Yay!
Momo was discharged from NUH at noon and managed to attend Yumin ( his close cousin )wedding at Harbour Front. It is a Chinese wedding lunch :)
Conclusion from the whole list of event
Good news and Bad news....
Which one first...
Errr...good news then...
Although he was exposed to huge amount of radiation....life threatening diagnosis of dissection of the aorta is officially excluded!!
Scroll down for bad news...
Then what is wrong? What is causing the pain? What is causing the abnormal ECG then...?
Mimi
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Chest pain again...
Had chest pain again this morning and did an ECG. It was abnormal, T inversion in III. Non-specific but still abnormal thus called an ambulance which brought me to NUH. I was admitted to 63/25. So sad...
I have wedding lunch to attend to tomorrow.
:P Hope I can make it tomorrow.
Cheers,
MoMo
I have wedding lunch to attend to tomorrow.
:P Hope I can make it tomorrow.
Cheers,
MoMo
Monday, November 30, 2009
Yeah, my very first samurai sword...
MiMi went with me to collect it today. Will post pictures in Feb 2010 when I got more time to play with it. :P
Cheers,
MoMo
Cheers,
MoMo
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Importing Sword
I receive a letter from Customs asking me to go over to their office at Post Office Centre to sign out the sword. After signing out, they will transfer the sword over to police and I will have to collect it from Cantonment road.
Great. I will get to see the sword next week. Hahaha...
Cheers,
MoMo
Great. I will get to see the sword next week. Hahaha...
Cheers,
MoMo
Monday, November 23, 2009
Trip to the coin and notes museum in Chinatown
Was invited by Apple to go there on 13 Nov 2009. It was an interesting experience to see the history of notes esp looking at the 10,000 dollar note. LOL.
Another interesting aspect is the commemorative coins that they have. Beautiful. Only problem is I don't have the money to buy all... LOL.
Cheers,
MoMo
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Verbal diarrhea
LOL... MiMi had a verbal diarrhea. Such a long post. It is interesting to read and it increases knowledge.
I am thinking of doing up a weekly or biweekly column so as to let reader read something interesting. :P I wonder what should I write on.... Hum.....
Maybe something about teachers, since both MiMi and my bro are teachers.
Let me think...
Cheers,
MoMo
I am thinking of doing up a weekly or biweekly column so as to let reader read something interesting. :P I wonder what should I write on.... Hum.....
Maybe something about teachers, since both MiMi and my bro are teachers.
Let me think...
Cheers,
MoMo
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Exam Preparation psy 434
Recently, momo wanted me to blog about my exams. Not sure exactly what to say. This semester, I am studying psy 358 - Sensory Disabilities and Abilities, psy 353 - Cognitive abilites, psy 434 - Industrial Organisation.
Psy 434 is a year 4 unit. Competition is stiff since it is also an Honours unit and I am just year 2! Clearly at a disadvantage hahah.
In economics there is a term called scarce resource. Currently, for most of us, time is a scarce resource and where scarce resource exists, there is almost certainly trading.
Since most of us are struggling to finish our readings for the exams, a few of us are trading essay with each other.Nobody knows exactly what will be coming up for exams but we do now that for each week of lecture, there will be one essay question on it.
So I have written a very brief summary of the main points about information input device to trade with others.
Have a read if u are bored...or if u want to do more about what organisation psychology is all about o...or if you just wanna increase your general knowledge just like me :)
Cheers
Mousey...
Discuss the ergonomics of information input devices, using examples of your own information
Our brains are much superior to computers. It allows us to process information and more importantly to make appropriate responses for all sorts of situations. As good as this may sound, it does have its limitations (e.g. attention span). Because of the vast amount of different types of information constantly bombarding our senses, our brain has devised internal mechanisms to sieve out and process information that best provide optimal utility. That is to provide the most useable and useful information about the environment to facilitate appropriate actions. In view of this, information which are presented to our attention need to be carefully designed to optimise the processing of information. Therefore, this essay will discuss broadly on how some considerations on visual display, auditory, tactual, olfactory and speech displays that complement the brain mechanisms can facilitate the processing of information.
