Happy New Year 2011!

Just as 2010 comes to an end in a few more minutes, I would like to share with you my favourite photo of the whole year, taken at Hong Kong Disneyland during a company trip. I'm not good with photographing people during their candid moments but somehow, while waiting for the parade to start and swinging my camera around I caught this interesting moment.

Hands down my favourite photo of 2010!

The Bali Ice Incident

The drink bali ice (or bali ping in Cantonese), folks, not the Bali in Indonesia with snow due to global climate change... yet. Had lunch just now and iced bali was my drink. The price - RM1.50. It surprised me a little considering a drink of iced bali was only RM1 in the southern region of Malaysia while here in the central region, outskirts of the heart of the capital the price is an extra 50%!

Factoring in rental, inflation and slightly higher standard of living, is the 50% higher price tag justifiable? This wouldn't have crossed my mind had I not been traveling to the south so often lately. Hmmm... wonder how much will iced bali be as we approach Chinese New Year. RM1.60? RM1.70? RM2? :O

All in the day of Boxing

Watched a rather effects laden Tron Legacy in 3D with my buds earlier today, discovered good and evil Gingerbread Men at Coffee Bean Mid Valley and then somehow, went on to be busy bodies at a what-appeared-to-be-partially-opened-SStwo Mall. All these on Boxing Day.

SStwo Mall Front Facade

Book fair at SStwo Mall

Setting Custom Ringtones for Android Phones

Recently, I was playing a lot of Angry Birds and found that the theme is rather catchy and so I was looking for the theme to download and set as my HTC Desire's ringtone. The search was easy enough with Google. The first search result was perfect - AngryBirdsNest.com. iPhone users can find their .m4r version there, too. Downloading was also easy.

Setting the .mp3 as ringtone was not as simple. My initial thought was to just browse to the file, press and hold and there should be a pop-up with the option to set the .mp3 as default ringtone but nope, not as easy as that. Another search and the solution came up. The site I found out from is here though the version of Android it used as illustration was probably an older version that I've never used before (I've only used 2.1 and 2.2 before).

All that needs to be done is to create a Ringtones folder in the SD card's root directory and move the .mp3 file to it followed by going to Settings > Sound > Phone Ringtone and the ringtone should appear there. To create a folder, a third party file browser app is required but these are easily available for free from Android Market. The one I am using is called ES File Explorer. Similarly, do the same for customised Notifications and Alarms sounds.

Attempted Simulated HDR II

Folks, here is another attempt at simulated HDR taken with my HTD Desire with the Camera360 app. Kinda scary me thinks. Further enhanced the colour by increasing contrast with the Adope Photoshop Express app.

Previously less scary, less exaggerated simulated HRD here.

Dual Core Goes to Smartphones in 2011

Just as desktops and laptops go quad core, it is time for smartphones to inherit dual core processors. LG was the first to announce dual core Tegra 2 chips for their Optimus something line. Being Korean, Samsung followed suit with announcements for dual core Cortex powered smartphones called Orion. Both are clocked at 1GHz.

Nokia seems to also have plans for dual core phones targetted in the last quarter of 2011 and more interestingly, to offer cameras that will have optical zoom! Finally!

I guess with my HTC Desire, I could wait till quad core smartphones with interchangeable lens come out in a few years...

via CNET Asia Mobile Tech newsletter.

Gingerbread, the Android 2.3

The next version of the Android OS is called Gingerbread and here's the official introductory video:

In a nutshell, 2.3 focuses on improvements in games development, multimedia, speed and power management. Besides that, there is support for this thing called near field communication where one can get more information of something that the device is near to. Hmmm... all these should appear first in the Google-Samsung phone Nexus S.

via Android Tapp.

TGIF Section 14 Relocates

Another memorable landmark in Section 14 is relocating to some where... did not see any notice indicating where TGI Friday's is relocating to, though. Have not been to the place for a long time and visiting Digital Mall today was quite a surprise. First, my bud and I noticed the TGIF closure... the graffiti in the middle more telling than the colourful notices all around. Second, the former Jaya Supermarket is finally torn down. Looks like Section 14 is alive and changing.

Insane: Panda Blasphemy!

