Dawn

Apple

Apple has done it again. Check out the new Apple "tablet", known as the iPad, here. Competitively priced, this could change the whole playing field.

The iPad is basically an upsized iTouch. With a 10 hour battery life, it looks like a promising venture on Apple's part, especially after their previous failed attempt to enter the PDA market with the Newton. Personally, I wouldn't say that this competes with other tablets on the market. I think it competes more with eBook readers like the Kindle from Amazon and the Nook reader from Barnes and Noble. Its a more interactive reader that offers a larger range of featutes and connectivity options. The ebook store will also do for books, what the iTunes Music store did for records, it will shift the focus from conventional books to ebooks.

Look at the possibilities for a photographer. The ability to bring his portfolio along with him at all times (shown on such a brilliant display), the ability to shoot tethered from an iPad. Wow!

On another totally seperate note, the world makes sense again. Manchester United beat Manchester City 3-1 to enter the final of the Carling Cup Final 2010.

Whose that twat from Argentina???

Naming

I have to say that the Nissan Bluebird probably has the be the largest naming farce to grace the planet earth.

Fiction

Inspired by Shuning's post, I shall attempt to conquer some of the books that are listed on the following list.

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here.
How do your reading habits stack up?

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Just listing it down as a record of sorts. Will try to conquer it in order. Which kinda sucks as most of those that I want to read a further down the bottom.

Serenade

Listened to the above album and thought that I would give a mini-review of sorts.

The title of this album is "Painted Desert Serenade". Written by Joshua Kadison, this album has a very laid back feel. Through this album, Kadison mainly explores the theme of love.

In the title song, Kadison sings about his relationship with an old lady. It sings volumes about how love trenscends boundaries set by traditionalist. His voice matches the lyrics perfectly, bringing out all the hidden emotion of this song.

I would also recommend "Jessie" and "Mama's Arms". The former speaks about his longing for a girl that left him, but wants him back again, and the former is about a mother's love.

In all, I think this album is an awesome album and one that everyone should listen to and learn to appreciate.

Watson

Been listening to Russell Watson recently. Chanced upon this song "Catch The Tears". I think the chorus is very meaningful. And speaks true of many life situations.

Who's always there to catch the tears
When they fall
Who do you run to
Who do you always call
Who's there with the shoulder when you're feeling sad
When will you see me as more than that

Planimal

Came across this.

In short, the article writes about the discovery of a new creature that appears to be half animal, half plant. It appears that the slug has "stolen" the genes needed to allow the creature to photosynthesize.

They are even able to pass the genes to the next generation, although the babies will need to eat enough algae to steal the chloroplasts needed for photosynthesis to take place.

Imagine if we had chlorophyll in us....we would look like Na'vi's from the movie "Avatar" albeit green and not blue. And if we were broke, we would just lie in the sun to photosynthesize. Amazing!

Pop

Its pretty sad that after 22 years, Michael is still learning how to rock.

Cufflinks

Happy New Year!

No resolutions again this year. They are overrated and forces you to feel disappointed when you eventually realize that you aren't going to keep them.

Poetic

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Really poetic lyrics. I feel its one of the best songs ever written by The Beatles.

Plushie

As requested by Janice, I'm updating my blog.

Finally, a portrait of my favourite photo subject...my lion!

Alhambra

Tinge

Fly away 无穷无尽是你深邃的眼睛
看著你 就可以让我茫茫人海里感到安定

You never know do you?

Comfort in my time of need....

Random, unconnected thoughts....unconnected to you anyway.

Cheers!

Child

What brings about such a nature?

Why the pettiness of a seven-year-old?

Its amazing that you miss it when it perfectly describes what you are.

And i'm not talking about the child-like innocence.

But the petulance...the sheer behavioral nature of your actions.

Much like a school playground scuffle.

You carry the wounds with you through life....and possibly to your grave.

You are driving such a vessel, propelled by your severe insecurity and pathetic nature.

Hiding behind a shield of worldly pleasures.

Scared to face reality.....scared to face the world.

Failure.

Unbelievable...Purely, utterly unbelievable.

But I don't care. If anything, my overseas tour has taught me to effective block out emotions when things need to be done.

Woots! (Ok, that was pretty random. But who cares? Avogadro! Haha!)

Competition

Was reading the papers this morning can came across this letter on the forum page.

The writer is obviously writing this letter from the perspective of the consumer, without looking at this matter from the other side.

Why should Singtel accept Starhub's offer? I believe that Singtel paid a lot to secure "exclusive broadcasting rights" to the EPL. Why should they accept Starhub's offer? It doesn't make any sense no matter which way I look at it. The amount that Singtel earns from each customer paying for the sporting plan is marginal; maybe even at a loss. My guess is that their profits come mainly from customers subscribing to other channels at the same time, as well as the main, primary package. This razor-and-blade kind of business model would only work, if consumers purchase more than the main package. With such a huge fee being paid by Singtel, its hard to see how they would be making a substantial profit solely through sporting channels.

