It’s amazing when I look back now, DreamPlus Studio turning 6 next month! Until now, I am still grateful that I started DreamPlus Studio, and with the help and patient from so many people, I am able to pick things up bit by bit.  I have started out with zero knowledge on IT and web, but today I can at least do up a simple site for people. Although it may not sound alot here, but at least for me I can tell people that I uses my own effort, knowledge and hands to do it.

I have also learnt that its very important for us to complete every little task we have, and by doing so we are on our way to complete something big in the future. We should not ignore things that may seem small or unimportant to us, in fact I think its good if we can tackle those little things first, before we think or do big.

Coming back to DreamPlus Studio, it has first started out as my portfolio site, later on becoming a freelance design firm, and today my personal blog, anything that I like to blog about design, IT, business and life matters. Be it good or bad, for the past few years, you should be able to see most of them under this blog. They are all very important to me as part of the learning and growing process. All along, I have been treating the blog as my own archives, so that when I reference back, it can serve as a reminder for myself. You might not know, it can be interesting to read through some of the things you have wrote for the past few years too.

From zero knowledge on web, to starting up a new company doing web. From having someone to take care of my everyday living, to taking care of myself today. There are simply too many things for me to learn, as my sis has told me there are certainly more challenges ahead to tackle.

If you ask me how long I can take this, I’m not sure. But as long I can live until tomorrow, I have the resources and people to help me along. I shall continue to pick myself up and realize the unimaginable future…

About GeeksOnHigh!: Launched in Singapore on the 28th of Jan 2010, GeeksOnHigh! is a blog site exclusively designed and managed by Uniqueground. The whole blog is basically talking about the news and trends in technology, software, hardware, gadgets, open-source and web.

One thing that really set GeeksOnHigh! apart from the rest of the tech blogs is that, all its content are written by either designers or developers, most of the articles are based on personal findings and experience, therefore it can be very technical and descriptive at times. The main idea is to make the coverage more thorough or in-depth. Show your support by visiting: www.geeksonhigh.com

Ruby, Perl, PHP, Python or C? Sometimes its just hard for us to decide which one to use, as each one of them has got its pros and cons. However, after much consideration in terms of code readability, portability and speed, we have decided to stick to Python for Uniqueground’s underlying structure (including our web server).

Code readability refers to the uncluttered visual layout of Python coding, where English keywords are used to replace punctuation. And furthermore, Python uses whitespace indentation, rather than curly braces or keywords, to delimit blocks (a feature also known as the off-side rule). Portability refers to its availability ad support in all major operating systems: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS/2, Mac, Amiga, among others. Therefore, implementing it will have lesser trouble and easy to move it around. Last but not least, is of course the speed, which shall not be compromise in anyway. To read more about its features or advantages of Python, can refer to its official site.

Another reason that got us motivated to use Python, is probably due to its usage in many industry strong companies or system critical sites such as, Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Bit Torrent Client, NASA and etc. Therefore, Uniqueground can’t wait to join in the fun too, just stay tuned for now, while we are getting ready on the 30th of April 2010!

References: Wikipedia, Python.org

I definitely wanted to house Uniqueground under its own office space @ 11 Tampines Concourse (an Eco-friendly building design), I don’t know when but one day, it’s just a matter of time… This is a new 3-storey high building built by CDL, and its also known as the first CarbonNeutral Development in Singapore and Asia Pacific. Below is the map showing the eaxct location of the office:

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Following are the core features of the Tampines Concourse Building:

• A 3-storey office building with ground floor parking, raised floor of 150mm with 2.7m floor-to-false ceiling height, generous toilet facilities, 2 passenger and 1 service lifts, central air conditioning system and 24 hour CCTV surveillance system.
• First building project in Singapore to be constructed with a wide range of recycled materials for its structural building components. The “Green Concrete” that was used for Tampines Concourse comprises a number of sustainable materials, namely copper slag, recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS).
• Prominent green features include a natural day-lighting system to leverage on natural lighting in areas such as the atrium and lift lobbies.
• First development in Asia Pacific to incorporate an innovative, indoor non-compressor fresh air cooling system for smart temperature and humidity control. This system uses water as a cooling agent instead of ozone-depleting chemical refrigerants to cool incoming outdoor air through a natural heat exchange process.
• Together, these features are expected to result in energy savings of over 620,000 kWh per year, for the 108,000 lettable square feet complex, resulting in the lowering of the building’s carbon footprint.

Just less than 10 more days to go, and we will officially launch Uniqueground for business. What’s so unique about Uniqueground, you might ask. Read on to find out more about the philosophy behind…

The word ‘Unique’ remind us to stay radically distinctive in the way we do our work, the way we perceive matters, and the way we place ourselves in the business world and etc., something like one of its kind.

And at the same time, the word ‘ground’, remind us to focus on foundation, stay pratical and relevant to the things we do, especially to our customers and partners.

Therefore, when we pieced Unique + ground together, we hope to be different and yet realistic at the same time. It’s something of an art and science for us to learn, and we hope to make use of this opportunity to grow with Uniqueground.

I was having a casual talk with my friend yesterday, and at the same time asking him for some advice about Uniqueground, on how we can focus to bring Uniqueground to a better position in the market. I’m really glad that he has reminded me again to re-focus on the customers. Talk to them with less technical terms, and how you can help their companies to increase in sales for example.

It’s a tough competition out there, and many people are doing the same things as us. Therefore, in order to stand out from the crowd, we really have to focus on our customers, and deliver what’s relevant to them. Only give them what they need, and not anything else which may dilute or obstruct their objectives.

Another important factor that he highlighted to me, is to focus on integration, nowadays people do not just look out for one kind of service, they are expecting a one-stop solution to all their problems. If we can provide a more comprehensive service, people will be most willing to invest on us.

Last but not least, is to simplify the process for the customers, by giving them a “Big Picture” instead. “Big Picture” in the sense that they can understand our ideas better. Instead of beating around the bush, its best that we can get to the point straight, and solve the problems for them.

P.S. Just 15 more days to go, before we officially launch Uniqueground for business. Hope to see you soon…