Following your dreams...

I just finished reading a lovely book, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you, but the general story is about a shepherd who is happy, but gives up his sheep to pursue his dream of finding a treasure at the Pyramids. He travels far and learns much and eventually realizes that the journey is just as important as the treasure.

I think there are many lessons in this book. As a graduate student, I am focus mostly on my treasure, a Ph.D. Sometimes my goal seemed unattainable and other times tantalizingly close. But i am sure by the end of my Ph.D., I will realize that it is not about getting my thesis to work, it is about the process. Learning how to diagnosis a problem, to research it, and to develop and test solutions. Really all of research is like that. Maybe we start out wanting to understand one thing and along the way another interesting question or finding appears. Do we follow the first direction or the second?

A second lesson from this book is that you should pursue your dreams no matter what and listen to your heart. I started out in industry and didn't like it. I knew that I wanted something else so I return to school and do a PhD. It would have been easy to stay where I was. I don't really make that much more money here than I did in industry with only a BA! and all that time and energy could have been spent elsewhere, but it was what I wanted, so I pursued it.

I think it is really important to listen to your heart and follow it. Probably more important than anything else. Did i just finished reading a non-academic book? damn..better get back to the drawing board & start writing a few lines ;)

everything's gonna be alright...

Strange. Past two months, I've almost been enjoying school. I have no paper deadlines; I don't have to make a mountain out of my teeny result-molehill. I see my supervisor once every fortnight; his crazy-talk bounces off my brain like cartoon bullets. I'm diligently working on my two projects, making progress on implementation and measuring results.

I saw a female faculty in the hallway the other day. Last time I spoke with her, I was in poor shape. She'd given me some advice on the candidature confirmation, finishing the degree, and getting a job. She asked, "How is the confirmation going?" I said, "All done." She said, "Wow! Do you plan on graduating this summer?" I said, "No way jose!"

This is how I thought graduate school was supposed to be. I'm working independently on stuff I enjoy. I'm learning new things. I see a clear end. I know what I need to do to get out. Instead, the first few semesters were torture; I got through them with rage, depression, therapy, and tenacity. The last 2 look like they'll be decent.

I've quoted her before, but she's worth repeating. From Annie Proulx's "The Bunchgrass Edge of the World,"

The main thing in life was staying power. That was it: stand around long enough, you'd get to sit down.

One question: What do I call this blog once I graduate?

good research...

While doing other things I’m in the middle of post-AOIR thinking on research methodologies, ethics and researcher’s responsibilities. I have to do all those other things, but I’m pretty sure that this thinking will surface in writing, sooner or later.

But so far just a quote from Annette Markham (Ethics as method: A case for reflexivity (.pdf)):

• Good qualitative research, online or off,
• is not difficult to find or access,
• it is difficult to formalize.

Good research, online or off, is hard work.
Good research comes from the heart.

Conference anxiety...

I am starting to plan (or not plan) for this year-end conference season, and am filled with anxiety. Mainly, I have research envy. There is a 2-day session at this one conference that has every big-wig and player in my subfield, and I am jealous that I may not make that list. Of course, I am a second-year junior faculty with no data and an empty lab, so I have nothing much to present anyway, but I am still jealous. Totally rational, yes? Also, I read the abstracts and feel alarm because some people are doing research that I want to be doing!

KEEP.WRITE.THESIS.MUST.FINISH.PHD

I’m at work on a Sunday, I need to get my PhD finished. I’ve decided to stick updates on here so you guys can nag me to keep going, cos motivation is very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard to keep up.

Ok so don’t expect regular updates, cos I’m still working to produce results as well as writing up, so the writing will probably be kind of irregular. I have the whole chapter structure mapped out, and I’m sticking it down here more for myself than anything else, so I can tick things off as I go, and I figure if I do it in public it’ll maybe help me get going. This’ll be shorthand so just ignore it, but i’ll tick things off as i go.

