Here in Malaysia, according to the Employment Act 1955, Part 12, Section 60D(1), every employee is entitled to 10 public holidays, 4 of which must be (Agong's Birthday, Merdeka Day, Sultans Birthday & Labour day) the other 6 is at the discretion of the employer.
However, in the case of ungazetted holidays, it gets rather ambiguous.
This has happened before on 21 Oct 2010, applicable for Melaka only, when the Chief Minister declared only the day before a public holiday in conjunction with Melaka Maju Jaya, or Melaka as a developed state. See http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/21/nation/7269662&sec=nation
Oops - it happened again. This time, on a nationw-wide scale. The Prime Minister just declared 31 Dec 2010 as yet another public holiday, after Malaysia won the AFF-Suzuki Cup (for soccer). See http://football.thestar.com.my/story.asp?file=/2010/12/29/football_latest/20101229142556&sec=football_latest
The difficulty of accommodating such declarations made on with less than 24 hours notification is that to run a factory, whether or not to work or not to work, requires planning to be made well in advance.
If Production were to run, arrangements have to be made for operator transport, shift allowances and coverage, canteen support, and so on. On the other hand, if Production were NOT to run, the sudden loss in output against the plan committed earlier to the customers has to be accounted for, resulting in missed line items or on-schedule delivery.
Sigh, any experts on Industrial Relations or relevant legislation out there with some sound advice?
UPDATE [8.31AM GMT+8] : Yup, confirmed. See http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/30/nation/7704602&sec=nation
UPDATE [10.27PM GMT +8] : Hmm, as highlighted by fellow Blogger, Saint (who's blogs at http://saintsthesaint.blogspot.com/), another piece of legislation to take into consideration, the Holidays Act 1952 (section 8), states:-
Minister may appoint special days to be observed as bank or public holidays
8. The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette or in such other manner as he thinks fit, appoint, in respect of Peninsular Malaysia, or the Federal Territory or, after consultation with the State Authority, in respect of a State, a day to be observed as a public holiday or a bank holiday in addition to, or in substitution for, any of the days mentioned in the Schedules and thereupon this Act shall, in Peninsular Malaysia, or in the Federal Territory, or in the State in respect of which a day is appointed to be observed as a holiday as aforesaid, be applicable to such day in the same manner as if the said day had been mentioned in the First Schedule or the Second Schedule, as the case may be.
Update [12.34am, 13 Jan 2011] : Just to cite some real case examples:-
1. My niece was to attend her primary school "orientation" on that fateful Friday. Now, the ones who were really troubled were the school teachers, who had to answer numerous phone calls from parents who wanted to know if the event was still on or not.
2. My brother-in-law had an urgent shipment to send out, which was only ready for shipment on Friday, due in Hong Kong on Tuesday the following week. Unfortunately, the courier services were off on Friday (AFF day?), Saturday (New Year's Day), Sunday (self-explanatory). Therefore, the shipment could only go out on Monday. Had it been made known earlier that Friday was to be a holiday, he could have committed a later ETA date to the recipient in Hong Kong.
3. Somebody was on holiday and drove all the way to Penang on Thursday. Friday Holiday, shops were closed. Saturday Holiday, shops were closed. So, came back to Melaka empty-handed. (Guess who is this?).
Luckily none of us made any medical appointments on Friday, but for those who did, I guess that they had to reschedule their appointments (if you have tried to make one at a Government Hospital before, you will know sometimes we have to wait nearly a month for our turn, since there are so many people already booked to see the doctor).
The rational thing to do is to declare a public holiday perhaps in the following week. That way, people would have time to amend their schedules and plans accordingly.
My 2 cents' on 3D TV and Movies
The latest hype in the world of consumer entertainment is 3D. No, it's not that one where you buy a 3 digit lottery ticket. Rather, it's moving movies and still pictures in 3 glorious dimensions. A new dimension stepped up from the current "flat" movie screens and television sets.
Now, a bit of an introduction to "3D" technology. We perceive the world as we know it in 3D (height, width and depth) due to the fact that we have two eyes, with each eye seeing the same scene from a slightly different perspective. The average human has eyes which are around 60 to 70 mm apart. This slight distance is all it takes for the perception of depth as interpreted by our brain.
So, essentially, if you can deliver two images of the same scene with the right visual cues, the illusion of depth will be complete. The first step is to record a movie or still image from two separate locations. Obviously, the best separation distance would be around 60 to 70 mm (still remember where this distance comes from?), to mimic closely a scene as seen from a typical human observer. Now, if you were taking a still photo, you could move the camera ever so slightly to the left or right and snap again (provided nothing moves) and then you'd have the two photos for the 3D illusion. Obviously, this doesn't work for movies or when the scene is changing. To work around this, consumer electronics are just beginning to introduce dual lens cameras like the Fujifilm W3 (actually, the W1 was introduced a year ago in the middle of 2009). For the movie industry, likewise, dual lens cameras like the Ikonoskop are making their debut.
Once you have your 3D footage or pair of images, the next step would be to deliver the right image half to the correct eye (only one, not both). For this to happen, there are a couple of ways to do it:-
1. Anaglyphic 3D - these are those glasses with red on one side and cyan on the other. Without the glasses on, you'd see a double image, made up of different colors (you guessed it, one red and one cyan). With the glasses on, the red lens will filter out the red image so that that eye only sees the cyan image, and on the other side the same happens, only this time with cyan. So, putting these two together, you'll end up seeing a slightly different image with each eye, enough to fool the brain into seeing depth. Of course, while you "see" the depth, color would be somewhat off, so it's not so great for that complete wholesome experience.
2. Polarization 3D - again, some fancy glasses. This time each side is a polarization filter which only lets light waves which are of the same polarity through. You'll need a special projection screen for this to work, and once again, without the glasses you'd see a double image. At least the color would be right this time. Currently, this is the standard implementation of 3D movies, at least in the cinema that I went to recently (I'll tell you more about that experience in awhile).
