Han the oldest son turns 21 today!

Okay, here is the birthday riddle! With 2 sisters older than Han, he will still be the first to celebrate his 21st birthday today with the family. How is this so?

Answer : His two sisters left for the US just after their 5th year in secondary or middle school and turned 21 when they were away from home!

So we are indeed very happy to be able to celebrate Han's 21st with him today in Singapore. Han growing up has become quite a trail blazer for his younger brothers. He was recognized to be an awesome son on his 18th birthday with reasons and photos of his life up to then found here.

Here are his more recent photos which will lead to his 21st birthday photos and videos by the end of this post as the day progresses. It's just past midnight now into his birthday, 19th Oct in Singapore :

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY WOON HAN!

Classical compositions for your enjoyment!

Your composition played for others to enjoy.

Cool pic in the snow!

The Man among the boys today !

With all his siblings


Ooops! How did this get here?

At 8.15am on the morning of his birthday :




More to come as the day progresses....

Listen to the chatter over great food especially Mom's explanation of why all students going to USA study law.

Sea food dinner with his friends from left to right, Tuan Anh, Zhe Wen and Andrew...

 ... and family members too enjoying butter crab, prawns, scallop vegetables, deer meat etc etc. Read the review given to the "Two Chefs Eating Place" near our home especially my comments at the end.

 9.50pm Spore time or 7.50am Utah time for Birthday song and Cake cutting ceremony broadcasted live on video

Recording of the live video broadcast including sisters Fei and Su in the US joining online

Photographs of the celebration at home

Getting ready just before the live video broadcast begins

Mom who cared for him in the womb for 9 months and outside for 21 years is elated!

Let's start taking photos for remembrance before the cake is all eaten up!

Thanks to Google+, we could have video participation to see/hear each other from 3 places simultaneously. After the live video broadcast was over, Fei in Los Angeles was able to show us around her new apartment where she and Christopher had moved in recently. Very Nice!!!

Nice to have Su from her school where she teaches in Utah to be able to join us with Google+ too!

Han with his 3 friends from the National University of Singapore (NUS) studying, from left to right Statistics(Tuan Anh), Chemical Engineering(Zhe Wen) and Medicine(Andrew). Han himself is preparing to serve on a 2 year voluntary mission for his Church after an impressive education record studying in Singapore noted in his family profile.

POST DATED EVENT :
All four boys above would be found as Academic Prize Award winners at a future event journalized here.

In Memory of Steve Jobs and Dad's beginnings in the computer industry

On the morning of 6th Oct in Malaysia or evening of 5th Oct 2011 in the USA, we received news that Steve Jobs, the co-founder of the world famous Apple computer company, had passed away peacefully. Now I have never met the man personally but due to my involvement in the computer business in the early days where the Apple computer was a revolutionary pioneer in the field, I feel inspired to create this post in memory of Steve Jobs.

The Apple II computer was first launched by Steve Jobs in 1977, being the first computer with a keyboard and color screen. I had just started my University education in Australia and the only computer we had then was the PDP 11 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was a 16-bit minicomputer that had a card reader to feed data to the computer!

My interest in the microcomputer came after I had gone home to work after graduation. As a 3rd world country, the original Apple II was quite expensive. We got interested in the Apple compatibles in 1985 and seen in the photo above is the Med Fly model that originated in Europe which has a symbolic name of the Mediterranean fly that killed the apple orchards of the farmers!

It was such a wonderful tool to learn the basics of microcomputers and guess who became the first system support personnel when we found customers to buy these new computers? The account was journalized in an early post at the beginning of this blog.

I soon found myself in a Comdex Computer show in Las Vegas USA where 16 bit IBM PC compatibles were making their debut such as the Eagle Computer from Los Gatos California. IBM had earlier launched their 16bit computers using PC DOS operating system from Microsoft. Eagle like Compaq and many other companies later began producing IBM compatibles that used the MS DOS operating system which meant they could run all software programs produced for the PC DOS operating system which IBM PCs used. This was how the IBM PC compatible industry was started with Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft being the genius behind it.

This was the beginning of ITC Group & Associates with my first company, which I had co-founded with a programmer named Alvin Tan, that began with the business of computer hardware and softwares that were IBM PC compatible. 

Seen above is Alvin giving me the technical support while I headed the management and marketing of our business. We rode the waves of the sunrise industry, taking us to the global community to acquire new products or sell our own technology that we had created, eg in the world renowned CEBIT Hannover Fair. Some of our achievements received press media coverage that are found here

My intelligent wife that started with 8 bit systems had now advanced to 16 bit PCs

Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft were the competing icons of the two microcomputer systems that were flooding the world ie the Apple computer with their Apple DOS and the IBM PC and compatibles using PC DOS and MS DOS.