1. Intro
2. Literature- half done - aim to finish by end february
3. Conceptual Framework - mapped out/structured easyish to write
4. Data collection - infancy
5. Frequency offset estimation algorithms and implementation
6. Node implementation - NCO parameterised/performance curves trade-offs… - work done by mid march maybe, written up by end (optimistic)
7. Possible intra-net comms extension
8. Conclusions.

Maybe I’ll try for weekly updates / goals. Before I leave today I’m going to have ch.2 properly mapped out, maybe a bit of writing done. Conference Paper to write/finish before wednesday, should be ok, work for it will go into ch.6 so that’s cool.

I’m going to look back on this post one day as Dr Tang, oh yes I will.
Oh, and people who are particularly helpful / motivational may be lucky enough to get a mention in my acknowledgements.

LONG TAIL cut short?

A new study by a marketing professor at Harvard Business School casts doubt on one of the sacred texts of new media - Chris Anderson's 'The Long Tail'.

Anita Elberse looked at data for online purchases of music and video rentals and then compared the data with offline purchase data. In spite of the vast back catalogue of options available online, it seems that online consumers are pretty much like their offline equivalent. Purchases hugely favour a few 'hit' titles - and if anything people online are more likely to focus their spending on popular choices than offline shoppers.

It seems that what we really value is not choice, but the social aspects of consuming the same media as everyone else.

Can't say I'm sorry to see the back of this particular theory - it seemed to me that the same two businesses were always trotted out in support of it (eBay and Amazon) which didn't seem to me to be a conclusive sample.

On the other hand, if the Long Tail is a lie, the online world is a somewhat bleaker place where almost all the micro-publishers, bloggers, video artists and musicians are doomed to a life of obscurity - including your truly...

Beijing bound...

was strolling down Surfers Paradise earlier and bumped into the Australian Olympics Basketball Team having a promotional event in one gaming shop.

NBA star, Andrew Bogut (he plays for Milwaukee Bucks), was part of the entourage.

that's AB (highlighted)

the Aussie swimming team are currently training at my workplace's pool before flying out to KL for acclimatisation before the real thing in Panda-land.

Goodluck folks...

blogging 101...

Life in the blogosphere. I’m still trying to learn the basics of ‘how to blog’ but I think its something I can see myself getting into. I guess this personal weblog will serve as a place I can go to post (hopefully) intelligent ideas, comment on current events, or write about random thoughts. I do read and consider myself pretty well-rounded but my best asset is the fact that I have talented friends whom I regularly draw advice and provocative insights from on a variety of things.

One of my friend (you know who you are)suggested to me that I should start my own weblog, and obviously I decided to take up on the idea.

I guess that should be sufficient for breaking my blogging cherry. More to come later.

Trendspotter...

I attended a corporate debate recently about the importance of generating innovative ideas to stay competitive in the new economy. One of the speaker mentioned the Innovation Challenge and argued that transcending traditional business practices by relying on creativity was most important for spawning originality.

I began thinking about how companies obsess over research and development to ensure their next line of products are innovative. Firms use their best insights to predict what their future customers will demand in the marketplace (Apple predicted that there would be an insatiable demand for digital music players and gave us the iPod).
The common denominator in many innovations is identifying an emerging trend and developing a product/service which will cater to the next big thing. The problem, however, is how do we position ourselves at the right place at the right time to identify these trends before they become too widespread to take advantage of them? One article on trendspotting offers a few suggestions:

• Be curious and obsess about everything.
• Ask yourself why new things are happening and leave no answers unquestioned.
• Look for patterns. What are the links between new ideas, attitudes, and behaviors?
• Seek ideas from other industries and apply them to your own.
• Watch out for counter-trends and their opportunities and challenges.
• Remember that the biggest trends are always a confluence of smaller trends. Dont miss the macro because you’re concentrating on the micro.
• Keep it simple. Start out with what’s individually true and then look for the universal.
• Don’t confuse short-lived fads with major trends.
• Use the history of products and markets as a guide to their future.