I was in total shock while looking at my colleague flipping through the papers earlier today. A quick glance, I saw the image of a panda but without the trademark dark rings around the eyes. After blinking in astonishment a couple of times, I stopped my colleague from flipping and asked her to back track, all the while in panic that there may be a new discover of a panda with unique genes.

After some searching, I was relieved to find that it was nothing more than an advertisement for an alcoholic drink that brings liveliness back to the drinker. Phew!

Kuwait is Innocent! No Such DSLR Ban!

Hey! Another example of how widespread the internet is when one party reports of the Kuwait government issuing a ban on DLSR use in public without real research into facts, yours truly included. Well, I don't really care because I've read about it in so many places so it must be real, right? Hmph! WRONG!

Thankfully, The Online Photographer has debunked this cruel myth for the people in Kuwaiti land. The Kuwait Times that started it all issued a retraction:
On Saturday, November 20, 2010 the Kuwait Times published an article titled 'Multi ministry camera ban frustrates artists' in which incorrect information was provided. The newspaper regrets failing to verify the information. The article wrongly stated that a ban on DSLR cameras was implemented by the Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance. This information is false. In a follow up investigation, it was proved that no such ban has been issued. We regret this error and deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused.

via The Online Photographer.

Multi-Coloured Pentax

I thought the K-x was the most colourful camera around but Pentax best their own by coming out with a Korejanai K-r. Don't have the slightest idea what Korejanai means but my guess is it's related to robots and lots of colours.

via PhotographyBLOG.

Trays of Chilli and Ketchup

Have a great saucy month before greeting 2011, folks!

A&W Abstract

This is yet another one of my never ending attempts to photograph abstract stuff. Took this with the HTC Desire while dining at A&W SS2.

Thought this 3 section thing would look nice - the spinning fan, the wall graphics and a little bit of the dining indoors.

Seahorse Reproduction

This National Geographic article carrying an award winning photo of a male seahorse giving birth to a fry (this is what their young is called) spurred an interest in seahorses.

Another link from the same page led to a deeper insight into seahorses. First, the male and female would engage in a mating dance (see video below) which eventually leads to the female depositing her eggs into the male's pouch. The male will then fertilise the eggs in his pouch.

This male pregnancy typically lasts for 10 to 25 days depending on the species. During this process, the father regulates water salinity as the eggs hatch within the pouch. The male undergoes some fantastic and energy consuming contractions as it gives birth to the young (known as fry) at the end of the pregnancy, as can be seen in yet another video below:

Some other seahorses trivia: 

• A male seahorse in some species can give birth in the morning and get pregnant again by evening!
• Seahorses inhabit tropical and temperate coastal waters worldwide.
• They range in sizes from 1cm to 30cm.
• They have a prehensile tail for clinging to underwater vegetation.
• Seahorses have a tubelike mouth for sucking in planktons.
• They have protective bony plates in their skin.
• There are 32 known species of seahorses.

Using DSLR In Public A Crime in Kuwait

It has finally happened. Taking photos in public is now a crime but I guess maybe only in Kuwait. And it's a crime only if you are using a DSLR. If you use a camera phone or a digital compact or one of those excellent long zoom digital cameras, it seems like it is legal and if you use film SLR, it also appears to be legal... that is what I am understanding from this article from Kuwait Times. Wow.

via Kuwait Times through Ken Rockwell.

Attempted Simulated HDR

While on the way back from a one day Southern trip, I noticed that the evening sky was kind of interesting. In addition to that my HDR-obsessed bud kept mentioning about clouds, clouds, clouds in recent days so I whipped out my HTC Desire which was loaded with the free version of Camera360, selected "HDR Simulation (Heavy)" and got this:

Abstract Drain Grating?

Took this photo about a week or so ago:

It's a crop of a big photo that shows a drain cover with water running through. Trying to train myself to look at things in an abstract way and photograph them because I'm so impressed with those really nice abstract photographs taken by all the good people out there.

So far, I'm not anywhere near there but shall keep trying... until I find something else to try out. :P

Aftermath of the inspiring trunk

After being overly impressed by the bulky Proton Inspira, I fell madly in love with this cuddly Android plush:

I had previously expressed my love here.

via Mashable (again!).