It is also likely that hardcore EPL fans will switch service providers in order to carry on watching the sport that many hold dear. So why give up this potential goldmine? No reason whatsoever...

Utterly ricidulous in my opinion.

Ouch

I feel like my gluts exploded

Liberation

Total liberation this time.

ORD Lo!!!

Shooting

Finally got down to shooting. Been kinda out of form recently. Need to get the spark going again. But hey, at least I got down to doing something.

Concert

Woots! She is finally coming! Haha

VLC

VLC is perfect sans for one small problem. The lack of controls in full screen mode. In most other areas, it performs well with little bugs.

Pensieve

It’s not very often that I reveal emotions on a public domain such as this. But I think this occasion certainly warrants such a post.

I have just returned to Singapore after an overseas stint.

Spending this amount of time away has led me to make many gains. I have learnt tons; much more than I would learn anywhere else during these two years. Learnt about the world, about human relations, about leadership and above all else, learnt more about myself.

But that is just a side story. This post is for the seven other dudes that helped me along the way. Of course, many others have shared my pain along this journey, especially friends in Singapore. But no one else has endured what we have. So here goes…

QX, don’t be so depressed yea? It will all be over soon. Remember what Ervin told us when we first got there? I have queued for my meal and have started to eat. Yours is coming soon. Hang in there.

Poon, thanks a billion for your help man. It really helped to have someone that I knew (albeit briefly) to go through shit. Been nice to know you better which I never had the chance to do so after I got out of kayaking. Cheers!

Chiam, my fellow Ninja buddy. I think we never give you enough credit for the work that you do and the help that you contribute. To top it off, we tease you and shit. But no hard feelings ya? ORD Lo!

Colin, hang in there. As I told QX, you turn is coming soon. Just suck it up and do it. You’re almost there. Still on for dinner on your ORD day?

YC, we have never had a terrific relationship. But life is like that. You will never go through it without conflict. Regardless, thanks for your help too! No hard feelings too

ZR, didn’t spend as much time with you as I did with the others due to your late arrival here. But I’m very happy that you came up here. See you for 鸡扒面 very soon.

Lastly, Ernest. You have always done the most shit work out of all of us. It has been nice working with you in the office when we had to push out multimedia stuff. Keep up with the exercise and you’ll tone up very well. You really looked very sad when you sent us off at the airport. Almost there yea! Hang in there!

Got through this unscathed, we have. Embark on the next journey of our lives, we will. I wish you all the best. It has been my pleasure to serve with you.

After all, the culture is strong…

Ramblings

Deep in my heart I'm concealing
Things that I'm longing to say

Tissue

I have never approved of using a packet of tissue as an ad-hoc "Reserved" sign. Seems that this lady doesn't too.

Just leave one person behind to watch the table. Wouldn't that be so much easier and more considerate.

Paradox

"This page is intentionally left blank"

Not very blank now is it?

Poken

Came across this recently and was rather impressed with it. Haven't had the time to look into how it works and the interface and stuff like that, but I can foresee one major problem with this.

Not many people will have it.

Hell

Hell knows no bounds.

It unleashes all its fury.

It uses us and then throws us to its hell hounds as chew toys.

By the end, we are all just chewed meat.

What glorious shit has been thrown into our faces.

What huge-ass arrows have come our way.

Asshats.

But I don't care. I am going to ORD.

Frozen

"Friendships freeze up, then dethaw..."

The word 'dethaw' was a little off...but the message came through loud and clear. Its been something on my mind for the past few days. As usual, questions but no solutions....

Thank you for being a sounding board. Means a lot to me :)

Actually to all you peeps who have lent me their ears, thank you!

Sucker

Why do we always end up being the suckers?

P.T Barnum once said

"There is a sucker born every minute"

How true...

Fight for it! Possible? Hope so...

Powershot

Canon has released an update to the G10. The G11 looks good in the press release.

At least there is some form of RAW support unlike the Panasonic LX3.

Why fix something that ain't broken. The G9 was awesome, the G10 slightly less so. Lets hope the G11 bucks the trend and improves.

Ape

Stupidity

Rare that I post twice in a day, but I came across something here that I really must talk about.

This lady (I shall try to be nice here) wants to ban all NSF's and NS men from taking public transport. She claims that she was on a bus when a group of "army boys" boarded. And they were sweaty and smelled.

I think that she has some serious issues.

Disturbing to know that there are people in Singapore who feel that they are not being well protected by the military force, but choosing not to migrate away. If she really feels that our servicemen are not doing a good enough job defending the nation, move! Get your lazy, rich, gigantic ass out of the nation.

What does she have against servicemen? She expects us to take a cab with what allowance we receive from the government. If she has such high standards, why doesn't she take a cab herself?

Retard in every bloody sense of the word. It is Singaporeans like that which disgust me...