These suggestions will hopefully lead us to be more cognizant about the world around us and allow us to identify emerging trends. Generation Y increasingly gets their news, current events, and other information from non-traditional media such as blogs. How will businesses be able to take advantage of this new trend as well as any other emerging trends in the future?

Is he or isn't he joining?

According to the player's agent, Manchester United wants to sign Dimitar Berbatov this summer, just like it was reported back in 2006 before he moved to Spurs. So after two relatively successful seasons playing for the North London club, it seems that the Red Devils have rekindled their interest in the Bulgarian.

While there's question marks about the Bulgarian's choice of clubs, there's even more questions about his suitability to lead United's attack. Many observers say that he's more than a bit lazy, added to which there's been suggestions that he's prone to sulking - nothing particularly unique where footballers are concerned (remember Nic Anelka?).

When comparing United's existing strikers, Berbatov probably has more presence given his stature and he's certainly much more composed than Saha, for whom the exit door will surely beckon once the Bulgarian put pen to papers.

Reports claim that United may well have agreed up to £24m for Dimitar Berbatov, who Spurs signed for just £10m. It was reported that it's a take it or leave it offer. Let's hope that is so because there's no justification for paying silly money for a striker who is seemingly only wanted by the Red Devils - there are no other serious bidders. United may well have been alerted to the news that Samuel Eto'o is reportedly available for just £15m. Like Berbatov, Eto'o comes with a certain amount of baggage, but for just £15m could Fergie be tempted?....

Steve Nash (NBA MVP) wears garbage...

Well…not garbage per say, but pretty close. He is debuting the Nike Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste.. Gotta love this. Yes Nike, you are socially responsible (for once minus your sweatshops). You get brownie points:“Any opportunity to promote the environment and preserve our planet is a step in the right direction,” Nash said. “I’m very excited to be one of the first athletes to wear the Nike Trash Talk. I think people will love the shoe, and hopefully by wearing it I can inspire others to try it out as well.”

The Nike Trash Talk meets Nike’s Considered design standards because…The upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching.The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory productionThe outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxics and incorporates Nike Grind* material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste.The Phoenix Suns’ colorways will have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials and will be packaged in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

Nike is releasing a limited number of the Nike Trash Talk in three different colorways – two Phoenix Suns colorways (home and away) and one colorway for Nash to wear this week for the All-Star Game. The All-Star colorway will be sold at the House of Hoops by Foot Locker in New York and in New Orleans this week with a suggested retail price of $100.

P/S: the author did not receive any fee (or a free pair of nike grind) for this post.

Pringles Crisp? nah mate..it's Pringles Cake

They may crunch like a crisp and taste like a crisp, but Pringles are now officially closer to a cake than a potato snack. In the UK, judges have ruled that Pringles could soon be VAT free after P&G managed to convince law-lords that their addictive crack-snacks are actually cakes.

The law is an ass.

Greening up the dirty business of advertising...

Advertising. It’s everywhere. It’s wasteful. It encourages overconsumption. It’s a menace to society. It sure makes a convenient scapegoat for many of society’s ills, doesn’t it? Well what if I were to tell you that there is now an eco friendly mode of advertising out there, that leaves the environment cleaner than before it was there?

Yes. It exists. GreenGraffitti, a service of Netherlands based graphic design/marketing firm Hemshaven, creates ads using three ingredients: Dirty, high foot traffic urban sidewalks, a stencil, and a high pressure water sprayer. Apply stencil to sidewalk, spray water, remove stencil, and you have a visually compelling, totally non polluting, long lasting (up to 6 months they claim) ad.

GreenGrafitti say it’s, “completely carbon neutral and contributes in a unique way to a healthier environment.” But the question comes to my mind, yes they’re not using paper, ink, PVC, etc, but what about all that water that’s used? They compensate for that using carbon offsets from Groenbalans The GreenGraffitti site says they offset, “From our water use to the kilometers we travel.” Really? Carbon offsets covering water usage I’ve not heard of.

