ACTIVELY BEING IRRESPONSIBLE

Our pitching is tomorrow, 13th October 2009.

Will it be a reality check for us? Or will it be a turning point in my life?

Practiced with Spencer and May on Sunday. Props! Thanks guys for scrutinizing...No mercy!

Agenda tomorrow:

9am - 'Other' work's chores
10:30am - Brunch with Shum at Old Town
11:30am - Let MDeC know we are there (Berlian Room)
11:30am - 12:29pm - Prance around, kan cheong, poking Shum (prolly), formalities with other participants and MDeC staff
12:30pm - 1:00pm - Presentation!
1:00pm onwards - Sulk? Demured? Or happy and joyful?

Shum - Smell like roses? Or crash and burn?

Got this invitation last week from MDeC.

Congratulations! You are a step closer
to receiving your RM150,000 Technopreneur Pre- Seed Fund..


Dear Pre-Seed Applicants,

As part of MDeC’s effort to help you prepare for the presentation to the panel of Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC), we have developed FirstStepUp™ as a short but intensive program to improve the quality of pitches to the TEC.

About the Program
The objective of FirstStepUp™ is to prepare applicants to present an effective proposal to TEC members. The session is deemed vital based on the feedback received from the TEC members that:

a) Many ideas presented were not viable, did not have sustainable business models, were not innovative with lack of Intellectual Property value, had market research that was poorly done and lacked marketing strategies; and
b) Even when there are reasonable ideas the Technopreneurs were let down by an inadequate and weak pitch made before the TEC.

Benefits to You
Through this FirstStepUp™ you will be taught about the essential elements required for technical evaluation and will have the opportunity to practice your pitch with the Trainers. Comments and advice for improvements will be shared by the Trainers.

Important conditions for participation
1. This session is open for participation to both Primary and Secondary applicant
2. There are only 30 seats available for this session and reservation is on first-come-first serve basis.
3. This is a 2-day program from 9am – 6pm. Please ensure that you could attend for both days and commit yourself to fully participate before you register for this program.
4. No last minute withdrawals from the Program are allowed. However, if you really need to do so please let us know in advance so that we could enrol others in the wait list. Remember, MDeC pays significantly to offer you this training for FREE. As part of ensuring effective spending, full attendance is a MUST for us.
5. In the event that you have real emergency on the day of the training and could not attend or is going to be late, please notify us immediately.
6. We start on time, so please be on time!
7. Please bring your jacket, in case it gets snowy in the room.


I have not read about the previous batches getting this seminar but I am going nonetheless!

*Dates are not shown

Resubmitted the application for batch 20 with the advised changes from our advisor.  Thanks for that!

Hopefully, we can get an interview.

In the mean time, the war has not yet won.  Next step:

- Get LOI from our vendor
- Get LOI from our supplier

And then, if we were called to the pre seed's interview, we get a stronger chance of being approved.

Just submitted another proposal to get funding.  This time we are asking from private investors from a local company, whom are a potential client too!

We are just hoping for a chance to present to them and if they show some interest, then we are talking! Seriously, for us, an LOI would be a good start.  Then we would leverage on that LOI for our provider.  That will help put us on the right track.

Life = risk.  If you haven't failed before, you haven't lived!

Hit a snag on our Pre Seed application.  Our advisor bounced back with some comments on our application form and we need to fix it quick.  Final day of submission is on 8th Sept 2009!

One question: What is the difference between Proof of Concept and Prototype?

Googling doesn't help as there are a lot of opinions out there but here goes:

Proof of Concept
The evidence that a product, technology or an information system is viable and capable of solving an organization's particular problem. A proof of concept is often developed for new products that have not yet come to market.

Prototype
1. An original type, form, or instance serving as a basis or standard for later stages.
2. An original, full-scale, and usually working model of a new product or new version of an existing product.
3. An early, typical example.
 
Awfully close isn't it? But what is clear to me:
 
Proof of concept - to show that it CAN BE done and it is a viable solution
 
Prototype - ALREADY KNOW it can be done, this is the first crude model with a lot of placeholders/temporary finishings
 
What do you think?

Taken from http://melindayeoh.com/

1.Dream big

2.Do what you love to do

3.Commit to excellence- be the top 10% in your biz

4.Develop unique ability

5.Accept responsibility

6.Develop a clear sense of direction

7.Refuse to consider possibility of failure

8.Solutions oriented

9.Develop workaholic mentality-work very hard at the beginning of your biz

10.Get around the right positive people

11.Be prepared to go from peak to peak

12.Develop resilience and bounce back-how long does it take for you to get back to normal?

