Idol is blind...

But then, that's the game. It happens in the Singapore version, but surprisingly in the States too.

I have never been hooked to this programme till I heard her sing like an angel. True, she may not be the most attractive of contestants or the most charismatic, but I still think Melinda Doolittle sings the best and deserves the best chances in a singing career. All the best Melinda!

PS: Sorry, had to break away from my usual techno-crap to vent my frustrations. My idol audience stops here, in much disappointment. Maybe next year, but for now, Adiós!

Describing software development roles

I was recently seeking a concise glossary that defines and details software development roles in the industry, and chanced upon a well-written article on Developer.com. If you were like me, a peon in this enchanted software development forest, then this article might enlighten you that very often you have more than one hat to wear!

Currently, I have acted in (or at least I think I did) the following capacities:

• Developer
• Functional Analyst
• Lead Developer; and
• Solutions Architect

Can always do with more experience! :)

Information Architecture

Recently, I have been reading a few "green-coloured" O'Reily books. If you are familiar with the publisher, they colour-code the books they publish to indicate the book category. So a green-coloured book would often refer to some form of web technology.

I have been reading about Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, which is now into its third edition. It has been updated to include Web 2.0 technology (actually, I'll just say that it includes Web 2.0 lingo) such as Tags.

The two parts of the book are interesting, and covers a lot of basic principles relating to information structure. The take-home that I can remember clearly is that the magic number is 7. When presenting information, e.g. menu links, try best to limit the number of links to 7. Interestingly Bio-IT World, a publication for IT in the Life Sciences, publishes only 7 news articles links per page.

The later sections aren't as interesting and covers mostly processes, methodologies and software tools. I'm skimming through these pages for now. I am seriously considering purchasing a copy (I borrowed this copy from the library) for reference. That's how impressed I am with this book!

A proposal to reduce mosquito breeding sites

I sent this to NEA not too long ago. Just an idea...

Dear Sir/Madam,

While it is a good idea to "cover bamboo pole holders when not in use", I would like to propose a possible solution to prevent water from accumulating in bamboo pole holders.

During house-to-house inspection in mosquito breeding zones, perhaps NEA can request residents to allow EHOs to drill holes at the neck of pole holders to prevent water from accumulating.

I hope this might prove feasible and do more to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

Putting dollars in education

I sat through a most interesting talk on Academic Entrepreneurship today. Dr. Harold J. Raveché, President of Stevens Institute of Technology shared with an audience of academics, scientists and businessmen, on the issues in developing an innovative knowledge-based economy. Here are some take-homes that are still fresh in my memory:

1. You can have all the necessary prescription (e.g. science parks, thrusts ), for developing a knowledge economy, but you will just be like the rest.
2. Engaging foreign ideas and talents will not guarantee success. Develop home-grown technologies, products and businesses.
3. There must be a proper framework to reward and support academic innovation and entrepreneurship.

Listening to his insightful sharing, I remembered my ideas for infusing Web 2.0 culture in students, and hopefully, stimulate technopreneurship. My "genius" plan would be to:

1. Introduce Web 2.0 technology.
2. Demonstrate using case studies, how these technological components were used to build new business models.
3. Student project to innovate their own "mashed-up" projects.
4. If one of the goals is to nuture entrepreneurship, the projects could be more competitive, and students will have to market and justify business needs.

Maybe this pedagogy isn't totally new, but I that's what I'll do. As you might have read, I'm so utterly impressed with the Google culture and spirit of innovation!

Sweet!

Maung Maung has posted his demo codes for his Windows Workflow Foundation session during LOVE 2007. Cool! His talk was very concise and provided a very good introduction to WF. I can't wait to get started on the demos. And oh, he provided additional learning links, so do check them out.

While on the topic of workflows, I'd like to highlight that this year's Grid Asia event will feature a tutorial on Taverna. There's also a tutorial on OWL that you can attend together with Taverna.

Time to go home

Time passes very quickly.

3 days has gone by and tomorrow, we'll be heading back to Singapore. But before that, I treated myself to a sumptuous meal of lobsters, scallops, shrimps and a nice cup of clam chowder. Purportedly the best seafood in Boston, you might want to dine at Legal Sea Foods if you're visiting.

This trip has been very fruitful... why?

1. I see a future for Bioinformatics, specifically in the areas of Discovery Informatics. Biological data is going to increase exponentially with new sequencing techniques and the availability of miniaturized lab-on-chips that promise to digitize wetlab results.

2. I have met many wonderful people in the Bioinformatics industry, and was amongst the industry greats. Today, we had the pleasure of hearing from Sean Eddy accredited for his work in HMMER and PFAM. He enlightened us with a sharing about open access history and Ben Franklin.

3. We won the best poster award. That really came as a surprise for me. Never happened before.

I will have much to share with my colleagues when I get home. It has been exciting being in the heart of technology, and reminds me of why it is important to be here. There's just so much to learn.

Stepped foot on MIT

What a way to end my day! :)

After attending the conference today, we visited MIT on the pretext of attending the Cambridge Semantic Web Gathering. Here's a picture of me in front of the Whitehead Institute.

Anyway, the "user group" meeting was very informative and we got to hear about two interesting SW projects: (1) SPARQL and (2) SIMILE. And wow, I saw Tim Berners-Lee in person, though at that time I did not have a clue who he was. It's a pity I didn't get to shake his hand and asked him to autograph my palm!

It has been an exciting day for me today, not only because of the events cited above, but because much of today was spent on listening about how Web 2.0 and Semantic Web are relevant to the Life Sciences. Hopefully there's sufficient justification for me to work in this area.