Sui Generis People in the world today, especially in Singapore, are too willing to settle for fitting in with the status quo and just doing what they are told to do. Here's my thoughts on society, education and life in general; and my views on being significant. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 0 2290

Articles from Sui Generis

Free Choice 2007-10-03 10:19:00 Radiohead recently announced that their new album can be pre-ordered for any price the customer wants. And apparently, the move is succeeding.Full credit to Radiohead for taking the risk. They went against the standard business model. They tried something new and stepped into unchartered territory. And it's paying off for thme.More than being a good example of successful risk taking, I think this is a great example that giving people free choice pays off. If you make something good enough, people will be willing to pay for it. Instead of focusing on how to stop people from trying to cheat the system and get free things (which is what most music companies are trying to do), try giving people - your customers - the choice. Create something worth while that they will be willing to pay for. That's the best "business model". Not stopping competition or trying to hold on to what you have. But to go for something new, to break from the pack. If you do that, the customers will be more than g ...

A different angle 2007-10-02 08:20:00 In his post "Too Slow For His Own Good", Robert Hruzek tells us a story about a small boy. To summarize, this boy was known as being very slow. It was known that if you offer him a nickel or a dime, he'd always choose the nickel. A man was tired of this boy being made fun of, so he went over to explain to the boy how a nickel is worth more. To shorten the story, the boy “Oh, I understand that [a dime is worth more than a nickel], sir. I just figured if I started taking the dime, then y’all would stop giving me money.”Robert used that story to tell us about our assumptions, but I want to go down a slightly different path. I think it's a great example of thinking outside the box. Or rather, looking at the box in a different way. Instead of just taking the offer at face value, the boy thought deeper, and went for the choice that ultimately would give him more benefits.Steli Efti gives another good example of it. When needing to translate two sentences from Chinese to English, he d ...

Sputnik: 50 years ago 2007-10-01 10:29:00 Sputnik, the first artificial satellite in space was launched 50 years ago. And as it turns 50, it's been revealed that it was "far from being part of a well-planned strategy to demonstrate communist superiority over the West", but rather "a spur-of-the-moment gamble driven by the dream of one scientist, whose team scrounged a rocket, slapped together a satellite and persuaded a dubious Kremlin to open the space age."Reading that article, I think it's a really inspiring story that we all can learn from. Sometimes to make a breakthrough, you have to take a gamble and just make use of what you have. With a dream and the passion to pursue it, the gamble will pay off more often than not.What gambles are you willing to take today?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Protect yourselves against the 5% 2007-10-01 10:08:00 Think or Thwim breaks down the parts of sunlight in their post on how sunscreen works.clipped from thinkorthwim.com The energy radiating from the sun ranges from short ultraviolet waves to long infrared: Ultraviolet5%Visible46%Infrared49%I'm not going to be talking about sunscreen in itself. But I think this serves as a good reminder that small things count. The UV rays account for 5% of the sun's energy. And this 5% is what sunscreen protects us against. It's that 5% that makes a world of difference, between how safe it is to stay out. It's this 5% that we want to protect ourselves against.Reading this reminds me of something that Bishop TD Jakes mentioned in Hillsong Conference 2007. He talked about how he dealt with criticism from others. He got his team to google all references to his name, and collate all the good and bad reports. The bad reports were only 5% of it. And most of the time, it's true. Criticisms are only a small part of other's opinions. More often than not, th ...

Your deadline is approaching... 2007-09-30 08:03:00 Literally.Kevin Kelly has developed a simple countdown clock for your desktop, to show you how many days you have left to live (based on your life expectancy). While it's not something I'm going to put on my desktop just yet, I think it's an interesting idea. It might not be a fully accurate count, and it might not be suitable for everyone, but it can serve as a good reminder that we should make every single day count.Are you making your days count?Link via Haha.nu: You're on a deadlineLike my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Superhero Roundup 2007-09-29 12:03:00 It's been an interesting week, if I do say so myself, and for I just want to take this time to wrap up the series on Superheroes.We started of by asking if you would be the next superhero, after which we took a look at 6 different superheroes - Batman, Spiderman, The Green Lantern, Superman, The X-Men and finally, Teeny Little Super Guy.Personally, I've gained a lot from writing this series. It's got me thinking in new ways. And so, here's a final roundup of the 10 lessons which will (hopefully) get you on the path to being the next superhero.Lesson 1: You don't need special skills to be a superhero, you just need to make the most of what you do have. (from Batman, and Teeny Little Super Guy)Lesson 2: Be sensitive to what is going on around you, and respond quickly.Lesson 3: Make the world's problems your problems, take personal responsibility for it. (from Spiderman)Lesson 4: Willpower and imagination are crucial to success.Lesson 5: Don't avoid fear. Embrace it and learn to ov ...

Free Classes 2007-09-28 23:10:00 Anyone who knows me (or anyone who's been reading my blog) should know that I'm a believer of learning things for yourself. And self-learning has been made a lot easier by the internet, and the resources made available.That said, here's one such resource to start learning. Free online classes, podcasts and videos. I'll be spending more time there in coming days, and I think you should too.What are you learning today?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Superhero 6 - TLSG 2007-09-28 10:06:00 This is part of a series this week about Superheroes. Check out the previous parts of the series if you haven't already read them:Part 0: Be a SuperheroPart 1: Superhero 1 - BatmanPart 2: Superhero 2 - SpidermanPart 3: Superhero 3 - The Green LanternPart 4: Superhero 4 - SupermanPart 5: Superhero 5 - The X-MenTo round off this week's series on Superheroes, we have a special guest today. And that guest is.....Sarah Deutsch, from the Drama Farm! She's a really inspiring individual, doing a really great thing. But anyway, back to the topic. I think this is a great way to end of the series, with a great lesson to round it off. So, without further ado, here's Sarah, with her favorite superhero.------------------------------------------------------------------------When I saw that Derrick was doing a Superhero series this week, I wasthrilled - I'm not a big comic book reader, but I love the idea of abreed of people who go above and beyond to make the world a betterplace. I'm intrigued ...