Crushed

CS4

I have been looking at Adobe Photoshop CS4 and I must say, I am really impressed by what I see. It is a huge huge upgrade over CS3. I will talk about some features that really interests me.

Firstly, it is reported to be much faster than CS3. That alone is immensely important. The loading time for CS3 is really crappy. Coupled with the time taken to open files and save documents.

Secondly, there is this feature called "Content-aware Scaling". This feature allows the user to scale the background, without affecting the main subject much. For example, I have a picture of a cactus in a desert. I can scale the desert to any ratio without making it look weird. I cannot, on the other hand, do the same with the cactus. In the past, I would have to cut the cactus onto another layer and do the scaling. Now, Photoshop does it for me.

Thirdly, the panoramic stitching and tone mapping features are much better.

Lastly, is a feature listed as "Extended Depth-of-Field". This is the feature that I am most excited about. It allows one to create a single shot, from a series of shots that are focused on different point in the frame. This allows the creation of an image that is sharp front-to-back without stopping down the lens, losing sharpness in the process...

Pity my computer is unable to support it at the moment.

Nifty

I have been wondering why Olympus hasn't updated the pancake lens in a while. I'm sure many wouldn't mind sacrificing a little size to get a wider maximum aperture. Maybe something like a f/1.8 or even better, an f/1.4....imagine that...

Cloud

I have been thinking about backing up my data on the cloud. Just look at the benefits. Small monthly payment, secure backups, backups in a different location, automated backup process. Backblaze seems to fit my requirements fairly well. I probably should do a bit more research before I jump in though.

Detained

Having read in recent months about the unjust "imprisonment" of Aung San Suu Kyi, there are some thought that I feel I need to express.

For the uninformed, Ms. Suu Kyi is currently being detained by the Burmese Junta for infringing on the (ridiculous) terms of her house arrest. Sometime in mid-May 2009, an American by the name of John William Yettaw swam across the moat surrounding her place of residence. He was allowed to stay two days before he swam back.

Her trial is obviously unfair towards her. How can the prosecution be allowed 14 witnesses and her only allowed one (and this after two witnesses were rejected by the court).

She has been under house arrest in 13 of the past 19 years. My guess is that she will be under it for a lot longer as the Junta attempts to hold power. Power which does not rightfully belong to them. Ms. Suu Kyi actually won the 1990 general elections and should have rightfully claimed the title of Prime Minister, but the Junta refused to hand over power and placed her under house arrest.

How will this trial play out, I do not know. Fairly I hope...

Iraheta

Woots! Allison Iraheta is releasing an album under the same label as Allen and Lambert. It would be interesting to find out if it will play out like the Clay-Ruben saga in which the runner-up becomes more successful than the winner.

3.0

iPhone 3.0. The long awaited update to the iPhone. It looks good. Better security, improved camera. Longer battery life. There even is a feature to prevent your iPhone from getting stolen, or worse, let your data get into the wrong hands.

Coming to Singapore in July '09. Look for it.

Interesting that the iPhone update came near the release of the Palm Pre. Looks like a war for the smartphone market is coming up. And that only means one thing, better phones at cheaper prices.

Allen

Haha. Kris won...Woots

Lambert

Adam Lambert will win American Idol. I am not saying this from a fan boy perspective. In fact, I do not like his singing and very much would prefer Kris Allen to win. His singing really tugs more at one's heartstrings. But back to the point, this is why Adam will win.

Humans are selfish and loyal. If fact, they are loyally selfish and selfishly loyal. When ones favourite is knocked out of the competition, there is a natural tendency to stop voting. So if you divide the rest of America into 4 main groups, it is obvious who will win.

Dividing into "Straight Men", "Gay Men", "Straight Women" and "Gay Women", you can almost assign who will vote for whom. The homosexual group will vote for Adam because there are reports that he is gay, the straight women will vote for Adam because he is hot. And the Straight Men will vote for Kris because he is the only other one left.

Of course, this goes by the assumption that America votes primarily on race, gender and religous loyalties rather than by vocal ability. And that is an assumption that one can readily make looking at the history of American Idol. Look at it, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard winning while Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, Blake Lewis, Katherine McPhee coming in short.

I really hope that I am wrong here though. This is one time where I would love to be proven wrong.

Windows

They say that eyes are the windows to the soul. But are they? True, they may shed some light on what deep, inner thoughts lie within the individual, but at the same time, such hidden emotions may remain as such, hidden. Beneath a bright, jovial, positive could lie a sea of self-doubt and sadness. Eyes may be the windows to the soul. But just as curtains and blinds distort what others see, do not judge a person by his outer self.

Random ramblings.....thought-provoking, but random. And here is the photo that sparked this train of thought off.

