TWELFTH THE END

Summary
1. Technology & The End + Preventive measures
2. Diseases & Tech Shababes Protecting the world from spreading knowledge & hope
3. Technology & Art
4. Technology & Women

Interesting Ideas
IT leading us to our death
Technology has always been thought to benefit Mankind, be it in terms of convenience or efficiency or simply leisure. It indeed a refreshing AND MORBID idea that technology, instead of bring a greater good, would actually lead us directly to our DEATH O.o

This was also a rather good wake up call... in the sense that I am reminded of how an over reliance on technology would indeed be rather dangerous >< These dangers are clearly portrayed even in today's context. Just look at the amount of monetary loss to a bank when it's online banking system crashes... Look at the amount of inconvenience caused and productivity loss when a public transport (technology in transport) breaks down. Or simple... think of the number of SMU students who are at their wits when the school email system crashed O.o

Obviously, even in today's context, there is already a clear trend of technology's users being heavily dependent and reliant on their gadgets and tools ><

Nonetheless, I believe that as long as the users understand and notice their over reliance on technology, they would be sane and practical enough to come up with contingency plans... JUST IN CASE their systems crash ><

Women are seen as IT noobs
I definitely, with ALL MY HEART, do NOT agree with this statement.

I am really quite a techie person... I love my laptop, I love my music player and I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with Mac.

I do not believe there is any unsolvable problem as long as I am in contact with Mr Google. So far, any problems which I encountered during the use of my gadgets has been dutifully and well answered by Mr Google. Simply by reading through forums and following the recommended steps properly, I have been able to solve my techie problems smoothly (SO FAR).

I also do not think that women are less competent in fixing their own electronic stuff... plugging cables into the correct holes behind televisions and setting up the wireless network at home... all these are simple instructional issues. I think the bigger issue is whether women view themselves as incompetent in these areas and hence rely on their male counterparts to help them, and not whether they have the mental capability to perform these tasks.

This would be especially true in today's modern context whereby information is so readily available. If a women wants to learn more about something, there is simply no reason to say that she does not know how to do so since she can always pick up the knowledge form somewhere.

Key Observations 
1. Today is the end of TWC ><

2. Being contented with the knowledge learnt is the end of a journey. The application of the knowledge learnt is the new beginning...

Great learning during these few weeks :)

I really hope all the knowledge I have learnt can be put into good use in the near future!!!

Thanks Prof and TA :D

7-ELEVEN

Brief Overview/Summary  

Time passed really fast today! Prof gave a briefing of the overview today and we went into a flux of group presentations which include:

Air Transport (My Group)

Space Junk

Land Conservation

Interesting Observations and Ideas 

All the interesting ideas came from the group presentations!

First up... Space Junk

Hmm... how interesting if we could throw all the rubbish into space and clear up space for more development on Earth! This saves space, saves money and could even be potentially environmentally because we need not incinerate the rubbish anymore! 

But given the greedy and exploitative nature of Mankind (unfortunately ><), we would be generating more rubbish than we should have simply because we think that no matter how much rubbish we create, there is always a venue to dispose it. 

However, I think there are still huge potential about the technoloigcal aspects of space junk because afterall, the outer space is still a huge unknown to Mankind!

We could potential build many floating structures in outer space and re-create another Earth! I've seen a lot of such speculations in fiction and if Mankind is really working towards such a goal... I foresee many other impossibilities being made real!cause they are potentially dangerous. 

Another interesting idea which is brought up during presentation is about land conservation! Ideas such as  multiple land use (E.g. verticle farming and wind farms), verticle farming is suitable for more developed country which faces the problem of land constraints, wind farming is suitable for countries such as China. Singapore is also using vertical farming to large extent, especially with regards to its hydroponics vegetation. 

I see much potential in this technology, especially in today's world where space is becoming increasing scarce due to massive and rapid development around the world.

Key Takeaways 

1. What standard formatting REALLY means

2. Technology is really magic which makes the impossibilities possible... 

Personal Rating

 7/10

Ten Tent Ten

Brief Overview/Summary
In today's session, we discussed about technology assessments and forecasting

We are often too focused on extrapolating that we forget that "working backwards" is often more effective than the opposite way! Some examples highlighted through the videos and discussions include trend analysis, technology roadmapping, simulation modelling. (Thanks Prof for explaining about technology roadmapping!)