The Trunk, The Plants and then Inspiration

Photographed this tree trunk with two layers of plants earlier today:

I had a good interesting image of it but then it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. Damn, I'm lacking in skill.

But anyways, viewing the all new Proton Inspira about an hour ago is also quite rewarding. Sexy, this thing:

Vroom, VROOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Happy Happy Deepavali!

And here's another kolam, taken at KL Sentral:

Taken with HTC Desire

Happy Deepavali!

Deepavali is what we call the Festival of Lights in Malaysia. In other places, I believe it's also Diwali or Divali? Regardless the name, have a great one and to those who do not celebrate, happy holidays!

Kolam taken from Uptown 5 lobby with HTC Desire.

Suffer the jerk who used my Hotmail to spam!

That's what I was thinking when my Hotmail sent spam to everyone in my address book and then all my contacts in that address book got deleted. Logged in to MSN Messenger and no one was visible because all my contacts were removed. Freakin' evil, whoever did that. May you suffer and the only way out is to hope to die but I'm sure you will still be hanging there and have a long and suffering life. A billion curses to you!

Here's that spam e-mail:

Hello, my dear friends:

   I would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electornic products.
Now the company is under sales promotion,all the products are sold nearly at its cost.Original Products + Best Quality + Brand New + Warranty + Quick Shipping + 100% Secure . the price is a surprising happiness to you!It is realy a good chance for shopping., please contact them as soon as possible!!!! The web address:

I removed the web address. Think I would advertise for that piece of shit? Not a chance!

Compound Eyes?!?!

I never knew flies look at things this way!!!

Miniature Rojak Buah?

Was at the newly reopened SS2 McDonald's earlier today and took this photo of SS2 with my HTC Desire from the new outdoor seating area (and uploaded to Twitpic on-site):

After reaching home, I had a thought of trying to digitally apply some tilt-shift effect on the photo. I did not use any specialised software but instead used the freeware Gimp (the free Photoshop for poor people who don't want to pirate and have no money to buy Adobe's brilliant program). Here's the result:

Interesting that by blurring the top part of the photo to achieve this miniature effect, a big "Japanese flag" was produced as a side-effect. It was actually a signage with Chinese characters in front of the reddish circle. :P

The Nikon Temptation

I've been tempted to buy a Nikon DSLR for years starting from the time of the D40 to supplement (or replace?) my Lumix DMC-FZ30. Am not sure how long more can I hold on to my Vulcan-like emotional suppression from the temptations of Nikon with the current entry level D3100 and/or as they belt out the delicious D7000 in a matter of weeks (in Malaysia).

Over the years, my dilemma remains the same. What lens would I buy to complement my eventual DSLR? And what DSLR (cheap body or expensive one which would take longer time to outgrow?) would I buy to complement the lens? A chicken and egg thing in photography world, I suppose. I love wide angle because I never had any from my FZ30. I always felt I needed more wide angles. My exploration into wide angle lenses led me to the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 but that wouldn't auto-focus with the D3100. And then, I came across the even wider 8-16mm variable aperture Sigma lens. Even wider but at a higher price.

At the current point of time, I'm most likely going to settle for a D3100 body and the Nikkor 16-85mm variable aperture lens. A cheap body with an expensive lens (and also the kit lens that comes with the D3100) and to save up more money over the next few years to build up an inventory of lenses. The ultra wide angle Sigma would be at the top of my list...

... or could it be the Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens? I've been pampered by the long zoom that came with the FZ30 and couldn't get the telephoto reach out of my mind. Maybe I could settle for the slower autofocus consumer lens from Nikon - Nikkor 55-300mm VR? Or should I be bolder and go for the latest 28-300mm VR?

Maybe I should just forget about all of them and settle for a single D7000 with the 18-105mm kit lens. HMPH! A D7000 has a body complicated enough that I would not get bored of unlike the simpler D3100...

What a lot of thoughts... perhaps I could hold out on any purchase for another eternity...

Carnivorous Android

Not meaning to promote Android nor demote Apple, I find the image below amusing while at the same time, not liking the taste of one OS attacking another OS.

Image via an article from Android Community.

Falling In Place

Have you ever felt at times that everything would just mess up on bad days and on some good or ok days, things tend to go your way? Today seemed to be an ok, not a good nor excellent, but ok day for me. Work was piling up as I was outstation for work very often the last two weeks but schedules for meetings for the rest of this week were all automatically set up without clashing with one another.