3. Alternating frame sequencing 3D. The first two technologies employ the use of passive lens, they at best resemble some stylish Rayban-like shades (or at worst, can be made with some cheap cardboard frame). Alternating frame sequencing makes use of active LCD lens that take turns blacking out so that at any one moment, only one eye actually sees the screen. This has to be synchronized with the alternating image on the screen so that the correct eye sees the correct image, the images change at the correct speed and time (you don't want to see images change with the same eye) and at a high enough frequency so that the flickering becomes unnoticeable. For TV systems, PAL is at roughly 24 frames per second while NTSC is at around 29, so alternating between two eyes that require a refresh rate of at least 48 frames per second to be on par with what the NTSC system can deliver. Since this requires some power and active electronics in constant communication with the screen or display (using IR Receiver technology, so I hear....), active 3D goggles are rather bulky and much more expensive then their passive counterparts. Until the day technology has shrunk them down to the size of the visors worn by Geordi La Forge (Chief Engineer onboard the USS Enterprise - if you watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, you'd know what I'm talking about), they would be not so practical to keep on for long stretches (imaging having them on throughout the entire movie, something long like Titanic or Meet Joe Black).
4. Autostereoscopy or glass-less 3D. I'm sure you've seen those hologram stickers or toys where changing the viewing angle will cause one of two images to be displayed. The great thing is that you don't need any special glasses, but with current implementations, your head has to be EXACTLY where it should be to see the desired effect....
Prior to the "all new 3D movie experience", I've actually encountered some 3D consumer entertainment technology in the past:-
1. Omnimax theater at the Singapore Science Center - not actually 3D. However, a high definition movie projected on to the insides of a sphere (with you inside). The dome is so huge that looking up, you don't see the edges. I find the first-person view of flying in a helicopter particularly hair-raising!
2. Viewmaster - come on, I'm sure you remember this "toy", if not you must be really young. Stereo vision of stills are good enough to mimic 3D. I had this when I was a little boy, but no longer with me now, but I'm surprised to see they are still making and selling them! :)
3. T2 3-D: Battle Across Time at the Universal Studios, California. Was there a decade ago. This one's unique, as it combined live action actors and also 3D projections. I believe we were wearing polarized glasses - I was not really paying attention to the technology way back then.
So then, this brings me to my "first" 3D movie experience - The Chronicles of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Ha, ha. It only after the movie that I found out it was Dawn Treader and not Dawn Trader - wondered why they kept pronouncing "Trader" so awkwardly.... This was at the GSC Dataran Pahlawan, which was equipped to show 3D movies. Ticket prices were high, RM17 per adult (a normal 2D movie ticket would cost between RM7 to RM10, depending on the day). Brought my family there. We were given a pair of polarized glasses each, only one size regardless of child or adult. The movie started and wow, for the first 30 seconds or so, the "pop-out" effect of the opening title screen was just amazing.
For the rest of the show, I was constantly adjusting the glasses. Now, like most people these days, I wore glasses to correct short-sightedness. Now, on top of my prescription glasses I had to put on the polarized glasses, which appear to rely on ones nose to hold them up in position. Since my nose was already being used by my vision-correcting glasses, I had to really press the 3D glasses up against my face and frequently push them up when they slide down. Sigh - maybe wearing contact lenses would mitigate this small problem....
Well, after watching the movie, I summarize that the technology seems still in it's infancy. Whether the shooting technique, quality of equipment, or perhaps even where I was sitting in the theater, I feel that 3D movies, at least this one, is nothing to lose sleep and go crazy over. Sure, there are scenes where you really see the 3D in effect, but this, like all other Hollywood Wizardry, should not detract from the actual substance or story. After all, eye-candy with no real content is a sure magnet for rotten tomatoes.
So, do I plan to patronize a 3D cinema again? Honestly, NO. Until the technology has evolved to make it a distinct and truly distinct experience, I don't see it just to pay more just to watch the same movie in "3D". Note, I am not against new technology - just that I'd rather indulge in mature, functional technology, rather than become a bleeding-edge beta tester (especially if something doesn't quite work as intended).
UPDATE [8.32AM, 7 Jan 2011, GMT+8] : Hmm, apparently, things haven't been living up to the expectations of the 3D TV manufacturers. Samsung Electronics Co. estimates 1 million 3-D sets were sold in the U.S in 2010, far short of its initial estimate of 3 million to 4 million - this was attributed to expensive and bulky 3D goggles. So, the strategy for 2011 will be to push for lighter / cheaper passive glasses and at the same time research on possible goggle-less technology. Source : http://ca.news.yahoo.com/tv-makers-address-slow-sales-3d-tv-sets-20110105-102253-781.html
UPDATE [11.37PM, 12 Jan 2011, GMT+8] : Vishay Intertechnology, a manufacturer of IR Receiver modules, among other things, has added a "Webinar" onto it's website at http://www.vishay.com/landingpage/videos/opto_webinar_3d.html which describes in detail how IR Receivers are used in active 3D goggles (see Alternative Frame Sequencing 3D above).
UPDATE [12 Mar 2011] : The war between protagonists of active shutter glasses versus passive ones heats up as Samsung, Panasonic and Sony square off against LG, Vizio, Sony and Philips. http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/11/lg-woos-sony-while-it-battles-with-samsung-over-which-3d-is-best/
Now, a bit of an introduction to "3D" technology. We perceive the world as we know it in 3D (height, width and depth) due to the fact that we have two eyes, with each eye seeing the same scene from a slightly different perspective. The average human has eyes which are around 60 to 70 mm apart. This slight distance is all it takes for the perception of depth as interpreted by our brain.
So, essentially, if you can deliver two images of the same scene with the right visual cues, the illusion of depth will be complete. The first step is to record a movie or still image from two separate locations. Obviously, the best separation distance would be around 60 to 70 mm (still remember where this distance comes from?), to mimic closely a scene as seen from a typical human observer. Now, if you were taking a still photo, you could move the camera ever so slightly to the left or right and snap again (provided nothing moves) and then you'd have the two photos for the 3D illusion. Obviously, this doesn't work for movies or when the scene is changing. To work around this, consumer electronics are just beginning to introduce dual lens cameras like the Fujifilm W3 (actually, the W1 was introduced a year ago in the middle of 2009). For the movie industry, likewise, dual lens cameras like the Ikonoskop are making their debut.
Once you have your 3D footage or pair of images, the next step would be to deliver the right image half to the correct eye (only one, not both). For this to happen, there are a couple of ways to do it:-
1. Anaglyphic 3D - these are those glasses with red on one side and cyan on the other. Without the glasses on, you'd see a double image, made up of different colors (you guessed it, one red and one cyan). With the glasses on, the red lens will filter out the red image so that that eye only sees the cyan image, and on the other side the same happens, only this time with cyan. So, putting these two together, you'll end up seeing a slightly different image with each eye, enough to fool the brain into seeing depth. Of course, while you "see" the depth, color would be somewhat off, so it's not so great for that complete wholesome experience.
