read: shadow of a dark queen

Not as enjoyable as the other series cos it was war heavy, less on the fantasy. The prequel on the saaurs was interesting but fizzled out and they are just senseless lizard murderers in the rest of the book.

read: the forbidden stars

The axiom were sadly not powerful and not so smart. Even Callie can outwit them. Especially the last part. 

It's nice to have a happy ending.

The technology suggested were pretty cool. Interstellar travel. Nano machines. Gravity generators. Bridge generators. VR immersion and so on. The romance was tacky. The situations somehow far too convenient e.g. the marriage to Michael, the AI generate Ashok.

read: the dreaming stars

The romance is starting to get weird but I guess it's true that you get lonely in deep space. Just not what I want to read about in a science fiction.

The whole treatment for Sébastien is weird. And the solution to win by playing a game. At least they made it realistic by having Callie lose the game.

The overthrow of the ruler and making him stop the terror drones and swarm is also a bit bizarre.

 Reading on to part 3 cos I'm curious about the blue eye.

read: the wrong stars

By Tim Pratt

Interesting hypothesis about the Liars and Axiom. 

The romance between Elena and Callie made it weird and unnatural. But the story of a rescue and unearthing the mystery of the Liar race is dramatic enough to keep you reading.

Would be a very colorful movie.

On to part two cos I'm curious about the Axioms. I feel like they must be some sort of very weak race that is highly intellectual and therefore using brainwashing and technology and slaves to hide their inadequacy.

read: hail mary

Went back to reading science fiction and this enthralled me.

It's the details of the science (that I don't understand) that made it feel real. Anthrophage? Its parasitical conquest across the universe. 

The schoolteacher persona felt unbelievable to make it to space, nor was Rocky the other alien but it was all very entertaining.

Good read!

On to my next science fiction.

read: bad blood

About the silicon valley investment bubble.

All you need for success is not a viable product. All you need is a very charming leader with good connections and unscrupulous lawyers.

The money bought ruthlessness rather than ingenuity.

read: spare

It felt painful reading it.

A story of an entitled rich kid who refused to let go of his mommy, so eager to seek validation, and self-important, imagining feuds and conflicts and conspiracies. Self-righteous but weak-spined. 

The romance was sweet but felt too artificial. I don't believe Meg is perfect but maybe she's the strength he never had.

read: Billy summers

Another non scary book by Stephen King

Enjoyable read albeit somewhat improbable character and plot

Not too sure where the ending was going with a new character introduced, but I guess it showed the humane side of Billy as he introduced more and more errors into his operation. 

Always great build up of a foreboding sense similar to his scary stories

Wonder what the significance of the portrait in the summer house was, it felt like it was going to amount to more but it remained simply a portrait.

read: fairy tale

By Stephen King 

So not your typical fairy tale but surprisingly loyal to those components: the hero, the beautiful princess, the evil, castles and strange creatures.

But cos it's Stephen King u get the huge bats and roaches, the foreboding gloom of a haunted house and maimed people. 

All in all a pleasant read. It seemed strange that half the book was dedicated to the set up (finding of the fairy tale land) and the hero was slightly unreal (although he did add that he was not perfect at parts). But it's a fairytale so you can ignore logical flaws.

read: facial justice

By L P Hartley

Whom I've actually never heard of

As a book concept it was quite fascinating. Equality to the extreme, where even the pretty have to be brought down a notch in pursuit of equality. Instead of pursuing the implications of such a society, I felt that the author went instead into the petty story of an individual. I suppose she(maybe he) did touch upon the decay in a high conforming society (things not upkept), the need for the inspectors who were ironically above the rules. It touched a little on the idea of the underground/aboveground society split although to no effect unlike The Time Machine. All the interesting ideas but explored rather superficially methinks.

Read: First they killed my father

Cambodian massacre from the eyes of a 5 year old survivor. It's so far away from the life I have now I cannot imagine most of the things she described. At such a young age, to feel so much hatred you want to kill, to see so much deaths and where survival is so difficult that there is no room for others (stealing food from her baby sister, from an old granny, ignoring her best friends mother hugging her best friends corpse). It's written in the simple language of a 5 year old, but which made the horrors all the more stark. 

Read: The Quiet Earth

Not quite a science fiction, but more of a human nature story on what happens if everyone else (or most people) in the world got wiped out.

The building up of the character foreboding the eventual outcome where he kills off his only other companion. 

The science is fairly inconsequential to the story, and the bizarre loop ending, reminiscent of Groundhog Day also doesn't quite make sense.

Interesting read with a fair bit of drama though.

Watched: The Life of Pi

Because my memory is appalling.

Just to capture my thoughts on some of the things I spend time doing.

The Life of Pi

• Colourful movie by Ang Lee, or maybe it was cos it was about India. Indian movies/books tend to be super colorful.

