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 21 2140

Articles from Sui Generis

Wisdom of Crowds 2007-10-19 09:06:00 To build upon yesterday's post on Wikipedia, here's an article about Evolution and Wisdom of Crowds.From the article: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales described the online encyclopedia as being "like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don't necessarily want to see how it's made." In a Nature magazine blog accompanying the study mentioned above, Timo Hannay said that "frankly, I still can't get over the fact that it works at all." Indeed, the problem most people have with Wikipedia's quality and accuracy seems to have more to do with their knowledge of how it is made, rather than any observed problem with the end results.It's a good read. And I think it's something we all should think about. Are your perceptions pre-formed because of how it is made? Or is it an actual problem that you have noticed?Link via Slashdot: Evolution and the 'Wisdom of Crowds'Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Wikipedia for Schools 2007-10-18 10:44:00 Seth Godin tells us about The Wikipedia Gap.Personally, I'm not all too convinced about Wikipedia being unreliable. Especially given the fact that it has found errors in Encyclopedia Britannica. But above that, I think Seth Godin makes a great point (as always).It shouldn't be about the hard facts as much as interpreting the facts. Knowing facts isn't much point if you can't present and interpret them well. Yes, people will argue that we need the factual knowledge, but doesn't factual knowledge change? Up until recently, it was a fact that the speed of light doesn't change. Recently, there have been studies which show that the speed of light has changed with time, a finding that would basically change physics as we know it.It all goes to show that even known "facts" can change. The important thing is knowing how to interpret and synthesize (as Seth Godin puts it) the facts. That's what schools should be teaching students to do. And accepting Wikipedia references wouldn't be det ...

PodCamp Boston 2.0 2007-10-18 10:30:00 I'm heading to America soon (leaving on Sunday), for PodCamp Boston 2. Will be stopping in Greenville before that.Really looking forward to the trip. I think it'll be a great experience, and I can't wait to meet other bloggers at PodCamp.If any of you guys will be at Greenville between 21-24 October or Boston between 24-30 October, feel free to look me up. Just drop me a line, via email (derrickkwa@gmail.com) or my cell ().Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

8-Ton Dinosaur Found 2007-10-17 11:06:00 Wired News reports that a dinosaur skeleton has been discovered in Argentina. It's apparently the skeleton of a 105-foot of a new species of dinosaur, and one of the largest ever found. It's also one of the most complete.Such a huge dinosaur, you've got to wonder how it went unnoticed until now. But I think we can learn from this. There are people who dismiss ideas they have because they think that "if the idea is so good, why hasn't anyone come up with it yet". This just goes to show that even the biggest things can go unnoticed by everyone for a long time.The biggest opportunities and the best ideas might not have been thought of yet. Just because it hasn't been discovered doesn't mean it can't be good. Believe in yourself, and don't write off your ideas.Who knows? YOU could very well discover the next big thing.Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Perception of Reality 2007-10-17 10:06:00 This is something my lecturer in my Audio Engineering Course mentioned today, that was quite interesting.You've seen things like fireworks in real life, I assume. In reality, we hear the explosion after we see the fireworks. And we accept that as perfectly normal, because we know that light travels faster than sound. Yet, have you ever noticed that in movies, we expect to hear the fireworks at the exact same time as when we see them? Almost as if we are right next to it.I just thought it was an interesting point. Why is it that our expectations of movies and television and the like are completely different than our expectations in real life?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Explore. Dream. Discover 2007-10-17 09:57:00 What can you explore, dream and discover today?Image via Karl Blog: The Thing You Didn't DoLike my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Caring Compassion Charity 2007-10-16 09:15:00 Seems like there's been a lot of activity about good causes lately. First, Chris Brogan pointed out Stand Up Speak Out. Second was Blog Action Day yesterday. And now, I've been tagged by Jean Browman from Cheerful Monk to take part in the Caring Compassion Charity project. I think it's really good that bloggers and the social network are trying to make a difference. If nothing else, it will help raise awareness, and that can only be a good thing.Anyway, back to the Caring Compassion Charity project. Basically, I'm supposed to write about a cause that I'm passionate about. For more details, you can read the official rules as written by Alex Shalman.So, my cause. This blog is all about trying to get people to start thinking in new, creative ways. So, it's understandable that the cause I'm passionate about is education-related (I've blogged about education so many times).I mentioned before that 50% of the donations I receive from this blog will go to Global Nomads Group (GNG).Here ...

