CH213: The Internet of Things

With the different news I find about acquisitions by big companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, etc, I sometimes feel like maybe I should have stuck with the engineering field. For our research project in college, my group built a wearable device with an accelerometer. The device was called Axel. It was actually just an improvement of one batch ahead of us who built the foundations necessary. What we did with it though was to enable it to recognize movements of people - from walking, standing and other actions. The goals we had were to:
1. Improve functionality of the device
2. Lengthen battery life and make the device actually wearable
3. To create software that will enable the results to be interpreted and activities plotted by time
4. To enable the device to be compatible with using SD cards since initially data wasn't in the format that's ubiquitously recognizable

And now, what do we have, Samsung, Google (through Motorola) and other tech companies releasing devices that perform the same things we built 4-5 years back. A lot of companies are pitching themselves in the prime position for the inevitable age of the "Internet of Things."

This blog entry was inspired by the acquisition of Oculus Rift by Facebook. At first, I thought it was interesting for Facebook - primarily a social media platform - to purchase Oculus Rift - a virtual reality hardware+software company. But then, thinking about it, it does make sense for Facebook. Facebook will be a good platform where Oculus can reach the masses. As Zuckerberg justifies:

"Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can’t wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us."

On the other side of the spectrum for the future, we have Google funding R&D for computer driven cars. Tesla as mentioned in the article - through Elon Musk - has done research for Hyperloop which could be the future of mass transit. And also, on the topic of Elon Musk - who I think is a visionary almost on the level of Steve Jobs, he's company SpaceX is building rockets that could enable people in the future to inhabit Mars.

The future is starting to be not as how Sci-Fi pictured it to be. Not exactly, but close to it. We've seen parallels of IPads, smartphones and the like in Star Wars and other science fiction shows. It's exciting to think what the future will be like with more innovations and technologies in research and development. It's actually something I hope I could live to see and experience.

I'm happy that the big companies are not just focusing their monetary muscles to make profit in the now, but investing heavily to position themselves for the future.

[Random] Experimentation

For the lack of entries, not because there's been any absence of social life to blog - more because I can't really put it out without breaching my friends' privacy, here's one!

I've been meaning to grow my hair out to get something like this from college again:

Or this:

I decided yesterday to trim it a bit and see what id like my hair to look like before I go off to Europe.

There. That's my update. Hahaha just kidding. My mind has been preoccupied with waiting for results for an assessment I submitted for. I haven't even finalized my itinerary for Lisboa, Madrid and Barcelona because I can't concentrate with the assessment in mind. Results should have come out march 13, but I wasn't able to consider the assessing body had 3 weeks for holiday break over Christmas and new year. So my anticipation has been building up because it will define a lot of things ahead of my life.

So once the dust has settled, I hope to say I can go back to regular programming! :) 

Xoxo

CH166: Surprises

I'm not really good at keeping surprises secret. It's hard to keep calm and not talk about it. The last surprise or secret I managed on keeping was my plans to take up my SAP Certification. I couldn't talk about taking the exam to anybody in case I failed and that would have between deathly embarrassing...

Holiday

Following my entry CH161: Excessive, I didn't get nor have any plans to travel out of Singapore for May. (CP and I have some vouchers to go to Thailand (Phuket) bought from Groupon but there are still no plans to use them) What I have been pretty quiet and nervous about are the airline tickets I bought to go to UK from June 8-21 (depart June 7, arrive June 22). What's to be nervous about? Well, the fact that I'm still waiting for my visa to be approved! Still can't go full on booking hotels and airfares (like from London to Edinburgh) because of this blockade. Such a hassle coming from a third world country that needs to apply for visa to go to places. How come Americans or Europeans don't get the same inconvenience? Anyway, still hoping the visa gets approved so I can finally relax and plan the vacation with CP full on!

