The Straits Times Blogs - Tan Chong Yaw

Technology that lets a blind man 'see'

2009-11-04T05:38:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw admires technology for the blind but is more amazed by one user.

ASSISTANT Professor Wong Meng Ee reads using a scanner.

Dr Wong, 39, who is blind, reads a book by zapping it into a computer – page by page – with a flatbed scanner.

A software – OpenBook – converts the scanned image into words. The words are then read in an artificial-sounding voice to him. The scanner and OpenBook act as his eyes for books, which he relies on for his research and lecture preparation.

Another software, Jaws, is a screen reader. It reads out what is on the laptop screen -- like his e-mail messages and Word documents.

With such technology aids – called assistive technology (AT) – Meng Ee is able to teach students in diploma, masters and post-graduate courses at the National Institute of Education.

But AT helps don’t come cheap.

OpenBook costs US$995 ($1,393). Jaws starts from US$895 ($1,253).

The cheapest Pac Mate, a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a Qwerty keyboard, is a stiff US$2,395 ($3,353) – more than the price of a high-end laptop.

Meng Ee uses a Pac Mate QX for taking notes at meetings. Looking like a bloated keyboard, the PDA, which runs the mobile versions of Microsoft Office, has Jaws built in too.

Relief is available.

The Assistive Technology Fund (ATF) subsidises up up to $10,000, the purchases of aids like PDAs and screen reader software. The aim is to let people with disabilities cope with mainstream schools or jobs.

But tech gear can help only so far.

Watching Meng Ee stand over his scanner as he showed me how he "reads" one page of a book, I realised how tough it was for him to do a task that I take for granted.

Scan. Convert. Listen.

The three-step routine is for pristine print.

Underlined phrase or a highlighted paragraph will confuse the software. Graphs and diagrams are out. So are tables unless they are simple ones. For these, he turns to someone who has sight.

Meng Ee enjoys jazz. But if I were to pick a soundtrack that reflects his indomitable spirit, On Earth As It Is In Heaven – a track from the 1986 movie The Mission – comes to mind.

The Ennio Morricone composition starts quietly with a choir in sotto voce then builds up gradually but relentlessly into a thundering climax.

Like that composition, nothing in Meng Ee - apart from his firm handshake - revealed his resolve when I first met him. But as he described how he copes with his work, I came to realise the strength of his tenacity.

Kudos to you, Meng Ee.

For more information on the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF), call the Centre for Enabled Living at (65) 6593 6437.

DSLRs and marriages

2009-10-20T06:57:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw deems a DSLR camera too hard to have and to hold for life.

I DO not own a DSLR.

And after four years of reviewing cameras from dinky blings to ones that cost more than a shiny new scooter, I know that DSLRs give the best pics – bar none.

So why don't I have one?

The thing is, owning a DSLR is like a marriage. Buy a DSLR and it is yours to have and to hold - and that's the easy part.

It can be a plasticky (I mean, made of polycarbonate) budget buy or one that is as formidable as the Death Star – the battleship in Star Wars that is the size of a small planet.

Besides the lush colours in its photos, a DSLR is just pure photographic adrenaline because of its responsiveness – especially if you have been on a diet of compact cameras.

But once you buy one, it is for better or for worse.

If you buy a high-end model, you can sniff at the owners of lesser cameras. But only for a while. Soon enough, an update will be launched. There will be an extra X to the name or a Roman numeral will be added – like from a I to a II.

You may not be stirred. Or you, at least, you'll try your darnedest not to be.

But isn't that the essence of a marriage, you commit to your chosen as an act of the will.

For richer or for poorer?

Forget the former. A DSLR will deplete your bank account as surely as prolonged haemorrhoids will give you anaemia.

You will need accessories. Think of them as children – in terms of resources required.

First, you build a collection of lenses to cover the usual focal lengths – from wide angles to telephotos. Then, you "need" lenses with wider angles – they get more expensive as the lenses cover more.

Soon you will want faster lenses – nothing to do with morals, but pricier lenses that have bigger apertures so you can shoot with less light and get prettier bokeh (the character of the parts of the image that are out of focus).