Intense Debate: New Comments System 2007-10-16 05:38:00 I just installed a new commenting system - Intense Debate. Thanks to Josh Morgan for his help, and for willing to let me use the system.Hope you guys like the new system. I think it's a great system, that will (hopefully) encourage more conversation. Looking forward to hearing more from you guys, with the new system.edit: Apparently it doesn't appear correctly in IE. Any ideas?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Change Your Thoughts about the Environment 2007-10-15 10:17:00 Today is Blog Action Day. It's an attempt to bring together bloggers from all over the world, on one day, to blog about one issue. This year, that issue is the environment. They've got over 15,000 bloggers worldwide taking part, and I think it's a great movement. At the very least, it will raise awareness worldwide.For my post, I'm not going to talk about ways to save the environment or anything. I'm not going to tell you to turn off more lights, or to recycle more or anything like that. You've heard enough of that, I'm sure. If you want to read about that, you can check out these Blog Action Day posts, or just Google for it. You'll find lots of hits.What I do want to do, as always, is to get you thinking (in new ways, hopefully). And to set that up, I want to share with you another TED presentation. This time, it's by John Doerr. It'll take less than 20 minutes of your time to watch it. And you really should.I think John Doerr makes a great point. What we need to do is ree ...

How YOU deal with failure/change 2007-10-14 10:52:00 This blog is as much about you as it is about me. So I thought I'd make today all about you guys. The previous post was about getting your feedback about this blog, and now I just want to get some of your thoughts.I want to make this your post. I blog often about accepting failure and being willing to accept change, but I'm no expert on it either. Personally I do struggle, especially when it's something important to me. And it's something I've been struggling a lot with lately.So today, I want to hear from you guys. How do YOU deal with failure or change? You can comment here, or take it back to your blog (and link here so I know). Interpret it in any way you want. What are your suggestions on how to respond when things don't go the way you want?Looking forward to hearing from you guys.Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Your thoughts 2007-10-14 00:17:00 This blog has been up for a while now (about 5 months, and slightly over 300 posts), and it's been getting more publicity lately (a big thank you to all you guys who've helped in that aspect - Chris Brogan, Peter Haslam, Sarah Deutsch, Tom O'Leary, Kevin Carroll, Peter C, Priscilla Palmer, and all the others who have linked here).Anyway, I just thought I'd take the time to get feedback from all of you, my readers. What do you think of this blog so far? What does it mean to you - what value does it provide to you, etc? And most importantly, what do you want to see more (or less) of?Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

Waving the White Flag 2007-10-13 09:43:00 Waving the white flag is an international sign of surrender. You guys probably all already know that. The purists will say that it's a symbol of truce, not surrender. But most of the time, the person waving it is the weaker party, and as such it's become accepted as an international symbol of surrender.Its meaning is "the symbol itself, not the flag", as Word Flags 101 puts it. We've seen white "flags" made out of a whole variety of things.What strikes me is the color of the flag. White. White normally represents purity or cleanliness. To me personally, white represents something of a fresh start. Like a blank white piece of paper, on which anything can be written.Don't see waving the white flag (surrendering) as giving up. It's a way to start afresh. And sometimes to start afresh, you need to surrender to whatever has already happened. Instead of constantly trying to fight a battle you can't win, sometimes it's better to surrender and start afresh, in a new battle. One that you ...

Just a Simple Gesture 2007-10-12 23:47:00 Yesterday, Karl Moore shared with us a great story of how just a simple gesture can change a person's life. I emailed this to my closer, personal friends (and I twittered it), but I thought I'd share it here with you guys as well to inspire you guys. Karl, I hope you don't mind me copying the whole thing here.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.His name was Kyle.It looked like he was carrying all of his books.I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.His glasses went flying, and I saw them ...

IE Problems 2007-10-12 10:52:00 I use Firefox, so I haven't really noticed this until today. It seems like my blog doesn't load that well in IE. Anyone have any ideas as to why? If you can't see from the "view source" and want the template code, just look me up.Personally, I think you should use Firefox (it's much better than IE), but I would want to make this blog work in IE as well. I'll be taking a look at it as well, but there are a lot of people out there who are smarter than me, so I'd appreciate your help.Thanks in advance!Like my blog? Make a donation. For more information, click here. ...

My RSS 2007-10-12 08:13:00 Tom O'Leary from Life, Goal, Action recently encouraged us to show our RSS list. You can see his list here. Firstly, I want to thank Tom for mentioning me on his list. =). Secondly, I thought I'd take part in this. I think it's a good thing to start. After all, blogging is all about the community, isn't it?Unlike Tom, I'm not exactly ruthless with my RSS list, so it's longer than his. About 55 blogs here (didn't really do an exact count), so take your time to go through it. Bookmark this page and come back to it if you have to. Here's my RSS list, not really in any particular order.[RSS] Seth's BlogSeth Godin's blog. Don't think I need to say much here. Great insights on a wide variety of topics.[RSS] [chrisbrogan.com]Really good insights on community, and using social media effectively. Useful for any blogger or podcaster or anyone in related fields.[RSS] I will change your life . comWe all want to have a better life, don't we? Peter gives us some good ideas on how to do t ...