Friendship

Look at the friendship between these 2















Credits -yahoo

Stock Portfolio

Hi all, its been a long time since I blogged but I'm back!

To kick it off, I have decided to post my stock portfolio here chronologically. I have recently started trading because I thought why not ? It's about time for me to make my entrance into the stock markets.

Portfolio Breakdown (2013)

Red: Sold already
Blue: Still holding at the moment

Bought 2,000 Frasers Centrepoint Trust at $1.915. 
Sold 2,000 Frasers Centrepoint Trust at $2.04 (Received $100 in dividends)
Return: 9.14%

Bought 3,000 Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust at $1.025

Bought 20,000 Call Options on HSI with Strike Price 22,400 at $0.085
Sold 20,000 Call Options on HSI with Strike Price 22,400 at $0.100
Return: 17.65%

Bought 10,000 Call Options on HSI with Strike Price 22,600 at $0.072

Bought 20,000 Call Options on HSI with Strike Price 22,400 at $0.069

Bought 2,000 Guocoleisure at $0.875

Some Great Advice

Helping people isn't the enemy of productivity, it enhances it.

When most people get to work and see an inbox full of 300 unopened emails, they feel exasperated and put upon. The approach Grant takes, and advises, is to frame it differently. 

You don't get much done when thinking about "answering 300 emails." It's much easier when you think about how it will help the recipient.  So each time you send off an email, you feel good about yourself, and the work is of higher quality. 

It works better than putting energy and time into figuring out whom to ignore. Deciding whether or not to help out is often an unnecessary mental lag. Short favors cost little but pay off in the long run. 

Even a basic reminder of how an activity helps other vastly improves performance.

One of Grant's earliest studies was at a call center that looked for donations for scholarships. A 10-minute talk from a student to call center workers on how one of the scholarships had completely changed his life had an incredible impact on performance.

A month later, workers still used the same script, but were on the phone 142 percent longer and bringing in 171 percent more revenue. Even letters from grateful people significantly increased fundraising. 

The workers didn't specifically recognize this motivation, many actually discounted it, but the results speak for themselves, and held up after the study was repeated five times.

In a later study, Grant put up two different signs at a hand-washing station at a hospital. One focused on how doctors or nurses could catch diseases if they were lax. Another reminded them that patients could. The latter increased soap and hand sanitizer use by 45 percent. 

Credit -yahoo

Current Status

Hi guys,

Just a quick update to my personal life.

Currently, I'm a final year student at Nanyang Business School and I'm currently on exchange at Singapore Management University.



I must say the experience thus far has been really awesome. The first week has been pretty chill where all the Professor merely briefed us about the project outlines and course outlines to give us a sense of what we should expect in the course. Also, I managed to finish forming all my groups for all my modules and I must say I really enjoy the company of these group mates. I can already forsee that its going to be an awesome experience, genuinely.


Also, I'm currently interning in the Treasury department at Temasek Holdings. Its definitely exciting to work during school and in fact, this is the first time I'm doing this so I'm definitely looking forward to how I'm going to juggle effectively between school and work life. To be honest, never in a million years have I ever dreamt that I could get into such a prestigious organisation like Temasek Holdings. Its really another milestone in my life since my internship at American Express. But this just goes to show that I can go on to achieve great things if I try hard enough and that anything is possible with hard work.


There's always the debate saying that hard work can only bring you so far, but I am always very against that idea per se. I think hard work can bring you very far and consistent hard work can help achieve a breakthrough in your capacity. I strongly believe that if one is serious about working hard, he/she will succeed one day. It doesn't matter how long it takes, so long as you get there one day. You can't be impatient with these kind of things. You must be willing to endure the seemingly endless journey ahead and make yourself believe that you will make it at the end of the day.



I'm also working on my Final Year Project over at NTU. It seems to be flowing very smoothly and we already got the whole picture on what we are working on, so I think it should be fine at the moment :)


At the same time, I'm busy with full time interviews for my graduation job as well. Hopefully, I will be able to be offered a job soon so that I can focus on my other priorities :)


It seems like I have many things on my plate and I must say THERE REALLY IS !!!!!!