13.Focus questions- ask yourself brutal questions

14.Become unshakable optimist-think/talk abt your goals all the time. Look 4 the good in evry situation

15.Dedicate yourself to serving others

16.Develop reputation for speed & dependability-which activity contributes the most to your biz?

17.Be very honest with yourself- what’s the situation honestly? Don’t self disillusion

18.Concentrate single-minded-ly one at a time

19.Be decisive

20.Backed everything you do with courage & persistence

21.Self-disipline – take time to plan, then decide & ACTION!

I shall print this and stick it in my room

28th Aug 2009

Shum and I submitted our application form at MMU's incubator (now named TeCC).

The submission date was from 24nd August to 9th September and when we submitted, there's already 2 submissions ahead of us.

Our project will be a mobile VAS (value added service) and we put in a lot of effort fleshing out the details and such.

Hope we can get in!

For those who need more info on the pre seed grant, go here: http://www.technopreneurdevelopment.net.my/cms/AllProduct.asp?CatID=122

Alright, I confess. Everytime I see her, I get this really deep sensation in me (no, not THERE...). Behold! I found my One True Desire™!

Why do I term it the One True Desire™? Let's break it down into manageable parts:

One - meaning uno, the only, number right after zero (0)
True - not false, the truth, no doubt about it
Desire - subject of craving for something/someone

So there, I've got this one really really sacred/deep/undeniable/cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die desire. It's a someone!

She's this sweet sweet girl who had some links to major parts of my life! Example:

• She was the same class as me in KINDERGARTEN...yes folks...the nursery school (didn't know this till very late)
• Heard of her since High School (she was another bloke's girl that time....feck she still IS another bloke's girl)
• We go to the same university (granted, I didn't get that much of a chance to talk to her)
• She lives very near my place
• She bumped into me in front of my house
• I bumped into her in front of her house (swear to God I'm not a stalker! I was there for an evening stroll!)
• I sent her flowers on one of her birthdays (to her office too....)
• Bumped into each other in a wedding

Danggit, her picture pops up every now and then in my friends' blogs/pictures/etc. Can't get her out of my head! Object of fantasizing....ummmm.....SIZING and FANTASY and....oh well, you get the drill.

No, I believe it's not love. It's also not entire lust either. It's just a desire. But heck it's helluva desire!

Ok, this is dumb, I have to dig out 6 of my adnormal behaviours and habits and let everyone in cyberspace know. WTH? Am I gonna go through with this? Is this fair? O_o

"I have been tagged and to continue the honour of this game, I have to tag six people which can be found at the bottom of my list. The rules are as follows: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 idiosyncrasies (abnormal behaviour, habits etc.) as well as clearly stating this rule. After you state your 6 weirdness you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their multiply id / blog names / nicknames at the bottom of your blog. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says "You’re tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means."

Tagged by kalamari

1. Fine. I surf porn. What? That's not abnormal? I surf free porn. What? That's not abnormal too? Even for the ladies? ...

2. Ummm, I like to hang out with the girls more than the guys? Seriously, the guy activities are BORING not to mention it reeks of "I am more of a man than you!".

3. I'm scared of the unknown. Deep down, I'm scared of advancement. I'm scared of new things which I don't know.

4. I love cats. To the point that I dream of cats. To the point that I think of cats to put me to sleep. Abnormal enough for you?!

5. I have this urge to strangle ppl when they just DON'T give me time to think. I need to think through my actions man. Gimme some time!

6. You karaoke? Do you do a sing-along TOGETHER? Well, I don't. If it's my song, let ME sing alone goddammit. You can keep your out-of-tuned and coarse voice under your pipe hole, tyvm!

Watever, tagged!
1. Michelle
2. Shum Lik
3. Jessica Neo
4. Spencer Neo
5. Watever...the list ends here :/

This lil strip was edited by me.

A link to a larger picture:

Calvin and Hobbes 1

I only want to make my life simple:

1) I have simple needs
2) I want simple things
3) I wish to have simple interpersonal relationships with my fellow human beings
4) I want to live in a simple world where people are...simple

I drive a simple car. I have a average simple job. Basically on my side I can fulfill 1 and 2....sadly 3 and 4 is unachieveable by me alone.

What makes it so interesting that people wants to live a unsimple life? Is it because of the many wants and needs? Is it globalisation? Is it because they are jealous of their neighbour? Green with envy?

You know...living in the country side, have a lil cabin, doing farm chores.....isn't really a bad idea after all.

