My Name Is Adib

Hello World. Meet Mr. Dibster

2008-11-29T20:52:00.002+08:00

This is the last post on this blog. Everything has been migrated over to a new site: http://misterdibster.com. and I hope you will go over to check it out.

For a little bit more on this, read on.

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Many years ago, I had a personal site known as dibster.net. Not only was it a portfolio site, it was also a sandbox for my experiments and it was also a brain dump for my thoughts. However, after some years, I got caught up with design school, FIVEFOOTWAY, FARM and tragically,'Dibster' was largely ignored.

I've been thinking about bringing back Dibster as an online personal identity for a while now and it is perhaps simply a coincidence that I just turned 26 but it strangely feels like some sort of a quarter-life identity crisis. And so, I thought that as a birthday gift to myself, I will answer that nagging thought inside my head about Dibster and bring him back to existence.

This blog has chronicled much of my recent life and it's been a good thing to have it around. However, as a space for experimentation , a portfolio and a blog rolled into one, Blogger is not the platform to do it. I need my own domain and my own engine to do it and that explains the new site.

While I would have loved to get back Dibster.net, the domain name had already been bought up and I am settling for something else close enough - MisterDibster.com.

Reviving Dibster is not about deleting the past and starting afresh but rather, building upon the experiences of the past- a natural progression and evolution of self. With that, I will be exporting all the content from this blog and importing it over to the new site.

So there you have the story. To read more about how the story of Mr. Dibster continues from here, do visit http://misterdibster.com.

Once again,hello world! Mr. Dibster is back.

Happy 26th Birthday to me!

2008-11-23T23:09:00.006+08:00

And so the story goes, I turned 26 yesterday. Possibly the most awesome birthday so far thanks to Felicia who made it so and also the other good people around me!:D

Turning 26 started last week with a card and a cake from the good people at FARM. It was a little early because we wanted to have the cake before Selwyn (whose birthday is a day after mine) goes away to Bangkok. Brilliant cake and a card with lots of well wishes from my fellow FARM-ers.

Then, right about at the end of Friday, Weiming passed me an envelope which contained...get this..spa vouchers! I did mention to some of the FARM-ers that I wanted to have a domestic holiday with a spa at the end of year break but I definitely wasn't expecting to get spa vouchers for a birthday gift. A really pleasant surprise! Thank You!!

Now, there's more exciting stuff. Over the course of last week, I've been getting a whole series of 'mystery' envelopes from Feli, one envelope a day for the whole week. They were mailed to my house and also my office and everyday, I was looking forward to see what I would get in the mail!

Then on Friday night, after dinner and while I was about to start some work, I got a call from Feli who was downstairs at my block! Guess what, it was a surprise visit with birthday cake for me on the night of my birthday! Double Awesome!

And then, Saturday.. Feli had a simple instruction for me. Just choose what time I want to start the day and after that, she's got everything planned out! So, we met at Bishan and I was presented with a box full of hand-made goodness, all made with tender loving care. The box was so very colourful and bright, filled with buttons galore and a generous sprinkling of stickers all over. Such a cheerful looking box for me:D

And in the box were an altered frame with a photo of us, a tag with a really large 'ADIB' written on it and a small bandito-pocket thingy that holds a few cards.

These were actually..clue cards! Clues to what we were gg to do for the day! I was only allowed to know what we were doing next after we had completed one activity so it was pretty exciting to not know what was coming up. What can I say, Feli made it special for me!TRIPLE AWESOME! I can't say how great this has all turned out, all thanks to Felicia.

I also received a cute Eeyore mug and a Donald duck hand puppet from my brother for my birthday. Interesting gift eh:D thank YOU!And latest update; today, my sister passed me another present: a polo T that is really interesting looking. Check out the photos to see it. Thank YOU!!

Here's the whole slideshow of photos that I've taken of the gifts and also my day out with Feli:D

Dear Old Macbook

2008-11-23T22:46:00.005+08:00

You've been a trusty friend. You were there working long hours and staying up for days with me during school submissions. You were there with me when I struggled with my essays. When I first thought of FIVEFOOTWAY and then went on to build it, you were right there, working hard with me. And we were there at Edinburgh making Felicity together.