Having said that, I think its a challenge in my final year and I think if I survive through this, I will definitely be a lot, a lot, a lot stronger and I'm definitely looking forward to this challenging, yet rewarding experience up ahead.


On a side note, I just received notice that I got into the Dean's list for the 2nd year running!!! So I'm really happy about it. I'm really proud about it because I have really worked hard for it and to be able to receive this recognition is really a feeling like no other. But of course this is no time to be complacent, its my final year so I must give it my best shot as this will be the end of the first phase of my education life, before MBA that is. So yeah, that's about it for the updates, I will update again as I go through half of my semester at SMU :) Good Luck to everyone out there in whatever you do too :)


Cheers,

Aaron Bay Mingde

This brought tears to my eyes

The man pictured lulling his arthritic dog to sleep in Lake Superior has revealed that his dog Schoep saved him from the brink of suicide.

John Unger, 49, adopted the dog with his ex-fiancée 19 years ago, but after the relationship ended, Mr Unger fought a desperate despair.

The companionship of his trusty rescue dog gave Mr Unger the courage to go on, saying : 'I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me. I just want to do whatever I can for this dog.'

The water soothes the animal's pain, Mr Unger said, allowing him to sleep.

Mr Unger's good friend Hannah Stonehouse Hudson, who is a professional photographer, captured the heartbreaking moment between the man and his aging rescue dog in Wisconsin when Mr Unger thought his best friend was at the end of his life.

But thanks to the generosity of strangers, the MailOnline can reveal that thousands of dollars have been donated to Schoep's medical care, allowing the pair more time together than they ever imagined.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2186763/He-saved-MY-life--I-just-want-help-return-Owner-sick-dog-picture-touched-nations-hearts-reveals-loyal-companion-stopped-suicide.html#ixzz23JV0fvfw

‘Schoep falls asleep every night when he is carried into the lake. The buoyancy of the water soothes his arthritic bones. Lake Superior is very warm right now, so the temp of the water is perfect,' the photographer explained.

The story behind the special relationship behind this man, who works as a caretaker on a farm outside of Bayfield, and his dog is just as touching as the moment on the Lake.

Mr Unger, 49, adopted Schoep, who is named after a famous brand of Wisconsin ice cream, when he was just a puppy and it was love at first sight. 

He and his ex-fiancée had been searching for a rescue dog for a year, going to dozens of humane societies.

 

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'We wanted every single dog,' Mr Unger said to the MailOnline. 'We just hadn't found the right one.'

His then-fiancée they spotted the pup at the Ozaukee Animal Shelter 19 years ago.

'We fell in love with her immediately,' Mr Unger told the MailOnline. 

Schoep was in a cage with another dog, possibly his mother, crouched in the back quietly staring at the corner with his back to Mr Unger.

'I knew - that's him,' Mr Unger said.

Couple: John Unger, 49, adopted the dog with his ex-fiancée 19 years ago, but after the relationship ended, Mr Unger fought a desperate despair

Saved: The companionship of his trusty rescue dog gave Mr Unger the courage to go on, saying : 'I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me. I just want to do whatever I can for this dog'

Together: Thanks to the generosity of strangers, the MailOnline can reveal that thousands of dollars have been donated to Schoep's medical care, allowing the pair more time together than they ever imagined

At the time Schoep was named Tramp by the shelter staff and showed signs of abuse.

'He didn't even know what toys were,' Mr Unger said. 'I really wanted this dog because I wanted him to enjoy life.'

The couple worked hard to establish the trust of the dog and eventually brought out its 'full potential'.

Though Mr Unger's relationship with Schoep has clearly stood the test of time, the relationship with his fiancée did not, and when the woman moved to Colorado over a decade ago, he retained custody of the dog.

Capturing the moment: Hannah Stonehouse Hudson is friends with Mr Unger and spent hours capturing the perfect shot though she says it came naturally and was not posed

Lucky that he did, considering he told the Deluth News Tribune that one night, while in the depths of depression in the wake of the breakup, Mr Unger contemplated suicide.

