Pen of Passion

During the 1991 Gulf War, a Scud missile penetrated the Patriot antimissile shield and struck a barrack near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 28 Americans were killed by the strike and 98 others wounded. A number of Saudi Arabians were also injured. The mishap was attributed to a software bug in the Patriot missiles.

According to unofficial sources, the manufacturer somehow forgot to convert the software from the U.S. time zone to the Middle Eastern time zone. The time difference caused the missiles to malfunction and fail to respond to the Scud. The Israeli army actually discovered the glitch and reported it to the manufacturer in the United States. The company quickly created a patch for the bug, but the new software arrived one day too late.

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A while back, I had a conversation with an old classmate who has been working for the chipmaker Intel. During our conversation, we talked extensively about the latest innovation in the world of chip making – the Intel Core Duo. I was thoroughly impressed by the chip’s specification; the Core Duo greatly enhances computational performance and boosts the computer’s multitasking capability by twofold. This new technology made me thinking. If we could come up with technology to improve the computer’s multitasking, why can’t we come up with ways to enhance the multitasking level of the human brain?

Some months later, I had a conversation with another friend who happens to be a psychologist. When I discussed the issue with him, he agreed to collaborate with me to come up with ways to augment the human brain’s performance. The following is a simple brain training exercise we recently came up with.

Steps:

1) To perform this exercise, you will need a piece of paper and two markers (or pencils.)
2) Draw a square with your left hand & a circle with your right hand. Do the two tasks simultaneously. No pausing or alternating.
3) Keep doing the same step until you are able to draw perfect square and circle.
4) Once you master the technique, do the same thing again but with both eyes closed.

Additional exercise: Work with more complex shapes.

This brain training exercise can either be a cakewalk or an impossible challenge. It all depends on how sharp your brain is, at the moment of the exercise. Try it at different times. Tell me what you think.

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~vintage 12/2007

In the last 40 years, Japan has consistently been one of the top industrial nations in the world. If we are to seek for one word to describe Japan, the term “technology” immediately comes to mind. Among the developed countries, Japan has the highest annual rate of college graduates in the field of science and engineering. In fact, most of Japan’s exports are technology-related products including automobiles, electronics, and machineries. Japanese brands like Toyota, Sony, and Toshiba are well-known to world’s consumers.

While you are reading this, you may be thinking in your head how science must have played a dominating factor in the education of Japanese children. The truth is quite contrary. While the Japanese seek to stimulate their young minds with science and technology, a large chunk of the curriculum is devoted to arts and not science. The reason for this is simple. The Japanese believe that having a creative imagination is the key to becoming the next great engineer or master designer of technology. They also believe that exposing their youths to the arts is a great way to stimulate and promote one’s imagination and visual insights.

As a result, the first thing Japanese children learn in school is how to draw. They are encouraged to draw anything their imagination could come up with. Some draw mountains and grass fields. Others draw cartoon characters and robots. These drawings may look innocent and insignificant; the truth is that many of them have the potential to become the engine that drives future innovation and technology.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a series of manga (Japanese comics) depicting the development of highly intelligent robots that could be used in both warfare and civilian tasks. The idea was well-received at the time, generating a strong fascination of robots and smart technologies among Japanese kids. Today, Japan leads the world in robotics having more than half of the world’s active industrial robots.

Another form of arts that Japanese children are being exposed to is origami — the Japanese art of paper folding. Virtually everyone who lives in Japan is skilled at this art form. While most outsiders admire origami for its unique craft, we often overlook how much geometry and analytical skills are involved in implementing such an art.

Origami demands a great deal of details and meticulousness from the artist. Let face it, to turn a plain sheet of paper into something that is so realistic that it mirrors or even surpasses its real-life counterpart is masterful within itself. Having exposed to this amazing art, Japanese children are trained to think critically as well as to accumulate the valuable lessons of craftsmanship.

As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in today’s world, arts are disappearing from the education of our kids. In fact, many schools have chosen to cut their art programs in favor of technology-related programs. In my opinion, we should not give up in introducing our children to the arts. Instead, we should embrace arts and figure out a way to blend technology and arts together.