I did not even need to intervene or reschedule them. I did not forget I had one meeting and then accept another in the same time slot. Pretty interesting and I am talking about no less than 6 meetings throughout the week. I wouldn't have realised this in normal circumstances but it just came to me when I was having a quiet and late dinner alone just now. Hmmm...

Yet another month end

We have come to the end of September and also the end of another quarter. Sigh and I've been blogging lesser and lesser these days. Not that my posts had been very interesting but I kinda like to talk rubbish and post them online. :P

Unfortunately for me my current job doesn't seem to permit enough time to blog these days. Have been running around rushing this and rushing that and travelling south almost every week chasing for dunno what! Not very healthy but at the same time, due to all these life's been on the fast lane.

Advantages - not a boring job and can be exciting at times. Looking at the end result produces some form of satisfaction.

Disadvantages - time passes by really fast and I have hardly enough time for my personal stuff. The stress can be overwhelming and happens all too often.

That's all for this time. Until the next dunno when time, bye!

Peace Hotel @ Taiping

Peace Hotel
Originally uploaded by IonBuck.

Was in Taiping for work around couple of months ago and was on the way for breakfast when I saw this Peace Hotel. Immediately, I started to wonder if this was related to the Chow Yun Fatt movie way back in 1995.

- Taken with the HTC Desire -

Buried

Am rather curious about the upcoming movie Buried starring Ryan Reynolds. Would like to see how a movie is made with majority of the scenes inside a coffin. Based on what I can make out of the trailer on the official website he is kidnapped for ransom while being buried somewhere in a coffin. He has a lighter, a cellphone and 90 minutes of oxygen (but later in the trailer, he has a pocket knife which the kidnapper commanded he use to cut his finger(!!!) and also a torchlight). Below is another trailer I found on YouTube:

Vaguely, I think the buried is being filmed and posted on the web... which reminds me of the double CSI episodes directed by Quentin Tarantino titled Grave Danger.

I also like the posters from the official website and here is one of them:

Donkey Democracy

A donkey transporting ballot boxes to remote villages before parliamentary elections in Afghanistan:

via Eyewitness.

Day Tracks

Love this photo. It's a combination of various railroad tracks including the express train from KLIA, electric train track, etc. The blue sky with clusters of clouds help to enrich the colours of the photo. Also like how the way the tracks curve and lead towards the horizon intersected by a bridge.

- Taken with the HTC Desire -

Delightful quotes from scientific legend Stephen Hawking

I like these couple of quotes from Stephen Hawking about how intelligent we humans are as a species and the impact we made:

"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach."

"I think computer viruses should count as life. Maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive."

via @Time.

Messy Dirty Dirt

When website called TheDirty.com apparently posted a picture of Sarah Jones (a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader while at the same time is also a high school English teacher - how?) and reported that she had an affair with a player and had contracted two venereal diseases, the cheerleader-cum-teacher sued. The only thing was the website mentioned in the case had a missing "y" to it. TheDirt.com did not respond and was ordered to pay $11 million!

Now TheDirt.com is considering suing while TheDirty.com is asking for an apology for falsely reporting that it had lost the lawsuit when it had not even been served.


via TechDirt thru Slashdot.

Don't think too much this Merdeka Day and beyond...

... because...

via Stuff No One Told Me (but I have to post it here or aliens will kill me).

Beyond Inception

FoxTrot is taking the meaning of Inception to an all new level!

via FoxTrot.com.

The One Called Wally

Hail Wally! He speaks for us employees who earn a leaving on a salary. For the past two days, he's been the voice of our dilemma in waking up to go to work and the need to endure more work after lunch...

Holy Magnetic Heads!

Interesting theory from one of my favourite comics:

via Pearls Before Swine.

Southern Evening Sky

The sky that was earlier in the evening:

Looks like photos of the sky are the only things that I've been snapping with the HTC Desire. Not good! Must snap more!

With new technologies come new challenges...

Over the years, countless amounts of new technologies were introduced and there is no sign of this stopping (until 2012, that is). The mobile phone is one but what complements it is even better. Text messaging! Over here in Malaysia, we like to call it SMS but if we look up into the direction of the West, we'd call it in a more glamour form - text messaging.