Mother's Day
So, mother's day is coming soon around the corner. I figured, I owe a lot to my mum since I don't really send in remittances or what to help out. She did told me not to bother as she and my dad still works. So as a surprise, I bought her a cake and palabok to be delivered to her office tomorrow. I did a similar gesture for her last tiime on her birthday. When I asked her then what she thought about it, she hinted that the cake I ordered was not enough to share between all her officemates Hahaha! *hint hint* That's why this time around I ordered the palabok extra to be delivered around the time people have their merienda in the Philippines.

American Express
I was quite surprised to have gotten the new AMEX cc (Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend) so quickly. It took 8 days since I expressed my interest in their pop-up booth in ION orchard for them to process the application and send me the new credit card. What's even more surprising was when I called to activate my credit card last night...the credit transfer from my old credit card to the new one happened instantly! And, to add candy sprinkles (lol) to the cupcake, they even gave me a complimentary hotel night voucher in any Millenium hotels and resorts chain and 4 vouchers for SATS premier lounges in Changi and other airports! (Free hotel stay to be used for my Mom and Dad when they visit on June 22-25)

Cooking
Being on a diet, I surprised myself with the idea of making stuffed bell peppers to get a protein style dinner. I hollowed some bell peppers and just stuffed it with tuna and cheese layered on. Would have been nice had there been an oven to experiment with. Putting it on microwave grill did not really cook through the cheese inside, but nevertheless, it did achieve the goal of having something filling and protein packed - minus the carbs.

CH33: Can't Fight This Feeling

...
And I'm getting close than I ever thought I might

And I can't fight this feeling anymore
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
It's time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars
Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore

-----
 Excerpts from the song "Can't Fight This Feeling."

I find myself drawn to it (the song) every time I start up Ipod on my Iphone.
I can't really explain why.
I figure it might be because I'm turning 25 in about a month's time. Quarter life crisis?

Like I said in my previous entry, I only dreamed of making it in Singapore after 5 years of work experience.
But, as luck may have it, the dream has turned to reality, after only about 2.5 years of experience.

I don't kinow ... I'm really thankful and grateful for making it here. Salary-wise, there's so much to be thankful for. From my computation, I'm quite amazed how my career salary-wise has grown leaps and bounds.
From my salary in HP, after nearly 2 years of experience, I joined TSFI and experienced a salary-growth/increase of almost 100%. And now, here in SG, as I am about to gain 3 years of experience (more or less), I find that my salary has increased by almost 700% from HP.

But somehow, well, now that I've made it here in Singapore, there's something amiss.
I'm thinking that it must be because dreams were realized far too early and fast.
I find that I don't really know where to go next. What dream to dream of now ...

I know for fact, that as a stepping stone, Singapore now may quite possibly be Europe or perhaps Australia or New Zealand in 2 years time (5th year of work experience). There's a lot of possibility and choices as long as I play my cards right.

And, there it is, another conundrum as I like to consider it. Too many choices. I like having choices to choose from, but I don't like having too many choices to make. Take for example when shopping, I limit my choices to certain stores so as not to complicate a simple matter as buying clothes or shoes. Simple.

But life, as they say, is generally complicated. I'm starting to go blah blah right now, so getting back to the song. I don't really know what I'm feeling. I don't think I'm feeling homesick ... unless what I am feeling is a precursor to one. I've never really longed for the Philippines since working here. There are somethings I miss from home and from the regularity of things I have been used to the Philippines, but not really to the point of brooding or crying or whining about missing home. I'm happy here, with that uncertain feeling I am feeling.

I can't see for myself nor even imagine what I want to do or where I want to be 5 more years from now (10 years of work experience). I usually tell my friends that perhaps I will try applying for PR in Australia where most of my friends have risked it, or perhaps New Zealand where my brother has already migrated.

But, then, I realize, PR, permanent residency, sounds something like settling down. Living there for good. But, I haven't explored that dream yet as I have no intention of settling down yet. There's so much more to explore and places to travel to.

I guess, I should conclude this by just satisfying myself by saying that perhaps I should just take life one day at a time. Which doesn't quite cut it for me, but given the limited choices I have right now - seeing that I don't have any idea where to take my life next - I'll just bide my time.