Steve Jobs later shocked the world when he left Apple to start a new venture called NeXT on 12 Oct 1988:

Computer hardware technology was certainly advancing at great speed. However in my opinion, it was not until the internet or a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities that really made computers powerful! In the yearend of 1997 when our last child was born, my oldest child and daughter was playing with "Tripod" and I explored it to produce my first online website here.

It was not until the year 2010 that I got an Apple Mac Pro computer as prices were beginning to become more competitive. I like the Apple computer for its superior graphic capabilities but somehow I cannot stop using the IBM PC compatible computers like Dell as the MS DOS operating system has too many software applications that I am dependent upon for my work and business. Maybe I'm the a annoying orange to Apple's products!

It is coincidental that on the date of 5th Oct which is my birthday, the same day that Steve Jobs passed away, I wrote a blog post for my daughter's birthday on 4th Oct US time, commenting that I had created a video clip for her using the Apple Mac computer!

His life and achievements can be read here.

A commencement address that he did at Stanford in 2005 which shares 3 stories of his life :

He passed away on 5th Oct 2011

Post-dated developments :

There have been claims in later years that these were the words of Steve Jobs as per the video below published in Youtube on Jan 29, 2016

The above video isn't working anymore that could be any reason in the free internet world. One could always find another like this one here that has over 800k viewers.

(Post-dated discovery: The new link also did not work over time.)

Text of what was claimed to be the last words spoken by Steve Job is copied and pasted below from the YouTube video found in the new link above.

"These were the last words of legendary Apple Visionary Steve Jobs, moments before he died...

I have come to the pinnacle of success in business.
In the eyes of others, my life has been the symbol of success.
However, apart from work, I have little joy. Finally, my wealth is simply a fact to which I am accustomed.
At this time, lying on the hospital bed and remembering all my life, I realize that all the accolades and riches of which I was once so proud, have become insignificant, with my imminent death.
In the dark, when I look at green lights, of the equipment for artificial respiration and feel the buzz of their mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of my approaching death looming over me.
Only now do I understand that once you accumulate enough money for the rest of your life, you have to pursue objectives that are not related to wealth.
It should be something more important:
For example, stories of love, art, dreams of my childhood.
No, stop pursuing wealth, it can only make a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God has made us one way, we can feel the love in the heart of each of us, and not illusions built by fame or money, like I made in my life, I cannot take them with me.
I can only take with me the memories that were strengthened by love.
This is the true wealth that will follow you; will accompany you, he will give strength and light to go ahead.
Love can travel thousands of miles and so life has no limits. Move to where you want to go. Strive to reach the goals you want to achieve. Everything is in your heart and in your hands.
What is the world's most expensive bed? The hospital bed.
You, if you have money, you can hire someone to drive your car, but you cannot hire someone to take your illness that is killing you.
Material things lost can be found. But one thing you can never find once you have lost it, is life.
Whatever stage of life where we are right now, at the end we will have to face the day when the curtain falls.
Please treasure your family love, love for your spouse, love for your friends...
Treat everyone well and stay friendly with your neighbors.

Moments after speaking these words, that he had asked to be written down, Steve Jobs, aged 56, passed away."

The webpage to debunk the claim is found here https://goo.gl/iLEBU2  that was published on Feb 18, 2016 by Dr Adrian Wong, a Malaysian whose facebook account is here : https://goo.gl/xePGe1

'
From the webpage, the following is extracted :

Steve Jobs did not pursue wealth, only his vision for Apple

The fake quote alludes to a mindless pursuit of wealth. However, this cannot be further from the truth, because Steve Jobs has been earning a cool annual salary of $1 since he returned to a struggling Apple in 1997.

He’s not the only corporate executive to do this, of course, as they can be compensated through bonuses, stock options, etc. Steve Jobs is notable though for not taking any alternative form of compensation since 2003.

He took virtually nothing in compensation for his time and effort at Apple because he was not pursuing wealth, but his vision. His wealth, and his position at Apple, were the means to the end, not the goal itself.

I am not one close to the caliber of Steve Jobs but I have shared my life story of not pursuing wealth even at an early age shared here : https://goo.gl/8WSgIW  I have truly lived a happy life to this day following what I recall to be my passion and beliefs in life shared in my journals. I have already lived passed the age of Steve Jobs and look forward to living and doing more happy things that my passion and beliefs drive me to do.

Here is another excerpt from my writings found here : https://goo.gl/4Xw7Zq

Shared on 20 Sep 2016

Post-dated comments

5 Mar 2021

Fake quotation or news during this time of life is more visible evident in my research of US politics where two news stations, the CNN and FOX news could publicly report opposing facts noted by me in this journal.

Live Reflections on Su's birthday as I celebrate my own at the same time!

Put simply on why I feel happy today, my Joy and Happiness is being able to create on an apple Mac a video clip from my heart for Su's birthday celebrated in US on 4th Oct as I celebrate mine a day later. Due to time zone differences between America and Asia, it's like both of us are having our birthday at the same time.

