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Review and Teardown of Creative Midi Blaster MB-10 synthesizer

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Creative Midi Blaster MB-10 recently entered my retro-collection 33 years after its first release in 1993. Seeing that there isn’t much detailed information about this device on the internet, I decided to do a review followed by a teardown of this device. I will also take some sample audio recordings of it.

Reflections of a newly minted NUS CEG Master graduate

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

After 2.5 years of sweat, tears and lack of sleep, I’m a Master Graduate loh! I just graduated with a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering from NUS College of Design and Engineering (CDE) Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.

Before I embarked on this master degree program, I actually did not know what the experience will be like as I did not know anyone taking up similar programs beforehand.

There is not much online information on the experience of graduate level programs from the CDE faculty and ECE department compared to the undergrad level. This is not surprising as relatively few Singaporeans take local graduate programs compared to undergrads in the first place. Of those that do, many anecdotally gravitate towards Masters in Business/Finance or CS/Tech related programs instead of core engineering.

Therefore now having completed this program, I decided to share my thoughts and structure this post in the way that would have helped someone like my younger self before I started.

These are the points covered in this blog post:

Why I chose to take a Masters in ECE?
Program structure of ECE-CEG Masters
Reviews of courses that left me the greatest impression.
Profile and working with other students
General Feedback to professors to accommodate part-time students
When or should a Singaporean take an NUS coursework engineering master degree?
Conclusion

Llama 2 LLM on DOS

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ever thought of running a local Large Language Model (LLM) on a vintage PC running DOS? Now you can!

Modern 2024 PC with a vintage twist (ft. Ryzen 5 7600 & GeForce 4060 Ti)

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

If I were to tell you a PC has a floppy drive, optical drive, Sound Blaster card, serial, parallel and PS/2 ports running DOS, you would think I’m referring to a machine from the 1990s. But my very modern PC built in 2024 possess these characteristics!

I recently built myself a PC as my previous desktop PC was insufficient for my current needs. I decided to build one with the ability to still reach back into the past to run DOS.

In this post, I will go through my thought process I went through to decide on the specifications as well as the journey I made to run MS-DOS 6.22 on it.

Book Review: The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer by Steve Hamm

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Thinkpad is arguably the one of the most iconic and consistently long-running laptop brand in the world today. Back in 2008, Lenovo released the Thinkpad X300 to critical acclaim. Being released shortly after the first Apple Macbook Air, plenty of comparisons were made between both machines as both were extremely slim machines at that time.

I first heard of this book online entirely by chance when I was reading about the history of prior Thinkpad models. This book covers the backstory of how the engineering marvel Thinkpad X300 came to be. Although the X300 has long gone out of production, the design language of the X300 lives on today as a foundation to subsequent models in the Thinkpad line such as the X1 Carbon.

DOS's Last Stand on a modern Thinkpad: X13 Gen 1 with Intel i5-10310U

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

When one thinks of modern technologies like Thunderbolt, 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet and modern CPUs, one would associate them with modern operating systems. How about DOS?

It might seem impossible, however I did an experiment on a relatively modern 2020 Thinkpad and found that it can still run MS-DOS 6.22. MS-DOS 6.22 is the last standalone version of DOS released by Microsoft in June 1994. This makes it 30 years old today.

I shall share the steps and challenges in locating a modern laptop capable of doing so and making the 30-year-old OS work on it with audio and networking functions. This is likely among the final generation of laptops able to run DOS natively.

My first chip with Tiny Tapeout 4 - Covox Speech Thing clone

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

When one thinks of designing an Application-specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, one would typically imagine a very high production cost, lack of access to tools and individuals can’t really do this unless you work in a company or academia.

Thanks to Tiny Tapeout, these barriers are broken down and I managed to have a chip that contains my own design. I sent in a very simple project but it is still my submission no less. I went through the entire submission procedure including writing a small testbench and preparing my project for submission through the very nicely documented process from Tiny Tapeout.

In this post, I will share my experience in development and demonstrating my design.

Setting up an open-frame Pentium 3 testbench

Sat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I have amassed a respectable collection of retro-PCs in the several years I have been engaging in my retrocomputing hobby. As part of this hobby, I regularly acquire vintage expansion cards from others. Testing these newly-acquired cards will require me to frequently disassemble my properly set up retro-machines which is a hassle to do.

To reduce the repeated handling of these old and relatively fragile setups, I decided to embark on a project to build a modular vintage PC in the form factor of an open-frame testbench. This testbench setup will facilitate testing of vintage expansion cards as well as easy evaluation of vintage operating systems.

I decided to go with a Pentium 3 (P3)-based setup similar to my Tweener setup.

In this blog post, I will go through how I set up this hardware for dual-boot between DOS 6.22/Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and Windows 98SE plus the challenges I encountered while doing so.

HDMI ISA graphics card for vintage PCs by improving the Graphics Gremlin

Sun, 10 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

HDMI is a relatively modern video connector we take for granted on modern PCs and monitors. Now vintage PCs can join in the fun too with a native connection to modern HDMI monitors without any additional adapter.

(A production run has been made for this board. You can contact explit[at]mailbox[dot]org if you wish to purchase a unit.)

Teardown & review of a new 386 system: Hand386

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A new 386-based palmtop recently appeared on Aliexpress and was covered by sites like Tom’s Hardware. My curiosity was stoked and I quickly snapped one up.

Building a DOS ChatGPT client in 2023

Sun, 26 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

With the recent attention on ChatGPT and OpenAI’s release of their APIs, many developers have developed clients for modern platforms to talk to this super smart AI chatbot. However I’m pretty sure almost nobody has written one for a vintage platform like MS-DOS.

This client now supports Hugging Face API, Ollama API and text to speech (TTS) capability. More info on TTS is found at the later part of this post.

Teardown of Habotest HT107E Socket Tester

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During my volunteering with Repair Kopitiam, I noticed that an experienced coach had a tool that could plug into a socket to determine if the socket was wired up correctly. Fascinated by this, I wondered what such a tool was and how does it work?

How do I produce my flight videos?

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I have recorded and published dozens of in-cockpit flight videos ever since my PPL training videos to the present. For a long time now, I have received many questions on how are these videos produced.

Therefore I decided to write this blog post to address these questions as the video production and editing process is not as straightforward as it may seem.

Review, usage and repair of the Framework laptop

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I finally received the Framework laptop, said by many to be one of the most repairable and modular laptops made so far.

Tons of professional reviewers and Youtubers have already given their opinions and made teardown videos. Instead of mimicking what has already been done, I decided to put myself in the shoes of an ordinary layman and share my thoughts from a personal usability perspective.