Idol

I have been watching the American Idol finals with some sort of a renewed vigour this season. Some of the contestants that I liked didn't make it from the Top 36 into the Top 13. I shall share some of my thought about the contestants this year as I feel that this is the strongest group that I have seen. Never really got into feeling Jasmine, Alexis, Anoop and Jorge. Couldn't connect with them. Especially Anoop. Really hate his performaces. Can't understand why the judges like him. But well, its their opinion. Adam Lambert...Great vocals but crappy stage presence. His swagger is really irritating at times. But his "Black Or White" was somewhat amazing if you close your eyes and focus solely on the vocals. Michael was an average singer at best, but was really let down by some song choices. Allison is really great. She manages to put a rock twist on all her songs. Really calm and composed for a 16 year old. She is just 16 but woah....Excellent vocals. Scott is really getting to me. Some people (Liju...and Liju...and Liju) don't like his voice or his performance. But he is really sincere about what he does and I can feel that he is trying to connect with the audience. Matt is great. Period. Danny is good. But couldn't connect with him till this week. Much like Lil' and Kris. Only recently have I opened up to them. I really liked Megan. She had this unique quality to her voice that I found endearing and really nice. Pity she is out though. Bad song choices in the last couple of weeks. Eagerly awaiting the finals. Should be a tough call to make given the strength of the talent pool this year. Will be fun to watch.

Return

In about 24 hours I shall return to a location that I will call home for the next 6 months.

Fallen

No, not me. But sounds like a good caption.



Stand tall.

Noise

I need a camera with much better low light performance. The amount of noise created is sick.

Honestly sick.

There is so much noise that detail is being taken out.

And I wish Olympus would release an update to their 25mm (EFL 50mm) f2.8 pancake lens.

Hopefully a 25mm f1.4 or f1.8 lens.

Now that would be good...The bokeh would be beautiful.

Innovation

One look at the new iPod Shuffle and it is evident that it is an Apple product.

The clean lines...

The curves...

The elegant design...

But there seems to be something missing. No, I do not mean buttons.

I mean Mr. Jobs.

Its just different. I cannot understand why they would move the buttons onto the earphones. That would mean that third party earphones will not work without an adapter.

The difference here is that Steve Jobs would be able to convince you that having the button on the earphones is a major improvement. He would be able to sell this "imperfection" (for lack of a better word).

Without Steve Jobs, there would be no Apple today.

Without Steve Jobs, will there be an Apple tomorrow?

Climb

C'mon....keep climbing.....Don't stop....

Touchdown

Back.

Bankrupt

It is reported here that Ritz Camera is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

For those who do not know, Ritz Camera is the largest camera reseller in the United States of America. They owe Canon and Nikon a total sum of USD$40m, broken down into USD$26m to Canon and the rest to Nikon.

The only conceivable reason that such a huge retailer will fall is that customers are moving towards buying their purchases online. The only reason that I would buy something from a reseller, is the value-added services that they provide. There is no way that they would be able to match Amazon in price.

Perhaps this is the only way to survive in such a cut-throat business world. You have to provide excellent service.

On another note, Annie Leibovitz, one of the most celebrated portrait photographers has put up the rights to all her photos as collateral in exchange for a 15.5 million dollar loan.

Woah....

I mean, Annie Leibovitz is one of the most successful photographers, possibly ranking along side people like Ansel Adams. For her to be facing such a financial catastrophe is unthinkable. She must be damn bloody cock-sure that she will pay off her debts though.

Interesting......

Slow

I can't take it anymore

No more shit

I'm starting to get desperate.

My laptop is running too slow....Reformat......

Yes! Reformat.

Norm

Why are people so afraid of change? The comfort of the present?

If it ain't broke, should we fix it?

Even technology conforms to the norm. A camera sensor would see the world to be 18% grey, depressing as that sounds.

Change? Change is the only constant.

Thoughts

I have been in a strangely pensive mood recently.

Thinking about things that are far beyond my control. Even for things that are within my control, I have been thinking way too deeply. Some nights I am exhausted, but I just can't seem to fall into a peaceful slumber. Its like my body wants to shut down, but my brain just keeps working. If only I could study while I was asleep, that would be cool.

Talking about studying while I was asleep, a few nights ago, I dreamt that I was calculating ionic character. Interesting, considering that I read through the formula about a week back, but can't recall it.

Questions

Many questions, no answers.

Somebody help me.

Megapixel

Was listening to a podcast when a debate over the megapixel war began.

I think not many people will agree with me, but the number of megapixels are really unimportant. When you go to any consumer-orientated electronic store and ask about a specific camera model, the salesperson will almost definitely say "This camera has xx.x megapixels".

So what? Does the number of megapixels really determine how great your photo is? In order to fit the same number of megapixels on a sensor of equal size, the manufacturers essentially increase the number of individual sensor pixels while at the same time, shrinking them. This leads the less light being captured, forcing the camera to increase the voltage to the sensor.

At the end, all you have is a noisy photo.

