February 2008 Archives

Finally, my video of Danny giving us a lesson in making the perfect cup of gourmet coffee at Geek Terminal, has been edited and compressed. Check it out:

See my previous post on Dinner at Geek Terminal, for the full story.

Tim Harford, otherwise known as the Undercover Economist and author of the same-titled bestselling book, was speaking about how he came to write his latest book, The Logic Of Life. He has a Financial Times column and appears on the BBC.

Each Citigold member was given a copy of the book. Alas, as a guest I didn’t get any :(

Tim drew inspiration from professor Gary Becker whose standing in social economics won him a Nobel Prize. Another person he mentioned was Steve Levitt, author of Freakonomics. If I recall correctly, Levitt wrote a less-publicised paper on how criminal behaviour changed in some states which had lenient juvenile laws but tough adult laws, once the offenders became adults themselves.

Tim also entertained us with his personal anecdotes. He described how a family outing to buy ice-cream was marred by a violent attack by a madman on a woman on a nearby street. Was it really irrational? People have a split-second to react and quite often, we apparently have a logic behind it. When he got to this point, I thought of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. I’m sure there’s a correlation somewhere.

Another point was how, in various experiments, most people would choose a chocolate bar over fruit as a reward, if they were told they’d get it immediately. However, if they were told it would be sent to them next week, more opted for the fruit. Likewise, if they were told they could get movie tickets to watch a lighthearted show as opposed to a serious one, most would choose the former if they were watching it immediately, but the latter if it was in a few weeks’ time. However, if the same people showed up on movie night a few weeks later and were told they could switch back to the lighthearted movie, many would do so.

In short, people tend to choose something that they find more palatable for them in the short term, while they may aspire to something more challenging in the long term. This theory could supposedly be extended to convince people to stop smoking (!). If governments said they’d raise the price next year, cost-conscious smokers would start quitting now because they need time to be smoke-free. That is an interesting theory although I am not so sure if it’s been tried and tested.

He also touched on Game Theory and how people were more likely to form relationships when they know they have to meet often with other parties for transactions - as opposed to those who knew they’d only meet once. As I’m typing this, it’s occurring to me that this could be why we have terrible road manners - we don’t know (or care for) most of the people beside us on the street and don’t think we’ll see them again. Yet when I bump into a friend or relative in another car, we usually give way to each other.

It was an entertaining soliloquy until the Q&A session, where the audience, mostly Singaporean/Asian and presumably rich and smart enough to qualify for Citigold status, asked pretty profound and relevant questions, some drawing comparisons with his first book and other works. This talk was certainly of a different calibre.

The time came for us to get his autograph. I brought a copy of his first book. I had planned to finish reading the book before his talk, so I could engage in some intelligent conversation with him. However, my persistent business and a short attention span prevented me from doing so.

All I could say to Tim, honestly, was “Hi. I’m halfway through your first book”.

Tim smiled and said this was the American edition. Oops. I recalled him poking fun at Americans and their edition of his books at the beginning of his talk. Even the Logic of Life books that were distributed to us were the UK edition. So I cheekily apologised for bringing the American copy. He responded, with a smile, that I didn’t have to apologise. He called out, as I moved away from the table, that I was the first person to bring along his first book.

Look at Digg’s US Elections page, and it’s all about Barack Obama at the moment. It’s generally positive news about him, and if there is mention of Hillary Clinton, it’s negative.

The hottest article right now is one by the New York Post which states that Obama received more votes than initially reported. If you read on, it also adds that some votes were miscounted, at Clinton’s expense as well.

This is somewhat reminiscent of what happened to Al Gore in Florida. Hopefully, this time the outcome will be more just.

I haven’t been to Geek Terminal in a while, but Melvin had cleverly suggested revisiting it with our newly-returned Wilson Tan, of Dell Blog fame.

When I arrived, the two guys were chatting to Danny, the owner. We had dinner together. He recommended the soft shell chilli crab pasta, which we all ordered, and we also had a bottle of Spanish red wine.

He let us try the Italian Muscato, a sweet white wine, which was most refreshing.

We also had the chef’s salad and sampled the chicken pie which was very wholesome.

Danny told us all about his coffee exploits and we were really moved by his passion for the subject. In the end, Wilson and I tried his coffee. It was the smoothest coffee we’ve ever tasted.

Me about to sip my coffee, with Danny behind.