2. Polarization 3D - again, some fancy glasses. This time each side is a polarization filter which only lets light waves which are of the same polarity through. You'll need a special projection screen for this to work, and once again, without the glasses you'd see a double image. At least the color would be right this time. Currently, this is the standard implementation of 3D movies, at least in the cinema that I went to recently (I'll tell you more about that experience in awhile).
3. Alternating frame sequencing 3D. The first two technologies employ the use of passive lens, they at best resemble some stylish Rayban-like shades (or at worst, can be made with some cheap cardboard frame). Alternating frame sequencing makes use of active LCD lens that take turns blacking out so that at any one moment, only one eye actually sees the screen. This has to be synchronized with the alternating image on the screen so that the correct eye sees the correct image, the images change at the correct speed and time (you don't want to see images change with the same eye) and at a high enough frequency so that the flickering becomes unnoticeable. For TV systems, PAL is at roughly 24 frames per second while NTSC is at around 29, so alternating between two eyes that require a refresh rate of at least 48 frames per second to be on par with what the NTSC system can deliver. Since this requires some power and active electronics in constant communication with the screen or display (using IR Receiver technology, so I hear....), active 3D goggles are rather bulky and much more expensive then their passive counterparts. Until the day technology has shrunk them down to the size of the visors worn by Geordi La Forge (Chief Engineer onboard the USS Enterprise - if you watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, you'd know what I'm talking about), they would be not so practical to keep on for long stretches (imaging having them on throughout the entire movie, something long like Titanic or Meet Joe Black).
4. Autostereoscopy or glass-less 3D. I'm sure you've seen those hologram stickers or toys where changing the viewing angle will cause one of two images to be displayed. The great thing is that you don't need any special glasses, but with current implementations, your head has to be EXACTLY where it should be to see the desired effect....
Prior to the "all new 3D movie experience", I've actually encountered some 3D consumer entertainment technology in the past:-
1. Omnimax theater at the Singapore Science Center - not actually 3D. However, a high definition movie projected on to the insides of a sphere (with you inside). The dome is so huge that looking up, you don't see the edges. I find the first-person view of flying in a helicopter particularly hair-raising!
2. Viewmaster - come on, I'm sure you remember this "toy", if not you must be really young. Stereo vision of stills are good enough to mimic 3D. I had this when I was a little boy, but no longer with me now, but I'm surprised to see they are still making and selling them! :)
3. T2 3-D: Battle Across Time at the Universal Studios, California. Was there a decade ago. This one's unique, as it combined live action actors and also 3D projections. I believe we were wearing polarized glasses - I was not really paying attention to the technology way back then.
So then, this brings me to my "first" 3D movie experience - The Chronicles of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Ha, ha. It only after the movie that I found out it was Dawn Treader and not Dawn Trader - wondered why they kept pronouncing "Trader" so awkwardly.... This was at the GSC Dataran Pahlawan, which was equipped to show 3D movies. Ticket prices were high, RM17 per adult (a normal 2D movie ticket would cost between RM7 to RM10, depending on the day). Brought my family there. We were given a pair of polarized glasses each, only one size regardless of child or adult. The movie started and wow, for the first 30 seconds or so, the "pop-out" effect of the opening title screen was just amazing.
For the rest of the show, I was constantly adjusting the glasses. Now, like most people these days, I wore glasses to correct short-sightedness. Now, on top of my prescription glasses I had to put on the polarized glasses, which appear to rely on ones nose to hold them up in position. Since my nose was already being used by my vision-correcting glasses, I had to really press the 3D glasses up against my face and frequently push them up when they slide down. Sigh - maybe wearing contact lenses would mitigate this small problem....
Well, after watching the movie, I summarize that the technology seems still in it's infancy. Whether the shooting technique, quality of equipment, or perhaps even where I was sitting in the theater, I feel that 3D movies, at least this one, is nothing to lose sleep and go crazy over. Sure, there are scenes where you really see the 3D in effect, but this, like all other Hollywood Wizardry, should not detract from the actual substance or story. After all, eye-candy with no real content is a sure magnet for rotten tomatoes.
So, do I plan to patronize a 3D cinema again? Honestly, NO. Until the technology has evolved to make it a distinct and truly distinct experience, I don't see it just to pay more just to watch the same movie in "3D". Note, I am not against new technology - just that I'd rather indulge in mature, functional technology, rather than become a bleeding-edge beta tester (especially if something doesn't quite work as intended).
UPDATE [8.32AM, 7 Jan 2011, GMT+8] : Hmm, apparently, things haven't been living up to the expectations of the 3D TV manufacturers. Samsung Electronics Co. estimates 1 million 3-D sets were sold in the U.S in 2010, far short of its initial estimate of 3 million to 4 million - this was attributed to expensive and bulky 3D goggles. So, the strategy for 2011 will be to push for lighter / cheaper passive glasses and at the same time research on possible goggle-less technology. Source : http://ca.news.yahoo.com/tv-makers-address-slow-sales-3d-tv-sets-20110105-102253-781.html
UPDATE [11.37PM, 12 Jan 2011, GMT+8] : Vishay Intertechnology, a manufacturer of IR Receiver modules, among other things, has added a "Webinar" onto it's website at http://www.vishay.com/landingpage/videos/opto_webinar_3d.html which describes in detail how IR Receivers are used in active 3D goggles (see Alternative Frame Sequencing 3D above).
UPDATE [12 Mar 2011] : The war between protagonists of active shutter glasses versus passive ones heats up as Samsung, Panasonic and Sony square off against LG, Vizio, Sony and Philips. http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/11/lg-woos-sony-while-it-battles-with-samsung-over-which-3d-is-best/
To Tweet or To Blog - that is the Question
Can Tweeting / micro-blogging truly be the next "In" thing that is set (perhaps it already has) relegated blogging to the "Has Been" category along with the Sony Walkman and the Floppy Disk?
For the uninitiated, the word "Blog" is the result of putting the words "Web" (as in World Wide Web a.k.a. Internet) and "Log" (as in journal. Think "Captain's Log" from Star Trek). Of course, when you do that, you end up with "Weblog" which over time, gets shortened to "Blog".
