well i'm not sure i'd want to watch divx movies while riding but hey, clarion or alpine could go into the business of making helmet-back lcd's... so at least your pillion will stop asking 'are we there yet?'
That's coz Singaporeans, despite their love of complaint, rarely complain to the government. It's no use. Then again we don't have an external contractor with a financial interest in the collected fines either, or I'd be making a lot of noise myself.
A bit more about Singapore traffic cameras...
Most fixed (red light and speed) cameras have large signboards, larger signboards in "high activity red light camera" junctions (and police are often seen standing at these junctions too).
The only good thing is that a large portion of them don't work. They tend to run out of film too. This makes a driver blame the camera/police less and spend more time wishing that he doesn't get a ticket in 2 weeks. "Fuck! Did it flash?!?" is often asked by a driver who just ran the lights, because if it didn't flash, he's quite safe. Most fixed speed cameras can take only in one direction at a time despite having windows in both directions (the camera within the box can be rotated though).
The red light cameras only take a photo when the junction is entered AFTER the light turns red. At least two photos are taken (there are at least 2 cameras facing the junction in each direction and they take from the back, presumably so the flash doesn't blind the driver and cause more accidents). Rumour has it that a ticket isn't sent if you make an attempt to stop. I've tested this (unintentionally, of course) and it appears to be true (or maybe the camera was a dummy). The best way to tell if a green is about to go amber at a junction is to see if the "green man" signal for the pedestrians is flashing (equivalent of amber for vehicles, but much longer). If it is, make a decision to hurry up or stop. Whatever it is, decide fast. The worst accidents seem to be caused by indecisive drivers rather than drivers making bad decisions.
Demerit points and fine make it very painful to run a red light (twice and license is revoked). As far as I know it is on the owner to identify the driver, if he isn't willing to take that responsibility he shouldn't loan out his car, which makes sense IMHO. It also allows the possiblity of having an infrequent driver or one who doesn't have any cars under his/her name take the blame, which is quite common. (It is also illegal to drive a car without the owner's permission and with car prices as high as they are here, it's not common to see someone careless about who drives his car).
Having said all that, there was an incident a month or so back where the lights in two directions were green at the same time and there was an accident (late at night). Singapore traffic lights are optimised to allow "green waves", and I've no idea if the timing is simulated properly before it's implemented, but it's a good reason why traffic light timings shouldn't be left automatically on fuzzy mode.
Back to the topic: Does this Singapore driver mind? Only about the waste of money that goes into putting up fixed speed cameras and then several large signboards in front of them. Better to not put the cameras, and have a police car/man there once in a while.
I live in Singapore, and although I've drooled at Sony VAIOs in the stores, I'd probably never get one even if I had that much spare change.
The service charge here for a "local" VAIO is S$120 (about US$65), and if you happen to have a "parallel import" Sony (or are just from overseas/bought yours overseas) is DOUBLE. What, overseas models have tighter screws? They won't sell you the part alone either (full rant below).
I own a CLIE which I recently brought back to Sony Service (in Singapore, both CLIEs and VAIOs are serviced by VAIO service centre, a division of the Sony service centre) because of chrome plating coming off the "back" button (T615). I was given a lot of crap about how cosmetic items aren't covered and how they have never seen such a problem before on any other 615s and even if they did, they wouldn't cover it. The service guy insisted that such wear and tear is normal (the set is 2 months old!) and stopped just short of insisting that I had corrosive fingers because I had kept it only in the Sony case (and no where else)!
The worse part is, even if I paid for any changes to the device, they would insist on taking the old part back, and on doing the exchange themselves. For someone who has an engraving on their device, this isn't an option. Besides, I paid for the damn part!
Bottom line is: don't buy Sony. Looks cool when new, "wear and tear" comes fast, and awful support. No big deal if it's a TV or a VCR for your living room, but a major problem for portable electronic devices.
Most importantly, flexible hours. This is more towards "Finish your work then do what you like" rather than "Come in anytime you like". I find my productivity drops drastically when I have to worry about when to sleep so I can stay awake at work. Many times I have to stop when I'm in the zone just to go to sleep (and then it doesn't work either, because my head is so full of code I can't sleep). At those times I wish I could work 36 straight hours then crash in bed.
Other factors:
- The right software (pay for the license of software I want, not force me to use what you've got a site license for)
- The right music (Trip hop works for me, although I get irritated everytime the music stops, or if I loop it and it repeats too many times)
- The right lighting (natural light, a window is good, so long as it's not first floor with people walking around outside)
- The right chair (doesn't have to be expensive, but don't tell me I can't have a high back coz only the manager is allowed one)
- Taking walks (Preferably to a nearby place with lots of people, so I can tell myself "you need a life!")
I also find I code better when working with another hacker nearby, who preferably is working on another project with simliar tools/language. This helps because I have someone to bounce ideas and ask questions off (and who might put me on a tangential train of thought by doing the same), but I think most hackers like to work on their project (or at least their portion) alone rather than share the load and worry about "integrating".
Assuming that Statutory rape laws are created to protect children who don't know better at that age (whether 15/16 is too young an age to decide is another matter), the 18 year old should be punished too, though not as harshly as the 38 year old.
Or rather, "The 18 year old should be punished. The 38 year old should be given extra punishment." (as opposed to the 18 year old being discounted because the subject is of his age group).