A major design flaw was found by some on this first-gen Framework product using the 11th-gen Intel CPUs, do read it before committing to purchase.

Birthday 2021: Year in Review and going forward

Sun, 05 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

So another year has passed for me. It really didn’t feel that long ago that my previous birthday just passed. As many older people have told me, once you hit your 30s, one does not bother counting their ages any more. I can concur with this.

I think it’s more important to measure things now by what was done and learned and my goals going forward rather than just counting numbers.

My Dos and Don'ts when trying to convince the unvaccinated

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Singapore’s COVID vaccination programme has been doing very well by worldwide standards at 76% who received 2 doses since 16 Aug 2021.

Forgive me for stating the obvious but I’m part of this majority group. I’m considered fully vaccinated as I’m more than 2 weeks past my second shot. Still, I don’t subscribe to the mentality that that should be the end of the story for me.

Throughout my interactions in daily life, I have met some people for some reason or another, have not chosen to get vaccinated. In absolute numbers, the size of this group is still significant even after taking away children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated.

The word “anti-vaxer” has been thrown around a lot to describe this group of people but I believe the situation is never as simple as a label.

I chose to listen to them to find out what are some of their concerns and if possible see if I can persuade them to change their mind. In those conversations, I have to admit I gained a lot as well, hence I decided to write this post to share my consolidated learnings and my opinions on what best to do and not do when trying to convince them.

My First Helicopter Ride

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Private leisure helicopter flights operating in Singapore are a rare occurrence compared to planes. So when a helicopter ride opportunity presented itself to me recently, I immediately said YES!

The machine is a privately-owned Robinson R22 Beta II manufactured in 2004 registered as N783SH. It’s a 2-seat light helicopter that is commonly used for primary flight training.

While doing the preflight checks, the helicopter pilot of my ride said and I quote.

Most people only see the glamorous part of the pilot at the cockpit, not the pre and post flight safety checks and preparatory parts of the work.

(Joanne, helicopter pilot for my flight)

As a private pilot myself but with a plane license, I totally agree with this. The amount of preparation work before and after the flight is usually not captured by most photos and videos and thus unaware to most outside the aviation community.

Therefore when I decided to write this blog post to share this one-of-a-kind local flight experience, I felt it was just as important to highlight the non-flying portions behind the scenes as well.

DME Theory and Teardown of Narco DME 890

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A faulty aircraft avionics Narco DME 890 came into my hands recently. As this instrument was destined for the trash bin, I was given free reign to do whatever I wanted with it. What better way to do it than to conduct a teardown!

Before commencing a teardown, I have to go through some theoretical concepts of the basic operation of this device.

Setting up a 486 retro PC

Sat, 08 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The first computer I used as a kid was a 486 PC back in 1995. My family upgraded past it and it was disposed of. However very recently, someone in the local tech community donated a 486 motherboard to me. This gave me an opportunity to relive some of my childhood!

In the spirit of giving back to the online community that I have learned a lot from, I decided to write this blog post to share my setup and learnings.

Transitioning to Dynon Skyview HDX glass cockpit

Sat, 20 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Seletar Flying Club (SFC) in collaboration with MAJ Aviation recently upgraded one of its aircraft, a Cessna 172N (N5748E) to use a glass cockpit.

As an SFC member, I had the privilege to learn about this new system and fly on this upgraded aircraft.

In this blog post, I’ll like to share my learnings when transitioning to this system. Prior to this, the aircraft I have flown including those in training have all used traditional steam-gauges.

Teardown of an Aviation Radio Bendix King KX-155

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A faulty aircraft radio model Bendix King KX-155 recently came to my hands.

As a private pilot of light General Aviation aircraft for about 2 years, I have used this model of radio in almost all the planes I have flown but never really looked at what goes on behind the scenes.

I decided to take this opportunity to do a teardown of the radio to inspect what are its major components to learn how it works.

Learnings from preparing a wake

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My grandmother who lives with me and my family passed away at home recently. In the ensuing days, my family and myself went through a wake process that took a few days but felt like many months of work went by.

This was not my first time attending or helping out in a wake, but it was the first one that I was heavily involved in since the departed involved a close family member in my home.

Although no one likes to go through wakes especially one from your own family, there are several points to learn from so it can lessen the burden for the subsequent one. In hindsight, I would say my family did quite well in this aspect but of course there are still extra learning points.

How does Flight Simulator 2020 compare to real flights over Singapore?

Sun, 23 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

With the recent release of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (FS2020), many videos have been shared online. However, few have been made on Singapore. Of those that do, most players fly from Changi Airport and to the city area which are off-limits in real life and they hardly use any real-world procedures.

In reality, General Aviation (GA) for visual flying within Singapore is limited to Seletar Airport (WSSL) and the local Light Aircraft Training Area (LATA). I have personally made many flights from WSSL although mostly to the local training area in the Northern part of SG. So I thought why not I conduct flights in this game as close as I can to a real plane and see how this stacks up to the real thing?

(Check out the Chinese version of this post here.)

Adding Chinese support to my blog

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been working in a Chinese tech company for some months now. I realised I needed to improve my command of technical Chinese rather than taking the easy way out of using the English terms when communicating with my Chinese colleagues.

The only way to improve is to use it more often but technical Chinese is rarely utilised and understood outside the working environment of a Chinese tech company in Singapore. Therefore there are limited opportunities to improve in this area.

Since I write on quite a lot of technical stuff, I thought one way to improve my usage of technical Chinese is by writing bilingual blog posts. To do that, I’ll first have to adjust my blog to have multilingual support.

(Check out the Chinese version of this post here.)

Book Review: Air-conditioned Nation Revisited by Cherian George (Part 3 of 3)

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This is the last of the 3-part book-review series on the Air-conditioned Nation series of books written by the academic Cherian George (CG).

Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation Revisited (2020)

I’m departing from the usual style of writing book reviews by putting my conclusion and summary at the top as some context I feel is in order.

This book is different from the earlier books in that it republishes many of the essays written in the previous 2 books. This book is just 3 years away from the previous version hence it’s understandable that there isn’t much additional content unlike the 17-year gap between the first and second book.

For someone like myself who just completed this series in quick succession, it actually wasn’t much of a “revisit” to me. For a new reader who is short of time, reading this latest book is sufficient instead of the entire series. CG has selectively chosen the best of the previous essays that are still relevant today with some more recent additions.

As a consequence to that, I’ll only focus more deeply on the additional content which are actually only just 3 chapters. 3 chapters which are targeted at modern times given the recency of this book.