On IGDA
I'm gonna organise a meeting for the mobile sub chapter (link) so I'll be busy on 22nd Sept. You can also check the agenda in the link. Everyone who is interested in joining the mobile gaming industry or you are already in it, you are invited to come along and meet with people with the same interest.

Hazel and Alfred's meet up @ KLCC
Last week I met up with Hazel and Alfred at KLCC when they came from Malacca. Had a nice chat with them. Talked about their wedding, business, general nonsense, etc. Seems like they are gonna head off pretty well ;)

Part Time Projects
Demo for Ryan
Gonna finish off this short demo for him as a favour. Hopefully if his project gets funded, maybe I can chip in or something

Short course @ HELP
Ok, it's final. I'm gonna do a short course for J2ME for HELP institute this coming November so I'll have to come up with the coursework

Random guy's SMS project
Some random guy emailed me regarding a J2ME project. Gonna call him up tonight

Full Time
Payment terms
Well, when people mentioned 30 days means it's 30 days man. Not 45, not 60. This is utter rubbish. Work want to be done fast but payment don't care if it is late :(

SF
Gonna have a date with her this weekend. Wondering whether I have the chance to make my 'move' into first gear or not :P

Been awhile since I have updated this life story of mine so here goes:

Beloved Nokia 6630 (may thee rest in peace)
I don't believe I have posted here regarding my dear and beloved Nokia 6630 which I used it for blogging, watching short clips, listening to mp3s, alarm clock, appointment reminders and a whole pleothora of damned useful stuffs. That phone has been an intricate part of my life and it has been with me for a year. Sad to say (and I know you guys know where this is leading) that I lost it during a trip outdoors wayyyyy back in April.

Declaration of Lurveeee
I will now here, in public internet space, declare that I LOVE Miss Chin Siew Fong very much

Work, Games and everything in between
I promised a guy (name witheld) in a college to conduct a short course for J2ME for young grads/fresh grads/secondary school students. It will be a 40 hour short course and this course requires me to teach programming and games to people with NO PRE-REQUISITES what so ever. It's gonna be a challenge but it's worth a try. I've always wanted to teach....I think. This is NOT gonna be a permanent job and it's not gonna deviate me from my current career goal (see below)

Current Goals
Career: Build up my parents' business. We are doing printing (general printing, posters, flyers, box sets, cd inlays, etc) and have connections if you need to replicate cds. Contact me if you need such services or looking for a partner in Malaysia!
Physical: Lose bout 5kgs more this year
Others: STOP comparing myself to other people!

Other non chalant and non important stuffs
Currently listening to:
Sean Paul - Temperature
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Nelly Furtado - Premiscuous Girl

Planning to fly to Java island to scout around for business opportunities
Magic: The Gathering Malaysian Nationals 2006 is just under 2 weeks away! (It's a geeks' game)
Current IGDA - Malaysian Chapter Chairman has asked me to take the position of Vice Chapter Chairman (non official and non paying) simply because:
a) He needs a local and chinese 'bridge' to other local and chinese game developers
b) I am currently not affiliated with any game companies and thus can give a neutral point of view
c) He wants me to stay and at least keep in touch with the game development industry (sob, thanks Hilmy!)


PS: Matt, if you are reading this, I have considered getting myself hired abroad to do J2ME but seeing that my friend, who WAS in Gameloft, left because he simply can't see a future into Mobile Gaming (at least to him), I have decided to just stick around in Malaysia and look for other opportunites. Thanks for the offer to become my referral, I have not yet given up entirely in the games industry, just laying dormant for awhile.

It might as well be another day for me. *Comes back from outing at 1am. *Looks at computer's clock and it says 14th February....Wait a minute, that date looks familiar. Oh gosh, it's Valentine's Day! (Who the heck is Valentine anyway?)

LINK: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/ValentinesDay/default.asp Apparently, it was used to be a Church Holiday! *Shudders

Ok, leaving the exotic practice of exchanging sexual Roman lovers aside (NOW you can click the link above :P), it's actually a replacement for a pagan festival for the God of Lupercus. How did it evolve into a money making business that sends adolescent males everywhere (that has a romanticsm of an armadillo) to buy chocolates and flowers for their lovers and secret admirees everywhere? (and not to mention many dissapointments from males AND females that was hoping on the receiving end of a Valentine's card/gift) Thrust the Americans to do it. Capitalism in all its glory. Basic human nature turns into profit.

