article About Quality of Life in Singapore 2010 - (all-vga-corner)

Quality of Life Index

A recent study attempts to rate and rank the best places based on Quality of Life Index of 194 countries. The author acknowledged that this rating is western-biased and compare 9 factors to derive a score. The top 5 countries are France, Australia, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand. Surprisingly, Singapore is ranked numerically 70^th and the printed media has no report on this study till now. Is there a mistake or the biased factor resulted in such low ranking?

Positioning and Rank

As Singaporeans, we are trained to think position is everything. In this case, the ranking system will be our first focus. Naming Singapore at 70^th position is incorrect because for the same scores at 61, there are 6 countries. If we give the same rank for the same scores, Singapore is ranked 21th out of 194 countries. We notice an improvement but should we deserve better? A peek into the formula shows the index does not have any decimal points. Perhaps providing decimal will give a clearer picture. However, when the formula is applied, we failed to derive the same results as the study. Nonetheless, the formula shows that Singapore is ranked 56^th position with a score of 57.35. So we are standing at the top 28.87% of the Quality of Life survey. Is that the complete picture?

Review of the factors

Instead of squeezing the figures to climb higher in the ranks, let's try to review our weaknesses and improve on them. Let's dig more:

1. Cost of Living (ranked 29 out of 47)
   We scored badly in this category. This factor is tagged to the lifestyle in US so having a lower position than US means that our cost of living is worst than US. Looking at the inflation of goods and services, our daily expenses are higher than yester years and we may be having a lower score next year for this category. Singapore, an open economy, is vulnerable to economy jitters and shakes. As almost everything is imported from elsewhere, there is little chance of making this category better except making Singapore dollars stronger than other currencies thus making things cheaper. So if you step out of Singapore, you will realized Singapore dollars is strong as compared to many other currencies. (Side note: Sweden has a rating of 0?)
2. Leisure & Culture (ranked 17 out of 66)
   Singapore is ranked above average in this sector but I consider this one of our potential weaknesses. One may argue that visiting museums and reading newspaper may not be our national pass time. The internet era of wireless network has changed our lifestyle in obtaining news and updates via twitter and television against the conventional printed media. However, most Singaporeans will agree with me that we have limited recreational activities besides watching movies in cinemas. Nearly all activities that can attract people are indoor-based else Singaporeans will refuse to participate. Perhaps the hot humid weather is to blame as well.
3. Economy (ranked 10 out of 34)
   Singapore has strategic focus on economy and we have scored well in this category. Isn't it surprising to learn that a small island is ranked top 10 in the economy field? In contrast, Iceland which has already bankrupted is ranked 31 out of 34. Strangely, US, technically bankrupted, still ranks 11th behind Singapore. Interestingly, China is ranked 9^th and is leading us. The lion has woken up.
4. Environment (ranked 34 out of 44)
   Despite being Singapore named Garden City, our score is very disappointing in this category. Being small is our constraint. Even with excellent city plans and implementation, we fail to register a good image in this study. But everyone agrees that the National Parks has done a good deal in greening the environment we live in and provides excellent facilities for residents. Now, have you wonder why there are no butterflies in a garden city? Perhaps the fault lies in the residents themselves.
5. Freedom (ranked 8 out of 13)
   In a democratic society, Singapore is ruled with laws to maintain order. Comparing to the west, perhaps the political climate of one party rule is not favourable to the west and therefore, we are ranked lower in this category. Taiwan, where opposing politicians fight amongst themselves in parliament sessions, is ranked second. The question is do we want to follow their footstep.
6. Health (ranked 17 out of 72)
   With an increasing graying population, this category is a worrying concern in the near future. So far, we did well in this category but the cost of making sure Singaporeans is alive is higher than the burial cost. Singaporeans will live longer than their parents but more costs will be spend in making sure of that. So investing in your health is more important that investing in your finance portfolio.
7. Infrastructure (ranked 15 out of 43)
   We have an above average rating in this category assisted by the 100+% mobile ownership and the good transport network. However, there is a high price tag we are paying to enjoy and maintain such facilities. If more vendors are in the market, healthy competition will drive cost down and consumers will benefit more.
8. Risk & Safety (ranked 1 out of 15)
   This is the best category Singapore has scored and ranked 1^st. However, 56 countries scored full marks so there is nothing to be proud of. The challenge is to maintain our position else our position will be 57^th next round. The parties responsible shall lies with the Police and security departments and so far, they are doing a great job with low crime rates for years.
9. Climate (ranked 54 out of 76)
   There is nothing we can do to change the hot humid weather, rainfall and 32 degrees celsius. Our only comfort is Singapore is blessed with no major natural disasters. On this point, it is strange to note that Indonesia is ranked 14^th in this category with live volcanoes and occasional earthquakes.
   