Book Review: Air-conditioned Nation series: Singapore Incomplete by Cherian George (Part 2 of 3)

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This is the second of a 3-part book-review series on the Air-conditioned Nation series of books written by the academic Cherian George (CG).

Like the first book, this book contains non-linear essays written by him but slightly updated to the times 17 years after he wrote his first book. I shall pick out certain points of selected chapters which I felt impacted me the most.

Book Review: Air-conditioned Nation series by Cherian George (Part 1 of 3)

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I have heard of this term “air-conditioned nation” for more than a decade but I never actually read the book where this term originated from. Now, I finally did.

The “Singapore: The Air Conditioned Nation” book was initially published in 2000 by the academic Cherian George (CG). Over the span of 20 years, he published 3 books.

Each of these books hold a collection of none-linear essays written by CG.

Given the length of all 3 books and some reviews have already been published by much more qualified people, I shall selectively pick out certain points which I felt impacted me the most.

This is the review of the first book with the subsequent books to follow in more posts.

Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation (2000)

Radar Theory and Teardown of Aircraft Transponder RT-459A

Sat, 20 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I recently got my hands on an old unserviceable aircraft transponder from my flying club. The tinkerer me was obviously very curious on what’s inside this piece of equipment. What better way to find out then to do a teardown!

Aircraft Radio Corporation (ARC) RT-459A

Approximate size: 16.5cm x 29cm x 4.5cm

Safety and Environmental Concerns of General Aviation within Singapore

Sat, 30 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I get a lot of flight requests from friends ever since I got my PPL last year, on average once every other week. At the same time, I have questions posed to me on the safety and environmental concerns of General Aviation (GA) within Singapore. Some questions were posed to me in shall I say, “less than respectful” tone.

Let’s put things in perspective, the following is what I sometimes tell my potential passengers to mentally prepare for and be aware of what they are up against before agreeing to fly with me.

If you want to fly with me, throw out what you know of a flight based on your airline experience. This is no luxurious private jet.

Compared to any airliner you have sat in, this plane compartment has the most cramped seats. It’s so hot that you can get dehydrated at the end. The plane is noisy enough that it can deafen you in the long term without ear protection.

This plane like most GA piston aircraft worldwide, runs on leaded fuel which has been banned in Singaporean cars for decades. Obviously, it’ll take a lot more energy to put a plane up in the air than move a ground vehicle so expect to make a stronger contribution to global warming than a car trip.

Yours truly is the most inexperienced pilot in command you will probably ever have too. This indirectly leads to this being the statistically most dangerous flight of your life. To top it off, the cost I ask you to contribute will make this the most expensive seat you’ll pay for the distance travelled.

So do you still want to come?

Review of a new-old motherboard NuXT v2.0

Sat, 16 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I recently purchased a new-old motherboard. It’s a motherboard released in 2020 but not the usual you would expect of the latest motherboard released this year that support the latest CPUs and connectivity options. This motherboard supports a CPU first released in 1979 (Intel 8088) and comes with historic connectivity options like serial and parallel.

When I first heard about the earlier iteration of this board the NuXT v1.2 version from retrocomputing Youtuber LGR, I was hooked.

With the latest new and improved NuXTv2.0 released recently, I decided to get one too as I needed a platform to go into coding for DOS to support the earliest IBM PCs. You can purchase this board here at Monotech PCs.

The motherboard as installed in a modern micro-ATX case.

I have an IDE hard disk caddy, Gotek Floppy Emulator with HxC firmware and a venerable 1.44MB Floppy Drive.

The bootup process. Notice the bootup sound which is the PC Speaker playing the Intel chime. What attention to detail!

The best part, the motherboard schematic is open source since it is itself based on other open-source projects. How many motherboards released today can claim that???

Migrating my blog from WordPress to Hugo

Sat, 11 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Migrating my blog to a static site has been on a backburner for several months for me. Given the recent circuit-breaker or “soft-lockdown” in Singapore, I found the time to finally take the plunge.

I took the opportunity to change the theme during the migration.

I initially started with WordPress* as it was a common Content Management System (CMS) then (and still today) and it was easy to use. I also wanted to self-host as I wanted full control of my content. So WordPress.org was my choice and it came with lots of setup documentation too.

* I mean the self-hosted WordPress.org and not the hosting service WordPress.com. Read this link to know the difference.

Markdown-driven static-site generators came to my attention some years back touting benefits like improved server performance and better site security. I could also choose to host my site on Github Pages (like now) which is FREE and low-maintenance thus saving me money which otherwise used to go to my cloud provider.

However migrating a site has its challenges as the number of blog posts I have is numerous and I know from experience automated conversion tools are never 100% accurate. Significant time is needed to inspect and correct every post, setting up a new theme and other administrative tasks.

There are many WordPress to Hugo guides online so instead of reinventing the wheel, let me share my experience and technical pain points that were not fully covered by other guides.

How much it costs to fly General Aviation (GA) in Singapore?

Sun, 09 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The costs of flying General Aviation (GA) is a question I get asked a lot ever since I started taking up my family and friends.

I had this question too as I needed to plan my frequency of flights for personal budgetary reasons. It may seem to be a simple question but the answer can be quite complex owing to the myriad of regulations and cost structures. While tabulating the numbers, I thought to make my calculations public due to the limited information online on this topic and the general lack of GA awareness in Singapore.

Flying costs vary greatly depending but not limited to the following high-level factors:

Legal maintenance requirements
The club you join
Hourly rental rates (solo/dual) and landing fees
Amount of flying one wants to do

I’m a member of Seletar Flying Club (SFC) which offers the lowest flying rates locally. Rates are cheaper across the causeway at Senai airport in Johor but I avoid going there due to the hassle of traveling and the fact my local friends are unlikely to follow me across.

So with this, let’s do an in-depth analysis of the costs of flying GA in Singapore.

Singapore quiz in iOSConfSG 2020

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

During iOSConfSG 2020, I was asked by the organising team to give a Singapore quiz as part of my emcee role.

I was given sufficient notice period to come up with these 16 questions but I felt I could do better if I didn’t wait till the last minute. Nevertheless, I hope you’ll will enjoy them. Quite a few people told me they liked it so I think it went okay but there were some controversies. So hence this blog post with the sources provided as well as my thoughts behind the possible answers behind each question.

So let’s start with the questions and possible answers first! Once you are done, scroll further down for the solutions.

Building a new Win 3.1 app in 2019 Part 1: Slack client

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

In October 2019, my company SP Digital held an internal hackathon. My colleague Subhransu and I worked on a whacky idea of writing a brand-new Windows 3.1 app which was an OS released almost 30 years ago. The idea we chose was a Slack client. After all, Slack clients exist for most platforms but I’m certain one does not exist for Windows 3.1.