Interesting Observations and Ideas
An interesting topic which was brought up is having GPS embedded in a person's shoes and even blood or body! Although this may seems very far fetched, looking at the current popularity of GPS among consumers and even developers, such a technology is actually rather possible to invent and implement. All it requires is a merger between biology and engineering, which is already an existing and also booming industry. Although having GPS stuck to a person 24/7 may seems to be a serious intrusion of personal privacy, it cannot be denied that this technology could potentially save lives in cases of emergencies (e.g. a kidnap case or missing person case).

One particular quote which caught my attention is "The present is pregnant with the future" by Voltarie. Perhaps it's due to a tiny motherly instinct in me? This quote really had an impact on me. I imagined the present to nurture and grow the future... just like how a baby grows within a mother's womb. And how the mother cares for the baby, through her diet and lifestyle, directly affects the growth of the foetus. Similar, how we take care of the environment now would directly impact the future, as the results of our actions would only surface in the future. And just as how there will still be a limitation to how a mother can predict and control the baby's growth (still depends on the genes and a little on fate), no matter how much we try to predict the future, there will still be unknowns and unexpected outcomes.

Key Takeaways
One key takeaway is definitely "work from the back if you don't know how to step forward!"
Sometimes, by taking a step back, the view is a lot clear. If one can, not only step back, but even "rewind" to back track from a particular expected outcome... it would make innovations and developments much easier to achieve!!!

Issues for Further Discussion 
I would love to have more air time to be given to the process of working from the future instead of towards it. Perhaps a particular mechanism could be used to discuss this issue in detail :)
 
Personal Ratings
7/10

Nine Night!

Brief Overview/Summary

Today's class is about Emerging & Future Technologies :)

Many ideas were explored, some of which are really interesting!

The videos shown helped to highlight some of the possibly (emerging) technologies like Claytronics, Plastic Electronics, Augmented Reality and Carbon Nanotechnology!

Other topics which we touched on includes drivers of such emerging technologies and the new innovations themselves. Drivers would include the simple demand and supply, unmet market opportunities and needs. Some interesting new and emerging technologies highlighted in today's session include biotechnologies, robotics, biometric technologies, artificial intelligence and etc. 

Interesting Observations and Ideas

Personally, I found Augmented Reality especially especially interesting and intriguing! It would be such a great convenience to get information by simply doing a scan! However, as much as such a system would give great efficiency and increase productivity, in my opinion, if such a technology is applied to human beings... won't it be a total nightmare? Seems like if such features of the technology can be applied to human's information, it is almost equivalent to the Death God's eyes (in the fictional movie/comics Death Note). The issue of protecting private information will be a great controversy, and unless this issue can be resolved, I think resources set into this technology should be slightly held back.

Another interesting observation I had from today's session was how all the emerging technology highlighted today are actually very much interrelated! For example, my presentation topic was on touch technology and in order to maximize the potential of touch technology, electronic paper ( as presented by  Yirong) and usage of full body coordination (during the Xbox presentation) would be technologies which are very much involved. All in all, the idea which i got is that Mankind as a whole, is moving towards progress and advancement in so many areas that improvements in any particular sector/area will have ripple effects which are beneficial to others. But then again, with beneficial ripple effects... there're bound to be detrimental effects too >< Which... shall not be discussed there as of now :P Simply because I am simply too excited about the various technological breakthroughs that may be occuring in the very near future. Or rather, I sincerely wish that the technological advancements can help to solve the difficulties they themselves bring along ><

Key Takeaways

Augmented Reality is the WAY TO GO! (if we can resolve the possible ethical controversies ><)

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. 

Issues for Further Discussion 

I wished some time could be spent on talking about how the various technologies actually complement and aid in each other's advancement and development!

Personal Ratings

8/10

All the discussion points which were raised after all the presentations were really engaging and mind provoking!!!

Eight in an Egg

Brief Overview/Summary

Energy and World Change is the topic of the day! 

We discussed the various sources of energy and how new discoveries and innovation of new technologies help to reap benefits to Mankind.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

OMG the video on new habits and new technology to save the earth is SOOOO cute haha...

