Ian On The Red Dot

Clearing my desk. Consolidating my emails and documents to ensure that the person taking over my baby looks after it properly. When I took over the project, it was going into production with a bucket load of issues not worked out yet. The previous guy had just returned to India without resolving a couple of outstanding issues. The project didn’t die and I would like to think I played a significant part in its smooth transition to production status. Now, I can’t bear to part with it. Will the next guy be able to care for it the way I did? I’m not sure about that - he is one of those who like to ask ‘how’ instead of just Googling the information himself.

I’m moving on to something different and hopefully better, but leaving this company has been a difficult and sad decision. My time here at this company has had its fair share of frustrating moments. However, the people at this company have always made the work bearable if not enjoyable. Actually, the work itself can be enjoyable - the joy of hunting down the root cause of an issue can be frustrating but solving a problem and uncovering a root cause is an experience equal to watching Manchester United decimating Roma.

I’m leaving because I’m trying to find a work experience as satisfying as the night when my friend called to laugh that Bayern Munich was leading Manchester United in the final of the Champions League, then I witnessed Manchester United scoring twice in the dying moments of the game, and then I got the chance to call to inform him of the result.

There are many other reasons besides increasing job satisfaction but I won’t go into them now. I also want to share about how working at this company have changed my views about foreign talent / foreign labor in Singapore - I’ll do it once I clear all the handover stuff.

Today is bittersweet.

Via Tomorrow.sg, I learned of a Singapore group that is carrying out Improv Everywhere inspired missions. You can see the video of their first mission here.

You can join the Singapore based group here.

There is something interesting about the group and I wonder if it mirrors the society we have come from. The IE Global site was started on 24th Jan 2008.

21st Feb, a post was put by the guy who started the Singapore group on the site. The emphasis in bold is mine.

I’ve realise that there have been an overwhelming increase of people who are interested in doing improv acts here. So for the sake of keeping order and most importantly peace, I am proposing a system of organisation for Mission:Singapore.

The Hierarchy will be as follows:

This will be the tentative structure of our group so do leave your comments if you want any suggestions for improvements.
Implementing a structure is important as to avoid an eventuality where missions cannot be carried out proper due to disruptive admin cockups. haha.

I will try my best to organise missions on a monthly basis. In the event that i cannot oversee a mission due to other commitments, the second incharge will have to take my place.

Ok. I’m going to try to tread carefully here. It is cool that someone took the initiative to get a group going. And it is totally justifiable to display a sense of ownership for the group that was started. I understand that if you are the founder of a group based on your own ideas and since your name is associated with it, you would want some amount of control and while people can join in to play, it will be only by your rules. But there seems to be the assumption that the only system to effectively organize such a group (inspired by another group) is to establish a hierarchy.

Now, I understand the times when a hierarchy is needed because there are times when the buck needs to stop somewhere. But can’t this be applied at a mission level and not a group level?

Of course, some people will say I’m stirring shit and that if you want to own the missions, just start your own group. Is there really a need to start your own group just for that? Why can’t everyone play nice in the same group and take turns to be the ‘boss’.

Well, I guess everything you need to learn about human society, you probably learned it when you were playing at the playground. The rich kid with the ball always gets to be the striker. If you argue, you are a trouble maker and asked to sit out. You don’t get to play. And no one will play with you because you don’t have a ball.

Then again, this probably isn’t just a Singapore thing. I found one other group where a committee is also being formed to organize and manage stuff. There are probably more, but I don’t have the time to read through all the groups’ discussions.

Anyway, it is great that this is happening in Singapore. I’ll definitely squeeze in time to be a participant for their missions if they would let me after this post. The comments on the system of organization is just my way of feeding the interest in how groups are managed. There isn’t just one right way, I’m just interested in the way that got chosen.

I finally got down to doing something I should have done for sometime - I opened another bank account to save a portion of my salary each month. Each month, once I get my pay, a chunk of it is going straight to this new account. I have been living on a combined savings and spending account for too long. In fact, usually only one thing is happening - spending. While I have managed to save, the amount each month fluctuates with an inverse relation to the amount of beer I drink. The new account forces me to save a fixed amount each month, and no longer do I need to try to save more the next month to offset this month’s spending.

The impetus for this action was the first personal finance book I have ever read finished - The Barefoot Investor.

