Archive: Flashback 1990 - 2009
Posted on March 15, 2010
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This is an archive of stories by Anita Devasahayam and Julian Matthews from 1990 - 2009 in various publications including Asia Computer Weekly, AsiaBizTech, The Star, The Edge, CNet, ZDNet, Newsbytes, New Zealand Herald, Nikkei Electronics Asia, The New Paper and The Reader’s Digest.
Some selected popular stories:
- AirAsia: Have net will travel
- Everyday Heroes: Tech Teacher
- Women in IT: Coming into their own
- When teenagers rule the world
- Toddlers on the net: When should you get your child a PC?
- Jaron Lanier: Of dreams and Imagination
- Vinton Cerf: Interplanetary googler
- Kalpana Chawla: Destined for the stars
- The world according to Negroponte
- Nicholas Negroponte: Why bits matter
- Weblogs blur corporate lines
- Levi’s caught with pants down
- Will the real Nissandotcom please stand up
- Malaysian ISP admits ‘human error’ in security fiasco
- ‘Alien’ substance caused Dell notebook battery to ignite
- Toffler to boycott MSC meeting
- Cisco CEO denies he is part of MSC panel
- Malaysia yanks flawed list of advisors
- Malaysia’s MDC admits “slip up”, orders revamp
- Malaysian Web sites still not error-free
- Malaysian chatters the “most abusive” in the world
- Malaysian elections 1999: On the cyber campaign trail
- Golden surfers: older netizens on the infohighway
- When old media meets new
Guy Kawasaki’s 11-point guide
Posted on June 9, 2008
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By Anita Matthews
Two weeks ago, former Apple Computer software evangelist-turned-venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki made a quick trip to Kuala Lumpur, courtesy of MDeC, to share his perspective of venture capitalists and fund-seekers in conjunction with WCIT 2008.
Kawasaki, who founded Garage Technology Ventures, regaled the audience at NetBASH for two hours with his experience as a venture capitalist and shared insights on pitches that work.
Make meaning
Innovation is driven by the desire to make meaning. Kawasaki firmly believes we should take it upon ourselves to change the world and make it a better place.
Make mantra
According to Kawasaki, there’s a high correlation between mission statements and golfing — it is too long, meaningless and forgettable. Therefore, create mantra for your innovation. Examples of simple and straightforward mantras — Nike’s Authentic Athletic Performance, Wendy’s Healthy Fast Food or Fedex’s Peace of Mind. Unless you run out of options, the Dilbert’s (satirist cartoonist) mission statement generator is not your first stop.
Jump to the next curve
Don’t copy other people’s ideas. Innovators should focus their efforts on creating the next curve instead of remaining on the same track as most companies tend to do, says Kawasaki. He shared an example of ice-making. Ice harvesters stuck to traditional methods and did not move to the next curve by building a factory. Nor did the guy who ran the ice factory invent the factory.
Off balance: Police Segways faulty, says maker
Posted on October 4, 2003
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By Julian Matthews
04 October 2003
YES, they need fixing, and someone’s on the way to do it.
Self-balancing scooter company Segway LLC is flying in technicians to fix the Singapore Police Force’s four faulty Segway Human Transporters (HTs).
The Singapore police confirmed yesterday that the machines they bought for US$20,600 ($35,500) for trials in June - and seen in Changi airport - were among the models affected by a global recall announced last week.
Said police spokesman ASP Stanley Norbert: ‘Technicians from Segway will be arriving in Singapore within a fortnight to upgrade the machines’ software.’
He added that there was no incident of officers falling off the two-wheeled, motorised machines due to low battery levels during the trials.
Focus on services, says Acer’s Shih
Posted on September 5, 2003
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by Julian Matthews
KUALA LUMPUR: Acer cofounder Datuk Dr Stan Shih advises Malaysia to focus on services in order to get ahead of the curve and compete in a globalised economy.
He said thinning margins in hardware manufacturing and the rise of China as the “factory of the world” has left manufacturing-dependent countries like Malaysia with little choice.
“The services industry is the next wave in economic development. In advanced countries, the services sector comprises two-thirds of their economies. There are higher returns and more opportunities in services.