    

Conclusions

Singapore, a tiny island, with no natural resources has scored well in this study considering its inherent limitations. The study aims to bring out the best places to live in the perspective as a foreigner. If you intend to migrate, this index will be very useful to you. But if you are a local, it is just a gauge of how attractive is your country to potential immigrants. Singapore adopts the foreign talent policy so it is important to improve our scores in all categories to make Singapore a better place to stay � for both locals and foreigners.
For you and me, everywhere is the same as long as your loved ones are beside you. This is all that matter.

article About The ULTIMATE Guide to make your smartphone battery lasts longer - (all-vga-corner)

Introduction

A marketing survey reveals that everyone wishes their battery to last for preferably 2 days or more. However, many are disappointed when their new phone fails them when it fails to last for 8 hrs. Why? Indeed, 37% of the responders felt that the lifespan of the mobile phone is too short.

There are websites which spelt out the tips and tricks to conserve your mobile phone battery. Unfortunately, they are only covering major aspects of the topics and give general tips. So far, none of the website provides a complete guide on the determining factors and squeeze battery till the last watt. I will try to fulfill this role here.

Selecting a phone that suits your lifestyle

All 3G phones have Bluetooth and GPRS. Certain models have Wifi, GPS or Email client which may deplete the battery faster. The size of the screen is another crucial factor of the battery life. 3.5G promises HSPDA which speed up the download speed of phone. With a data plan, 3.5G phone is the best buy for the bucks. With many applications installed in the phone, the battery life becomes the most important factor before you grab it.

When you select a phone, you must check if the phone is powered by an adequate battery. Based on the manufacturer's specification, it is good to estimate the estimate real lifetime of the phone at use. I shall term it the REAL BATTERY LIFE (RBL). RBL of a mobile phone (hrs) is defined as the multiplication of the standby time found in the specification and the RBL percentage. RBL percentage is derived from the average battery life of mobile phone in real life as spelt out below:

RBL Percentage	2G	3G without data plan	3.5G with data plan
Light user	40%	20%	20%
Moderate user	25%	15%	10%
Heavy user	15%	10%	5%

For example, if you are buying a 3.5G smartphone with 300 hrs standby time, the phone will last 60 hrs for a light user but only 6 hrs for a heavy user. Therefore, it is unwise to buy LG KS500 if you are a heavy user unless you have access to a charging facility.

Therefore, you need to perform a match of your lifestyle with the RBL. Failing to perform this check may cost you dearly in buying an expensive phone that cannot keep up with your busy lifestyle. RBL is valuable more to a heavy user than a light user. Currently, Philip Xenium X500 offers up to 3600 hrs of standby time based on a 1720mAh battery. However, it is a simple 2G phone with no GPS, 3G and wifi features. If you are using purely voice call and SMS, you may like to consider buying Xenium X500 instead of a smartphone since it is tailored for your lifestyle.

Battery Maintenance

To prolong a battery life, you need to understand your battery. A lithium battery lasts for 500 charges so it is advisable to change your battery after every 2-3 years. It will permanently lose ~20% of its rated mAh after 400 charges. Although there is no memory effect for lithium battery, it is unwise to fully discharge unless the phone is not displaying the correct amount of energy. It is also unwise to charge your phone when you still have more than 50% battery life else you will use up the number of recharge. Therefore, charge your phone when the battery shows 1-2 bar.

If you have a spare battery, you need to use and charge it regularly because it will deteriorate if they are not in use. Having said that it is not advisable to get 2 batteries, why not get the best battery for the phone? For Motorola Q 9h, the standard battery is Li-Ion 1170 mAh. If there is a trade-off to get a 1300 mAh which is also supported by the phone, you have an improved battery.

Maintenance is also important to prevent the battery from exposing to extreme heat or overcharge for too long. These damages may be permanent on the battery lifetime. If it is too hot, battery may be malfunction. Therefore, it is unwise to charge them every day or exposing them to moisture environment. Insist on buying an original battery is also important to prevent circuit damage caused by the clone battery during charging.

