Week 13

13 weeks of TWC over, time sure does fly really fast! But not that I'm complaining teehee :p These 13 weeks have proven to be useful in changing my perception of technology. In particular, I'm now more exposed to the various kinds of new technologies that I've discovered with the class over the weeks, and these emerging technologies have wow-ed me! It has made me aware of the up and coming technologies in the different fields and industries, something which i would never have discovered on my own.

So this last session of TWC saw the last few groups presenting their web report, including my group on Women & Technology- please visit us at HERE to learn more about how women do have intricate links to technology and we're really not noobs at it! Please take our polls too!!! Okay, don't mind the advertising. So this week we had 3 other groups, apart from my own, presenting. One was on armageddon, the second on diseases and technology and third on technology and art! I thought this week's range of presentations was pretty diverse, so that was really good in expanding the scope of learning for our class. The one which was caught my interest was the one on armageddon! I've always been interested in end-of-the-world stuff, such as movies like 2012, the day after tomorrow, etc. So i thought this topic on the end of the world and technology was nice to know about, will visit their site once i'm not as bogged down with work like I am now!

One other presentation that I thought to be informative was the one on diseases & the technology related to combat the spread of diseases! This group had an organised site which made it easy for users to navigate around and it seems really easy to obtain information without overloading us with facts at the same time. I thought this topic to be really relevant to everyone as it deals with health- our very being! They also offer information on various diseases on their site, including the most recent H1N1 swine flu, of which during the period I got quarantined with my friends, haha. And the rest of the other types of diseases listed there have information that everyone should gain knowledge of as well.

Lastly, I'd like to include a video which my group had shown in class (and is also on our site) to illustrate the preconceived notion that most people have- that women are noobs at technology. Hope you have a good laugh watching it!

And here's another one!

And to end off, I'd rate this session a 9/10!

Bye bye TWC.

Week 12

We had the group presentations for class today, and overall you could see that a lot of effort had gone into putting the various sites together :) There were 3 presentations today, one on aeroplanes, one on space junk, and the last one on technology and land use! Can't really recall the exact names but it was along these lines. From all the presentations, i managed to pick out the most significant example to me, which was the China Straddling Bus! Blogger says i've exceeded my limit to upload photos -.- so here's a video instead!

I thought this way of incorporating technology into improving land space is way cool, and can probably top the list of China's inventions! With the Straddling Bus, it allows buses to function like MRTs, and this lets it move at faster speeds as well, making the whole service more cost-efficient. This should be implemented in Singapore! We're always bothered by bus lanes and traffic jams with long queues of buses at the side (esp near school, haha), hence such a form of transport will definitely speed things up on the road.

One other thing noteworthy about today's session is the quote that Prof mentioned-

Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification. -Martin H Fischer

Although it kinda has no link to the content of the presentations today, I thought this to be true, and that it is important to keep these in our heads as University students. Many a times while doing our research papers we tend to get carried away with the content and knowledge that we're obtaining. We fail to internalize it fully and we just proceed to rephrasing and dumping them into our papers. So I thought this quote would be a good reminder for us all to not take the easy way out, but to make the effort to absorb and internalize the knowledge that we gain through the research process.

Overall, I'd rate today's session a 8/10 as it was interesting to learn about other arenas in which technology has had an impact in, apart from what was fixed for us to learn during the past 11 weeks.

Week 11

Today's session was on technology assessment and forecasting, and it elaborated on how it is important to be forward-looking. And being forward looking didn't simply mean just looking at what we have today and thinking about what might happen, but today we discussed how it was more important to go back from the future rather than going forward from the present. This meant that we are only limited by our imagination and it is vital for us to view the possibilities of the future, and to start working on them today.

The process of strategic foresight as the next business frontier was also perceived to be a viable option that would prove to be successful for organisations if they chose to have strategic foresight as one of their practices.