However, moving beyond this one point, GreenGraffitti uses green web host Thinkhost, donate 5% of their profits to local organizations, and encourage clients to have them come back a few weeks later to completely clean the sidewalk where their ads have been placed.

Due to the simplicity of execution and ubiquity of the equipment needed, GreenGraffitti is available throughout Europe and even in the US but then again What message do you want to spread?

United's new away kit...

I am getting so busy these days that i have just managed to get a peek to United’s new kit. Just last week i was thinking of buying United’s tees and damn here’s the new one. The last kit i got was 3 season ago? (and that was also a free piece courtesy of Nissan Malaysia :-D).

Anyway Check out the new Shirts.Quite energetic and fresh.This will take me another few months before i get my hands on these ones.

Cleverest calender ever...!

I love ideas like this: bubble-wrap calendars. You pop each day when it's done. A company from Brooklyn sells them for $50--$50 for bubble wrap! I love the margins (profit) as much as the idea.

C Ron & Fletcher...sell or retain?

The funniest story I've heard of recently relates to the comedy store over at Eastlands and the ongoing saga of City's owner Thaksin "Frank" Shinawattra and "PastryGate" as the case has become known. Apparently three of Frank's lawyers have been sent to jail for trying to bribe three high court judges over the City owner's impending trial, the judges were given a cake-tin stuffed with £30,000 and told to "enjoy the contents"...

I mean how stupid can one be? Who would be daft enough to bribe three judges especially in such a cack-handed manner - and these lawyers were representing the City owner. You really could not make it up could you? No wonder John Wardle has resigned (smart one Jonnie).

Then today I have learnt that some United fans are for retaining the services of Darren Fletcher who has been recently linked to Everton and at the same time the same supporters would sell Ronaldo to Real Madrid, this isn't quite on the level of "pastrygate", but what is? But nonetheless, I'm completely gobsmacked and baffled. We have the best player in the world in the form of Ronaldo, yet these fans would let him go and keep Fletcher who probably isn't even the best player in Scotland or United's reserves.

On the subject of lunacy, here's a question; Is Sepp Blatter the most war-mongering Swiss citizen ever? His nation have always steered clear of getting involved in fights, but unlike his fellow compatriots the FIFA chief seems to thrive on conflict. So it comes as no surprise that Blatter has waded into the war of words between Manchester United and Real Madrid over the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The FIFA chief used the term "slave" when referring to the likes of Ronaldo and his contract with the champions. Given that Ronaldo is one of the highest paid players in the world the term slave seems wholly inappropriate and that is putting it mildly (if a slave command such handsome pay i don't mind be 1).

Not surprisingly, United have responded to Blatter's unwelcome intervention stating clearly that all contracts are signed with the agreement of all parties. Further to which if players can walk out on contracts at any stage - which is what Blatter seems to be implying, there will be complete anarchy - it would be a recipe for disaster. FIFA recently introduced new rules which stipulate when players can buy-out their own contracts, all of which has already been agreed by the clubs and Ronaldo signed his last contract under those rules.

Blatter would be best advised to keep his thoughts to himself on the Ronaldo situation, his job as head of the world governing body should be to ensure structures are in place to deal with such issues, he clearly shouldn't be seen to be favouring one side or the other in a player tug-of-war such as the Ronaldo situation, but he chooses to do so and so he is perceived as a maverick headline grabbing opportunist who treats FIFA as his own personal fiefdom.

On the futures of Ronaldo and Fletcher, I'd like to know how many Reds fans would sell Ronaldo and at the same time retain Fletcher...their cannot be that many surely? Otherwise the world has surely gone completely utterly mad and the loonies are indeed taking over.

sabbatical? ...

