Today is the last last lesson of TWC...which means all the final exams are coming and it is going to be really stressed and busy with all the mugging. I got to be thankful that for TWC, the finals is open book! this definitely lessen my mugging and memorising of notes. But it still does not mean I do not have to prepare much for it! Today is the concluding lesson for this TWC module and it is time for me to look back through all the lessons and reflect on what I've learnt so far...I can say that this course has been really meaningful to me and I've learnt a lot from it. It has also ignited my interest in technology... I think this module generally appeal more to guys with all the cool high tech technology gadgets and inventions. I've learnt more about technology in general and its impacts on us, it's consequences, it's advantages and disadvantages. This term technology is very broad and wide and covers so many aspects of our lifes. It affects every single thing that we're using, or living on. Right now, I'm in my room with the aircon full blast taking a relief from the hot sunny weather, I have to thank technology for this. This computer that Im using to blog and pen down my thoughts (coupled with many other uses for it eg. games,work,online surfing) is all thanks to technology. We humans have progressed and modernised so much at an alarming rate, and technology has helped create a huge impact on the world. But with technology advances, not everyone will benefit. Technology has caused many problems in the world, global warming, greenhouse effects, pollutions and the widening income gap. These problems are not easy to solve and much has to be worked on and looked at.
Today's presentations are generally well done and well prepared probably due to them working on their website and presentations based on the previous session of presentations. The first group presented on music which is one of my interest! the group talks about the progress and change in music recording format, from the olden vinyl disc to cd to mp3... Thank godness for the invention of mp3 that's how I can enjoy portable music on the go. Kudos to this invention! Next, the second group presented on technology and its implications for food and nutrition. Following on, the third group presented on vaccines and gave us a good future predictions of vaccines. The last group presented on crime tracking which reminds me of CSI type. The layout of the website is very well done and it provides clear information and allows me to easily access all the information.
This is finally the end of my TWC module (although there's a final exam yet to come) and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself in the interesting class discussions and I've gained many new insights and knowledge to things that I never knew. Personal rating 10/10 for this module. Thumbs up! :)
Thursday 10 November 2011
Friday 4 November 2011
Lesson12: Group Presentations
Alright finally the lesson filled with group presentations including my own group has arrived. After many sessions of meetings and discussion, my group is all ready to give our presentation on our topic E business which i find it extremely interesting and practical in today's world. We chose this topic, other than the fact that there were 3 online shopping queens in my group, however I feel that it is very relevant in today's world especially in doing business. I do shop online at times...nowadays, who don't? Maybe I should put it as who haven't? More and more businesses especially small start ups are going the Ebusiness way rather than a brick and motar shop. I was inspired by my friend who started this online grocery shopping business and it is doing very well now. He was even featured in the newspaper. Guess what, he is only a few years older than me and still studying in Uni. The current situation of Ebusiness where almost everyone has easy access to internet compared to ten years ago, really helps to make Ebusiness start up much more successful than ever. It is becoming so successful that I sometimes wonder how do those brick and mortar shops survive in the next ten or twenty years when this ebusiness bubble is going to balloon. They better get into this online business trend and ride on it if not they are really going to have problems. As for me, I have my great plans to start my own online ebusiness. I do have a few ideas which I can't share it out here ;) However, do watch out for my ebusiness in the coming few years.
My group was the first group to present and I felt we did quite a good job although we received many feedbacks, mostly constructive. Being the first group, it seems like we had the most feedbacks to work on. We shall work on all the suggestions contributed by Prof and the class. Thanks guys! Do check out our final product in due time...For easy reference, our website link is here:
http://www.wix.com/klgan70/twc-ebusiness
Feel free to leave us any feedbacks and watch out for my personal own ebusiness website soon...:)
The second group presented on online dating which I find it really interesting. I personally am guilty of searching love online, not through those dubious funny website but just through facebook or friendster in the past. Their group did not use WIX but instead used a simpler web layout which looks easy to navigate without the fancy flash effects. To be honest, based on my personal experience, all my online dates that I found never seem to work out at least in the long run. I still believe in being a 'man' and approach the girl you like rather than through online which seems like you're too cowardly to approach the girl.
The next group presented on GM food and they had an interesting video of Superman food. They also brought cooked GM and non GM rice to the class for us to taste the difference. Their website is very informative and really allows me to find out more about GM food. In my previous post where I took a survey on GM food, I should give them this website to let them have a look!
Today is the second last lesson and I really look forward to the holidays and the end of my first sem! few more weeks to go! Alright I can do it!
Personal rating: 9/10 Interestings presentations...
My group was the first group to present and I felt we did quite a good job although we received many feedbacks, mostly constructive. Being the first group, it seems like we had the most feedbacks to work on. We shall work on all the suggestions contributed by Prof and the class. Thanks guys! Do check out our final product in due time...For easy reference, our website link is here:
http://www.wix.com/klgan70/twc-ebusiness
Feel free to leave us any feedbacks and watch out for my personal own ebusiness website soon...:)
The second group presented on online dating which I find it really interesting. I personally am guilty of searching love online, not through those dubious funny website but just through facebook or friendster in the past. Their group did not use WIX but instead used a simpler web layout which looks easy to navigate without the fancy flash effects. To be honest, based on my personal experience, all my online dates that I found never seem to work out at least in the long run. I still believe in being a 'man' and approach the girl you like rather than through online which seems like you're too cowardly to approach the girl.
The next group presented on GM food and they had an interesting video of Superman food. They also brought cooked GM and non GM rice to the class for us to taste the difference. Their website is very informative and really allows me to find out more about GM food. In my previous post where I took a survey on GM food, I should give them this website to let them have a look!
Today is the second last lesson and I really look forward to the holidays and the end of my first sem! few more weeks to go! Alright I can do it!
Personal rating: 9/10 Interestings presentations...
Saturday 29 October 2011
Week 10: Technology Assessment and forecasting
Hey guys, this is my 11th post right here in this learning journal blog of TWC. After going through ten solid lessons of TWC by Prof Shahi, I've really learnt a lot and gain much knowledge and insights into things that are happening right now or in the past and future. The knowledge to gain is tremendous and through this ten weeks of lessons, I've tried my best to absorb as much as I can. I believe these knowledge I gain will be beneficial in the long run and for the future. I remember there was one lesson when we talk about GM food. It so happen I was walking along the streets and I got approached by this surveyors to talk about GM food. So the surveyor asked me, " have you heard of GM food and what you know about them?" Immediately I thought of my TWC lesson and what we discussed in class, so I was well equipped to answer the surveyor and gave a good 15mins survey. My reward was a $5 voucher...:)
This week 10 wraps up this whole module and talks about forecasting and assessing whether this technology is a rising star or a falling star. I believe that in forecasting, no one can know exactly what is going to happen in the future, but one can at least try and forecast what is going to be the next big thing. In order to succeed, one need to forecast the future and create something that is new and useful that the world is going to need in future. We have to be one step ahead of the rest, we got to be the first and the best.
I like this quote given by prof, and yes we need to invent our future. Our future lies in our own hands, how we want to shape it or model it. We can go towards the path of destruction if we continue using non renewable fuel or we can go towards sustainable eco green technology. All these really depends on us humans to make the change for the better. I myself will definitely try and invent the future and make it a rising star opportunity to make money.
This week 10 wraps up this whole module and talks about forecasting and assessing whether this technology is a rising star or a falling star. I believe that in forecasting, no one can know exactly what is going to happen in the future, but one can at least try and forecast what is going to be the next big thing. In order to succeed, one need to forecast the future and create something that is new and useful that the world is going to need in future. We have to be one step ahead of the rest, we got to be the first and the best.
I like this quote given by prof, and yes we need to invent our future. Our future lies in our own hands, how we want to shape it or model it. We can go towards the path of destruction if we continue using non renewable fuel or we can go towards sustainable eco green technology. All these really depends on us humans to make the change for the better. I myself will definitely try and invent the future and make it a rising star opportunity to make money.
-The best way to predict the future is to invent it”
- Alan Kay -
Today's rating for the class is 9/10. A good rounding up end to the TWC module.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Lesson 9: Emerging and Future Technologies
Hey it's finally my turn this week to present to the class and the topic this wk is emerging and future technologies. When I was choosing through the list of topics to present, this topic caught my eye immediately. Future and emerging technologies...hmmm... must be something cool,fun,fascinating and I can present on something wild and crazy! So I went to search online for interesting topics...all kinds of amazing stuff pop up and I was spoilt for choices on topic to present. Eventually, I found this emerging innovation that I like, Surface computing. I read up lots more about it and spent TWO whole days to come up with the slides,ideas,script,rehearse etc... Lots of effort put in because I really want to give a good interesting presentation to the class rather than just a simple normal one. And here goes! I really hope my presentation is good and feel free to let me know if there's any area where I can improve on. This is my first presentation so far in SMU! So I really need as many pointers as I can get.
