Misunderstood - An Apple Holiday Ad

There are ads and then there are ads but few come close to this one titled Misunderstood from Apple:

Some Petronas ads are good, too, such as this one from many years back.

Frozen Fractals

A great photo that I saw while reading Flickr's latest blog post about new embedding that I must share before going to bed:

Cut the Rope 2 Game Trailer

iOS users rejoice! Om Nom is coming your way 19 December 2013 while Android users do not despair, Cut the Rope 2 is available on Google's platform early 2014. After the teaser, below is the game trailer:

Plenty of new characters and glad to see Om Nom more mobile than before!

Spotify Now "Free" on Android and iOS

I was thrilled when Spotify arrived in Malaysia many months back but abandoned the app after my free trial expired. I was tempted to subscribe but in the end, I went back to streaming radio app TuneIn Radio (been a user many years back)... and eventually purchased TuneIn Radio Pro.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received an e-mail from Spotify today that it has gone "free" for major mobile OSes Android and iOS. And it's "free" as I had expected it to be - ad-sponsored like its desktop version and offline option is only for premium (paid) users. Still, I'm happy to use it interchangeably with TuneIn Radio whenever I'm on wifi. My Spotify's been playing the whole afternoon till now and there's no sign of any advertisements yet. Still too fresh for local companies to advertise, probably.

Smartphones - A Tale of Slavery

Gee... I didn't "quite" realise how much a slave I've become to my phone but HongKiat.Com helped put things into perspective. Smartphones have (despite all the awesome convenience that technological advancement brought us) indeed cause way too many people (yours truly included) to distant ourselves from the real world during real social events, bringing our work lives back with us too often when we are supposed to be relaxing with family and friends and worse, distracting ourselves during times where we should be alert (don't tell anyone but times such as walking and driving come to mind). Do read the article. It may be time for a reality check.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 International Trailer

Sony Pictures teased us for a few days with really short clips for this one but the trailer is finally here! Looks like there is more to just Electro here...

Cut the Rope 2 Coming Soon

I immediately fell in love with the original Cut the Rope when I saw my bud demonstrating on his iPad but at that time, I was smartphoneless, what more a tablet. Well, I joined the crowd and had my first game on my ancient Android powered HTC Desire. I still love the game and now I play it on the iPad most of the time. I've got Cut the Rope: Experiments, too! Didn't get Cut the Rope: Time Travel, though because I've got my hands full.

So you could imagine how excited I would get once I've read that a sequel is coming (via TouchArcade), and likely (and hopefully) soon enough for the coming holiday season! The teaser below appears to show our favourite candy lover OmNom being kidnapped... Oh no!

The Purge "Sort Of" Review

The previous post reminded me of a recent movie called The Purge. It's set in a future America where crime was at an all time low... because every year there will be 12 hours where almost anyone was allowed to commit any crime, including murder, and could walk away scot free. This movie was totally disturbing and though the idea seemed original, I wouldn't recommend it because the thought of such a world was simply horrifying.

The movie was right to be classified in the horror category, not because it gave the chills, but the thought of such a possibility could exist in the world's greatest economy. Thrill wise, I don't find much there safe a scene or two. 2/5

The actors try to act intense but the truth was, there were not much of those moments. Despite having Ethan Hawke and Lena Heady to lead, there was really not much to impress upon. 2/5

I've never heard if such a thing before, have you? So in my opinion, I'd give this terrible movie a 5/5 for originality but a 2/5 overall for the brutality it planted into my mind. Watch if you like this sort of thing but don't be influenced by it. Please don't.

A Glimmer of Hope: Snatch Thieves Caught Within 10 Minutes

theSun offered a glimmer of hope to us citizens today when it published that 2 snatch thieves were caught within 10 minutes after the public alerted the police. The incident took place in Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang where thieves on a motorcycle snatched the handbag of a factory operator this morning but were caught after the public gave the police the motorcycle's registration plates with a description of the suspects. The info was then relayed to a patrol unit doing its rounds in the area. After a short chase, the suspects were apprehended. 

There is still hope.

Tom Cruise to return doing the impossible for the fifth time...

