant weight loss with exercise alone, not without changing their eating habits. A new study from scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver offers some reasons why. For the study, the researchers recruited several groups of people. Some were lean endurance athletes; some sedentary and lean; some sedentary and obese. Each of the subjects agreed to spend, over the course of the experiment, several 24-hour periods in a special laboratory room (a walk-in calorimeter) that measures the number of calories a person burns. Using various calculations, the researchers could also tell whether the calories expended were in the form of fat or carbohydrates, the body’s two main fuel sources. Burning more fat than carbohydrates is obviously desirable for weight loss, since the fat being burned comes primarily from body fat stores, and we all, even the leanest among us, have plenty of those.
The Denver researchers were especially interested in how the athletes’ bodies would apportion and use calories. It has been well documented that regular endurance training increases the ability of the body to use fat as a fuel during exercise. They wondered, though, if the athletes — or any of the other subjects — would burn extra fat calories after exercising, a phenomenon that some exercisers (and even more diet and fitness books) call “afterburn.”
“Many people believe that you rev up” your metabolism after an exercise session “so that you burn additional body fat throughout the day,” said Edward Melanson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the division of endocrinology at the School of Medicine and the lead author of the study. If afterburn were found to exist, it would suggest that even if you replaced the calories you used during an exercise session, you should lose weight, without gaining weight — the proverbial free lunch.
Each of Melanson’s subjects spent 24 quiet hours in the calorimeter, followed later by another 24 hours that included an hourlong bout of stationary bicycling. The cycling was deliberately performed at a relatively easy intensity (about 55 percent of each person’s predetermined aerobic capacity). It is well known physiologically that, while high-intensity exercise demands mostly carbohydrate calories (since carbohydrates can quickly reach the bloodstream and, from there, laboring muscles), low-intensity exercise prompts the body to burn at least some stored fat. All of the subjects ate three meals a day.
To their surprise, the researchers found that none of the groups, including the athletes, experienced “afterburn.” They did not use additional body fat on the day when they exercised. In fact, most of the subjects burned slightly less fat over the 24-hour study period when they exercised than when they did not.
“The message of our work is really simple,” although not agreeable to hear, Melanson said. “It all comes down to energy balance,” or, as you might have guessed, calories in and calories out. People “are only burning 200 or 300 calories” in a typical 30-minute exercise session, Melanson points out. “You replace that with one bottle of Gatorade.”
This does not mean that exercise has no impact on body weight, or that you can’t calibrate your workouts to maximize the amount of body fat that you burn, if that’s your goal.
“If you work out at an easy intensity, you will burn a higher percentage of fat calories” than if you work out a higher intensity, Carey says, so you should draw down some of the padding you’ve accumulated on the hips or elsewhere — if you don’t replace all of the calories afterward. To help those hoping to reduce their body fat, he published formulas in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research last month that detailed the heart rates at which a person could maximize fat burning. “Heart rates of between 105 and 134” beats per minute, Carey said, represent the fat-burning zone. “It’s probably best to work out near the top of that zone,” he says, “so that you burn more calories over all” than at the extremely leisurely lower end.
Perhaps just as important, bear in mind that exercise has benefits beyond weight reduction. In the study of obese people who took up exercise, most became notably healthier, increasing their aerobic capacity, decreasing their blood pressure and resting heart rates, and, the authors write, achieving “an acute exercise-induced increase in positive mood,” leading the authors to conclude that, “significant and meaningful health benefits can be achieved even in the presence of lower than expected exercise-induced weight loss.”
Finally and thankfully, exercise seems to aid, physiologically, in the battle to keep off body fat once it has been, through resolute calorie reduction, chiseled away. In other work by Melanson’s group, published in September, laboratory rats that had been overfed and then slimmed through calorie reduction were able to “defend” their lower weight more effectively if they ran on a treadmill and ate at will than if they had no access to a treadmill. The exercise seemed to reset certain metabolic pathways within the rats, Melanson says, that blunted their body’s drive to replace the lost fat. Similar mechanisms, he adds, probably operate within the bodies of humans, providing scientific justification for signing up for that Thanksgiving Day 5K.
Phys Ed: Why Doesn’t Exercise Lead to Weight Loss?
By Gretchen Reynolds
Sven Hagolani/Getty Images
For some time, researchers have been finding that people who exercise don’t necessarily lose weight. A study published online in September in The British Journal of Sports Medicine was the latest to report apparently disappointing slimming results. In the study, 58 obese people completed 12 weeks of supervised aerobic training without changing their diets. The group lost an average of a little more than seven pounds, and many lost barely half that.
How can that be? Exercise, it seems, should make you thin. Activity burns calories. No one doubts that.
Phys Ed
“Walking, even at a very easy pace, you’ll probably burn three or four calories a minute,” beyond what you would use quietly sitting in a chair, said Dan Carey, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, who studies exercise and metabolism.
But few people, an overwhelming body of research shows, achieve significant weight loss with exercise alone, not without changing their eating habits. A new study from scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver offers some reasons why. For the study, the researchers recruited several groups of people. Some were lean endurance athletes; some sedentary and lean; some sedentary and obese. Each of the subjects agreed to spend, over the course of the experiment, several 24-hour periods in a special laboratory room (a walk-in calorimeter) that measures the number of calories a person burns. Using various calculations, the researchers could also tell whether the calories expended were in the form of fat or carbohydrates, the body’s two main fuel sources. Burning more fat than carbohydrates is obviously desirable for weight loss, since the fat being burned comes primarily from body fat stores, and we all, even the leanest among us, have plenty of those.
The Denver researchers were especially interested in how the athletes’ bodies would apportion and use calories. It has been well documented that regular endurance training increases the ability of the body to use fat as a fuel during exercise. They wondered, though, if the athletes — or any of the other subjects — would burn extra fat calories after exercising, a phenomenon that some exercisers (and even more diet and fitness books) call “afterburn.”
“Many people believe that you rev up” your metabolism after an exercise session “so that you burn additional body fat throughout the day,” said Edward Melanson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the division of endocrinology at the School of Medicine and the lead author of the study. If afterburn were found to exist, it would suggest that even if you replaced the calories you used during an exercise session, you should lose weight, without gaining weight — the proverbial free lunch.
Each of Melanson’s subjects spent 24 quiet hours in the calorimeter, followed later by another 24 hours that included an hourlong bout of stationary bicycling. The cycling was deliberately performed at a relatively easy intensity (about 55 percent of each person’s predetermined aerobic capacity). It is well known physiologically that, while high-intensity exercise demands mostly carbohydrate calories (since carbohydrates can quickly reach the bloodstream and, from there, laboring muscles), low-intensity exercise prompts the body to burn at least some stored fat. All of the subjects ate three meals a day.
To their surprise, the researchers found that none of the groups, including the athletes, experienced “afterburn.” They did not use additional body fat on the day when they exercised. In fact, most of the subjects burned slightly less fat over the 24-hour study period when they exercised than when they did not.
“The message of our work is really simple,” although not agreeable to hear, Melanson said. “It all comes down to energy balance,” or, as you might have guessed, calories in and calories out. People “are only burning 200 or 300 calories” in a typical 30-minute exercise session, Melanson points out. “You replace that with one bottle of Gatorade.”
This does not mean that exercise has no impact on body weight, or that you can’t calibrate your workouts to maximize the amount of body fat that you burn, if that’s your goal.