This is the apartment in Gold Coast i am currently staying at (a tiny but cosy studio apartment).

to think i'd almost stayed in GC for >1 year blows my mind. i know it's not over just yet, but i already feel nostalgic. coming to GC has really sparked something in me. since school i've been floating through life, working, yea, but not really working towards a goal... if you know what i mean. then i jumped. i made the decision to come here to do something that i wanted to do, something for me. ya know? to place a new goal for myself, something that would make me happy (i hope :-D).

so as fate has it, i made it in and here i am now already 16 months into it. the people i've met at Bond U (yes, Alan Bond founded this place) are amazing. they've touched my life and inspired me in ways that i have not felt for years. the last time i was around people this passionate about something, i was kicking balls 4 days a week till the sky went dark.

the point of this post is to say, fuck it. im happy. and im looking forward to jumping more often.

zero or HERO...?

As the huge G8 deal is going on Japan, I was left to wonder about causes and the activists that they draw. It reminded me of when I was in undergrad, and one of those Greenpeace people trapped me and asked for a donation. Being broke, I told her I didn’t have any money to give. Then she suggested that I ask my mom for some money (my mom was ten thousand miles apart from me at that time). I gave her the most dumbfounded look - which she reciprocated.

Like everything else that I’ve been learning, everything is segmented by class - from the neighborhood you live in, the bars you can get into and even whether or not people will look you in the eye when you introduce yourself. And like everything else, I think causes and activism work the same way.

I think it’s fair to say that our personal histories allow us feel more compassion for certain causes. That compassion is also guided by the conflicts exposed to us during our formative years - so a poor person is exposed more to causes that are something like social justice and worker’s rights. And that a richer person would be exposed to something like environmentalism and famine in Africa.

In the end, it amounts to a concentration of resources for certain causes while others flounder - like Darwinism. Some causes become bourgeois and others become proletariat. The problem I have with this is that we’re working in a very crowded forum and it doesn’t help when we count cultural hegemony into the picture - the rich get richer.

Cultural hegemony assimilates fringe cultures into it’s massive folds of sameness and redefines their standards for them. Consequently, they take up their causes as well and what we see is a brain drain from those less mainstream causes. Without those resources and certainly without the brain power behind those smaller causes, they put tremendous stress on few who are still fighting it or it gets out of hand. Or nothing happens at all, but it doesn’t mean the problem disappeared.

Why I Can’t Be Bought...

I can’t be bought because I’ll gladly give myself away to interesting and worthwhile opportunities. If you have to pay me to convince me that your opportunity is interesting and worthwhile, then it probably isn’t.

move aside AiBo...Here comes Wall-E!

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lowering carbon footprints...

The National Geographic proposes ways to cut CO2 emissions.

life of a social entrepreneur...

Yesterday I received an interesting email from a colleague about Sarah, a social entrepreneur who is chronicling her experiences about building her venture on her blog. I like Sarah's collaborative approach to building her start-up. I thought that my colleague's described Sarah's quest so aptly that I asked for her permission to re-post her entire email verbatum.

"A friend of mine is starting a social venture where she is helping to empower the indigenous women of Ngoble-Bugle (a tribe living in northern Panama) through giving them access to the world market by selling their amazing handicraft to the world. These women make the most amazing bags from plant fiber. It takes 2-3 months to make one bag, and they are awesome.

Until now these women had no access to the market. There are hardly any roads leading to where they live, not to mention anything else. Sometimes a buyer goes to the villages and forces these women to sell their bags for just a couple of dollars. Couple of dollars for bags which took over a thousand years to design and over 2 months to make. Now Sarah (the social entrepreneur in the making) is giving them a fair price for the work and providing these women access to the whole world.She started a blog where she is talking about each step of setting up this venture. A great way to see positive change happening step by step.

Link: http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com"

P/s: This ain't like the designer labels "green washing" their bags with 'discounted' price but still at an exhorbitantly high pricing...

blogging for myself or for others?