This video mentioned that the capacity for a business to generate different more accurate images of the industry's future will be his greatest asset. And i thought this to be really true as competition within industries soar high and it's always better to stand out with your unique future innovations. One other quote that was mentioned in the video was- "To be successful in the future, your business needs to develop the understanding of the future as its foundation for strategy and innovation development". This summarises what we discussed in class today, that we need to extrapolate into future possibilities so as to anchor ourselves in methods and strategies today.

One interesting thing that Prof mentioned was to "take the obstacles and challenges of today and make them into stepping stones into the future". I thought that this optimistic mindset was interesting and would be beneficial to all who adopt this thinking. Most people see obstacles and challenges as dampeners to their growth, but what they do not realise is that these obstacles can be taken in a positive light and in turn be used to generate more ideas on where the use of technology can lead them into future possibilities.

What I managed to pick out from the presentations today was that it’s easy to overestimate ST gains and underestimate LT ones. It allowed me to realize that society is often short sighted and we’re unable to fathom the various benefits and gains we can inherit in the long run, if only we were willing to not let anything restrict us.

Overall I'd rate today's session a 8/10 as it summed up what we've learnt over the past 10 weeks and is helpful in my understanding of how the future can shape the present.

Week 10

Today's session covers emerging and future technologies and was an enriching session to me cause once again, twc lesson lets me in on the new world of technologies that I'm unaware of. And this new world of new technologies owe to the innovators that dared to imagine.

You say things and you say 'why?'

I dream things that never were, and I say 'why not?'

- George Bernard Shaw

One quote that was mention in class pretty much sums up how most of us aren't open to imagining and creating new stuff on our own, and the opposite- how a group of people look to break the "it cannot be"s and are open to thinking of alternative ways to improve various aspects of our lives.

And another quote that is relevant to the issue of people being closed-in on their imagination was prof's quote- "In terms of the development and application of new and emerging technologies, we are limited only by our imagination- and, all too often, the lack thereof"

Of the many videos that prof showed us, I particularly liked the one on Augmented Reality. Augmented reality is the adding of a layer of useful information to the reality we see on handphones and computers. And here's the video:

It was interesting to see how you could just raise your mobile phone to say, a row of restaurants in front of you, and with this you are able to know the details of this restaurant. This is certainly a breakthrough for convenience, saving people the hassle of ploughing through the Yellow Pages, or even the need to turn on computers to look for information. This then brought to my mind another type of augmented reality that i came across while researching for my group project. This is about virtual make up where women (or men if they like) can just position themselves in front of a screen that takes a snap of their face. And through this, you can pick up the cosmetics that you think would benefit you, and as and when you scan their electronic tags, you're able to see the results on your face instantly in the video screen. This also enables women to get a better perspective of both before and after pictures displayed side by side.

One other point mentioned was that supply can sometimes create demand. I thought this to be really true as people in the past were always satisfied with whatever they had, and they didn't need more. But when has progressed from then till now is that due to the wide imagination of various individuals, leading to the emergence of new technologies, it has created a huge jump in supply of new innovations that can have possible impacts on society. And due to the onset of such innovation, people are increasingly intrigued and curious about such creations that hence led to the increase in demand of the new stuff. This illustrates how people don't realise they need it until they experience this new technology, and one example would be the iPhone.

Other quotes mentioned was that "there is a space between man's imagination and man's attainments that may only be traversed by his longing" and a more significant person would be the main founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, who mentioned that "innovation distinguishes the leader from the follower". I thought that these 2 quotes summed it up pretty well, that it is up to the Gen Ys to be willing to imagine and break boundaries, leading to technological advancement. It certainly is important to rid ourselves of the rigid mindset that innovation is only for intelligent people who have done tons of research, but what we fail to remember is that the root of all ideas begin in creative environments where there is no restraint on the kind of ideas that are churned out.

One interesting take away from the presentations was the one on the electronic paper which is the new form of paper that was flexible, water-proof and could store multiple information, making things a whole lot more convenient for people since information was all stored on a single sheet. What excited me was that you could line your room with e-paper and these could change colour or images according to however you wish! I guess this suits the ever-changing wants that society so often has these days, and this in turn explains how there is a need for new innovations to sprout out constantly to ensure that our ever-changing needs and wants are met.