Ok back to discussion of lessons by prof, today he showed us many future emerging technologies videos. I was quite impressed by some of them and some look really high tech and cool. For example the first video on claytronics. The concept look so futuristic like how is it going to reaally happen. But I believe it's still possible in the future, who knows what may happen! In the future, we may be travelling with transportation? or flying cars? This flying cars is discussed in my research essay. I think it'll be so cool to travel in flying cars. I can just zoom over to school in less than 5mins? how convenient and time saving is that. Prof also showed us a video about AI robot where these 2 guys created the 'perfect woman' which is a AI robot. This 'perfect woman' can massage you n talk to you and understand you. It sounds like so cool but in my opinion I still feel no matter how 'real' the robot is, it can never replace human and the way we interact. I can't imagine dating a robot girl, like it's so weird. At least to me for now, I dont know what may happen in the future, maybe when there's a shortage of girls like 100 guys is to 1 girl, then this may be a possibility. I believe that the society should be able to accept this. Right now there're people even marrying their pets or animals. So probably marrying a robot may not seem like too far fetched an idea. If the robot can give birth too, how cool is that. haha. The last video prof showed us is about electricity cars. I do agree that in the future, we'll definitely look towards electricity cars. Right now, there're more and more hybrid cars on the roads already. If the cost comes down, and the government places policies that push for such green electricity cars, why not man. we'll no longer depend on the exorbitant petrol fuel when we can just use electricity to power our cars.
This week's presentations are the most interesting, not because I presented but may be it's due to the topic nature. Ryan presented on robotic arm and it's pretty interesting to have a robotic arm. However that arm must look exactly like a normal human arm then I would not mind getting it. Imagine with it, I can have super strength and I no longer have to go to the gym and slowly train and train but the muscles still take a long time to pop up. I presented on surface computing and I definitely want to get a microsoft surface and put it in my house living room. It'll be a good talking point when guests go to your house and you can have so much interactions and fun with it. Instead of putting a useless antique marble table that can cost up to $10000, why not just get a microsoft surface table! Gideon next talks about Airbus 2050 and it's really cool to see all the new features these airlines are trying to put in place. However, my consideration would be how expensive would it be and can people ever afford to experience it? If majority of the people can't afford it, wouldn't it be so elitist and exclusive.
Personal rating 10/10 because I presented in this lesson :)
Ok back to discussion of lessons by prof, today he showed us many future emerging technologies videos. I was quite impressed by some of them and some look really high tech and cool. For example the first video on claytronics. The concept look so futuristic like how is it going to reaally happen. But I believe it's still possible in the future, who knows what may happen! In the future, we may be travelling with transportation? or flying cars? This flying cars is discussed in my research essay. I think it'll be so cool to travel in flying cars. I can just zoom over to school in less than 5mins? how convenient and time saving is that. Prof also showed us a video about AI robot where these 2 guys created the 'perfect woman' which is a AI robot. This 'perfect woman' can massage you n talk to you and understand you. It sounds like so cool but in my opinion I still feel no matter how 'real' the robot is, it can never replace human and the way we interact. I can't imagine dating a robot girl, like it's so weird. At least to me for now, I dont know what may happen in the future, maybe when there's a shortage of girls like 100 guys is to 1 girl, then this may be a possibility. I believe that the society should be able to accept this. Right now there're people even marrying their pets or animals. So probably marrying a robot may not seem like too far fetched an idea. If the robot can give birth too, how cool is that. haha. The last video prof showed us is about electricity cars. I do agree that in the future, we'll definitely look towards electricity cars. Right now, there're more and more hybrid cars on the roads already. If the cost comes down, and the government places policies that push for such green electricity cars, why not man. we'll no longer depend on the exorbitant petrol fuel when we can just use electricity to power our cars.
This week's presentations are the most interesting, not because I presented but may be it's due to the topic nature. Ryan presented on robotic arm and it's pretty interesting to have a robotic arm. However that arm must look exactly like a normal human arm then I would not mind getting it. Imagine with it, I can have super strength and I no longer have to go to the gym and slowly train and train but the muscles still take a long time to pop up. I presented on surface computing and I definitely want to get a microsoft surface and put it in my house living room. It'll be a good talking point when guests go to your house and you can have so much interactions and fun with it. Instead of putting a useless antique marble table that can cost up to $10000, why not just get a microsoft surface table! Gideon next talks about Airbus 2050 and it's really cool to see all the new features these airlines are trying to put in place. However, my consideration would be how expensive would it be and can people ever afford to experience it? If majority of the people can't afford it, wouldn't it be so elitist and exclusive.
Personal rating 10/10 because I presented in this lesson :)
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Lesson 8: Energy and World Change
Hey guys! I'm back from the one week recess break of hell and projects and assignments to complete. Been really busy with lots of school work during this recess week which should be renamed as project week or catchup work week! Today's session of TWC talks about Energy and World change. Oh ya and this lesson is the first ever lesson that ended early! amazingly and surprisingly! I can slowly stroll over to my next class after this wk's TWC lesson. YAY! Although lesson ended early this week, it was still filled with thought provoking content and interesting presentations although I felt this week's presentations wasn't very well done relatively when compared to other weeks' presentations. Prob the other presenters set a really high standard to keep up. Next week shall be my presentation finally... so guys pls look out for it and I'll really try my best to give a good one.
Today session about Energy and world change talks about the past,present and the future where we can go about in terms of energy especially in the area of renewable energy. Energy is very important in today's world as the current situation seems to be bleak. As prof mentioned, if the world consumes the amount of energy an average Singaporean or US citizen consumes, the world's oil reserve would deplete in 9 years time! Yes, 9 short pathetic years which can go past in a quick flash. This is how severe the problem is and there're people who predict that the world will end because of lack of energy, fossil fuel to power up the world. Right now the world still relies on almost 80% of unrenewable fossil fuel as energy sources. IF we continue this heavy dependence on fossil fuel which is unsustainable, we will be leading to a bleak future of destruction. What we should do is to shift to renewable and green energy sources like solar energy which shows great potential.
So what are some of the possibilities we can look into in the future for renewable energy sources. Prof mentioned that the sun provides more energy to the earth in one hour than humankind uses in a year. This means that solar energy has great potential in providing lots of energy however this also means the super high inefficiency of fully capturing the potential of this solar energy as solar energy only occupies 0.7% of the world's energy sources. Germany is a good example of a country tapping the potential of solar energy as seen in the video which prof showed us. Government policies plays a tremendous role in implementing this shift to green and renewable energy sources. This is seen in Germany where the government gives out incentives for the people to use solar energy. However, this only works in well to do developed countries like Germany where the government has the ability and money to provide such incentives. In developing or poor countries, how can they support such actions and they will continue to use cheap non renewable energy sources. Energy conservation and shift is a world wide global effort, the leading and developed countries should do their part to help the developing countries. Obviously one barrier of entry is the extremely high cost to change to renewable energy sources. Installation of solar panels are expensive and this is stopping many countries from switching over. However, a good leader should think long term, say in 100years time, what will happen to our kids, or our grand children if we still continue relying on non renewable fossil fuel. Will they be able to survive? We shouldnt be so narrow minded and just think of ourselves in the short run. I read in an article about this oil company Exonn Mobil which just refuses to invest into alternative renewable energy sources. They are very stubborn and continues to just concentrate on fossil fuels. This is due to their extreme high profits, greatly exceed the other oil companies that's why they believe since they are doing so well, why bother to take a risk and diversify into alternative oil sources which could affect their profits. I kinda disagree with Exoon CEO thinking which I feel is very short sighted. I'll be waiting for the day where fossil fuel runs out or when people switch to renewable energy sources and Exxon will be left lagging behind. When that day comes, let's see who has the last laugh.
In Singapore, Prof mentioned that he felt that Singapore has not been doing a good job in switching to renewable energy sources. I agree to a certain extent but Singapore do has certain initiatives and is very slowing trying to switch. the key word is very slowly...I mentioned in class that Singapore has built the first Eco green HDB in Punggol where it is run on solar power with solar panels installed on the roof top. Kenny who is one of the presenter, coincidentally stays in that block! I believe this is a good effort by the government and hopefully the rest of the HDB will be converted to this eco green concept. I think that the government is trying to use that Punggol HDB block as a case study and see how effective it is and only if it's effective then they will implement further actions to build more eco green HDB block. The cost of such solar panel is not cheap and the efficiency level may not be high enough to justify the cost. Being a practical government, they will not just plunge into this eco green concept. So I believe we need to give the government more time, and slowly we will be able to see more of such HDB.