How the World Might End 2007-09-28 09:58:00 A must-watch talk by Stephen Petranek, recently released on TED. He discusses the ways the world could end, and how those ways could be avoided.One thing I really like about the talk is that it shows that even these big problems can be solved (some relatively easily). Even problems like an asteroid hitting earth could be solved, and we are close to knowing how to solve it. Also, it's an intriguing look at problems that most of us don't think of.As he mentions in his talk, "You can't have solutions if you don't have problems."What problems are you solving today?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Superhero 5 - The X-Men 2007-09-27 09:52:00 This is part of a series this week about Superheroes. Check out the previous parts of the series if you haven't already read them:Part 0: Be a SuperheroPart 1: Superhero 1 - BatmanPart 2: Superhero 2 - SpidermanPart 3: Superhero 3 - The Green LanternPart 4: Superhero 4 - SupermanToday, I'll be writing about the superhero team, the X-Men. The X-Men are a team of superheroes who don't really need any introduction, I think, so I'll go straight into it.The first thing is something that's been mentioned a lot, but I think it's still worth pointing out. The X-Men are a diverse team, with people of different powers and from different backgrounds. But they all come together for one cause, and it's the variety of powers that set them apart. Individually they may not be great. But as a team, they are.That's the first lesson we can learn from them, obvious, but important nonetheless. Teamwork is very powerful. Even as superheroes, finding a team that compliments you can exponentially incr ...

Superhero 4 - Superman 2007-09-26 09:59:00 This is part 4 of a series this week about Superheroes. Check out the previous parts of the series if you haven't already read them:Part 0: Be a SuperheroPart 1: Superhero 1 - BatmanPart 2: Superhero 2 - SpidermanPart 3: Superhero 3 - The Green LanternWhat series on superheroes would be complete without talking about the most famous of them all - Superman? I'm personally not a big fan of him, but there's still something we can learn from him.And what I want to focus on his dual identities. In recent years, there's been a lot of debate about which part of Superman is his real identity - Superman or Clark Kent. In the early part of the series, it was often assumed that Superman was the real identity, while Clark Kent was merely the disguise. After all, he was from Krypton. However, series like Smallville obviously portray Clark Kent as the real identity and Superman as just what he does.I'm not going to participate in the debate, because I don't follow Superman closely enough to kn ...

Doing Nothing 2007-09-26 09:51:00 24 years ago, today, Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov potentially saves the world, by doing nothing.On 26 September, 1983, Petrov was on duty at Serpukohv-15, a secret bunker outside Moscow which monitored the Soviet Union's early-warning satellite systems. That night, the warning sounded, signaling to Petrov that the United States had launched five ballistic missiles at Russia.A lesser man would have taken the signal to be true, especially given the tension between the two countries. And that could have sparked off a nuclear war. Petrov, however, kept his calm, and went with his gut feeling which told him it was a false alarm. And he was right.He avoided a potential war, by doing nothing. Two lessons we can learn from him. Firstly, sometimes taking action isn't the best thing to do. There are times we just need to hold back. Secondly, trust your gut. More often than not, it will prove to be right.What actions are you taking today that you'd be better off not doing?Story via Wired - Sept. ...

Superhero 3 - Green Lantern 2007-09-25 09:12:00 This is part 3 of a series this week about Superheroes. Check out the previous parts of the series if you haven't already read them:Part 0: Be a SuperheroPart 1: Superhero 1 - BatmanPart 2: Superhero 2 - SpidermanToday we'll be learning from the Green Lantern. I've always found the Green Lantern quite cool for the simple reason that he can seemingly do everything. And his power ring is the reason behind that.The power ring is basically what gives the Green Lantern his powers, and it can do a variety of things. It has even been described as "the most powerful weapon in the universe" on a number of occasions. However, I want to focus on one thing about the ring. The ring is sustained by the wearer's will power, and it is basically limited only by the wearer's imagination.That's the first lesson we can learn from the Green Lantern. The combination of will power and imagination is essential. Even the power ring is useless if the wearer does not possess the will power to sustain it or ...

Brand Derrick 2007-09-25 08:44:00 Chris Brogan asks the question of what your brand is. He tells us that a brand is all about the story behind it.Personally, I think I'm seen as someone who is willing to take risks and go against the flow, something Tom O'Leary mentioned about me. You can read more about my story there as well. Sarah Deutsch from the Drama Farm has also mentioned about me having unique views on things. And I think that's what my brand, and this blog, is about. Someone different, interesting. To put it in one word: Uniqueness.What about you? What's your brand - what do people think of you?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Superhero 2 - Spiderman 2007-09-24 09:57:00 This is part 2 of a series this week about Superheroes. Check out the previous parts of the series if you haven't already read them:Part 0: Be a SuperheroPart 1: Superhero 1 - BatmanYesterday, we examined Batman. Today we'll be taking a look at Spiderman. Spiderman is a super hero I like quite a lot, and there's actually quite a lot we can learn from him, but I'll just focus on 2 for today.The first thing about Spiderman I want to point out is his Spidersense. His spider-sense is something that sets him apart, and personally, I think it's one of the things that truly make him a great Superhero. Similarly, if you want to be a great superhero, you have to be really sensitive to what's going on around you. You've got to be open to the changes around you and be able to sense what is happening faster than others. It's a priceless skill.Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, is how Spiderman became a superhero. No, I'm not talking about how he got his powers. How he became a superh ...