department of crappy engineering

you don't need to be bill gates to pay bills

2008-10-11T21:06:00.003+08:00

Somehow I don't feel much about the 21% rise in electricity bills. Most probably that's because I am not the one paying the bills.

But my household's electricity usage has always been way below the national average (if you bother to look at the bill). I don't use air-con. I don't leave my fridge door open and enjoy the cold air. I seldom watch TV. Maybe the most energy consuming stuff is the computer. My 21% increase could be 21% of your 21% increase.

Come to think of it, how many of us appreciate our ready supply of electricity? If you don't short circuit anything, you get power the moment you flip the switch. But this is one thing that not everyone on earth can enjoy. There was once I was in China. At that time they had something called electricity rationing. What it means is, this town, on a particular day, at a particular period, there will be no power supply. So you can be watching the final match of World Cup and halfway at 89th minute there's a blackout. And if your fridge's insulation sucks, when you take out the tray of ice cubes, you get water.

So what some people do, they buy their own generator.

If you think your personal generator running on petrol is more efficient and economical than those big bad turbines in the power station, then you should start your own power company (just careful the carbon monoxide buildup in your house). If not, I highly recommend reducing your electricity usage by 21%. 79% of 121% is still less than 100%.

talking with bus conductor

2008-10-10T23:59:00.003+08:00

Just now I had a nice chat over dinner with a friend who claims to be a bus conductor, but actually works in an operation centre of a bus company.

So I took the chance to bombard him with questions regarding bus services. (you know, sometimes I can be the number 1 hater of a particular bus company) Firstly, the arrival time system. Why is it not accurate? Ans: it goes by schedule. Ok, let's just say that there is an interval when the bus updates its position. Second question, do you guys monitor how many people are on the bus (read: 151) and despatch reinforcement accordingly? Ans: (silence)

By the way, there's this console called the DDU in which the bus captain can communicate with the operation centre and seek assistance. Things like "a kid brought his slurpee up the bus", "there's an unattended backpack on the seat", "someone punched me", etc etc. I think the ops centre can "screw" the driver via the DDU for running late.

Hmm, sounds like fun job.

uniformed group

2008-10-09T10:52:00.002+08:00

Recently I have noticed that a secondary school in my area has changed its uniform.

This is tropical Singapore. Unlike schools in temperate countries, we don't switch school uniform according to the season.

So this school, they have changed the uniform design such that now the students don't have to tuck in their shirt. In fact, maybe students will be punished for tucking in their shirt! I wonder, do they redesign the uniform cos they give up on having to constantly remind the students to tuck in their shirt?

I remember I was in junior college when I saw the PE teacher screaming at a student for not tucking in his shirt. "You are in j1 and you still dunno how to tuck in your shirt!!" I also remember members of the public complaining to my secondary school about students not tucking in their shirt outside school.

Now, have you wondered why must students wear school uniform? Why must they tuck in the shirt? It is a question that usually the rebellious few or the thinking few would ask.

the new power market

2008-10-07T21:29:00.004+08:00

In response to the hike in electricity bill, fellow blogger dk has talked about opening up the energy market. Since power is one of my area of interest, I just want to chip in my bit.
There is this new model of power distribution network which I came across early this year. In this model, power generation, power transmission, and power distribution all come under different companies. Consumers have the freedom to choose which brand of electricity he wants, which company of transmission wire, which company of substation, etc. He can mix and match. It's electricity ala carte.

Coming back to reality, you may want to know that the power stations in Singapore are all privately owned (some by oversea companies even), just that distribution and marketing is still under Singapore Power (SP), and that's why we receive the bill from SP. To really reach the stage like in the diagram, a lot has to be done on the infrastructure. Of course if it can be done on telecom and postal services, it can happen on power.

And somehow the example of Hong Kong was brought in. With my knowledge of that place, I would say it's a bit unique and competition is almost non-existent although there are 2 power companies there. Reason being, the 2 companies supply power to different areas. Hongkong Electric supplies to Hong Kong Island while CLP serves Kowloon and New Territories. The bill on Hong Kong is so much more expensive than Kowloon that the Hongkongers wish the government could reclaim the Victoria Harbour so that they can switch provider.