'To be honest with you, I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me (that night). He just snapped me out of it. I don’t know how to explain it. He just snapped me out of it. … I just want to do whatever I can for this dog because he basically saved my ass,' he said.

Now that Schoep is in pain with his arthritis, it is Mr Unger's time to return the favor.

'In this photo, people have said they see everything from pure love to hope for the world. They see peace, kindness, the relationship between man and dog,' Ms Stonehouse Hudson told The Pioneer Press.

'Two women, both whose husbands died from cancer, said they never thought they'd see love again, but this photo showed them love.

'People are leaving me messages, crying and opening up about dogs they've lost, spouses they've lost.'

Mr Unger told the MailOnline that the photograph was four years in the making, as Ms Hudson and Mr Unger couldn't find the time for a portrait session.

But recently, Mr Unger got some devastating news. 

'To be honest with you, I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me.'

John Unger

'About two weeks ago I took Schoep in for a check up because he was limping,' Mr Unger said.

The doctor recommend pain medication, but said that it may be temporary or not help at all.

Then, Mr Unger said, the doctor told him, ' "If there isn't any improvement, we should probably..." a good vet wont say "put him down," but he said at that point I may start to want to think about it.'

Faced with the possibility of losing his best friend, he called up Ms Hudson for an impromptu session.

She met the pair at sunset on Lake Superior, because Schoep's cataracts prevent him from seeing in sunlight.

Compassion: Mr Unger adopted Schoep, who is named after a famous brand of Wisconsin ice cream, when he was just a puppy, and now that the dog has developed arthritis, he has trouble getting to sleep

'She couldn't believe he fell asleep in my arms,' Mr Unger said.

Ms Hudson watched the man and his dog float around the lake for maybe five minutes before Schoep began to get cold and shake.

Mr Unger said he had to take him out of the water to let him warm up and was worried she hadn't had the chance to snap an image.

AT FIRST SIGHT: JOHN AND SCHOEP

John Unger, 49, adopted Schoep, who is named after a famous brand of Wisconsin ice cream, when he was just a puppy and it was love at first sight.

He and his ex-fiancée had been searching for a rescue dog for a year, going to dozens of humane societies.

'We wanted every single dog,' Mr Unger said to the MailOnline. 'We just hadn't found the right one.'

His then-fiancée they spotted the pup at the Ozaukee Animal Shelter 19 years ago.

'We fell in love with her immediately,' Mr Unger told the MailOnline.

Schoep was in a cage with another dog, possibly his mother, crouched in the back quietly staring at the corner with his back to Mr Unger.

'I knew - that's him,' Mr Unger said.

At the time Schoep was named Tramp by the shelter staff and showed signs of abuse.

'He didn't even know what toys were,' Mr Unger said. 'I really wanted this dog because I wanted him to enjoy life.'

The couple worked hard to establish the trust of the dog and eventually brought out its 'full potential'. 

'I didn't think she even took one picture,' he said. 'But then she told me she got what she wanted.'

Mr Unger doesn't know how his ex-fiancée feels about the image going viral, or that it might be time to say goodbye to Schoep, but he is hoping that his love for Schoep might open the door to more romance.

'Women are also asking me if John is single!' Ms Hudson said.

The ladies are in luck because not only is Mr Unger single, but he is looking for a relationship.

'Boy, is it tough to meet women up here,' he told The Deluth News Tribune.

'So this might open up a new road.'

Mr Unger, who does not have a cell phone, said that while he got his first computer in February and is still confused by the internet, he has begun to explore online dating.

The most exciting thing to come out of the photograph, however, is the generous donations that people who have been touched by the photograph have been offering.

'A woman from Virginia basically paid for the latest laser therapy on his joints,' he said to MSNBC. 'She paid for a full treatment, and I don’t know how much it is, but I know I couldn’t have done that.'

He wept as he described how much strangers' kindness has helped him and his best friend. 

'People from all over are doing this. I can’t believe it. So much has come in already in donations that I don’t have to worry about anything at the vet anymore.'

He said that Schoep has already had two treatments and will get his third this afternoon.

'I have seen improvements in Schoep's ability to walk,' he told the MailOnline. 'He's walking faster. He's holding his head higher.'