However, there are setbacks to this as it was mentioned that the copyright of materials might be an issue. With the transfer of information so easy and at your finger tips, it would be no surprise that the existing issues of intellectual property would be worsened further. One method of countering this is possibly the topic of copyleft that allows people to use other people's work as long as they cite where they took their material from.

Overall, I would give today's session a 9/10 as I'm always awed at this whole new world of emerging technologies that are unknown to me, well probably cause I'm not sufficiently well-read. And this I'm sure, is that many others out there are also unaware of such developments that have been taking place, and this is a pity. I think it's important that commoners like you and i recognise the effort and time spent into such innovations, and more importantly, recognise the boundaries they broke and their never-ceasing imagination that allowed the advent of new technologies.

Week 9

First session after our break from Recess week led us to talk about energy! Oh how we need the energy to continue studying till week 14 :((((((( But that wasn't the kind of energy we were talking about today, instead we spoke about the various types of energy, and how important it is for humankind to keep going in the search of new sources of energy, since old ones are running out.

Prof pointed us to one of his many quotes again and today's read this:

The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution.

- Gurinder Shahi

This is definitely true in all sense of it, as sources of energy used in the past are fast depleting, with people consuming more energy than they actually should. This use of energy can be attributed to various sources, like the use of energy as a source of national income, energy for the poor, and energy for transportation technology. Such usages can perhaps be advantageous in helping a country grow economically, but what it fails to realise is that our consumption is more than the availability, leading us to the road of energy deficit in the near future.

Hence, people have turned to research on renewable and sustainable energy, that are better options for everyone to turn to. Renewable technology are naturally replenished, and hence would not run out anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Some of these include solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy. I guess my favourite for Singapore would definitely be SOLAR ENERGY! Since it's always so hot here, we might as well put the heat into some use.

Solar energy has been put in place all over the world, with solar panels covering huge acres of land, and in turn generating a substantial amount of energy! One hurdle for singapore would be our lack of land space, but one solution would be installing these solar panels on rooftops (since we always like to go upwards). From what I know, my alma mater, SAJC, has previously installed solar panels on the rooftops, and it was said that even though it provides only a small portion of energy, it is no doubt still helping to contribute to energy consumption. In fact, SAJC was in the news yesterday about these solar panels! And it was talking about how Dr Amy Khor, senior parliamentary secretary for the ministry of environment and water resources, mentioned that this solar energy project "takes Singapore further in realising its goal of switching to clean energy technologies". Here is a picture of the solar panels, dr amy khor, and my principal, haha.

Apart from solar panels being installed in SAJC, Singapore has also progressed to install solar panels atop Changi Airport's Budget Terminal. It is said to save up to $60,000 annually and can convert about 346,750 kilowatt hours of energy each year! I'd say it's definitely worth the investment and proves that even a small country like Singapore, with limited land space, can still do its part in helping conserve energy globally. And again, here's a photo of the solar panels, with a plane flying in the background!

Also, in reading 5, it brought to my attention the vast number of sources of energy we can tap on! These include wind power, solar power, solar photovoltaic power, geothermal, solar thermal & ocean energy! T'was quite cool, I thought. And perhaps we should indeed turn to such renewable sources of energy, and fully make use of what's given to us naturally.

This brings me to remember about how one presentation mentioned reusing CO2 exhausted from cars, to power cars! It's like you don't even have to use petrol and diesel anymore (and what more about fossil fuels), cause what you produce from your car can drive it! No pun intended. But seriously if such a thing came to light and use one day, it's gonna put oil and petrol companies out of business, and that was something we discussed in class as well. But I like that thought, though, that we can save money on petrol, and use it to buy more cars!!!!!!!! Ok, you know I'm kidding.

One other highlight of the lesson was this animation that Prof showed us, which I thought brought the message of the problems that global warming bring, and how new ideas and new technologies can help conserve what we have. Going green, and using cleaner technologies, friendlier to the environment, can help us use energy more efficiently. Here's the video!

