Colin Charles Agenda

I saw a moving video (which I can’t find now) featuring Nick Vujicic and how he overcomes challenges. Check out Leaps of Knowledge: FrogAsia presents Nick Vujicic. I don’t normally listen to motivational speakers but I’m kinda happy that YTL is bringing him to town because both parents and students of the system need to ensure that the next generation don’t give up no matter what challenges they face. Those facing challenges in Malaysia are only stronger in the world because you focus on overcoming it well.

I don’t know if the series Leaps of Knowledge is going to be like a Malaysian TED-equivalent, but from what I’m told this is just the first of the series. Its part of the whole FrogAsia push that YTL’s spearheading to ensure that all students end up learning with a Chromebook. You know I’m excited overall about the ability for students to learn beyond their skewed textbooks and education system. The power of a Chromebook with an Internet connection will help all students overcome challenges. 

Its FREE for 1BestariNet ID holders (so again, targeted at parents/students in the education system). No reason not to go IMHO, so register at yes.my/1bestarinet. 

Many parents I’ve spoken to talk about how the education system needs fixing. Public education might be free/cheap, but its so incredibly broken. 1BestariNet no matter what will help improve the overall education system because if a student has an inkling to learn more, she will thanks to the Internet. It is a powerful tool, for example there are 24 e-books that focus on Malays in Project Gutenberg. Vast bodies of information that even I am trying to chomp thru over time.

I was lucky to be educated in an international school, learning everything in English and taking the O Levels. Today I am told that even with more international schools, there are waiting lists and the costs have skyrocketed. Its something I generally have to think about going forward because I will have children eventually too. 

So the system might be broken, but you have to overcome challenges. So kudos to YTL for bringing Nick Vujicic to talk about this, to motivate the next generation to thrive in a tough world. Giving it away for free is a bonus; I do sincerely hope that it is eventually extended to more than just 1BestariNet ID holders.

With all the challenges life throws at you, we all can use a little motivation, learn something new, and more importantly be inspired to get ahead of the curve.

For the last month, I’ve had a 30-day challenge, inspired by Sara. She challenged me to going to the gym three times a week and spending one and a half hours each time. This is 4.5 hours of working out per week.

I just unlocked this achievement yesterday. On average, I spend about an hour on the elliptical, I do abdominal crunches and then I go for a swim (something I always used to do). When travelling I don’t get what my home gym has, so I have also done the treadmill, cycling, chest presses, seated rows and some exercises for my back (this was especially required when I first started on this challenge). Most times at the home gym, I rock up to the sauna afterward as well.

Upon first starting I was pretty exhausted, but after about the first week it got easier and now it just seems like second nature. To pass time I listen to audiobooks so I’m learning as I go along.

I completed the challenge in three cities across three continents: Kuala Lumpur, São Paulo, and Portland, Oregon. A big issue for me was the time spent on planes. Have I lost weight? No. Have I lost fat? Yes. Am I going to continue? Absolutely. Shorter than 1.5 hours each time, but I’m definitely going to continue.

In fact, I should head there now!

(The picture in this post is the view from my favourite gym, the Park Club at Park Hyatt Seoul. I can’t wait to visit it soon.)

A while back I stated that paywalls aren’t bad. But they are downright annoying when it comes to sharing articles. It breaks the whole flow of the sharing economy – I like to tweet links to things that I find of interest, and when the other party can’t view it, it surely gets quite annoying.

Paywalls also start imposing IP inspection. Malaysiakini has done this and you are forced to re-login regularly. Its very annoying as it breaks the flow again and you’re now logging in, then being redirected. So it works like this: click on article, see logged out screen, click on login, then be re-directed to the article. By this time I’ve lost interest in reading.

Newspapers are read by a whole household. I know of offices reading a single newspaper. Heck, in the clubs that I frequent, probably a hundred people read the same newspaper in the sauna. Paywalls should ensure that the household is taken care of. 

