Invictus

Invictus, the movie, tells a story about a noble man who became the first black President of South Africa. This man is Nelson Mandela. I have heard of this name before, I know him just as most people would know, as the first President of South Africa in the post-apartheid days.

The movie, being time constricted, couldn't detail every turn of events, but it certainly inspired me to find out more about the struggles of this man in his endeavor to unite a very bitterly divided nation, a nation where the blacks do not trust the whites, and vice versa. It shows of how he leaves no stones unturned in the quest for reconciliation. He led by example in forgiving the very people who arrested him and threw him in jail for 27 years, by welcoming them to continue working for him in his newly elected government. He knew the importance of those that represented him, so he chose a mix of black and white people as his bodyguards, and made them work together.

Most importantly, he understood the power of sports in uniting people, and saw the great opportunity presented by the 1995 rugby world cup as the venue to unite his nation. His vision of focusing on sports (more specifically on rugby), while having to deal with so many other matters for a nation that is in a period of instability and on the edge, shows how wise and enlightened he is. He developed a special relationship with the captain of the rugby team, in order to inspire him to inspire his teammates. The captain finally understood the struggles the President went through. In my opinion, the President demonstrated that he fought and gave his all for his people, and the captain, seeing this leadership, was moved to also fight to inspire his team mates. The rugby team beat tournament favourites, New Zealand in the final, not because they have one outstanding player (NZ had the intimidating Jonah Lomu and the Haka dance), but because they fought for each other. NZ pretty much didn't stand a chance on hindsight, once S.A. played as one, because it was not 15 players against 15, it's not even 63000 (number in the stadium) against 15, it was 42 million (the whole nation) against 15.

Once the SA players understood that by fighting for their nation, their nation is also fighting for them, they have the power of 42 million in the arms, legs, bodies.

I realized then that, the gift of inspiration is truly powerful. Great leaders are not masters at managing, or accomplishing tasks. Great leaders inspire, and even greater leaders inspire by example, through struggles that we can relate to.

Below is a poem which inspired the man himself during his dark days in prison.

I Am The Captain Of My Soul

Out of the night that covers me
black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
my head is bloody, but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
looms but the horror of the shade
and yet the menace of the years
finds, and shall find me, unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate
how charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul

"Invictus,"
by William Earnest Henley

I missed Penang food so so much!

Mountain Lake

My personalized infographic

This was generated from http://ionz.com.br/

Thought it was rather nice to look at our personal statistics in relation to others.

My bibliometrics on ACM digital library

Something interesting, i checked for the first time how the papers that was published under ACM fared, under my name.

This is under the name James Keng Soon Teh.
Bibliometrics: publication history

Publication years 2005-2009
Publication count 11
Citation Count 3
Available for download 11
Downloads (6 Weeks) 99
Downloads (12 Months) 416

Not bad, there's 416 paper downloads in the last 12 months.

I should've used just one name, but 2 papers were under my passport name Keng Soon Teh
Publication count 2
Citation Count 2
Available for download 2
Downloads (6 Weeks) 37
Downloads (12 Months) 211

Happy 2010!

A new year, a new hope. i can't believe that i actually didn't write a single blog post for the entire 2009. well, i guess that reflects a general trend for the social media community. As facebook and twitter became more popular, micro blogging becomes the buzzword. Instead of writing a paragraph or two of 100 or more words, people now like to write more frequently within the confines of 160 characters. Well, tweeting seems to be the most caught on internet innovation of 2009. From finding the latest news of events happening around the world (e.g. MJ's death), discussing about the latest movies (Avatar) and trends, to being used as game changing tool for businesses (my friend Sashank's Simpliflying is a very good example: http://simpliflying.com/), there is no doubt twitter, facebook and other novel online social media tools are changing the way we communicate.

Personally, 2009 has been a tough one for me. It has been an emotional roller coaster, though things certainly got much better as the year progressed. Work wise, several highs made up for those disappointments (got interviewed for my research project on a new NHK TV program is one!). As for 2010, i will try again to overcome the disappointments encountered in academic paper submission. Also, career-wise, 2010 would be marked as the major crossroad where i'll finally (fingers crossed!!) submit my Phd thesis, and have a successful thesis defence later on. Where will i work next? (i'm looking at university faculty positions, as well as corporate company R&D, not ruling out any new business opportunities)

I hope 2010 will bring cheer and joy for everyone!

