Online to Real Life

January 24th, 2006 atschool

Money can be made by farming online gaming characters full time to sell it on auction websites. A real economy there?

Early History

Economy of Online Gaming

Relak la bloggers!

January 22nd, 2006 Uncategorized

There is speculation that a law is being birthed to moderate bloggers. I am guessing that too much is made of this meeting. Bloggers in Singapore seem easily worried by Big Brother behaviours. Certainly, highly publicised consequences makes these worries feel real. It takes two hands to clap: the blogosphere make such a big deal of it ourselves that we create incentives to self censor, to limit discussion. I remember once that everyone got really worked up in the office when a chap at work blogged about the workplace. A colleague (manager) told the person to remove a post that named the organisation. It was feared that sensitive information might be published about the workplace. This guy decided to shut down his blog. There is no need: there wasn

Information stealing

January 17th, 2006 atwork

Being the data geek in my department, I occasionally come across others in my organisation who would try to get information from me through unofficial means.

The incidences of flattery used is negatively correlated to the official need for data. A department checking for monthly reporting has a real need for this data and the person requesting it would merely ask me to drop it via mail by such and such a date. The or else is unwritten. A person who is sniffing around for dirt tend to flatter before getting the data.

How to protect yourself depends on whether the information stealing comes from Big Bob (high level important official of the organisation) or Small Bob (peers or clerks). Big Bobs tend to flatter say, “You are on your way to the top mgmt. That’s great! Tell me more!” I don’t fall into this one but new colleagues not used to conniving ways do get caught. The only way to get out of the mess is to push on the request from backchannels to mainchannels of communication early on.

Small Bob might try to use charm – friendliness, and empathetic – but this is less effective because it binds Bob to an implicit promise to keep that trust when the ultimate purpose is to betray it: to steal information. Trust is a two bladed sword, however: one can’t be insincere while being sincere. The trouble is at once simple but extensive: bridges can only burnt once and rebuilding may be impossible. Hence, to get out, one must determine the benefits of the other’s reward – which is supremely difficult – from the stolen information and measure it against the cost of bridge burning. The determining of another’s benefits can only be guessed at by talking to the grapevine. Knowing this information allows one to determine if it is to one’s benefit to help Small Bob. If one has no way of finding out (outside the grapevine, for instance) then, the safest way is to treat all information requests with suspicion.

Elsewhere

January 15th, 2006 Uncategorized

Science Titbits
One episode of mythbusters, the two guys did a test on the myth and discovered there is no truth to the myth that toast always falls on the buttered side. Is it true? More on everyday science in a book called The Velocity of Honey and More Science of Everyday Life. Interview transcript here.

Milton Friedman Interview here

Radio Economics Interviews and Discussions with Economists worldwide available as podcasts

Tax incentives to hire older workers

January 10th, 2006 Uncategorized

Thanks to the 2 child policy of the 60s/70s, my generation is a much smaller pool of human resource than the set of middle aged, approaching retirement. I do not think it is simply a problem of human resource, but the associated costs age related spending (eg healthcare) and the problem of having to figure out how to fund it that this island has to resolve.

A rational older worker would weigh the benefits of retirement (time with grandkids, time to enjoy the travelling, annuity without work, etc) with the cost of it (a much lesser spending, potentially unfundable medical care costs, ability to feel as useful as the young punk in the next cube, etc).

The employers would do the same weighing but would find that there are more costs related to using this resource than benefits. Our growth cycle had been rapid, replacing manufacturing with services industry. A sizable number of older workers been in the manufacturing stage of economic growth, may not have been able to turn around to gain skills in this area. Additionally, experienced workers carry costs that the company might not want to pay for, especially if the job can easily be filled by an inexperienced worker. This will be a problem again when workers my generation face middle age: industry focus would most likely be knowledge and creative base work.)

Tax breaks can improve the prospect of hiring older workers but will not remove the obstacles described above. To make it interesting for an older worker to work, the benefits of early retirement must be removed. To make it interesting for the company to hire the older worker, the government must think deeper about the problems an older worker face about limited opportunities and expand these opportunities.

How do you work? (2) – My Moleskine life hack

January 8th, 2006 atwork

I bought a Moleskine 2006 diary for a gift and this person was impressed with the marketing. The coloured band would say Hemmingway and Chatwin use to own one. (Interestingly a true afficiando keeps the coloured bands and the advertisement papers.)

I first heard about a moleskine because Minzhi mentioned it in her hummingbird online journal . I came across my first in Kinokuniya quite by accident. I stood in front of the journals for what seemed like 3 hours but was perhaps 40 minutes, staring hard at the quality of the paper and the bindings. The paper was ok thick but not so thick as to be able to take very dark and wet inks. The lines were a bit thin: my handwriting is quite medium size. The binding was extremely well done. The trick is that the makers bind lesser pages together so it opens flat and doesn’t spring up nastily when the book is opened. I’m told the paper is nice to fountain pens: doesn’t corrode the tip like the stuff I get from Popular. It is very expensive – hardly anyone spends so much one a notebook. I walked across to borders to check out Paperchase bounded notbooks. Good creamy paper but it springs up. Fatigue took over the decision making and I owned my first moleskine.