With the existence of SMS, there comes the human way of competition. Who can type faster? Who can type THE fastest? Just like how humans compete to go to the moon... even until this day. Ahem, so I was talking about SMS. Just today, I read about how someone managed to create an all new world record by typing "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." in 25.94 seconds. I don't think I can read it fast enough.

via Mashable.

People Sign Road Those

Ever wonder why those thermal printed wordings (or whatever you call them) on the roads are always backwards?

I never read them that way. Just like what xkcd illustrated, I would normally read "BACKWARD. I READ THINK ENGINEERS HIGHWAY" instead of "HIGHWAY ENGINEERS THINK I READ BACKWARD."

What about you? Which way do you read?

Thinking Dim Sum

Very interesting to be thinking about dim sum at this time of the night when I should be sleeping but just got home from work not long ago and now waiting for hair to dry after a shower. Phooooo...!

Was replying to Booker's comment and now has dim sum on my mind. Egg tarts! Yessssss... it is not considered dim sum without egg tarts and siew mai (kind of prawn dumplings) and char siew pau (errr... Chinese steamed buns with roasted pork fillings?). Oh, and all those fried stuff with mayonnaise dips!

Wash all those stuff down with Chinese tea! Still do not know how to appreciate drinking Chinese tea from those tiny cups but I guess I can learn it up when I retire and am not dead yet.

And imagine all these in a cool morning atmosphere surrounded with lots of green bamboo and a roaming panda couple while their young are messing around. Mmmmm... that would be really relaxing! A total contrast from my city work life. :(

Hustle and bustle and good night, folks!

Behind Condensation

Hmmm... I quite like this photo which I took on Friday morning after waking up at a hotel. I think it needs slightly more saturation... looked saturated enough on my HTC Desire but the AMOLED screen is elusive.

Favourite Likes

I noticed that a lot of articles and tweets these days let us favourite or like them. I mean, at the end of the articles or short tweets, there are buttons that we can click on if we like them or would like to mark them as our favourites so that later we could check them out again. Or just to express our appreciation of such articles. Nice touch, these stuff.

But what about articles and tweets that bring forth bad news or negative views? Those of catastrophic proportions or of the demise of someone that we feel enough to mark the articles? It would appear that we like that to happen or that it is in our favour of some people's misfortunes. Maybe it is just me but sometimes, I would, for example, like to mark some Google Reader articles that I like but sort of held back from clicking on the button because I wouldn't want to like what was happening in the article.

Anyone thought about this or am I just far too sensitive in these kind of things? :-/

Hawaii Five-O Reboots to become Hawaii Five-0

But first, lets take a look at the original starting sequence:

Followed by the all new 2010 series reboot featuring an "odd couple" of Steve McGarrett and Danno:

And finally, the opening sequence of the 2010 Hawaii Five-0... glad the title theme sounds about the same!

Coming to you soon this 20 September 2010... in the US, of course.

Anti-Lepak Bench

Beware if you loiter a lot - the bench that will shove spikes up your ass is waiting for you:

PAY & SIT: the private bench (HD) from Fabian Brunsing on Vimeo.

Only conceptual at the moment, the spikes will retract once payment is made and will appear again after a time limit after a very loud alarm. Even while retracting or extending, the spikes make some really evil sound. Truly a very evil invention.

via CrunchGear.

Samsung's Unbreakable

Lookout for unbreakable AMOLED displays in... 2 years... from Samsung. Check out the company's very practical demo of how unbreakable and bendable their new display is (and a techno AMOLED song):

via GSMArena.com.

The post most men and some women have been waiting for - women's breasts are getting bigger

Best explained by this paragraph: 

In 1960, the average bra size in Australia was 10B. Ten years ago, it was 12B. Today, it's 14C. "It's six to seven sizes up in a comparatively few number of years," says Sally Berkeley, the general manager of bra company Berlei, which next month launches a new super-sized range of cups, up to an H, to add to the traditional A-to-E dimensions.

While we are really happy, lets read some facts why this is happening. One reason is better food nourishment. Then, according to the same article, obesity is another factor.