Why do people think that resolution and picture quality are the same thing? And honestly, you will only need high resolution images if you want to print them. Even if you were printing images, a 3MP camera would produce beautiful A4 sized prints.

I would buy a point-and-shoot with a 3-4MP sensor, RAW capture, a hotshoe mount and ISO up to 3200, maybe even 6400. Just so that I can get beautiful, noise free images in the day, and usable pictures taken in the dark.

Stop the megapixel war and focus on other things that matter more like reducing noise at high ISO and improving the optics of consumer cameras.

Litmus

I have been missing for a while. Reason being that I have been quite busy these couple of weeks. No cause for concern though. I'm fine and well.

Was reading and found out that litmus paper is just paper soaked in a litmus solution. Litmus is basically a weak acid that is red in colour. Its conjugate base is blue. So when hydrogen ions are added, by Le-Chateliers Principle, the position of equilibrium shifts and it turns red.

Cool huh?

Reflections

Happy New Year to all.

I really do not know how to describe my 2008. It started off with my enlistment into the SAF. My failure to get into command school and my disappointingly average A-Level grades. Then came my overseas posting which luckily, came attached with a 5-month long experience in HQ Armour.

It has been a good journey so far. No doubt, it came with its own share of heartbreaks and sorrows. Pain came and went, hardships have passed. But the happy memories of the year still remain.

I have to say that my decision to come here has been a very good one. It has taught me to value the simple things in life more. It taught me to be a lot more independent. I mean, I was independent to begin with, but this has brought the game to a whole new level.

However, the most important lesson that I have learnt is to look for the positives in life. This is something that everyone should try and inculcate. It changes ones whole outlook on life and on key events that may happen.

I hope 2009 will be a much better year for all. No resolutions for me. They are overrated and forces you to try and adhere to something that you do not enjoy, only for you to think back at the end of the year and realise that your resolutions were not kept.

Hallelujah

After reading that another version of "Hallelujah", originally written by Leonard Cohen has topped the charts ahead of the Jeff Buckley version, I had to take a listen.

I conclude that some people do not care what they listen to. Admittedly, the Alexandra Burke version is not that bad. However, she used too much power in her voice. Using that power turned what was supposed to be a soft, personal song, into a blasting power ballad. It totally ruined the very nature of the song, along with the emotion that the original was trying to express.

Go listen to the Jeff Buckley version and be wowed.

Oil

Price of crude oil has plunged to a low of $33.87. This is dirt cheap in comparison to the $147 per barrel in July. Its interesting to see that the price of oil has dropped even though OPEC has cut production by 2.2 million barrels a day. This equilibrium price of oil means that the demand for oil is dropping even more than the supply. Weird in my opinion.

Perhaps the global economic downturn has had a tremendous impact, larger than I ever imagined.

Lets hope it picks up soon....

Courtesy

Haven't blogged in a while, so now I shall say something that I have always wanted to mention but never got around to it.

Having been away in a foreign land for approximately 10 weeks, I can honestly tell you that Singaporean's are lacking in a specific virtue called courtesy. But this, I am not referring to everyone, but rather a small group of people who soil the name of our fellow countrymen

Perhaps it stems from the "Kiasu-ism" in all of us, or the need to be first in everything.

I was reading the basic driving theory handbook the other day and there are only two times you can use the car horn in Brunei. I cant remember the specific details but there is a huge difference between Brunei and Singapore where the horn is used at every opportunity.

In Singapore, it is a fairly common sight for people to squeeze into the MRT when others are trying to alight. Look at it this way. The door can fit an average of three normal-sized people. Wouldn't it be better for everyone to alight in rows of three (not perfectly of course) before everyone alights? I think it will be better than two lines pushing in while one line pushes out. Everyone gets out faster, and everyone gets in with less agrivation. A win-win situation.

Lets all be just a bit more courteous and live happier.

Nikon

Though I have no real brand loyalty due to the lack of lenses, I have always been slightly partial towards a Nikon system. This shows why I really need a D3.

D3 with
AF 50mm f/1.4D
AF-S 14-24mm
AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S VR 70-200mm
Nikon 2.0x TC 20E II
Nikon SB-900

Maybe I should just be contented with a D90 kit. Maybe not...

Photography

My relationship with the above mentioned hobby is a real love-hate affair. The stress of shooting on demand, the pain in waiting for your shot, the agony of seeing a bad photo. But then, there is the pleasure of taking a great shot, the musical sound of the shutter, the amazing colours.

Anyway, I have many failings as a photographer. My greatest failure used to be portraits. I have since improved due to recent happenings. This is one of my keepers.

Phthalates

Read this article about the fact that phthalates are found in the earbuds shipped with iPhone and iPods around the world.

Phthalates are esters and are commonly added to plastics to increase their flexibility. Experiments involving the exposure of rodents to phthalates have been conducted and high levels of exposure has been shown to cause hormornal changes, causing birth defects.

It has also been known to interfere with reproductive organs, especially for males.