Other shortened words include:-
1. "Telephone" to "Phone" - 44% reduction
2. "Refrigerator" to "Fridge" - 50% reduction
3. "Influenza" to "Flu" - 67% reduction
4. "Gymnasium" to "Gym" - 67% reduction
5. "Advertisement" to "Ad" - 85% reduction
Hmm, I wonder if one day, Twitter will get shortened to Twit (or Tweet as the current verb for Twitter)...? :)
While blog is a common verb, tweet, on the other hand, is the act of making a post on Twitter, just one of a few micro-blogging services. Sites like Facebook calls them "Status Updates". For the sake of simplicity, I'll use the term tweet in general for the rest of this article.
A blog post is limited only by the writing ability of the author, and the particular system architecture of the CMS (Content Management Software) or Blog Host used. Just like websites, blogs require a host system and supporting software, which can be paid for or part of a free service offered by the likes of Multiply or Blogger / Blogspot. Of course, free blogs have their own particular restrictions, like space limits (especially for hosting attached photos) and ads everywhere. Regardless of the form, the emphasis of any blog post should be the content. Typically, there are several genres of blogs, from personal blogs that serve as online diaries, to corporate blogs which dish out news especially regarding new products and services.
Writing a blog does require some planning and structuring, just like writing an article for journal / newspaper. While not as formal as, say, an Engineering Report, a blog entry should be well written and properly checked before publishing (unless you have a niche reader base with special tastes). Shoddy writing, typo errors and spelling mistakes are best avoided if the author is to give a good impression to a potential reader base. Of course, one problem here is if a blog post gets too long, so if a post starts to resemble the Lord of the Rings saga, consider splitting it into several parts instead of posting a online novel.
Blogging can be spontaneous, but is best to hold back and do some thorough research on the subject matter. And of course, if time permits, some proof-reading and sanity checks should be done before hitting the "publish button". There are some offline blog editors available (unfortunately, nothing that works with Multiply) but in a pinch, as I'm doing now, you can type into Notepad and cut-and-paste it later.
One problem with blogging is that one can get too carried away. In general, besides the online privacy bit, certain sensitive information should not be posted on a blog, even though it's restricted to friends only (accounts can and do get hacked from time to time).
Micro-blogging, on the other hand, is in essence a one-liner or series of one-liners, that are best for conversation or news. For conversation, as in real life, it makes sense if replies are in real-time. For instance, reading a tweet "I'm at McDonald's now, anyone want to join me?" from last night would have very little value to me (unless I'm interested to know what you ate last night). It works best if you have practically have a real-time 24-hour internet connection, so that tweets come in and go out in, well, real-time. Good business for those telecoms providers....
Great too if you have something happening that is worth reporting as it happens (sports events make great tweets). As good as listening to the game on the radio. Of course, you can listen to the radio while driving but not follow tweets (this is a free public safety announcement, don't tweet and drive). Other than that, for the average Joe like myself, life is relatively dull and monotonous (living safely is sometimes boring), so often there's not enough going on to generate some good tweeting traffic. Better to add value than to spawn streams of spam....
Micro-blogging posts are text-only with a strict 140 character limit. This limit was originally introduced for compatibility with SMS messaging. Though these days while you can string a few SMS-es together to form a complete longer SMS, I'm not sure if the micro-blogging architecture can facilitate this.
With a maximum of only 140 character limit per tweet is that one liners on their own can be extremely misleading. If one has a wild imagination, or makes assumptions, an innocent "tweet" can be misconstrued to one with malicious intent. I cite here a real case where a Malaysian politician caused quite a stir when he tweeted "OMG! Real culprit freed", which coincided with some other real life event. Apparently, he was referring to a character in a Chinese movie that he was watching 14 Blades (Jin Yi Wei). Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/12/nation/20100812165411&sec=nation
My pet peeve with micro-blogging, same as with SMS, it the atrocious amount of shortening that is done, just to keep messages "under the limit". While there are some legitimate means to cut down on the clutter when it comes to posting URL's (like TinyURL, for example), there is no mercy when it comes to the rest of the English language.
To illustrate my point, how many seconds does it take you to read the following? : "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."
I'm not sure if "young people" these days find this normal and acceptable (perhaps another sign that I am getting old). Back in those days, it was the Queen's English, as thought by my English teachers (Puan Talha, Mrs Segaran, Ms Janet Low(or was it Loh?) and "Auntie" June Yong - did I miss out anyone?). Isn't it ironic that, these days, people are complaining about the declining standard of English, and at the same time push to embrace "bleeding edge" technology which steer us in the opposite direction?
Well, in short, blogging is suitable for writing articles, reports and journals to tell tales of travels, breaking news and / or of trivial things. With all means of text formatting and inline pictures to augment it.
Micro-blogging, as I see it, would be more suitable for real-time communication (as it's namesake "SMS of the Internet" implies), or if you have some good one-liners (streaming loads of them, less you leave your "followers" hanging dry). With a real-time internet connection that is (as some of the telecoms plans these days seem to bank on).
Call me old-school / dinosaur, but I think I'll stick to blogging for the time being, at least until my kids are old enough to carry on the online legacy (and maybe spark off the next evolution - who knows what new technology will pop out in 10 years' time?).
By the way, have you figured out how to read the "SMS text" 5 paragraphs above this one yet? Here's the full message, in the Queen's English : "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place." (I got it from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2814235.stm) :)
For the uninitiated, the word "Blog" is the result of putting the words "Web" (as in World Wide Web a.k.a. Internet) and "Log" (as in journal. Think "Captain's Log" from Star Trek). Of course, when you do that, you end up with "Weblog" which over time, gets shortened to "Blog".
Other shortened words include:-
1. "Telephone" to "Phone" - 44% reduction
2. "Refrigerator" to "Fridge" - 50% reduction
3. "Influenza" to "Flu" - 67% reduction
4. "Gymnasium" to "Gym" - 67% reduction
5. "Advertisement" to "Ad" - 85% reduction
Hmm, I wonder if one day, Twitter will get shortened to Twit (or Tweet as the current verb for Twitter)...? :)
While blog is a common verb, tweet, on the other hand, is the act of making a post on Twitter, just one of a few micro-blogging services. Sites like Facebook calls them "Status Updates". For the sake of simplicity, I'll use the term tweet in general for the rest of this article.
A blog post is limited only by the writing ability of the author, and the particular system architecture of the CMS (Content Management Software) or Blog Host used. Just like websites, blogs require a host system and supporting software, which can be paid for or part of a free service offered by the likes of Multiply or Blogger / Blogspot. Of course, free blogs have their own particular restrictions, like space limits (especially for hosting attached photos) and ads everywhere. Regardless of the form, the emphasis of any blog post should be the content. Typically, there are several genres of blogs, from personal blogs that serve as online diaries, to corporate blogs which dish out news especially regarding new products and services.