While I didn’t blogged, I read weblogs. Big share of those are on politics & Life-style related themes. One of the trends that I was surprised to see is how many of those are into “pro-blogging” - blogging not only for the fun of it, but also for some business-related purposes (some links are here).

This seems to the case for “weblogs in general” too - I come across more and more advice on pro-blogging. Reading it I realise how much what I do with my weblog is guided by other choices and principles: I prefer not to define goals and strategies for blogging and while I’m glad to have readers, I do not spend much time putting on paper who is my audience and how exactly my weblog will make it happy.

And, on the top of it, I get annoyed when blogging is conceptualised primarily as a medium for public communication (especially with microphones or megaphones as a visual metaphor ;). Apart from describing my own blogging practices, I wanted to show the other side of it - blogging for myself. Below is a slightly roughed out piece.

***
Blogging is frequently viewed as a medium for public communication: it is reasonable to assume that those who do not want their words to be read by a broad audience would use another medium. However, while the need to communicate is a part of blogging, it is not necessary the primarily reason for it.

In my case blogging grew out of a need for a place to organise my thinking and exploration; the readers, as well as writing for them, appeared later. While the public nature of blogging was the factor I took into account from the beginning of it, the primary force that shaped it was its usefulness for myself.

In the process of balancing my own needs and interests with those of my potential readers when blogging I often make choices to serve my own interests first. Those choices shaped my blogging practices in multiple ways.

Work-in-progress instead of polished pieces. Although a weblog readers are more likely to benefit from well-thought and carefully crafted posts, my need for capturing ideas at their early stages resulted in writing quick work-in-progress memos. Using weblog for a quick documentation, often squeezed between working on other task also resulted in writing many relatively short posts, connected by links. While it provides a trail of connected ideas that works for my own purposes, it is more difficult to follow and to make sense of for a reader, who could probably benefit more from reading a longer entry that would connect several linked posts into a coherent whole.

Fragmented weblog focus. When started, my weblog was focused primarily on anything random. Over time my writing shifted to other topics, potentially alienating loyal readers. While I was “not sure that reading all random stories ‘thinking aloud’ is that fun” it was essential for my learning process, so it became relatively big part of the weblog content. Currently, the content of my weblog is pretty fragmented as it reflects the change of my interests and topics I worked on over time.

“Selfish” tagging. Another dimension where the choices between my own interests and those of an external audience appeared was using tags for organising my own posts. While I had multiple opportunities to use tags that would help users of external systems to find relevant entries in my weblog, I haven’t used them since this would mean losing personally meaningful tag-based navigation in my weblog. The choice of terms to use as tags is also influenced primarily by their relevance for my own thinking practice.

The reasons for choosing to serve my own needs before those of my audience are twofold:
Serving the needs of others might make blogging meaningless for myself. For example, writing only on a narrow set of topics in the weblog defeats the initial purpose of blogging to collect in one place fragmented bits relevant to my thinking.

In my case too much dependence on the audience is proved to be paralysing: I would spend too much time trying to figure out for whom exactly to write and what their needs might be (a bit more on writing for non-existing audience). Also, non-intrusive nature of blogging (e.g. compared to the email that is delivered to the mailboxes) means that there is no necessarily an audience for a specific post, so writing to serve others in this case feels similar to giving a presentation in an empty room.

a melon a day keep the Viagra away...

A groupf of researchers from North Carolina State Uni have discovered that WATERMELON acts just like Viagra

The juicy fruit could help thousands of men get extra fruity.

Tests have shown the fruit is packed with citrulline, a chemical that stimulates the body into relaxing blood vessels – just like the famous blue pills.

Eating watermelon regularly will also keep the circulation healthy. And the whole fruit is beneficial, even the rind.

According to the researhcers, men must eat six small cups of watermelon pieces to have the best effect.

Viagra was initially designed to help heart patients – that is until medics noticed its incredible effect on other parts of the male body.

P/s: Tesco, woolworths, coles will start stocking heaps of melons for eager men ;)

I'LL BE BACK...the new terminator?

