Hello 2009

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Let the morning of the first day of 2009 be bliss and that this innate bliss in you continues to surface for the rest of the year.

--- michael

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The Preacher Man Can

I have a friend who calls me regularly for coffee. During that time, she will ask me if I would like to go to paradise or heaven. She would also add that there is not much time left, so I better decide to join them in their journey. Paradise, it is said, is free from attachments in our Earthly existence of illusions. What we experience on Earth is but a paltry comparison (to paradise). She said that once I have been to paradise, I won't want to come back to live on Earth again.

Then, as we were talking, an old lady interrupted to sell us some tissue paper. As I was digging into my pockets, I was shocked that my friend waved the old lady away. Luckily, the old lady persisted and by the time I recovered from the shock she was still there to complete our transaction. Did my friend realise that it is very likely that this old lady needs the money badly and that what she is doing is not begging, but an honorable business? We don't always have to buy tissue papers from them, but to refuse one in the middle of all the preaching just seem out of place to me somehow.

My friend is always preaching to me and yet she says that her practice is not a religion. I find that hard to reconcile. Anyway, her group is not the only one claiming to have exclusive tickets to heaven and that they are not a religion.

Why can't we let everyone live the way they want and walk their own spiritual paths? We are all unique and therefore our paths are all different. Why must religions, spiritual practices, 'fellowships' or call what you may, go out and 'convert' people? Is it so that they score some browny points with their god or merits to get closer to the heavenly gates? If one is so conscious about 'helping' others, does these 'merits' or browny points make any sense? Eventually and inevitably, these browny points will lead to promoting Fear and yet another conscious collection.

Perhaps to be in paradise, we just have to stay away from paradise and live the way we think it is worthy. I think what is worthy is only Love. The basis of all worthy and all we encounter is Love. In fact, if we take away all the sex and money, we will easily see that what is worthy is only Love. Conversely, if you want to follow any crime, follow the money and the sex.

Incidentally, I got this message from the Daily Contemplation (an email subscription):

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One filled with joy preaches without preaching.

-- Mother Teresa

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It's a Dog's Life - Puppy Love

We had new kittens when I was in Europe six months ago, now back in Singapore, we get three new Shetland pups from Cookie. They are just six days old in the picture, eyes still closed and relying entirely on their mother's milk.

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On the first day of their birth, the mother kept herself in the same position till late at night, forgoing her meals, so that her pups can have her milk. It was till the pups were well fed and that she was so hungry that she had her supper that night.

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On the second day, as the maid went to change the towel in her den, Cookie thought that she was going to take her pups away. By the time the maid came back with the fresh towels, two of the pups where missing from her den and hidden elsewhere (under the bed).

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It is fascinating to observe the motherly love instinctive in all animals. Cats do the same caring for their kittens when they are very little, they will let their kittens eat first, and only when her kittens are well-fed that the mother cat will eat what is left.

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Bucky Group 34 - Christmas 2008

Since it is Christmas, we have a feast this Saturday at the Salon. Everyone brought something to share.

After the usual Christmas songs, we switched to Bob Maley's "One Love" video.
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We even connected with one of our Bucky member, Rochele, her two Vietnamese friends doing PhD in Atlanta and another friend working for CNN in Atlanta to join our session. Together we danced and sang across the Internet. Perhaps this marks the start of the Bucky Group's Webcast to people elsewhere or anywhere. Isn't technology wonderful? We did this without any additional costs.
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In 2008, many of our topics pertained to "Happiness". In 2009, we will be focused on "Creativity". To start it off, we watched and listened to Ken Robinson's TED talk on "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"

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Discussion:

Our education system in the Polytechnics seem to prepare our students for fixed vocations and therefore focuses on the implementation specific technical skills rather than conceptual and fundamental skills.

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Some years ago, the government aimed to get into the IT industry in a big way, but they didn't succeed. (We are not cheaper and bigger than the Indians.) Then they tried media, which was also not successful as there were not so many employers hiring journalists in a small country like Singapore. So they went into gaming, which is also not successful. They are now aiming for technology for "Visual Effects". Bureaucrats in their present form of conditioned and constrained thinking will never catch up with the market demand in real time. If only they had focused on the fundamentals of bringing up creative minds, will they be able to adapt to changing needs of industries. Someday they will learn.

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One of my dreams is to start a Buckminster Fuller Institute/University and Cafe in the city centre as a meeting place for entrepreneurs, technologists, artists, musicians and investors. There, we will have a Bucky library, artifacts (like the geodesic dome and isocahedran), Bucky sessions and seminars. Artists can sell their wares by displaying them in the cafe and budding musicians can jam up for added exposure and to entertain. Outside the cafe in the open, we can run exercises to build some of Bucky's artifacts, like constructing the geodesic domes perhaps with bamboo sticks or to play the World Game. These sessions can be webcast via the Internet so that member cafes elsewhere can join in.