I’m not sure when it started actually, but I think it was around my first year of university when I started loving to wear plain black colored shirts and T-shirts. Family members, friends and the girlfriend has tried to get me to wear other colors. Of course I resist, but it gets hard when your girlfriend buys shirts for you. I just learned of a New York Magazine article about people who dress in only one color. Nice. Vindication for my poor fashion sense of wearing only one color. If I had a choice, which actually I do if I had more chutzpah to defy office dress code, I think I would only dress in black. I understand that dandruff can be easily seen if you wear black (not that I have any) but I think the advantages outweigh whatever fashion demerits it brings.

The most important advantage - I can eat Laksa whenever I want without worrying that I might leave visible stains on my clothes.

via:buzzfeed

Just finished reading the book “Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets“. It is a great read and I’ll definitely have to read it again not just because there is so much material to digest but because the writing is deliciously beautiful and brimming with wit.

The book sheds light on the shenanigans that are currently happening in the world as well as some from the past. The one thing I learned from the book is to think for one’s self. Yet, the book cautions against logical thinking because there is a tendency for us to do it wrongly. We use our thinking to help validate what we want - our brain is the slave to our emotions and desires. Also, there is the danger of thinking we know a lot about a subject matter, if not everything which can lead to disaster.

A healthy dose of skepticism and humility is needed when the gears in our brain start turning.

Investing tips from the book:

1. Don’t Go Looking For Trouble.

You don’t always need to be either a seller or a buyer. Sometimes doing nothing can be good. Although holding cash is actually doing something.

2. Don’t Expect The Market To Give A Sucker An Even Break.

The little guys lose consistently. They pay too much to the financial industry in fees, commissions, and spreads. The market isn’t a level playing field.

3. Don’t Be A Patsy (i.e. a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of).

Don’t try to figure out what the market is doing by deferring to experts. Always remember that you are guessing and because you are guessing, make sure the odds are in your favor. Don’t buy high expecting to sell it when it gets higher because the market has been going up. Remember to buy low.

4. Never Get Too Far From The Facts.

5. Never Buy Tuna Unless It’s On Sale.

6. Never Buy What Someone Else Really Wants To Sell.

7. Never Buy What Everyone Else Is Rushing To Buy.

8. Gold.

I’m not doing justice by just listing the points above but this is more for my own notes than anything else. I borrowed the book from Tampines Library so the book is in the system. Try to borrow it if you get the chance. I’m definitely going to buy this book to add to my collection once Borders has a discount.

The one fault I have against this book is that it has introduced the phrase ‘public spectacle’ into my vocabulary. I find myself using it quite often now in my conversations with people.

Public Spectacle = Lies -> Farce -> Disaster.

Some associated links:

This is the blog that is associated with the book - Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets. It hasn’t been updated since October 2007 so to read more from the authors, going to their blogs might be another recourse.

I managed to find the blog for only one of the authors Lila Rajiva - The Mind-Body Politic.

Couldn’t find the blog for Bill Bonner so I’m just going to link to the site for his daily newsletter - The Daily Reckoning.

A while ago, I shared a site about a gal who wanted to chronicle the last 90 days of her life before she killed herself. It has been revealed to be a hoax, or more specifically an ‘art project’. Gawker has the post she wrote explaining the project and her intentions.

Would the internet be yet another place of isolation to her or an escape? If she remained vocal about her intentions would anyone bother asking “why” or even noticing before the fact? Would the reaction (if any) of the public change her intentions?

I thought this mirror might reflect the isolation everyday people feel and the lack of true human connection on the internet.

It is my feeling that the internet is the best and worst example of
human interaction.

The post struck a chord with me. I have been blessed with loving friends and family but there have been extended periods and fleeting moments when I feel the alienation and isolation ‘Jane’ talks about.

The funny thing is that sometimes there are just stuff you cannot share with the people who would most likely bother to listen, care and help. It could be out of shame, guilt, pride or a myriad other unfathomable reasons. Sometimes we try to protect others from the ‘burdens we ourselves must carry’.

Other times, we do try to tell people we need help but not sure how. We try in our own way to silently cry out for help. Or we do something explosive to draw attention to ourselves. Yet, people listen but they do not hear us. They look at us but do not see what is really going on. Is it out of apathy? Out of blurness?