Have a good one :D

Color changing clothes as a form of new media

Part of the work that my research on Huggy Pajama system involves is the changing of color on clothes. The idea is that the wearable clothes can be used as a form of new media, and become an information display / exchange interface. Color changing can also convey a more emotional feedback to whoever is viewing it, and be a form of emotional expression interface.

The video below shows the current prototype of color changing based on thermal heating and cooling control system.

dissappointment

Another year's chance has passed, and another opportunity gone. I was working hard on a paper for my research project to be submitted to CHI 2009. It's the top conference for the area of my work. So this time around, we worked with a psychologist to design an experiment grounded in psychological theories.

However, the reviews received are not promising. Though the actual paper acceptance results are not out till early December, it is as good as NIL chance now. Not that the topic of the paper was not interesting, in fact the reviewers find the topic "lovely!". Alas, it is , in my opinion a matter of presentation and clarity. We did not make clear certain accepted standards taken from psychology to be presented to the HCI community. And this has caused confusion and lack of understanding on the design of the experiment.

well, certainly an acceptance into this conference would go a long way in supporting the case for my Phd thesis topic. Without it, it means i have to work harder in the coming year to try out for next year's conference. Any way, i have not given up and the lessons learned this time around will be used wisely.

F1 in Singapore!

It's the weekend of the Formula One race in Singapore, and i'm all excited about it. After watching the races for many years on TV, since 1998, this will be my first time attending the actual race!

So last night i was at the practice session, and the sound was just blasting. The engines sound like jet planes on roads! I think it's akin to 10 times the volume in a dance club. It's impossible your heart beat will stay normal, even just listening to the sound of the mega machines.

One thing that i immediately noticed, the teams with the 2 best cars, Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes, the sound of their engines is like music to any fan's ears. The Honda cars has an amazingly loud sound, which is very bothering. But sitting at the Bay Grandstand area, even though the speed of the cars are slowed considerably in this section due to the sharp turns, i couldn't take a good picture with the phone's camera. The only thing i caught is the shadowy trail of the cars.

i will upload pictures from this with a better camera from tonight's qualifying session. till then, got to go!

Siggraph 08 demo reported in Sing Tao Daily Los Angeles

A couple of weeks back, during the week of 10th August, I was in Los Angeles showing a demo of a programming interface and methodology for robots using touch. This is a project in collaboration with NEC in Japan and was developed on top of their robotic platform, PaPeRo.

News link here: http://www.singtao.com/oversea/0813ao42.html


Mr Peter Ye from Sing Tao daily was at Siggraph, and interviewed me on the project that i was showing. According to him, Sing Tao Daily is the largest Chinese newspaper in North America with 3 major offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. With its headquarters base in Hong Kong, Sing Tao Daily has an extensive global network. They have offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Europe and Australia.

Well, not bad, i think :) At least Chinese people living abroad get to know about this project, and hopefully be inspired to do research in similar field.
Anyway, thank you Peter!

Also, a picture he took of me with PaPeRo-san.

By the way, i will give a more detailed account of what happened in the Siggraph 08 conference, and more pictures!

Invited for Youth Cultural Technology Forum in KAIST, Korea

I am invited for the prestigious Young Investigators' Forum on Culture Technology (YCT) this year (http://ct.kaist.ac.kr/yct2008/). The Forum is going to be held in Daejoen, South Korea, from Aug 22th to 23th, 2008. YCT is a highly interactive and intensive workshop for discussing the future of Culture Technology, a term proposed by Professor Kwang-yun Wohn, the Dean of the Graduate School of Culture Technology(GSCT) at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST). 'Culture Technology' covers a wide range of research fields on digital media and related technologies, interaction, design and theory, which are gaining importance in every corner of our surroundings and culture. As a unique and one of a kind workshop that invites advanced graduate students around the world, the YCT aims to facilitate discussion on Culture Technology among young researchers. The program includes a keynote speech, a tour of the seven different labs at GSCT, presentations on Culture Technology by the participants, discussions, excursions, and opportunities to share ideas in an international atmosphere.