As your lenses get more upmarket they also grow in size and weight, so leave aside a budget for sturdier tripods and larger dry cabinets.

Also, like a marriage, a DSLR needs devotion.

Like cleaning your camera – especially after exposure to the elements. Trips to the workshop for cleaning and servicing are de rigueur for any self-respecting photog.

So you have to see your camera through sickness and in health.

You will continue to love and to cherish your camera because its performance depends on your commitment to its well-being.

Sure you can have a fling. Buy a DSLR and chuck it in a cupboard when you tire of it. Or sell it when the new model comes out.

But, hey, I am not that kind of a guy.

Simple is tough

2009-09-29T11:28:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw tests out downloading a couple of apps on his smartphone.

KEEP it simple.

That's what Apple had done with the task of adding new programs to a smartphone.

How easy? To quote my seven-old-son: "Duh!"

That was his succinct response when I asked him did he know to download and install apps to my wife's two week old iPhone 3GS.

Apps. That's a word that Apple has helped in popularising. It's a snappy handle for what is called a program or software application.

While writing a story on smartphone apps, I was downloading and testing apps.

Now, let it be known – I am not an Apple fan. I don't even own a single Apple product.

I have been using Microsoft's Window Mobile devices since the OS was called Pocket PC.

That was when phones were just for making calls.

For computing power on the go, you would get a PDA (Personal Data Assistant). The merger of the two – into the smartphone – is bucking the trend in worldwide phone sales.

Smartphones are hot items and they are no longer the preserve of the geek.

One of Apple's masterstrokes is a small icon, just one out of the 20 icons that greet you when you switch on the phone.

Dubbed simply App Store, behind it lies an online library of more than 85,000 apps and container-loads of designer smarts to make the process as simple as making a phone call.

No need to look elsewhere – all Apple-approved apps in the App Store.

Once you have found an app, all it takes is two taps on the app price button – it can be free or a price in US dollars is given – and the app is zipped through the air into your phone. It will quietly install itself and sit there until you want it.

It couldn't be simpler. Apple could make it a single screen tap but that would mean that you could be downloading a hundred dollar app just like that.

Google's app store – the Android Market – comes close in convenience. It is almost as beckoning as the App Store – cheerful and well formated for the phone screen.

Like in the iPhone, Android app downloads are fuss-free.

I like that I can also browse through popular apps on my PC at android.com/market. It's a pity that searches can't be made there but only on an Android phone like the HTC Hero.

The download of an app is just too busy a process. There is an information overload with progress bars and windows that inform me about loading and connecting. Do I need to know all these?

But it was Nokia's website – store.ovi.com – that I enjoyed using the most for its openness. No need for me to open an account like with the iPhone. And all the apps are shown unlike the Android Market website.

But the Ovi search engine needs an overhaul though. A search using the keyword, Singapore, yielded only one app – The Straits Times.

Which reminds me – don't forget to pick up your copy of the paper tomorrow – there will be stories in Digital Life about phone apps. And a list of free apps designed for Singaporeans.

There is something that American jazz bassist Charles Mingus once said that phone makers should heed.

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

Read more in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

A battery of charges

2009-09-18T06:18:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw ponders the problem of dying phone batteries.

TALK about misleading. The manual says that your cellphone has a standby time of a week. But that is if you don't use your phone. At all.

Even the specs for length of talktime doesn't help. Consider this: Your cellphone is your most overworked electronic gizmo.

As a phone you leave it on 24/7. But it also serves as your camcorder and camera. And your e-mail device. You surf the Net on it and check out the latest YouTube clips.

It guides you to your destination and list the services around you once you get there.

You read e-books and even watch movies on it. And your children see your phone as their gaming console.

All these scream for power – more than just for making phone calls. And as the phone's repertoire of tricks grow and screens get brighter and bigger, it sucks up energy. Big time.

Which brings us to the one piece in the cellphone that remains a laggard - the battery.

It can't keep up. Use your multi-talented phone hard and your battery may not last out the day.