What about the modern concept of a household? Father and mother living in the Philippines, daughter working in Malaysia and son working in Dubai? Isn’t this still a household? Paywalls like those for the FT/NYTimes seem to understand this (or are not taking action at the moment), but the Malaysiakini paywall slaps you with the crappy user interface above.

I want online media to succeed but broken paywalls aren’t going to cut it.

On my to-subscribe list is BizKini, which brings a Malaysiakini subscription to a ringgit a day. This is basically the same price you’ll pay for a newspaper in print! Is their reporting that much better that its worth all the pain of the above? I’m not so sure.

So besides a broken login UI, how does one improve sharing?

In the opensource world, we go and give talks for free. This is generally the consensus with regards to the tech world as well. You don’t pay for speakers. Some speakers have fees and you somehow negotiate with them to provide you a talk for free. Or you just don’t have them speak at your event (I know this from organising large events too).

But paying for speakers must be common. There are so many speaker bureaus out there.

Look at Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Now it seems that Timothy Geithner earned USD$400,000 for 3 speeches (seems his average is $100,000 per speech). Hillary Clinton charges USD$200,000 for a speech on average.

Clearly, I must be in the wrong industry.

Seth Vidal meant a lot to many people. He touched lives without even meeting people in the flesh. I’m lucky to have met and worked with a great man. 

I met Seth on IRC, affectionately known as skvidal sometime in 2002/2003. We worked on The Fedora Project while we were both outsiders (i.e. non-Red Hat employees). He was a sysadmin at Duke University back then.

Seth was funny, charming, and very welcoming. He always offered great advice and provided good direction. He was a leader without seeking a position. He was a great mentor. When times got tough, it was private chats with Seth (and a select few) that made me continue. Volunteering is tough, and in the opensource world there are plenty of egos to deal with; Seth came with no ego, no airs, and was always down-to-earth and an awesome chap to make sure that the bad things would soon pass.

We had many conversations from IRC, to private mailing lists, to in-person meetings. It probably happened at the very first FUDCon in Boston (a time that Boston was quite snowed in). We met, chatted, and I’ll never forget all the amazing people who organised it because I was underage in the USA then, and couldn’t legally drink – workarounds were found. I met Seth’s partner as well. The early days of the Fedora Project, we were all like family.

Over time, families grow and tend to move on. The Fedora Project grew by leaps and bounds. I moved on to work on other things, leaving me less time to work on Fedora. 

With Seth however, we were always connected. He would occasionally drop a comment on Flickr. With the advent of Google Plus, Seth and I chatted more. Sometimes he’d surprise me with a reply on Twitter.

Two weeks ago, we lamented on a Google Hangout how we hadn’t seen each other, in the flesh, for quite some time. We decided to rectify it at Flock in August.

One month to the date, right before boarding a plane from Frankfurt to Sao Paulo, I find out that Seth was killed in a hit-and-run while biking. A horrid way to go for someone who was only 36, filled with so much potential and a very bright future. I read the note that Red Hat posted, and I’d encourage all to read it. It will only bring tears to your eyes.

Its sad to note that his warm welcome and mentorship will not be felt by new contributors. It’s sad to know I’ve lost a friend. It’s sad to note that I never told him how much his mentorship and chats meant to me. Whenever I run yum, I am forever going to remember Seth, and what he meant to me. 

LinkedIn allows blogs (a publishing presence – read LinkedIn Builds its Publishing Presence). Medium is a place to read and write things that matter (a curated blog). Svbtle is a new kind of magazine. There are networks like Read & Trust, that eventually make magazines out of content.

WordPress requires setting up. It means you’re serious about writing something. WordPress.com is hosted and eventually you pay for it. Tumblr just got a billion dollar exit, for what? Allowing you to easily express yourself.

Have blogs really evolved or have people just found different mediums to get published? All mediums come with different levels of control. Discovery is crucial. Will end users ever get RSS or do dashboards need to be built?