Much impressed by the notebook, I bought the 2006 diary for myself initially and then as a gift, as before mentioned. I am much disappointed with the paper quality. It bleeds right through. Some hacks on GTD discovered that gel pens worked. One thing useful is that it numbers my pages for me. I write my plans and label them at the yearly planner section so I can check back on these things. important projects I dump them into Wenzani which is my to do listie as well.

Using these GTD methods, I discovered my time is mostly spend on matters that do not produce direct impact results for which I am appraised. One thing is that in my contact center, I walk the floor because having completely zero operational knowledge I don’t get the same desire to answer questions from those who are on ACW, unlike my colleagues. The unit is very lean and scorecard problems make it difficult to control agents behaviour. Fortunately this has been changed. Yet when the Tsunami hits, I am compelled to walk the floor because phone agents do after call work because they need a break from talking. Sometimes they take just a tad long with the break. Even with remote monitoring I don’t focus on my task because I need to break my concentration to call up the agent who’s on ACW or break. Another problem is that my manager breaks my focus with her interruptions. I need to set aside time to do my work and that is the reason for my 60 hour week.

On Poor Readership

January 3rd, 2006 Uncategorized

Poor Readership

I suppose with the competition of entertainment appearing in many other forms, book reading is bound to drop. It takes time to be entertained by a book whereas with movies, television or gaming, the utility gained is at a rate much quicker per minute.

This writer complains that the purpose of writing has now become a quest for fame, for readership rather than content. I would be so quick to conclude yet. With competition, the industry does whatever it takes to survive. Making the industry attractive and glamourous is one way. Saying it reigns supreme of all other industries is another (much like auditing, for instance). At the end of it all, everyone knows that to sell a name after the first book, it is the book itself, not marketing, not the fame of the author. (Unless the author is related to Papalee.)

This problem is poor readership and increasing desire to write is also a problem in Singapore. The Great Singapore Novel is unborn. Good novel writers may not exist in my lifetime but poets litter the streets. Wannabe writers is a dime a dozen. Every blogger who takes care of his site, who thinks of something to say, who makes his blog page simple uncluttered and readable, lurks a writer wannabe. Time is a very serious problem with Singaporeans. Poetry and plays are easier achieved because it requires lesser time. Novel writing is achieved only in isolation: it takes a lot of stamina to sustain a book. To write a Great Singaporean Novel, this person must feel so keenly for the people and their stories. A good writer may have to live away from here to achieve a great novel yet his/her heart must long for home. That is to say, a writer who spends childhood away from here may be Singaporean and may be good but does not feel keenly enough for the people to produce a Great Singaporean Novel. So Woolf is right: the key ingrediant to writing is a room of one’s own. (She said nothing about good writing.)

How do you work?

January 3rd, 2006 atwork

I’ve been using a GTD tool that is developed using really simple excel formulae called Wenzani. It helps me manage my projects and tells me what’s the million other stuff I have left to work on. It is a relief to shut down a task with a click of the collaspe button but oh so few and far between. My tasks take up a whole day of uninterrupted time else it stays undone. This means after five.

I use to keep a task list at outlook but no longer. I just populate the Wenzani with a short easy to kill task. Good for the ego to see things getting done.

Then I figured it wasn’t the excel tool that will help me to go home early although it is really useful. I’m staying back late because I’m spending time doing what is not in my job title although it is my job. As an Ops slash data slash admin person I don’t just do Ops slash data slash admin. That is only half of my job. I help with the thinking as well. That is my job too except that is not in my job title nor job description. So either they change my job title or I have to stop doing this thinking work.

I like the moleskinne 2006 diary and the cross ion for thinking. I don’t use the diary as a diary but as a page numbering system so I label the pages at the yearly planner section. This index allows me to flip back to the section when the item comes up in a discussion.

How do you work?

Radio Ga Ga

January 2nd, 2006 radio

I am still putting in 60 hour week.

I don’t know when it began: the world I missed starting having podcasts. Before podcasts, I would stream radio programs and record the streams using a program called wiretap. This meant, however, I would be listening to the programs twice.

My (new) iPod has an overweigh of pop science programs and a series of commentries on news, religion and art.
The Naked Scientist
All In The Mind
The Math Factor
Ockham’s Razor
The Science Show
Dr Karl
Late Night Live
From Our Own Correspondent
In The Spirit Of Things
Books and Writing

What could be better – other than to be able to grab everything I love: Throsby, Jazztrack, BBC comedies – would be to watch TV on this thing. It is possible to buy videos of TV shows if one is in US, however, it does not resolve the problem of time.