Information theory defines information as the reduction of uncertainly. The occurrences of highly certain events do not convey much information since they only confirm what was expected. On the other hand, the occurrences of highly unlikely events convey much more information. For example, when the temperature warning light comes on in a car, it conveys considerable information because it is an unlikely event. However, the 'fasten seat belt' warning that comes on when the car is started conveys less information because it is expected.
Information can either originate directly from the source (e.g direct observation of an aeroplane) or indirectly through some intervening mechanisms or devices (e.g a radar). The latter is particularly important because it is in this area that human factor designers can design displays for presenting information to people. Display is a term that applies to virtually any indirect method of presenting information, such as highway traffic sign, a family radio, or a page of braille print.
Our sensory receptors are responsible for the processing of any forms of displays. Let's us first consider vision. Most of us depend primarily on vision to gather information about the environment. We look up information in books, respond to traffic signs, use maps to navigate and refer to dials and meters to understand speed, temperature, and the like, where they can be presented in written text, graphics and symbols. One of the basic visual systems that allow us to obtain visual information is the flexibility of the lens inside our eye (accommodation) which allows us to see with high level of acuity. Despite the flexibility of our lens, it is not as mobile as what we could like it to be. Moreover, the top down processing mechanisms in our brain may influence the actual perception of the presented stimuli. Therefore these limitations should be factored in when designing a visual display. For instance, when using colours to design hardware, colours like red and green against a dark background increases the tendency for the observers to have a false perception of depth. That is one colour appear closer to the observer than the other. This phenomenon is known as chromostereopsis. Therefore, to optimise processing of information in relation to colours, it is important to adhere to the following guidelines; use colours sparingly, avoid using the extremes of the colour spectrum (e.g red and blue), avoid using the colour pairs of saturated red and blue and finally maximise the colour contrast between text and background.
Other considerations include the type of typography used. Typography refers to the various features of alphanumeric characters, individually and collectively. Examples of such include stroke width, width to height ratio, styles of type, size, case, layout, interletter spacing, interline spacing and reading ease. The physical characteristics of the letters or how it is presented may differ from one visual display to the next but the underlying principles that facilitate processing of information is the same. That is 'visibility', 'legibility' and 'readability'.
Other than vision, we depend on our auditory, tactual and olfactory senses in many aspects of our lives. This includes feeling the smooth finish on the fine furniture or smelling a durian (tropical fruit) to determine if it is ripe. Due to the advancement of technology, it is now possible to covert stimuli that are intrinsically or directly associated with one sensory modality into stimuli associated with another modality, This has led to the increased use of the auditory, tactual and to a lesser extent, olfactory senses to process information. Interesting, research has shown that indirect stimulus can be more effective than the actual direct stimulus. For instance, sleeping participants who were exposed to an auditory fire alarm of sufficient intensity responded faster and more often compared to an the presence of either heat or the smell of smoke. Hence, it is then more sensible to warn individuals of the presence of fire via the auditory stimulus rather than through the other senses.
When designing any display, there are no hard and fast rules to follow. Guidelines or principles changes according to the trading off values of pro and cons of various factors and it depends to a large extent of the needs of the situation. However, there are still some general principles to guide engineers to design auditory displays.
1 Invariance – The same signal should designate the same information at all times
2 Dissociability – Auditory signals should be easily discernible from any ongoing audio
input.
3 Parsimony – Input signal to the operator should not provide more information than is
necessary.
4 Compatibility – Where feasible, the selection of signal dimensions and their encoding s
should exploit learned or natural relationships of the users, such as high frequencies
associated with up or high and wailing signals with emergency
5 Approximation – Two stage signals should be considered when complex information is to be
presented. The signal stages would consist of :
(1) Attention- demanding signal : To attract attention and identify a general
category of information.
(2) Designation signal: to follow the attention – demanding signal and designate
the precise information within the general class indicated by the first signal.