A few months later in Dec 2019, I would join the Super Silly Hackathon for the second time with fellow retrocomputing enthusiast Hui Jing. We would develop a small game for Win 3.1 with great help from the knowledge gained from this first project.

For Part 1, I shall detail the learnings and process for how a new old app can be created with the aid of modern tools and hindsight of old technologies. And perhaps what lessons can it offer us today. This blog post is a few months late as I needed time to clean up the code and write the documentation.

Don’t forget to checkout out Part 2 of the game app with Hui Jing too!

The App

Of course let’s take a look at the app.

Review and partial teardown of Fairphone 3

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I was in the market recently for a new phone as I had to give my previous Google Pixel 2 away to a family member in need of one. With the emphasis these days on sustainability and environmentally-conscious purchasing, the Fairphone 3 came up at the very top of my research.

From the marketing words of this social enterprise, “Recycled and fair materials”, “Modular and repairable design”, “A commitment to fairness” and 10/10 score on iFixit’s Repairability Rating, I was sold!

Trivia Questions asked during GeekcampSG 2019

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I was the emcee in GeekcampSG 2019. I asked a total of 66 trivia questions in the effort and excuse to give out leftover plushies from the previous Geekcamp 2018+.

These questions spanned topics from Singapore, Science, Fiction, Computing, Retro-tech and miscellaneous general knowledge. Topics I feel would appeal to a stereotypical geek audience and someone like myself. Try to see how many you can answer.

Trust me, the collating of these questions and researching their answers took over a period of several years to prepare for such a day. It was fun to finally see the fruits of my labour. Coming up with questions that can’t be too easy that everyone knows the answer or too hard that no one knows is difficult. Fortunately for me, at least 3/4 of the questions could be answered correctly by at least one person.

Considerations on picking a Flight school for PPL - A Singaporean perspective

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

A private pilot once told me “when you write about your private pilot experience online, be prepared to be deluged by plenty of people asking you about your experience and picking flight schools”. I initially didn’t believe him, but after writing many blog posts on this topic, I’m forced to concede after receiving many direct messages.

After interacting with more than a dozen people, I realised most of the questions generally revolve around the following which I shall collate here to avoid repeating myself again and again. There are many much more qualified and more experienced people who can write on these topics but I can’t find such topics discussed in the way that would have suited my needs. Hence this post.

FAQ I get

Stock take for my last birthday in my 20s

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks the last year of my 20s. My true age has always surprised people whom I just met. Yeah, I’m actually not that young already. So stock take for what was an amazing year for me!

Teardown of NDP2019 LED wristband

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

3 years ago, I tore down the NDP 2016 LED wristband as I got one during the Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) Preview. 3 years later, I got another one during the NDP preview held on 28 July 2019.

Board internals

Band in original condition

So time for another teardown!

Flight trip to Malacca and back to Singapore

Sun, 21 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I told a friend I was heading to Malacca over the weekend. Asked how I was going there. Car? Bus? Train? Don’t tell me boat? How about PLANE!

Seletar Flying Club (SFC) had a navigation trip planned for Malacca and back on 13 July 2019. For this trip, I had a “heavily-subsidised” backseat ride on a modern air-conditioned Diamond DA-40.

I will then fly the return trip on SFC’s Piper Warrior under the guidance of safety pilot Dr Fadzil! I was eager also as I have not flown a cross-country flight since I finished my PPL.

This was an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse.

The Plane!

The pilot SFC president Wei Siang and safety pilot Jason doing the preflight-inspection of the sleek plane while I just observe.

Notes on flying in Seletar Airport and Singapore Training Areas

Sun, 09 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Having obtained my FAA PPL earlier this year, I decided to join Seletar Flying Club (SFC) to maintain my flying proficiency and to also rent aircraft to bring friends and family up to the skies.

Before I can rent SFC’s planes to fly others, I have to complete a checkout flight with the club’s instructor to familiarise myself with SFC’s planes as well as the Singapore’s airspace and local procedures at Seletar Airport.

From left, SFC’s instructor Eric, myself and my training buddy Davinder when I was in the US.

After all, my knowledge have all been based on the way the Americans (FAA) do things which will likely differ from how Singapore (ICAO) work.

This blog post was originally meant for my personal notes for how does a General Aviation pilot fly within Singapore from Seletar Airport but I thought why not share it as well as such information seems to be quite scarce online. I’ll also try to list out the differences I learned between FAA and ICAO style.

Conference Emcee Experience: GopherconSG 2019

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

If you asked me 2 months ago whether I would be a conference emcee, the answer would be a clear no. But here 2 months later, I managed to pull off being the conference emcee at GopherconSG 2019.

Making the initial welcome address to the audience before passing over to the Conference Chairperson Sau Sheong.

Aviation FAQ from my friends

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Ever since I got my Private Pilot’s License (PPL), my friends have inundated me with many aviation questions. So I decided, why not compile everything into a blog post?

With my PPL, I only have the lowest-rated license among the many others higher up the chain, instrument, commercial, airline etc so I’m actually least qualified to answer them but I’ll try the best I can.

Many people’s experience with aviation this days especially in Singapore are only as passengers on commercial airliners. Especially since exposure to General Aviation (GA) in SG is extremely limited relative to the US or Europe. Or worse, shaped through the media and military movies with those fancy CGI aerobatics.

Aviation does not seem to be seen much as a possible hobby thing in this side of the world. So no surprise many questions and misconceptions have surfaced to me.

I became a Private Pilot and this is my story: Part (2-2) in San Diego

Sat, 16 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This post continues from Part 1 of my Private Pilot training journey. This part details the flying portion I did in San Diego, USA. It’s divided into the following sections:

I became a Private Pilot and this is my story: Part (1-2) in Singapore

Fri, 15 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I finally got my Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Private Pilot Certificate or Private Pilot License (PPL)! It seems so surreal, but I can actually fly a plane with my family and friends. This journey was almost a year in the making which I made immense sacrifices in time, money and much more.

With my San Diego Flying Training International (SDFTI) instructors Charles and Luke on the Cessna 172R (N2441E) which I did my first lesson, solo and checkride on.

With my training buddy Davinder

Capt Kumeran from Flightschool.SG who gave me foundation training in the Redbird MCX simulator.

My journey is so long that I have to break it into 2 different blog posts:

Part 1: Preparation in Singapore
Part 2: Practical training at San Diego
- Arrival in San Diego
- Waiting for TSA clearance
- Exploring Montgomery
- Stage 1: Train for Solo
- Stage 2: Train for Cross-Country Solo
- Stage 3: Prepare for Check ride
- Final Checkride
- Conclusion
- What’s next

Reflections after 2 weeks of PPL Training in the US

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

2 weeks ago, I put my life on hold in Singapore to come over to the birthplace of aviation to achieve a life-long dream to fly a plane.