Only a dozen of graduate students from all around the world who have insightful and instigating topics to bring to serious discussion were selected. These participants came from different parts of the world, comprising of Australia, China, Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and U.S.A. The forum fully sponsored the travel expenses and accommodations for all the participants.

The best thing is the flights are fully paid and they give you allowance too!

Appearance in My Paper (Chinese Singapore paper)

Today's My Paper has shown a report about the recent Keio - NUS initiative to set up a research center in Singapore. The research center will be called CUTE which stands for Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments, and is initiated by the PhD supervisor Prof Adrian Cheok.

Interestingly, a picture of me showing my previous research project, Poultry Internet was selected as one of the projects highlighted in the report! That was more than 2 years ago.

But still, what a moment that a student like me can be proud of :D

about designers

has it been one month already since the last post? oh my, time passes by so quickly here in Singapore.

i hope i will get back the "mojo" to start blogging frequently again.

anyway, here is something interesting to be said about designers:

The designer is someone who is able to generate creative designs but not able to, or at least not interested in, explaining how they came about. - Daniel Fallman

I guess this rings a bell in me, especially since i am science and engineering-trained. my mind is trained to deduce and think in a rational and logical manner. Even my "wild ideas" seem perfectly grown out of a logical deduction of some established principles or widely observed behaviors.

Notice the way we read or write? it is from a sequential left-to-right or top-to-bottom pattern. Things appear in order. But somehow we know (or rather assume) that creativity stems from the disorderliness of how things normally appear. Pushing the boundary, to put it another way. Or to think out of the box.

So which is human better at? To "design" or to perform in an orderly manner?

Back to reality

It has been almost a month since I came back to Singapore from Japan. There are too many things to get up to speed with, especially research work, moving place and thinking about my next direction in life.

It is rather complicated in my research work. Here I am doing research in an area which is cutting edge in terms of innovation and creativity, yet the work is not really appreciated in the department which I am in, which is electrical and computer engineering. As someone in a position of authority puts it, research work to be done in ECE department has to fall under one of the courses taught by this department. In a way, what is considered good research should follow strictly to the definition of the department. Our research work has been televised on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Good Morning America to name a few. And yet, it is not considered good research for the electrical and engineering department because it doesn't fall under one of the courses taught by the department. If science started out by having very restrictive definition of what each area is, for example, there is no mixing between science of the electric and science of biology, we will never reach this day when we have areas like bio-technology or even life sciences. I am starting to have doubts about the quality of a university like the one I am in, and whether , given 1000 years, will they ever be able to produce nobel prize winners if this mentality persists.

On another note, I have been away from Singapore since July last year, not a long time by any yardstick, but living abroad enables me to experience life away from Singapore. I certainly miss the way of life abroad. It is not so much a comparison of materialistic standards, like what I can get abroad but could not get here. Sometimes it is just the way the society as a whole perceive life. We all know now the vicious cycle of this modern lifestyle, where one works hard, parties harder (i.e. increased spending), then needs to work even harder. This seems to be more pronounced than ever when you compare the lifestyle in Singapore to that of other countries like Japan and the US (of course with exceptions to certain places like Wall street, where the lifestyle is being idolized by most young, freshly graduated people in Singapore). Perhaps it is because as a whole, Singapore is a city-state, with a high concentration of people all living within the town and central business district. Dressing up, going to places where one aught to be seen at, looking 'high class' (or elitist, or 'atas') seems to be the ultimate aim in life, at least for the younger generation of people. Of course I wouldn't deny such a situation exists in any developed or developing country, but perhaps it is not so pronounced because we still see that most people appreciate the simpler things in life. For example, going to a scenic place on the weekend of appreciate the natural beauty, or having a picnic with friends by the beach. (Talking about beach, I think Sentosa is almost falling out of the category of being a beach anymore...)