These earbuds are not that fantastic anyway. In fact, they are plain bad.

So for the sake of future generations and your ears, please dump these earbuds for a proper pair of earphones.

Height

Today a paedophillic fellow comrade of mine said that "tall people earn more".

We all called him a cock-assed freak and asked him to shut his ass and start shitting through his mouth.

But I was still curious. So I went to search and found this.

Interesting. Lets hope I am not an anomaly.

For the sake of my vertically challenged friends like Liju and Shuning, lets hope they don't follow the trend. Or maybe go for a knee job?

HIV

I read this BBC News article. It is amazing that such a thing can happen.

I think this discovery could open many doors for HIV cure if it is indeed true. It would help everyone in understanding how this virus works and how it infects the human cells.

Amazing ain't it?

Emancipation

Ok, maybe not total emancipation.

Today is a special day. And that is because...

I'm one year from ORD

Frazzled

Been feeling kind of frazzled these few days.

Anyway, my Brunei number is (+673) 8890xxx where xxx are three whole numbers between 0-9 that I shall not reveal on a public domain. But if you get a call or sms from a +673 number, its probably me.

Rants

Insane.

Bloody insane.

Its seriously crazy.

How?

Why?

Can I?

Am I?

Help...

Macbook

After waiting 7 day for the video podcast to finish downloading, I have finally watched the keynote presentation.

Apple has done it again. They have reinvented their products like no other.

Just look at the merits of the new Macbook over the old one. Nvidia graphics over Intel graphics. New glass trackpad that doubles as a button. Aluminium enclosure.

I just hope that the hard disk and random access memory are still user-upgradable without the voiding of warranty.

Amazing product by an amazing company.

Truly, the key to gaining a market share in todays cut-throat IT industry is through re-invention and good products.

Mole

Dear all,

Today, the 23rd of October marks a very special day. So..

Happy Mole Day!

Alive

Well. I'm still alive. Came back from the jungles with a sunburn and a bad ulcer on my lip thanks to Daniel. But not his fault.

Anyway i'm still adjusting to life here. But brighter prospects await me.

Updates

Anyway, like you guys know. I'm in Brunei. Apart from the PT, life here is quite ok.

Some of you know I was supposed to fly on Sunday morning on an SQ flight. And that I got bumped to a Saturday morning chartered flight by Royal Brunei. Was pretty bummed that I "downgraded" from an SQ flight to a BI flight. And that SAF "ate" my Saturday. Well, turned out pretty well. And that is because.........we sat Business!

The seats were awesome...The meals were warm...When reclined fully, they are a dream to sleep on...

Anyway, I'm going outfield from tomorrow to Thursday. So I will be largely uncontactable. See ya then!

Brunei

Hi. I'm in Brunei safely already.

Thanks to Valerie, XX, Huiying, Alison, Shuning, Lau, Liju, Minyang, Ronald, Eggy, Desheng, Galvyn, Pakheng, Zhongru and Nat for the well wishes. Also to Kangs and Roobs for coming down.

Oh yes, it is free for you guys to sms me from Singapore. You just pay the normal local sms charge. And its free to receive for me. So spam away.... Even though I may not be able to reply all the time, it feels really good to receive an sms from friends back home. Unless you have experienced that kind of warmth, you will never know how it feels.

Sad I may be, defeated I am not, Press on I shall, Victorious I will be.

Leaving

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking
Its early morn
The taxis waiting
Hes blowing his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

I'll still be contactable by all the usual means though. Email, MSN, Facebook etc...

Pictures

Marketing

Was browsing the iTunes Apps Store a few days back, prompted by a link posted on another blog. Apps are popping out for free like rabbits spawn their young. Its uncontrollable.

Just think about what a great marketing strategy this Apps Store and the iTMS bring. The apps cost Apple nothing, but will prompt more people to obtain either an iPod Touch or an iPhone. They have also said that they actually earn close to nothing for each song sold on the iTMS. But think about how many people bought iPods just to be able to purchase high quality and most importantly, DRM-free songs. Jobs once said "People want to own their music". How true is this. Some online music businesses merely let you "rent" their music.

Truly, Apple is a marketing wonder. One that almost every other company should learn to emulate. But then again, there can only be on Apple.

Musical

Caught Mamma Mia! on Wednesday. As far as musical films go, this film rates among the very best. Granted that the stage version was better, but comparing musical films against other musical films, no fight. Its among the league of "Moulin Rouge", "Grease" and "Hairspray".

One major flaw was Pierce Brosnan. He is so much more comfortable with himself saving the world. He sounds like a donkey with a cactus poked up its ass.

Overall, I rate it 7.5/10. Meryl Streep gets a 8.75/10 though. She was amazing. Almost flawless performance. Her singing was great. She could put so much emotion and feelings into the song. Its unbelievable.

I should watch Phantom soon though. Never watched it, but I love the soundtrack though.

