National and "Water Appreciation" Day

Today is Malaysia's Independence Day. And today is also the day where a lot of people should think about the importance of water. There was diesel spillage yesterday morning (the cause differs from various reports, some said it was an overturned truck and the most recent, illegal factory discharge) and 4 water treatment plants had to shut down.

Apparently, at least a million people (my family and I included) were without water by late evening yesterday.This morning, people started rushing out to buy bottled water as if the apocalypse was upon us. Scary. It rained today and we did some rainwater harvesting! Yeah, we should do this more often!

I'm so glad water supply is restored at my area a couple of hours ago albeit with much lower than normal pressure. To the others who had still no water don't worry, it's coming!

Although it's almost over now, I can't help feeling thankful that I've been reminded we have clean water supply 99% of the time. Yes, we're lucky. Let's always appreciate water and not waste it! 

Macworld Remembers The Newton MessagePad

Macworld remembers the Newton MessagePad in its glorious pre-launch and its almost instant death post-launch aftermath... technology way ahead of its time that is succeeded now by iOS devices.

Shopping with high heels help to curb spending

If you are a big spender, consider wearing high heels.

A new BYU study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale.

via Phys.Org.

Someone awesome managed to turn his smartphone into a simple, distraction-free device... and be happy about it!

It takes a lot of courage to remove almost every app that makes a phone smart. The most I managed was to disable the “push” in my e-mail app but nothing else. My social media and news apps are all here whenever I get the chance to use them (yes, ADDICTION!). And it’s through one of these apps, Drippler to be precise, that I found this article about how this rare person opened his eyes to realise there is actually so much more out there than to stare at his smartphone (an iPhone in his case):

Maybe you can handle that temptation. Maybe you’ve got willpower. That’s great for you, but for me, willpower alone didn’t cut it. Checking email, checking Twitter, checking news. Wondering if something interesting was happening anywhere in the world. Wondering if anybody was thinking about me. It started taking away my appreciation of what was going on right then, in the real world. When I got bored for just a moment I’d take the phone out. And each time I was basically saying, “Gee, anything is better than this.”

I felt like my attention span–not so great to start with – was getting worse. My head was kind of buzzing around all the time. And for what? The things I read on the phone tended to make me feel at best unsatisfied (because there’s always more information out there that I haven’t seen) and at worst unproductive and uncool.

via Lifehacker.

Screen Sightedness

Eye sight problems (in this case myopia or short-sightedness) are so rampant since the days of computers made worse by smartphones and tablets that British eye surgeon David Allamby had given this phenomenon a name called “screen sightedness”:

Mr. Allamby also believes the problem could increase by 50% during the next decade, with the problem having become so common that he has given it a name: “screen sightedness.” Allamby contends that smartphone use, combined with with time spent using computers and watching television, is putting children and young people at risk of permanently damaging their eyesight, with excessive screen watching at close proximity keeping the genes that control myopia active sometimes long beyond the age that short-sighted sets would normally have stabilized (approximately age 21), in some instances even into the 40s. He predicts that 50% of 30-year-olds could have the problem by 2033.

And…

The Protect Your Eyesight Website explains that the human eye is not meant to spend hours focusing on objects at close range, and is in a naturally relaxed state when looking at something at further distances, approximately 7 feet and beyond. Additionally, research has shown that long hours spent on a computer or reading can lead to permanent damage caused by this “near-point stress.”

Besides that, this technologytell article also introduced to me the existence of trifocal glasses, something not quite commonly known:

A “do-all” solution is trifocal glasses with three lens planes, combining an upper segment for distance vision, a lower/bottom one for close work, and a third one for mid-range or screen distance in between. The downside of this is limited continuity of vision and peripheral distortion greater than with bifocals or single vision lenses. A trifocal variant is occupational “readables” with a relatively larger center zone for mid-range computer distance and proportionately smaller lower and upper zones for reading/close work and focusing at about 10 feet for “room-type vision” respectively. However, “readables” are not intended for driving and such because they don’t support true distance focus.

via technologytell.

Steve Ballmer's "Best" Moments

As Steve Ballmer announced his retirement, PCWorld put up a compilation of interesting quotes and moments of Microsoft's animated executive. I was totally amused by the video of him pushing Windows 1.0 and XP.

Gotham's getting a new hero it probably doesn't deserve right now...

Ben Affleck is the new Batman in the upcoming 2015 Superman vs. Batman movie.

You can see the above in its animated gif form at Mashable.

Is Coffee Good or Bad For Your Health?

CNN has a report for you coffee addicts. Apparently, there's a study that implied 4 or more cups a day could be bad but it's inconclusive because there may be other causes. Other studies indicate coffee may help prevent Alzheimer's. So, errr... there's really no answer to the question if coffee is good or bad for health. Best bet, drink in moderation.

Is it really "Her"?

A movie about a dude falling in love with a cyborg or even a mannequin I get it but a movie about a dude (Joaquin Phoenix) falling in love with an operating system (Scarlett Johansson)... that's art (!?).