I remembered I sold roses in my university in conjunction with Valentine's Day. We even do deliveries to the receiver's dormitory. The profit all for our club though so it wasn't so bad. The years go by and frankly, the writer of this here blog, haven't had a decent V-Day celebrated before. He did solo outings as well as the non-too-bad-idea-of-staying-at-home-watching-mushy-shows-and-drinking. Great, now you don't only have a sci-fi geek who is writing what you are reading right now, you also get a useless desperate romantic armadillo!

Right, so not to cut hope for all the romantic armadillos out there (and of course those dear dear couples out there who are reading this ere' getting nowhere of a blog), do celebrate this day of Roman sexual pervertions and beheaded saints in unabashed lovey dovey style!

Image.jpg
Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Fly fly! See my tail stuck to a rock! Today's the last of my langkawi trip. Didn't go explore to many places but we did went up the cable car though. One helluva scary ride. Don't worry guys, something for everyone from me ;)

02112005.jpg
Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

After some 400km plus journey from kl to kuala perlis and a brief rain that left 6 of us slightly soaked, we are finally in the boat at 7.30am morning of 2nd of Nov heading towards Langkawi, the island of fables and legends. This is going to be a most fun trip!

Ok, had enough of rushing already for the month. So many projects and to do's and so little time. Of course, it doesn't really help either when I have so many more other distractions.

Some rants:

Motorola (E398 & C380)
Sound - Can't stop the media player. Had to release the player and create a new one in order to play again
Graphics - Sharper than Nokia's because of active panel LCD. Can't get fullscreen on C380...only get 128x116 O_o
Connectivity - E398 only support PUSH object. That also it didn't generate a jad to accomodate my icon. C380's even worse, had to OTA download everytime you wanna test it.
Speed - E398's pretty good, C380's slightly better than N40's
Memory - E398 definitely has enough memory. C380's slightly more accomodateable than N40's

Sony Ericsson (T610 & K700)
Sound - Both plays midi - cool. I had to cheat in T610 to get it to stop/pause/sync correctly using MMAPI although in the end, I used the system time to sync for everyone. K700's fine.
Graphics - T610 has very smoky graphics. Colours were blander than the K700
Connectivity - Both has bluetooth. Cool~! I can even make them output my error messages to my comp. Double Cool~!
Speed - T610 = turtle among turtles. Even more turtle than N40's (like 6100)
Memory - Both features adequate memory but T610 has a problem of how fast it is accessing them O_o

Samsung (E600, E630, E810)
Sound - MMF sounds really good on all the machines. Though in a Java app, they have a limitation of only 10K (lower end phones)
Graphics - The E810 has the best graphics among them. E600 suffers from dull screen (I suspect is the dust cover..) and the E630 has grainy pictures.
Connectivity - Ewww, and that's to say the least. Cannot upload from computer even though they have IR connection. There is a way for the E600 but I deem it too 'hacky'.
Speed - They're alright I guess. Haven't really strain them to their capacity.
Memory - Ample and doesn't seem to have much problem releasing and acquiring

Nokia (3650, N-Gage, 6600) - The Problematic Trio
Sound - They can all play midi that's for sure. The player to play them all CORRECTLY, now there's a challenge. Had to go back to the drawing board couple of times to get this right esp for a timing critical app like my Mobile Karaoke.
Graphics - Non active display panel = teh suXors. 3650's keypad layout = mind boggling. N-Gage's OS is kinda outdated and only has 3 colours for its menu (wtf?)
Connectivity - All of em has bluetooth. Good thing too coz I don't want to spend too much time on these oudated machines
Speed - Gah, the threads sometimes unsync themselves while loading. Speed is there, just barely controllable.
Memory - Lots of it. That's the good part. Leaking. That's the bad part o_O

Next week is another challenging week for me... Call an ambulance if you don't see me posting anything within 5 days.

05102005.jpg
Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Found this little gem parked not 10 meters away from my car. While I do like cars, I hate it depreciating the day I buy it. Not a very prudent investment plan and not a very convenient way to show off that one has a lot of money either.



There few weeks had been tough on me. Particularly about work. Took me a lot of sleepness nights and a lot of thinking and calculating to get that midi reader to do what I want it to do, and a few more sleepness to get the gui right for my mobile karaoke to look the way I want it to look too. I've been doing core programming for sometime now so my gui design skills are a bit rusty. Thank goodness it all turned out well. Now if I can just cross that minor hurdle that is the dreaded T610 and its inability to sync sound and timing together.

01102005.jpg
Originally uploaded by ycjoo.

Something to amaze my uninitiated friend lol