One good strategy discussed in the class to help countries switch to green renewable energy sources is the use of taxation on fossil fuel. Countries can impose higher taxes on fossil fuels to reflect their externalities and with this money, they use it to build solar panels and invest in green technology. This is a good way to offset the high cost of new technology. However, this may not seem as easy as it seems. Oil companies are very powerful and have great influence in the world. They will not easily let this happen. What we can hope for is that green renewable energy technology can be improved with cheaper cost and higher efficiency and this will thus help to justify the switch over. Let's look towards this green future from now on!
Personal rating: 9/10
Today session about Energy and world change talks about the past,present and the future where we can go about in terms of energy especially in the area of renewable energy. Energy is very important in today's world as the current situation seems to be bleak. As prof mentioned, if the world consumes the amount of energy an average Singaporean or US citizen consumes, the world's oil reserve would deplete in 9 years time! Yes, 9 short pathetic years which can go past in a quick flash. This is how severe the problem is and there're people who predict that the world will end because of lack of energy, fossil fuel to power up the world. Right now the world still relies on almost 80% of unrenewable fossil fuel as energy sources. IF we continue this heavy dependence on fossil fuel which is unsustainable, we will be leading to a bleak future of destruction. What we should do is to shift to renewable and green energy sources like solar energy which shows great potential.
So what are some of the possibilities we can look into in the future for renewable energy sources. Prof mentioned that the sun provides more energy to the earth in one hour than humankind uses in a year. This means that solar energy has great potential in providing lots of energy however this also means the super high inefficiency of fully capturing the potential of this solar energy as solar energy only occupies 0.7% of the world's energy sources. Germany is a good example of a country tapping the potential of solar energy as seen in the video which prof showed us. Government policies plays a tremendous role in implementing this shift to green and renewable energy sources. This is seen in Germany where the government gives out incentives for the people to use solar energy. However, this only works in well to do developed countries like Germany where the government has the ability and money to provide such incentives. In developing or poor countries, how can they support such actions and they will continue to use cheap non renewable energy sources. Energy conservation and shift is a world wide global effort, the leading and developed countries should do their part to help the developing countries. Obviously one barrier of entry is the extremely high cost to change to renewable energy sources. Installation of solar panels are expensive and this is stopping many countries from switching over. However, a good leader should think long term, say in 100years time, what will happen to our kids, or our grand children if we still continue relying on non renewable fossil fuel. Will they be able to survive? We shouldnt be so narrow minded and just think of ourselves in the short run. I read in an article about this oil company Exonn Mobil which just refuses to invest into alternative renewable energy sources. They are very stubborn and continues to just concentrate on fossil fuels. This is due to their extreme high profits, greatly exceed the other oil companies that's why they believe since they are doing so well, why bother to take a risk and diversify into alternative oil sources which could affect their profits. I kinda disagree with Exoon CEO thinking which I feel is very short sighted. I'll be waiting for the day where fossil fuel runs out or when people switch to renewable energy sources and Exxon will be left lagging behind. When that day comes, let's see who has the last laugh.
In Singapore, Prof mentioned that he felt that Singapore has not been doing a good job in switching to renewable energy sources. I agree to a certain extent but Singapore do has certain initiatives and is very slowing trying to switch. the key word is very slowly...I mentioned in class that Singapore has built the first Eco green HDB in Punggol where it is run on solar power with solar panels installed on the roof top. Kenny who is one of the presenter, coincidentally stays in that block! I believe this is a good effort by the government and hopefully the rest of the HDB will be converted to this eco green concept. I think that the government is trying to use that Punggol HDB block as a case study and see how effective it is and only if it's effective then they will implement further actions to build more eco green HDB block. The cost of such solar panel is not cheap and the efficiency level may not be high enough to justify the cost. Being a practical government, they will not just plunge into this eco green concept. So I believe we need to give the government more time, and slowly we will be able to see more of such HDB.
One good strategy discussed in the class to help countries switch to green renewable energy sources is the use of taxation on fossil fuel. Countries can impose higher taxes on fossil fuels to reflect their externalities and with this money, they use it to build solar panels and invest in green technology. This is a good way to offset the high cost of new technology. However, this may not seem as easy as it seems. Oil companies are very powerful and have great influence in the world. They will not easily let this happen. What we can hope for is that green renewable energy technology can be improved with cheaper cost and higher efficiency and this will thus help to justify the switch over. Let's look towards this green future from now on!
Personal rating: 9/10
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Week 7: Biobusiness Revolution: Agribiology,Environmental,Industrial
Alright this is the 7th week into TWC module, and this week talks more about this huge biobusiness revolution topic and focusing especially on agribiology, genetically modified food to be exact. Although next week is recess week, I'm totally not excited about it because my recess week is labelled projects week. Monday to Friday every single day, I have project meetings. Not to mention all the assignments to be due, individual research essay for this module! It's going to be a hell of a week for me! Ok enough of ranting, time for serious biobusiness here...
Prof Shahi kicked off the lesson with a thought provoking quote, "When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability". I fully agree with this statement that prof said. If the world continues to consume food,energy,materials,fuels and goods at the current alarming rate, it is only a matter of time the world will run out of resources to feed us humans. Prof showed us an interesting 'happy tree friends' video http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GKEAXOnogZU&feature=player_embedded showing us humans as 'PEST' that leech on Earth's resources and ruin its environment and pollutes the air, destroying Earth as a result. After we are down with Earth, we will go on to other planets and do the same. The objective of many space NASA projects to other planets is to seek useful resources for our consumption and usage. So, in order for us not to leech on Earth resources, we need to find new ways to keep our consumption sustainable for the long run. Prof gave a very interesting idea, for example if every household has this machine which you can convert biowaste into energy, how cool and effective it'll be. It'll be one of the greatest invention ever in my opinion. I believe the idea and concept is already being extensively researched but we need to make it affordable and efficient enough to churn out a high conversion rate of energy that is sufficient for our usage.
This week focus is on agribiology, biobusiness in agriculture and food. Prof shared with us this unsung hero behind Green Revolution- . His video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcwnWxy-YzU&feature=related I have never heard of this man before just like the rest of the class but after Prof talked about him, I realised he is indeed a man worthy of respect and admiration. His contribution to the world in solving world hunger is tremendous. I saw a quote in reading 6 which is quite shocking, food production must increase by 70 percent to feed the world population in 2050. The consolution is that the report went on to state that the required increase in food production can be achieved if the neccessary investment is undertaken and policies conducive to agricultural production are put in place. Looks like all is not gone, we have hope now. The world is not going to die of hunger! But hold on! Increasing food production is not enough, food security is the main cause of concern especially in rural areas. Food security is a condition where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food prefereneces for an active and healthy life. I believe that this main concern needs to be addressed alongside increasing food production. What's the point of producing lots of food volume but none of it reaches the right people which are the poor in rural areas.
This week presentations talks about the idea of GM food. In my opinion, I strongly agree with the acceptance of GM food as I believe it is a fantastic way to reduce world poverty and increase food production. Some skeptics may argue about the detrimental effects of such GM food but lets think about it. Would u rather have no food on ur table and starve to death right away or would u rather have food which COULD or COULD NOT be harmful but at least u wont starve to death. So far there's no prove of such harmful effects and it probably does not have any! Prof mentioned that there are many food we're eating now are GM food. Are we going to freak out right now and start finding out what are those GM food and avoid eating them? I believe that for those who are rich and can afford organic food, please go ahead and eat them but do not stop other people from eating GM food which are definitely much cheaper and affordable.
Rating is 7/10. I wish to see more discussion on the environmental and industrial aspect of biobusiness rather than just agribiology.
Prof Shahi kicked off the lesson with a thought provoking quote, "When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability". I fully agree with this statement that prof said. If the world continues to consume food,energy,materials,fuels and goods at the current alarming rate, it is only a matter of time the world will run out of resources to feed us humans. Prof showed us an interesting 'happy tree friends' video http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GKEAXOnogZU&feature=player_embedded showing us humans as 'PEST' that leech on Earth's resources and ruin its environment and pollutes the air, destroying Earth as a result. After we are down with Earth, we will go on to other planets and do the same. The objective of many space NASA projects to other planets is to seek useful resources for our consumption and usage. So, in order for us not to leech on Earth resources, we need to find new ways to keep our consumption sustainable for the long run. Prof gave a very interesting idea, for example if every household has this machine which you can convert biowaste into energy, how cool and effective it'll be. It'll be one of the greatest invention ever in my opinion. I believe the idea and concept is already being extensively researched but we need to make it affordable and efficient enough to churn out a high conversion rate of energy that is sufficient for our usage.