Healing: Since the funds came gushing in, the clinic was able to treat Schoep with joint laser treatments, which reduce pain and swelling while healing the animal's limbs

All Better: Schoep will need these treatments every few weeks 'forever,' the vet said, but he should be able to spend his golden years pain-free

A spokeswoman from the clinic told the MailOnline that 19 people have made considerable donations to Schoep, amounting to nearly two thousand dollars in funds to help pay for his treatment.

Schoep's veterinarian, Erik Haukaas, said he was 'overwhelmed' by the generosity of strangers.

'John is a great guy but he doesn't have a whole lot of money. He does the best can to care for the dog,' Dr Haukass told the MailOnline.

He said that before the donations, all Mr Unger could afford was basic pain medication for his dog.

'He's failing. He's slowing down. Most dogs don't live near this long,' he said. 

'And then the picture came out and everyone wants to help.'

'Schoep is doing very well. I don't think John has to worry about Schoep for quite a while.'
Veterinarian Erik Haukass

Since the funds came gushing in, the clinic was able to treat Schoep with joint laser treatments, which reduce pain and swelling while healing the animal's limbs. 

Each session costs $200.

'It's like putting oil on a rusty joint,' he explained.

Schoep will need these treatments every few weeks 'forever,' the vet said, but he should be able to spend his golden years pain-free.

'Schoep is doing very well. I don't think John has to worry about Schoep for quite a while,' he said.

People interested in helping can call the Bay Area Animal Hospital at 715-682-8865 with a credit card number or mail a check to 3601 E Hwy 2 Ashland, WI 54806. 

All donations go right into Schoep's account at the clinic.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2186763/He-saved-MY-life--I-just-want-help-return-Owner-sick-dog-picture-touched-nations-hearts-reveals-loyal-companion-stopped-suicide.html#ixzz23JUtDXQb

How Google's Marissa Mayer Prevents Burnout

Many entrepreneurs don't even think twice when it comes to working around the clock. Marissa Mayer, Google's 20th employee and current vice president of location and local services, is no exception. When Google was a young company, she worked 130 hours per week and often slept at her desk. "For my first five years at Google, I pulled an all-nighter every week," Mayer said in a recent talk at New York's 92Y cultural center. "It was a lot of hard work." Hard work, she says, has been the key to Google's success, as well as her own. For young companies that demand so much of their employees, hard work can spiral into burnout. Learning to prevent it--for yourself and your employees--is essential to your success as a business owner.



Here are three steps to get started: Step 1. Watch for signs of resentment. "Burnout is about resentment," Mayer told the audience at 92Y. "[Preventing it is] about knowing yourself well enough to know what it is you're giving up that makes you resentful." Her assessment is right on target. "The question is whether you can replenish your energy when you get tired," says Michael Leiter, professor of psychology at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. If you can't restore your energy or resolve your values conflict with your work, you feel exhausted, cynical, and discouraged--the hallmarks of burnout. Related: 3 Postures to Boost Productivity Now


Step 2. Find your rhythm. Mayer's theory is that you need to figure out what your "rhythm" is, meaning the activity that matters so much to you resentment sets in when you can't do it. In Leiter's words, it's the activity that restores your energy. That might mean sleeping eight hours a night, practicing yoga daily, or getting out in nature once a week. Whatever it is, it's essential to your satisfaction, so don't skip it. "People--particularly entrepreneurs--can put in huge amounts of energy and time," Leiter says. "Overwork doesn't burn people out per se, but it's doing that without knowing the things that replenish you." Related: A Secret to Creative Problem Solving


 Step 3. Grant employees one must-have freedom. When Mayer suspects an employee might burn out, she asks them to find their rhythm. They've come back with, "I need to be home for Tuesday night dinners," or "I need to be on time for my daughter's soccer games." She grants those needs--no exceptions. "You can't have everything you want," Mayer cautions. "But you can have the things that really matter to you. That empowers you to work really hard for a long period of time on something that you're passionate about."

Credits -entrepreneur

Immortality by 2024?