“If you work out at an easy intensity, you will burn a higher percentage of fat calories” than if you work out a higher intensity, Carey says, so you should draw down some of the padding you’ve accumulated on the hips or elsewhere — if you don’t replace all of the calories afterward. To help those hoping to reduce their body fat, he published formulas in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research last month that detailed the heart rates at which a person could maximize fat burning. “Heart rates of between 105 and 134” beats per minute, Carey said, represent the fat-burning zone. “It’s probably best to work out near the top of that zone,” he says, “so that you burn more calories over all” than at the extremely leisurely lower end.
Perhaps just as important, bear in mind that exercise has benefits beyond weight reduction. In the study of obese people who took up exercise, most became notably healthier, increasing their aerobic capacity, decreasing their blood pressure and resting heart rates, and, the authors write, achieving “an acute exercise-induced increase in positive mood,” leading the authors to conclude that, “significant and meaningful health benefits can be achieved even in the presence of lower than expected exercise-induced weight loss.”
Finally and thankfully, exercise seems to aid, physiologically, in the battle to keep off body fat once it has been, through resolute calorie reduction, chiseled away. In other work by Melanson’s group, published in September, laboratory rats that had been overfed and then slimmed through calorie reduction were able to “defend” their lower weight more effectively if they ran on a treadmill and ate at will than if they had no access to a treadmill. The exercise seemed to reset certain metabolic pathways within the rats, Melanson says, that blunted their body’s drive to replace the lost fat. Similar mechanisms, he adds, probably operate within the bodies of humans, providing scientific justification for signing up for that Thanksgiving Day 5K.
Lovely Weekend...
2 hours of swimming, 2 hours of squash, and 2 hours of tennis... Throw in 5 1/2 hours of great wines, yummy food (think roast chicken dipped in chocolate sauce), & wonderful company and it sums up how my great weekend went...
If only it stopped here. I think I hurt my back. Super sharp excruciating pain! Can't walk properly. Haha. Age is catching up on me, no matter how much I try to deny it ;)
But it's ok. It was worth it!
If only it stopped here. I think I hurt my back. Super sharp excruciating pain! Can't walk properly. Haha. Age is catching up on me, no matter how much I try to deny it ;)
But it's ok. It was worth it!
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Fighting the Addiction...
If there's any addiction I really really really really (did I say REALLY) want to break this year, it's my addiction for IM, especially MSN Messenger. I have it on all day, all night, during work, when I'm home, and with my iPhone, ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE I go. Even though I don't want to talk to anyone in particular, I just keep on going back to the IM screen again and again, just checking who's on, who's off, and maintaining my linkage to reality.
It's more like "Reality", especially when I perceive it to be more real than the real world I am hanging out in. It simply doesn't make sense that I'm IM-ing online when I'm out with friends. There's a certain lack of respect for the company I'm with. I guess SMS is also not very good, but it's nowhere near as awful as IM-ing when there's company.
At work, IM impedes me from concentrating fully on the job at hand, so that every couple of minutes, I check who's online and send inane messages to people, disturbing them when THEY are trying to concentrate. I mean, it's ok if there's a purpose to the IM, but when I chat for the sake of chatting, it crosses an invisible line...
Ok, now it's November, and I realized it's one of the items on my 2009 New Year Action Plan. The past few days, I've been on leave, and I've staved away from MSN. I'm still on, invisible mostly, but I've at least succeeded in resisting the temptation to just message someone to say hi and nothing else. If there's a reason (genuine catch up after a long absence, asking colleague out for a snack, scheduling a gathering), it's ok, but not chatting for chat's sake.
And I'm going to cut down on MSN usage on weeknights as promised. In fact, it's like a drug; when going cold turkey, it's ultra painful and pointed. After a while, adaptation takes place, the lingering hunger disappears, and you realize the body doesn't need it anymore. Just like my addiction for KFC, I haven't touched it at all this year, and when I passed one today, I felt... nothing. It's incredible what the human mind can mandate the body to feel and react.
Wish me luck for the last two months, so that I can curb this addiction, instill a renewed discipline, and embrace fully the real, vibrant, analog, delicious world!
It's more like "Reality", especially when I perceive it to be more real than the real world I am hanging out in. It simply doesn't make sense that I'm IM-ing online when I'm out with friends. There's a certain lack of respect for the company I'm with. I guess SMS is also not very good, but it's nowhere near as awful as IM-ing when there's company.
At work, IM impedes me from concentrating fully on the job at hand, so that every couple of minutes, I check who's online and send inane messages to people, disturbing them when THEY are trying to concentrate. I mean, it's ok if there's a purpose to the IM, but when I chat for the sake of chatting, it crosses an invisible line...
Ok, now it's November, and I realized it's one of the items on my 2009 New Year Action Plan. The past few days, I've been on leave, and I've staved away from MSN. I'm still on, invisible mostly, but I've at least succeeded in resisting the temptation to just message someone to say hi and nothing else. If there's a reason (genuine catch up after a long absence, asking colleague out for a snack, scheduling a gathering), it's ok, but not chatting for chat's sake.
And I'm going to cut down on MSN usage on weeknights as promised. In fact, it's like a drug; when going cold turkey, it's ultra painful and pointed. After a while, adaptation takes place, the lingering hunger disappears, and you realize the body doesn't need it anymore. Just like my addiction for KFC, I haven't touched it at all this year, and when I passed one today, I felt... nothing. It's incredible what the human mind can mandate the body to feel and react.
Wish me luck for the last two months, so that I can curb this addiction, instill a renewed discipline, and embrace fully the real, vibrant, analog, delicious world!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Great Living Through Gratefulness
Just read a book, Thanks: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert A Emmons. Though there's quite alot of religious overtures for a strictly theoretical discussion, it has a very interesting point: That being grateful can really increase the amount of happiness one has in life.
According to the book, people generally have a set point of happiness that's decided at birth. If you're a generally sad person, even when you win the lottery and marry the most wonderful person, pretty soon, you'll ADAPT and get back to your set point of happiness. Ditto for vice versa ;) But apparently, if you exercise gratitude, you adjust that set point of happiness higher, and STAY happier even with adaptation.
There have been many instances that instead of showing gratitude, I complain and nit-pick, "in the name of progress", so that things can be better. If somebody cooks for me, I comment on the food quality, instead of appreciating the effort spent on the food-making process. If someone provides me with assistance, I am thankful, but sometimes it's more procedural rather than sincere, and worse, I discount the effort and think that it's supposed to be part of their job.
Also, alot of people and cultures dislike practicing gratitude as it can be viewed as indebtitude. I can empathize with that concept; Some rather owe no one, and achieve independent living, than count on the favor of others. I have encountered so many people like that in the course of my life...
Anyway, I'm going to try to practice what I've read, and see how it will impact me. The best recommendation of the book is to start a gratitude journal, detailing daily of the things I'm grateful for. Going to be kinda private so won't be written here. ;)
Alrighty, I'm grateful to those who have spent the time reading my thoughts. Thanks!
According to the book, people generally have a set point of happiness that's decided at birth. If you're a generally sad person, even when you win the lottery and marry the most wonderful person, pretty soon, you'll ADAPT and get back to your set point of happiness. Ditto for vice versa ;) But apparently, if you exercise gratitude, you adjust that set point of happiness higher, and STAY happier even with adaptation.