Writing a blog does require some planning and structuring, just like writing an article for journal / newspaper. While not as formal as, say, an Engineering Report, a blog entry should be well written and properly checked before publishing (unless you have a niche reader base with special tastes). Shoddy writing, typo errors and spelling mistakes are best avoided if the author is to give a good impression to a potential reader base. Of course, one problem here is if a blog post gets too long, so if a post starts to resemble the Lord of the Rings saga, consider splitting it into several parts instead of posting a online novel.
Blogging can be spontaneous, but is best to hold back and do some thorough research on the subject matter. And of course, if time permits, some proof-reading and sanity checks should be done before hitting the "publish button". There are some offline blog editors available (unfortunately, nothing that works with Multiply) but in a pinch, as I'm doing now, you can type into Notepad and cut-and-paste it later.
One problem with blogging is that one can get too carried away. In general, besides the online privacy bit, certain sensitive information should not be posted on a blog, even though it's restricted to friends only (accounts can and do get hacked from time to time).
Micro-blogging, on the other hand, is in essence a one-liner or series of one-liners, that are best for conversation or news. For conversation, as in real life, it makes sense if replies are in real-time. For instance, reading a tweet "I'm at McDonald's now, anyone want to join me?" from last night would have very little value to me (unless I'm interested to know what you ate last night). It works best if you have practically have a real-time 24-hour internet connection, so that tweets come in and go out in, well, real-time. Good business for those telecoms providers....
Great too if you have something happening that is worth reporting as it happens (sports events make great tweets). As good as listening to the game on the radio. Of course, you can listen to the radio while driving but not follow tweets (this is a free public safety announcement, don't tweet and drive). Other than that, for the average Joe like myself, life is relatively dull and monotonous (living safely is sometimes boring), so often there's not enough going on to generate some good tweeting traffic. Better to add value than to spawn streams of spam....
Micro-blogging posts are text-only with a strict 140 character limit. This limit was originally introduced for compatibility with SMS messaging. Though these days while you can string a few SMS-es together to form a complete longer SMS, I'm not sure if the micro-blogging architecture can facilitate this.
With a maximum of only 140 character limit per tweet is that one liners on their own can be extremely misleading. If one has a wild imagination, or makes assumptions, an innocent "tweet" can be misconstrued to one with malicious intent. I cite here a real case where a Malaysian politician caused quite a stir when he tweeted "OMG! Real culprit freed", which coincided with some other real life event. Apparently, he was referring to a character in a Chinese movie that he was watching 14 Blades (Jin Yi Wei). Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/12/nation/20100812165411&sec=nation
My pet peeve with micro-blogging, same as with SMS, it the atrocious amount of shortening that is done, just to keep messages "under the limit". While there are some legitimate means to cut down on the clutter when it comes to posting URL's (like TinyURL, for example), there is no mercy when it comes to the rest of the English language.
To illustrate my point, how many seconds does it take you to read the following? : "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."
I'm not sure if "young people" these days find this normal and acceptable (perhaps another sign that I am getting old). Back in those days, it was the Queen's English, as thought by my English teachers (Puan Talha, Mrs Segaran, Ms Janet Low(or was it Loh?) and "Auntie" June Yong - did I miss out anyone?). Isn't it ironic that, these days, people are complaining about the declining standard of English, and at the same time push to embrace "bleeding edge" technology which steer us in the opposite direction?
Well, in short, blogging is suitable for writing articles, reports and journals to tell tales of travels, breaking news and / or of trivial things. With all means of text formatting and inline pictures to augment it.
Micro-blogging, as I see it, would be more suitable for real-time communication (as it's namesake "SMS of the Internet" implies), or if you have some good one-liners (streaming loads of them, less you leave your "followers" hanging dry). With a real-time internet connection that is (as some of the telecoms plans these days seem to bank on).
Call me old-school / dinosaur, but I think I'll stick to blogging for the time being, at least until my kids are old enough to carry on the online legacy (and maybe spark off the next evolution - who knows what new technology will pop out in 10 years' time?).
By the way, have you figured out how to read the "SMS text" 5 paragraphs above this one yet? Here's the full message, in the Queen's English : "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place." (I got it from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2814235.stm) :)
Farewell to Chung KP (Extremely Belated)
Ha,ha - For those who are reading this and wondering, "hey, didn't he leave like 2 months ago?", you are absolutely right. Talk about extremely belated farewells....
Well, for support group staff, sometimes someone does their job so well that you hardly ever need to contact them. Either that or you're not fully using the system. Well, in any case, in the almost 9 years that Chung KP has been with the company, the only memory of me asking for "tech support" from him is concerning some labeling - a relatively trivial matter to contend with.
Sometime in the beginning of November (NEARLY 2 months ago), we had a farewell lunch for Chung at the Chinese Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel (we used to call it the Ramada Hotel many years ago). Astonishingly, they offered a Dim Sum buffet lunch (call them before hand to book though). That's an all-you-can-eat Dim Sum lunch, to be more specific.
Present was practically the entire staff of the IT department, with some HR, Finance and other guys (I fall in this category).
After the lunch and a short, short speech, NK presented Chung with a souvenir, which turn out to be none other than a laptop bag (befitting of the real IT guy - sans laptop, of course).
After that was the usual photo taking session, before shaking hands and bidding our farewells.
In his exit e-mail (sort of a tradition for those of us leaving the company), Chung wrote it short and witty, complete with an 8 point FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) too! :)
Well, with so many things going on, I never really got a lead on where he'd be headed off to. At least I don't hear standard cliche for leaving the company to "further studies" any more!
Well, for support group staff, sometimes someone does their job so well that you hardly ever need to contact them. Either that or you're not fully using the system. Well, in any case, in the almost 9 years that Chung KP has been with the company, the only memory of me asking for "tech support" from him is concerning some labeling - a relatively trivial matter to contend with.
Sometime in the beginning of November (NEARLY 2 months ago), we had a farewell lunch for Chung at the Chinese Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel (we used to call it the Ramada Hotel many years ago). Astonishingly, they offered a Dim Sum buffet lunch (call them before hand to book though). That's an all-you-can-eat Dim Sum lunch, to be more specific.