No wonder then that more and more of the population who can afford it goes for weekend getaway trip to some other countries. In the pursuit of development and economic prosperity, has Singapore been transformed into a "work only" place where any form of relaxation, peace and tranquility has to be obtained elsewhere?

well, that is not to say that I don't appreciate or is against economic prosperity. I think it is a natural, easy way for people to put their focus on gaining something. Some people aim for spiritual enlightenment, some for love, some for family, etc. It is good that people should have some aim or focus in their lives. Let's just hope that we do not lose our soul in the pursuit of our aims in life.

End of stay in Japan

My internship in NEC is coming to an end soon. I have mixed feelings now that I am going back to Singapore. Two months ago, i cannot wait to get back to Singapore, but somehow these past 2 months, i have explored many places and discovered the many facets of the Japanese culture and life. It is certainly very interesting (とてもおもしろい）.

I made some very good acquaintances here in Japan. ちばくん (Chiba)、しめくん(Shime)、ささまくん(Sasama)　and あきひこさん (Akihiko) are some of the nicest and closest colleagues I have. Fellow intern, Thomas Perrin has been a very close friend also, as 2 lonely people who live nearby will naturally be when they are in a foreign country. The secretary in the lab where I work, しまだ (Shimada) has also been a very nice person who helped me a lot. For example, when we need to call a restaurant to reserve table for dinner, or to call the post office about receiving a parcel, etc... Shimada-san has also been a very entertaining person in the office, providing nice conversation during tea breaks. These are people who will make me miss Japan.

Also, food is another big pull factor for me. The food in Japan is simply unique and tasty. How can you possibly make raw food more tasty than cooked food? Maguro don mixed with ikura is one of my favourite. Also, of course the Kansai specialty like Yakitori, Okonomiyaki, Kobe gyu (teppanyaki style) are other food which i also find extremely tasty and interesting. There are many more Japanese food that I would like to try but have not a chance to. Raw fugu (poison fish) is one of them.

One of the best things that I like to do during my free time here is to explore the scenic places which are so abundant in Japan. It seems like the government has so well planned that every area has at least 1 scenic places so that Japanese can visit these places every other weekend. Well, that is actually not a logical explanation as most of these places exist since a long time ago. I had the opportunity to live in Japan during the amazing Autumn time, the cold winter and now, also a little bit of Spring, which has kind of a crazy weather (in one day, the temperature can be between 9 deg Celcius to 20 deg Celcius). Different seasons give a different view and feel to different places. Take Kyoto, which is a very popular tourists destination. Each season, the view is equally amazing, but you get different experience. I am worried what will I do now on my weekends in Singapore?

I had this wonderful opportunity to live in Japan, and to work in NEC which is such a well known company throughout the world. Moments that I spent here will forever be cherished and it will also mark a very unique time of my lifetime. Somehow during this time in Japan, I learned to manage my relationship better and this has serve to benefit my personal relationship with my family and girlfriend.

Thank you Japan, ありがとうございました！

The Tibetan Problem... Not!

i was just having this conversation on the same topic with Thomas yesterday, because Parisians were causing some problems during the olympic relay torch.

i told him that i think this big drama is not due to China. It is due to the media playing up what will help them sell newspapers and advertisements, and politicians taking opportunities of this situation to make them look like heroes / angels.

i don't know exactly what is going on in Tibet because i have never been there. But more and more i am feeling that yes, granted China's human rights record is not perfect (the most famous incident being the riot at Tiananment), but which developed country has been perfect? Even for the US there are so many covert operations going on behind the scenes that are not known to the world. They can even kill their own president (JFK). Somehow, the bad thing about China is not about its record, it is the incapability of doing things quietly (something US is very good at, like targeting its own citizens in the name of national security). So because of this, China becomes the perfect victim for the brutal political play of many parties, be it NGOs, governments, etc. Of course I do not think that the Chinese government are not smart. In fact I believe they have a good grasp of what other nations perceive of it. But China being such a big country, internal political control is always more urgent than managing external political perception.