With our work and social life revolving around our phone, that is just not acceptable.

More power means a bigger battery. But surely you can't have a lump of a battery sticking out from a svelte streamlined design, right?

Not quite.

One thing I like about my two-year-old Samsung i600 smartphone is that it came with a standard slim battery plus a larger, heavy-duty one that gives almost twice more juice. I am given a choice: Slimness or power.

Mind you, separate housing is included so that the increased bulk of the larger battery is artfully hidden.

But for most phones, a power user on the move can always keep a fully-charged battery handy in case the first battery runs out.

The question is: What if the battery is sealed away inside the phone where it cannot be reached without voiding the warranty? That's the case for a popular smartphone from a company named after a fruit linked to the discovery of gravity.

I know some folks who lug their chargers around with them. Better a permanent bulge in the Kate Spade or attaché case than have a call or transaction that dies midstream.

But what if you are on move away and have no access a power point? There are third party solutions but all add considerable bulk to the phone.

This word, therefore, to manufacturers: Bravo for making phones that are probably smarter than most of us before our morning cup of coffee.

Now, how about giving more power (options) to your customers?

Hello, Big Brother in NYC

2009-03-24T09:12:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw counts the CCTVs all over the Big Apple.

In New York

NEW York City: The city that never sleeps.

And – it seems – never even blinks.

I was surprised at the number of surveillance cameras that dot the city. On buildings, on street lamp poles – even on display booths.

You're on candid camera.
ST Photo: Tan Chong Yaw

Then again, this is a city that was devasted by the 9/11 incident. Some pananoia is expected.

But a study by the New York Civil Liberties Union – an organisation that defends civil liberties and rights – estimated that the number of surveillance cameras may have gone up five-fold between 1998 to 2005. And these were just for cameras visible at street level.

It will not account for flying eyes – cameras with night vision mounted on police helicopters that can spot a licence plate from 300 metres away. Or cameras inside buildings.

Many of these surveillance cameras are domes – benign-looking black hemispheres the size of a soup bowl or smaller. Hidden inside the black plastic is a closed circuit TV (CCTV) camera that can pan, tilt and zoom. Simply put – if you can see the camera – it can definitely see you.

It can also be souped up with infra-red lamps – light invisible to the human eye which allows the cameras to see in total darkness. Just look up the next time you sit down in a restaurant, department store or even your doctor’s clinic.

That everyone is being monitored in many places all the time is disturbing. Couple it with face recognition and machine intelligence and the amount and depth of surveillance can be intimidating.

And the security extends beyond cameras. To enter the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty (the inside of the statute was closed to the public since 9/11) – that’s the 10-storey structure that Lady Liberty sits on – I was subjected to the worst security checks I have ever had – bar none.

The public was corralled into a specially-erected tent which featured airport-standard security scanning for metal objects. No phones, cameras, wallets, drink bottles, jackets and belts was the security guard’s mantra. Even my plastic Timex watch had to be taken off.

And get this – there were even puffers. While waiting in the holding tent, I was wondering what were weird sounds that I was hearing from the adjoining inspection tent. Sounded like pneumatic machines in a factory.

It was a roll of General Electric EntryScan3 machines. Step inside and you are subjected to super-fast, super-strong puffs of wind. It was a Marilyn Monroe moment. Remember her in The Seven Year Itch where the wind lifted up her skirt? Yes, the film was shot in New York City.

The puffer is an automated explosives detector for humans. But this is an intimidating machine the size of a small passenger lift car.

On a lighter note, there's a camera for the hamburger-eating public. The camera captures the queue to the hamburger guy. If you think 1.30pm is good for a hotdog, just verify with the webcam. It'll tell you the truth!

Lest you think this is a world-wide hamburger chain, the Shake Shack is not. This is just a four-year old setup in Madison Square Park. Only last year did it open a second stand at Upper West Side.

Where's the Shack-cam?
ST Photo: Tan Chong Yaw

Besides the year-round Shack Cam on its website, Shake Shack also has a Facebook page and clips on YouTube – many on the length of its queues. It’s about building a buzz.