Thirdly, hormones... it's always hormones. Hormones will always come into play. Hormones in plastic bottles (!?!?!?). Growth hormones used in food. Hormones due to earlier puberty. Hormones due to the contraceptive pill. All those raging hormones.

While big is good for most men and some women, those with smaller breasts do not despair! Beauty is only skin deep and most definitely not due to boobs sizes.

via The Sydney Morning Herald thru @GuyKawasaki

IonBuck Goes Abstract... Again

Feel free to guess what this is. Anyone can guess... EXCEPT for @wooncc who was there when I took this photo!

It is now my HTC Desire's new wallpaper. :D

- Taken with the HTC Desire -

Camera Phones With Interchangeable Lenses On The Way

Indeed, this is something what professional camera phone photographers have been waiting for. You can finally add and change lens soon and what better phone to start with than the world popular iPhone! It is not going to be easy at this early stage. You will need CD lenses, cardboard, sticky putty and a (D)SLR lens.

Learn more at DIYPhotography.net. Over there, there's another tutorial using DVD lenses, too. The future is bright.

Die, you fake turkey!

Learned another new word today from... a comic called Ink Pen! Who said comics are bad for you?

My new word for today is tofurkey. According to Wikipedia, it is a vegetarian turkey made as an alternative to meat for those who... are abstaining from meat for one reason or another. It is usually made of wheat protein or soybean protein tofu. I guess that is where it got its name from. Below is a photo of what it looks like, packaged... just like a turkey:

More Unhealthy But Delicious Living with IonBuck

Been working in Melaka the last few days and while over there, my Melaka-based colleague took us around for some local famous food:

Home-cooked, Nyonya style taucu chicken.

Home-cooked, Nyonya style lemak nenas (suntan and pineapple) prawns.

One of the mornings, we had famous Ah Lang bak kut teh for breakfast:

Once again, delicious food doesn't mean healthy. :P

An IonBuck Case of Unhealthy But Delicious Living

Oh yeah! I have only one theory when it comes to eating - unhealthy food is generally delicious while healthy food is most likely yucky. My theory was proven last Sunday with this delicious bowl of curry noodles (and the cool weather that day helped to enhance the experience further):

Said theory was once again proven earlier today over dinner - taucu pork:

Not very sure what taucu is but I think it's some form of fermented beans that make great sauce. It has this effect where you would add bowls and bowls of rice just to mix with the sauce!

BURP!

Google Maps on HTC Desire

Mighty cool to have GPS built-in to the phone. And this is the first time I'm owning a smartphone with that stuff. I've used Google Maps with my HTC Desire several times now to take me to places I'm not familiar with and 99% of the times it worked. Basically, it does what it should. However, very unfortunate that in Malaysia, there is no turn-by-turn voice navigation so I would have to often look at the screen to follow through.

The 1% that didn't work out was when I reached a road closed down for maintenance. I was redirected by signage to a different route, which at night, looked rather new so it did not show up on Google Maps. I was basically floating on empty land on-screen.

One other disadvantage I find is that Google Maps rely on constant connection to the web. I tried turning off 3G (but keeping GPS turned on) for just a few seconds and my position immediately floated off to some where else! I couldn't imagine using this to go off to some isolated place with no mobile internet signal or with the slow GPRS variant... not very reliable if out of the city, I suppose!

Nokia and Symbian End Before the World?

I was going to blog about my experience a couple of days ago with Google Maps on my HTC Desire but this proved to be much more urgent! One of Nokia and Symbian's greatest advocate had given up on both (via @mahyuni retweeted by @andrewkjs)! This is by far the strongest opinion against Nokia and Symbian I've heard since errr... I became some kind of a fan of both.

Well actually, I've never owned a Symbian powered Nokia before but I've always wanted to. I've used Nokia phones for almost 80% of my working life and I'd been one of those who looked forward to getting the N97 when it was first announced. I badly needed a replacement for my then dying Nokia 6210. How unfortunate to learn of the N97's shortcomings during that time - the lacking hardware, the half-hearted Symbian 5th Edition, etc. I had no choice but to move on to a temporary Sony Ericsson T303 phone while still hoping that Nokia would come out with a winner.