Other than vision and auditory, we do depend very much upon our cutaneous (i.e somesthetic, or skin) senses in everyday living without our conscious awareness. However, these senses are not capitalized on to intentionally transmit information to individuals by the use of tactual display. The primary uses of tactual display have been used as substitutes for hearing and seeing for the deaf and blind respectively. Similarly, olfactory displays have not found widespread application in the society primary due to three reasons; Sensitivities to odors differ between individuals, difficult to control the dispersion of an odor and finally some odors make people feel sick. Despite these limitations, olfactory displays do serve as excellent warning device particularly in underground mines. For instance, several underground metal mines in the United States use a “stench” system to signal workers to evacuate the mine in an emergency. The odor is released into the mine's ventilation system and is quickly carried throughout the entire mine. This illustrates one general advantage of olfactory display; they can penetrate vast areas which might not be economically reached by visual or auditory displays.
Finally from a human factors perspective, speech is an information “display”, a form of auditory information. The source of information is either from a human or a machine. With our current level of technology, it is cheap to synthesize speech. Many of us have experience synthesize speech in consumer products such as GPS or mobile phones. Additionally, telephones companies (e.g Telstra) tap on synthesize speech to reduce the burden on operators, in the hope of increasing workers' productivity which in turn translates to better service for the consumers. Like any of the above types of display mention earlier, there are some guidelines to follow in the designing of synthesize speech :
1)Voice warning should be presented in a voice that is qualitatively different from
other voices that will be heard in the situation.
2)If synthesize speech is used exclusively for warnings, there should be no
alerting tones before the voice warning.
3)If synthesize speech is used for other types of information in addition to
warnings, so means of directing attention to the voice warning might be required.
4)For general-purpose use, maximise user acceptance by making the voice as natural as
possible.
5)Consider providing a replay mode in the system so users can replay the message if they
desire.
To conclude, in the design of any display systems, creative use of visual, auditory, tactual and even olfactory senses can enhance human performance by optimising the processing of information. Additionally, the designing principles behind these 4 displays are at best just guidelines. They are not cast in stone, but rather it changes and adapt according to the needs of the consumers.
Psy 434 is a year 4 unit. Competition is stiff since it is also an Honours unit and I am just year 2! Clearly at a disadvantage hahah.
In economics there is a term called scarce resource. Currently, for most of us, time is a scarce resource and where scarce resource exists, there is almost certainly trading.
Since most of us are struggling to finish our readings for the exams, a few of us are trading essay with each other.Nobody knows exactly what will be coming up for exams but we do now that for each week of lecture, there will be one essay question on it.
So I have written a very brief summary of the main points about information input device to trade with others.
Have a read if u are bored...or if u want to do more about what organisation psychology is all about o...or if you just wanna increase your general knowledge just like me :)
Cheers
Mousey...
Discuss the ergonomics of information input devices, using examples of your own information
Our brains are much superior to computers. It allows us to process information and more importantly to make appropriate responses for all sorts of situations. As good as this may sound, it does have its limitations (e.g. attention span). Because of the vast amount of different types of information constantly bombarding our senses, our brain has devised internal mechanisms to sieve out and process information that best provide optimal utility. That is to provide the most useable and useful information about the environment to facilitate appropriate actions. In view of this, information which are presented to our attention need to be carefully designed to optimise the processing of information. Therefore, this essay will discuss broadly on how some considerations on visual display, auditory, tactual, olfactory and speech displays that complement the brain mechanisms can facilitate the processing of information.
Information theory defines information as the reduction of uncertainly. The occurrences of highly certain events do not convey much information since they only confirm what was expected. On the other hand, the occurrences of highly unlikely events convey much more information. For example, when the temperature warning light comes on in a car, it conveys considerable information because it is an unlikely event. However, the 'fasten seat belt' warning that comes on when the car is started conveys less information because it is expected.
Information can either originate directly from the source (e.g direct observation of an aeroplane) or indirectly through some intervening mechanisms or devices (e.g a radar). The latter is particularly important because it is in this area that human factor designers can design displays for presenting information to people. Display is a term that applies to virtually any indirect method of presenting information, such as highway traffic sign, a family radio, or a page of braille print.