Your mission, should you choose to accept it... will return to the big screen for the fifth time on Christmas 2015... as always, should you or any of your I. M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

Mission: Impossible 5 will once again star Tom Cruise with him and J. J. Abrams producing. Woooooohooooooo! I love Mission: Impossible and this is great news! Good night.

via Variety.

China Reforms

According to Reuters, the Communist Party had just announced an all important list of reforms such as:

• Accelerate capital account convertibility.
• Scrap residency restrictions in small cities and townships.
• Integrate urban and rural social security systems.
• Push forward an environmental tax.
• Ease family planning policies.
• Abolish a controversial labor camp system.

The world changes and so will giant China. Hopefully, for the better!

"TWTR"

That's how Twitter's New York Stock Exchange stock code is spelt as it got listed. Below the technical jargon talk about its opening performance:

The opening transaction was for over 11 million shares at $45.10 each, reportedly valuing the company at $25.04 billion. That’s a 73 percent increase on the $26 offering price set by Twitter yesterday.

via The Next Web.

iPads in the Hotspot

Now there is a good reason to shelve out extra dollars (in my case, Ringgit) to get the 3G/LTE version of iPad (Air, Mini, or otherwise): Use the iPad as a wifi hotspot!

According to ZDNet (via Cult of Mac), the iPad Mini could last a good 20 hours as a hotspot with the screen off. So theoretically, the iPad Air's bigger battery could do it even longer with the screen off. Just like the Duracell rabbit, I suppose:

The idea becomes even more compelling now that my mobile provider allows for multi-sim data sharing for RM15 a month per sim, up to 5 in total. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do that anytime soon. Tight on cash at the moment, folks!

Hello, nanoblock Kitties

Well, folks, it appears that LEGO is not the only kid in the toy building block business. Saw these kitties in display at the KLCC Kinokuniya bookstore and they were built with nanoblock, a Japanese invention. Unlike LEGO, these are much smaller blocks. Hence, the name nano.

Smaller parts make it possible to create more detailed and even smaller projects than what can be created with standard diablock.

The Mighty Ear Piercing Harrison Ford

I thought Harrison Ford being Han Solo or Jack Ryan were classics. Wait till you watch the mighty Harrison Ford pierce talk show host Jimmy Fallon's ear!!!

via People.

Not what it seems to be...

Wow, a whole lot of photos that are not what they seem at first glance! Check it out here.

It's the Nexus of Transforming Trios

Android 4.4 Kit Kat launched today and Google's own new flagship the Nexus 5 will be the first to be officially installed with it. Great move by Google to make its latest mobile OS support older phones with only 512MB of RAM. I wonder if my 3-year old 1GHz single-core HTC Desire will be getting a Kit Kat MOD. Just like recently launched phones (iPhone 5s included), the 5" Nexus 5 is more evolutionary than revolutionary compared to what the original iPhone had done during Nokia's smartphone era.

What caught my attention was the optical image stabilisation that LG managed to build into the 8mm-ish phone. That's good and should set the bar for upcoming phones. I'm puzzled why Google didn't allow for expandable micro SD, though, with the phone having either 16 or 32GB internal storage. Apps are getting larger, you know.

I am also surprised by Asus' Transformer Book Trio Android tablet-cum-Windows 8 laptop-cum-desktop. It was announced months ago but the ignorant me only just found out today while browsing through tech news. Impressive Intel Haswell processor when it's in laptop or desktop mode. When detached from the keyboard, the tablet is powered by an Atom processor. Ok, this one I'm not too keen. Too used to ARM these days. Below the highlights of Asus' 2013 products with the Transformer Book Trio showing up as the climax. Not something I would buy because I don't expect it to come cheap but still something I would crave for outside of MacBook Pro with Retina and iPad Air.

Gone are the days of easy repairability

During my early ventures into the working culture as a design engineer, I was taught that all designs must take into account of easy repairability, i.e. easy to take apart, lots of room for maneuverability, etc.

Alas, times change. Nowadays, aesthetic takes the top priority. Besides that, companies such as Apple offer one-to-one swap for some of their devices. So it's no wonder that mobile devices are getting more and more difficult to repair and their parts impossible to be replaced by the moderate DIY person. There will eventually be the day when there are no more separate desktop units to open up to upgrade the hard disk and RAM. Everything must be customised and bought online. No more cheaper 3rd party parts to buy and shove them in myself...