This week focus is on agribiology, biobusiness in agriculture and food. Prof shared with us this unsung hero behind Green Revolution- . His video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcwnWxy-YzU&feature=related I have never heard of this man before just like the rest of the class but after Prof talked about him, I realised he is indeed a man worthy of respect and admiration. His contribution to the world in solving world hunger is tremendous. I saw a quote in reading 6 which is quite shocking, food production must increase by 70 percent to feed the world population in 2050. The consolution is that the report went on to state that the required increase in food production can be achieved if the neccessary investment is undertaken and policies conducive to agricultural production are put in place. Looks like all is not gone, we have hope now. The world is not going to die of hunger! But hold on! Increasing food production is not enough, food security is the main cause of concern especially in rural areas. Food security is a condition where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food prefereneces for an active and healthy life. I believe that this main concern needs to be addressed alongside increasing food production. What's the point of producing lots of food volume but none of it reaches the right people which are the poor in rural areas.
This week presentations talks about the idea of GM food. In my opinion, I strongly agree with the acceptance of GM food as I believe it is a fantastic way to reduce world poverty and increase food production. Some skeptics may argue about the detrimental effects of such GM food but lets think about it. Would u rather have no food on ur table and starve to death right away or would u rather have food which COULD or COULD NOT be harmful but at least u wont starve to death. So far there's no prove of such harmful effects and it probably does not have any! Prof mentioned that there are many food we're eating now are GM food. Are we going to freak out right now and start finding out what are those GM food and avoid eating them? I believe that for those who are rich and can afford organic food, please go ahead and eat them but do not stop other people from eating GM food which are definitely much cheaper and affordable.
Rating is 7/10. I wish to see more discussion on the environmental and industrial aspect of biobusiness rather than just agribiology.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Lesson 6: Biobusiness Revolution: Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences
Hey guys! It's week 6 already, 6 weeks into Uni life and things are getting more and more hectic with mid term exam coming soon,tons of projects to do, and assignments to hand up. Ok I shall be prepared for this heavy workload in uni and just try my best and tackle it and do well in it. This week of TWC, we looked into Biobusiness. This area of technology seems foreign and complicated to me at first but it is in fact a 'big thing' in the technology field. It constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employ some 40% of the world labour force (and this is in 2001, ten yrs ago) Biobusiness just means commercial activity based on an understanding of life sciences and life science processes. Biobusiness is used in many industry sectors like the biomedical sector where u have healthcare, herbal traditional medicine where I'll talk more about it and we had a presentation on it too. There's also the food industry, environmental and industrial biobusiness and other biobusiness like nanotechnology. This week will concentrate mainly on biobusiness in healthcare. What struck me most is when prof talks about the US healthcare and he quoted that more than 70% of healthcare spending goes to the last 1 year of the people life. He even showed us an interesting video called "Sicko" where it talks all about US healthcare and how atrocious the system is. I remember watching it before last time and till now I still remember this part of it. They talk about how expensive it is to get healthcare services in US and some people even have to migrate to Canada to get their healthcare services which is much cheaper than in US. Despite the advancement of healthcare in the biobusiness industry, I feel that what is the point of this when the government and the companies are controlling the industry and making it unaffordable for people to use it. There may be lots of arguements for this, like companies need the money for their R&D so they cant sell it at a low cost. I feel that we need to work on improving the healthcare system in countries, making it affordable for people. One of the readings talk about disease management where the elderly people get involved in technology to help keep their doctors informed of their medical status and from this, they can get constant help from the doctors. Things like this is very good to improve the healthcare level in the country and countries should go towards this system. In one of the presentation, we talked about Singapore going towards such management system. I shall go into the presentations next.
This week, we had 5 presentations and they were all really good as usual, making me feel the stress and pressure because I still haven't presented. Dont worry guys, I'll try my best not to disappoint the class and definitely give it my best shot for the presentation. Priya started off presenting on the future of Singapore healthcare. I believe like Singapore, many developed countries face the problem of ageing population and this problem must be tackled before it gets too late. In her article, it talks about using technology to help solve this problem just like the disease mangement system. I believe this is possible but only if the user interface for such devices are very simple and legible to read. For example, my dad will only use phones which has easy to read interface like the iphones. When u make a call, the keypad is very legible and easy to read. Although the msging keypad seems a little small for him to read, no wonder my dad dont really use sms. Next, Jethro talks about a very interesting topic of immortality. To be honest, I find his presentation abit dull and boring however his discussion questions brightens up the class. To answer his question, in my opinion, I feel that there are many considerations for being immortal, it is very hard for me to decide on this matter. If u're immortal, you can have all the time in the world and do many many things. However, one may feel since u have so much time in ur life, life will get bored and everyday u'll just be doing nothing and wasting your time and life away.I think at this moment, I'll lean towards living my life as it is right now. The last presentation, Surbashene talks about herbal medicine and traditional medicine. To be honest, as a Chinese myself and also based on my personal experience, I have more faith in such chinese traditional medicine which may not have much medical support. I remembered I tore my calf muscle when I was serving the army. I was brought to the western way of treating it which is to do physiotherapy. After doing for sometime, I realised that the recovery is very slow and I'm getting really impatient. So, I turned to chinese medicine, I went for accupunture, massage, and chinese medicine. In the end, I recovered much faster and now Im up and running all thanks to chinese traditional medicine. I still remembered after the first session of treatment, I can already feel a great improvement in my leg and I thought to myself what a great miracle. Seriously...
Personal rating: 9/10
This week, we had 5 presentations and they were all really good as usual, making me feel the stress and pressure because I still haven't presented. Dont worry guys, I'll try my best not to disappoint the class and definitely give it my best shot for the presentation. Priya started off presenting on the future of Singapore healthcare. I believe like Singapore, many developed countries face the problem of ageing population and this problem must be tackled before it gets too late. In her article, it talks about using technology to help solve this problem just like the disease mangement system. I believe this is possible but only if the user interface for such devices are very simple and legible to read. For example, my dad will only use phones which has easy to read interface like the iphones. When u make a call, the keypad is very legible and easy to read. Although the msging keypad seems a little small for him to read, no wonder my dad dont really use sms. Next, Jethro talks about a very interesting topic of immortality. To be honest, I find his presentation abit dull and boring however his discussion questions brightens up the class. To answer his question, in my opinion, I feel that there are many considerations for being immortal, it is very hard for me to decide on this matter. If u're immortal, you can have all the time in the world and do many many things. However, one may feel since u have so much time in ur life, life will get bored and everyday u'll just be doing nothing and wasting your time and life away.I think at this moment, I'll lean towards living my life as it is right now. The last presentation, Surbashene talks about herbal medicine and traditional medicine. To be honest, as a Chinese myself and also based on my personal experience, I have more faith in such chinese traditional medicine which may not have much medical support. I remembered I tore my calf muscle when I was serving the army. I was brought to the western way of treating it which is to do physiotherapy. After doing for sometime, I realised that the recovery is very slow and I'm getting really impatient. So, I turned to chinese medicine, I went for accupunture, massage, and chinese medicine. In the end, I recovered much faster and now Im up and running all thanks to chinese traditional medicine. I still remembered after the first session of treatment, I can already feel a great improvement in my leg and I thought to myself what a great miracle. Seriously...
Personal rating: 9/10
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Lesson 5: ICT and World Change
As usual, week 5 lesson overshot the time and ended late again, making me rush like mad for my next lesson. But this is not something bad! I'm not complaining. This is in fact something good! The class always has very engaging discussion and interesting presentation such that 3hr 15mins is definitely not enough time for it. I'm begining to enjoy more and more of this Technology world change lesson. Every lesson I learnt something new and useful, about technology, about the world, about government policies and many more things.
This lesson talks about ICT and how it has changed the world or will change to world in future. One very common example of ICT is of course the Internet. The internet is a big driver of change in the world. It has brought about many possibilities and how the way we do things. From the web 1.0 where we just receive static information from the internet to web 2.0 where we can interact more with the internet through facebook,blogging etc, now we're moving on to web 3.0 where the internet can predict and knows what we want and react to it. Prof Shahi also introduced this concept of cloud computing. At first it sounds like some high tech 'dont know what is it' term, but after showing us a simple video of what it is, I have a much better understanding of it. Alot of things in the internet now we use are using cloud computing concept, it's just that we are unaware of it. For example the Google Doc where users can edit information together, just like how our TA sent us the google doc form for us to fill in our blog name. Makes it much easier for him rather than all of us sending him email n flooding his inbox.