Binary

Was reading an article and was reminded of a quote I love,

There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Service

Till now, I felt that only Apple had a decent RMA procedure where service, location and time taken is considered. Now I have found another company. Western Digital.

Recently I had to RMA one of my drives. Please, no questions asking me which one. But anyway, I went down one day. Admittedly, finding the correct building was not easy without a map, but I managed. Took a temp pass from the security counter and proceeded to RMA my drive.

Before hand, a RMA application would have to be done online. When I met the lady, and gave her my RMA number, she went to a room and printed some documents on which I had to sign. Then. it was done. All in a matter of about 10 mins. And the best part, they deliver the drive to your doorstep. Now, what else can be stopping others from buying WD drives? I see no reason.

Dilemma

What should I do? Decision, choices....

Anyway, finally we see some glimmer of the Manchester United I used to know.

There are two great teams in Manchester. Manchester United and Manchester United Reserves.

Sigh

Another draw....Where is the Manchester United that crushed the competition last season?

Rig

There was a thread about what your audio equipment is like to you. So here goes...

My rig is like a girl. The perfect girl.

Small in size, but with the mental capacity to withstand everything life throws at her.
Warm and bright.
Always singing, never nagging.
Shows you the light when you feel like there is no hope.
Well taken care off.
Big heart (Wide Soundstage).
Dependable.
Sporty.
Analytical.

This should change everytime I upgrade my rig. But it is highly unlikely to change much. Such is the sound signature that I love. Well, customs will just make it perfect. Then my rig will be exclusive! Hmm, maybe I should name my rig...any ideas Mr. Xie?

Friendship

Today I saw Kyne's PM. It read,

"Friendship is like peeing on yourself; Everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling it brings"

This statement is true on so many different levels. How many times was it a friend that saved your ass? Like one coming to call you when you were late for your chemistry exam? A friend is one that won't get angry when you arrow him, whether on purpose or by accident. A friend is one that you will miss. A friend is one that you can make fun off constantly, and know that he will not get angry with you.

Keep your friends close. You never know when you will lose them. It took the departure of Alison to China to realize that your friends will not always be there for you. Taking your friends for granted is something that most of us are guilty of. I am no exception, but leaving for Brunei puts things into perspective. It makes you value them even more.

Pee on yourself today. Better still, pee on your friends. Share the warmth. Treasure your friends, for you never know when they will leave you, temporarily or for good.

Forward

I have passed both my FFI's and thus, I am eligible for deployment to Brunei. Only OM course is between me and the unknown. Of course, clearance must be done. Feels like ORD man!

Recently, I have rediscovered my love of classical music, catalyzed by a friend and her love for "Nodame Cantabile". I really should watch the full series soon. Sounds really good and musical.

On a side note, "Mamma Mia!" is opening soon.

And on another side note, new iPods are being released tomorrow. I hope the audio quality doesn't degrade. When moving from the Video (5G/5.5G) to the Classic (6G), they changed the DAC from Wolfson to some other brand, thereby changing the sound signature from a very warm sounding one to a very analytical one. Lets see what the new one is like.

Joke

Here is "The Perfect Joke" taken from a Forum I frequent.

Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road, when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.

There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.

Soon they were driving along delivering the toys.

Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple; and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident.

Question: Who was the survivor?
(Scroll down for the answer. Trust me, it's worth it)
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Answer: The perfect woman survived. She's the only one who really existed in the first place.

Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

Women stop reading here, that is the end of the joke.

Men keep scrolling.

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So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the woman must have been driving. This explains why there was a car accident.
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Men Keep Scrolling

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By the way, if you're a woman and you're still reading, this illustrates another point

Women never listen.

Angels

"Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love"

All through life, we will be touched by angels at some point or another. Angels that bring joy into your life. Angels that help you through troubled times. Angels that drag you down the journey of life. Angels that care.

All the time, we are surrounded by angels whether we know it or not. Be an angel. Touch the life of someone around you.

Parallel

Anyone find that parallel lines are really elegant. Perfectly straight (in theory), never meeting, but appearing to converge. Elegance in a picture.

Personality

Interesting. Under Pearlicia's suggestion, I retook the MBTI assessment. Turns out my personality type has changed from ENTJ to ESTJ. Not a major difference, just that now I am more inclined to use my five-senses instead of my intuition to make a judgement.

Adiós

I just came back from the airport sending Alison off. Sad as I am to see her leave, I'm delighted that at least I had the chance to meet up with her. Pity didn't take a photo with her. But like Reuben and I agreed, if its important enough, it will always be in your heart or mind. Will definitely miss her though.

Till we meet again...

"Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for"

Phelps

At breakfast that day, we came to the conclusion that Phelps looks mildly autistic and that anyone who thinks that Phelps looks good has some serious issues. Below is a picture to prove our point.

iPhone

Dear all, the price plans for the iPhone have been released. They can be found here. Prices were about what I expected.