There have been many instances that instead of showing gratitude, I complain and nit-pick, "in the name of progress", so that things can be better. If somebody cooks for me, I comment on the food quality, instead of appreciating the effort spent on the food-making process. If someone provides me with assistance, I am thankful, but sometimes it's more procedural rather than sincere, and worse, I discount the effort and think that it's supposed to be part of their job.
Also, alot of people and cultures dislike practicing gratitude as it can be viewed as indebtitude. I can empathize with that concept; Some rather owe no one, and achieve independent living, than count on the favor of others. I have encountered so many people like that in the course of my life...
Anyway, I'm going to try to practice what I've read, and see how it will impact me. The best recommendation of the book is to start a gratitude journal, detailing daily of the things I'm grateful for. Going to be kinda private so won't be written here. ;)
Alrighty, I'm grateful to those who have spent the time reading my thoughts. Thanks!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Windows 7 Update
So I managed to get a legitimate copy of Windows 7 Professional, but it's the Student's Upgrade Version. Things I have considered so far:
1) Windows 7 Installation
i) The digital download from digitalriver only has the Upgrade Version, which means that it will need to detect an existing version of Windows before allowing the installation. If you want to install Windows 7 on a new clean hard drive, it's going to be a problem.
ii) The 2.3gb digital download is NOT an iso file that you can just burn on a DVD and run. This has been reflected in many tech blogs like engadget where students who purchased win 7 via this method have been registering their malcontent.
iii) 32-bit versus 64-bit. The digital download only allows you to choose either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Win7, unlike the retail version where both DVDs are enclosed and you can choose. Based on several forums and my current PC capabilities, I am going with 32-bit, which only allows the computer to address 4 GB of ram, but enables most of my current applications and hardware to work. 64-bit is more future-proof, but is more likely to be more useful 2 years from now.
Solution:
Torrent the retail version of Win7 Professional, and get both 32-bit and 64-bit. Likely the license key I have should be valid for both versions, since it's the same situation for retail buyers. Digitalriver should have provided the .iso file upfront, instead of making users go through a whole host of methods just to get Win7. Probably the largest fail of Win7 so far, imo.
2) Reinstalling my applications
Running the Win7 Compatibility software helps me understand which applications I would need to look at after upgrading to Win7. Likely my Nero 7 application will not be supported, and some of my other minor applications. There's a web application called NiNite that basically installs up to 59 of the most popular applications (iTunes, Google Chrome, Firefox, Picasa, Flash Player, Dropbox, .Net, Skype, Google Earth) without you having to go and search, download, and wait for each installation to complete.
Next as I'm doing a XP to Windows 7 "clean" or "custom" installation (Marketing jargon), I need to be able to transfer my current iTunes settings, with all my iPhone applications, podcasts, and my Picasa facial recognition information over. I would need to perform a backup of everything, and then copy the Application Data information over to the new directory after setting it up. Should hopefully be pain-free. Same thing goes for all saved games.
Picasa Solution
http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164962
Also, since I've been playing with the Remote Desktop Connection on XP, I have to manually enable the feature on Win7 Professional. Home Premium doesn't have that feature...
More importantly, I'm making doubly sure all my documents and photos are well-backup. I suffered a catastrophic failure the other time when I reinstalled Windows XP on my C:, and it destroyed my C: / D: partition, resulting in ALL my stuff on D: (my documents and photos) to be eradicated. Lost a huge chunk of history there, and only managed to recover some of them through friends, old back-ups et al. Going to backup to 2 different hard drives now, and make sure that both are not on the same partition as where I'm going to install my Win7. Will likely keep my Win XP drive up for a few months before I remove it.
3) Upgrading of hardware
Perhaps it's finally time to upgrade some of my hardware. My current PC is 3 years old, and has been serving me very faithfully with minimum issues. I think I would probably purchase a 2GB DRAM DDR880 Dual Channel, from FuWell International at Sim Lim Square. Hardwarezone forum stated the cost at about $59. This upgrade will pump up my PC to 4GB, the maximum allowed under Win7 Professional.
Hopefully the extensive planning will result in a seamless installation. Think I will get all my stuff by this Sunday, and me up and running Win7 Pro by Sunday afternoon. Wish me luck!
1) Windows 7 Installation
i) The digital download from digitalriver only has the Upgrade Version, which means that it will need to detect an existing version of Windows before allowing the installation. If you want to install Windows 7 on a new clean hard drive, it's going to be a problem.
ii) The 2.3gb digital download is NOT an iso file that you can just burn on a DVD and run. This has been reflected in many tech blogs like engadget where students who purchased win 7 via this method have been registering their malcontent.
iii) 32-bit versus 64-bit. The digital download only allows you to choose either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Win7, unlike the retail version where both DVDs are enclosed and you can choose. Based on several forums and my current PC capabilities, I am going with 32-bit, which only allows the computer to address 4 GB of ram, but enables most of my current applications and hardware to work. 64-bit is more future-proof, but is more likely to be more useful 2 years from now.
Solution:
Torrent the retail version of Win7 Professional, and get both 32-bit and 64-bit. Likely the license key I have should be valid for both versions, since it's the same situation for retail buyers. Digitalriver should have provided the .iso file upfront, instead of making users go through a whole host of methods just to get Win7. Probably the largest fail of Win7 so far, imo.
2) Reinstalling my applications
Running the Win7 Compatibility software helps me understand which applications I would need to look at after upgrading to Win7. Likely my Nero 7 application will not be supported, and some of my other minor applications. There's a web application called NiNite that basically installs up to 59 of the most popular applications (iTunes, Google Chrome, Firefox, Picasa, Flash Player, Dropbox, .Net, Skype, Google Earth) without you having to go and search, download, and wait for each installation to complete.
Next as I'm doing a XP to Windows 7 "clean" or "custom" installation (Marketing jargon), I need to be able to transfer my current iTunes settings, with all my iPhone applications, podcasts, and my Picasa facial recognition information over. I would need to perform a backup of everything, and then copy the Application Data information over to the new directory after setting it up. Should hopefully be pain-free. Same thing goes for all saved games.
Picasa Solution
http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164962
Also, since I've been playing with the Remote Desktop Connection on XP, I have to manually enable the feature on Win7 Professional. Home Premium doesn't have that feature...
More importantly, I'm making doubly sure all my documents and photos are well-backup. I suffered a catastrophic failure the other time when I reinstalled Windows XP on my C:, and it destroyed my C: / D: partition, resulting in ALL my stuff on D: (my documents and photos) to be eradicated. Lost a huge chunk of history there, and only managed to recover some of them through friends, old back-ups et al. Going to backup to 2 different hard drives now, and make sure that both are not on the same partition as where I'm going to install my Win7. Will likely keep my Win XP drive up for a few months before I remove it.
3) Upgrading of hardware
Perhaps it's finally time to upgrade some of my hardware. My current PC is 3 years old, and has been serving me very faithfully with minimum issues. I think I would probably purchase a 2GB DRAM DDR880 Dual Channel, from FuWell International at Sim Lim Square. Hardwarezone forum stated the cost at about $59. This upgrade will pump up my PC to 4GB, the maximum allowed under Win7 Professional.
Hopefully the extensive planning will result in a seamless installation. Think I will get all my stuff by this Sunday, and me up and running Win7 Pro by Sunday afternoon. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Target: 85 kg / 5 hr 30 mins
Gunning for the 10 buffalo wings I bet with my colleague, that I can complete under 5 hr 30 mins... Like Poo from Kungfu Panda, food should be my motivation...