One key takeaway message is how can these ICT help to deal poverty issues, and different issues in the world. In the slides, there's this quote "Today's real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless,free and fettered, privileged and humiliated." One interesting thing that prof mentioned is that we can relate more to the university students of other countries than the uncles and aunties in our own countries. This is true to a certain extent, because university students all uses the internet, computers, facebook, and whatever that is in the net. This way we have common topic and interest and we are sort of on the same wavelength. However, the uncles and aunties in the coffeshops do not use such technology so we do not relate much to them, creating a sort of digital divide. This is something sad but true. That's why u see parents creating facebook accounts to communicate with their children. More and more older generation people are more willing to learn how to use computers so that they can relate to the younger generation and not feel left out. More must be done in third world countries to introduce these technologies to them so that they will not feel powerless and left out. The creation of cheap less than $100 laptops is a good start to get them involved.
This week's lesson has 4 presentations. Firstly, Melissa presented on Future of television. Her presentation is very well done in my opinion with very nice powerpoint slides using mac keynote. How I wish I can just add the Aston Martin to cart.haha. Her question is regarding tablet pc compared to the traditional television. I believe that traditional television will still be neccessary because the size of tablet is too small and the viewing experience will be whole lot different than the big wide size of television. Tablet viewing is also very individualistic and selfish where u can share with ur whole family. There goes your quality family bonding session of watching tv shows tog. Next, Shaak talks about free economy and the very creative idea of 'freemium' which many companies are using now. For example, apple iphone applications where many aps are free but u can pay a premium to get better features. This idea is working out very well and I believe is the way business should go. But one problem with this is hackers can hack into the system and make freemium totally free. For example jailbreaking your iphone and u can download all the supposedly paid apps for free. One thing about technology is that there is alwys the problem of hackers. Hackers can steal people's credit card details, passwords, important information like wikileaks and etc... It is very hard to stop them despite many strict security measures. So the question is, how safe are we in today's world if everything is going online like cloud computing...
Personal rating is 10/10. Great class but I do hope we can try n end on time so I do not need to rush for my next lesson... I should prob warn my juniors next time never to put another lesson just right aft TWC. haha.
This lesson talks about ICT and how it has changed the world or will change to world in future. One very common example of ICT is of course the Internet. The internet is a big driver of change in the world. It has brought about many possibilities and how the way we do things. From the web 1.0 where we just receive static information from the internet to web 2.0 where we can interact more with the internet through facebook,blogging etc, now we're moving on to web 3.0 where the internet can predict and knows what we want and react to it. Prof Shahi also introduced this concept of cloud computing. At first it sounds like some high tech 'dont know what is it' term, but after showing us a simple video of what it is, I have a much better understanding of it. Alot of things in the internet now we use are using cloud computing concept, it's just that we are unaware of it. For example the Google Doc where users can edit information together, just like how our TA sent us the google doc form for us to fill in our blog name. Makes it much easier for him rather than all of us sending him email n flooding his inbox.
One key takeaway message is how can these ICT help to deal poverty issues, and different issues in the world. In the slides, there's this quote "Today's real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless,free and fettered, privileged and humiliated." One interesting thing that prof mentioned is that we can relate more to the university students of other countries than the uncles and aunties in our own countries. This is true to a certain extent, because university students all uses the internet, computers, facebook, and whatever that is in the net. This way we have common topic and interest and we are sort of on the same wavelength. However, the uncles and aunties in the coffeshops do not use such technology so we do not relate much to them, creating a sort of digital divide. This is something sad but true. That's why u see parents creating facebook accounts to communicate with their children. More and more older generation people are more willing to learn how to use computers so that they can relate to the younger generation and not feel left out. More must be done in third world countries to introduce these technologies to them so that they will not feel powerless and left out. The creation of cheap less than $100 laptops is a good start to get them involved.
This week's lesson has 4 presentations. Firstly, Melissa presented on Future of television. Her presentation is very well done in my opinion with very nice powerpoint slides using mac keynote. How I wish I can just add the Aston Martin to cart.haha. Her question is regarding tablet pc compared to the traditional television. I believe that traditional television will still be neccessary because the size of tablet is too small and the viewing experience will be whole lot different than the big wide size of television. Tablet viewing is also very individualistic and selfish where u can share with ur whole family. There goes your quality family bonding session of watching tv shows tog. Next, Shaak talks about free economy and the very creative idea of 'freemium' which many companies are using now. For example, apple iphone applications where many aps are free but u can pay a premium to get better features. This idea is working out very well and I believe is the way business should go. But one problem with this is hackers can hack into the system and make freemium totally free. For example jailbreaking your iphone and u can download all the supposedly paid apps for free. One thing about technology is that there is alwys the problem of hackers. Hackers can steal people's credit card details, passwords, important information like wikileaks and etc... It is very hard to stop them despite many strict security measures. So the question is, how safe are we in today's world if everything is going online like cloud computing...
Personal rating is 10/10. Great class but I do hope we can try n end on time so I do not need to rush for my next lesson... I should prob warn my juniors next time never to put another lesson just right aft TWC. haha.
Friday 9 September 2011
Individual Topical Review Paper Outline
Technology Advances in Transportation : Flying Cars
1. Specific Innovation of Interest
Flying cars which means mass produced vehicles that can be driven on the road and also take off and fly in the sky. This flying car must be practical to use and available to all public.
2. Rationale for Selecting this Innovation
This innovation will change the way people travel. Travelling time will be greatly reduced and the problem of traffic congestion which is prevalent in most cities will be solved when cars are taken to the air. With flying cars, there may not even be a need for airplanes travel. The travelling methods of people will change drastically with this revolutionary innovation.
3. Proposed Approach to Development of Paper
Executive Summary
Sitting amidst a sea of cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic on an endless expressway, have you ever daydreamed about your car taking off and flying over the road? Imagine if you could just flip a switch and unshackle yourself from the asphalt!
Traffic jams are the bane of any commuter. Many of us spend an hour or so stuck in traffic every week. The growing population is partly to blame for our congested roads, but the main problem is that we are not expanding our transportation systems fast enough to meet ever increasing demands. One solution is to create a new type of transportation that doesn't rely on roads, which could one day make traffic jams a 20th century relic. To do this, we must look to the sky.1
Background/ Introduction
Short history of flying cars
In 1917, Glenn Curtiss came out with the first flying car called 'Curtiss Autoplane'. The Autoplane never truly flew but manage to do a few short hops. In 1937, Waldo Waterman came out with the 'Arrowbile' which is a three-wheeled car powered by 100 horsepower Studebaker engine. However it did not work due to lack of funding. In 1946, Robert Fulton developed the 'Airphibian' but it did not work out due to lack of financial backing. In the 1940s, ConvAirCar was developed, a two-door sedan equipped with a detachable airplane unit. However it was not successful and crashed on its third flight. Next, Moulton Taylor invented the 'Aerocar' which was considered on of the most successful flying car to date.1
These pioneers never managed to develop a viable flying car, and some even died testing their inventions. However, they proved that a car could be built to fly, and inspired a new group of roadable aircraft enthusiasts. With advances in lightweight material, computer modeling and computer-controlled aircraft, the dream is very close to becoming reality.
Historical Perspective
Brief history of transportation
It started in about 3500BC, fixed wheels on cart are invented - the first wheeled vehicles in history. Other early wheeled vehicles include the chariot. Then in 2500BC, horses are domesticated and use for transportation. The first vehicle to move under its own power for which there is a record was designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin in 1769. From then on, cars have taken over the world by storm and it is the most widely used method of transportation today.2
Current Situation
Without automobiles in our life, we may still be riding horseback across town. We could get no where fast and there would be far less travel in the world which means far less money being made. However, with the ever increasing rate of cars on the road, traffic congestion are going to cost people time, money and many more problems. Thus, the introduction of the flying cars where people can travel in the wide airspace where traffic congestion will no longer be a problem of today.
Currently in the market, U.S. company Terrafugia developed the flying car called the Transition Roadable Light Sport Aircraft which will be manufactured by 2012, can be transformed from a car to a plane in just 30 seconds.3
Positive Arguments for Flying Cars
-Cool
-Solve traffic congestion problem
-Save time on travelling
-Aid in warfare, stealth mission and mobility of tanks
Negative Arguments for Flying Cars
-Practicality and safety issues
-Costly at first, will create a have and have-nots gap
-Security and privacy issues
-Pollution
-Better alternatives like improving public transport
References
1. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/flying-car1.htm
2. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation.htm
3. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/109522/20110207/flying-cars-terrafugia.htm
1. Specific Innovation of Interest
Flying cars which means mass produced vehicles that can be driven on the road and also take off and fly in the sky. This flying car must be practical to use and available to all public.
2. Rationale for Selecting this Innovation
This innovation will change the way people travel. Travelling time will be greatly reduced and the problem of traffic congestion which is prevalent in most cities will be solved when cars are taken to the air. With flying cars, there may not even be a need for airplanes travel. The travelling methods of people will change drastically with this revolutionary innovation.