Our sensory receptors are responsible for the processing of any forms of displays. Let's us first consider vision. Most of us depend primarily on vision to gather information about the environment. We look up information in books, respond to traffic signs, use maps to navigate and refer to dials and meters to understand speed, temperature, and the like, where they can be presented in written text, graphics and symbols. One of the basic visual systems that allow us to obtain visual information is the flexibility of the lens inside our eye (accommodation) which allows us to see with high level of acuity. Despite the flexibility of our lens, it is not as mobile as what we could like it to be. Moreover, the top down processing mechanisms in our brain may influence the actual perception of the presented stimuli. Therefore these limitations should be factored in when designing a visual display. For instance, when using colours to design hardware, colours like red and green against a dark background increases the tendency for the observers to have a false perception of depth. That is one colour appear closer to the observer than the other. This phenomenon is known as chromostereopsis. Therefore, to optimise processing of information in relation to colours, it is important to adhere to the following guidelines; use colours sparingly, avoid using the extremes of the colour spectrum (e.g red and blue), avoid using the colour pairs of saturated red and blue and finally maximise the colour contrast between text and background.
Other considerations include the type of typography used. Typography refers to the various features of alphanumeric characters, individually and collectively. Examples of such include stroke width, width to height ratio, styles of type, size, case, layout, interletter spacing, interline spacing and reading ease. The physical characteristics of the letters or how it is presented may differ from one visual display to the next but the underlying principles that facilitate processing of information is the same. That is 'visibility', 'legibility' and 'readability'.
Other than vision, we depend on our auditory, tactual and olfactory senses in many aspects of our lives. This includes feeling the smooth finish on the fine furniture or smelling a durian (tropical fruit) to determine if it is ripe. Due to the advancement of technology, it is now possible to covert stimuli that are intrinsically or directly associated with one sensory modality into stimuli associated with another modality, This has led to the increased use of the auditory, tactual and to a lesser extent, olfactory senses to process information. Interesting, research has shown that indirect stimulus can be more effective than the actual direct stimulus. For instance, sleeping participants who were exposed to an auditory fire alarm of sufficient intensity responded faster and more often compared to an the presence of either heat or the smell of smoke. Hence, it is then more sensible to warn individuals of the presence of fire via the auditory stimulus rather than through the other senses.
When designing any display, there are no hard and fast rules to follow. Guidelines or principles changes according to the trading off values of pro and cons of various factors and it depends to a large extent of the needs of the situation. However, there are still some general principles to guide engineers to design auditory displays.
1 Invariance – The same signal should designate the same information at all times
2 Dissociability – Auditory signals should be easily discernible from any ongoing audio
input.
3 Parsimony – Input signal to the operator should not provide more information than is
necessary.
4 Compatibility – Where feasible, the selection of signal dimensions and their encoding s
should exploit learned or natural relationships of the users, such as high frequencies
associated with up or high and wailing signals with emergency
5 Approximation – Two stage signals should be considered when complex information is to be
presented. The signal stages would consist of :
(1) Attention- demanding signal : To attract attention and identify a general
category of information.
(2) Designation signal: to follow the attention – demanding signal and designate
the precise information within the general class indicated by the first signal.
Other than vision and auditory, we do depend very much upon our cutaneous (i.e somesthetic, or skin) senses in everyday living without our conscious awareness. However, these senses are not capitalized on to intentionally transmit information to individuals by the use of tactual display. The primary uses of tactual display have been used as substitutes for hearing and seeing for the deaf and blind respectively. Similarly, olfactory displays have not found widespread application in the society primary due to three reasons; Sensitivities to odors differ between individuals, difficult to control the dispersion of an odor and finally some odors make people feel sick. Despite these limitations, olfactory displays do serve as excellent warning device particularly in underground mines. For instance, several underground metal mines in the United States use a “stench” system to signal workers to evacuate the mine in an emergency. The odor is released into the mine's ventilation system and is quickly carried throughout the entire mine. This illustrates one general advantage of olfactory display; they can penetrate vast areas which might not be economically reached by visual or auditory displays.
