App My State Idea Entry

From App My State web site, “App My State is a competition to inspire Victorians to create web and mobile applications for Victorians. Entrants will be competing for $100,000 in prizes.” The gist of the competition is that the government has released some data, you go create something with it.

So here’s a quick mock-up of my idea (guaranteed not going to win any prize):

http://www.isvictoriamoreviolentthanlastyear.com.au ? YES

As a resident of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I am greatly concerned with the increase of violence in the recent years. Gone are the days when people could feel safe traveling on public transport at night. Gone are the days when I could safely walk by myself on the city streets at 4am on a weekend.

Is it the government’s fault? No, even though I think that the law could be tougher, I still believe that the problem is with the people. Once I was on the train, I saw a group of youngsters arguing with an old guy. The youngsters got off the train at Caulfield station, but they kept shouting profanities at the old guy still inside the train. And when the train started moving, one of the youngsters suddenly kicked the train window right next to where the old guy sat. Is it the lack of respect? Is it the decline in morality standard?

Not many people know this, but I myself was once held at knifepoint. I fell asleep on the tram after a long tiring day, and I woke up with a knife pressed on my neck. There were two of them, and they got away with my wallet. An old guy, whom I later knew as Laurie, tried to help me that night (thank you Laurie from East Burwood). But the second robber held the knife against Laurie. To cut the story short, the police contacted me the next day, they caught both guys. Apparently I was the first victim that night, the fourth one wasn’t so lucky and was stabbed on the neck.

Rantings aside, the site itself could easily be built by comparing last year and this year’s crime statistic. Though unfortunately the result can be cached for at least the next 5 years. Melbourne is getting more violent each year, and there’s no sign that the situation will improve for the better.

On Rude Customer Service

... yep, robots, preferably configurable via Hudson.

I never understood the point of having humans doing customer service if they can’t be polite and friendly to fellow human.

p.s. Introducing LatteGirl. Here’s her attempt at drawing CoderBoy and herself.

Adelaide Getaway 2009

Some photos from my Adelaide getaway sometime late last year. Enjoyed a nice breakfast at Briccone, Rundle Mall, somewhere in the eastern side of the CBD. But the highlight of Adelaide was Glenelg, a beautiful and relaxing suburb by the beach.

Originals are available from the photoset page on Flickr.

Hobart Getaway 2009

I went to Hobart in late August for a weekend getaway. Hobart was nice and quiet, I really enjoyed the walks through Battery Point and Salamanca Place. Had possibly the greatest breakfast ever at Retro Cafe.

Originals are available from the photoset page on Flickr.

Sydney Getaway 2009

Some photos from my weekend getaway in Sydney some weeks ago. Great eggplant and mushroom pizza from Pancakes On The Rocks, great latte from Cellini’s at QVB. Had a superb afternoon nap under a tree at Hyde Park.

Originals are available from the photoset page on Flickr.

Japan Trip 2009

As briefly mentioned in my Japan Travel Preparation Checklist post, I went to Japan with my brother for 2 weeks where we visited Tokyo, Kamakura, Yokohama, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Okayama. Both of us have taken a keen interest in many-things-Japanese throughout our lives. We grew up reading manga, watching anime, and playing Japanese video games, so we’re somewhat semi-otakus.

As for myself, I took several semesters of Japanese classes in the past. I’m a huge fan of Japanese TV shows Iron Chef, TV Champion, and Takeshi’s Castle. I’ve always been impressed with Japanese culture, specially their politeness and sense of collectivism. To me, visiting Japan was a lifelong dream.

My brother and me, near Kaizoji Temple, Kamakura.

What impressed me the most was that their trains were always on time. I was there for 2 weeks and not even once my train was late. That’s amazing compared to our local train operator in Melbourne, Connex, the symbol of incompetence. I can’t remember the last time a Connex train arrived and left on time.

I was also impressed by a number of smart things I saw in Japan, things that made me stop and think “Hmm, we should have that.” Things like foldable wooden rubbish bin, blood donation bus parked near busy stations, maps with orientation to where you’re standing, stackable bicycle parkings… just to name a few.

The top 5 favourite places I visited…

1. Jufukuji Temple, Kamakura – the most peaceful place I’ve ever been.
2. Korakuen Garden, Okayama – it was very relaxing to walk around the garden.
3. Kaiyukan, Osaka – where else would you see 2 whale sharks?
4. Meiji Jingu, Tokyo – a nice shrine in a busy city.
5. Umeda Sky Building, Osaka – see Osaka at night from 173m high.

And the most memorable experiences?

• Looking at mount Fuji during our Shinkansen ride from Osaka to Tokyo.
  I was amazed for several minutes, mount Fuji was majestic. I wondered if someday I could ever return to Japan and climb the mountain to watch the sunrise from up there.
• Exploring Kamakura.
  I felt very much at peace while walking around Kamakura, a nice little town with many temples. I couldn’t help thinking that it would be a nice place to live a retired life (in reality, I have to stick with Perth though).
• Walking from Bentencho Station to Kaiyukan.
  It looked quite close on the map but it turned out to be a very long walk. We had to rely on the sun to tell the direction since all signs were in Japanese and the buildings looked similar on each side of the station. It was such a huge relief when we saw the Kaiyukan building from afar.

For more pictures from the trip, check out my Japan Trip 2009 album on Picasa.

Japan In Black & White

Some black & white photos I took during my trip to Japan last month. I used a Lumix DMC-FX50, sometimes I wish I had an SLR camera.

If you want to check out the original images at 1024×768, please visit the photoset page on Flickr.

Countdown D-33

… to fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Dioni's Wedding

I went to Sydney over the weekend to attend my good friend Dioni’s wedding. She’s the girl I referred to when I told my friends in Melbourne, “I know someone who works on a Star Wars game title at LucasArts.” Yes, she’s a game programmer and she spits code as part of the job.

Me, on the left, with the happy couple Dioni & Rendy.

The ceremony was held at Castlereagh Chapel, near Penrith.

The weekend itself was a nice short break right after a project I had been working on since last July. I decided to disconnect myself from the Internet for 3 days and not check my emails, feeds, tweets, and fb updates. Instead, I had a lot of conversations with people irl about various non-technology topics. Some of the interesting ones were on a different interpretation of “the will of the heavens” in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and on various rescue skills you will learn when you join the SES.

Shall I Twitter This?

... what goes through a geek's mind while playing sports.

I used to despise Twitter, but now I’m a fan. There’s something different in my daily life ever since I started twittering, nowadays I often ask myself if I should twitter something that just happened, or if my friends would find certain things funny/informative/etc.

…

So I went to a volleyball game last Sunday, and having been away from the game for a long time, I was excited to get back to it.

That’s me, wearing black t-shirt, jumping for a block. Back in junior high, I was on the school’s volleyball team, I could easily jump high and get my neck above the net. But now I’m at my heaviest ever at 88kg, and all these geeking around ever since I started studying computer science in uni obviously didn’t help.

I sprained my right thumb while setting up the poles for the net, and I was foolish enough to keep hitting the ball right where it hurted. That’s Tieh Ta Yao Gin covering the swollen area on my palm.

Yes, I twittered this.