"There is no charge for awesomeness, nor attractiveness"
Haiee-yah!
"There is no charge for awesomeness, nor attractiveness"
Haiee-yah!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
In Anticipation of the Weekend Ahead
Just have to get through the next 5 days of courses before my looooong weekend starts!
First, will be heading to Redang this Friday, to try out my new mask, fins, and booties! Will test out how the fins affect my photo-taking, which is an area I have meaning to work and improve on. Should do some proper dive photo-taking tutorials and reflect on how I can improve my shots.
After coming back on Monday, I'll be whisked off Tuesday to Bali for my second holiday! A week long trip to rest, relax, and chill! It's probably my last major holiday this year, so I will take full advantage of it, and not think about work issues while I'm there. Going with my bro and his friend, so it'd be tremendous fun!
Somehow I feel better recently, with a light spirit and quick trot. I have done my best to remove my inner baggage, and live life freely. I shall now start on some of my deeply rooted habits that I've always wanted to change, knowing and believing that this time there's a real chance of success. As they say, it takes 21 days to form/break a habit, so I'll behoove myself to go on my best behaviour, and actively do the things I want to do, and avoid the things I want to avoid.
First, will be heading to Redang this Friday, to try out my new mask, fins, and booties! Will test out how the fins affect my photo-taking, which is an area I have meaning to work and improve on. Should do some proper dive photo-taking tutorials and reflect on how I can improve my shots.
After coming back on Monday, I'll be whisked off Tuesday to Bali for my second holiday! A week long trip to rest, relax, and chill! It's probably my last major holiday this year, so I will take full advantage of it, and not think about work issues while I'm there. Going with my bro and his friend, so it'd be tremendous fun!
Somehow I feel better recently, with a light spirit and quick trot. I have done my best to remove my inner baggage, and live life freely. I shall now start on some of my deeply rooted habits that I've always wanted to change, knowing and believing that this time there's a real chance of success. As they say, it takes 21 days to form/break a habit, so I'll behoove myself to go on my best behaviour, and actively do the things I want to do, and avoid the things I want to avoid.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
My Excuses...
1. I am too tired.
2. I have no time.
3. I am too old.
4. I have no money.
5. I am too fat.
6. I'm too used to my habits.
7. I am too lazy.
8. I am too smart/ dumb to be bothered.
9. My parents made me this way.
10. It's not my nature to do this.
11. I made a wrong decision last time, I'm stuck and I can't help it.
12. It's not my nature to do this.
13. I have failed so many times before.
14. Doing this won't help me.
15. I am afraid of failing.
16. I can't help that my memory/ hearing is bad.
17. The problem is too big for me.
18. I want to stay in my comfort zone.
It's time for me to embrace the boundaries I have created for myself, to break out, and be the person I am capable of.
:)
2. I have no time.
3. I am too old.
4. I have no money.
5. I am too fat.
6. I'm too used to my habits.
7. I am too lazy.
8. I am too smart/ dumb to be bothered.
9. My parents made me this way.
10. It's not my nature to do this.
11. I made a wrong decision last time, I'm stuck and I can't help it.
12. It's not my nature to do this.
13. I have failed so many times before.
14. Doing this won't help me.
15. I am afraid of failing.
16. I can't help that my memory/ hearing is bad.
17. The problem is too big for me.
18. I want to stay in my comfort zone.
It's time for me to embrace the boundaries I have created for myself, to break out, and be the person I am capable of.
:)
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Living an Excuse-free Life!
Was in Genting over the weekend. I kinda considered it as a pilgrimage, you know, go up to top of mountain, rest, relax, reflect over the past half-year, re-align or set new goals, and recharge.
The previous time I went Genting, I came down the mountain and joined Fitness First! Since then, I have lost 7 kg, finally seeing some small results on something I have been trying for years without success. So it's sort of a pat-on-the-back, let's-see-what's-coming-up sort of trip / personal reflection journey.
I forgot to take my borrowed library books from reception, so didn't manage to read any of the finance books I was interested in. Only had this book "Excuses Begone!" by Dr Wayne W. Dyer, some self-help guru. I finished the book this morning on the daily commute, and I appreciate the thoughts and reflections I have had after reading.
The book talks about Mind over Matter, and to stop giving oneself excuses for not achieving one's potential. "I don't deserve it", "I don't have time", "I am too old" are quite frankly some of the common excuses I use to avoid a certain decision, to not do something, or to seek sympathy.
So I was reading the final chapter today, and it spoke about how to face the excuse of "I'm too tired". If you keep saying this phrase, you will believe it, your body will live it, and soon you'll be too tired to do anything ever. It seems like such a valid reason, when you are working late into the night, juggling work and studies and what-nots, and it continuously provides a comfort zone for people to not do something.
Instead, the book advises one to stop saying that phrase, and instead tell yourself that "you have sufficient time and energy to do the work tasks that you set out to", and the body would adapt to achieve that. Having slept at 1 - 3 am for the work week so far, I truly felt that I was too tired, and that I wouldn't be able to concentrate during class today. "I'm too tired" is almost my daily phrase, and it is usually accompanied by a big yawn.
So, I tried it out today. I actively refrained myself from saying "I'm too tired", and instead reminded myself that I had sufficient energy to last the day, and still be able to focus in class. It worked. I barely yawned, I was able to focus on the discussions today, and I still have the energy to complete some work after class.
Now I will reflect on my usual excuses, and how I can remove them as barriers to attain my goals... so that I can live an excuse-free, fulfilling life!
The previous time I went Genting, I came down the mountain and joined Fitness First! Since then, I have lost 7 kg, finally seeing some small results on something I have been trying for years without success. So it's sort of a pat-on-the-back, let's-see-what's-coming-up sort of trip / personal reflection journey.
I forgot to take my borrowed library books from reception, so didn't manage to read any of the finance books I was interested in. Only had this book "Excuses Begone!" by Dr Wayne W. Dyer, some self-help guru. I finished the book this morning on the daily commute, and I appreciate the thoughts and reflections I have had after reading.
The book talks about Mind over Matter, and to stop giving oneself excuses for not achieving one's potential. "I don't deserve it", "I don't have time", "I am too old" are quite frankly some of the common excuses I use to avoid a certain decision, to not do something, or to seek sympathy.
So I was reading the final chapter today, and it spoke about how to face the excuse of "I'm too tired". If you keep saying this phrase, you will believe it, your body will live it, and soon you'll be too tired to do anything ever. It seems like such a valid reason, when you are working late into the night, juggling work and studies and what-nots, and it continuously provides a comfort zone for people to not do something.
Instead, the book advises one to stop saying that phrase, and instead tell yourself that "you have sufficient time and energy to do the work tasks that you set out to", and the body would adapt to achieve that. Having slept at 1 - 3 am for the work week so far, I truly felt that I was too tired, and that I wouldn't be able to concentrate during class today. "I'm too tired" is almost my daily phrase, and it is usually accompanied by a big yawn.
So, I tried it out today. I actively refrained myself from saying "I'm too tired", and instead reminded myself that I had sufficient energy to last the day, and still be able to focus in class. It worked. I barely yawned, I was able to focus on the discussions today, and I still have the energy to complete some work after class.