As expected, learning to fly a plane is nowhere near as simple as just taking up car driving lessons for example. Behind the videos I have posted on social media so far of my practical lessons, hides the countless hours of mundane but very important theory lessons I have to attend.

In just 2 weeks, I feel like a lifetime has just passed with the daily information overload I face. I have to absorb how every single system works in the Cessna 172, from fuel, pumps, electrical, engine, control surfaces, instruments, specifications, you name it I have to be able to recite from memory.

Why I use the IBM Model M keyboard that is older than me?

Sun, 01 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The last primary keyboard I’ll use in my life might be the IBM Model M. It’ll probably last me the decades to the day that keyboards should become obsolete. - Kheng Meng, 2018

I just had to start my blog post with that self quote ^^^ but I’m pretty confident it’ll hold true for me. I have owned several keyboards so far and I have to say the Model M with its legendary buckling-spring switch is the one that fits my needs perfectly for the foreseeable future. This blog post was indeed also written on the Model M.

All the mechanical keyboards I have owned so far

A Science Project: "Make the 486 Great Again!" - Modern Linux in an ancient PC

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What is the oldest x86 processor that is still supported by a modern Linux kernel in present time?

I asked the above quiz question during the Geekcamp tech conference in Nov 2017 during my emcee role. The theoretical answer as you can glean from the title of this post is the 486 which was first released in 1989. I determined that fact from this article where support for the 386 was dropped in Dec 2012.

To get you interested, here is the result of my effort.

My First Conference Emcee Experience

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Yay, conference emcee achievement unlocked! Just completed my solo emcee role at GeekcampSG 2017!

With this I have completed the double trifecta of doing the roles of emcee, speaker and Engineers.SG recorder at both tech conferences and meetups.

Preparation for this role was quite a long time coming for me. I volunteered to be the Hackware meetup emcee for about 6 times to prepare for this. Even then, no amount of practice in small evening meetups can equal to emceeing for a conference 10 times the number of people that lasts the whole day.

Mandatory proof of doing the role.

Other than the sheer numbers and the usual task of introducing speakers, a conference emcee has extra challenges that I felt first-hand. But let me first mention the good stuff of being a conference emcee.

X commandments before finding a tech-cofounder/engineer

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been approached several times by many people looking for tech-cofounders or engineers to help build a product based on an idea they had. After getting so many of them over the years, I decided to write this list of pointers based on the advice I have given to those who approached me.

So here are my X commandments you should do, think about or have an answer to before looking for that tech person:

First Flight Experience in a light plane (Socata TB10)

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The first time I stepped on an airplane, I was 10 and was going to Australia with my family for a holiday. From then on, I always wondered what it was like to one day be the person flying the plane instead of being a passenger. Due to several decisions which I regret today like not joining the Youth Flying Club when I was younger, I never got the chance to do.

So when my friend Joyce told me her private pilot friend Roger will be going up to the skies with his plane, I jumped at the opportunity! It is not everyday that one will see a pilot controlling the very aircraft you are on and speaking to the air traffic controller in real time.

This is the plane, a Socata Tobago (TB) 10 co-owned by Roger. French-built, 13 years old and Malaysian registered (9M-prefix). It is operated under the Johor Flying Club at Senai Airport.

The actors in the show from left, me, Joyce and Roger.

Repair Kopitiam specialty electrical tools (Part 2): Short Circuit Limiter

Sun, 23 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

If you have not read the previous post (Part 1) on this subject, I encourage you but it is not mandatory to do so before reading this post. I’ll still go through the fundamentals in this post. If you just want to see the raw technical details, the schematic and code of this project have been open-sourced here.

Post Objective

To show why did I build this and how it works plus the issues faced.

The clean case hides the complexity within.

Book Review: Neither Civil Nor Servant (The Philip Yeo Story)

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

“life sciences graduates are only fit to wash test tubes” this statement I heard more than a decade ago was the first time I knew of this guy called Philip Yeo. Then chairman of Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), it caused quite a ruckus I believe in Singapore at the time where there was a strong push by the government into the bio-medical field.

That line partly factored in my decision against taking up a triple-science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) subject combination in secondary school. I opted for Physics and Chemistry only.

When I recently heard from online sources of this biography of the man himself “Neither Civil Nor Servant”, I was intrigued. I admit I did not know much of this supposedly very “notorious” Singaporean civil servant. So when existence of this book came to me, I decided I had to read it.

So here is my take of reviewing this book!

CV of Failures

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I recently chanced upon the concept of CV of Failures from Princeton Professor Johannes Haushofer. He wasn’t the first to do so but I guess the first that actually popularised it. Inspired by his example, I decided to write the following post. After all, it is not just success that defines us but the failures as well.

I’m obviously not as academically-credentialed as this Princeton Prof so I’ll put up key events that happened in my life in both school and outside.

For obvious reasons, this will be an evergreen post that will be constantly updated.

A Science Project: Bringing the Covox Speech Thing to 2017

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The Covox Speech Thing (CST) was a sound card released in 1986 by Covox, Inc to enable computers with parallel ports to have sound capability. Unlike modern machines, proper sound support was not a given on computers in that era and the Soundblaster by Creative has yet to be released.

As you will see later, the design is rather simple so I decided to revisit this old piece of hardware and see if it is possible to get it working on modern systems.

My remake of the Covox Speech Thing with a self-wrote media player software.

Video of everything in action

A Science Project: Windows for Workgroups 3.11 on vintage and modern hardware in 2016

Sat, 03 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

(This is a long 5600+ words post, I recommend reading this from a tablet or computer)

Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (WFW3.11) was an operating system (OS) released by Microsoft in August 1993 and ended support in December 2001. It is part of a series of OSes released by Microsoft at that time so it is common for people to refer to it as part of Windows 3.1x (Win3.1). The specific history behind its name and version number and be found on its Wikipedia article. Here is a brief list of first-impressions I have if I were to describe this OS.

First Windows OS to have practical (installable) networking capabilities
Last one to not have a Start Menu and legacy interface before Windows 95
Last OS to require DOS as an initial install
Last 16-bit OS

Here is a teaser screenshot showing that I managed to get WFW3.11 installed on a “modern” 2009 Thinkpad T400 with networking capabilities. Recognise some familiar applications there?

(Partial) Reverse Engineering the NDP 2016 LED Wristband

Thu, 11 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

(Checkout the 2019 version here!)

