Why am I not sleeping? Apparently Philips found my answer

Recently I have been trying to sleep earlier for health-ier reasons but to no avail. 


I blame technology.

It happens when I surf the web into the wee hours of 2 to 3 AM or (on some days) burn midnight oil trying to catch up with my studies/ revision. Then I wake up regretting it the next day because I have to struggle to get up by 6am to get to my early morning class (why SIM why???)

At least I know I'm not the only one with this issue, everytime I get to class, more than half of the students I see are either fighting the Z-monster (Singapore Army Slang for fatigue) or have already succumbed to the battle and lost miserably.
By now you must be wondering why I even want to bore you with this post, right?


Ta-da! AreyouSnoring?

I chanced upon an this online survey-thingy while searching "how to sleep better". Apparently Philips (yes the electronics company) wants to be your partner in crime (or rather Sleep) to better health.

And the only reason why I bother writing this is because if I can effect change to the 2 random strangers per month who reads my blog in order to comment "Get Rich Online now!" to get better sleep and better health, I feel like I've done my civil online duty.


I am sad to say World Sleep Day has passed, but nonetheless, if you are Sleepless in Singapore (and at risk of heart attack or diabetes yikes!) do check out the link to the survey and sleep better today! 

I know I need to. Exams in a month. Eye...bags...form...ing.... Zzzzz.

Simple Economics and the little red dot (a very simplified view)

What you are looking at is the Production Possibility Frontier (PPF)
Know it, Memorise it, It might save your life one day, just like CPR. (Fig. 1)

Firstly, I would like all readers to note that whatever is written in the paragraphs after this, is nothing new. You can read it all in textbooks, online resources, find a friend who studies the subject and etc. (Because .etc is used when you are left with no other examples to use.) 

So what is Economics? And what has it got to do with a young, ambitious, Singaporean such as yourself (Dear Reader)? Well, at the base of everything, Economics is an understanding of how the world works. And different from Sociology, we do not wish to concern ourselves with "sociological perspectives and questions", but the study of our own wealth, how we get our income, and how we use it. It can be extended to study political economics on a macro level, but I assume (and we assume a lot in this subject, there are even chapters written on assumptions) that not all of us aspire to work for the Government or stat boards and are pretty much happier living in our own self-contained bubbles. 

Then you may ask (for the lesser informed), what is that picture at the top of this post? That, is the PPF. It is a graph that compares the production rates of two commodities using the same factors of production (labour, capital, technologies, land resources etc). And the reason why I feel that it's important to note this out is that in every country and economy, this simplified PPF can indirectly show the current position a country's economy is in. For example, people may sing praises of China and India for showing strong contention in being major economic powers of the future.

Fig. 2

But isn't the progress of these economies because of investments being pumped in to their factors of production (labour and capital) that their PPF is able to be pushed further and expand more rapidly?

"First-world" countries such as ourselves I'm afraid are pushing the limits of our own PPF. This little red dot on the world map is fast approaching the limits of our own production. It is well known we are scarce for land and natural resources and as such, the government insists that its People are the "golden resource" needed to keep the economy thriving.       

Aha! Therein lies the problem. When your one and only resource of Labour is starting to face a brain-drain (specialised services in Banking, medical, infosystems), what are you going to do? Well, so far, the solution seems to be importing more talent. Of course, it is a well known fact that it is bound to cause some discontent among the masses. And it's not a pretty sight.

Basic economic theory would (in all its rationality) would suggest that a farmer, seeking to profit more from a higher output of production, would need to invest and "upgrade" his technologies. Getting better fertilisers, more land, better irrigation systems and so on and so forth.

So why is it, that in a great country that boasts some of the second-to-greatest minds on this planet have such a frighteningly wide wage gap between the top and the lowest earners. 

My simple view would be those governing us are too preoccupied with trying to push our country's PPF further outwards, thinking that a higher GDP would invite more foreign investments (which is true). But yet, they forget the sentiments on the ground and I'm afraid that we are stuck being Pareto inefficient for having a surplus of labour that we have not using efficiently.

I would go on, but then I would be beating about the bush. Simply put, as individuals who wish to seek a better future for ourselves and our families, I think, it's important to understand these nuances that governs our daily lives. 

And because money is unfortunately the issue of underpins every other problem we have in our society, it's only "smart" that we know how to control it as individuals, to be more confident and less tied down to it. And hopefully, being better individuals, we will make up a society that understands each other better from a stronger, rational point of view. 

Personal financing, now that's an interesting topic to look forward to the next time.