Now I will reflect on my usual excuses, and how I can remove them as barriers to attain my goals... so that I can live an excuse-free, fulfilling life!
Windows 7 Redux
Have installed Windows 7 Enterprise on my computer and used it for a couple of days.
Installation was a complete breeze. I have never installed Windows on a computer with so very little effort before. My previous experiences usually involved installing Windows XP, which would format the hard drive into at most a 160GB block, since it couldn't recognise any hard drive bigger than that. This usually screws up the partition drive, and if you have done a previous partition, it would destroy information on the other hard drive.
After that, one needs to slowly install all my hardware drivers (e.g. Motherboard, soundcard, videocard, bluetooth keyboard set, etc), update the drivers, install SP1, SP2, SP3... Extremely tedious and slow process. After that, since I use WPA2 wireless authentication, I couldn't access my home wireless network without installing a XP hotfix that enabled the authentication. But to download the hotfix, I needed to get internet access. Then follows the tons and tons of security fixes. Usually it's like a full-day/ multi-day affair excluding the other applications...
Windows 7 worked like a breeze. I installed it, and when it started, I thought it wasn't working, but somehow the login page default to show on my secondary output (HDMI TV), instead of my normal screen. I actually restarted it a couple of times before I realised it.
Next, it recognised and installed ALL my hardware and my wireless worked, at least at that moment. I had a fully functional Operating System in about an half hour! That's a miracle, literally after almost 8 years of tedium. Application installations were mostly ok, although my copy of Modern Combat failed to work. I believe that most older applications might have compatibility issues. Although there's a XP-Compatibility mode, I'm not entirely sure how to activate it.
Another major issue was with my wireless. My joy with the wireless was short-lived, and my wireless connection kept dropping continuously after that! It annoyed the heck out of me. Even though it could detect my network (two bars out of five), it just couldn't connect. Previously with XP, usually the solution is to "Repair" the connection, where XP disables the wireless receiver and restarts it again. Usually it works.
But Windows 7 doesn't have that option to "Repair the Connection", instead I had to disconnect manually, and restart the network adapter again. NOT THAT IT WORKS. Years of trained XP behaviour dictates that I repeat that action almost daily, at least 5-10 times before I realise it wasn't working. And the trouble-shooting feature clearly wasn't helpful (It kept telling me that I needed to reset and restart my router, which I knew wasn't the answer, as my iPhone next to me kept a strong wireless connection. My final solution was to rotate my CPU, such that the network adapter faced the general direction of the router, thereby increasing the signal strength to 4 bars.) It works nows, but I'm not sure if it's a consistently, replicate-able solution. We shall see. Wireless connectivity is an issue that can make-or-break an OS.
I love the variable wallpaper feature, which changes the wallpaper every XX mins with any pictures. Have previously tried Vista before, so was already familiar with the Aero feature. One minor annoyance was that the CPU only outputs to 1 line-out jack and 1 headphone jack. Previously, my CPU connected to my legacy stereo system and my LCD TV, so I could watch movies on my computer screen and output sound on my stereo, or watch on my LCD TV and the accompanying sound system. I like options. But perhaps I need to update my Asus motherboard drivers to get back my full features, since I hadn't installed any drivers on my own yet.
Performance-wise, I was pleasantly surprised that even with Aero features on, Windows 7 actually works faster than XP! Shut-down, start-up also ran much faster than my previous XP installation. That's amazing, since I have heard that Vista drastically reduced performance, and was hoping that the drop-off would not be too marked. Perhaps the Vista failure was actually a marketing campaign for Windows 7! ;)
Overall, I'm quite happy about Windows 7. I'm impressed that Microsoft was open enough to allow a free 90-day trial of the Enterprise Edition. Good to be able to test it out first on all compatibility issues, and examine what exactly I am upgrading to. I'm unlikely to need the additional features of Enterprise vis-a-vis the Professional Edition (i.e. Bitlocker and something else).
Windows is no longer a joke. That's great for us long-running windows users. Windows 7 finally gives us a reason to have our heads held high when listening to the dribble of MacOS fanatics. Great!
Installation was a complete breeze. I have never installed Windows on a computer with so very little effort before. My previous experiences usually involved installing Windows XP, which would format the hard drive into at most a 160GB block, since it couldn't recognise any hard drive bigger than that. This usually screws up the partition drive, and if you have done a previous partition, it would destroy information on the other hard drive.
After that, one needs to slowly install all my hardware drivers (e.g. Motherboard, soundcard, videocard, bluetooth keyboard set, etc), update the drivers, install SP1, SP2, SP3... Extremely tedious and slow process. After that, since I use WPA2 wireless authentication, I couldn't access my home wireless network without installing a XP hotfix that enabled the authentication. But to download the hotfix, I needed to get internet access. Then follows the tons and tons of security fixes. Usually it's like a full-day/ multi-day affair excluding the other applications...
Windows 7 worked like a breeze. I installed it, and when it started, I thought it wasn't working, but somehow the login page default to show on my secondary output (HDMI TV), instead of my normal screen. I actually restarted it a couple of times before I realised it.
Next, it recognised and installed ALL my hardware and my wireless worked, at least at that moment. I had a fully functional Operating System in about an half hour! That's a miracle, literally after almost 8 years of tedium. Application installations were mostly ok, although my copy of Modern Combat failed to work. I believe that most older applications might have compatibility issues. Although there's a XP-Compatibility mode, I'm not entirely sure how to activate it.
Another major issue was with my wireless. My joy with the wireless was short-lived, and my wireless connection kept dropping continuously after that! It annoyed the heck out of me. Even though it could detect my network (two bars out of five), it just couldn't connect. Previously with XP, usually the solution is to "Repair" the connection, where XP disables the wireless receiver and restarts it again. Usually it works.
But Windows 7 doesn't have that option to "Repair the Connection", instead I had to disconnect manually, and restart the network adapter again. NOT THAT IT WORKS. Years of trained XP behaviour dictates that I repeat that action almost daily, at least 5-10 times before I realise it wasn't working. And the trouble-shooting feature clearly wasn't helpful (It kept telling me that I needed to reset and restart my router, which I knew wasn't the answer, as my iPhone next to me kept a strong wireless connection. My final solution was to rotate my CPU, such that the network adapter faced the general direction of the router, thereby increasing the signal strength to 4 bars.) It works nows, but I'm not sure if it's a consistently, replicate-able solution. We shall see. Wireless connectivity is an issue that can make-or-break an OS.
I love the variable wallpaper feature, which changes the wallpaper every XX mins with any pictures. Have previously tried Vista before, so was already familiar with the Aero feature. One minor annoyance was that the CPU only outputs to 1 line-out jack and 1 headphone jack. Previously, my CPU connected to my legacy stereo system and my LCD TV, so I could watch movies on my computer screen and output sound on my stereo, or watch on my LCD TV and the accompanying sound system. I like options. But perhaps I need to update my Asus motherboard drivers to get back my full features, since I hadn't installed any drivers on my own yet.
Performance-wise, I was pleasantly surprised that even with Aero features on, Windows 7 actually works faster than XP! Shut-down, start-up also ran much faster than my previous XP installation. That's amazing, since I have heard that Vista drastically reduced performance, and was hoping that the drop-off would not be too marked. Perhaps the Vista failure was actually a marketing campaign for Windows 7! ;)
Overall, I'm quite happy about Windows 7. I'm impressed that Microsoft was open enough to allow a free 90-day trial of the Enterprise Edition. Good to be able to test it out first on all compatibility issues, and examine what exactly I am upgrading to. I'm unlikely to need the additional features of Enterprise vis-a-vis the Professional Edition (i.e. Bitlocker and something else).