[I shot a video of Danny explaining how to make the perfect cup of coffee, but it needs editing]

It was a fantastic dinner with great company and stimulating conversation, ranging from PR and marketing ideas to the F&B industry and my passion for search engine optimisation. We decided we could all be ‘geeks’ as long as we had a passion for something.

It was definitely a night to remember! Thanks guys.

[Update: To Derrick who commented on this post - Danny saw your feedback and would like to invite you over - coffee’s on him.]

After a series of errors, I have finally upgraded my blog to Movable Type 4.1! *fanfare*

It appeared that the main culprit was a corrupt database. Thank God that I didn't lose my data and instead, the database was repairable. Phew!

The other cause was improperly uploaded files. As my FTP program kept timing out, I'd quit and re-open the program many times. As a result, the files weren't necessarily uploaded properly and in the right mode. Even now, if I encounter a new error that's linked to some MT file, I'll re-upload it. So far that strategy has worked twice.

I've re-pointed my feed back to vantan.org, so my dear subscribers, you don't have to touch that dial.

The other good news is, since I was using CPanel to sort out my technical problems, I decided to take a look at my AWStats (as opposed to Google Analytics which I normally use). It seems there is a great discrepancy in the number of pageviews and visits from both programs. I would assume AWStats is more accurate as there are some areas of my website that don't have Google tracking code installed.

According to AWStats, in Jan 2008 I had over 79,000 pageviews. My peak last year was during the SXSW period where I surged past 470,000 pageviews and over 11,500 unique visitors. This was much, much greater than I thought. Eventually, the numbers went back down to normal but now of course I am hoping for a repeat of last year's response.

The last piece of news is that I've been accepted into the Forbes Business Blogging network. I have felt the need to re-focus my angle of writing and my own personal outlook back towards business, and I'm honoured to be part of this community.

My first memories of my maternal grandmother, or Por Por as I called her, probably began with soup. She was Hakka but cooked a delicious Cantonese soup - and many other dishes as well. As a child, I would keep asking for seconds.

My parents and I used to visit her over the weekend in her previous home which she had lived in for decades. Then she moved much further away, we saw less of her and over the last few years her health deteriorated.

Those thoughts went through my head at the dinner table last night, when my parents informed me that Por Por was in her final hours and that we'd be going to the hospital to visit her right after our meal.

The waitress brought in the soup of the day.

I tasted the soup and commented, "It's like Por Por's soup." Nobody else said a word.

By the time we got to the Intensive Care Unit, most of my cousins, aunts and uncles were there. They were all in tears. It was the sight of everyone, reunited and sorrowful, that moved me most. My oldest cousins were the most affected because she brought them up, and they all lived under one roof - even after moving house.

I and my sister, not being able to speak Cantonese, would miss out on the dining table conversations and had to rely on other people to translate the punchlines for us. As such, we didn't feel as great an attachment to the gatherings. My Por Por did speak English as well but often the conversation among the entire family would be in Cantonese.

However, I remember with fondness the time I drove Por Por to her favourite Tekkah Market where she bought ingredients for cooking, and she took me and my sister to a favourite hawker hangout to eat. That was perhaps the most memorable time she spent, just with us.

For the past few Chinese New Years, I'd visit her. I'd make the long drive up to Ang Moh Kio with my mum and paternal grandmother to deliver foodstuffs. It was sweet, seeing my two grandmothers ask about each other. Usually they would both say something nice about me and my sister, and I would squirm politely. Over the years she had to use a walking stick. In her last year she was already in a wheelchair.

Every time we made the visit, I took photos of my grandmothers together, knowing that as the years went by there'd be a less likely chance of seeing them together again. A few days after that, my paternal grandmother would tell me that Por Por had taken a taxi all the way down to return the favour. It is in both my grandmothers' natures to give, no matter how trouble they might go through.

Recently my paternal grandmother heard about my Por Por's recent health problems and told me that Por Por had once said she would live on to see me get married. To that, I replied that Por Por would have a very long life! At least she lived long enough to have a great-granddaughter, with another on the way.

My little neice was too young to comprehend the graveness of the situation late last night as the whole family gathered around Por Por, who was being pumped with Adrenaline. The doctor had already told us she was in her last hours. As I saw the little girl scampering about, I recalled the time my own great-grandmothers died. I was the first great-grandchild for both of them, and had the rare opportunity to know them for the first several years of my life. When they died, I knew the fact but was too young to feel much emotion. Likewise for my neice.