Present was practically the entire staff of the IT department, with some HR, Finance and other guys (I fall in this category).
After the lunch and a short, short speech, NK presented Chung with a souvenir, which turn out to be none other than a laptop bag (befitting of the real IT guy - sans laptop, of course).
After that was the usual photo taking session, before shaking hands and bidding our farewells.
In his exit e-mail (sort of a tradition for those of us leaving the company), Chung wrote it short and witty, complete with an 8 point FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) too! :)
Well, with so many things going on, I never really got a lead on where he'd be headed off to. At least I don't hear standard cliche for leaving the company to "further studies" any more!
Check or Checkmate - doing things with the end in mind
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the terminology taken from one of the greatest board games of all times, Chess, basically:-
Check - to directly attack the enemy King.
Checkmate - same as above, except there is no escape. In other words, GAME OVER.
In the game of chess, the only way to win the game is to Checkmate the other player's King. It doesn't matter if you have more pieces remaining, or if you cumulatively say "check" more times than your entire restaurant-going life.
Before this gets too abstract to non-chess players, let's bring back the analogy to our everyday life. Suppose an important job, task or project is like a chess game, where each move you make represents your steps or activities. Likewise, each move your "opponent" makes is a challenge or problem that gets in the way of success. Actually, even doing "nothing" is an obstacle, which can lead to delay of a project (if you've done any project management work, you'd know that the cost of delay can sometimes rack up big bucks and earn the wrath of the stakeholders).
Now, in an ideal world, there would be all the resources and time in the world to explore each and every possible action (even if the action has absolutely no contribution towards the actual goal). In an ideal world. In other words, not in the REAL world....
In the real world, time is limited (remember the schedule or deadline that they ask for BEFORE you actually start working on something?). Every action that needs to be taken takes time and money. And again, budget is limited. To work on something (at least now in the 21st century), some humans need to work on it. The number of people in the team are limited. Therefore, just like if you ended up shipwrecked on a deserted island with two matchsticks and a can of tune, you will have to make the best of the given situation with the limited resources that you have in hand.
Particularly susceptible to "defocusing" are:-
1. The Clueless - these are the people who haven't the faintest idea what to do, and don't know how to go about finding out what to do first. Those who swear by carpet-bombing or "one policy to suit everyone" usually fall into this category - just fire away and hope for the best! When you're lost, consider getting help from the team, or someone with more experience. That's what teams are for - the whole is greater than the sum of its' parts!
2. The Perfectionist - getting things done is never enough. It's getting things done perfectly that matters the most to these guys. Often guilty are those who take great pains and pride in writing flawless reports and those who "reverse-engineer" simple projects so that they conform to some pre-defined project management template (Six Sigma, APQP). Sometimes, if you're working on a product, and won't release it to market until it is perfect, you will end up never releasing the product at all.
3. The Paranoid - the strange nature of things is that every new solution that comes up will give rise to several new problems. Another reason to keep things short and simple. Just to illustrate, putting more electronics into cars these days seem to give rise to more car problems that before when cars were more mechanical than electronic gizmos.... :) Just like a chess player that sees a couple of possible moves ahead (again, sorry to those who don't play chess), the paranoid guy will put in great effort to solve problems that arise as the result of solutions that have not been implemented yet (got that?). There is a difference between accounting for something that may indeed happen (like putting in more life boats on the Titanic) and spending time to safeguard against something that would probably happen only when all nine planets are in alignment (or maybe in the latest Michael Bay movie).
4. The R&D guy - ironically, those who really like to learn new things are the ones who are guilty of this sin of scope creep. As the saying somewhat goes, there is never a wrong way of doing something, you are just getting a different result from expected. The R&D guy would really like to map out, for every input(s) what are the output(s). At times, the learning potential from a given situation may overshadow the actual desired outcome itself (excuse is, unused results will surely come in handy someday).
Remember that in the end, the end result is what really matters. It doesn't mean doing things the long, hard way won't yield the same results - it just wastes precious limited resources that are better spent on other projects.
Hence, at the start of any project, the important thing is to define a S.M.A.R.T. goal (that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). If a goal is missing one of the five S.M.A.R.T. attributes, the goal will be ambiguous and open to free interpretation (which can lead to scope creep, misunderstandings and disputes). Once the end result or desired outcome is clear, map out the required steps that will systematically lead the project closer to completion. For each step, ask, how will this step contribute towards the overall goal. What if we skip this step, can we still accomplish our goal? If the answers give a clear indication, don't hesitate to redeploy your resources accordingly.
With each step, especially when doing evaluations, or feasibility studies, the outcome of a particular step may yield some useful insight that may change the course of previously defined steps, or even the entire remains of the project! If such a turning point has appeared, immediately take action to re-plan the project, in light of recent developments. This flexibility is essential to respond to the dynamic nature of things (in my years of project management, seldom does a project plan execute exactly as per its first draft!).
This simple agreement can be applied not only to managing epic project of gargantuan proportions, but to mundane, everyday tasks, such as:-
1. Driving to a particular destination. You don't just get into your car and drive. Essentially, plan the route that you're going to take, if other short trips on the way can be combined, and be prepared to reroute on the fly if there's a nasty traffic jam or road closure.
2. Shopping. Unless you're looking for an excuse to spend your hard earned income, before you go shopping, always make a list of what you plan to buy. This will curb "impulse buying" which will result in a large inventory of less-used items (a nicer description of items which you use less!). You'd be amazed how much time can be saved if you have an organized shopping list (especially nice in places where they charge parking by the hour). Of course, a back-up plan in case something you want to buy is out of stock.
3. Career. To get a job or get a better job, you should plan where it is exactly you want to be heading. Realistically (remember the R in S.M.A.R.T.). Knowing where you want to be would help you plan the steps that need to be taken to get there. Of course, don't forget that there is the Circle of Concern, and the Circle of Influence (that you should focus on, because the rest outside is really beyond your control). So, you want to get to a higher level but all posts are filled, don't focus on something you can't influence (you can't make the people there disappear so you can get promoted). Instead, you can source for an opportunity elsewhere. If you need to build up experience in a certain field, say, Safety, then plan to involve in Safety-related activities, accident-investigations, first aid training. In such a scenario, going for training on ESD or Six Sigma would not be contributing to the end as initially envisioned.
Well, enough said on the subject matter, which I first heard from my ex-boss a couple of years ago. Sounded simple, but then again, life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated (quote from Confucius)!
