Back to school

by Jonathan in Education,Life,SP on Monday June 26, 2006 at 0102hours

Yupp. Back to school later with MDAD Test + ISNS Test + ECOM Test + BUOM Project Meeting + other Acad Clubs AGMs + MIT Club AGM spread out over the course of the week.

How is anyone going to enjoy going back to school with such nonsense (save for the last on the list above). Then again, life now wasn’t (and perhaps isn’t as well) as enjoyable as it was back in VS.

Sigh. Better get to sleep so I can wake up early later so I can mug so I can (hopefully) get good grades so I can hopefully maintain 4.0 so I can get into a good Uni of my choice so I can get a degree so I can get a ‘good job’ so I can be successful in life.

So there, the end result is success isn’t it? Wow. Big secret. See the typical Singaporian mindset? Success == Acad Excellence. Bullshit if you ask me. Look at Michael Dell and Bill Gates. Both dropped out of college to pursue success, which they eventually found.

Sucess != Acad Excellence. The Singapore Education System is finally begining to realise and understand this, but I still don’t see much being done to promote it. Oh well, I guess we’re (more or less, I not denying that there are ways around it) stuck chasing pieces of paper with stamps and signatures on them.

Trackback · Comments Off

Privacy’s going the way of the Dinosaur

by Jonathan in Life on Wednesday June 14, 2006 at 2012hours

Before reading this, you might want to read Kelvin’s latest blog post on things losing their essence and meaning. This post was written after I read his, and although its ‘essence’ (bad pun, yes, I know) is somewhat different from what I’ve got to blog about, the central theme is still things losing their meaning.

That and the fact that his post makes for an interesting read. Righto, now would be a good time to go ahead and read it. But then again, I can’t tell if you have diverted from this page to read it or if you were too lazy to open the link and read his post.

Why can’t I? Hell I can do a lot of things on the web, but something that can’t be done is to retrieve the entire browsing (history) record(s) of the user currently on my site. Just can’t be done. And that’s a damn good thing. Because if I could, so could any other website operator. I would know which *ahem* porn sites *ahem* you visited, which banks you bank online with and what site you prefer to visit to get the latest World Cup scores. And you can kiss your privacy goodbye.

Yupp. Privacy. The concept behind the ‘lock’ on the door that was created to keep people out, while letting in those whom you choose. That’s the whole point of privacy isn’t it? So the whole damn world won’t and most importantly can’t keep tabs on you when they really have absolutely no reason to. But no. Technology has to come into the picture.

At about 1105 hours this morning, I was seated at the 105 bus stop (along Serangoon Ave 3) SMSing Jocelyn. Before I kept my Nokia 3100 phone, I noticed something disturbing. The display of my phone showed ‘Serangoon Ave 2′. That’s not exactly accurate, but that’s not my point either.

My point is that M1 knows where I was and who I SMSed. They probably know that I’ve got a Nokia 3100 as well, and they as sure as hell know what time it was. Let us backtrack a little.

How do YOU know where I was and who I was SMSing using which phone at what time this morning? Simple. I just TOLD you. How did M1 know? My phone told them, and no, my lovely phone did not consult me beforehand about letting M1 know. See my point?

On the bus, I sat smack in front of the poster that tells concession pass holders to “Tap in and TAP OUT” (emphasis mine) for a chance to win the latest 1GB iPod Nano. Further down the ad, you find the phrase “Just don’t forget to TAP OUT” (again, emphasis mine).

So now our favourite bus company wants to track where we board the bus and where we alight. Although they have little use for that data themselves, I’m sure advertisers would sell an arm for that kind of information. And if the bus company feels that they need an arm to survive, guess what they’re going to sell?

I await the day where I step out of a bus and get this SMS.

SBS Transit thanks you for traveling with us on bus# 135. Welcome to Parkway Parade. xxx, xxx and xxx (where xxx are people on your phone’s contact list) are also in the vicinity. Its been 9 days since you last had a meal at McDonalds. How about having lunch there? Today’s Promotion: Mc Spicy Meal at just $4.95!

Trackback · 9 comments