Windows is no longer a joke. That's great for us long-running windows users. Windows 7 finally gives us a reason to have our heads held high when listening to the dribble of MacOS fanatics. Great!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Entrepreneurship
Attended a discussion that talked about entrepreneurship. One needs a PhD in order to do entrepreneurship...
P - Passion
h - hunger
D - Drive
A frank assessment of myself is that I probably have the passion in full capacity... Drive is about 50%, but I know, truly, that right now, I lack the hunger. My idea of entrepreneurship: Open a cafe while keeping my day job.
Am beginning to wonder if having the security of the day job keeps one from having a proper appetite to be an entrepreneur. But the lack of a job means that you'll have to survive on the business. Literally live/die by it! Am I ready for it, and will I ever be ready?
I have come to realise that I am a rather risk-adverse person. This would be so out of standard behaviour, and the urge to run back to the fold of safety would be tremendous.
When I was listening to the lecture, I busily wrote down all the potential funding avenues available from the Government, but one thing the entrepreneur mentioned really jolted my thinking. No one owes me a living. Stop expecting handouts. If you live by the Government direction, you can never be truly entrepreneurial.
I can feel the metamorphosis beginning. As a mentor mentioned, when a caterpillar goes into a cocoon, only after it experiences a complete breakdown on a physical level can it can truly become a butterfly...
The mental barriers, the personal restraints...
Am I ... breaking down?
P - Passion
h - hunger
D - Drive
A frank assessment of myself is that I probably have the passion in full capacity... Drive is about 50%, but I know, truly, that right now, I lack the hunger. My idea of entrepreneurship: Open a cafe while keeping my day job.
Am beginning to wonder if having the security of the day job keeps one from having a proper appetite to be an entrepreneur. But the lack of a job means that you'll have to survive on the business. Literally live/die by it! Am I ready for it, and will I ever be ready?
I have come to realise that I am a rather risk-adverse person. This would be so out of standard behaviour, and the urge to run back to the fold of safety would be tremendous.
When I was listening to the lecture, I busily wrote down all the potential funding avenues available from the Government, but one thing the entrepreneur mentioned really jolted my thinking. No one owes me a living. Stop expecting handouts. If you live by the Government direction, you can never be truly entrepreneurial.
I can feel the metamorphosis beginning. As a mentor mentioned, when a caterpillar goes into a cocoon, only after it experiences a complete breakdown on a physical level can it can truly become a butterfly...
The mental barriers, the personal restraints...
Am I ... breaking down?
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Windows 7 Enterprise Trial!
Just downloaded the trial version of Windows 7 Enterprise Edition! It will be a 90-day trial! Going to install it on my spare hard drive, and do a dual boot...
Actually can't wait to see how Windows 7 fares. It's supposed to be FASTER than Win XP even, and a lot more stable. Well, only trying it will we find out.
Taking the plunge!
Results in a while!
Actually can't wait to see how Windows 7 fares. It's supposed to be FASTER than Win XP even, and a lot more stable. Well, only trying it will we find out.
Taking the plunge!
Results in a while!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thoughts
I have been reading quite a bit on social networking, and the latest trends in technology, such as Chris Anderson's Free, as well as dabbling a bit into wine appreciation, having seriously joined an amateur wine appreciation club (GO DGS!!!)
Somehow I have this notion that social networking and wine appreciation seems to be very "blue ocean", with very few applications available. The only one so far that I've seen is Average Joe Wine Reviews, which has an iPhone application (yes, i bought an iPhone! It's truly the greatest invention since sliced bread!) available for download for free.
However, the app isn't wonderful, is not the easiest thing in the world to use, with few wines in it, but the concept is good. Supposedly not everyone in the world is a connoisseur (I've googled the spelling of this until i'm blue in the face, so this must be correct!), but like everything on the web, it works best when there's plenty of people involved, and it just needs 1% of the people using the application to contribute for it to be wildly successful.
If I were to design an iPhone Wine Review application, I will adhere to the following principles:
1) The app needs to be free. This is completely necessary to break the barrier and achieve the critical mass needed for success. As written in Free, the greatest barrier lies between free and a penny. Even the payment of a single penny forces the psyche to re-assess the usefulness of such an application, and 99% of the population will just turn away.
Thus, the app has to be free.
2) Contributors must feel that they are doing it for themselves, and not for the "betterment of society". There is no such thing as altruism, and the best way for things to succeed is by the "invisible hand", where everyone, doing everything for their own benefit, achieves something greater than the best centrally controlled activity. Like Youtube, it succeeded not because contributors want to share their videos with the world. Rather, it is because the contributors are looking for a place to store their videos online. When the users' and the applications goals are aligned, it will have the best outcome.
Thus, the app must begin with the user as the focal point, that the purpose of the app is for the users to record down the wines he has tasted, so that he can keep for future reference when purchasing wines (as well as allowing others to review the wines he has contributed). There may or may not be a reputation system, depending on the quality of reviews provided.
3) It must be really for the average user. Average Joe Wine Review basically fails in this respect. So even if the wines were not assessed by greats like Robert Parker, they are still contributed by users who obviously are in the wine Community of Practice, with jargon that is quite frightening to obvious newbies. I feel that wine, even though it is increasing in acceptance worldwide, still remains a sort of hit-and-run effort by most, who wants to know more about the wines before they obviously drink it, but has no idea of the terms and technical phrases used by wine reviewers. This excerpt from ezinearticles.com says it all:
Wine is often viewed as a snobby hobby. This is often due to the nature of the terms used. When a person says the “aromatic balance” is serene, one can’t help but be a bit intimidated.
I trip over how the terms "bouquet" and "nose" are used, not to mention the myriad of terms I have completely forgotten.
I feel for Social Media and Wine Appreciation to mesh together, the fear / intimidation factor must be addressed. Wines must be brought down to the masses, and that means that costs must be lowered, one should not be worried whether he's appreciating the wine correctly or not, and that he should not feel that there is an enclosed community that he cannot enter.
Coming back to point 3, one cannot control how contributors review their wines, but one can use technology to aid the uninitiated.
Thus my app will have common wine jargon automatically hyperlinked to explanations. There should be sections describing grape varietals, and concepts such as Vintage, food pairings, et al.
4) Searching for wine reviews must be easy. That means being having a good search engine and suggested searches, and searching by categories. An even more powerful method would be to use the in-built camera, snap the label and search, thereby reducing entry time even more. I usually find myself wanting to know what the wine reviews say when i'm actually at the wine shop looking, rather than before. There are just too many wines to research BEFORE going to a wine shop. Much easier to hunt and review at the same time.
5) Push information. Wine tasters also want to be kept abreast of the latest news in wine. In every city, there's ALWAYS wine tastings and competitions and what-nots happening, and the usual methods of EDMs (Electronic Direct Marketing) can only reach so many people. Wine shops can use this iPhone to push wine information (sales, wine tastings) to users within the vicinity. Of course, too much information will just result in spam, so one needs to control the flow, perhaps by scarcity creation (i.e. only 1 push notification per day to the highest bidder).