So all in all, my key takeaway for today's session is that turning to alternative sources of energy would be a decision well-made. And it would leave countries with more hope than regret as such sources of technology can conserve the fragile environment that we live in, and is no doubt a good investment.

And to end off, i'd rate today's lesson an 8/10 as I can finally see some use of Singapore's sweltering heat other than making us perspire like mad dogs.

Week 7

Today's session covered the second component of the biobusiness revolution, concerning that of agriculture and the environment. What we covered today led me to have an increase in understanding of how our food sources might be threatened as we move along the years, and what are some ways that have been implemented in order to counter act nature's processes.

Prof shared his quote- "When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability". Essentially, this meant that a country has to be self-sufficient and to also not be too dependent on nature, or on others. This might be a little questionable for Singapore in terms of food as we are severely restricted in land area, having already reclaimed land for our newest developments like the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. It would then question the government's priorities on whether it does want to channel both monetary and non-monetary resources into constructing more infrastructure for aeroponics, hydroponics, and the likes.. Prof also let us in on the various colour of biotechnology that i was previously unaware of! Red/Medical. Blue/Marine. Green/Environmental. White/Industrial.

One other interesting point mentioned was on waste management. That you could either take waste and generate oil from it, which I think would really help save a significant amount of monetary resources from purchasing oil. Or else, there was also the process of taking human faeces and allowing microorganisms to feed off the sewage and generate protein, making………. SHIT CAKES. Yuck, never in my life will I consume them. Well unless I'm really on the brink of dying from starvation. But, ew.

I also did my presentation this week, on how climate change can threaten food security. And one key point of my presentation was on climate change adaptation, which is centred around increasing the agricultural productivity of land despite climate change hazards like droughts, for example. Through my research, I came across this interesting development that has taken place, and which I also shared during the presentation. This specie is known as WEMA, which stands for the Water Efficient Maize for Africa, which is essentially a drought-tolerant maize developed through conventional breeding and incorporating the best technology available internationally.

How WEMA is really useful in drought-prone areas is that it is predicted to significantly increase yields by up to 20%-35% under moderate drought as compared to current variety. This translates to approximately 2,000,000 more tonnes of maize, capable of feeding 21 million people. This is indeed quite a substantial amount, and I never fathomed that such new developments in agricultural seeds could have such a huge positive impact on society.

Furthermore, more of these new developments are found in the 4th Reading. It is stated in the article that different cereal varieties have been developed with a greater tolerance for soil alkalinity, free aluminium, and iron toxics. What proves to be really beneficial is that these varieties will allow agriculture to succeed in acidic areas, hence increasing the amount of arable land. Furthermore, it is stated in the article was that the "greater tolerance of abiotic extremes, such as drought, heat, and cold, will benefit irrigated areas". This development is in sync with that of Project WEMA as mentioned above, and are both good progressions in the area of the agribusiness, ensuring that much of our food will not be affected by unexpected climate hazards.

It was also questioned in the article "How will resource-poor farmers of the world be able to gain access to the products of biotechnology research?" This is because most genetic engineering research is being done by the private sector which holds patents to many inventions or developments. And I thought this to be a very real issue that governments would come to face one time or another. This is quite a debatable issue as smallholder farmers aren't able to contribute significantly to the developmental process, so hence should they then have a piece of the pie? Many might argue that it would be unfair treatment to allow farmers who have had no contribution to the biotechnology developments to have a share of the benefits. However, another school of thought comes from those who believe that these poor farmers are afterall still humans, hence they should have every right to benefit from a development that can prolong their lives and businesses.

This hence brings me to think upon Project WEMA again, where the foundation (the African Agricultural Technology Foundation) will identify smallholder African farmers especially those in sub-saharan Africa, and distribute any drought-tolerant maize varieties developed to the poor farmers without royalty, essentially at the price of regular maize seed. I thought this act was certainly one that was generous of the AATF and is definitely a decision that would allow all farmers, rich or poor, to thoroughly benefit from the advancements of biotechnology.