So there is a big hoohah about the Olympics now. Some parties are threatening boycott, even pressuring the US president to boycott the Olympics in China. Why is this situation played up so vividly when China is the host? The olypics has nothing to do at all with the Tibet situation. The Tibetians have lived like that long before China is awarded the hosting of the olympics. Yet, the timing of this situation made me feel the Dalai Lama is making use of this situation for his own political gains. Obviously, the Olympic hosting committee has considered this issue, and China's past record before awarding it the Olympics, and obviously, they have agreed there are more pros than cons in China being the host. So i really don't think it is out of coincidence that this has to happen now. Someone (many parties, even) are making the most of the situation for their own sake, not in the name of peace or justice. True peace is not achieved by rioting.

On the other hand though, i feel empathy for the billions of China's population. How the world thinks of Chinese people today i believe is not the fault of the normal citizen. I would say that the decisions of the Government has shaped how the world thinks of it. Yet, in my opinion, we cannot say that the decisions made by the government is wrong. I believe that in a country as large and with as many population as China, you need a strong , even authoritarian government to control things. I am Chinese myself, even though I have never lived in China, i want to feel proud of being Chinese. History shows Chinese as being the most advanced in science and technology, in government and political structure, etc. How we lost all these status in the world, i cannot yet comprehend (i always think that it is because Chinese, in nature, have a more self-centered nature, pursuing their own short-term gains). So perhaps the Communist system is a necessity for self-centered Chinese people.

So with the current events happening, it is easy to feel discriminated against if you are chinese. My opinion though, is not to be too concerned about what other people think about this incident, if all their thoughts are shaped only by reading mainstream media without doing their own research. We cannot doubt that the media has become a very powerful tool in shaping and launching propaganda around the world.

The world is just a big stage, and there are many actors on this stage, all contributing to the drama that unfolds. We can be passionate, but we must stay calm in order to look past the insignificant noise to see the real cause or root of any problems/events. If we allow ourselves to be drawn into the arguments and fights, it will be a vicious cycle. We need to stand back, and be able to look at the stage as an audience in order to analyse what goes on on the stage. Well, I am sure you can do something about this. Having a positive and clear thinking of the situation and not allow yourself to feel discriminated is a good start. I realise i have been following this principle lately, "There are always 2 or more sides to the story. Humans, being opportunist in nature, will naturally take side that benefit them. Always have the clear picture in mind, and balance your views".

what is the common 'language'?

Language is created by mankind as a tool for communication. When we communicate, our aim is to share or pass certain information to another person. Passing information is only one side of the story. In order to communicate effectively, the information shared needs to be understood by its intended audience.

Herewith exist the problems that have consumed mankind since eons ago. In parent-baby relationship, we often hear the term 'baby talk', which is a method of communication where parents talk to their child using self-created language which is unintelligible to outsiders not within the circle of parent-child bonding. Somehow, even though no one taught us how to talk in baby language, we tend to feel like 'yes, the baby understands me better if i talk this way'. I would term this, communication of the intended mind or heart. It involves not only voice, but also a lot of arms and body movements to catch the attention of the baby, as babies are attracted by big movements. Somehow, even though there is no common language devised for parent-baby communication, humans have gotten along fine in this aspect.

The problem in communicating, ironically, seems more apparent in relationships between grownups. When young child grows up to become a teenager, oftentimes parents have a hard time communicating with their child. The reason for this is beyond the scope of this writing. My question is, if there truly is a great desire for both sides to communicate, or to be understood, why would this stage be more difficult than when the child is a baby? The young teenager would already have mastered at least 1 spoken language, and it 'should' therefore make communication simpler. However, we know this is not the case. Perhaps it is because we have simply failed to desire for the other person to understand us. We take things for granted, that they have now learned spoken language and would therefore understand every word we say. Such a common scenario illustrates the double edged sword that language can be, powerful yet destructive if not properly understood.

Similarly, in relationship between man and woman, boy and girl, problems in communication often wreck havoc even after some perfectly nice time. It is said that Men are from Mars and women from Venus. Perhaps it is true that the way men and women think can never be the same, or they can never look at the same thing from an identical perspective. When an argument arises, both sides would want the other to listen to what they have to say. But is listening enough? Or is the spoken language a tool powerful enough to be the common platform for understanding two different mindset?