The Singapore National Day Parade (NDP 2016) happened on 9 August 2016 to celebrate its 51st birthday. For those who had the opportunity to attend the actual parade or its previews/rehearsals, they will also get to receive a funpack where one of the items will be a wearable LED band made by a company called Pixmob.

This band receives infrared(IR) signals from the organisers and then displays the LED colour of their choosing. There is also an onboard accelerometer. After the event when the IR signals disappear, the (single-axis I believe) accelerometer will cause the Red LED to light up when a shock is detected.

Here is the talk video on this subject I gave at Hackware v2.1.

Repair Kopitiam specialty electrical tools

Tue, 03 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I’m part of this voluntary social initiative called Repair Kopitiam (RK) started by the social enterprise Sustainable Living Lab. On a monthly basis, we teach Singapore residents how to repair their household electrical appliances, fabrics and furniture. Our volunteers are called repair coaches. This initiative is similar to Repair Cafes which originated in Europe. My area of speciality is of course in the electrical appliance department.

This post is however not about the intricate details of volunteering, it will be about the special electrical tools I have developed in the course of my volunteering in response to certain unique issues faced by the RK team.

A literally high-level view of the tools I developed.

Installing Windows XP on a modern unsupported (Haswell) system in 2016

Sat, 09 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

(This is a long ~2900 words post, I recommend reading this from a tablet or computer)

Windows XP is the second-longest supported operating system (OS) in Microsoft’s history. Support by Microsoft finally ended on 8 April 2014 after a record-setting 12.5 years. The number one rank is technically* held by Windows 1.0 at 16 years from 1985 to 2001.

*I say “technically” as that was when Microsoft finally declared Win 1.0 obsolete but I doubt Microsoft was updating Win 1.0 during its final years. This was unlike WinXP which was updated up to its final moments and even had an emergency patch after its support ended.

This page here also puts XP’s length of support in perspective with other Microsoft OSes.

Released in October 2001, it is almost 15 years old today. I was only 11 years old when this OS was released so you can imagine I pretty much spent much of my teen years using XP machines other than Red Hat Linux of course.

Despite its age, XP continues to live on in embedded systems like ATMs, factory and medical machines where replacement costs and re-certification (timelines) makes them infeasible to be replaced in the near future. An extreme example is how the 23-year-old Windows 3.1 which crashed is still used in a French airport as of late last year.

The problem

I work in a startup called Algoaccess where we deal with medical devices specifically optician-related ones. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say we occasionally have to handle such older systems and test to make sure our product can work with them. This means we actually need a Windows XP installation for testing purposes. No, virtual machines like VirtualBox or VMWare will not cut it, we need a native installation for realistic testing.

My company could easily procure a machine of an older era with full Windows XP drivers. There are guides like this where people have used an older system to install WinXP in 2016.

But where is the fun in that? I saw this as an opportunity to determine if it is really possible to install WinXP on a much newer system. It was also a good way to relive a bit of my childhood that way.

First thoughts? It shouldn’t be that hard right? I know drivers could be an issue but it shouldn’t be a show-stopper? Turns out things are not so easy to put WinXP on modern hardware.

Eagle to DIY PCB Etching

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I design Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) as my part of my job. I also have some PCB projects outside of work with my most famous project among my peers being my PCB name card.

A major problem PCB designers like myself face is time and cost. It takes about 2 weeks (1 week if you can afford to pay much more) between the time I send a PCB design (Gerber) file to a fabricator in China to the time I receive the boards. This wait time is frustrating as my work will stall till the boards come back and I can test them. There is also a minimum order quantity of 5-10 pieces which most of the time I rarely need during the prototyping process, 1 or 2 is usually more than enough. All these including the delivery costs add up to a hefty sum as one typically has to design a few iterations before getting it right.

Pulau Semakau trip

Sun, 21 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

It is not everyday that one is like a tourist in our own country. I went on a trip with my fellow Repair Kopitiam coaches and others for a practically once-in-a-lifetime experience to Pulau Semakau, an island located 8km south of the mainland. It is affectionately known as a landfill island, where our incinerated trash gets sent.

Who would have known the cleanest public area in Singapore is the landfill itself!!! What a revelation! Our guide boasted that there are no cockroaches and other pests cos there is nothing left for them to consume. I also learned that the landfill island is actually a reclaimed combination of the original Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng.

Costing some SG$600 million to reclaim and build in 1990s dollars, it is probably one of the most expensive projects undertaken by the government that are outside of the public eye and concern.

A view of the outside of the main administration building and the bus that will take us on the tour.

Recap of 2015 and plans for 2016

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

2015 has ended and 2016 has just begun, so a new first post of 2016 to mark this moment.

2015 recap

In short, I felt 2015 was the greatest transitory year I have been. In some ways, this post is very similar to what I have written just half year ago after I graduated to summarise my Uni life.

PCB Business/Name Card

Sat, 12 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I can’t count how many times I have received business cards only for me to forget about them shortly afterwards. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feel this way when you get a card from someone. For the technical-oriented, you can go directly to my Github link on this project.

Lets jump right into business. Here is my card:

(As with all pictures in this post, you can click to view the higher resolution versions of them.)

Front and back view of my business card as of Revision 7. All versions before Revision 6 are considered to be prototypes. The revision number can be found between the two battery holders.

Graduation, Uni story arcs and thanks

Sun, 26 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

(Long post warning: 2.5k words)

This post is 2 weeks late as I was rather busy during this period. Anyways, as this will be the last post I will have about Uni life, thought would like to thank a few key people and describe the 5 story arcs that has greatly defined my time in Uni.

The mandatory first picture is of course this one lah.

Just collect the dummy scroll simply with no fuss. Unlike the few from the Information Systems Department who pulled selfies on the stage.

Test driving an electric car (Mitsubishi i-MiEV)

Wed, 20 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In case the title confuses you, I’m not buying an electric car or any car for that matter anytime soon given the crazy car prices in Singapore. You can’t even buy an electric car here.

Nevertheless, when I saw this pure-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV roaming around Plugin@Blk 71, I could not resist asking for the opportunity to drive one of the handful of electric cars in Singapore.

The only easy Sem was last Sem

Sat, 02 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I was not the first person that came up with the title above, but I thought it resonated perfectly with my undergraduate life especially my last few semesters. The last sem is indeed my hardest Sem.

Having just finished my final exam of this semester and of my NUS undergraduate career, I thought I wanna do a “stock-take” on what I did this semester.