Sony Innovates - "Lens Cameras" for Phones

Sony has been brilliant again. Rumoured "Lens Camera" that clip onto the phone and interface via an app using wifi. Unlike clip-on lenses, it comes with its own lens and sensor, making it independent of the phone's built-in camera. Apparently, there will be two models, one with more zoom range while another comes with a large 1" sensor, similar to the one used in Sony's popular RX100 series.

If this is true, I'd say Sony is innovating quite well lately and could be spearheading a new form of photography here.

first read on Cult of Mac. photo via SonyAlphaRumors.com.

Update! Yes, rejoice because the rumours are true! DSC-QX10 retails at US$249 while the DSC-QX100 will set you back US$499. Enjoy the official video below:

PIS for "Passenger Information System"

Sorry for my ignorance. I never knew our RapidKL public transport buses had been upgraded with an electronic passenger information system (and for some reason it’s shortened as PIS) as recently as April. The system displays at least the expected arrival time of the buses and are linked to the GPS installed in the vehicles. Excellent stuff. Our buses will finally be punctual, or if they are late, we will finally know when they will arrive. There is, however, almost always a but:

Certain terminals did not have the system in place, at others, the system was not functioning. This left the commuters with no choice but to wait, not knowing when the next bus to their destination would arrive.

via The Malaysian Insider.

The Conjuring Review

I love horror movies but I’ll avoid them because those really good ones are scary! One such movie is the currentThe Conjuring. The first trailer was already scary and I should have known better because this is by the same people that did last year’s Insidious (a sequel is coming) which was also excellent. The sound effects played a big part and it was done well. Glimpses of the horrors were also done in a creepy way that sent goose bumps up my body.

The actors were also excellent while the plot (based on a true story) was rather normal - a house with evil spirits that would terrorise the family that moved in.

The plot? Sounds like the used till death kind of storyline. 2/5
Scary? You bet! 4/5
Good script and acting? 4/5
Effects? Realistic enough to be scary. 3/5
Overall a must watch, especially those horror enthusiasts. 4/5

Leaving you with that scary teaser trailer that I mentioned earlier:

2012 State of the Climate Report

A report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists with contributions from 384 scientists from 52 countries:

Last year was one of the 10 hottest on record, with sea levels at record highs, Arctic ice at historic lows and extreme weather in various corners of the globe signaling a “new normal”.

via Reuters.

Green Tea Overdose

Overdosing myself with green tea while waiting for my mid-year review with bosses.

1,600 Panda Sculptures in Germany Mark WWF's 50th Anniversary

I'm delighted to learn that the World Wildlife Fund placed 1,600 panda sculptures in Germany to mark the body's 50th anniversary. The 1,600 sculptures also represent the same amount of pandas remaining in the wild. A sad truth but conservation efforts are ongoing.

First read about it via The Sun.

Microbeads In Scrubs Are Pollutants, Too!

It’s terrifying to know that microbeads used in scrubs are just as bad pollutants as their bigger plastic “cousins”.

It’s possible fish are eating the pellets, believing them to be eggs, he added. That’s worrisome, because plastics tend to absorb pollutants such as PCBs, pesticides and motor oil. The pellets could therefore be poisoning the small fish that larger fish then prey on, and the larger fish are consumed by humans, posing a human health risk.

via CBC News thru @legalnomads.

Selamat Hari Raya 2013!

A rather interesting top view of the decor at 1 Utama in conjunction with the Hari Raya celebrations later this week. Taken with the iPhone’s panorama mode (from bottom to top) which would otherwise not be achievable for this view from where I’m standing. 

Caffeine In Coffee Quantified

Caffeine content in coffee from your favourite coffee chain beautifully illustrated in pie coffee charts:

via Co.CREATE.

Catch Notes Service Ends 30 August 2013

Catch Notes which was formerly known by a different name (something like 3banana, if I remember correctly) was my notes taking app of choice when I started off using an Android phone and still is my notes app on the iPhone so I was pretty sad having read from Engadget that the service is being terminated on August 30th this year.

Synaptics, the developer for Catch Notes didn’t give a reason other than that the company is heading towards a different direction. Looks like I’ll need to export my stuff to Evernote or maybe I’ll just use Google Drive. Sigh, nothing’s forever these days. I was just recovering from the demise of Google Reader recently.

Are you willing to pay a premium for quality mobile games?

Recently there had been articles about mobile games being too cheap to really earn a profit and some even mentioned that the in-app purchase format (I hate that!) is the way to go. Touch Arcade just wrote that XCOM: Enemy Unknown proved that there is still hope for highly priced games.

Honestly, I stand in-between. I'm too cheap to buy a US$19.99 game but I would rather pay up to US$1.99 (ok, ok if it's really good I'd pay US$4.99) for a decent game rather than download free games with tons of in-app purchases. My most expensive purchases had topped out at US$9.99 but those are for productivity apps. 

So where do you stand?