There is Joy and Happiness as I do this on my birthday for two reasons. One is that I'm over half a century old and it tickles me to be able to continue learning new systems as the Mac computer runs quite differently from the Microsoft Personal Computer that I've been using for years since it first came out in the early 80s. The other is that reflecting on Su's life on her birthday as her father is itself a heart warming and joyful experience. I am just glad I am able to do it on this day expressed in pics and music to share with her on her special day. So why didn't I publish the video clip right at the beginning of this post to wish her Happy Birthday? Here is the reason and it's really cool as it ties in with my thoughts this moment as I reflect them on this post!

I was rushing to get it done in time, well at least while it's still the 4th in the US. I hardly touch my Mac as in as much as it is a fun tool to work or play on, too much of my work stuff and routines have been built around the PC. However I did my first video clip on the Mac for Fei last year after her wedding in Logan in May and didn't do another since then. So when inspiration/motivation came to me to do another for Su on her birthday, I struggled a bit to remember how to do it and when I finally got it made to post in on YouTube for her ...... I got the message as per the above screen capture,  "We are currently performing site maintenance. Be cool - we'll be back 100% in a bit. " 

Be cool it said?  Yes in as much as I was kind of anxious to get it to Su, I must say I was cool about it. Instead of reacting with frustration, I just quickly thought of alternative solutions to get it to her. So Su Min Liu, if you are reading this, Dad looked at the size of the video clip which was about 8.5mb and knew Gmail could handle the size and emailed it to you earlier!  Google said they will be back 100% in a bit so let's see how long that is because as soon as what I uploaded appears on my YouTube account, I will embed the video clip in one of the next paragraphs here. I was ready to post the video clip when I started the post about 8:11am this morning so let's see how long "a bit" takes! Well it's about 11:30am now and I've been out and back to check if it's been published but not yet after 3 hrs plus. Oh well Su has got it on the email while the rest can perhaps check out this first video clip I did for Fei Wyatt on my Mac after her wedding last year!

After lunch I checked again at my 2.15pm and discovered that my upload was unsuccessful with the message, "Failed (upload aborted)" 

So with patience and persistency, I attempted to upload again. After taking several minutes to see the progressive bar register full to indicate a 100%  upload, suddenly another new message appeared, "We are currently in read-only mode. Your upload will continue but will not go live or be editable until read-only mode is over."

I'm wondering in my mind, why didn't they just stop the uploading function for the time being and give out a warning notice that it is non-functional due to maintenance, upgrading, updating etc... instead of letting the patient user proceed to spend the many minutes trying to get a negative result at the end. Hahaha!

It is interesting to note that they then put out another notice about a new feature, "New! Edit your videos on YouTube to make them shine. Learn More" The 'Learn More' is of course a hyper link to pages of new features to read about or videos to watch and learn if you are still in the mood to try it! This negative mood certainly is not desirable by adults or children as this next video will show. Han our oldest boy in the family had demonstrated this in the mid 90s when Computer Aided Learning (CAL) was a hot topic in the country but unfortunately local developers who had capable technical minds to do the programming did not have adequate EQ understanding to avoid the following negative emotional response from Han. Let's take a look :

I am glad that he has learnt to manage his EQ better growing up, to become a more rounded person as described in his personal family profile, though he is still a very unique person in his ways.

As a pioneer in the computer or Information Technology industry all the children were exposed early to the latest technology but I was careful not to create narrow minded children driven solely by technology. The youngest children in our family today are even more exposed to technology, gadgets and games while Mom and Dad are keeping a watchful eye. The future is definitely being strongly driven by technology but the human mind is not a robot and cannot expect to function like the lesser intelligent computers created by man that merely run repetitive tasks. The fact that we see more and more people walking around looking into their cell phones or watching a video on their large light weighted pads oblivious of their surroundings, sometimes as an escape from the real world should be of some concern by our society. While technology creates the stress, it is sad to see profit making companies use technology to control our freedom and our thinking via subtle programs that suck up the life of many youths and even adults included in the name of reducing stress! Relationships are being greatly challenged as love become some what elusive and often described as complicating. I came across this dialogue of installing love to the human computer from a Facebook Friend Evelyn Lim through her Abundance Tapestry website. It's fun to read with a subtle message for all :

A customer ran into some computer problems and called the help desk for assistance. Here was how the conversation went….

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

God/Tech Support: You’re Welcome, Anytime.

— Anonymous

Ok YouTube is back and running normal about 6pm here so we did have to wait quite a bit since 8am in the morning to enjoy!

(Click this link if you don't see the video screen above.)

Happy Birthday Su Min LIU from everyone at Familylane! This video clip has been added to the post containing all the photos and videos of the trip to your wedding in the US found here.