Gone are the days of repairability... and here, the days of simplicity arrive so that we free up ourselves to stress over other stuff. Damn.

Some rumours do come true - Intel to make ARM processors

Read a Cult of Mac article months back doubting rumours that Intel will ever manufacture ARM processors but today, the Apple tech website posted a Reuters report indicating Intel will indeed make ARM chips as soon as 2014. Looks like companies like Apple now has yet another alternative... a very big alternative. This also goes to show how company goals change when the guy at the top changes.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer

I've never been more excited over an X-Men movie as this because I was never a fan. Even though I watched all 4 movies of recent times, my interest never piqued much but this one, this one is different. It features the mutant hunting Sentinels which I first heard of while playing the X-Men Legends game on the now obsolete Sony Playstation 2. It also features Wolverine traveling between time to the original trilogy characters and the more recent X-Men: First Class guys. AND, I'd like to know how Professor X came back to life after being blown to pieces by the Dark Phoenix/Jean Grey.

Just learnt via The Verge that the official trailer is out and here it is:

The Verge had much earlier featured an in-movie advertisement of Trask Industries, the company that created the Sentinels.

"Light Goes On" Light Painting Stop Motion Animation

Is it even possible to associate stop motion animation with light painting? I mean, light travels so darn fast while stop motion is a painstakingly slow process of capturing small movements of objects in hundreds of frames to make just a few seconds of video... Lo and behold, someone by the name Darren Pearson just did it. Be amazed by the video below titled Light Goes On and then check out the via link to find out more about him if you are impressed.

via PetaPixel.

The Mysterious Case of the Curvaceous Phones

Question: Do you like your phone curve this way or that way?

I suppose this should belong in a tweet but I just got to post it here because I'm totally amused by these guys. Well, at least we know the technology is already here.

With great power comes great responsibilities...

... with great responsibilities, our country's two top leaders will definitely need to use lots of power and water. Surely they need to work round the clock and hold meetings with many important people. The public should never doubt that.

In a written reply, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the government spent RM2,237,788.13 for electricity and RM311,174.25 for water bills respectively last year for the Seri Perdana complex, which is the official residence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

"Meanwhile for the Sri Satria complex, which is the official residence of Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, a total of RM865,458.56 was spent on electricity and RM 99,264.03 for water bills in 2012," said Shahidan in a reply to Anthony Loke (DAP-Seremban) who asked for a statement on the cost of electricity and water bills for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister's residences last year.

via The Sun Daily.

16GB, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB storage for your next iPad Air/Mini?

Yes it's that time of the year again whenever Apple refreshes the iPad (Air)/Mini, questions, and therefore, answers and articles will come flooding in about which storage option should one get. I would go for the biggest but in Ringgit Malaysia it is not cheap so I would most likely stick to 64GB. Nothing less. For a more comprehensive guide on which size fits you, check out iMore's guide. I think the information there about covers most typical needs.

特殊身份 (Special ID) Review

You could've read by now that this marks Donnie Yen's return to contemporary action with most of the fighting sequences featuring mixed martial arts. I was surprised that it's rated as PG13 in our local cinemas. I would've expected an 18 rating by local standards but whatever gives, I guess.

Off we go with the plot: Yen plays the protagonist Chan Zi Long that had been in deep undercover for 8 years in one of Hong Kong's most ruthless triads. The film started off with him trying to rescue 3 of his underlings who had encroached into others' territories. Action kicks in immediately after that. Weary of his duties and concern for his mom's safety, he wanted out but his superior (Ronald Cheng) that sent him into undercover got him to do the job one last time - find out what his former gang member, Sunny (Andy On), was up to. Coincidentally, his merciless triad boss, Xiong (Colin Chou), wanted Zi Long to investigate if Sunny had betrayed him.

This brought Zi Long to China where he was partnered with tough Chinese lady cop Jing Fang (Jing Tian) who also appeared to be proficient in the mixed martial arts. They did not start off well but you can expect some attempted chemistry there. Just as Zi Long's undercover duties near the end, he was discovered and all hell broke lose. Sunny had brutally injured his mother and you can guess what the hero would do next.