Despite the technical problems that you were facing, you persevered as I sent hundreds and thousands of emails. You pushed yourself to the limit with those heavy PSD files. And when I worked on my Sketchup and Archicad files, you choked and struggled but you never gave up.

Soon, you found that you had battery-charging disorder and you just couldn't hold any form of battery charge but did you give up? No. You stayed strong and survived on life support (more commonly known as direct power source). All the way, your body started to show signs of aging. No matter how much I cleaned, there were black spots on your wrist rest. Scratches were aplenty and the keyboard was yellowing. But did you give up? No.

Then everything became much worse. Your motherboard gave problems and it stopped detecting the Airport Card. There was no wireless internet connection on you. I needed to restart you many many times before it will start working again. But it was obvious you were slowly dying. As time passed, the problems got worse. You stopped functioning and your system malfunctioned many times. Despite my efforts to run system maintenace and reformatting your hard-disk, your problems wouldn't go away. You knew you were dying but that didn't mean that you would work any less hard.

One day, your Airport Card stopped functioning completely and together we had to brave weeks without Internet together.

And now, the new Macbook is here. It looks so much like you.

I'm glad to see that you're passing on your knowledge, data and settings to the new Macbook so that I can go on with life normally now. As you age, I'm sure I will find a new use for you.

Here are some photos of you and the new macbook that we took. You will always have a special place,my first Mac.

Cheers,
Adib

Stay true to "Creativity"

2008-11-13T23:48:00.001+08:00

Gone Fishing

2008-10-30T16:54:00.001+08:00

Draw with water!

2008-10-30T16:53:00.002+08:00

Type-Face

2008-10-27T19:39:00.003+08:00

Every one of these smiley faces is done with a different font. :) Check out the various expressions of all these typefaces..

Speech Balloons

2008-10-27T18:49:00.003+08:00

Architour- T3, Crown Hotel, Marina Barrage

2008-10-26T13:24:00.002+08:00

Seth Godin: Maybe you can't make money doing what you love

2008-10-16T16:53:00.003+08:00

This is a very very interesting post by Seth Godin. Maybe it applies to alot of people out there. I know it kinda applies to me.
Here's the original article

8 rules of innovation

2008-10-15T11:13:00.001+08:00

Here are 8 rules for innovation as seen by Tyler Durden of Fight Club.
Read it here

3 reasons not to multi-task

2008-10-09T23:17:00.003+08:00

As part of my recovery process, I've been taking a good look at how I do think and here's something that I think affects a lot of people out there. "Multi-tasking". I think that multi-tasking is over-rated and here's my 3 reasons why one should not multi-task.

Quality decreases.The more things you attempt to do at the same time, the same amount of brain processing power is only going to be divided among more tasks. Each task gets less attention and you are probably going to end up doing a lousy job at it.

Quantity of work accomplished decreases. Instead of getting more done, you are probably going to get less done in a longer period of time because you can't focus and get into 'the flow'. You are also probably going to make more mistake (refer to 1) and then end up spending more time correcting it. At the end of it, you get less work done.

You will get more stressed. You will get immersed in one activity, only to remember that there's another thing that you are doing. Then you will jump back to the other task and then the cycle repeats again and again as you toggle among the various tasks that you are doing. At the end of it, you end up getting frustrated at the whole process. And as mentioned in 1, there's a high chance you are going to make mistakes and that only adds to your stress level.

Simply put, I think that everyone should stop going insane trying to do so many things at once and just do one thing at a time. And not only that, with single-tasking, you set up the conditions for yourself to do one hell of a kick-ass good job!