With deregulation and opening of power market, the biggest gainer could be the property agents (since people would move to areas where the electricity is cheaper, that is if the market is divided into zonal basis)

sensor-triggered lecturer

2008-10-07T12:29:00.002+08:00

This semester I am taking this postgraduate module, which has night class from 6pm to 9pm.

So yesterday it was 1.5 hour into the lecture when this coursemate entered the class. As if the lecturer was triggered by some pressure sensor on the seat, the moment the coursemate's butt touched the seat, the lecturer said "that's all I have for you this week."

Sad right!? (fine, some of us undergrads do love it when lecturer ends lecture early)

That's the thing about night class. Most of the lecturemates are working adults. So they have to rush down to class after work, yadah yadah... While I was with my previous employer, there was this engineer who was taking Master's degree. There would be a few days in the week when he had to leave early and take a cab down to campus. But sometimes there are things popping up at work and you can't leave as you want. (of cos, telling your boss that you have night class is a good way to leave on the dot everyday)

Night class is a tiring business. Even for me who is not working, I find it tiring. You have lesson until late at night, then project meeting until even later at night, and next morning you have somemore lectures from other modules. I can't imagine those who have to rush down from work, rush dinner, rush home...

How do you guys manage night class?

nimby the foreign worker

2008-10-06T09:38:00.005+08:00

If we look at construction sites, road works, cable laying, most of the time we see foreign workers. I think the locals would rather starve to death at home than to take up these jobs (also, thanks to our increase in education level), thus these positions have to be filled by foreigners. In a way, foreign workers contribute to Singapore's growth and development.

Recently there's this case of residents protesting against the siting of foreign worker dormitory near their private housings. I think it is a case of Not in my backyard (NIMBY) syndrome.

Not trying to say it's good or bad, cos it's natural. I would have felt the same concern too. In fact, my next door is infested with foreign students and I always feel like calling up the police on illegal immigrants/tenants. That's because they always blast music. As long as they don't disturb me, they can have a whorehouse there for all they want.

I did a little search online and came across this article on a case study in Jalan Kayu. It is heartening to know that the foreign workers are becoming part of the community. (of cos, this report could be something to appease the residents at Serangoon Gardens)

Should we be worried before something happens, or should we be worried about something that may not happen? In any case, it is easier for me to say since I don't live there.

voodoo doll of bus

2008-10-05T18:03:00.002+08:00

I have been busy CADding a voodoo doll of a bus so that I can poke some needle whenever the service is not to satisfaction.

Bus companies, watch out.

(nah, that's for project. I'm designing a next generation bus that can speed on the Formula 1 race track in Singapore)

i don't friend all kinds of aunties

2008-10-04T22:18:00.005+08:00

If you have the slightest impression that I can get along well with aunties, that is not totally true. There are some aunties whom I can't stand at all.

My mother wanted to take me along to a yum char session with some family friends. I always see it as formality if not diplomacy to show face and meet the elders, but on hearing a particular auntie was going, I straight away told my mother I won't go.

Which auntie so powerful? The one who came to my house and made me a HDB staff. I don't know what's wrong with her, seriously. Today, that woman asked another auntie's child to help her husband to find something on the internet. Then when her husband was out of earshot, she said actually she knows how to find the stuff, just that she's too lazy to help her husband. What's this?? So do you also ask other woman to help your husband make baby?? Not trying to be evil-mouthed, but how can her husband tolerate her all these while? Then she is so old already still behaving like a kid, the other family wanted to go some place, she also wanted to follow. Reached the place already immediately said want to go back. Tsk.

But, there are some super duper cool aunties too. Today I had a cool lunch gathering with fellow blogger friends eastcoastlife, xizor, endoh and xinyun. (don't get me wrong, not all the attendees are aunties) It was a very relaxed lunch of chicken rice at Boon Tong Kee. Seriously, I think outsider could have thought we were one family. Laugh laugh, joke joke, I like this kind of small gathering.

term paper on combined cycle power generation

2008-10-04T12:02:00.002+08:00

Let me share with you a term paper I did last semester, which looked into combined cycle power generation. This method of producing electricity accounts for close to 50% of Singapore's power requirement.

Energy and power (and electricity) is not my specialization, but surprisingly it is one of my better subjects in engineering.