Russian media magnate Dmitry Itskov is heading "Avatar," a tremendously ambitious and far-reaching multidisciplinary research project that aims to achieve immortality in humans within the next three decades. He plans to do it by housing human brains in progressively more disembodied vehicles, first transplanting them into robots and then, by the year 2045, by reverse-engineering the human brain and effectively "downloading" human consciousness onto a computer chip.

Fact or fiction?

When speculating on seemingly unobtainable goals such as this, one must be careful not to believe that improbable technological advances automatically become more likely simply by looking further away in the future. This is the cognitive trap that, for instance, has seen many leading IT experts predict the development of a human-level artificial intelligence at roughly twenty years in the future for at least the past five decades.

Looking at Avatar's proposed timeline, Itskov's project seems to suffer from the same fallacy. Certainly, if we borrow Carl Sagan's rule that "extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof," the project comes up short for the time being; it does, however, have the merit of basing most of its steps on technology that is either in the works or of general interest. And with the rate of technological change continuing to accelerate, the project's goals may be within reach, although not necessarily within the project's aggressive timeline.

The roadmap to immortality

The first of the proposed steps, to be completed before the end of the decade, would be to create an android "avatar" controlled entirely by a brain-computer interface. The system would at first be of interest to physically challenged people, but might also enable people to work in hazardous environments or perform dangerous rescue operations.

As futuristic as this vision may seem, Itskov is not the only person to share it. DARPA allotted US$7 million of next year's budget to the development of interfaces enabling a soldier to guide a semi-autonomous bipedal machine and allow it to act as the soldier's surrogate. Other researchers have reported being able to exert basic control over the movement of a humanoid robot using brainwaves alone, and many are working on refining this technology.

The second step would be the creation of an autonomous life support system for the human brain, which could then be integrated into the previously developed "avatar" by 2025. If the efforts are successful, immobile patients with an intact brain would be able to regain the ability to move via their new synthetic bodies, and a varied range of bio-electronic devices might become possible, creating superimpositions of electronic and biological systems.

Not a great deal of research is going into this at the moment – in fact, the closest match would have to be the research of Dr. Robert J. White who, back in the 70s, managed to perform several head transplants in monkeys. Building an artificial environment in which a brain could not only survive, but also continue working to full effect, is sure to prove a much harder task.

By 2035, Itskov hopes to be able to reverse-engineer the human brain and find a means of "downloading" its consciousness to a synthetic version. Coupled with the previous advancements, this would allow humans to achieve cybernetic immortality. It would also lead to the creation of a human-like artificial intelligence, and even provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or enhance their own brains, for instance by manipulating memories.

While there is no current research going into transferring your consciousness into a silicon chip, there is plenty of interest among neuroscientists in better understanding the inner workings of the brain. Although we are just scratching the surface, recent advancements – such as a robotic arm that can analyze the electricity patterns of single neurons – are certainly steps in the right direction.

The fourth and final step is also the most science-fictiony. By the year 2045, Itskov would like to see "substance-independent minds" uploaded not onto a computer chip, but into bodies of different compositions. A holographic body could walk through walls or move at the speed of light, while a body made of nanorobots would be able to take on a number of different forms at will. "Humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species," he writes.

Funding and support

Itskov says he has invested plenty of his own money to kick start the necessary research, hiring 30 scientists to reach this goal, organizing meetings, with plans to establish offices in San Francisco later this summer. He is also working on building a social network to raise awareness in his initiative, and on a "business incubator" for the creation of commercial applications - mostly in the medical field - that would capitalize on the research and fund further development. In other words, as crazy as this sounds, Itskov is absolutely serious about this, and the wheels are turning on this project.

Of course, the sheer pace of scientific inquiry required to make this project succeed will require very large - perhaps prohibitive - amounts of capital. To address this, Itskov recently addressed a letter to billionaires in the Forbes richest list in an appeal for funds, but he is also looking for government support.

Surprisingly, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science announced its support of the initiative, and has scheduled talks to discuss a specialized research and development center. Oddly enough, the initiative has also received the support and blessing of the Dalai Lama.

The video below is a short presentation detailing the steps and goals of the "Avatar" project.

Source: 2045 Initiative