Category: General

This is a general category for stuff that do not fit in the other categories.

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The World is not Enough

Comparison of Equal Earth and Robinson projections

I love maps. Hanging on a wall in the living room of the house that I grew up in was a large beautifully rendered world map. It was a topographical view of the world with clearly defined country borders and neatly printed labels of major cities. 

One of my favourite pastimes was to stand on top of the sofa so that I could see areas of the map that were out of view given my height then. Good for me. But bad for our family sofa as my mother would lament the semi-permanent depressions on the cushions.

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The Squirrel Who Taught Magic: My HRDC Train-the-Trainer Experience

MISA TTT, Class of May 4-8th 2006

I have spent my entire life hoarding random knowledge the way a squirrel hoards acorns for a Game of Thrones winter. 

This sounds more deliberately methodical than it is. The truth is the habit formed when I was a bored kid with nothing better to do than thumb through every page of my Junior Britannica Encyclopaedia. Not because of some noble aspiration to be a top student but because there were only two TV channels growing up.

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Give your bot a personality. It may lead to regrets. But it’s also brilliant.

Jarvis and Ultron

Danny’s bot, Jarvis, referred to him as “Laosai Maximus”.

The message was in response to the conversations that we had been having in a WhatsApp group chat. When Danny saw the reply and complained, Jarvis was entirely unapologetic about it. 

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“Cincai, anything also can…”

Cincai, Anything Also Can

It starts with a flash in mind. Shortly, a steady rumble can felt at the bottom of your gut. Before you know it, all you can think about is food.

Scientists call it borborygmi. Sounding deceivingly like some wrapped Korean delicacy, the term simply means hunger pangs.

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Post AI-takeover Career Advice

I was recently asked what advice to give students about which courses they should pursue so they can be gainfully employed when they graduate. 

No, this wasn’t some profound moment in a hushed university lecture hall. It was my drinking buddy interrogating me in a cricket-themed pub in Bukit Damansara after we’d both exceeded the legal limit to operate anything more complex than a toilet flush.

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