Ian On The Red Dot

The overlaying of information on top of the physical world. The additional information is viewed through another device. The device needs to be able to determine the coordinates of a point in the real world. Markers were initially used to ‘cheat’ the system by explicitly identifying a point. Cameras are one way the device sees the world. GPS and compass functionalities are other ways for a device to ’see’ the world.

What are the other ways a device can ’see’ the world? The use of audio – capturing sounds made at a locale.

How to present the data? On a screen? Project it out?

During my last year in NUS, I took a module which allowed us to explore AR technologies. It has been 3 years since and now, with webcams being more obiquitous and mobile phones getting better hardware, augmented reality related software and systems might be gearing up to be the next buzzwords for 2010.

The questions are:

1. How to push data out to the physical world.
2. How to pull data in from the physical world.

I sense a change coming.

Trying to build a craigslist killer:

But practical people will find his (the consultant to the newspapers) excuse almost as damning as the evidence that provokes it, for a truly excellent strategy will tolerate myriad failures in execution, while a weak strategy reveals its weakness in the very fact that it is impossible to execute correctly.

Unbrand, Uncompete, Demonetize:

As long as craigslist can support its 30 employees on “merely” an estimated $100 million in revenue, there simply isn’t enough cash in this space to keep a giant-sized competitor interested over the long term. When I first saw Jim Buckmaster talk, in 2004, he described his strategy in three words: unbrand, uncompete and demonetize. His victory over eBay illustrates the paradoxical power of demonetization.

The secret of craigslist:

By eliminating marketing, sales, and business development, craigslist’s programmers have cut out all the cushioning layers that separate them from the users they serve, and any right they have to teach lessons in public service comes from the odd situation of running a company that is directly subservient only to the public. Here’s the lesson: The public is a motherfucker.

Craig Newmark says that craigslist works because people are good, and he has stuck to this point of view without wavering. Whether you accept it as true will depend on your standard of goodness.

Yet it seems,

And just as people who run technical companies are reaching an apex of confidence in their ability to invent new forms of community based on sharing everything, craigslist still treats social life as dangerously complex, deserving the most jaded caution. Corporate isolation, user anonymity, refusal of excessive profit, glacial adoption of new features: These all signal Newmark and Buckmaster’s wariness about what humans, including themselves, might do if given the chance. There may be a peace sign on every page, but the implicit political philosophy of craigslist has a deeply conservative, even a tragic cast. Every day the choristers of the social web chirp their advice about openness and trust; craigslist follows none of it, and every day it grows.

I didn’t want to do my most recent reservist training because I knew there was work to be done in my civilian life. My CO (or one of his proxies) rejected my application.

I went back and wasted 3 weeks of my life.

I wasted it not because I was back doing my NS but because the training wasn’t meaningful. And for this, I blame the ‘leaders’ of my unit.

I feel people don’t get the difference between ‘important’, ‘more important’ and ‘not important’.

Let me explain:

1. The work commitments in my civilian life is more important to me than my reservist training. Does that mean my reservist training is not important? NO! Reservist training is important, work commitments in civilian life is more important.

However, from the first day of reservist, the CO of my reservist unit and dare I say, the officers and sergeants of my company gave everyone the impression civilian life is important and reservist training isn’t. But since we have to do it, then let’s just do a good wayang show and fuck off.

That, my friend, is the wrong mentality. Since we are in it, since we have to do it, then we should do it well. No compromise. No wayang.

This sense of importance, to me, wasn’t conveyed by the ‘leaders’ of my unit.

There were a myriad of reasons why my unit failed our ATEC 2. While the men of the unit cannot be absolved of blame, I personally believe that the tone was not set properly by the commanders of the unit, and the rot started at the top.

I’ll elaborate more in the subsequent posts about the last 3 weeks of my life however I would like to end with one last thought about the leadership in SAF.

During my active days, I was privileged to be under two amazing OCs, each special in their own way. I was also able to serve under a very good CO whose career success in the military is no surprise to me. I was also led in the field by a very decisive, field-craft excellent PC.

Looking at the disaster which was my unit’s ATEC 2, I have come to appreciate even more the importance of good, if not great, leaders.

Let me tell you a little secret. Despite our protestations, most of us (I’m speaking for my company) who are back in reservist, have the capacity and will do a good job for a leader with credibility, for a leader who demands much from us and , importantly, more from himself.

You (i.e. the leader) can fuck us for indiscipline. You can fuck us when we get our drills wrong. You can fuck us when we neglect TSR (i.e. training safety regulations). You can push us to walk, under the scorching sun, from 7am to 6pm with no food, only two bottles of water and a mother-load of heavy equipment.

You can do all that. IF …

If you yourself take things seriously. If your field-craft in topography and navigation is top-notch. If you yourself is clear about the objective. If when you tell me that this is the objective, THIS IS THE OBJECTIVE. If the time to take an entrenched position, is T hours, you get me there by T hours. If you make decisions decisively but with due consideration to the fact that you would make the same decision if we were actually at war (i.e. there are real bullets).

During the airing of my grievances, someone asked me if I could do better.

No, I can’t. I have not undergone the same training in OCS or SISPEC as the commanders of my unit.

But I have served under great leaders during my active days, and if the state keeps demanding my time for reservist training, then stop fucking me by making me continue to serve under incompetent leaders.

One final example:

During a parade, RSM came around and fucked the men for dirty boots. Fair enough. But he didn’t impose the same standards on officers who had dirty boots as well. The officers didn’t impose the same standards on themselves.

One final note:

I have mixed feelings about my unit failing ATEC 2. While it means we probably have to go back next year and do the same thing probably under the same incompetent leadership, it does fill me with confidence that those units which have got good results for their ATEC 2 really do deserve those results and that Singapore, while not being well served by my unit, is at least being well served by others.

For example, the umpire that was with my vehicle is precisely the kind of commander I had the honor of serving with during my active days.

Web app Toodledo has a useful summary of GTD here:

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a method for organizing tasks so that you can focus your entire energy and creativity on completing those tasks in a stress free manner. This method was developed by David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done. The main principle of GTD is that recording your tasks in a reliable way – using a system that you trust – will free your mind from trying to remember and prioritize stuff. This recaptured mental energy can be put towards being more productive and efficient.

Thanks De for sharing this pic.
Thanks Lester for initially hosting it.

http://localhost:3000/1

This is a story of how a wife dealt with a husband who said he stopped loving her:

It’s a story about hearing your husband say “I don’t love you anymore” and deciding not to believe him.

Although it may sound ridiculous to say “Don’t take it personally” when your husband tells you he no longer loves you, sometimes that’s exactly what you have to do.

Instead of issuing ultimatums, yelling, crying or begging, I presented him with options. I created a summer of fun for our family and welcomed him to share in it, or not — it was up to him. If he chose not to come along, we would miss him, but we would be just fine, thank you very much. And we were.

And, yeah, you can bet I wanted to sit him down and persuade him to stay. To love me. To fight for what we’ve created. You can bet I wanted to.

But I didn’t.

I barbecued. Made lemonade. Set the table for four. Loved him from afar.

Reservist is a fertile ground that reaps a bountiful harvest of ideas for posts. Will be updating http://iantimothy.posterous.com/ during this time.