6) Revenue generation. The toughest of the toughest. Without a proper income source, this application will quickly die off due to poor maintenance and quality. I will adopt the Freemium method, where there will be the free ad-supported basic feature application, as well as the paid premium version, clean of ads and with more features. Push information (i.e. advertising on a premium spot) will produce more revenue, but these ads need to be controlled lest it chases away users.
Another greater revenue generation will be analyzing users inputs, from their searches and reviews, to provide wine makers immediate access and contact with the people drinking their wines, and to give them an idea where the hotspots of demands for their wines are, so that they can distribute their wines accordingly. Just as Google earns from selling analysed user information, this will also form a large revenue stream that will continue to enable the application to be free.
The more I write, the more I am convinced that I want to develop a Facebook for Wine, i.e. WineBook! I want to set up a self-sustaining community focused on wines and sharing their love of wines to everyone.
Do you think it will work?
Somehow I have this notion that social networking and wine appreciation seems to be very "blue ocean", with very few applications available. The only one so far that I've seen is Average Joe Wine Reviews, which has an iPhone application (yes, i bought an iPhone! It's truly the greatest invention since sliced bread!) available for download for free.
However, the app isn't wonderful, is not the easiest thing in the world to use, with few wines in it, but the concept is good. Supposedly not everyone in the world is a connoisseur (I've googled the spelling of this until i'm blue in the face, so this must be correct!), but like everything on the web, it works best when there's plenty of people involved, and it just needs 1% of the people using the application to contribute for it to be wildly successful.
If I were to design an iPhone Wine Review application, I will adhere to the following principles:
1) The app needs to be free. This is completely necessary to break the barrier and achieve the critical mass needed for success. As written in Free, the greatest barrier lies between free and a penny. Even the payment of a single penny forces the psyche to re-assess the usefulness of such an application, and 99% of the population will just turn away.
Thus, the app has to be free.
2) Contributors must feel that they are doing it for themselves, and not for the "betterment of society". There is no such thing as altruism, and the best way for things to succeed is by the "invisible hand", where everyone, doing everything for their own benefit, achieves something greater than the best centrally controlled activity. Like Youtube, it succeeded not because contributors want to share their videos with the world. Rather, it is because the contributors are looking for a place to store their videos online. When the users' and the applications goals are aligned, it will have the best outcome.
Thus, the app must begin with the user as the focal point, that the purpose of the app is for the users to record down the wines he has tasted, so that he can keep for future reference when purchasing wines (as well as allowing others to review the wines he has contributed). There may or may not be a reputation system, depending on the quality of reviews provided.
3) It must be really for the average user. Average Joe Wine Review basically fails in this respect. So even if the wines were not assessed by greats like Robert Parker, they are still contributed by users who obviously are in the wine Community of Practice, with jargon that is quite frightening to obvious newbies. I feel that wine, even though it is increasing in acceptance worldwide, still remains a sort of hit-and-run effort by most, who wants to know more about the wines before they obviously drink it, but has no idea of the terms and technical phrases used by wine reviewers. This excerpt from ezinearticles.com says it all:
Wine is often viewed as a snobby hobby. This is often due to the nature of the terms used. When a person says the “aromatic balance” is serene, one can’t help but be a bit intimidated.
I trip over how the terms "bouquet" and "nose" are used, not to mention the myriad of terms I have completely forgotten.
I feel for Social Media and Wine Appreciation to mesh together, the fear / intimidation factor must be addressed. Wines must be brought down to the masses, and that means that costs must be lowered, one should not be worried whether he's appreciating the wine correctly or not, and that he should not feel that there is an enclosed community that he cannot enter.
Coming back to point 3, one cannot control how contributors review their wines, but one can use technology to aid the uninitiated.
Thus my app will have common wine jargon automatically hyperlinked to explanations. There should be sections describing grape varietals, and concepts such as Vintage, food pairings, et al.
4) Searching for wine reviews must be easy. That means being having a good search engine and suggested searches, and searching by categories. An even more powerful method would be to use the in-built camera, snap the label and search, thereby reducing entry time even more. I usually find myself wanting to know what the wine reviews say when i'm actually at the wine shop looking, rather than before. There are just too many wines to research BEFORE going to a wine shop. Much easier to hunt and review at the same time.
5) Push information. Wine tasters also want to be kept abreast of the latest news in wine. In every city, there's ALWAYS wine tastings and competitions and what-nots happening, and the usual methods of EDMs (Electronic Direct Marketing) can only reach so many people. Wine shops can use this iPhone to push wine information (sales, wine tastings) to users within the vicinity. Of course, too much information will just result in spam, so one needs to control the flow, perhaps by scarcity creation (i.e. only 1 push notification per day to the highest bidder).
6) Revenue generation. The toughest of the toughest. Without a proper income source, this application will quickly die off due to poor maintenance and quality. I will adopt the Freemium method, where there will be the free ad-supported basic feature application, as well as the paid premium version, clean of ads and with more features. Push information (i.e. advertising on a premium spot) will produce more revenue, but these ads need to be controlled lest it chases away users.
Another greater revenue generation will be analyzing users inputs, from their searches and reviews, to provide wine makers immediate access and contact with the people drinking their wines, and to give them an idea where the hotspots of demands for their wines are, so that they can distribute their wines accordingly. Just as Google earns from selling analysed user information, this will also form a large revenue stream that will continue to enable the application to be free.
The more I write, the more I am convinced that I want to develop a Facebook for Wine, i.e. WineBook! I want to set up a self-sustaining community focused on wines and sharing their love of wines to everyone.
Do you think it will work?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Ideas
Just a couple of ideas that popped into my head for business concepts.
i) 2nd Hand Sales in Singapore is just not so prevalent: I believe there should be an easy way to sell 2nd hand stuff in Singapore.
Industry Competitors:
1) Craigslist.org Singapore
2) Singapore.gumtree.sg
3) lelong.sg
4) hardwarezone forums
5) a333.com/garage-sale/second-hand-items
6) OLXSG.com
7) eBay.com.sg
8) Physical second-hand shops (http://www.liveworkexplore.com/singapore/residents/shopping/what-_and_-where-to-buy/second_hand-items)
Target Market Audience & Climate:
1) Singaporeans
2) Expats
3) Foreign Workers
4) Students
Assessment Criteria:
1) Accessibility & Ease of Use
2) Business Model
3) Reach
i) 2nd Hand Sales in Singapore is just not so prevalent: I believe there should be an easy way to sell 2nd hand stuff in Singapore.
Industry Competitors:
1) Craigslist.org Singapore
2) Singapore.gumtree.sg
3) lelong.sg
4) hardwarezone forums
5) a333.com/garage-sale/second-hand-items
6) OLXSG.com
7) eBay.com.sg
8) Physical second-hand shops (http://www.liveworkexplore.com/singapore/residents/shopping/what-_and_-where-to-buy/second_hand-items)
Target Market Audience & Climate:
1) Singaporeans
2) Expats
3) Foreign Workers
4) Students
Assessment Criteria:
1) Accessibility & Ease of Use
2) Business Model
3) Reach
Monday, August 03, 2009
My Dream
Everytime I try to write this, I'm always super duper exhausted. Sadly this is no different. I guess this has to be a series of continuing edits, and improvements, as I slowly sleep and think about my dream.