~Simon N. 2007

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Towards the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sony was the dominant player in the video game market. Sony’s Playstation 2 controlled an overwhelming share of the console market, and its games were selling like crazy. Lurking behind its shadow, however, was another powerful tech corporation posing to dethrone Sony. This powerful player was the software giant Microsoft. Much like Sony who came before, Microsoft was also a new player in the video game market. Yet, it possessed a vast amount of resources and capital. In fact, Microsoft makes more money in one quarter than what Sony would make in a year. It would have no problem putting its advantages into good use.

Microsoft spent a considerable amount of money to hype up its brand and to market its games. After its first home console (XBOX) failed to gain much attraction, Microsoft released a much better version of its console called XBOX 360 in 2005. The new console was considered revolutionary at the time. XBOX Live, a new feature of XBOX 360 which allows multiplayer gaming and content sharing, was a tremendous success pushing the console in front of the pack. The entrance of Microsoft into the video game business starts a new round of console war — one that is as fierce as ever.

In response to XBOX 360, Sony quickly rolled out the next version of its Playstation line called Playstation 3. Sony was betting big stakes on its new console. The development of Playstation 3 was the costliest in the history of video games. Sony’s chief aim in developing the new game system was to produce the most powerful and most innovative product in this generation and next. The company practically diverted most of its resources into this one project.

First, Sony partnered with IBM and Toshiba to develop the most powerful cell processor up to date. The processor is so powerful that it could actually be used to power a supercomputer. Second, Sony’s engineers equipped the new system with truly over-the-top graphic capabilities, allowing games to be shown with amazing graphic details and clarity. The new system had a ridiculously large amount of hard disk space; it also introduced Sony’s prized Blu-Ray DVD player.

The system was so impressive that even Microsoft had to acknowledge it as the jewel of all home consoles. This achievement did not come without a colossal cost, however. Sony pretty much exhausted all its resources, resulting in many problems with the company’s other lines of business.

The development of Playstation 3 was very secretive. From time to time, however, Sony would reveal some of the new system’s specs in magazines and newsletters. I was a recipient of one of these newsletters. When I first saw the specifications, I could not help but to lament a bit. Sony is a great tech company, but it has gone overboard this time. The new system has too much potential for its own good. Buying a Playstation 3 is like purchasing a 10-bedroom and 5-bathroom mansion for a family of three. There is no doubt that this home console will do well with hardcore gamers. The console, however, is too expensive for ordinary consumers who will likely settle for a less expensive system.

But, a console war cannot be completed without a third competitor. After a long absence, Nintendo returned to the video game world with a vengeance. The company released the long-awaited Nintendo Wii in November of 2006. Unlike Sony, Nintendo was quite fore-coming about the development of the Wii; a demo of the Wii was released to the public way before the game’s official release.

Upon its release, the Wii quickly gained attention for its highly innovative control, which allows players to emulate real-live actions and moves. This new technology provides gamers with something completely different than the norm. By focusing on family-oriented themes, the Wii attracts a lot of new gamers. Having a surprisingly inexpensive price tag is also a big plus. As of this post, Nintendo has overtaken both Sony and Microsoft as the leader of the market.

The early success of the Nintendo Wii has both its competitors scratching their heads. The technology used to implement the exciting Wii gameplay is neither a new technology nor a technical breakthrough. Both Microsoft and Sony had had the capability to develop the technology way before Nintendo even started to work on it. Unfortunately, they were not able to think outside the box and failed to capitalize on it.

While Nintendo is the early leader, the war is far from over. Both Sony and Microsoft are seasoned competitors. They all have their core support groups and fanbase. As developmental costs decrease, both systems will become cheaper and thus finding more buyers. The prospect of Blu-Ray DVD becoming the standard of the future should help Sony’s Playstation 3 and Sony, in general, tremendously. Microsoft, with its popular XBOX Live service, is not to be taken slightly either. I’m sure there will be many interesting battles ahead, so stay tuned.

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Simon N. 2007