How popular was it? I stood behind a queue of thirty people for more than half a hour before I could place my order. What’s the big deal? It was past lunchtime - 3pm. And though technically it was the first day of spring, it was snowing in the morning. (Many thanks to my fellow DL colleague – Yuen-C – for suggesting this as a New York must-eat.)

Oh, and one last thing – I broke the law in New York City.

I couldn’t finish my fries so I offered them to a squirrel who looked like he was waiting impatiently for me to be done – he was gnawing at paper napkins to pass his time. It was only afterwards that I read the park notice: "No feeding of birds and squirrels". By Mayor Michael R Bloomberg, no less.

Fingers crossed, no surveillance camera captured my transgression and “squirrelled” it away into some security video archive.

Tan Chong Yaw is in New York City covering Sun Microsystems’ CommunityOne – an open source developers’ conference. (And clearing some of his leave to take a bite out of the Big Apple.)

When Magic saved the day

2009-02-13T09:33:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw tells how the basketball star bailed out IBM.

In Las Vegas

I WAS looking forward to seeing Olympic champion Michael Phelps in the flesh – all 1.93m of him.

The swimmer was slated be the keynote speaker for IBM's big service management event – Pulse – at Las Vegas. This was in October 2008 way before the sorry business about him and marijuana two weeks ago through a single photo. (The quality of the photo was not even paparazzi-worthy).

Unsurprisingly, at Pulse, there was no usual build for the keynote speaker. Up to the eleventh hour, there was no mention of a replacement either.

So I was eager to get two world class lessons in spin management. One from corporate giant IBM on why it was sticking its guns on a champion who has made a suicidal plunge from grace.

The second was how the 23-year-old was going to seize this chance to scratch back some dignity. I am always fascinated by young people imbued with an old soul's gravitas. Will Michael be such a person?

IBM has put up a slick – Vegas-worthy – show so far. At the MGM Grand Garden Arena which can accommodate 17,000 people, images of speakers were magnified on three-storey-high two screens so that everyone in the audience could see the speakers clearly.

The sound was superbly handled. Hall filling, crystal clear – but never intrusive or jarring – and full bodied.

There is even a mock news channel – Pulse News Network (PNN – rings a bell?) with a seasoned anchor "breaking" news on announcement made at Pulse and a perky roving reporter interviewing attendees on their response.

So when head honcho at Pulse, Al Zollar, said that there was the replacement speaker – pushed to the end of the session instead of kicking off the day – was "someone you won't want to miss", I must confess that it was a strong motivation for sticking my seat. Tech speakers may be well-trained and motivated but some of their subject matters are pretty dry.

Guess who it turned out to be?

The IBM event's Magic moment.
ST Photo: Tan Chong Yaw

It was basketball superstar "Magic" Johnson – named one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Basketball Association of America in October 1996.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson spoke about his victories on the court and segued into his victories in the commercial arena. Cinemas (called Magic Theatres), property development, fitness centres. Sprinkling his speech with business figures and humour.

(By the way, "Magic" also bought into Fatburger – a hamburger chain. I blame Fatburger for my excesses in Las Vegas.)

He brought warmth, humour, and encouragement to the crowd. Unlike other speakers who stuck resolutely to the stage, "Magic" came down and mingled with the audience. The number of mobile phones, cameras and videocams that were whipped out at this rare opportunity was amazing. And not by trigger-happy teenyboppers either.

He addressed members of the audience by name. He made a man take a photo of himself and a lady fan who was eagerly snapping away. He also made one female IBMer a very happy lady by holding her tightly to him for a few minutes while he was speaking.

"Magic" – for the record, a full five inches taller than Michael Phelps – was a consummate charmer.

As for the swimmer, many were disappointed he pulled out of the event just one day before his appearance. IBM apparently went into red alert mode to find and secure "Magic" Johnson's appearance. Further, the cancellation message was not even from Michael – it was conveyed by his manager.

Continuity and resiliency are what IBM says its systems offer - and the company certainly showed these qualities with its last-minute star power.

