Prof has shared many interesting videos with the class today, another “video” sharing class. Started off the lesson with an interesting video, People are able to create the things that they want almost immediately, through molding. They are able to adjust the model to the way they like it to be and changing the color as well. That’s the power of technology! We might see that happening in the near future! The immediate action that could be done to the model will be beneficial for the different meetings conducted, any of the people are able to visually see and change the model to their own preference. Some advantages of this would be saving time from repeatedly changing the prototype to suit the client’s preference; they are able to change it on the spot. :)
Some of the drivers for these would be
1. Market driven (recommended for new entrepreneurs as they can start off based on the market need for the technologies)
2. Technology driven - growing technical knowledge (need to create the technology, require people to agree with your technology.
3. Supply may create demand – it is only until the people realize the existence of the technologies available and realized that they actually need it, thus creating the demand for it. E.g. Smartphone
4. Mass media and advertising – the power of mass media
4 SMARTS
- SMART people
- SMART idea
- SMART money
- SMART alliances and partnerships
Sales – Push: Trying to sell off the things that you have on hand.
Marketing – Pull: people will come looking for you to ask you for the things that you have.
The ROBOT: Perfect woman
Wow... it’s amazing to see robots that resemble so much to a real human! I was quite shock when I first saw it as I really thought it’s a real woman, only until the camera zoom out to the whole body shot that I realized it’s actually a robot. Robot is not something that we’re unfamiliar with. We’ve know that Japan is one of the countries that has the most advanced technologies and also it is actively involved in the research of creating smart robots, robots that can help humans in their daily lives.
For the perfect woman, I find it quite scary because it’s not as “normal” as humans, the way it speaks and the overall appearance looks and feels eerie to me. HAHA! But no doubt, it is a good creation by the creators.
Where will we be in the near future?
In 10 years to come, Singapore will definitely not be what we’re seeing now. It will change quite drastically, the “integration” of technology and new innovations in the future will be instilled in the near future. Of course, the change is for the better…. We might be able to see robots functioning as maids in households in maybe 20 years later? The fact that the experimentation on robots is highly seen in countries like Japan, there is no doubt that this change will be expanded to rest of the world.
Presentations today are very insightful, introducing us to the various types of possible future technologies. Be it nanotechnology or the change in the user experience during flights, these sharings are no doubt informative for me, quite an eye opener, and how amazing will it be if we’re really able to see these future technologies in 20 years.
Rating: 9/10
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Friday, 14 October 2011
Lesson 8: Energy (Past Present Future)
Today's lesson was talking about Energy. One of the world's energy sources would be fossil fuels which is a non-renewable source of energy. It has affected the Earth greatly as the burning of fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources has resulted in global warming, which means that the world's temperature has been increasing every year.
As the people are now more aware of the environmental impacts from all these activities, more and more companies are now changing or at least reducing their usage on non-renewable energy to using renewable energy.
From what Prof mentioned in class, one of the renewable energy, the solar energy, is actually able to provide enough energy for our consumption. But why are we not making use of the solar energy to provide for our use? I think that even though there is this solar panel which is able to acquire energy from the sun, it is not widely used in Asian countries as compared to Western countries. One of the reasons may be that the one-time costs involved in getting the panels are expensive, and due to the resistance to change among Asians.
From the video shown by prof, the westerners made use of the land area for rearing of animals to place their solar panels to obtain their solar energy, i think that they are creative. HAHA.. this is because usually from the impression that i have, westerners are better in making use of the limited space that they have in doing multiple activities. If all the countries are able to make use of their available space to acquire solar energy, i think that the energy consumption would then not depend highly on fossil fuels.
An interesting and informative video that i found related to today's topic:
i think that Singapore is also able to play a part in reducing on non-renewable energy consumption and finding new ways to use renewable sources of energy to help in ensuring the reduction of negative environmental impact on Earth.
Really hope that from what today's session focuses on, the next industrial revolution (from fossil fuels to renewables), will be able to ensure that there will be enough energy for our next and future generations. Shifting from fossil fuels which are non-renewable to renewables, besides ensuring that we will be able to reduce the negative impacts on Earth, also to make sure that there will be enough energy for consumption for our future generations.
Rating: 8/10
As the people are now more aware of the environmental impacts from all these activities, more and more companies are now changing or at least reducing their usage on non-renewable energy to using renewable energy.