Hybridisation

I have begun to read up on some basic organic chemistry. Currently still trying to firm up the concept of orbital hybridisation.

The concept is simple. With respect to carbon, an electron in the doubly-filled 2s orbital is promoted to the empty 2p orbital forming 4 singly-filled orbitals. This state is known as the higher energy electonic state of carbon. The 4 singly filled orbitals then hybridise in different combinations to form hybrid orbitals. It is hybridisation that allows carbon to form 4 bonds per molecule.

Satisfied with my understanding, I ran with Colin today. We were talking about chemistry and normality and stuff. Then he asked an excellent question. He wondered where the energy for hybridisation (namely the initial promotion of the 2s electron to the 2p orbital) came from?

Anyone knows? Now I'm unsatisfied.

Rest

I'm at home for reasons which I shall not reveal.

Meanwhile, Berbatov seems to be moving to Manchester United as seen here. Finally we have someone to play alongside Tevez. I feel that this strike partnership will work as they seem to have complementary playing styles. Imagine a formation like this:

Van der Saar in Goal
Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra covering the defence.
Ronaldo, Scholes, Nani/Giggs playing a three man midfield.
Rooney in the hole.
Tevez, Berbatov up front.

And look at who we have for backup. Anderson, Hargreaves, Brown, Park, Carrick, O'Shea, The Da Silva twins, Flecteher....

Looks like we have another serious title contender on our hands.

That being said, I think we need to find a replacement for Van der Saar soon. He is not getting any younger and who knows when he will announce his retirement. Foster looks promising but someone needs to fill the gap before Ben Foster takes his place between the posts. Kuszczak doesn't have the quality to do the job in my opinion.

Cork-Sniffer

To all you cork-sniffers out there. Came across this site. Try it. It has two tracks in mp3 format. One ripped at a much higher bitrate than the other (128kbps and 320 kbps to be exact).

I got it right using the headphone out of my laptop to a pair of Koss Portapros.

Imagine the difference if I used an iMod to a Hornet to a TF10. Pity I can't extract the mp3's from the site and put into my iPod.

Hi-Fi

Stumbled upon this article. Turns out that recording companies are also to blame for the sound quality reduction in music today.

Its a long article and I had to read it slowly to fully comprehend the content of it. It seems that sound engineers these days are making albums louder that they did in the past. Those who have used Sound Forge or Audacity would know that when the volume is increased, detail is lost through clipping. Page 7 of the article which can be found here fully illustrates my point.

Maybe that is why instrumental records mastered in the 1980's and early 1990's sound so much clearer that what can be found today.

Absent

Where are you?

Hidden behind a veil of sadness or totally lost in the abyss of life?

Temporarily missing or away for good?

Why?

Please come back...

Graphs

Was given a link via MSN by The Arbiter about the power of graphs.

Check it out here.

Anyone care to explain the Too Sexy? and the flowchart one.

Life

The fragility of life.

In 6 days, on the 7th of August, I shall turn 19. Being alive is something I am thankful for.

Anyway, stay-in awaits me.

Why

Shit happens

Quality

Read an article yesterday. This article talks about how the iPod has reduced sound quality to "Fisher-Price toy levels".

Well, I beg to differ with almost everything Mr. Neil Young says.

He claims that "Apple has taken a detour down the convenience highway" and this has caused the fall in audio quality levels. To save my live, I cannot see any sense in his argument. Yes, I agree that Apple has made it much easier for mere mortals to gain access to music. Yes, Apple has made it more convenient to not just bring music along with you, but bring all your music along with you. Yes, Apple has made it easier to cheaply obtain music legally through the iTunes Music Store (Though, sadly lacking in Singapore). But in no way can i see how this caused the fall in audio quality.

If music CD's are purchased and ripped into 320 kbps, WAV format or even better, FLAC or ALAC, how does that lower the sound quality? The CD was mastered in WAV format. Essentially, he is saying that making a exact copy of the music in its original format is reducing the quality. Its like saying that taking notes during a lecture will reduce the quality of the instuction.

El Weirdo also says that "We have beautiful computers now but high-resolution music is one of the missing elements". I have two bones to pick with this statement. First, who says that high-resolution music doesn't exist. And second, anyone who has seen an ASUS EEE PC can tell you that it is as far from beautiful as Arnold Schwarzenegger is from being a woman.

Funny enough, he does not blame comsumers from ripping songs at extremely low bitrates in shitty formats like Windows Media Audio (.wma) which i believe is the main cause. If anything, ignorance of the general public should be the main reason.

I'm surprised that someone with the mental capacity of a mealworm is able to identify blu-ray discs as the storage medium of the future.

Pi

Happy Pi Approximation Day.

Anyway, people who have commutted on the North-East Line would know that there are two LCD screens. I found out today that the two screens are not linked in nature. I noticed some discernable lag between the two screens. Weird for SBS Transit not to split one signal into two outputs.