Finally from a human factors perspective, speech is an information “display”, a form of auditory information. The source of information is either from a human or a machine. With our current level of technology, it is cheap to synthesize speech. Many of us have experience synthesize speech in consumer products such as GPS or mobile phones. Additionally, telephones companies (e.g Telstra) tap on synthesize speech to reduce the burden on operators, in the hope of increasing workers' productivity which in turn translates to better service for the consumers. Like any of the above types of display mention earlier, there are some guidelines to follow in the designing of synthesize speech :
1)Voice warning should be presented in a voice that is qualitatively different from
other voices that will be heard in the situation.
2)If synthesize speech is used exclusively for warnings, there should be no
alerting tones before the voice warning.
3)If synthesize speech is used for other types of information in addition to
warnings, so means of directing attention to the voice warning might be required.
4)For general-purpose use, maximise user acceptance by making the voice as natural as
possible.
5)Consider providing a replay mode in the system so users can replay the message if they
desire.
To conclude, in the design of any display systems, creative use of visual, auditory, tactual and even olfactory senses can enhance human performance by optimising the processing of information. Additionally, the designing principles behind these 4 displays are at best just guidelines. They are not cast in stone, but rather it changes and adapt according to the needs of the consumers.
a quote from Lawerence
Recently, after watching a movie, Lawerence (my school mate ) was inspired to write this catchy phrase with all the horrible 4 word phase. Nightmare for me but it flows well. He is quite china one...
as u can all see his chinese is quite powerful...lol
人们常用海象征生命，我觉得海更像死亡，无边无际，无始无终，不可知，不可测。我们原是死亡之海里的精灵，偶然被浪冲上了岸，只好探险一番。而那，就是人生了。最终我们都要沿着这种路走回去。不小心走歪了，就会马上掉下去。再小心直走，还是会到尽头
As for Momo sleeping issues...he has to cultivate good sleep habits unless he is like me, the mousey. I can sleep anywhere ..any time...and very very long too.
I think the main factor disrupting his internal circadian rhythm is the time he goes to bed each day. Very often, he is obsessed playing the Dragon late into the night....
so the question to consider here is not about whether or not to take nap in the afternoon but rather should you continue to play games late into the night
Cheers
Mimi, the mousey
as u can all see his chinese is quite powerful...lol
人们常用海象征生命，我觉得海更像死亡，无边无际，无始无终，不可知，不可测。我们原是死亡之海里的精灵，偶然被浪冲上了岸，只好探险一番。而那，就是人生了。最终我们都要沿着这种路走回去。不小心走歪了，就会马上掉下去。再小心直走，还是会到尽头
As for Momo sleeping issues...he has to cultivate good sleep habits unless he is like me, the mousey. I can sleep anywhere ..any time...and very very long too.
I think the main factor disrupting his internal circadian rhythm is the time he goes to bed each day. Very often, he is obsessed playing the Dragon late into the night....
so the question to consider here is not about whether or not to take nap in the afternoon but rather should you continue to play games late into the night
Cheers
Mimi, the mousey
Monday, November 16, 2009
Dragon Age Origins
I am hooked to the game. Nice game. Managed to make me continue playing it... I am almost done with the main story. another 2-3 days should see the ending of the game. I am looking forward to the ending video.
Hahaha.
Cheers,
MoMo
Hahaha.
Cheers,
MoMo
Sunday, November 15, 2009
2 Nap or not 2 Nap
I took a long nap yesterday after work. almost 3 hours of sleep. End up I couldn't sleep at night till 4am. So is it worth it? I wonder...
To Nap or Not To Nap became a big question today. I am so so tired from the lack of sleep yesterday night that I am looking forward to a nap. But knowing that it may imped my night sleep... Tough decision.
Cheers,
MoMo
To Nap or Not To Nap became a big question today. I am so so tired from the lack of sleep yesterday night that I am looking forward to a nap. But knowing that it may imped my night sleep... Tough decision.
Cheers,
MoMo
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