Tl;dr version:

In summary for this semester, I took a level 5000 module, did my FYP + presentation and was a CS2103 tutor to 16 students. I gave 3 talks: guest lecture for CS3217 on iOS (Swift) Development, workshop on Raspberry Pi/Linux and a talk/live demo on Bluetooth Low Energy. I volunteered regularly at Repair Kopitiam and Yishun Reading Stars. As if those weren’t enough, I still held a part-time job too.

First foray into wearable tech

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Since I started dabbling with hardware like the Arduino, I have always wondered what it would seem like to integrate it with clothing (materials) but did not find the urge to learn.

After I joined Repair Kopitiam as a voluntary Repair Coach, I was given an apron that both distinguishes us from the participants that we are helping and protects our clothes as well. Every Repair Coach is given the liberty to personalise their apron to their liking. Some sew their names and some punch on a metal sheet etc.

So I thought why not take this opportunity to do some wearable tech and 3D print some stuff as well!

A quick video to highlight how it appears.

General Pictures

The result of more than 7 hours of labour from coding, 3D printing to sewing.

Now you see “who” is running the show. I have sewn on a small piece of cloth to act as a mini pouch for the 1000 mAh battery.

My thoughts on Lee Kuan Yew’s passing

Tue, 24 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

We all know our first Prime Minster Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) passed away yesterday morning. People have expressed their condolences both online in social media and offline on the streets and condolence sites.

Many of my friends have changed their profile photos and shared blog posts and news commentaries. I could have easily done so, changing my profile picture or sharing something someone else has written is just as simple as a click away but I thought I should do more and write a blog post for reflection, hopes and personal record. This will definitely be much more mature than what I wrote for J. B. Jeyaretnam some 6 years ago.

Book Review: Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium by Sim Wong Hoo

Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I have heard of the acronym NUTS some years back coined by the famous Singaporean technopreneur Sim Wong Hoo (SWH). For the unaware, SWH is the founder of Creative Technologies (CT), the maker of the Sound Blaster sound cards that used to be the industry standard for computer audio and very popular up to a decade ago. As I encountered this phrase quite recently again, I decided to further explore its origins.

It turns out this phrase was originated from his Dec 1999 book “Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium”. Since then, this phrase has been bandied around several times by our political leaders and prominent people. It was also at this time when the Dot-Com bubble had yet to burst and CT was still at its heights.

NUS Hack&Roll 2015 AAR

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This is the third Hack&Roll hackathon I have joined and my very last one for this hackathon and as an NUS student. Can check out my first two here and here. Didn’t win anything but not that we were expecting any, it is the stuff we learned that were most important.

So presenting to you the Raspilizer! Done by myself and my friends Kai Yao (KY) and Yong Quan (YQ), two of my technical go-to buddies.

An independent device that does dynamic audio compression in “almost” realtime. Just feed in audio via the 3.5mm input jack and connect your speakers/headphones to the output jack!

NUS SOC Print (Android/iOS): Background, technical aspects and learning points

Fri, 26 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The apps in question are active and can be downloaded from their respective app stores.

This post is about 3000 words long as I wanted to go as in depth as much as possible to describe my experience in developing for both Android and iOS. If this length scares you already well I do not blame you, I tend to get long-winded in my reflections but I usually hope my readers learn and understand my underlying thought process behind certain decisions I made.

There should be something here for Android devs, iOS devs or people just interested to know the inner workings of my app or Sunfire.

My (brutally) honest 24th birthday reflections

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks to all the birthday well-wishes both online and offline! Also special thanks to some of the YRS folks who spontaneously decided to sing the birthday song for me just less than 3 hours ago.

I had actually taken a little time to reflect now that I’m nearing a quarter century old. This will be my last birthday in an academic environment. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be in the working world when I hit the quarter century milestone. Things will never be the same again as this birthday.

My NTU local exchange experience (Aug - Dec 2013)

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post is more than one semester late but better late than never. So minor disclaimer, my experience is at least half year out of date by the time you read this post.

Every semester, 20 lucky students from NUS will get to go for a local exchange (both full and partial inclusive) to SMU and NTU respectively. School of Computing is awarded a measly quota of only TWO but I guess that is proportionate to our student population.

I was one of the two in SoC to go for the NTU partial exchange from August to December 2013, AY 2013/2014 Sem 1. A partial exchange is a unique programme for only local exchange students obviously. Unlike a full exchange, I took modules concurrently at both NTU and NUS. I had to do this as I had an un-mappable core module CS3216 that had to be taken in that particular semester.

Changing Casio watch to positive display

Thu, 24 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I recently got a new Casio Protrek triple-sensor watch. This watch model PRW3000-2 was released in 2013 featuring Casio’s new “Triple Sensor Version 3 engine” which is better than my previous fatter and heavier PAG-80. Not forgetting that it is solar-powered too meaning I will never have to change the battery in the usable lifespan of this watch! Ever since I got my PAG-80, my “OCD self” cannot live without knowing that I can measure the attitude, compass heading and temperature of the surroundings. So this PRW3000-2 is the next in the upgrade path.

I like the colour green, and the only green version available is in the negative display where the numbers are set against a dark background. Contrast that to the more typical positive display where the numbers are set against a white background like most calculators. As I did not own a watch with a negative display in the past, I thought it shouldn’t be an issue. Turns out it is HUGE one, take a look at the picture below.

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code::XtremeApps:: 2014 Hackathon AAR

Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This is the third hackathon I have joined and the first that involves hardware. Although my team was not selected to go for the next round of judging, I’m glad to have learned alot during this IDA-organised XtremeApps hackathon held at SMU.

My team comprising Muneer, Sathish and myself brainstormed on the first day for ideas based on the themes given. We decided to build something to help the visually-impaired identify buses when they are at the bus stop. We came up with this idea when we remembered that the visually-impaired had to stop every bus to ask the driver for the number if no one was around or constantly question the people around him. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if we could automate this tiresome process?

What I did in NUS Hack&Roll 2014

Tue, 28 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

NUS Hackers tried to encourage participants to write a blog post or on social media about their experiences in the HacknRoll 2014, so here it is. Nah, I would have written this anyway without their encouragement. But after they read what I wrote, I wonder if they would still share it.

So this hackathon which was on 25-26 Jan was the second one I had attended. You can read up about my first one here. Although this time, instead of being “drafted” into a team by an acquaintance, I was the one who asked a few people if they willing to join my team.

The idea we agreed to work on was the iOS version of the SoC print app. I first started on the Android version of that app nearly one year ago. From that point up to now, several SoC friends have asked me for an iOS version. As I did not have a Mac, an iOS device or knowledge of Objective-C, there was no way for me to pick up iOS programming much less write an iOS app. Fast forward 10 months later, I’m in CS3217 with basic knowledge of Objective-C, have a Mac and a CS3217 rental iPad, I have the tools to do so now.