Typical story of an undercover cop whom you'd expect his cover to be blown with necessary heroics at the end. 2/5

Acting is what you can expect in an action film, so don't go in hoping for best actor/actress material, though Yen is more animated here compared to his usual serious and broody characters whenever he's featured in the genre. Don't expect Infernal Affairs quality here. 2/5

Lots of action sequences with mixed martial arts at the center of attention and a quite well done car chase finale, though there's lack of originality. 3/5

Romance? I'm glad the filmmakers didn't bother too much on this part. Phew! 1/5

The film had some minor continuity issues and felt hurried in the later half but that wouldn't be much of a hindrance for action fans. If you admire Donnie Yen (I started following his movies after the Ip Man films and I'm curious how he'd perform in the upcoming Monkey King/God trilogy), this is a must see. 3/5

By the way, Wikipedia's got some info about the film's pre-production problems and if you're interested, you can check it out here.

Evernote iOS App Not Bullet Proof?

I've recently imported all my Catch Notes files (because Snaptic Catch.com, the company behind this excellent app decided to call it quits) over to Evernote (iOS 7 version) and was updating one of them a couple of days ago. The notes in this file are all plain text so I decided to add some formatting to them when I noticed that Evernote supports this feature.

And so I happily highlighted the text that I wanted to put into bullet form did some indentation to discover that the numerical bullets do not change form (eg. the main bullets were 1, 2, 3... so when I indent them I had expected them to turn into i, ii, iii... or a, b, c...) but it didn't happen. Evernote would just restart the numbering. So I decided to just reduce the indent and all of a sudden the text that were not highlighted disappeared! There was no way to undo and a portion of my notes were gone! Horrors!!! o.O

Luckily I had previously emailed my notes to someone and I copied those back and placed into Evernote again. After that, I decided not to do any formatting again and just updated the notes in plain text. Did I also mention that Evernote crashed on me a few times, too? I was merely browsing my notes! I can't seem to find much info online so I guess my case could just be an isolated one. Sigh. I'll just wait out for the next update then.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit International Trailer

More new scenes from the movie in this international trailer:

Looks like Jack Ryan is slowly shaping up into another action spy/hero franchise. The other that quickly came to mind is Jason Bourne.

Previous Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit trailer and ramblings here.

Update: The movie will debut in American cinemas 17 January 2014. I hope Malaysia will get to screen it around that time, too.

Faster, Siri!

I totally agree with John Gruber that Apple should in some way increase Siri's response time. I know it's easier said than done especially when Siri needs to be online to function. My first thought was why couldn't Apple just have it built-in? I don't have any answers but I simply assume that there's a good reason for it...

The response time is especially felt when I need to call someone quickly. Worse when Siri got it wrong. Most of the time when I utilise Siri was because I was driving so imagine how frustrated it could be when I had to talk to Siri a few times to get it right but more often than not I just abandon the whole notion and use the phone the old fashion way.

Apple, we are ready for the future when people give voice commands and the device responds perfectly... AND quickly!

Disorders Caused by... the Internet

It's only a matter of time before someone (in this case that someone is somebody in TechHive) does a compilation of all the common disorders caused by the Internet and I'm proud to tell you that I'm only suffering from less than half of these:

1. You keep thinking that your phone is ringing (or vibrating) in your pocket. - urgh! I'm a patient.
2. Nomophobia (derived from "no mobile phobia") where you panic whenever you don't have  your phone with you. - Guilty as charged!
3. Dizziness or nausea when online.
4. Social depression caused by envy because your online friends only talk about their happier and cool lives.
5. Constant urge to access the Internet. - I admit this!
6. Online gaming addiction.
7. Paranoid that you may be suffering from the diseases you read online.
8. Lazy to utilise the brain because everything is at the tip of your fingertips... errr or rather Google.

Wait till someone talk about what the smartphone is doing to us... we are doomed as we know it!