Tips for the mobile phone

These are the usual tips recommended by reviews and popular websites:

1. Turn off your Bluetooth, GPS, Wifi and 3G after use;
   
2. Lower screen brightness and time;
   
3. Select a black or dark coloured theme;
   
4. Remove screensavers and animated wallpapers;
   
5. Switch off the phone when not in use;
   
6. Disable the number of applications in the phone especially the battery consuming ones;
   
7. Turn off the vibrating mode, keypad tones or ringtones;
   
8. Use a longer polling time for your mails;
   
9. Use less radio, camera, browsing, speaker and games and switch them off after using;
   
10. Switch to GSM mode instead of using 3G or 3.5G network. This is important for users who talk very often and sending a SMS does not require 3G at all;
    
11. Lower the volume of your speaker;
    
12. Avoid installing redundant or repeated applications with the same functions;
    
13. Update to the latest firmware with fixes on bugs; and
    
14. Install your critical programs into your phone memory instead of external memory cards. Remove your external card if possible to stop frequent access.
    

Even if you are not using any of the functions and switch your phone to offline mode, the real life idle time is still a fraction of the standby time provided by the specifications.

Signal Strengths

Depending on your location, signal strengths from base stations varies. If the phone is struggling to lock on to a network, it will use more power. It happens when places have weak signals, no signal or when you are underground. If you stay in these places for a prolong time period, it is advisable to switch the phone off since it has only 1 or 2 bar of signal strength. When you are moving and using the phone concurrently, moving from cell to cell requires the phone to negotiate between stations so it uses more power when you are mobile.

Useful S60 applications related to the battery

For Symbian smartphones, there are a few gems to have.

1. Nokia Energy Profiler or NEP (free) � provides a comprehensive result on the power consumption, current, voltage, CPU, signal strength, data traffic and estimated hour of idling time
   
2. Ravensoft Battery Extender � employs a few profiles to optimize the battery
   
3. Capree's iON Battery Timer � estimates the remaining time of the battery before it is flat
   
4. Alie Tan's ActiveFile � removes tasks which hoard power
   
5. Dr Jukka's Profile Scheduler (free) � switches to offline mode while not in use (flight or meeting)
   
6. Plan Task (free, www.opda.net.cn) � switches off and on the phone at specified timings (sleeping)
   
7. Mobisophy Technology's Interactive Voice Call Master � provides answering machine facility to save call out for voice mails when you have missed calls
   
8. Cclock (free) � enables the power saving mode with no screensaver.
   

Debugging the culprit

After you have applied the tips, your smartphone still cannot last for 12 hours, there must be something wrong with the phone, battery or software. If the battery depletes too fast or gets too hot while on use, it may be faulty and a change is necessary. If you have upgraded to the latest firmware and the problem persists, it is likely due to the applications running in the smartphone. Below is the debugging process.

For instance, my battery lasts run 20 hrs running applications with an average watt of 0.28W (Graph 1). If there is incoming or outgoing calls, the power consumption is higher driving battery life to only to 4:20 hrs of talktime based on 1.35W (Graph 2).

1. Switch off all unused functions in the phone (Bluetooth, GPS, Wifi etc)
   
2. Switch off all applications (Push mail, Battery monitoring softwares etc) except ActiveFile and NEP
   
3. Run ActiveFile first and take note of all the tasks running in the background (around 20).
   
4. Start NEP recording for 20-30 minutes.
   
5. Stop NEP and spikes are observed at 1.5 min intervals (Graph 3)
6. Spikes recorded during the process imply that some applications are running in the background.
   
7. List down the tasks. Some of the safe and common tasks are listed below. They are the safe list.
   
   1. DevEncstarter
      
   2. ActiveFile
      
   3. Anykey
      
   4. vcommandmanager
      
   5. Autolock
      
   6. SysAp
      
   7. aknnfysrv
      
   8. screensaver
      
   9. Telephone
      
   10. HomeScreen
       
   11. akncapserver
       
   12. essysapp
       
   13. LedController
       
8. Identify the unknown tasks and eliminate one task at a time (with application manager) and observe the graph in the NEP over 20-30 minutes
   
9. Take note of the deleted task which produces lower current and lower average power. If there is no change, repeat step (8) again and remove another task. (Graph 4 and 5)

   

   
   

   

10. Uninstall the identified task with the application manager.
    
11. Reboot the device and repeat step (1) to step (10) until graphs show that the current is 4-5 mA, CPU utilization at 1% and average power is 0.02W (Graph 6).