One of the more interesting ideas that was brought out during the discussion is the potential energy which can be reaped from the Sun! It is indeed true that the Sun is a powerful source of energy which has yet to be fully tapped on. I believe there is still much potential in solar energy and with the increasing pace of innovation and change in today's world, it is not surprising at all that we will be using the Sun's energy efficiently and effectively in time to come. 

Another very interesting point which was brought up is the benefits behind the transition to fossi fuels. It has been an old discussion (for the longest time) that Mankind's exploitation of fossil fuels has brought about very detrimental effects to Mother Earth. 

That was what I thought so to... that despite all the factual benefits (e.g. powering of cars, industries and machines), the damage which the burning of fossil fuels created (e.g. global warming) outweighs the benefits it brought about. 

Well... if Mother Earth is going to die (i.e. Mankind will die too) from the detrimental effects of burning fossil fuels, I don't see how the progress and monetary benefits fossil fuels bring about is of any significance. 

Key Takeaways

If it is possible, Singapore should follow the footsteps of Germany. I find Germany's aim in doing its part in the conservation of environment very admirable. If more countries can place environmental conservation on a higher priority on their to-do-list, I believe global warming can be alleviated to a better extent.

Cash incentives WORKS! 

As can be seen from the National Renewable Energy Act... Too bad Spore is such a small country, otherwise the implementation of this Act will definitely attract large number of people (those who want to earn an extra income). Perhaps this model can be better advocated in other countries (E.g China!)

Issues for Further Discussion

I think more air time should be given to Patrick's topic on Co2. That idea was really fascinating! Although the mechanics seems very complex... I supposed the discuss on this topic would bring greater understanding regarding the possibility of such a technology!

Personal Ratings

8/10! It was a rather fruitful session :)

Seven Seven Eleven :P

Brief Overview/Summary 

Environmental and Industrial BioBusiness

Interesting Observations and Ideas 

How human is actually the cause of the disappearance of 200 species a day ... Does that really mean we are a bane to Mother Earth? It is true that we should question what gives us the right to do harm to other species and the environment. It is simply because of the fact that we're at the food of the food chain, hence we are given the power to 'dictate' the world? I agree with Prof that it is indeed a great embarrassment when we view human race as one which is only doing harm and no good to Mother Earth and what ever good we're doing is to simply offset the harm that we have caused.

Another interesting point is the MEANING behind colours!

Blue = Marine

White = Industrial

Red = Biomedical

Green = Environment

The many videos which we watched were all rather interesting and very informative! Especially the first video which mentioned that the ultimate aim of using biotechnology us to increase productivity, increase nutritional values, improve socioeconomic needs, decrease environmental footprint. 

Advocacy for FOOD FEED FUEL FIBRE!!!

Key Takeaways 

1. GM vs Organic... Are they really mutually exclusive?

2. Genetic modification can affect religious issues

Issues for Further Discussion

I wish more airtime could be given to discuss what are the BANES of biotechnology. It seems that there are a lot of discussions about what good biotechnology has brought about... but what about the banes?

Personal Ratings

6.5! 

SEXY SIX when im SICK :(

Brief Overview/Summary 

Topic of the day would be BioBusiness Revolution: Healthcare & Biomedical Sciences. 

The focus was the past, present and future.

Im can't attend class today because I was feeling unwell :(

According to Kevin, the best way to write my blog is to read the slides, readings and ask my friends! 

SO HERE I AM!

Interesting Observations and Ideas

It's a rising trend that BioBusiness is getting more and more popular simply because of the number of impossibilities which it can make possible.

I myself always find BioBusiness interesting, especially since I was a Biology student and learnt a bit about the mechanism behind the whole Biological system. 

It is really amazing how human, when pressed to the limits of technology (which is normally related to mechanics and computer) would turn to Biology! Something which... few would have thought about when the word "technology" is mentioned a few decades ago....

Key Takeaways

1. BioBusiness brought about Healthcare Revolution which has its banes and BOONs. 

2. Health-IT... SO INTERESTING!!!! 

Issues for Further Discussion 

Although i was not present, I would have wished to be involved in a discussion regarding Bio-IT and Computational Biology. 

- Personal Ratings

< 5 stars coz i am absent :(