Perhaps the most powerful language of all goes back to when we are babies. We communicate with joy and laughter when we are happy, we cry when we are sad or in pain or hunger, we show extreme curiosity when we see something new, we sleep when we are tired. We speak no words besides the occasional "ee, oo, aah, ..." but everyone around us seems to understand us and love us. (of course there is a possibility of adults being higher in tolerance towards little cute babies) Perhaps, spoken language adds confusion because of its complexity. The gestures and language we used when we are babies are simple, few and commonly understood.

So what would be the common language between men and women? Perhaps the common language is not even a spoken language. Think about the power of hug. Sometimes when words cannot mend a breakdown in communication, a nice warm hug can be the solution. We understand what a hug is, and we can sense the sincerity of a hug. It is an intimate form of communication, yet not too intimate to be used in the public if the need arises. Whether we are from Africa, America, Europe or Asia, we understand the intention of a hug, and also we know the other person will understand us. That is the true common language.

Reminiscing the little kitty moments

Once upon a time...

The picture that cheated our hearts! Seeing how cute, adorable and harmless she is, this little kitty that a friend's cat gave birth to won our hearts instantly. Don't you just want to hug that little kitty?



This cute little kitty is finally called Twinkle by the new caregivers. For the first few days after she arrived at her new home, she slept a lot. Either she's too tired or she is still a little baby needing 18 hours of sleep a day :)




And finally when she woke up, she was just in a playful mood, yet not entirely accustomed to her surroundings, she just rolled on the sofa.



Ok I got a little playful with Twinkle, and did these. Knowing her curiosity, i purposely left a gaping hole leading into the plastic bag, and Twinkle did what she always does, slowly finding her way into the bag. And my fingers could not resist the temptation to tie a knot on the bag and left a hole only big enough for her head to pop out... Doesn't she look like the wolf in little red riding hood? Only much cuter hehe...

Doesn't Twinkle look like some hiphop nigga with those oversized Fila socks? yo, yo! wazzup! haha... Ok, please don't call SPCA.. it's just some moments of fun and laughter :D

Mexican Dinner Night

Here are some pictures to an evening of dinner filled with joy and laughter at a Mexican restaurant in Osaka. After Japanese class one evening, we decided to go to town for dinner.

Mango Margarita!~!

Lime Margarita!~!

Cecilia, a friend from Japanese class

The bottles of hot sauce are really super, duper hot.
They're called "Sudden Death" and "After Death"

For a French guy who is not used to spicy food, it is a great achievement for Thomas.

Gupta, a colleague in NEC and Thomas

new place

Despite only extending my internship period for about 3 weeks, I have to move to a new place (which fortunately is quite near to the old place). Initially I thought this doesn't make sense, as another intern student (my good friend Thomas) is staying put at his same place with an extension of more than 2 months. So why can't a 3 weeks extension be allowed to stay put as well?

Today, the answer surfaced. Apparently, there has been a mistake! :D The manager in charge of booking our new place confused me with Thomas! Well, I wasn't angry or anything, in fact i felt the situation was kinda funny :) So actually, Thomas has to pack within a day and move to the new place because he also only got to know today. Since I have already packed all my belongings, I offered for him to move to my old place , which is separated by 1 room in between. This would certainly be much more convenient, despite I having to move to a new place which is strategically less convenient than the previous place. But the solution is obvious. If I were to be selfish, it would highly inconvenient both parties, the manager in charge and also Thomas.

So we went according to the original *wrong* plan and save everyone the trouble. Well I can't say that I have a bad deal, at least I have a new , clean room, and poor Thomas has to live in my old room and take care of my dirt and dust... sorry!

In the bigger picture, I thought I am already quite fortunate to be living in this location, which is nearer to town. The new interns would have to move in to another far away place, which is nearer to the Office, but far away from town. I like this place and am thankful to be living here. It will be another 1 month and 10 days to go from now before I leave Japan, and I plan to cherish every minute of it.