Check - to directly attack the enemy King.
Checkmate - same as above, except there is no escape. In other words, GAME OVER.
In the game of chess, the only way to win the game is to Checkmate the other player's King. It doesn't matter if you have more pieces remaining, or if you cumulatively say "check" more times than your entire restaurant-going life.
Before this gets too abstract to non-chess players, let's bring back the analogy to our everyday life. Suppose an important job, task or project is like a chess game, where each move you make represents your steps or activities. Likewise, each move your "opponent" makes is a challenge or problem that gets in the way of success. Actually, even doing "nothing" is an obstacle, which can lead to delay of a project (if you've done any project management work, you'd know that the cost of delay can sometimes rack up big bucks and earn the wrath of the stakeholders).
Now, in an ideal world, there would be all the resources and time in the world to explore each and every possible action (even if the action has absolutely no contribution towards the actual goal). In an ideal world. In other words, not in the REAL world....
In the real world, time is limited (remember the schedule or deadline that they ask for BEFORE you actually start working on something?). Every action that needs to be taken takes time and money. And again, budget is limited. To work on something (at least now in the 21st century), some humans need to work on it. The number of people in the team are limited. Therefore, just like if you ended up shipwrecked on a deserted island with two matchsticks and a can of tune, you will have to make the best of the given situation with the limited resources that you have in hand.
Particularly susceptible to "defocusing" are:-
1. The Clueless - these are the people who haven't the faintest idea what to do, and don't know how to go about finding out what to do first. Those who swear by carpet-bombing or "one policy to suit everyone" usually fall into this category - just fire away and hope for the best! When you're lost, consider getting help from the team, or someone with more experience. That's what teams are for - the whole is greater than the sum of its' parts!
2. The Perfectionist - getting things done is never enough. It's getting things done perfectly that matters the most to these guys. Often guilty are those who take great pains and pride in writing flawless reports and those who "reverse-engineer" simple projects so that they conform to some pre-defined project management template (Six Sigma, APQP). Sometimes, if you're working on a product, and won't release it to market until it is perfect, you will end up never releasing the product at all.
3. The Paranoid - the strange nature of things is that every new solution that comes up will give rise to several new problems. Another reason to keep things short and simple. Just to illustrate, putting more electronics into cars these days seem to give rise to more car problems that before when cars were more mechanical than electronic gizmos.... :) Just like a chess player that sees a couple of possible moves ahead (again, sorry to those who don't play chess), the paranoid guy will put in great effort to solve problems that arise as the result of solutions that have not been implemented yet (got that?). There is a difference between accounting for something that may indeed happen (like putting in more life boats on the Titanic) and spending time to safeguard against something that would probably happen only when all nine planets are in alignment (or maybe in the latest Michael Bay movie).
4. The R&D guy - ironically, those who really like to learn new things are the ones who are guilty of this sin of scope creep. As the saying somewhat goes, there is never a wrong way of doing something, you are just getting a different result from expected. The R&D guy would really like to map out, for every input(s) what are the output(s). At times, the learning potential from a given situation may overshadow the actual desired outcome itself (excuse is, unused results will surely come in handy someday).
Remember that in the end, the end result is what really matters. It doesn't mean doing things the long, hard way won't yield the same results - it just wastes precious limited resources that are better spent on other projects.
Hence, at the start of any project, the important thing is to define a S.M.A.R.T. goal (that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). If a goal is missing one of the five S.M.A.R.T. attributes, the goal will be ambiguous and open to free interpretation (which can lead to scope creep, misunderstandings and disputes). Once the end result or desired outcome is clear, map out the required steps that will systematically lead the project closer to completion. For each step, ask, how will this step contribute towards the overall goal. What if we skip this step, can we still accomplish our goal? If the answers give a clear indication, don't hesitate to redeploy your resources accordingly.
With each step, especially when doing evaluations, or feasibility studies, the outcome of a particular step may yield some useful insight that may change the course of previously defined steps, or even the entire remains of the project! If such a turning point has appeared, immediately take action to re-plan the project, in light of recent developments. This flexibility is essential to respond to the dynamic nature of things (in my years of project management, seldom does a project plan execute exactly as per its first draft!).
This simple agreement can be applied not only to managing epic project of gargantuan proportions, but to mundane, everyday tasks, such as:-
1. Driving to a particular destination. You don't just get into your car and drive. Essentially, plan the route that you're going to take, if other short trips on the way can be combined, and be prepared to reroute on the fly if there's a nasty traffic jam or road closure.
2. Shopping. Unless you're looking for an excuse to spend your hard earned income, before you go shopping, always make a list of what you plan to buy. This will curb "impulse buying" which will result in a large inventory of less-used items (a nicer description of items which you use less!). You'd be amazed how much time can be saved if you have an organized shopping list (especially nice in places where they charge parking by the hour). Of course, a back-up plan in case something you want to buy is out of stock.
3. Career. To get a job or get a better job, you should plan where it is exactly you want to be heading. Realistically (remember the R in S.M.A.R.T.). Knowing where you want to be would help you plan the steps that need to be taken to get there. Of course, don't forget that there is the Circle of Concern, and the Circle of Influence (that you should focus on, because the rest outside is really beyond your control). So, you want to get to a higher level but all posts are filled, don't focus on something you can't influence (you can't make the people there disappear so you can get promoted). Instead, you can source for an opportunity elsewhere. If you need to build up experience in a certain field, say, Safety, then plan to involve in Safety-related activities, accident-investigations, first aid training. In such a scenario, going for training on ESD or Six Sigma would not be contributing to the end as initially envisioned.
Well, enough said on the subject matter, which I first heard from my ex-boss a couple of years ago. Sounded simple, but then again, life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated (quote from Confucius)!
Reconnecting with old friends....
In this modern age of Facebooks and Iphones, nothing beats sitting down together with old friends at the same table for a refreshing cup of coffee and some light snacks....
It was great whenever our group got together, though these days, the ratio of current colleague to ex-colleagues is steadily approaching zero! So, today's rendezvous point was at the Old Town Cafe, at Malim Jaya. Luckily for me I double checked my SMS, as initially it registered in my mind that I should have been at the Old TASTE Cafe, also somewhere in Malim Jaya. The thing about franchises these days - they are all beginning to sound the same!
Looking at the menu, there was a lot of heavy stuff that I would not hesitate to eat perhaps five or ten year ago, but these days (when growing sideways is more of a concern), I just settled for some peanut butter toast with iced blended mocha (OK, maybe next time I try something even lighter).