~~~~~
I always wanted to open my own little cafe bar, tucked away in a small corner of town. I want to live across my cafe, and be able to walk to my cafe from home as and when I feel like it.
This cafe would be the sum of my joys, the place where I go and have fun, where I go and find peace, the place of solace when I'm down and out, when I need to be alone, when I need to be with people, the place where I can share my passions, and sing my heart out, or talk about something I am interested in, a place where I meet new and old friends all the time...
Everything will be done with love and heart, making the coffee, making a recommendation, serving with a smile, chit-chatting with the customers, cleaning up the place, closing shop...
And I will not have customers; instead, I'll have potential new friends, and familiar faces. My term for them: "Friendstomers" The friendstomers philo will be: NO assholes need apply. Serving should be a pleasure, and not about satisfying the frustrating bunch who take it out on service staff when they're having a bad day. It would be collaborative partnership, between the person paying for my service and me providing it. I want my friendstomers to feel they are part of my life, part of my cafe, and for them to come back again and again, bringing new friends and new experiences. For my cafe, I am not just learning from my friendstomers, but hopefully I will have something to share with them as well...
~~~~~
I always wanted to open my own little cafe bar, tucked away in a small corner of town. I want to live across my cafe, and be able to walk to my cafe from home as and when I feel like it.
This cafe would be the sum of my joys, the place where I go and have fun, where I go and find peace, the place of solace when I'm down and out, when I need to be alone, when I need to be with people, the place where I can share my passions, and sing my heart out, or talk about something I am interested in, a place where I meet new and old friends all the time...
Everything will be done with love and heart, making the coffee, making a recommendation, serving with a smile, chit-chatting with the customers, cleaning up the place, closing shop...
And I will not have customers; instead, I'll have potential new friends, and familiar faces. My term for them: "Friendstomers" The friendstomers philo will be: NO assholes need apply. Serving should be a pleasure, and not about satisfying the frustrating bunch who take it out on service staff when they're having a bad day. It would be collaborative partnership, between the person paying for my service and me providing it. I want my friendstomers to feel they are part of my life, part of my cafe, and for them to come back again and again, bringing new friends and new experiences. For my cafe, I am not just learning from my friendstomers, but hopefully I will have something to share with them as well...
How to Write Business Plan
1) Executive Summary
2) Business Description
3) Business Environment Analysis
4) Industry Background
5) Competitive Analysis
6) Market Analysis
7) Marketing Plan
8) Operations Plan
9) Management Summary
10) Financial Plan
11) Milestones
2) Business Description
- History of Concept
- What Kind of Business is it?
- What Product / Service is it?
- Why people will use it?
- What the financial status is?
- Who manages the business?
- Structure of business?
- Where is it located?
3) Business Environment Analysis
- What is the industry?
- Who are the competitors in the industry
- What is the market?
- Who are the customers in the market?
4) Industry Background
- Range of products / services encompassed by this industry
- What is this industry production capacity, unit sales, overall profitability?
- Industry spread out geographically, or concentrated near source of raw materials?
- Trends
- What is the predicted growth rate?
- New patterns of growth?
- What factors might contribute to future growth?
- Industry fragmented?
- Major competitors controlling the industry?
- Quick to adopt technology, or tradition industry?
Barriers to Entry
- What resources, knowledge or skills does it take to enter this business?
- Regulations?
5) Competitive Analysis
- Who are the competitors, i.e. who solves the same problems?
- Major competitors products & services, strengths & weaknesses
- Market share? Marketing Strategies?
- Key success factors?
- What distinguishes products / business from rivals?
6) Market Analysis
- Define target market
- Who are the target customers?
- Characteristics?
- Articulate Value Proposition
- Why will they buy?
- Our solutions to their problems?
- What pains will it ease?
- Benefits? Differentiating factors?
7) Marketing Plan
- Concentrate on Opportunity - what the product / service is solving
- When is breakeven point?
- Customers' buying behaviour?
- What is each customer's value to business?
- 1-time service / annuity business?
- frequency of purchase?
- brand loyalty?
- How to sell the product?
- Product / Price / Place / Promotion (Word-of-mouth/sales promotion/ direct sales/ advertising
8) Operations Plan
- Breakeven point
- Key success factors
- Sourcing materials
- Technology innovation in manufacturing / distribution process
- Geographical location
- Labour
- Pricing Strategy
9) Management Summary
- Experience, accomplishments, reputation, skills /knowledge, commitment level, motivation
- Team's strengths
- Acknowledge & address team weaknesses
- Management portfolio
10) Financial Plan
- Breakeven Point
- Risk / Return Graph
2) Business Description
3) Business Environment Analysis
4) Industry Background
5) Competitive Analysis
6) Market Analysis
7) Marketing Plan
8) Operations Plan
9) Management Summary
10) Financial Plan
11) Milestones
2) Business Description
- History of Concept
- What Kind of Business is it?
- What Product / Service is it?
- Why people will use it?
- What the financial status is?
- Who manages the business?
- Structure of business?
- Where is it located?
3) Business Environment Analysis
- What is the industry?
- Who are the competitors in the industry
- What is the market?
- Who are the customers in the market?
4) Industry Background
- Range of products / services encompassed by this industry
- What is this industry production capacity, unit sales, overall profitability?
- Industry spread out geographically, or concentrated near source of raw materials?
- Trends
- What is the predicted growth rate?
- New patterns of growth?
- What factors might contribute to future growth?
- Industry fragmented?
- Major competitors controlling the industry?
- Quick to adopt technology, or tradition industry?
Barriers to Entry
- What resources, knowledge or skills does it take to enter this business?
- Regulations?
5) Competitive Analysis
- Who are the competitors, i.e. who solves the same problems?
- Major competitors products & services, strengths & weaknesses
- Market share? Marketing Strategies?
- Key success factors?
- What distinguishes products / business from rivals?
6) Market Analysis
- Define target market
- Who are the target customers?
- Characteristics?
- Articulate Value Proposition
- Why will they buy?
- Our solutions to their problems?
- What pains will it ease?
- Benefits? Differentiating factors?
7) Marketing Plan
- Concentrate on Opportunity - what the product / service is solving
- When is breakeven point?
- Customers' buying behaviour?
- What is each customer's value to business?
- 1-time service / annuity business?
- frequency of purchase?
- brand loyalty?
- How to sell the product?
- Product / Price / Place / Promotion (Word-of-mouth/sales promotion/ direct sales/ advertising
8) Operations Plan
- Breakeven point
- Key success factors
- Sourcing materials
- Technology innovation in manufacturing / distribution process
- Geographical location
- Labour
- Pricing Strategy
9) Management Summary
- Experience, accomplishments, reputation, skills /knowledge, commitment level, motivation
- Team's strengths
- Acknowledge & address team weaknesses
- Management portfolio
10) Financial Plan
- Breakeven Point
- Risk / Return Graph
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Classical Music 92.4!
Think I've reached some sort of plateau... Damn it! It's not going down! WTF!
Maybe I need to do something new. Any suggestions?
Maybe I need to do something new. Any suggestions?
Thursday, July 09, 2009
The Hardest Thing
The Hardest Thing to do is...
to stop yourself from eating one more bite of a yummy meal, when you are just no longer hungry, but far from stuffed...
Ommmmmmmm!
to stop yourself from eating one more bite of a yummy meal, when you are just no longer hungry, but far from stuffed...
Ommmmmmmm!
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