Hari Raya 2008

2008-10-07T14:02:00.001+08:00

Laws of Simplicity- John Maeda

2008-10-07T13:00:00.000+08:00

For those looking for some base concepts on the idea of simplicity, allow me to introduce John Maeda's Laws of Simplicity. If you've got some moments to spare, you should probably know his 10 laws of simplicity that was first expounded in his book titled (you guessed it), The Laws of Simplicity. Simple and straight forward and a good base for one to start thinking about the concept of 'Simplicity'

Reduce - The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction

Organize - Organization makes a system of many appear fewer

Time - Savings in time feel like simplicity

Learn - Knowledge makes everything simpler

Differences - Simplicity and complexity need each other

Context - What lies in the periphery of simplicity is deﬁnitely not peripheral

Emotion - More emotions are better than less

Trust - In simplicity we trust

Failure - Some things can never be made simple

The One - Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

- Original Source from The Laws of Simplicity.com

Go to the website/blog itself to read more thoughts about simplicity by John Maeda.

Simplicity Sells- David Pogue, TED.com

2008-10-04T23:00:00.001+08:00

Life principles

2008-09-27T13:00:00.004+08:00

There are some things that you find yourself doing again and again for the whole of your life.I don't really know why these crop up but its probably due to a mix of societal influences, parental upbringing and genetic makeup among other things. I just find myself doing these things everyday. These are perhaps some of my life principles that can apply to most situations or task.

Keep everything simple
Spread love
Avoid anything without soul and sincerity (this includes people and products)
Enjoy the process of doing everything
Work hard and be nice to people
Always keep calm. (Whether its a zen-like calm or being calm like a bomb, that depends on the situation)
Destroy bullshit and empty promises (and don't make them too)

This is who i write for.

2008-09-27T12:59:00.002+08:00

When I came back from my down time, I thought long and hard whether I should be typing anything for this blog. I mean, some of these things are pretty personal stuff and seriously, does anyone really care about what I write?

But it didn't take long for me to realize that the main reason I type this blog is for myself. Yes, that's right, ME. That's why the name of this blog is "My name is Adib" because it is about me. And the tagline "we live to find ourselves" sums up what I am doing for this blog. It is really about me, trying to understand me. Through the act of verbal diarrohea and articulating my thoughts, I think I'm taking one step closer, day by day to understand myself.

On top of that, there are other people that I think will be interested to read what I have to say and I put these people into 3 groups of people.

People who actually know me and want to read and find out a little more about what's going on in my head.
People who think and act like me. Those who probably like the exact same things as I do, those who hate the things that I hate. Those who just happen to be enjoying the same stuff and struggling with the same issues that I have. These are the 'me' in other parts of this little planet.
Those who have nothing better to do and found this via random surfing.

Having said that, I know some of you out there will not like what you are reading. No one's forcing you to read this so, please close the window if you are disturbed, offended or just not interested in what is around here. Life's too precious to be wasted on doing things that just make you miserable even in a small manner.

Reboot

2008-09-27T12:23:00.007+08:00

A lot of worries have been cropping up in my head over the past few months. Some of them emotional and mental baggage from the past and some of it stress related from all aspects of my life (personal and professional). In short, it has been an extremely difficult time for me and i'm not bullshitting on the magnitude of it.

In what is perhaps divine intervention, I've been out of the bustle of normal life for a couple of weeks from which I've had plenty of time to think about what my life truly means and why I do what I do. With time to reflect and ponder,I have managed to recover some perspective on life and now, I feel the drive to put things back in order.

I will be thinking aloud and writing down what I think in this blog. I believe that the next few posts will clarify the position that I am in as I aim to re-boot my systems. After all, I think we all live to find ourselves.

This is what my life looks like.

2008-09-14T21:53:00.003+08:00

"

"
Empty.

The blues

2008-09-13T22:06:00.004+08:00

The world seems lonely and am feeling the blues
in the midst of people and no one talks to you
your body is useless, people just look through
and you get the feeling that your life is screwed.

I need to be held
show some love and perhaps a little pat
tell me thing's going to be ok
tell me its going to be alright
just lie to me even if it's not true
even if its perhaps beyond you

I've got issues
I've got blues
I've got problems that will scare you.
I'm going to upset and disappoint
and i will always miss the whole point

I need to be stronger everyday
I've got to go out of my way
if not, i'll be walking on the highway

Symptoms (?)