Joining us at the table tonight were Kelvin and Tai, plus kid (the couple who were once working together in the company, fortunately, not in the same department). Also present was May Wan and Tang, working now more or less in the same field of expertise, but in a different company Incidentally, there are only a handful of companies in this little town called Melaka, where professionals like us gravitate. With us too was Kek, who I last saw during his wedding dinner a couple of months ago (one of those events in this quarter that I haven't got time to pen down yet). Lastly, the only other person who STILL shares the same common employer as yours truly, Low, who brought along his wife and kid.
Notably absent from the table was an old (as in long time ago) friend. Let's call him "KL" (not his real name though). Unfortunately, KL was kind of busy these days with "other higher priority stuff" as I understand it correctly. Well, I sincerely wish KL the best of luck and success with the "other higher priority stuff". Anyway, by this virtue, KL is thus nominated to be the organizer for our next get-together, hopefully, he will have some interesting good news to share with us! :)
It was a great evening, having the chance to meet up with the old gang, to exchange tales of things that have changed for the better, or for worse, or of things that have not changes at all (did I miss out any other generalization?).
With kids around these days, our outing came to an early end. Besides, tomorrow was a working day (for most of us).
I'm happy to note in general that my old friends have moved along and have found greener pastures on which to graze on, dwindling in numbers with each passing "Farewell to XXX" post that I make....
It was great whenever our group got together, though these days, the ratio of current colleague to ex-colleagues is steadily approaching zero! So, today's rendezvous point was at the Old Town Cafe, at Malim Jaya. Luckily for me I double checked my SMS, as initially it registered in my mind that I should have been at the Old TASTE Cafe, also somewhere in Malim Jaya. The thing about franchises these days - they are all beginning to sound the same!
Looking at the menu, there was a lot of heavy stuff that I would not hesitate to eat perhaps five or ten year ago, but these days (when growing sideways is more of a concern), I just settled for some peanut butter toast with iced blended mocha (OK, maybe next time I try something even lighter).
Joining us at the table tonight were Kelvin and Tai, plus kid (the couple who were once working together in the company, fortunately, not in the same department). Also present was May Wan and Tang, working now more or less in the same field of expertise, but in a different company Incidentally, there are only a handful of companies in this little town called Melaka, where professionals like us gravitate. With us too was Kek, who I last saw during his wedding dinner a couple of months ago (one of those events in this quarter that I haven't got time to pen down yet). Lastly, the only other person who STILL shares the same common employer as yours truly, Low, who brought along his wife and kid.
Notably absent from the table was an old (as in long time ago) friend. Let's call him "KL" (not his real name though). Unfortunately, KL was kind of busy these days with "other higher priority stuff" as I understand it correctly. Well, I sincerely wish KL the best of luck and success with the "other higher priority stuff". Anyway, by this virtue, KL is thus nominated to be the organizer for our next get-together, hopefully, he will have some interesting good news to share with us! :)
It was a great evening, having the chance to meet up with the old gang, to exchange tales of things that have changed for the better, or for worse, or of things that have not changes at all (did I miss out any other generalization?).
With kids around these days, our outing came to an early end. Besides, tomorrow was a working day (for most of us).
I'm happy to note in general that my old friends have moved along and have found greener pastures on which to graze on, dwindling in numbers with each passing "Farewell to XXX" post that I make....
The Great Blog Backlog
Hmm, online, this last quarter of 2010 seems to be an uneventful span of 3 months. Offline however, the entire opposite holds true.
No, I haven't thrown in the towel yet. Just think that I went on a 3 month sabbatical.
Since the "Great Cleansing" of 2009 where the Semiconductor industry took a dip, things have been steadily picking up since the start of the year. That may be a good thing for all of us, but with the strong rebound came the expected increase in workload to frantically make up for lost ground.
Without giving too much away (which is against company policy, and can result in severe, career-limiting repercussions), my team is now involved in a "Big Project" which is right on schedule (and boy, what a tight schedule indeed). Right up to the very last day before X'mas, we were working on the things that we do best, down in the depths of our very own laboratory. OK, maybe I've over-dramatized it a bit. Anyway, while we're off for the entire X'mas week, the other half of the team are working on the things that they do best - all the same contributing towards accomplishing our "Big Project". Well, enough said about work!
In the past three months, there were some interesting, non-routine stuff that happened. Unfortunately, a laptop and an internet connection never seems to be around when the scarcest of commodities (free time) is in hand. Offline blogging is a work flow that I'll need to set up for next year, at least to get back on track.
Just checking around on one of my friends who regularly updates her blog at http://chenniwong.blogspot.com/, note her healthy increase in monthly posts (denoted by the red bars and trendline) versus, ahem, my humble blog (see bars and trendline in blue).
Well, the two biggest "sinks" for my time these days are:-
1. Family
2. Work
As 2010 draws to a close, I'll be posting some "retro" posts from this year.
I hope 2011 will bring better tidings!
No, I haven't thrown in the towel yet. Just think that I went on a 3 month sabbatical.
Since the "Great Cleansing" of 2009 where the Semiconductor industry took a dip, things have been steadily picking up since the start of the year. That may be a good thing for all of us, but with the strong rebound came the expected increase in workload to frantically make up for lost ground.
Without giving too much away (which is against company policy, and can result in severe, career-limiting repercussions), my team is now involved in a "Big Project" which is right on schedule (and boy, what a tight schedule indeed). Right up to the very last day before X'mas, we were working on the things that we do best, down in the depths of our very own laboratory. OK, maybe I've over-dramatized it a bit. Anyway, while we're off for the entire X'mas week, the other half of the team are working on the things that they do best - all the same contributing towards accomplishing our "Big Project". Well, enough said about work!
In the past three months, there were some interesting, non-routine stuff that happened. Unfortunately, a laptop and an internet connection never seems to be around when the scarcest of commodities (free time) is in hand. Offline blogging is a work flow that I'll need to set up for next year, at least to get back on track.
Just checking around on one of my friends who regularly updates her blog at http://chenniwong.blogspot.com/, note her healthy increase in monthly posts (denoted by the red bars and trendline) versus, ahem, my humble blog (see bars and trendline in blue).
Well, the two biggest "sinks" for my time these days are:-
1. Family
2. Work
As 2010 draws to a close, I'll be posting some "retro" posts from this year.
I hope 2011 will bring better tidings!
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