Sony DSC-RX10

Looks like Sony is really innovating these days and their latest is the DSC-RX10. Looks like your typical camera with a respectable 24-200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom range and 20.2 megapixels CMOS back-illuminated sensor. But what's not typical about it are some of its cooler features:

1. Wide 2.8 aperture ACROSS the whole zoom range!!!
2. 1" sensor similar to Sony's RX100.
3. Built-in wifi that allows easy transfer/sharing via iOS and Android phones.
4. NFC capability with Android phones.

But of course, with great specs come great pricing. Though not overly high, it'll set you back US$1,299. Not many might want to invest on a non-DSLR/mirror less interchangeable lens camera at this price but it sure helps to wake up its competitors who are still battling over who has the longer zoom or whose sensor has more pixels.

via DPReview.

Invictus Review

When you need an inspiring movie about leadership, search no further. Invictus is the true story of Nelson Mandela's (Morgan Freeman) early days as South Africa's leader where the country wreaks of racism despite the end of Apartheid. An opportunity arised when he watched a rugby match where he noticed the blacks supported the competition while the whites supported the country's own team, the Springboks. To the locals, the mostly white Springboks are still a symbol of Apartheid. During that time, the Springboks were also in bad shape, losing matches.

Against expectations, Mandela stopped the new sports council's unanimous vote to disband the team and instead showed his confidence in the team to win the World Cup which the country will host in a year's time. He met the captain Francois (Matt Damon) to inspire him and the journey began where the Springboks will unite the country by winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

The film depicts the divide between the majority blacks and the whites in more subtle forms and is careful on not raising sensitive issues. I think our country could learn a thing or two from this movie and I hope we would not plunge into the same fate, into dark times.

Serious acting? You can expect that in such a serious movie. 4/5

Inspirational story about how a sport could unite a nation. I finally understand why sports could be so important. What a plot. 4/5

Sports fans might find it short of rugby stuff, though... 2/5 ...but after all, it's really about the unity! 4/5

Good movies don't come often and inspirational ones are rare. 4/5

By the way, the name of the movie came from the poem that Nelson Mandela shared with Francois Pienaar which inspired Mandela while he was in prison.

Invictus by English poet William Ernest Henley 

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Trailer

I'm all excited about the next Jack Ryan movie. Though I'm not a fan of thick books (but I almost... ALMOST finished the novel where Jack Ryan became the President of the United States!), I'm a big fan of the late Tom Clancy's character.

A big part of my excitement is because I've always got Harrison Ford in mind whenever this character came up. And then now, there's young Captain Kirk playing the CIA analyst in what appears to be a reboot. Icing to the cake, there's Keira Knightley. Well, we'll also get errr... Kevin Costner. Check out the trailer below:

Original synopsis from Paramount Pictures:

Based on the character created by bestselling author Tom Clancy, "Jack Ryan" is a global action thriller set in the present day. This original story follow a young Jack (Chris Pine) as he uncovers a financial terrorist plot. The story follows him from 9/11, through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, which scarred him forever, and into his early days in the Financial Intelligence Unit of the modern CIA where he becomes an analyst, under the guardianship of his handler, Harper (Kevin Costner). When Ryan believes he's uncovered a Russian plot to collapse the United States economy, he goes from being an analyst to becoming a spy and must fight to save his own life and those of countless others, while also trying to protect the thing that's more important to him than anything, his relationship with his fiancée Cathy (Keira Knightley).

Even the promotional poster looks cool! What a poser! Wooooooohooooooooo!

UPDATE: Latest international trailer here.

Gravity Review

Gravity Review

A group of astronauts are in space doing some maintenance or upgrading work on the Hubble Space Telescope when the Russians decided to terminate one of their satellites. This set a chain reaction of the debris blasting away plenty of other satellites, sending space debris hurtling towards the group. Needless to say, the survivors are our two main stars, first timer Dr. Ryan Stone and veteran mission leader Lt. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) who is on his last mission.

To my limited knowledge in movies, this seems like one of a kind fiction where two astronauts are basically lost in space - communications with Earth totally cut off and limited resources at their disposal to get to a nearby space station to use one of its escape pods. They are further challenged with things such as low oxygen levels, returning space debris as they return from orbiting around Earth in super high speed, and the fear of hurtling around the darkness of vacuum space...