Slashdot Mirror
well i'm not sure i'd want to watch divx movies while riding but hey, clarion or alpine could go into the business of making helmet-back lcd's... so at least your pillion will stop asking 'are we there yet?'
That's coz Singaporeans, despite their love of complaint, rarely complain to the government. It's no use.
Then again we don't have an external contractor with a financial interest in the collected fines either, or I'd be making a lot of noise myself.
A bit more about Singapore traffic cameras...
Most fixed (red light and speed) cameras have large signboards, larger signboards in "high activity red light camera" junctions (and police are often seen standing at these junctions too).
The only good thing is that a large portion of them don't work. They tend to run out of film too. This makes a driver blame the camera/police less and spend more time wishing that he doesn't get a ticket in 2 weeks. "Fuck! Did it flash?!?" is often asked by a driver who just ran the lights, because if it didn't flash, he's quite safe. Most fixed speed cameras can take only in one direction at a time despite having windows in both directions (the camera within the box can be rotated though).
The red light cameras only take a photo when the junction is entered AFTER the light turns red. At least two photos are taken (there are at least 2 cameras facing the junction in each direction and they take from the back, presumably so the flash doesn't blind the driver and cause more accidents). Rumour has it that a ticket isn't sent if you make an attempt to stop. I've tested this (unintentionally, of course) and it appears to be true (or maybe the camera was a dummy). The best way to tell if a green is about to go amber at a junction is to see if the "green man" signal for the pedestrians is flashing (equivalent of amber for vehicles, but much longer). If it is, make a decision to hurry up or stop. Whatever it is, decide fast. The worst accidents seem to be caused by indecisive drivers rather than drivers making bad decisions.
Demerit points and fine make it very painful to run a red light (twice and license is revoked). As far as I know it is on the owner to identify the driver, if he isn't willing to take that responsibility he shouldn't loan out his car, which makes sense IMHO. It also allows the possiblity of having an infrequent driver or one who doesn't have any cars under his/her name take the blame, which is quite common. (It is also illegal to drive a car without the owner's permission and with car prices as high as they are here, it's not common to see someone careless about who drives his car).
Having said all that, there was an incident a month or so back where the lights in two directions were green at the same time and there was an accident (late at night). Singapore traffic lights are optimised to allow "green waves", and I've no idea if the timing is simulated properly before it's implemented, but it's a good reason why traffic light timings shouldn't be left automatically on fuzzy mode.
Back to the topic: Does this Singapore driver mind? Only about the waste of money that goes into putting up fixed speed cameras and then several large signboards in front of them. Better to not put the cameras, and have a police car/man there once in a while.
- When it doubt, follow the taxis.
:)
Sony's warranty is crap.
I live in Singapore, and although I've drooled at Sony VAIOs in the stores, I'd probably never get one even if I had that much spare change.
The service charge here for a "local" VAIO is S$120 (about US$65), and if you happen to have a "parallel import" Sony (or are just from overseas/bought yours overseas) is DOUBLE. What, overseas models have tighter screws? They won't sell you the part alone either (full rant below).
I own a CLIE which I recently brought back to Sony Service (in Singapore, both CLIEs and VAIOs are serviced by VAIO service centre, a division of the Sony service centre) because of chrome plating coming off the "back" button (T615). I was given a lot of crap about how cosmetic items aren't covered and how they have never seen such a problem before on any other 615s and even if they did, they wouldn't cover it. The service guy insisted that such wear and tear is normal (the set is 2 months old!) and stopped just short of insisting that I had corrosive fingers because I had kept it only in the Sony case (and no where else)!
The worse part is, even if I paid for any changes to the device, they would insist on taking the old part back, and on doing the exchange themselves. For someone who has an engraving on their device, this isn't an option. Besides, I paid for the damn part!
Bottom line is: don't buy Sony. Looks cool when new, "wear and tear" comes fast, and awful support. No big deal if it's a TV or a VCR for your living room, but a major problem for portable electronic devices.
Most importantly, flexible hours. This is more towards "Finish your work then do what you like" rather than "Come in anytime you like". I find my productivity drops drastically when I have to worry about when to sleep so I can stay awake at work. Many times I have to stop when I'm in the zone just to go to sleep (and then it doesn't work either, because my head is so full of code I can't sleep). At those times I wish I could work 36 straight hours then crash in bed.
Other factors:
- The right software
(pay for the license of software I want, not force me to use what you've got a site license for)
- The right music (Trip hop works for me, although I get irritated everytime the music stops, or if I loop it and it repeats too many times)
- The right lighting (natural light, a window is good, so long as it's not first floor with people walking around outside)
- The right chair (doesn't have to be expensive, but don't tell me I can't have a high back coz only the manager is allowed one)
- Taking walks (Preferably to a nearby place with lots of people, so I can tell myself "you need a life!")
I also find I code better when working with another hacker nearby, who preferably is working on another project with simliar tools/language. This helps because I have someone to bounce ideas and ask questions off (and who might put me on a tangential train of thought by doing the same), but I think most hackers like to work on their project (or at least their portion) alone rather than share the load and worry about "integrating".
A minor point of contention here...
Assuming that Statutory rape laws are created to protect children who don't know better at that age (whether 15/16 is too young an age to decide is another matter), the 18 year old should be punished too, though not as harshly as the 38 year old.
Or rather, "The 18 year old should be punished. The 38 year old should be given extra punishment." (as opposed to the 18 year old being discounted because the subject is of his age group).