3. Proposed Approach to Development of Paper
Executive Summary
Sitting amidst a sea of cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic on an endless expressway, have you ever daydreamed about your car taking off and flying over the road? Imagine if you could just flip a switch and unshackle yourself from the asphalt!
Traffic jams are the bane of any commuter. Many of us spend an hour or so stuck in traffic every week. The growing population is partly to blame for our congested roads, but the main problem is that we are not expanding our transportation systems fast enough to meet ever increasing demands. One solution is to create a new type of transportation that doesn't rely on roads, which could one day make traffic jams a 20th century relic. To do this, we must look to the sky.1
Background/ Introduction
Short history of flying cars
In 1917, Glenn Curtiss came out with the first flying car called 'Curtiss Autoplane'. The Autoplane never truly flew but manage to do a few short hops. In 1937, Waldo Waterman came out with the 'Arrowbile' which is a three-wheeled car powered by 100 horsepower Studebaker engine. However it did not work due to lack of funding. In 1946, Robert Fulton developed the 'Airphibian' but it did not work out due to lack of financial backing. In the 1940s, ConvAirCar was developed, a two-door sedan equipped with a detachable airplane unit. However it was not successful and crashed on its third flight. Next, Moulton Taylor invented the 'Aerocar' which was considered on of the most successful flying car to date.1
These pioneers never managed to develop a viable flying car, and some even died testing their inventions. However, they proved that a car could be built to fly, and inspired a new group of roadable aircraft enthusiasts. With advances in lightweight material, computer modeling and computer-controlled aircraft, the dream is very close to becoming reality.
Historical Perspective
Brief history of transportation
It started in about 3500BC, fixed wheels on cart are invented - the first wheeled vehicles in history. Other early wheeled vehicles include the chariot. Then in 2500BC, horses are domesticated and use for transportation. The first vehicle to move under its own power for which there is a record was designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin in 1769. From then on, cars have taken over the world by storm and it is the most widely used method of transportation today.2
Current Situation
Without automobiles in our life, we may still be riding horseback across town. We could get no where fast and there would be far less travel in the world which means far less money being made. However, with the ever increasing rate of cars on the road, traffic congestion are going to cost people time, money and many more problems. Thus, the introduction of the flying cars where people can travel in the wide airspace where traffic congestion will no longer be a problem of today.
Currently in the market, U.S. company Terrafugia developed the flying car called the Transition Roadable Light Sport Aircraft which will be manufactured by 2012, can be transformed from a car to a plane in just 30 seconds.3
Positive Arguments for Flying Cars
-Cool
-Solve traffic congestion problem
-Save time on travelling
-Aid in warfare, stealth mission and mobility of tanks
Negative Arguments for Flying Cars
-Practicality and safety issues
-Costly at first, will create a have and have-nots gap
-Security and privacy issues
-Pollution
-Better alternatives like improving public transport
References
1. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/flying-car1.htm
2. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation.htm
3. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/109522/20110207/flying-cars-terrafugia.htm
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Lesson 4: Drivers of World Change/Change management n leadership
Lesson 4 was yet another engaging lesson filled with interesting presentations from my fellow classmates. Totally enjoyed all their presentation and admire them for the great effort put in. Although I haven't presented yet, I can already sense n feel the huge amount of effort one need to put in for the presentation. So, dont worry guys, I'll do my utmost best for my presentation in week 10. Seems quite long from now but it's going to come soon...
At the start of the lesson, Prof Shahi talks about the driver of world change. There are the environmental drivers, scrientific, social, demographic and many more drivers of change in the world. I believe that globalization is a main big driver of world change. As prof mentioned, we all need to adapt to change and be the forefront of change. We cannot remain complacent and live in our own world, we need to be aware of what is going on in the world, what is changing, what is the newest trend and we have to capitalise and adjsut ourselves to the change. There are two types of change, 'Evolutionary' and ' Revolutionary' changes. Evolutionary is just a small incremental change, like improving of things. For example, the ipad did a evolutionary change to come out with ipad 2. Revolutionary change is different, it is a big destructive change, something radical. For example, the introduction of ipad,tablet pc compared to laptops. Small portable on the go size tablet doing almost all the capabilities of the traditional laptops. Smartphones are also a big revolutionary change from the past. I remember ten years ago, I had my first handphone. It was a no colour, just black n white phone which can only do the basic messaging and calling. Now, with the smartphone, we can surf the net, and do so many more functions and applications we can ever imagine. The challenge now is, what's next? What is going to be the next revolutionary change of handphones? But no matter what is the case, I'll be more than prepared to adjust myself to it. *Iphone 5 is coming out in Oct...Cant wait...haha.
The next part of the session is about Change management and Change leadership. Prof Shahi showed a very interesting video of leadership. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU7dxkIz1Vs I found the full video of it in the facebook page. This is extremely funny and interesting video about this guy dancing. The idea behind it is that the leader must step up and be daring to do things differently, revolutionary. It is not easy to get people to follow u and agree with u. But u must perserve on and continue and once people slowly understand, they'll follow u and more and more people will start to join u, just like herd mentality. I think this works the same for many inventions and innovations. At the start, it is not easy to put across ur 'radical' innovation idea but as a leader, u must have the guts and drive to carry on. It is also important that u have a wingman, someone who is like your bestman who can aid u and help to manage ur innovation idea. A leader give the vision but the manager carries out the change. In the slides, there is a Pessimism- Time Curve. When I see that graph, I find that it works the same like in a relationship. At the start of the relationship, everything is honeymoon, so u'll feel very happy n optimistic. then gradually u'll find problems with each other and u'll reach the informed pessimism stage. Then after you overcome ur problems and get to know each other more, you'll reach the informed realism and u'll slowly be on yr way to happiness. If only realationship can be happy and optimistic all the way... ok this is not related to technology world change...
This week presentations are very well done. I gave 10 points for two persons' presentations (other than the fact they are my good friends), but they gave really intriguing presentations. Deco presented first about social media. Although he speaks with an accent which I dont really catch at times, I think his efforts are still commendable. His presentation is really long. But I do agree with his points of how social media are changing the world now. Our class is using facebook as discussion and I'm writing this blog so that other people can see and comment. There's a point I would like to highlight is that businesses are using social media to promote their business and services. This is exceptionally useful for businesses especially new start ups with low capital. Sometimes on facebook, I would see my friends advertising their newly opened blog shop. With the internet and social media, businesses can be started out with very low capital, the introduction of blogshops. I believe the trend to go for business is online business. With the low start up capital and wide network of the internet, it is very conducive for business start ups. I do hope I can start my online business soon... Gan Kee Lui presented next about Energy change. Something interesting I picked up is this 'Speed Hump' idea. This is extremely cool if a car can charge up its electricity by going past a hump. Sounds like those car racing crazy games. Just wondering how would it actually work...
Personal rating for this session is 9/10 again. Great class. Look forward to the next lesson!
At the start of the lesson, Prof Shahi talks about the driver of world change. There are the environmental drivers, scrientific, social, demographic and many more drivers of change in the world. I believe that globalization is a main big driver of world change. As prof mentioned, we all need to adapt to change and be the forefront of change. We cannot remain complacent and live in our own world, we need to be aware of what is going on in the world, what is changing, what is the newest trend and we have to capitalise and adjsut ourselves to the change. There are two types of change, 'Evolutionary' and ' Revolutionary' changes. Evolutionary is just a small incremental change, like improving of things. For example, the ipad did a evolutionary change to come out with ipad 2. Revolutionary change is different, it is a big destructive change, something radical. For example, the introduction of ipad,tablet pc compared to laptops. Small portable on the go size tablet doing almost all the capabilities of the traditional laptops. Smartphones are also a big revolutionary change from the past. I remember ten years ago, I had my first handphone. It was a no colour, just black n white phone which can only do the basic messaging and calling. Now, with the smartphone, we can surf the net, and do so many more functions and applications we can ever imagine. The challenge now is, what's next? What is going to be the next revolutionary change of handphones? But no matter what is the case, I'll be more than prepared to adjust myself to it. *Iphone 5 is coming out in Oct...Cant wait...haha.
The next part of the session is about Change management and Change leadership. Prof Shahi showed a very interesting video of leadership. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU7dxkIz1Vs I found the full video of it in the facebook page. This is extremely funny and interesting video about this guy dancing. The idea behind it is that the leader must step up and be daring to do things differently, revolutionary. It is not easy to get people to follow u and agree with u. But u must perserve on and continue and once people slowly understand, they'll follow u and more and more people will start to join u, just like herd mentality. I think this works the same for many inventions and innovations. At the start, it is not easy to put across ur 'radical' innovation idea but as a leader, u must have the guts and drive to carry on. It is also important that u have a wingman, someone who is like your bestman who can aid u and help to manage ur innovation idea. A leader give the vision but the manager carries out the change. In the slides, there is a Pessimism- Time Curve. When I see that graph, I find that it works the same like in a relationship. At the start of the relationship, everything is honeymoon, so u'll feel very happy n optimistic. then gradually u'll find problems with each other and u'll reach the informed pessimism stage. Then after you overcome ur problems and get to know each other more, you'll reach the informed realism and u'll slowly be on yr way to happiness. If only realationship can be happy and optimistic all the way... ok this is not related to technology world change...