See if you can spot any crap inside a supposedly formal term paper. Oh, and please don't plagiarize, beside violating the license, it will hurt me.

wheelchair unfriendly wheelchair accessible bus

2008-10-03T17:20:00.001+08:00

Yesterday my coursemate Huawei shared with me this report from Channel NewsAsia, "Wheelchair friendly, but you can’t board"

The message of the little blue sticker seems obvious: We’re a wheelchair—friendly bus. But, as disabled commuters have found out the hard way, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re welcome aboard.

Mr Lee Jun Hui, flagged down SBS Service No 57 outside One Raffles Quay three weeks ago. Though the decal declaring it a wheelchair accessible bus (WAB) was displayed on the windscreen, the driver refused to let him on.

What is this?

The bus company made so much noise when they first introduced wheelchair accessible bus (WAB), and now they say they are not allowed to carry wheelchairs? It kind of reminds me that time when I took a taxi with the "we welcome NETS" sticker on the window, and the taxi uncle could tell me he doesn't know how to use the machine when I wanted to pay my fare by NETS.

Why don't they make the story more dramatic, tell the press that they have imported x number of new wheelchair accessible buses, but none of the drivers know how to drive it?

We always hear people saying "hardware limitations", but it seems like the hardware is the scapegoat for incompetent humans.

Who should we blame, the driver, the bus company, or the authority?

(related plurk)

big minister is watching

2008-10-02T20:50:00.006+08:00

Can you imagine seeing our minister appearing in the cloud above the Central Business District (CBD), smiling down on us?

I can't.

Anyway, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, will be speaking at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum on 17 Oct.

(this post has no political motive. I'm just making fun of the poster. You can see it pasted around campus. And I haven't reached the stage of doing photoshop on local politicians.)

from bus stop to bookstore

2008-10-02T11:19:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I was at a bookstore in Bishan, walking between shelves, looking at books, then I felt someone was looking at me. I looked up and saw this girl... Our eyes met, wadeva.

Ok what's so special about this girl? She is also a NUS student, and I believe she's from Arts. She boards the bus to school from the same bus stop as me, and this is the 4th year I am seeing her. Tall, long hair, usually taking the bus alone...

The thing is, we both don't live in Bishan. It always feel funny to bump into strangely familiar people at some remote places. There was once when I was in Hong Kong and I saw this secondary schoolmate crossing the street.

eid mubarak 08

2008-10-01T21:44:00.006+08:00

I was very honoured to be invited to the "Eid Mubarak 08" @ the Chaudhrys'.

I went together with Ameet (from Civil Engineering) who requested anonymity on my blog. (oopz but I feel like posting photo of him eating) Guests were treated to an afternoon of authentic Pakistani gourmet from our host's mother. And the desserts were simply sinfully sweet, with my favourite gulab jamun.

Rizwan had been a fantastic host, running around entertaining guests, and the usual jokers such as yours truly here (actually it was Ameet, but since he requested anonymity, I will take his place). It was nice lazing at the backyard, chatting with other guests, enjoying the cool weather, relaxing from our hectic routines.

Thanks for the invite, Rizwan! And Selamat Hari Raya!

motd

2008-10-01T09:44:00.002+08:00

To all my Muslim friends,Selamat Hari Raya!
To all children like me,
Happy Children's Day!too bad your school holiday got eaten up.

waffle and junior

2008-09-30T15:56:00.003+08:00

A few weeks ago I was poking my nose into Arts canteen's waffle stall when someone patted me from behind. It was Samuel, my junior from ODAC (outdoor activities club) days. It was a pleasant surprise to bump into him in campus, since he's studying in the other university. He's also working at an outdoor equipment supplier, and is actively involved in the local adventure racing scene. I really admire his passion for the outdoor, when I'm still stuck with my climbing and kayaking which pretty much depend on my mood. We had a long chat standing in front of the waffle stall. I didn't buy the waffle.

Yesterday I was on the way to Arts canteen to get the legendary waffle when I bumped into LCC at a study bench. LCC is from the same batch as Samuel. Although LCC and I always communicate via blog, I seldom bump into him in campus. We had a little chat while waiting for his laptop to shut down.