I am sorry to dissapoint folks. (At press time) Arnie's not coming back YET.

But he's clinched something even bigger!

The California mayor has trumped New Mexico to land the new plant that electric car company Tesla Motors will build to manufacture its upcoming zero emissions sedan, the Model S.

This cute little darling will costs more than $100,000 in the US, the Model S will retail initially at $60,000. The company said on Monday that it has plans on the drawing board for a $30,000 model.

Hmmm, after AP fee, import duty and rental to park at one of NAZA's many showrooms, how much is it going to retail? Your shout...

Episode 3: Housing the greenies...

Modern days living laboratory

Sexy-looking recycled (certified) wood being put up

All set to go?

Pictures of building features to follow....

the end of the Green medusa?

According to a recent report, Starbucks Corporation said it will close 600 company-operated US stores in the next year, up dramatically from its previous plan for 100 closures, a sign the coffee shop operator is feeling the pain from the faltering economy.

Are you listening Vincent Tan? Is this the end of the reign for the Green medusa?

Green "Aquaball" for laundry...

If you're looking for a more environmentally-considered washing solution, then let check out the Aquaball.

Simple to use, effective, and economical, Aquaball is a simple ball with an eco solution to your laundry needs. It unleashes ionic cleaning power for a super wash every time. Each of these laundry balls is reusable and contains replaceable concentrated detergent pellets, which last for up to 60 washes, and with no harsh chemicals or foaming agent, this hypoallergenic ball can be used even at low temperatures.

The Aquaball works by releasing concentrated anionic detergent and salts into the water, softening and raising the pH for a thorough, sparkling wash.

They cost $35 each and i've just bought 2 balls..can't wait to try it this weekend for my laundry ;)

Episode 2: Tree hugging building

Trees are being sacrificed and land cleared

Piling works taking place

Structure erected

Fitting works taking place

After 12 months of work, its close to completion and ready to house it's 1st occupants. But what's so special about this building compare to the others? Stay tune for more pictures tomorrow.

Green shoe...

This is no ordinary pair of shoe.

Ever thought of walking around with a pair of sustainable shoe?

You can play a part in releasing less carbon by wearing 'em.

Check them out http://www.simpleshoes.com/au/index.aspx

p/s: only make purchase if you can locate a store near you. Do not place an order if it equire mail delivery because it will rake up more carbon footprints.

Even casino is going "GREEN"

Step inside any casino and you'll find the typical blackjack tables, slot machines and loosen-your-belt buffet. However the newly rebuilt Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel is one of it's kind with many , unusual features.

During daytime, half the casino's lighting comes from skylights.
Drinks are served only in glasses: no cans or bottles.

Some gamblers are smoking, but the air isn't thick with smoke.

And, outside, the roof of Bourbons 72 restaurant sports day lilies, ferns and leafy hostas.
Turtle Creek, near Traverse City, bills itself a "green" casino, designed to make the lightest possible footprint on the landscape without sacrificing profitability.

Its owners, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, are among a growing number of casino builders and operators interested in environmental stewardship.

The 360,000-square-foot, $116 million Turtle Creek opened Tuesday and replaces a smaller casino that will be torn down and mostly recycled.

It's especially hard to limit tobacco use in a tribal casino, given its iconic status in American Indian culture. But Turtle Creek developers tried to do the next best thing by installing a purifying system.

Outdoor air is pumped continuously into the gambling area through vents in the raised floor. Smoky air rises to the ceiling and is piped through filters, cleansed and sent back outside.

The resort has its own well and a sewage treatment system that purifies 90,000 gallons daily before returning the water to the ground almost as clean as before.

It also uses nature's cleanup crew: trees and other plants. The 2,400-square-foot "green roof" over one section of the building will filter storm water contaminants and provide insulation. In slight depressions on the grounds will be about 100 black willows.

If the trend catches on, green casinos could be ideal showplaces for environmental stewardship..are you listening GENTING?