This week presentations are very well done. I gave 10 points for two persons' presentations (other than the fact they are my good friends), but they gave really intriguing presentations. Deco presented first about social media. Although he speaks with an accent which I dont really catch at times, I think his efforts are still commendable. His presentation is really long. But I do agree with his points of how social media are changing the world now. Our class is using facebook as discussion and I'm writing this blog so that other people can see and comment. There's a point I would like to highlight is that businesses are using social media to promote their business and services. This is exceptionally useful for businesses especially new start ups with low capital. Sometimes on facebook, I would see my friends advertising their newly opened blog shop. With the internet and social media, businesses can be started out with very low capital, the introduction of blogshops. I believe the trend to go for business is online business. With the low start up capital and wide network of the internet, it is very conducive for business start ups. I do hope I can start my online business soon... Gan Kee Lui presented next about Energy change. Something interesting I picked up is this 'Speed Hump' idea. This is extremely cool if a car can charge up its electricity by going past a hump. Sounds like those car racing crazy games. Just wondering how would it actually work...
Personal rating for this session is 9/10 again. Great class. Look forward to the next lesson!
Thursday 1 September 2011
Lesson 3: Sustainability and Innovation Management
This is week 3 lesson 3 into this Technology world change module. Things are getting more and more interesting with more information flooding into my head. like what prof has mentioned. this module is like "GP on steriods" I kinda agree with him on this because there are just too much information to digest and read up on. Technology is not just technical or electronic aspect of things but it is interpreted as the practical application of things in life. This broadens the scope of technology and really makes me think even harder of issues that technology caused/can cause/or can solve! Lesson 3 talks about how to make technology sustainable and how to manage the innovation process of it.
The first part of lesson 3 is on Sustainability of technology and industrial development. Prof showed us this video "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8 It talks about the way we're living our life now and using the 'linear' system is in crisis because we live in a finite planet where our resources are limited. So we have to go from "linear" to "cyclical" in the sense of recycling, biofuel technology etc. I went onto youtube and found a critic video to this "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY It is very interesting to see how the critic tear down her arguments and challenge her claims and statistics. After reading through the readings given in session 3a, I realised that the role of government is very important and essential in technology innovation. For example, in Singapore, the government is looking into the future of hybrid electronic cars. These hybrid cars are generally more expensive than the conventional petrol based cars so naturally people will not want to buy them. So the government issued out subsidies for these hybrid cars to attract more people to buy them. Without actions like this from the government, the future of hybrid cars will be gone and we'll all be stuck with using pollutive petrol based vehicles.
The second part of lesson 3b is on innovation management. I read through reading 4 which is written by Prof himself on bisbusiness landscape. The idea of the valley, summit and cloud opportunities is very interesting. I hope to be able to use this model in future and try and make cloud opportunities into summit opportunities. This is very effective when you are looking for a profitable business or enterprise to start up. Next, Prof also talked on the R-D-A translation process. When I see this model, I thought of a project meeting where many of us have many ideas and new insights to contribute but only a handful or few ideas would really work and make the project a success. Like I said, government contribution is essential in managing the innovation process. For example, the EU launch of the emissions trading program. With this program, they will give out incentives to company to do the R&D to come out with new innovations to reduce carbon emissions. Without the right incentives and government regulations, companies will just continue to pollute the atmosphere and not behave responsibly.
This week, the class has five presentations. All the presentations are very interesting and insightful. I would like to mention a few here. There is a presentation on Apple and it talks about the man behind Apple which is Steve Jobs. I believe he has done a really good job in managing Apple and giving it the right direction. I'm happily using Apple products now (iphone,ipad,macbook) and I hope to see more new products coming out from Apple. Now that, Steve Job has stepped down from Apple, the future of Apple would greatly rely on Tim cooks the new CEO which Steve Job has appointed. I really hope that he can come out with the next big thing rather than just coming out with minor improvements on products that are already in the mkt like the iphone 5, ipad 3. I'll patiently be waiting for the next i(dont know what) product that he can/will launch. But I'll still not lose faith in Apple.
Personal rating for lesson 10/10
Very interesting lesson with 5 presentations and lots of stuff to learn.
The first part of lesson 3 is on Sustainability of technology and industrial development. Prof showed us this video "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8 It talks about the way we're living our life now and using the 'linear' system is in crisis because we live in a finite planet where our resources are limited. So we have to go from "linear" to "cyclical" in the sense of recycling, biofuel technology etc. I went onto youtube and found a critic video to this "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY It is very interesting to see how the critic tear down her arguments and challenge her claims and statistics. After reading through the readings given in session 3a, I realised that the role of government is very important and essential in technology innovation. For example, in Singapore, the government is looking into the future of hybrid electronic cars. These hybrid cars are generally more expensive than the conventional petrol based cars so naturally people will not want to buy them. So the government issued out subsidies for these hybrid cars to attract more people to buy them. Without actions like this from the government, the future of hybrid cars will be gone and we'll all be stuck with using pollutive petrol based vehicles.
The second part of lesson 3b is on innovation management. I read through reading 4 which is written by Prof himself on bisbusiness landscape. The idea of the valley, summit and cloud opportunities is very interesting. I hope to be able to use this model in future and try and make cloud opportunities into summit opportunities. This is very effective when you are looking for a profitable business or enterprise to start up. Next, Prof also talked on the R-D-A translation process. When I see this model, I thought of a project meeting where many of us have many ideas and new insights to contribute but only a handful or few ideas would really work and make the project a success. Like I said, government contribution is essential in managing the innovation process. For example, the EU launch of the emissions trading program. With this program, they will give out incentives to company to do the R&D to come out with new innovations to reduce carbon emissions. Without the right incentives and government regulations, companies will just continue to pollute the atmosphere and not behave responsibly.
This week, the class has five presentations. All the presentations are very interesting and insightful. I would like to mention a few here. There is a presentation on Apple and it talks about the man behind Apple which is Steve Jobs. I believe he has done a really good job in managing Apple and giving it the right direction. I'm happily using Apple products now (iphone,ipad,macbook) and I hope to see more new products coming out from Apple. Now that, Steve Job has stepped down from Apple, the future of Apple would greatly rely on Tim cooks the new CEO which Steve Job has appointed. I really hope that he can come out with the next big thing rather than just coming out with minor improvements on products that are already in the mkt like the iphone 5, ipad 3. I'll patiently be waiting for the next i(dont know what) product that he can/will launch. But I'll still not lose faith in Apple.
Personal rating for lesson 10/10
Very interesting lesson with 5 presentations and lots of stuff to learn.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Lesson 2: Technology, society and global dominance/ Human development
The first part of the lesson started off with Prof Shahi giving us an overview and introduction explanation of Global dominance of technology. He talks about the different dimensions of global dominance, eg. Social dominance with the intro of facebook and social media...Following on, he showed us a statistic table of the world economy pattern. In the time to come, the countries that will be rich will no longer be USA, European countries. The world money will go to rising countries like India and China. There'll be a total shift and change in the world economic power. Next, he also showed us an interesting video of "the world in 7 minutes". It shows ur the evolution of technology and how it progresses at such a rapid pace. Then, the first presentation of the whole module begins with Jannah talking about "Google". The article is " is Google making us stupid" and can be found here: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/ She started off with an interesting introduction about how students will use google to search for answers to prof questions and start answering them so well. I learnt something useful for class participation from this. haha. I shall try using this next time in lessons. After listening to Janah's presentation, I have a few key takeaway points in mind. I find that google is not making us stupid but rather it is helping us and filling us with more information through its ease of use and convenient search engines. No one is born so smart to know everything in the world. We definitely need to use such services like google to seek out more information to enhance our knowledge. Most importantly, we need to know how to analyse the information given by google and put it to good use on our part. So we should embrace this wonderful technology and put it to full use.