Being a veteran, Kowalski comes across as a cool leader while greenhorn Stone had to come to terms with the situation, which appear to be more and more hopeless as the movie progresses. These loneliness in space reminds me of Tom Hank's "Cast Away" which I loved.

I had much misgivings after first reading about the plot (what is there to talk about being lost in space!?) and watching the first trailer but excellent reviews and a more exciting trailer tempted me to go watch it... and it was quite good, actually.

Plot originality - lost in space in a realistic setting? I've not heard of this one before and to make a feature length movie out of it? Wow. 5/5
Entertaining value - I felt the movie was a wee bit short but I suppose it might come out as boring if prolonged. 3/5
I don't find it as heart-pounding as the synopsis claimed unless you really immerse yourself in deep space... This review is based on the normal version. You'd probably get really more thrilled if you watch it on 3D... 3/5
Sandra Bullock shows off some of her better panicky acting while George Clooney's coolness doesn't leave much for him to shine through. 3/5
Definitely one to recommend but I don't think it will become a classic. 3/5

Last Vegas Trailer is Farnee!!!

While watching Gravity, this trailer about Michael Douglas inviting his friends to Vegas for his wedding certainly caught my attention! The trailer is funny! Check it out below:

The Bitmap Brothers' Magic Pockets

Recently, my friends were talking Betty Boo and that reminds me of this game that I used to play on my Atari ST (which probably would go up in smoke if I would've found it and plug it in...). I wonder if whoever that brought Speedball Evolution to mobile will port Magic Pockets over?

And what about Gods and Syndicate? That'd be kind of WOW! :)

Susan Bennett The Original Siri

Voice actress Susan Bennett is the original voice for Apple's Siri and it all began in July 2005. Hi Susan!

Sadly, my Malaysian Siri was and still is a male while some countries could already select other voices.

via Engadget.

American Government Partial Shutdown

I don't quite get what it means despite the lengthy Reuters report but the first partial shutdown in 17 years that is "potentially putting up to 1 million workers on unpaid leave, closing national parks and stalling medical research projects" sounds like some really serious stuff. Besides that, there are "fresh concerns about whether Congress can meet a crucial mid-October deadline to raise the government's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling." SIXTEEN POINT SEVEN TRILLION DOLLARS debt ceiling and they still have to raise it because the debt level is almost breaking though the threshold! That's a lot of debt!!!

All these could very well "financial markets into a tailspin" and my non-analytical mind tells me this will not be good to the whole world. How did it become that the whole world relied so heavily on one nation and that's the US and it's dollar truly baffled me. The world could not afford to and this will NOT let the US fail, I would assume. So can those fighting men and women in Congress take their pride out of the equation and strive for something to save the US?

Thrilling. Much more thrills than what Hollywood could possibly churn out.

Technology Companies Apple and Google Most Valuable

Apple leads the pact with Google coming in second place while beverage giant Coke rounds up the top three. Don't know what are the criterias but being able to be at the top in a list that started over a decade ago surely would mean a great deal.

via Android Community.

Famous Penang Tau Sar Pheah

Pulau Pinang aka Penang is famous for one particular type of biscuit and whenever locals or foreigners visit the island, they would buy a box or two, or three, or... I've been fortunate to sample the biscuits fresh off the oven once and it was just awesome. A little less awesome if you eat them thereafter. It's (me thinks) got green bean paste as fillings, tastes sweet with a hint of salt. I really don't know which is the original because there are a few brands out there but my colleague bought some and I discovered this particular brand has been around for 155 years and still counting!

Well, according to Penang Street Food, Ghee Hiang pictured above is indeed the original.

Slow Motion on the iPhone 5s

I never thought this particular feature would have any effect on me but recent videos published online such as the one below made me want an iPhone 5s. The power of Apple.

iPhone 5s Test Footage - 120 fps from Rishi Kaneria on Vimeo.

via Cult of Mac.