WHAT A RIPOFF

It has come to my attention that I had mistakenly delete ALL my photos from since the beginning of time (all precious and dear to me) on this blog because of the new linkage and integration by Google+ and Picasa. Here is the FIRST photo for a new Era, dedicated to Google and their insanely-fucked-up-web-policies-that-they-do-not-bother-to-update-users-with. Please read this.

 

HI GOOGLE. FUCK YOU

i admit

I have been thinking about it at random times from time to time, just right before i close my eyes and go to sleep. But a little part of me is curious about what you might have thought. And whether it was a silly move on my part.

So there's this thing...

... about me reading Lifehacker (LH). And it's a pretty interesting site, because for someone who enjoys useless everyday facts and tips (even though I should reaaally be concentrating on school work), you learn a new thing or two.

Currently there's this thing about me and procastination. It hard to well, wor hard. But it's sooo easy to procastinate and I thought, "Well, let's try something new I read of LH today." I'm not going to write into so much detail and I have clearly given you the hyperlink to the main article. So I'm gonna cut to the chase. 

I am going to try and log my "to do" list. Could be easier done on a notepad program but I think this might be a hoot, a year down when I bother to re-read this. So here goes, (read more after the break)

But dreams can't all be real

Ever had that moment, when you're laid out on your bed, just getting ready to fall asleep and all you hear is just that silent and almost discreet tapping sound from the sky. "It's going to be a cold night," you think aloud to yourself, and you wrap yourself under the sheets. At that very same moment you have absolutely nothing else to think about and your mind just.. wanders. 

It wanders through your thoughts, it wanders through your dreams, your memories and it always ends at your most disconsolate ones. Because isn't it only human to reminisce on the past from time to time? These memories are what defines us isn't it? It enables us to reflect and to learn.
   
All the things you could have done. You should have done. And you imagine what your world would be like if it was any different. What if I had studied harder? What if I had chosen that job instead? What if I had really gone with true feelings instead. What if? What if? What if?  In what predicament, placed you on that path you are so grounded on now.  


That so- very important, initial choice.  And now you begin to consider all those things that have already happened. The path ahead seems blurry now. It starts to turn cold. And then you doubt. 


You doubt the choices you are going to make, even yourself. Some choices you selfishly made for yourself, most of it for the benefit of the other. If only you had listened to "I". What "I" wanted. And not listened to "Me", not for what you would think of "Me". Decisions firmly made because of the need of the time and not because of what you deserve.

As you walk on that path and look back, a shadow, your shadow which follows you, will always always remind you of what you want, but cannot have. You are always on the verge of losing your equilibrium. Grim. But that's a small sacrifice. Because where your dark shadow follows you like a demon, it can also be a hero to you. It waits with you, always willing to remind you, remind you that it's not the friendliest or the most popular. but it is always with you. To remind you that somehow, no matter how hopeless, there's always still a little light left shining on you.

Hope.

Reinvention (Finally?)

First of all, to set the bar straight, we (or rather I) shall assume that the number of people that will read this post is less than 3, based on the unique views that my blog stats have represented. And to further add to that assumption, the significance of even owning this blog is probably very minute as the only thing I use this site for is to read other people's blogs (which is conveniently located on the right-side bar) and not generate interesting content. And when I mean insignificant, I mean really, really small and unimportant considering at the end of 2011, there were 181 million blogs in existence (Source in the link). 


But why am I even back here, do you ask? Assuming "you" are a legitimate, living, breathing sentient being and not some spam-bot on my comments, which I have clean on a weekly basis. I suppose I feel the need to make up for the lack of an obligatory "new year's" post. Which I usually do since the conception of this (very juvenile, up til this day I might add) web blog all the way back in 2006. And even today, it's hard to believe that I used to be a school magazine editor (read: I'm partially employable for practical reasons!) seeing my writing origins stem from... there.  

Some poem from the past

In the distance, a familiar horn echoes through the meadows
In the distance, I see smoke as dark as night heading my way
I am afraid it might scare the fishes,
I am afraid that I will go home disappointed

Beside me is my sister, young and inquisitive
Watching big brother, fishing with naught but a string on a stick
I am afraid that she might laugh at me
I am afraid that she will not be proud of me

Further down the river is Father and Uncle John in their fishing boat
Father says it is not about catching the fish, but the experience of the wait
I am afraid that he might be wrong
I am afraid that I will not grow to be a better man

Drawing closer, the familiar horn signals its arrival
From the dark smoke emerges the mighty locomotive
I remember why I fish here every week
I remember what I want to be

I want to be at the helm of my future,

“I am not afraid of the dark clouds ahead”
“I am not afraid of strife”

The world is full of possibilities.