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From time to time, entrepreneurs with revolutionary and creative products can also demonstrate them at the cafe premises. Revolutionary products need good sounding boards to test their business models, and meeting other entrepreneurs and artists to debate and synergise will be invaluable.

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Such a cafe will broaden the minds of people who (sadly) have been educated in a highly industrialised, structured, narrow and specialised system; to become more comprehensive in their approaches. Bucky called this type of people, "Comprehensivists". A Comprehensivist is one who considers the Universe as one system obeying a set of generalised principles, and not many human-perceived systems obeying different principles.

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This cafe will also offer life long continuous learning to people who have missed out on education in the earlier part of their life, or are late bloomers. There isn't such a cafe in Singapore so far, so let there be one! Perhaps it is kind of a "Cafe 2.0", akin to "Web 2.0".

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Note:

The Bucky Group is one that anyone can join and there are no formal memberships nor fees to pay, but just the receptivity to life long learning and fun. The Group meets every Saturday and Sundays, and has been doing so for the last 13 years. Please send in your comments and suggestions for the Bucky Cafe above. Thanks.

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For more of what the Bucky Group does in the past meetings, click here.
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Usury 4

I had the good fortune to speak to a wise old man, who was looking for investments into a commerical property development. Investors for properties are hard to come by in a credit crunch. When I asked why he did not look into borrowing money from the bank, he told me that it is not wise to play the 'financial game'. He wouldn't even borrow in US dollars as this will mean exchange risks with his local currency. His grandfather lost billions playing the financial game.

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Too many people are playing the financial game and he thinks that this is fundamentally the problem leading to the current global economic and financial crisis we are in. In other words, we are living in a society of borrowed money, not always used for legitimate investments. A "legitimate investment" is one that essentially creates life supporting wealth. When we move away further and further from creating life supporting wealth and the true objectives of money, an economic crisis will be inevitable.

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"There is money found in the project itself", he said.

"The investor can make his profits in the project and that is better than borrowing from the bank and incurring interests and charges", he continued.

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Not unless if he seek money from an Islamic bank - one that shares the project risks and profits. In Islamic banking, trading of financial risks is forbidden as it is 'haram' like gambling.

Read more about "Usury" here

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In Sickness and In Health 9 - Project Life

I was shocked when I saw Zoe's picture in Today newspaper. She is now in fourth stage of cancer. I met her in May and knew she got cancer then, but she appeared so positive I thought she would have recovered.

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I sms-ed her when I reached Singapore on Saturday, but didn't get any replies.

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She is continuing her fight against her illness and has many close friends and alternative healers helping her.

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Read more about her here

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Staged Magic

I lost my wallet to a pickpocket thief in the train from Brussels to Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport last Friday. I think it was done by the guy who sat next to me. He was unusually friendly. Then I think he picked my pocket when I stood up to reach for my luggage from the overhead shelf when the train reached the airport. This is the time, when most people are more anxious to pack up and leave quickly.

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When I felt the sudden hollow in my pockets, I thought that I may have lost my wallet in the station or dropped on my seat. Everyone around was very concerned, except the friendly chap who sat next to me. He was no longer friendly nor concerned. But I realised that only later, by that time, he was gone.

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It must have taken him one or two seconds to pick my wallet from my trousers pocket. His demeanour, his hand skills and his patience to wait for the right moment, is no mean feat. Why doesn't he go into stage magic and show business? He could make some decent money legally.

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But that's how it is. Many people do not know who they really are. They often underestimate their self worth. Don't we sometimes? This thief can be a lot more worthy serving and entertaining others in stage magic. But they do not know who they really are and the higher potentials they can reach by serving others and themselves.

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Technology 9 - Breaking up is hard to do...

I am an information security consultant. We outwit hackers for our customers. Before we get to do so, we submit proposals to explain how we can help them.

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One way of helping our customers is to break their information systems non-destructively. However, it is hard to say how we do so. Commonly quoted 'methodologies' are too general to be informative and useful.

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Yet, common business practice dictates that we submit a 'methodology' for the customer's perusal before we attempt to break their systems up. This goes against the grain that building something is systematic, but breaking something is hardly so. It depends on what turns up and what patterns we recognise at the very moment. It is mostly unsystematic! So, in effect, a structured methodology is just to get us pass the 'front door'.

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But this is understandable why the customers do not think the same way as we do, as the same system of thoughts that have created the security loopholes and vulnerabilities tend to be a different type of mind that identifies vulnerabilities.

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In Sickness or In Health 8 - Influence

Today is an exceptional day for swinging moods. I woke up fairly relaxed. Then a miserable friend rang and poured out his grievances and heartaches to me and I felt down after that. Later in the afternoon, I chatted with a friend online. She was very happy and without being conscious about it, I became happy. Unfortunately, in the evening, another friend came online and chatted. She was very nervous and stressed, and after chatting with her, I felt the same.