Christian Bale's Audition for Batman Begins

It's amazing how established actors, too, need to go for auditions and coming as an added feature in the upcoming Batman Trilogy collection, below is Christian Bale auditioning in Val Kilmer's version of Batman costume:

Christian Bale auditions for Batman Begins in... by BatmanNewsCom

Cillian Murphy also auditioned to become Batman but his version probably looked like a Scarecrow which prompted his casting as the villain.

via io9.

My iOS 7 Experience So Far

The Good
At first sight, this new iOS looked very colourful, cheerful and the word cartoonish came to mind but after meddling a bit with it, I found that the user experience had improved such as the Control Centre that slides up from the bottom. Easy access to turning on/off things such as wifi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb and brightness control. What I hoped to find there is the ability to enable/disable mobile (or cellular if you are at that part of the world) data and GPS which eat up more battery than wifi and Bluetooth.

I did discover that Siri had improved a lot, recognised my speech and could turn off mobile data (and a slew of others)! Nice! I think I might just start to use it.

I've been using Google Chrome a lot for browsing lately and was not really impressed with what I've read about the new mobile Safari until I used it. What I liked about Chrome were its unified search and address bar and switching between tabs by swiping left or right. iOS 7's Safari has the unified bar, a cool screen to switch between tabs (not on the iPad, though) AND by swiping left or right, you can go back or forward of your history! Wow!

All the new transparency effects make the new UI look modern and that is certainly most welcome. The current flat design (that's what everyone calls it at a time when cinemas and TVs are all promoting 3D) sure looks fresh compared to the older skeuomorphic design though I'm a little horrified that a lot of apps are going flat, too. Gasp!

Multitasking seems to be up a level with Apple opening up for background app refresh though I've yet to notice that happening despite one of my favourite Pocket claiming it does.

The "I Don't Care"

The parallax effect is so subtle that it didn't matter if it existed or not. Nice to check out the first few times and after the third day, I didn't bother with it. I read that Flipboard is using that effect for some thing, so I've got to try that out, though.

The dynamic moving bubble bokeh wallpapers looked nice but besides moving when titling the screen, they were mere display that it's not possible for animated wallpapers. Developers come out with some cooler ones already!

The multitasking "bar" looks good now that it displays the screen since the last use together with the app's icon and you could close the app by swiping up. Well, it looks cool, but I don't really care, actually. Besides that, on the iPad, swiping up with four fingers would normally reveal the row of icons at the bottom but now it would open up to the whole multitasking "bar" which I felt had some continuity problem.

The Bad

Since updating to iOS 7, I've "successfully" got it to hang a few times:

1. Twice while messing around Settings.

2. After a call, the screen froze and rebooted.

3. Can't remember what happened.

Occasionally, scrolling on the iPhone 5 was no longer as smooth as it used to be. That's not very nice and I suppose iOS 8 would make the phone so slow that I'd need an iPhone 6. Oooh, I like that. XD

The Notification Centre now has three tabs - Today, All and Missed. I get "Today" and I get "Missed" but I don't get "All". I'm still puzzled because it only has notifications. I thought "All" would mean everything. I guess I must have misunderstood. Also, to clear a notification, I've still got to touch on the "X" rather than do a swiping motion. Not so nice.

The new folders have only 9 icons when open and since they can have multiple pages, it could take awhile to find some apps from the same category. I have lots of photo apps and games so these two proved to be the most problematic so I had to rearrange the more commonly used ones on the first page or make another folder for the least used ones.

Wrapping up this post, I love the new ringtones and tones but they (ringtones, especially) are too soft and could not replace the "Old Phone" ringtone that I've been using... even that sounds softer after the update.

Generally, I'm loving the new update because the whole experience is great and I could live with the "I Don't Care" and "Bad" ones, too.

Paranoia Review

Despite a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I had to go watch it because I've not seen Harrison Ford in action for far too long and the pull of watching Gary Oldman as the villain after his good guy Commissioner Gordon role is too enticing. I must be getting old because I didn't watch it because of the beautiful young man and woman. XD

Ahem, on with the plot: ambitious young man Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth, yes, I'm one of those that get confused with him and his Thor bro) messed up by using the credit card issued by his employer Wyatt (Oldman) for a night of clubbing after his presentation to the boss failed. Using this as blackmail, Wyatt got Cassidy to do some industrial espionage on Goddard's (Ford) company which is developing the ultimate smartphone. Sounds like a situation about our two current smartphone leaders but I think the stuff in this movie were over the top most of the time. Along the way, Cassidy fell in love with Goddard's head of marketing Emma Jennings ( Amber Heard). Following this, things get predictable as Cassidy had a change of heart... Although depending on your focus on the movie, there could be a twist somewhere at the later part of the movie.