I have several peeves with the way this hackathon was organised compared to last year but I shall leave that to the later part of this article.

So here is my team in planning/discussion/problem solving when we were “shot”. From left, Kaiyao, myself and Yong Quan. Both of them were also the beta testers for my Android app.

Our project video. Narration was done by Yong Quan. (Try to view in HD if possible)

Finally the end of CS3216

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

So yesterday was the Steps exhibition that marks the end of the module and the return to the reality of the final exams, other than the final report of course. It was really an interesting experience to pitch our class management app to both teachers and students alike.

Nearing the end of CS3216

Sun, 17 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

At the beginning of this semester, I wrote about how this semester shall be the most pivotal for me. Now coming to the end of this semester, I do agree with most of the points I foresaw earlier with exception to the NTU part. Anyway, this most are mostly for CS3216, the rest shall come after the exams.

Why this semester will be the most pivotal for me?

Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

It is an obvious fact that the workload each semester is always greater than the one preceding it. This adage has never been more right up to this semester. In fact, greater is just an understatement. In just 2 weeks into this semester, I cannot even count the number of days I have slept for a reasonable number of hours.

This semester will be my most pivotal semester so far and I although I can’t predict the workload for subsequent semesters, the jump has been greatest in this one. Notable reasons for this preliminary conclusion include the notoriously heavy CS3216, my partial exchange to NTU including a French module, continuing my part time work from my internship and my weekly community service.

Fringe Intro + Book Review: Fringe: September's Notebook + Ending Trivia

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I initially started with the idea of doing a review on this book “Fringe: September’s Notebook”. Then I realised, doing a pure review will put off many people who know nothing about Fringe. Therefore, I decided to include a brief introduction of this amazing TV series that many should watch. Before you think this is a low-end TV series, it has won Saturn awards for best TV series in 2010 and 2011. The lead actress Anna Torv won 4 consecutive awards for Best Actress 2009-2012. Definitely no push-over.

So what is Fringe? (I will mark out the spoilers)

The Wikipedia article on this series is a little long-winded so I shall do my own summary.

Fringe is an American science-fiction TV series that lasted 5 seasons from September 2008 to January 2013. It mainly follows the encounters of FBI agent Olivia Dunham, her partner Peter Bishop, his “mad” scientist father Walter Bishop and their assistant Astrid Farnsworth. They work under the fictional secretive section of the FBI known as Fringe Division. The name comes from the term Fringe Science meaning science which is non-mainstream. Intuitively, they investigates cases on strange phenomena associated with Fringe Science. If you have seen and loved X-Files, you will be happy to know that Fringe is a spiritual successor to that series as well although it exhibits its own individuality.

This is not another CSI or X-Files if you are wondering. There is an overarching mythology that is emphasised right from the first episode of Season 1. As the characters put it, Fringe cases include but are not limited to “Mind Control, Teleportation, Astral Projection, Invisibility, Genetic Mutation and Reanimation, Psychokinesis, Precognition, Artificial Intelligence, Transmogrification, Dark Matter and Nanotechnology”. As the seasons progress, there is less and less emphasis on the cases and more on the inter-universe war and battle across time.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words, a video should convey more, hence I shall let the videos do the talking.

Trailer for the pilot of the first Season. Fringe has progressed alot since then. A fine piece of nostalgia depicting how things all started. “science and technology have advanced at such an exponential rate for so long… it may be well beyond our ability to regulate and control them” Nina Sharp.

A fan-made video. It shows the interesting Fringe cases.

So how did I first encounter this series? I have to give that credit to Channel 5 for televising the first season way back in 2009/10 I think. After that, I was an avid follower of the series. I remembered asking my Dad to record this series every Monday night so I can watch when I booked out from the army camp for the weekend.

So here is when the introduction ends. If you want to be hit by spoilers, then continue reading.

My experience in NUS Hack&Roll 2013

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I confess I signed up for this weekend event at the last minute. One of the team members who was an acquaintance of mine said they needed one more member so I joined. I can say, I left this 24hour hackathon today with no regrets other than the proverbial, I could have done that better in hindsight attitude. This was my first hackathon and most definitely won’t be my last.

Sitting down with your team coding through the day and night then day again for only a single goal while surviving on a steady supply of snacks, soft drinks and fast food is an unforgettable experience.

My team, which I barely knew before the event but nonetheless worked reasonably well together in the end.

Programmer Dvorak layout

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I have been using the Dvorak keyboard layout since out of army. It took me months for me to attain my previous typing speed of the Qwerty layout. From that point on, I never looked back as the Dvorak layout was simply very comfortable to type on. I can attest to the fact that my fingers leave the home row much lesser. I came across this Programmer Dvorak layout created by an IT professional Roland Kaufmann.

The primary difference between this and the normal Dvorak layout is that the numbers at the top row are now secondary with the symbols taking precedence. Meaning: Symbols are by default, you have to press the Shift key to get at the numbers. This layout was arrived at after Kaufman realised that programmers tend to use more symbols and he scanned source code to obtain the most commonly used characters.

(From Roland Kaufmann’s site)

Number pad in DVD slot

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Having switched to the Programmer Dvorak, its major shortcoming was the lower priority of the number keys. For my laptop, this was even more acute for number-intensive applications like spreadsheets. That was when I bought a number pad but I was afraid of losing it. So brainwave!

Put the number pad into the rarely-used DVD slot!

I cut the USB number pad down to size then placed it into an Ultrabay hard disk caddy. (IBM calls the DVD slot Ultrabay as it can be used by devices other than the DVD)

11/12 S1 PS1101E Intro to Politics: Paper on pros and cons of NS

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Choose any country of the world that practices military conscription and discuss whether the policy is necessary and/or desirable. What kind of arguments would you make for or against military conscription? Got B+ for this essay and A- for the module in total. I must have did very well for the finals to get that grade heh!.

Military conscription or the draft is defined as the compulsory enrolment of a country’s citizens for military service. In modern times, this usually means that young people are required to serve in the armed forces full-time for some number of years, after which, they are kept on reserve for some period to form the bulk of the fighting force only in times of emergency. One of the countries today that still practices conscription is Israel. Since its independence in 1948, its men and women upon reaching the age of 18 are required to serve in its military for 30 and 18 months respectively.[1] One wonders in this modern day and age, whether conscription is necessary or desirable for Israel.

Furthest backdated post

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

This is not my first post. This site was started on 8 February 2013. Any posts before this date has been copied and backdated from my previous blogs.