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.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
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!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
93.3!!!
And I'm not referring to the Radio Station...
Then again, perhaps I am...
Next target, Gold 90.5 FM, Dongli 88.3 FM... what else after that?
Then again, perhaps I am...
Next target, Gold 90.5 FM, Dongli 88.3 FM... what else after that?
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Reso Redux
Just took a look at my resolutions... it's more than half way...
Weight loss = lost 2 kg so far, 15 more to go to reach 80
Lasik = i DID IT
Runs = I went for and completed sundown marathon
Exercising = Well, i AM exercising
Restrictions = I guess I broke the ice-cream one, and the beer one and the hard liquor one.... still haven't eaten kfc... anyway, just coz i broke it once / many many times, doesn't mean i should just give up, right? Will restart that
Volunteer Group = Done! Joined the Special Olympics swimming and it's part of my weekly saturday activities... Now all i need is to fit in an early morning run before that...
Personal Finance = Am adhering to recording my daily finances, so that's good so far, even if i'm breaking my budget monthly...
Dive trips = done one so far, but not to bali and LYLY. Hopefully i can get one trip in before the year ends.
Environmentally friendly = not as good as i want it to be.
Sleep by 11.30 = almost never
No MSN = will re-start that again
No new skills...
How do i rate myself so far... about 40% so far... not too bad... behind, but not too bad...
now it's time to work harder!
Weight loss = lost 2 kg so far, 15 more to go to reach 80
Lasik = i DID IT
Runs = I went for and completed sundown marathon
Exercising = Well, i AM exercising
Restrictions = I guess I broke the ice-cream one, and the beer one and the hard liquor one.... still haven't eaten kfc... anyway, just coz i broke it once / many many times, doesn't mean i should just give up, right? Will restart that
Volunteer Group = Done! Joined the Special Olympics swimming and it's part of my weekly saturday activities... Now all i need is to fit in an early morning run before that...
Personal Finance = Am adhering to recording my daily finances, so that's good so far, even if i'm breaking my budget monthly...
Dive trips = done one so far, but not to bali and LYLY. Hopefully i can get one trip in before the year ends.
Environmentally friendly = not as good as i want it to be.
Sleep by 11.30 = almost never
No MSN = will re-start that again
No new skills...
How do i rate myself so far... about 40% so far... not too bad... behind, but not too bad...
now it's time to work harder!
it was a dark and stormy night...
As I looked out the window, enjoying the sight of planes taking off and landing from Changi, the rain got heavier and heavier, drowning out the whirrs of the CPU fan.
Everything looks a blur, probably since I went under the 'knife' on Thursday. It's for the best, but i just ruined a beautiful weekend. Should have been jogging/blading/swimming/gymming/squashing/tennis-ing...
guess i do quite a bit of exercise. told myself i will lose weight until i'm 90kg before i get my iphone... even though i am wondering if i should still get it. there's been a lot of bad press lately, battery life still sucks, and it freaking overheats. and apple is such a terrible company, telling people it's due to the sun. omg, can any company have any LESS brains or really care about its consumers?
i still need a new phone though, wonder if i can live for another year with my current phone, it's real awful, and the most pressed button is not working... searching for alternatives has been working so far, but there's only so far alternatives can work. Should work on disciplining myself to control myself and not just spend spend spend on anything and everything that catches my interests...
life is about discipline... should stop now.
Everything looks a blur, probably since I went under the 'knife' on Thursday. It's for the best, but i just ruined a beautiful weekend. Should have been jogging/blading/swimming/gymming/squashing/tennis-ing...
guess i do quite a bit of exercise. told myself i will lose weight until i'm 90kg before i get my iphone... even though i am wondering if i should still get it. there's been a lot of bad press lately, battery life still sucks, and it freaking overheats. and apple is such a terrible company, telling people it's due to the sun. omg, can any company have any LESS brains or really care about its consumers?
i still need a new phone though, wonder if i can live for another year with my current phone, it's real awful, and the most pressed button is not working... searching for alternatives has been working so far, but there's only so far alternatives can work. Should work on disciplining myself to control myself and not just spend spend spend on anything and everything that catches my interests...
life is about discipline... should stop now.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tales of Fat Boy Trying Weight-Loss, and Find a ZaBor...
Going to write serious nonsense from now on...
People tell me i need to eat 5 - 6 meals a day to lose weight leh.
Will try:
7am
10am
2pm
5pm
8pm
And obviously eat less la.
Next, going to take greater care of meself, skin put white white, gym gym alot, and be hot hot!
Wanna sign up for lasik ... let's see... Then next time no need grasses!
People tell me i need to eat 5 - 6 meals a day to lose weight leh.
Will try:
7am
10am
2pm
5pm
8pm
And obviously eat less la.
Next, going to take greater care of meself, skin put white white, gym gym alot, and be hot hot!
Wanna sign up for lasik ... let's see... Then next time no need grasses!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
7 Habits of High Effective People
#1: Be Pro-active
#2: Begin with the End in Mind
#3: Put First Things First
#4: Think Win-Win
#5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
#6: Synergize
#7: Sharpen the Saw
#2: Begin with the End in Mind
#3: Put First Things First
#4: Think Win-Win
#5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
#6: Synergize
#7: Sharpen the Saw
Monday, March 16, 2009
Silly Joke Mentioned during a Meeting
While touring an Indian reservation in North Dakota filming a documentary, Barbara Walters was puzzled as to why the difference in the number of feathers in the headdresses. So, she asked a brave who only had one feather in his headdress. His reply was: "Only have one woman. One woman, one feather."
Feeling the first fellow was only joking she asked another brave. This brave had two feathers in his headdress. And he replied: "Me have two women. Two women, two feathers."
Still not convinced the feathers indicated the number of sexual partners involved, she decided to interview the Chief.
Now the Chief had a headdress full of feathers, which, needless to say, amused Ms.Walters. She asked the Chief, "Why do you have so many feathers in your headdress?"
The Chief proudly pounded his chest and said: "Me Chief, me sleep with 'em all. Big, small, fat and tall, me sleep with 'em all."
Horrified, Ms. Walters stated, "You ought to be hung." The Chief said: "You damn right, me hung, big like buffalo, long like snake"
Ms. Walters cried, "You don't have to be so hostile" The Chief replied: "Hoss-style, dog-style, wolf-style, any style.. ... me sleep with 'em all."
With tears in her eyes, Ms. Walters cried, "Oh dear."
The Chief said: "No deer.. Ass too high, run too fast."
Feeling the first fellow was only joking she asked another brave. This brave had two feathers in his headdress. And he replied: "Me have two women. Two women, two feathers."
Still not convinced the feathers indicated the number of sexual partners involved, she decided to interview the Chief.
Now the Chief had a headdress full of feathers, which, needless to say, amused Ms.Walters. She asked the Chief, "Why do you have so many feathers in your headdress?"
The Chief proudly pounded his chest and said: "Me Chief, me sleep with 'em all. Big, small, fat and tall, me sleep with 'em all."
Horrified, Ms. Walters stated, "You ought to be hung." The Chief said: "You damn right, me hung, big like buffalo, long like snake"
Ms. Walters cried, "You don't have to be so hostile" The Chief replied: "Hoss-style, dog-style, wolf-style, any style.. ... me sleep with 'em all."
With tears in her eyes, Ms. Walters cried, "Oh dear."
The Chief said: "No deer.. Ass too high, run too fast."
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