Sometimes, we want to speak out what we feel and think to no one in particular. No one needs to hear what we say or read what we write. The very act of giving form to our thoughts and emotions is a healing experience.

I remember a slope beside my last apartment block. Whenever I felt frustrated, I would ride my bicycle down the slope. Actually, I would speed down the slope. The end of the slope was a pavement running perpendicular to it. The pavement was short in width and on its other side was a plunge down to the carpark one level below. There was something liberating about speeding down that slope as the edge of the pavement zoomed into focus. I would try to see how close to the edge I could get before applying the breaks without going off it.

The Internet now gives us another avenue to confess much like the confession booth in a church. Except this time, we get to confess not to one person but to everyone and yet no one. Do we ‘confess’ on the net for the same reasons? Are we finding another place to lay down our burdens and seek absolution?

The sad thing is while the Internet gives us a place to escape from our alienation and isolation, it exposes us to the worse of the very things that leads to people feeling alienated and isolated - hate, immaturity and apathy.

Anyway, about a week ago, I discovered two sites that are providing a means for people to release and confess.

PostSecret
AngryJournalist.com

In the end, I have the vague feeling we aren’t so much seeking attention or absolution from others, but desiring closure, a way to forget and most importantly finding the capacity to forgive ourselves.

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Here is the Wikipedia entry about Christine Chubbuck who was mentioned in the post by ‘90 Day Jane’.

In an earlier post, I blogged about why arguments with members of the opposite sex tend to last so long. From the same book, I learned from an interview with Victor Johnston how to tell if a girl will choose you as a mate just by looking at her fingers.

So, how to tell if a lady will mate with you? Simple - look at her ‘digit ratio’. The ‘digit ratio’ in women is one or greater than one. When it is one, the length of the index and ring fingers is equal. When it is greater than one, the index finger is longer.

Women change their preferences just prior to ovulation. In what direction does the change happens depends on the amount of testosterone present in the uterus when the girl was a fetus. The greater amount of testosterone present in the uterus will affect how ‘masculine’ a girl is. The more ‘masculine’ she is, the longer the ring finger. The girl with a lower digit ratio tends to be more masculine and will prefer men with prominent, square jaws because that is an indicator of masculinity in men. Such women will want such masculine men for both sporadic and longer-lasting encounters.

If the girl has a shorter ring finger (i.e. higher digit ratio), she will prefer friendlier, gentle men, more commonly known as the nice guys, when she is ovulating. Note, this only happens when she is ovulating or seeking a longer-lasting relationship - the key thing to note is when the chance of being impregnated by a man is high (like in a marriage), such women with higher digit ratio will choose the friendlier, gentle man - the normal guys get their chance. But if such a girl wants a fling, the macho man still gets first rights.

So, normal guys…either way, your girlfriend/wife is going to have sex or already had sex with that guy with the Superman jawline. But hey, you get to play husband as well as the father of her children. Of course, if she times it wrong or the body sends the wrong hormonal signals, they just might not be yours.

Singapore won the right to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. I’m proud of the fact my country got chosen but nothing more because I wasn’t involved in the bid. Anyway, I am going to make one prediction about the games - Chee Soon Juan will stage a public spectacle like the one he attempted when the World Bank was here during the run-up to the games or during the games itself.

Via Dave Winer, an article by Teller (of Penn & Teller) on Columbus.

There is a difference between blundering onto something, and discovering its nature, grasping its order and significance. Farmers in ancient fields had experienced mass and momentum. But we don’t say they discovered Newtonian physics. To discover is not merely to encounter, but to comprehend and reveal, to apprehend something new and true and deliver it to the world.

I saw this post by Geek Sg on the top 100 sites for Singapore with data provided by Alexa. Putting aside the doubts on the methodology in acquiring the data, what the data shows us is that Singaporeans are poor. Why? A recent post on Techcrunch highlights that poor people are more likely to use Yahoo and those better off more likely to use Google.

The data is interesting and I probably should take a closer look at the sites on the list once I get the time. One quick comment though - For Singapore’s version of Yahoo, the subdomain is sg.yahoo.com. So, I think if you go to www.yahoo.com or sg.yahoo.com, it counts as going to the same site. For Google, the domain is www.google.com.sg. If you see the list, both google.com and google.com.sg appear on the list. I wonder if the combined traffic for those two sites might push Google as the top search engine for people in Singapore. If so, then Singaporeans are RICH!