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I feel that my junior batch couldn't get along well with my batch, and I couldn't get along well with my batch too, but I can get along well with my junior batch. Fine, going by how much an antisocial organism I am, had I been in my junior's batch, very likely I wouldn't get along well with them. That's the funny thing about fate.

Oh back to the waffle, I did manage to buy the waffle yesterday. It was heavenly. I think waffle is one food that you won't grow sick of.

Plain waffle goes at 80cents.

formula 1 singapore grand prix

2008-09-29T10:00:00.002+08:00

The first Formula 1 night race was held yesterday at Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit.

Coming from a Formula 1 noob, I think the race was quite dramatic. All the crashes and stuff, the most scary scene was at Scuderia Ferrari's pit. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa drove off from the pitstop before the pit crew could remove the fueling hose, so the red F2008 was speeding off with a torn hose dangling, with Shell fuel splashing out.

I almost went WTF when I saw the poor pit crew fell.

This is another case of "human system integration". When you look at other teams, they have a lollipop man holding up a lollipop sign in front of the car signalling it to go. In Ferrari's case, they use an eletronic light signal. Wadeva, it's a communication breakdown that cost the guy to drop from 1st to last.

Still dare to go to Shell stations? (and the uncles driving Renault vans have reason to look down on Ferrari and Merz on the road)

chillycraps or [insert real name]

2008-09-28T16:13:00.000+08:00

I introduce myself differently when I'm with different groups.

But that's not some identity crisis or personality split. When I'm at bloggers events or gatherings with online people, I introduce myself as chillycraps; when I'm with "real life" people, I use my real name. I thought I'm very clear with that.

Then it suddenly struck me. Is it impolite if someone introduce him/herself with his/her real name, and here I am giving weird name like chillycraps? It was when someone asked if my surname is craps or my father's name is craps, then I began to ponder if it's my fault that my father ended up in the loop.

I have my reason for staying anonymous as much as possible. Let me share with you a little phobia that I have. Everytime I receive some unfamiliar mails that have no markings or logos on the envelopes except some PO box number, my first reaction is "what trouble did my blog stir again?", "another investigation?", "lawyer's letter?", "so they decide to charge me?"

If you already know my real name, I think it's meant to be known to you. If you don't, I think my dear readers won't mind.

neighbourhood war

2008-09-27T16:59:00.002+08:00

That other day I was hanging my laundry behind the kitchen to dry, when water began to drip from somewhere upstairs like heavy rainfall.

This wasn't the first time water was dripping from upstairs, but it was the first time it dripped so badly. Even a wet mop won't drip like that. So instead of going upstairs to bring justice to the tenant, I went downstairs to the ground floor. I looked up, no wet laundry, no dripping mop. Just wet wall. Seemed like someone was washing his windows when there were clothes hanging downstairs. I had to rewash my clothes.

This time round I didn't do the screwing. I let others screw. I shot an email to the town council. Later on the same day, the town council distributed letters to my column "educating" tenants about not dripping water and stuff.

I am less than optimistic. The letters were in English. Those who drip are ah pek.

new comments box

2008-09-27T09:30:00.003+08:00

Ok I've changed something with the comments box again. At first this blog had comments page instead of comments box, ie that standard boring Blogspot comments page. Then I switched to pop-up comments box after feedback from some readers, saying they prefer the pop-up box.

But I've always wanted wordpress-style comments form, right at the bottom of the individual entry page. Now you have it.

Blogger in Draft never fails to impress me.

What do you think of the new comments form?

where's the screw up

2008-09-26T15:45:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I was at a birthday party. The host bought a bottle of wine, but forgot to bring the wine opener. You know, it is like those moment when you have a bottle of beer but no bottle opener. So I offered to go out to buy, and the host's mum drove me out.

I went straight to the supermarket's wine section, thinking that they would put the related stuff together for convenience to shoppers. But no, there was no wine opener to be seen in the row. Only bottles and bottles of wine. Hmm... so next I went to the hardware section. I thought I'm the supermarket regular but I still couldn't find the wine opener. It was moment like this when you open your mouth and ask. The cashier reluctantly told me to check the party section. There it was, wine opener alongside charcoal and barbecue stick.

I find it weird. Fine, you drink wine when you go party, but is wine opener closer to wine, or closer to party? (don't ask me why they put condom together with candy)

The layout design of supermarket sure involves human factors.