Props to IBM for a quick graceful recovery.

Big Blue but not boring

2009-02-09T12:01:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw gives the lowdown on the IBM software event, Pulse.

WHO says geeks lack humour?

Pulse – an IBM Software event – currently going on from now until Thursday is seeing about 6,000 professionals converging on glitzy Las Vegas in a geekfest.

No sexy gear and booth babes like the Consumers Electronics Show also held at Las Vegas last month. No bated breath for some oracle – like Steve Jobs for Macworld.

That Pulse is technical is an understatment.

Pulse is all about service management: Software systems a company needs to deliver efficient, effective and excellent services. There are hands-on labs – like advanced driving courses for drivers – on how to get the best out of IBM software. There're also education sessions: Full day affairs crammed with insider tips on how to fully use software.

Some participants even came to sit for exams to get professional IBM certification. All these take place besides the keynote speeches and user group meetings.

A layman can walk into a session and not understand a word said. Jargon here is de rigeur. The verbal shorthand is simply the geeks' way of efficient communications.

IBM yanked out every tool in the book to generate an event buzz. Website. Blog. Social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – all to ensure a strong "pulse" for the next few days and months.

Pulse is held in MGM Grand. At 30 storeys, it is not particularly tall but with 5,044 rooms, it was the world record holder for the hotel with the most number of rooms until it was pipped by the First World Hotel in Genting with 6,118 rooms in Dec 2006.

But the MGM Grand is huge. Getting to the conference venue from the lobby of my hotel room can take a very spirited 10-minute walk. And depending on where you start, travellators may be involved.

Signs are placed along the way. Instead of the usual blah statements, someone at IBM got a little cheeky with the messages on the signs. Yes, it's a low-tech signage system at a high-tech event but it got people smiling.

First, the walk was declared part of a conference fitness programme.

You are encouraged that you will lose weight as you walk off your gastronomical excesses.

But IBM was dead wrong.

Hey, this city is famous for its buffet offers. Not as cheap as before but you can still have a buffet dinner at a hotel for as low as US$12.99 (S$20 at the Fremont).

Having a BMI that will make doctors turn pale, I am usually careful about my diet.

But I succumbed. The hamburger I had made the usual fast food offerings versions taste like flavoured cardboard. But it was the batter-encrusted onion rings that did me in.

Down to the last oil soaked bite, they were works of art.

Lose weight? Yeah, right.

Tan Chong Yaw may soon need a wardrobe re-adjustment.

A leap too far

2009-01-02T00:54:00Z

Tan Chong Yaw wonders why dates still confuse Microsoft after the Y2K fiasco.

ZUNE users had a nasty New Year shock. This Wednesday on New Year’s Eve, some owners booted up their Microsoft Zune music player and found their device frozen.

It seems that the Zune’s internal clock had trouble with the 366 days in 2008 – a leap year. The Zune froze in its own rigid logic where there can only be 365 days in a year.

If the Zune were in an old-fashioned sci-fi flick, it would keep bleating “Does not compute”.

Party animals who did not touch their Zune on New Year’s Eve – the 366th day – were spared. Folks who needed a continual feed of music for every waking moment weren’t so fortunate.

But all went well. The cure was simple. Drain the battery and then fully recharge the Zune.

Fortunately, The problem hit only the 30GB model which would not fully boot up. There are more than more than three million Zune sold since Nov 2006 when it was first launched according to an Associated Press report. Capacities range from four to 120GB. In Singapore, not many Zunes are sold here.

You would expect devices like MP3 players, smart phones, home wireless networking and even laptops to just work. Like a TV – switch it on and everything works.

Most consumers are not geeks who are creatures that get their kicks tweaking their gear for the last gram of performance or making one-of-a-kind creations.

But, honestly, even partial geeks – like tech writers – tire of having to get devices to work as they are supposed to do. Never mind doing undocumented tricks.

This is not something monumental like the unbelievably silly Y2K fiasco. But – come on – surely the lesson should already have been learnt!

You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll? Sorry, Twisted Sister - Microsoft just did – fortunately only for a day.