• About a boy in between. In between traditional and modernity, between a mom brought up in religion and a dad who believed in science. Raised in India, but named after a French swimming pool and nicknamed after a mathematical Greek?Roman? Symbol Pi. In between Hindu, Muslim and Catholicism. In between practicality (he saw how the tiger ate a goat) and idealism (right till the end he still fantasized he had a relationship, he sees the soul in his eyes, with the tiger)

• Lovely images of the animals, the sea, the island with the meerkat

• Incredible story about his survival with a large carnivorous and hungry animal

• Wildly fascinating but I'm not sure about the meaning. Is it about the presence of God? 

Thankful back to work

Not that Im thankful to be back at work but Im thankful I got to leave work at 6ish!!! Got a seat this morning!!!! Had a bubble tea - green tea macchiato is yummy and fruity. And thankful that there was dinner at home although I forgot to text earlier! Thankful that theres healthy chrysanthemum to drink.

Lifes pretty good.

It's harder but possible to be thankful at home

So many things to do, and dealing with a chatty mom. (Is that how people feel when I'm chatty)

Nevertheless I'm thankful that
1. My mom helped to wash and iron the clothes
2. I had a massive discount for a grain bowl and juice
3. I got to play with my cat

Thankful

Its easy to be thankful when youre on holiday

Day 1 of Thankfulness
1. Im thankful Im exposed to breathing and meditation
2. Im thankful the dinner staff is so friendly
3. Im thankful Im here with Huiyan who wont judge

Day 2 of thankfulness
1. Im thankful i saw a rainbow in the pool
2. Im thankful for the relaxing massage
3. Im thankful i get to try out yoga and pilates and stretching

Day 3 of thankfulness
1. Im thankful for the different lunch
2. Im thankful for the weather - cool but not raining - which allowed us to go kayaking
3. Im thankful for the strong deep tissue massage which feels so shiok, especially the spatula area

Day 4 of thankfulness
1. Im thankful about the sunny morning

Regulations

There are generally three forms of regulations to correct market failure:

1. Economic regulation: To check exclusionary and exploitative conduct of players with Significant Market Power. This is exercised through price regulation, competition law, and other ex ante requirements including unbundling or requirements to provide access to essential facilities
2. Public interest/ consumer protection: To correct negative externalities, ensure distributional justice and protect the consumer (e.g. through minimum quality of service, to ensure safety and security, correct information asymmetries, etc). This could take the form of universal service obligations, quality of service requirements, security screening/vetting, and consumer protection frameworks such as requiring key service terms to be clearly stated upfront and providing dispute resolution options.
3. Technical regulation: To standardise, coordinate and ensure inter-operability. This is exercised through standards setting, registration and testing of the product/resource. 

There should also be attention paid to challenges of enforcing the regulations.

Tips for Giving and Receiving Feedback

How to Give Feedback

• Lead with intent. “The reason I am telling you this is …. I am hoping the result of this conversation will be ….”
• Have a conversation. View the conversation as a two-way exchange, not a one-way dump.
• Understand the goal. The purpose of constructive feedback is to encourage the other to move into a problem-solving conversation with you, not to “change” for you. The purpose of complimentary feedback is to help the other more fully own and leverage their strengths.
• Focus on the behavior. Discuss its impact on you and/or your organization.
• Language matters. Avoid attributions or labels such as “you are insensitive.” Do not make up stories about why they act in a certain way, such as “you don’t care.” Use “I” language instead of “You” language, but remember that saying “I feel that you are insensitive” and “I feel that you don’t care” is cheating.
• Use inquiry. Ask what the other person hears you saying. Ask what is important to them. Ask what they need in return from you.
• Reframe. Maintain the mental model that feedback is a gift — it is data. And more data is always better because it provides us with choices we wouldn’t otherwise have.

How to Be a Good Receiver of Feedback

• Tamp down your defensiveness. Avoid justifying, explaining, or making the other person wrong. Remember that feedback is data and having data is better than not having it because it expands our choices and results in healthier relationships.
• Become curious. Tell yourself: “This person is upset with something I do. If I can figure out what that is, I can move toward solving the problem.”
• Repeat. Ask questions. “So, I hear that you are really annoyed and think I am not committed. Yes? It would be helpful to me if I understood what it is that I do that results in you feeling that way.”
• Signal that you understand. “I hear that the fact that sometimes I don’t respond to your texts for several days is what leaves you feeling that I am not committed.” This is better than getting into an argument about whether or not you are committed.
• Thank the giver. At some level they care enough to say something.
• Know when to stop. It is OK, and even preferable, to say when you need to take a break and negotiate a time to return to the conversation. The giver may have waited until he or she was really upset before saying anything, and therefore it is often easier to take the issues a bit at a time.

– Deborah Petersen

Accessed from: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/carole-robin-how-create-feedback-rich-environment?ViewFullSite=true&utm_source=apower&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gen15-16&utm_content=ehs-ExecReportSept2015

Note to self: always bear these in mind.

Sometimes.

Sometimes I think about the reckless times in Shanghai, the times when nothing seems to matter but the next party or dinner. carefree. no commitments. no adult worries but the monthly utilities bill.

sometimes i do miss those times.
but then im also glad to be back.
cos this is the real world.

Cyber Security

With technology infiltrating in every realm of our lives, cyber security becomes all the more pertinent.
Imagine the person who can hack into the network.

Inspired by: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33610593