Apart from the points mentioned above, one other interesting fact of lesson today was that I didn't know we were consuming Genetically Modified food so much. Like prof mentioned kiwis, i never knew those were GM-ed! Cool fact of the day. I guess it just goes to show how we just stuff our faces with food most of the time, not knowing where it was flown over from, how it came about, and the various processes that made it possible for growth and henceforth, consumption by us fatty people (all singaporeans included, haha)

Thus this made today's session really interesting as it widened my perspectives on the food i'm eating, the agricultural processes that were behind its growth, and what can be done to ensure our source of food isn't threatened by the climate, or by other humans ways, like spraying pesticide for example.

On a separate note, I thought more discussion could go on about the whole issue on smallholder farmers benefitting from biotechnology, whether they should be let in on this privilege or not.

With that, I'll rate today's session a 9/10! (:

Week 6

Today's session covered a new topic on Bio Business, which was defined as a commercial activity based on an understanding of life sciences and life science processes. I thought today's lesson although not as directly relevant to our age group, still proved to be somewhat useful knowledge. We spoke about the future of healthcare and its patients, with prof showing us this video which I thought was quite cool, and have never thought that advancements in technology can be so useful to the healthcare industry in such ways.

Unfortunately I do not have the link of the video and neither did I take note of the title, but what I remember of it was that clinics were kinda like brought into the homes of patients. This is in the sense that patients can have doctor consultations right in their living room, which I feel really saves the whole time and effort bit for the elderly, especially, removing the need to travel to and from the hospital. One other feature I remember from the video was doctors in hospitals having everything electronic! Seeing a patient with electronic records, and also doing research with a team without pen and paper. If this is where we are heading for in terms of healthcare, I'd think it would definitely bring about greater efficiency for hospital staff, and perhaps being able to increase life expectancy for many patients in the long run.

Furthermore, something in the reading "Gates Foundation Global Health Strategy" brought up a fairly valid point. It was stated that both Bill and Melinda Gates had the belief that lasting improvements in health, education and poverty reduction are achievable, stating that these advancements would not simply vanish with people losing interest in it after a while. This kinda links up to the quote which prof also mentioned during the session- "Bio Business may well be our best hope for achieving sustainable development". I can agree with this to a large extent since bio business is based on the understanding of life sciences and life science processes. & since each and every living organism has some form of life science as a part of them (cells, genotypes, etc.), then definitely there would be some form of dependency on bio business for sustainable development.

One other interesting takeaway I got from the same reading was that Bill and Melinda Gates both focused on problems that have a major impact on people in the developing world but get too little attention/awareness, and funding. This was further backed up with their ability to invest with foresight which was combined with the use of technology, giving rise to new products designed specially for the poor. I felt that it's really true that the poorest of countries are just no exposed enough to the new arena of technologies that can help them by leaps and bounds (eg. vaccines), all due to the fact that the awareness of such healthcare advancement is not widespread enough. In my opinion, it certainly is a pity and it is definitely encouraging to know that the Gates Foundation is keen to look into this matter.

The presentations then went on to elaborate a little on medical tourism, the one on the kidney thing which was interesting to listen to, and the last one on the pharmaceutical industry. There was this question raised on whether anyone would be willing to go to a developing country to seek treatment/ for plastic surgery, etc. And this discussion gave me new insight as I never saw Thailand as a country that was known for its medical/healthcare business, and that my classmates were in fact willing to give it a shot! Frankly speaking, I would never have Thailand as one of my options for treatment (and nope i dont believe in plastic surgery haha), choosing developed countries like the US or the UK over Thailand anytime. This sees no relevance to biasness or whatsoever, but perhaps due to certain impressions that have been left upon us previously.

Something that could have been given more air time would probably be the issue on plastic surgery, maybe? I think that would be an interesting topic to discuss, whether the advancements of medical technology has positive impacts in the area of fake beauty, although this would probably bring up issues of ethics and things like that.

Overall, I'd rate the session 8/10 as it gave me comfort to know that when I grow old, medical technology grows with me too, and when that time comes, I wouldn't have to leave home to see the Doc for my aching back :P