    

    At 0.02W with no spikes, the idle standby time is recorded as 273.22 hrs which is the best lifetime of the battery. It is still far from the specifications of 20 days or 480 hrs.
    
12. You have eliminated the resident programs which cause the high current consumption.
    
13. Now, reboot your phone and you should get an optimal battery life running all essential applications based on your lifestyle.

Below is the table for the standard 1500 mAh battery and the number of days the battery can last:

Average Watt - Number of day
0.250W - 1 day
0.125W - 2 days
0.0833W - 3 days
0.0625W - 4 days

So, if NEP shows that the average watt is 0.23, your phone will last slightly more than 1 day.

Conclusion

After running the exercise, your smartphone is performing at its peak with the best battery consumption. If it is still not satisfactory, I conclude either you buy the wrong phone, you like to torture the phone or your dream phone has not been produced yet.

article About iMode vs GPRS - (all-vga-corner)

It is sad to know that only Japan enjoys overwhelming success over iMode. I find iMode is a steal compared to other GPRS services which are still over charging customers in a rip-off fashion. Indeed, if you are not careful, you can be charged at a premium for GPRS data download.


iMode penetration in Singapore is slow and diminishing. Even Starhub is considering to terminate the service due to its limited popularity. It is a regret this will happen.

I have been a user of iMode since the launch and a satisfied customer based on my high usage on data on my mobile. Below is a chart to determine what plan you should be getting depending on the MB you use per month.

(Click on the picture to zoom)

We can see that iMode is the most cost effective mode of GPRS in Singapore if your data usage is above 10MB. Else, you can free to choose other plan as shown in the picture.

Some advantages of iMode are:
1) Free imode email address;
2) Free "PUSH mail";
3) Most cost effective mode if usage exceeds 10MB/mth; and
4) Many WAP sites to surf while you are mobile (to be shared with you).

Disadvantages are:
1) Limited phone models;
2) No overseas roaming;
3) Limited applications for download due to support for banking transactions; and
4) Small phone screen size.

If you find any mistakes in my tabulation, please comment or drop me an email so I can make changes.

I hope you find this chart useful, if you are paying too much for your GPRS usage, do consider a change as loyalty points or perks will never justify for the money you pay monthly.

article About Outsourcing - (all-vga-corner)

"If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not,
you're putting yourself out of business. " - Lee Kuan Yew
Brainyquote

I found 2 interesting movies on outsourcing:

1) Call Centre

2) Burger King Outsourcing




We can laugh over the movies but we laugh not on its implications. Due to wage gap in different countries and the primary objective for a company is to generate profits, outsourcing becomes an sensitive issue. It raises concerns on local employment issue and service quality to the masses. On a bigger context, we are concerned on the protection to specific industries, business survival and national security.

As the outsourcing epidemic spreads, A.J Jacobs tried to outsource his whole life to an Indian's Bangalore firm. The firm handles everything for his life including arguing with his wife, raise his son, reply his emails/calls, call his parents and read the papers on behalf of him. The ego overrides the guilt of imperalism and he proves that outsourcing works for individuals too.

Many US parents are also outsourcing child care to overseas (India @US$20.16/week while USA @US$300/week). Outsourcing seems to work fabulously and attractive to some. Perhaps, when they are old, their child will, in return, outsourcing them to Africa for retirement.

Is it a choice of priorities? Yes, it seems. Many parents choose career over duty as parents and employ overseas maids to take care of their children. It is a struggle for survival out there and only the most committed will survive. The long term repercussion will hit them just like a boomberang.

There are incidents of child abuse by maids causing panic and anxiety among parents but the question to ask is: "If you care so much, why do you still entrust this parental duty to a foreign stranger?". Sadly, the answer is a typical fact of single breadwinner cannot earn enough for a family. As such, Singaporeans are already reducing the number of children in a family and fanatically trying to earn more money. The rat race is always on despite we are already considered by many as a 1st class nation.

On another aspect, if we outsource our love life to agencies, where is the joy of making love if test tube method is chosen instead?