2008-09-11T09:41:00.000+08:00

What does it mean when we say "I'm feeling depressed"? I had to Google it and this is what I found.
from http://www.depression-guide.com/

Not everyone who is depressed, experiences every symptom. Although it is often termed as MENTAL ILLNESS', clinical depression often has as many physical symptoms as mental. If these have been experienced for more than two weeks it is essential to seek help.
Some common symptom and sign of depression include:

Severity of Depression symptoms varies with individuals and also varies over time. Some of them may be as follows:

* Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism.
* You feel that life has/is 'passing you by'.
* You don't want to see people or are scared to be left alone. Social activity may feel hard or impossible.
* Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness.
* Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood.
* You feel exhausted a lot of the time with no energy.
* You feel as if even the smallest tasks are sometimes impossible.
* You spend a lot of time thinking about what has gone wrong, what will go wrong or what is wrong about yourself as a person. You may also feel guilty sometimes about being critical of others (or even thinking critically about them).
* Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities.
* You feel a burden to others.
* You sometimes feel that life isn't worth living.
* You feel you have no confidence.
* You have difficulty sleeping or wake up very early in the morning and can't sleep again.

Physical Symptoms of Depression include:

* Changes in weight - either significant loss or gain in weight.
* Restlessness, fatigue.
* Physical aches and pains, sometimes with the fear that you are seriously ill.

Some more Severe Symptoms of Depression include:

* Thoughts about death or suicide.
* Increased heart beat
* Poor concentration, memory or attention.

Does any of the above sound eerily familiar? I guess you are not alone.

iPhone- one week later

2008-08-31T13:25:00.004+08:00

Got an iPhone for myself a week ago after it launched in Singapore on 22nd August. Here are 5 things I love and 5 things I hate about the phone

Love list

Apps. A world of fun and possibilities
iPod + Phone + Internet in one device = less stuff to carry around. Oh and its thin too.
Photos, Calendar, Contacts, Music, Videos- its like carrying around your whole digital life!
Beautifully detailed
Touch Interface!

Hate List

SMS incapabilities- No emoticons, no MMS, no SMS forwarding. Hopefully someone figures out a way to solve this either via Apps or from Apple Inc themselves.
Susceptible to hanging- Sometimes, it takes a little more than 2 seconds for the screen to become responsive to touch. Especially when loading a large list (contact, song list, large number of sms). But I can live with this. Every other normal phone I've had hang-ed too.
No Notes sync-ing- For someone who types notes to himself including to-do lists, I would like to be able to save a copy to the computer, edit it and then load it back to the phone. Currently, no such luck. This is important but it does give me more reason to stick to my trusty wonderful MUJI notebook.
Addictive- Once u download an interesting game/app, its going to draw you in and before long, you are reaching over for your iPhone 10,000 times a day. To make calls, to check calendar, to text, to play games, to take photos, listen to music, etc.
Batt life- And when you use your iPhone that much, there's never enough battery juice. I don't think its Apple's fault (for now). Its just that they've made it so useful that we need more than the regular battery capacity.

Danish Cukur Rambut

2008-08-31T13:07:00.004+08:00

"Cukur Rambut" literally means "Hair Shaving" and in this case, its for my little nephew, Danish Arfan. In Malay culture, its kinda a milestone in a newborn's life. Not very sure of the details of it, but I guess it means something about being safe out of the critical early weeks from birth.

Anyway, it was an affair that brought lots of the family together. We had the ceremony upstairs at the house and then adjourned to the multi-purpose hall downstairs for food and hanging around.
Photos below!

Even heroes have the right to bleed.

2008-08-24T22:32:00.002+08:00

Superman by
Five for Fighting

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find
The better part of me

I’m more than a bird...i’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It’s not easy to be me

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see

It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me

Up, up and away...away from me
It’s all right...you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy...or anything...

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside me
Yeah, inside me
Inside of me

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm...

Its not easy to be me

Official Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84b949k8HCw

Universal Questions.

2008-08-11T22:15:00.003+08:00

From random surfing of the internet, i found myself with a pdf called "world domination" on my desktop. Written by Chris Guillebeau , he asks 2 "Universal Questions".

What do I really want to get out of life?

What can I offer the world that no one else can?

Questions from "The Art of nonconformity"

I need serious time to think about this.