That day never came and now I own a one month old Android powered HTC Desire. Never had I thought I would get a HTC phone when I was waiting for a N97, especially during those days when HTC was all about Windows Mobile but I think HTC's move to include Android in their product line was a smart one... they roped me in (actually I would prefer the bare Google/HTC Nexus One but there is still no sign of it ever coming here)! :P

Deep inside, I am still hoping Nokia (but probably not Symbian since I've never used that OS before) would rise again one day but they have much to catch up on. Their E71 was a good move (E72 could have been better) but I wanted a phone with higher resolution and better web surfing capabilities. The N900 was superb and I still think it is one of the better phones around but unfortunately, it came to Malaysia way too late, and after Nokia announced that they are going the Meego route.

For now, it is bye-bye Nokia and Symbian but I still have faith that both will bounce back one day, so good luck! I hope to be a Nokia user again!

Real Photographers Don't Use Camera Phones?

Just as I was getting all excited and started to snap photos with my HTC Desire, I got to read this article about a survey done on 2,245 Brits - that only a fifth felt a camera phone is sufficient. Bummer.

No big deal. I never once thought a camera phone can replace even the cheapest compact cameras from Panasonic, Canon or Nikon (but I am quite sure it may be better than some really cheap brands) but ever since I got a "quite" decent camera phone in my HTC Desire, I've been going around snapping.

Maybe because it's so new and I can't get enough of it... sometimes, I felt like hugging it in my sleep but fear of too much radiation may cause me to turn into a jolly green giant monster when I get too anxious stopped me from doing just that.

Or maybe it is just so convenient to reach into my pants pocket, take out the phone and start snapping in a few seconds! Hmmm... I think I may find one day to talk about the HTC Desire's camera... can't like it too much but can't hate it either. :D Anyways, am talking about the convenience of a camera phone here.

Night, folks!

via PhotographyBLOG.

Inflated Lump of Mass

Oh I love this old comic from Bizzaro and what it says about working out too much (FYI, I hate to exercise but certain things in life is without choice)...:P

"As a teen and young adult, I used to think it would be cool to be a big muscle man. Now I see it as a ludicrous deformity that tells the world that you've three or four hours a day with nothing better to do than lift heavy stuff. I still like to exercise and stay in shape, but I no longer fantasize about looking like an inflatable toy."

via BizzaroBlog.

Why Is Coffee So Popular?

I've been curious for a long time why so many people I know like coffee? Some can survive on coffee without breakfast and lunch and some need at least a few cups of coffee a day. Some need to start the day off with a cuppa. And some drink coffee to stay awake.

Personally, I still feel sleepy after drinking coffee (the normal dose). I will feel dizzy and couldn't sleep if I overdose on coffee. I remembered one incident when I was studying for exams (am so glad I don't need to study anymore... woooohooooooo! But I am not too amuse with working life either but that is another story that could span a few thousand pages) so I made myself a mug of super thick coffee and gulped the whole thing down - ended up dizzy and then had to lay down wide-eyed. :-O

Comics via Being Five.

Morning Sky

This be what the sky looked like early this morning... while on my way down South. Sigh...

Dumplings!

Folks, the Chinese dumpling season is just around the corner... I think the exact date is this Wednesday, 16 June 2010. Right below a couple of photos for ya.

O Hai Ronald-On-A-Bench!

I did something unusual today that I never thought I would do. I photographed Ronald.

Blasted By The Past - Wishing Upon A Laptop

I say be careful what you wish for. During my younger days, it appeared to be a privilege... luxurious to own a laptop and carry it around wherever one went. The next best thing would be a company laptop. I was even grateful during those days when my evil Jap boss handed me his laptop to do some design work at home over the weekends.

Those were the days. Laptops are so common now and people doing work at home with laptops is almost like part of the job scope. Now I wish that I had never ever made those wishes to have a company laptop. Too late, I know...

Sexsomnia

We learn something new everyday and today, I bring to you a term that I just discovered - sexsomnia. It basically is having sex while sleeping and the initiator (more men than women) would not have a clue when he/she wakes up later. According to the article by LiveScience, it is possible that this is due to illicit drugs.

via LiveScience.

Lots of Android Mascots

Love this pix and becoming an Android fan:
Hmmm... where can I get one of these robots in soft toy form? :D

via Mashable.