Book review: Jeremy Rifkin: Still relevant … perhaps more so
Posted on August 19, 2003
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BY ANITA MATTHEWS
How the Shift from Ownership to Access is Transforming Capitalism
Written by Jeremy Rifkin
Publisher: Penguin (2001)
AUTHOR Jeremy Rifkin’s book titled The Age of Access: How the Shift from Ownership to Access is Transforming Capitalism is a bold warning of how society is hurtling happily to a life of “paid experiences.”
Blame it on the forces of globalisation, pervasive technology and the growing culture of instant gratification. But as Rifkin has it, we are apparently warming up and embracing the trend of paying for everything including stuff that can be got for nothing.
The edition that I read was published two years ago, so why pay any attention to a dated version and for that matter, why read this review?
Simply because it is a noteworthy read and a good follow-up to his previous books that included the 1995 bestseller The End of Work, that was on the mark about how technology in use at the workplace will eventually displace jobs.
Malaysians abroad: Plotting a food path
Posted on August 11, 2003
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By Anita Matthews
Yougeswari Subramanian literally fled her parents when she moved to New Zealand in 1991. Her husband Vijay had joined his sibling in Auckland in November 1987 when Vijay’s business venture fell through. “My five-month-old daughter Santhiya and I moved back to my parents home in Buntong,” said the 42-year-old mother of two.
Moving home brought back embittered childhood memories where Youges, the sixth of seven siblings, was forced to cook and clean in her family home. Having lost an older sister, Youges became the only daughter and indirectly burdened with housework. “Even as a 12-year-old I had learn how to budget the weekly expenses, buy groceries for the week and cook meals daily. I could not understand why my mother made me do all these things and felt that life dealt me a bitter blow at such a young age,” she recalled.
Read more
Malaysians abroad: Helping troubled children
Posted on July 14, 2003
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By Anita Matthews
PSYCHOLOGIST Lim Eng Leong remembers his late father’s advice well. “My father always said that in whatever we do, to do it to our best and pursue it to the highest,” recalled the 42-year-old former secondary school teacher.
Coming from a middle class family, the Kuala-Lumpur born Lim could have easily followed his father into the legal world but opted to teach upon receiving his bachelor degree from University Sains Malaysia in 1984. He spent 10 memorable years teaching at secondary schools in rural parts of Selangor that also included a stint at a Petaling Jaya suburb. Yet Lim felt he was not doing enough.
Homeschoolers wary of virtual classes
Posted on June 6, 2003
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By Anita Matthews
Homeschooling parents in the United States now have the choice of sending their children to kindergarten and primary schools in cyberspace, courtesy of programmes initiated by the states and private entities.
Some have embraced it; others are questioning it.
In New Zealand, Homeschooling Federation founder Claire Aumonier is wary of ceding the entire learning experience of a toddler or young child to the computer.
“I don’t see virtual schools inundating homeschoolers but I do see the Government leaning towards it because they are cheaper,” she says.
Smart digital future home locked up
Posted on May 27, 2003
Filed Under Anita, New Zealand Herald | Comments Off
2:00AM Tuesday May 27, 2003
By ANITA MATTHEWS
If you think the term “smart home” has entered the technology vernacular along with the catchphrases smart card, smart phone, smart cars and smart school, think again.
New Zealand home automation company SmartHome Ltd claims it has had exclusive rights to use the term since 1999.
Business development manager Shane Walls-Harris said the company registered “smart home” with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (Iponz) and had a monopoly on its use within the context of home automation systems.
In fact, SmartHome has also registered related terms: smart house, future home, digital house, intelligent house and other variants.
Read more
Policy needed to curb e-mail abuse
Posted on May 16, 2003
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By Anita Matthews
The Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) Inc urged companies to be proactive and spell out a policy on Internet surfing and e-mail use to prevent unauthorised or careless use by employees.
Its advisory services manager Peter Tritt said a comprehensive policy would protect employers from vicarious liability as well as educate users about legal risks that they might inadvertently take.
“Having supplied a computer for work, employers have the right to make sure it is being used for that purpose. This means you can access e-mails on the computer and monitor time spent and websites visited. Most employees forget that using the Internet and e-mail at work is at the employer’s resource and therefore, not a private affair,” he said after panel discussion organised by software security firm Clearswift (Asia/Pacific) Pty Limited in Auckland in May.