The second part of the class talks about human development. Development has different dimensions and aspects as well. For eg. economic development is about making more money and having higher standards of living in countries. As the saying goes the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. I begin to wonder what can we do about this widening income inequality between countries. Some rich countries have people living luxuriously and having all kinds of material goods they want. however some poor countries can't even afford basic neccessities in their lives. This problem of extreme poverty needs to be adressed and we definitely need to do something about it. Prof Shahi showed us a very touching video of the "Millennium Developmet Goals" which shows the 8 goals that many countries have come together to try and achieve it in 2015. Based on the rate it is going, it is near impossible to achieve the goals by 2015. Prof Shahi then post us a thought provoking question, what can we do as our part to help achieve these goals? What do we really think is being successful in life. Is it all the money, getting a high flying career and getting all the material goods. I believe almost everyone hopes to earn big bucks and live a good life of comfortable living. However, can we still continue living our good life and be indifferent to others living in extreme poverty? It is not easy to just say yes we will solve the problems of society. The problems are very complicated and requires true dedication and commitment to solving it. I hope in future, I will be able to make a difference in the society and do my humble part to help. Maybe I can invent new technologies that can help solve the various problems of today? Technology is definitely one good way to help mankind although it can be a double edged sword and do harm to mankind too.
Meng Xin went on to do the second presentation on Singularity and Immortality. One key message she conveys is, are we still human if part of us is robot like a cyborg? This is a very tricky question and it made me think really hard about it. I believe that as long as our brains and mind are still 'humanly', we are still considered humans although different parts of our body may be robotic. Think of people right now having metal plates implanted inside them. Those people can't be considered human? Definitely not. Davinia went on to the third presentation on genetic babies. Technology has progressed so fast till we can sort of alter the genes of our babies and make them turn out how we want them to be. I still believe in the natural process of giving birth to a baby that is unmodified genetically or in any way. I just can't imagine everyone's babies to be like the same, genetically perfect. We are distinctly unique ourselves and I hope we can retain that fact.
I would rate the session 9/10. (Interesting class presentations and topics discussed in lesson)
The second part of the class talks about human development. Development has different dimensions and aspects as well. For eg. economic development is about making more money and having higher standards of living in countries. As the saying goes the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. I begin to wonder what can we do about this widening income inequality between countries. Some rich countries have people living luxuriously and having all kinds of material goods they want. however some poor countries can't even afford basic neccessities in their lives. This problem of extreme poverty needs to be adressed and we definitely need to do something about it. Prof Shahi showed us a very touching video of the "Millennium Developmet Goals" which shows the 8 goals that many countries have come together to try and achieve it in 2015. Based on the rate it is going, it is near impossible to achieve the goals by 2015. Prof Shahi then post us a thought provoking question, what can we do as our part to help achieve these goals? What do we really think is being successful in life. Is it all the money, getting a high flying career and getting all the material goods. I believe almost everyone hopes to earn big bucks and live a good life of comfortable living. However, can we still continue living our good life and be indifferent to others living in extreme poverty? It is not easy to just say yes we will solve the problems of society. The problems are very complicated and requires true dedication and commitment to solving it. I hope in future, I will be able to make a difference in the society and do my humble part to help. Maybe I can invent new technologies that can help solve the various problems of today? Technology is definitely one good way to help mankind although it can be a double edged sword and do harm to mankind too.
Meng Xin went on to do the second presentation on Singularity and Immortality. One key message she conveys is, are we still human if part of us is robot like a cyborg? This is a very tricky question and it made me think really hard about it. I believe that as long as our brains and mind are still 'humanly', we are still considered humans although different parts of our body may be robotic. Think of people right now having metal plates implanted inside them. Those people can't be considered human? Definitely not. Davinia went on to the third presentation on genetic babies. Technology has progressed so fast till we can sort of alter the genes of our babies and make them turn out how we want them to be. I still believe in the natural process of giving birth to a baby that is unmodified genetically or in any way. I just can't imagine everyone's babies to be like the same, genetically perfect. We are distinctly unique ourselves and I hope we can retain that fact.
I would rate the session 9/10. (Interesting class presentations and topics discussed in lesson)
Monday 15 August 2011
Week 1 Lesson 1: Introduction to Technology and World Change
The first lesson of technology and world change gave me an introduction of what to expect in the upcoming months of this module. Including the compulsory weekly writing of this blog which I believe is very good and effective in the sense that it sort of force us to concentrate and take in as much knowledge as we can in lesson if not we would not know what to write here. This module does not have a very rigid syllabus and definitely allows much greater room for creativity as mentioned by Prof Shahi where we are given freedom to choose our favourite topic of interest to focus on and do intensive research on. I believe this is excellent in the sense that we can score better and do well if we are doing something that interest us rather than a boring topic which we dread. This being said, I'll need to go look up on interesting topics right now to work on for my oral presentation, topical review paper and group project.
After going through the introduction phase, prof Shahi went on to show us a video of Shift happens where we are shown a video showing very interesting facts and statistics. A few interesting facts I picked up are "We are living in exponential times" and "Whatever we are learning now, half will be outdated in 2 years time" This means that technology is ever changing and it is changing at an amazing rate. We need to keep updating ourselves and keep up to it in order to gain full use of technology. We cannot let technology outpace us and make us redundant. There is another quote I would like to mention, "By 2049, a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race." This is extremely scary going by the rate how technology is progressing. Why would the world still need human talent and manpower when technology can easily replace humankind. This is a thought provoking idea that I thought of.
The second part of the lesson, Prof Shahi showed us another interesting video called "guns germs and steel". It posed us a question regarding the inequality of wealth and technology between different continents of people. Why do the white men have so much cargo than the New Guineans? The class contributed various interesting ideas. There can be many many reasons as to why is this the case, it could be due to the geographical nature of the countries. Some are better positioned with natural resources that gave them the headstart. However, I believe that what is more important is to find out what can we do to close up that gap of inequality. How can we help the New Guineans progress in wealth and technology? The problem of widening technology gap between countries is getting worse. This should not be happening although it is a blunt and obvious fact. What we can do is probably to find out what are the reasons behind this technology gap and tackle the root of the problem.
Next, Prof Shahi also showed us one more video on social media. This is extremely interesting as it is more relevant and up to date to what is happening to the world right now. If facebook were a country, it would be 3rd biggest! Right now the current trend is about social media. Facebook is worth billions of dollars and social media definitely change how businesses are operating. For eg. businesses are using such social media to reach out to their consumers and target audiences. You see so many advertisements on facebook where you are asked to 'like' it. Everyone in the class has a facebook account and uses it frequently (especially now when we have to use it to contribute to our class fb page). Few days back I came across something interesting: theres a hacker collective called Anonymous plan to take down and destroy Facebook and even stated a deadline of 5 Nov 2011. I do not know how true is this news and whether will it really happen. I really hope to see what happens on 5 Nov 2011. The question posed is how will we react if Facebook is gone forever? Things will definitely change but is it for the better or for the worst...
Personal Rating:
7/10 ( overall quite a good introduction of TWC however not much time for discussion)
After going through the introduction phase, prof Shahi went on to show us a video of Shift happens where we are shown a video showing very interesting facts and statistics. A few interesting facts I picked up are "We are living in exponential times" and "Whatever we are learning now, half will be outdated in 2 years time" This means that technology is ever changing and it is changing at an amazing rate. We need to keep updating ourselves and keep up to it in order to gain full use of technology. We cannot let technology outpace us and make us redundant. There is another quote I would like to mention, "By 2049, a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race." This is extremely scary going by the rate how technology is progressing. Why would the world still need human talent and manpower when technology can easily replace humankind. This is a thought provoking idea that I thought of.
The second part of the lesson, Prof Shahi showed us another interesting video called "guns germs and steel". It posed us a question regarding the inequality of wealth and technology between different continents of people. Why do the white men have so much cargo than the New Guineans? The class contributed various interesting ideas. There can be many many reasons as to why is this the case, it could be due to the geographical nature of the countries. Some are better positioned with natural resources that gave them the headstart. However, I believe that what is more important is to find out what can we do to close up that gap of inequality. How can we help the New Guineans progress in wealth and technology? The problem of widening technology gap between countries is getting worse. This should not be happening although it is a blunt and obvious fact. What we can do is probably to find out what are the reasons behind this technology gap and tackle the root of the problem.
Next, Prof Shahi also showed us one more video on social media. This is extremely interesting as it is more relevant and up to date to what is happening to the world right now. If facebook were a country, it would be 3rd biggest! Right now the current trend is about social media. Facebook is worth billions of dollars and social media definitely change how businesses are operating. For eg. businesses are using such social media to reach out to their consumers and target audiences. You see so many advertisements on facebook where you are asked to 'like' it. Everyone in the class has a facebook account and uses it frequently (especially now when we have to use it to contribute to our class fb page). Few days back I came across something interesting: theres a hacker collective called Anonymous plan to take down and destroy Facebook and even stated a deadline of 5 Nov 2011. I do not know how true is this news and whether will it really happen. I really hope to see what happens on 5 Nov 2011. The question posed is how will we react if Facebook is gone forever? Things will definitely change but is it for the better or for the worst...
Personal Rating:
7/10 ( overall quite a good introduction of TWC however not much time for discussion)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)