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I behaved like a radio, receiving their signals and playing their songs. I have to be more careful not to let that happen.

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The mind by its nature is peaceful and still. It is our moods that make the mind flutter. Much like the leaves on the trees when the wind blows.

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I shall now let my mind return home to Peace... Om Shanti.

Technology 8 - The Oldies

The other day, as I was clearing my room, one of the things I had to throw away was the old PC. The old machine (bought in 1999) is still running, but without a USB port, a big enough memory, a fast enough modem and and low flicker flat screen, it just doesn't make much sense to keep these days. So, it is going to the scrap heap.

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As I was salvaging some old data from the PC, I came across many quaint old stuff that I hoarded back those days. I had Microsoft Encarta, World Atlas, Chess Games...etc. Back then, they cost a lot of money to buy. Now, they are all superseded by faster, better, more user-friendly services, and most of all - Free!

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And it was not only software that were local, but I also hoarded articles and emails, because I didn't think that I can easily access them from the Internet. It was a sense of insecurity akin to the common and inherent fear that I cannot tap into the Akashic Records or the universe, to be informed or inspired, and therefore cannot be free from attachments. If we trust, then the fear becomes no more.

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Now Wikipedia, Google Earth and many online games have replaced the old stuff. Even those exclusive offline business directory memberships are now superseded by business and social networking sites, instant messenging and video conferencing.
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Technology has rapidly changed our way of doing business and our social life. Personally, I have made many valuable business contacts online. People I would otherwise have little chance of meeting in person, as they reside in the other corner of the world.

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The old "Request for Information" from big companies to suppliers, is now but replaced by searches on Google or Youtube. Most good technologies are now better explained on video in Youtube, than texts and brochures.

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Some technology suppliers go a step further to allow potential clients to get a ballpark quotation of what they want, by answering a few simple questions. Thus, simplifying the RFP (Request for Proposal) that follows. Perhaps one day this part will also be superseded by online auctions, which is already happening for more standardised commodities and services. These e-auctions are efficiently executed, self documenting and are paperless - saving some trees.

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Consultancies are also affected, as many people now choose to tap the collective brains of specialist forums to get quick answers - what was formerly obtainable only from paid consultants. More and more, services are offered free online. To earn the buck now, more value has to be added. Perhaps one day, these freebies will also be offered in the offline world, working towards what Bucky envisioned in World Game and also expressed in Alvin Toffler's Revolutionary Wealth. This is more reasonable than what many people think, since technology has made many things cheaper, not more expensive. Inflation is a consipiracy.

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Even age old vices, like gambling and pornography have moved online, hosting their servers in more laxed jurisdictions, to escape tax and prohibitive laws. All this without the need to invest billions in an integrated resort (IR) too! Makes me wonder if the IR under construction in Singapore is a has-been business model, better run online. Likewise, porn magazines are almost wiped off the shelves these days. Well, at least the trees are safe! *laughs* (Note: That is not to say that I agree with these vices, especially gambling, which one way or another, necessitates that for one to win many have to lose. )

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Even the power and authority of politics and governments are not spared the impact of technologies. The Malaysian ruling party was almost knocked out by the many political blogs and satire that sprung up during their elections. The Singapore government will also wake up to a rude shock come the next election, when they realise they have underestimated the power of online blogs and citizen podcasts. Up till now, the media is largely government controlled and censored. It will become more and more difficult for dictators to survive in the new world.

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In India, bureaucratic corruption is also cut down by the advent of e-government, and also cutting queues, time and labour.

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Fathers will realise that to communicate and develop a closer relationship with their sons, it will be easier to understand the online games that their sons are playing. It may be hard for many fathers, but their sons are more likely than not have their minds living in Cyberspace. Some more chronic cases will actually have their second lives in Secondlife, and the father induldged with second wives in second lives. :)

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Then, as I lugged the bulky screen and PC into the truck, I still have a little remorse for retiring the faithful machine, while it is still in working order, to the scrap heap. It feels like I am administering euthanasia. Moreover, I was also not sure how environmentally responsible the scrap yard operator is. Admittedly, after all these years of the PC having served me well, I do sense a bit of attachment and loss. :(
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Patience 4 - Time

How long do you take to brush your teeth each time?

Five minutes? Ten minutes?

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I thought I take five minutes, but how wrong I realised I was when I set the two-minute timer (the blue light in the picture). The light will turn out by itself at the end of two minutes. That two minutes was the longest two minutes I have experienced in my life! It just went on and on.

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Don't believe me?

Try it yourself. Check how long you take to brush your teeth. If two minutes feels so long, chances are that you are not spending enough time for yourself. Enough time to keep your teeth clean and your body healthy.

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Note:

Dentists recommend that we take three-minutes to brush our teeth each time.

Patience 3 - The Message?

I got this message from a fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant in London:

"Time and patience are called for, many surprises await you."

Very timely. Let's see what happens next and what surprises await.