The last thing we tried doing was to keep Por Por's heart beating by talking to her. Every time one of us called her and identified ourselves, her heart rate would pick up. Still, it was at best half the rate of a healthy person her age. Her heart rate picked up the most when her great-granddaughter called her, not surprisingly.

We left the hospital close to midnight, asking the other relatives to call us when it happened. At 2am my mother received the phone call and I heard the news when I woke up this morning.

It will be a solemn Chinese New Year for us.

Rumours abound of MacBook Pro updates.

I've owned a G5 for a few years and have been planning to get a portable (yet powerful) Mac for a while - though at 15 inches wide the MacBook Pro may require some weightlifting, from what I've been told.

I'm not tempted by the MacBook Air, as slim as it may look. I'm a power user. I plan to run Photoshop and other creative/graphics programs, as well as Logic Studio on this baby when I'm on the move.

What would make me buy a MacBook Pro soon:

• Updates to Intel processors, namely the Penryns we've been hearing about
• Multi-touch trackpad features, which the MacBook Air already has
• Incorporation of OS10.5.2 which I expect to be launched around the same time

What I wouldn't mind having as well:

• A slight drop in price (wouldn't we all want one?)
• A slightly slimmer body, inspired by the Air
• One or two new features or improvements on existing ones
• Better screens that are also more environmentally-friendly
• More USB ports, if possible. Dare I suggest removing Firewire?
• A built-in memory card reader. Of course I can always get a 3rd-party one, so it's not a big deal
• Better battery life (this is a difficult one)

What's on your wish list?

The past couple of weeks have been emotionally trying.

Firstly, I faced the fact that my former boss and long-standing mentor was finally retiring.

It's also the time of the year to say goodbye to others whom I'd consider friends - LSD, EL, JT, DT, MML... all great people to work with.

Most recently, I learnt that our resident Superman, SW, is returning to a place similar to his original planet Krypton. I wish him all the best and hope he will fly more freely, just as I had, and put his superpowers to better use.

There are other trials, outside of work. Two of my grandparents are fighting to regain their health right now. My maternal grandma has been in intensive care for days. It's a day-to-day survival for her. Mentally she's still fine, but has difficulty with breathing and eating. She's also tried yanking out her own tubes, probably because she's so uncomfortable. She's always been a rebel. When I was a little girl, I used to tell her to stop smoking. She'd promise me she would cut it down to a stick a day. And now I'm working in HPB.

My paternal grandfather is in better condition but is getting used to a more restrictive and careful lifestyle. This was a man who was over 6 feet tall and would swim out into the sea and back. In his late 70s, he once got up from the dinner table and hit the dance floor, taking my grandmother with him. I'm less worried for him but hope that the family speaks as one, and not as many conflicting voices, in our well-meaning attempts to restore his health.

There are a few other trials as well, even closer to home. Spiritually I am leaning on God and am planning to rejoin a home group in the next few months. There are many other things I have to do soon, and my life may change quite a bit. Until then, I'm soldiering on.

I can't wait for Super Tuesday. It will settle a lot of things - knock out the remaining minnows and strengthen the frontrunners. It will allow everyone to focus on the stronger candidates and we'll see the difference between Republicans and Democrats - not just infighting which can be quite off-putting.

I still support Barack Obama, perhaps because no politician has moved me quite as much as he has in his speeches, since his appearance for John Kerry. But his detractors point out that it isn't just about saying but about doing - though Hillary Clinton touched some nerves with her statement on Martin Luther King. I agree with the likening of Obama to JFK and was excited to hear of Ted and Caroline Kennedy's endorsements.

As much as I admired Bill Clinton's work as a president (minus Monica), I didn't like how he attacked Obama. Two against one is an unfair advantage and it put the spotlight on Bill, not Hillary who's supposed to be running the show as her own woman.

However, come Super Tuesday it is likely that Hillary Clinton will win where it counts. And we don't know if she'll take Barack as her No. 2, considering the bad blood between them both. Maybe, like true politicians, they'll kiss and make up because they need each others' votes to take the White House.

Now I've actually taken more interest in the Republican race which is looking very much like John McCain versus Mitt Romney. For the Republicans, I've always supported John McCain, even over George Bush junior. McCain speaks his mind and doesn't suck up to the party if it doesn't make sense to him.

If it's Hillary and another Democrat (not Obama) versus McCain, I might actually support the Republicans for once. Not that I'm American but it's just exciting to watch the biggest election in the world.