Happy Holidays!

Its time for the holidays and the normally bustling campus is now relatively quiet. The weather seems to be quite erratic though. Its sunny, rainy and chilly all within the same day and on most days the skies look like this. 

Not that it dampens the spirit of the holidays though. Happy Holidays!

Getting Flash to run on Tor for Mac

UPDATE: In OS X Mavericks, these steps aren't required. Tor automatically locates and configures the plugins. You only have to enable it in the Settings (see Step 3 below)

Tor, by default does not support third party Firefox plugins such as Flash and Javascript and this makes it difficult to view websites such as YouTube and other sites that require flash. This tutorial aims to address the issue for Tor Browser running on Mac OS X.

We already assume that you have Tor browser installed and running. If you don't have it installed, you can download it from here and follow the installation instructions. 

Step 1: Download and install Flash Player for Mac.

Anatomy of a busy month

February 2012 was a very busy month for me. I have survived numerous busy days and weeks in the past, most of which usually culminate in important deadlines, but I don't ever remember having had a hectic month in recent memory. The trend has however been the same though - it usually results in me compromising my sleep. This past month was going to be something similar, but this time I decided to keep track of my sleeping habits for the month. Initially, it looked like just a fun thing to do, but as the month progressed the data I gathered showed some interesting patterns. It wasn't until the end of the month that I decided to analyze the data that I had collected and study it.

Interview for IES

Back in August, I conducted an interview for IES (Institution of Engineers, Singapore) as part of their National Engineering Day 2011 (NED 2011) efforts to encourage high school students in Singapore to consider engineering as a career option. While I have conducted many interviews in the past for my school and college magazines, this was the first time I did a project that is outside of school and up for display publicly. It was fun and exciting and I enjoyed the process even though wrestling with semantic nuances was challenging at times. 

I wanted to share this now that its up on their website.

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National Engineers Day 2011

Interview with Ms Wang Ai-Chie Principal Package Design Engineer, Micron Semiconductor Asia Pte Ltd Written by: Mr Rohit Menon (Temasek Polytechnic). Ms Wang Ai-Chie. I was invited to meet Ms. Wang in..

30 Day Challenge for October

My 30 day challenge for October is to 'learn a new word everyday'. Its been nine days into the challenge and I have been consistent in my effort. I shall be updating this post daily with the words that I have learnt. The list goes as follows:

Report on 30 Day Challenge for September

My 30 day challenge for the month of September was to 'stay away from carbonated drinks'. I have always loved drinking Coca-Cola (and other aerated drinks) and been hooked on to it for so much time that my dentist began to complain. I used to drink at least three cans of cola on an average day and this was the case for quite a long time. I could actually differentiate between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. So to try and beat this habit, I embarked on this challenge. Initially during the first week and a half it seemed unpalatable, particularly when the weather here is so hot during the day. I substituted my regular choice of drinks with iced tea, cold chocolates and smoothies. Eventually, it turned out better than expected and I was able to stay away from the cola for the entire month except for one instance at the F1 Singapore GP, where the only other alternative to coca-cola was beer.

This challenge might seem a little mundane but the idea was to break out of this habit. I am glad I did. Its been more than a month now and I still haven't really felt the urge to pop a cold one.

In conversation with Tan Jie Yim Priscilla

An edited version of this article was featured in the July 2011 issue of ENGINEERRUS (The official magazine of Temasek Engineering School) under the title of "Tower of Strength". Below is the original transcript of the article that I had written before it was sent for editing and publishing.

Standing at a mere 147cms tall, Tan Jie Yim Priscilla can easily be mistaken for an ordinary girl who follows the ideal life of a student. This is true until you take a closer look at what she does. Unlike many others, this former TP student, who graduated in 2010 with a Diploma in Business Process and Systems Engineering (BZE), has a rather unique and rare pasttime of stilt walking. She works as a performer with Tian Eng Dragon and Lion Dance Centre and has been regularly performing with them at several major events and shows that include Resorts World Sentosa. She credits her penchant for learning and the interest to try out new things in life as the key reason to why she was attracted to the sport.

“Stilt walking is not an easy task and it needs balancing which is most important” says Priscilla who has been performing since 2004. “When I started off, it was very scary and I took a few hours to learn and balance myself fully”. Standing at a height of two meters, seeing Priscilla perform often leaves viewers in awe in addition to giving them goosebumps. “After you tie everything up and are ready to take the first step, you are always wary of falling and keep wanting to hold something” When asked if she had any bad experiences while performing, Priscilla mentions a time when she fell during one of her performances after accidentally stepping on a patch of water and some flowers. “The key is to fall forward with your knees bent, instead of backwards, as the shin guards and hand pumps offer protection and support.” She mentions determination and discipline towards practice sessions as vital traits of a stilt walker’s success.

She acknowledges her family and friends who supported her during her studies and encouraged her to work hard towards her aspirations. “I had a hard time coping with my studies, but I always had my family, especially my Dad and boyfriend, whose constant encouragement kept me going” recalls Priscilla who now works as an Admin Executive at Trillion Lifestyle Pte. Ltd. She hopes to work hard and eventually tour the world with her parents who, despite setbacks, kept going and never gave up.

With her hardwork and persistence, we are certain that she will reach even greater heights in life - those that lie beyond the realms of stilt walking.