From what Prof mentioned in class, one of the renewable energy, the solar energy, is actually able to provide enough energy for our consumption. But why are we not making use of the solar energy to provide for our use? I think that even though there is this solar panel which is able to acquire energy from the sun, it is not widely used in Asian countries as compared to Western countries. One of the reasons may be that the one-time costs involved in getting the panels are expensive, and due to the resistance to change among Asians.
From the video shown by prof, the westerners made use of the land area for rearing of animals to place their solar panels to obtain their solar energy, i think that they are creative. HAHA.. this is because usually from the impression that i have, westerners are better in making use of the limited space that they have in doing multiple activities. If all the countries are able to make use of their available space to acquire solar energy, i think that the energy consumption would then not depend highly on fossil fuels.
An interesting and informative video that i found related to today's topic:
i think that Singapore is also able to play a part in reducing on non-renewable energy consumption and finding new ways to use renewable sources of energy to help in ensuring the reduction of negative environmental impact on Earth.
Really hope that from what today's session focuses on, the next industrial revolution (from fossil fuels to renewables), will be able to ensure that there will be enough energy for our next and future generations. Shifting from fossil fuels which are non-renewable to renewables, besides ensuring that we will be able to reduce the negative impacts on Earth, also to make sure that there will be enough energy for consumption for our future generations.
Rating: 8/10
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Lesson 7: BioBusiness - Agriculture
"There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
I think the above quote really reflected reality...
When people in the richer countries are throwing away leftovers, can they imagine that the other part of the world are facing food shortages?
If not, how come there are children with obesity and the some children facing malnutrition? These are all related to food security and stability...
If a group of people are not facing any problems with their source of food, they will just spend their money to get whatever food they want to eat and buying any amount of food, even though the amount is far too much for themselves.
We spent quite some time discuss about the food labels. I personally would not really look at the food labels to know whether the food is Genetically Modified. Reason for this is that i believed that the food that is available in Singapore are safe to consume, even though it is GM food, it is still edible and will not have much negative impact. Come to think of it, even though the labels on the food are shown as not GM food, how can you be sure that it is not GM food? How about the seed? if the seed is genetically modified, would the label show that the food is GM food even though only the seed is GM? We can't be sure of course.
I think what really matters to me is that whether the food is safe to be consumed.
Mentioned and discuss quite a lot on genetically modified crops. GM crops are able to curb the shortage of food supply and ensure that the poor farmers will have their crops harvested at the end of the period. E.g. herbicide resistance crops will ensure that the weeds will not fight for the nutrients of the crops; insect resistance crops will ensure that the crops will not be destroyed by certain types of "popular destroyers" of the crops. This could ensure food stability as the farmers will be harvesting the crops.
With the help of biotechnology on agriculture, we're able to end world hunger, but it is also with the HELP of people that this world hunger will really end.
Re-emphasize on quote again: "There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Just get what you need!
Rating: 8.5/10
- Mahatma Gandhi
I think the above quote really reflected reality...
When people in the richer countries are throwing away leftovers, can they imagine that the other part of the world are facing food shortages?
If not, how come there are children with obesity and the some children facing malnutrition? These are all related to food security and stability...
If a group of people are not facing any problems with their source of food, they will just spend their money to get whatever food they want to eat and buying any amount of food, even though the amount is far too much for themselves.
We spent quite some time discuss about the food labels. I personally would not really look at the food labels to know whether the food is Genetically Modified. Reason for this is that i believed that the food that is available in Singapore are safe to consume, even though it is GM food, it is still edible and will not have much negative impact. Come to think of it, even though the labels on the food are shown as not GM food, how can you be sure that it is not GM food? How about the seed? if the seed is genetically modified, would the label show that the food is GM food even though only the seed is GM? We can't be sure of course.
I think what really matters to me is that whether the food is safe to be consumed.
Mentioned and discuss quite a lot on genetically modified crops. GM crops are able to curb the shortage of food supply and ensure that the poor farmers will have their crops harvested at the end of the period. E.g. herbicide resistance crops will ensure that the weeds will not fight for the nutrients of the crops; insect resistance crops will ensure that the crops will not be destroyed by certain types of "popular destroyers" of the crops. This could ensure food stability as the farmers will be harvesting the crops.
With the help of biotechnology on agriculture, we're able to end world hunger, but it is also with the HELP of people that this world hunger will really end.
Re-emphasize on quote again: "There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Just get what you need!
Rating: 8.5/10
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