Needless to say, the spy had to survive and need to do something smart to escape because those at the top will stop at nothing to have the upper hand... even killing. Sounds like a framework for a movie that could stir up some contemporary thrills but it fell just short of that. It won't make you nod off but it won't stop you from blinking either. By the way, I don't think the movie really emphasised much about paranoia. It probably got us paranoid of technological giants instead... oh wait, was that what this is all about?

Pretty girl and boy. Yeah, the two leads. 3/5

Awesome acting? Not really. Nothing that could win any awards but it doesn't look fake either. 3/5

Thrilling? Mostly predictable, no at the edge of your seat incident here. 2/5

Predictable plot but not the worst out there, IMHO it deserved more than the 4% rotten rating. 3/5

The Flu (Korean) Review

A Korean attempt on a widespread epidemic of a flu-like virus, the movie focuses on a city situated just on the outskirts of Seoul. The title characters are a rescue worker who saved a doctor (beautiful Korean chic, YEAH!) from a car that was knocked off its tracks into a deep construction pit. The rescuer had fallen for the doctor almost at first sight and one thing after another led to him meeting the doctor's daughter. Earlier the little girl met an illegal immigrant who was the only survivor (who developed immunity to the virus) from a group that was smuggled in to Korea in a container.

The illegal had broken lose when two brothers opened the container. This is where the infection started and all hell broke lose after that. The plot goes on to paint a picture of politicians who started off being sceptical and only had their self interests in mind. Quarantine procedures would go wrong and the people panicked. All these while the beautiful doctor tried to keep her daughter (infected by the illegal) from being taken away into quarantine. The gallant rescue worker would come in and help save the day, too.

The movie started off with some attempt at comedy and proceed to a more serious tone after that. There were also touching moments and of course picture of the people's struggle. I would say it was not overly thrilling but not to the point of boredom either.

Story wise, nothing that we've not seen in Hollywood productions. 2/5
Beautiful Koreans? 3/5
Ugly side of politics could be exaggerated but the point came across pretty well. 3/5
Not a waste of your time. 3/5

Video Guide to Draw Om Nom

How can I not post an instructional video showing how to draw the legendary cutey that is the star of the Cut The Rope series?!

Even though it's a step-by-step guide, it's so damn tough!!!

Smartphone Cameras - What's the Optimum Amount of Pixels?

In my unscientific gut opinion, as large as the sensor could go with around 8 megapixels but DPReview has a much better explanation with the following conclusion:

... for most purposes 3MP is plenty, but you might want to shoot at around 8MP for the crispest possible details. 8MP is a sensible minimum for big prints and 4K TVs, and even higher resolutions allow you to crop photos without sacrificing quality too much. However, make sure that very high resolutions are matched by an equivalent increase in sensor size.

However, do note that image quality also highly depends on the lens, image processing, sensor design, etc. so the search for the Holy Grail continues...

iOS 7 on the way...

I've got iOS 7 on my phone and was pretty impressed with it. Besides, I'm getting a new toy out of a phone that's going to be a year old. And now, my old iPad will be getting an update!

"Evil" Developers Just Want To Earn More

Some developers are taking the opportunity to charge iOS 7 users for a new revision of their apps, effectively treating the radically new iOS as a clean slate to reboot their apps. In all matter of speaking, I'm totally against this but Cult of Mac has it put down in a way that these developers are really not all that bad. Shucks!!!

Interesting Observation: Simple Cameras

Interesting observation at Open Mike (The Online Photographer Editorial) - one less mentioned reason that camera phones are "eating" into digital camera sales is because of their super simple ease of use. That's not all - camera phones' popularity might eventually lead to their very own increasing complexity. I noticed this happening with all the 3rd party iOS apps and stock Android ones. I like complex cameras and I love full control when I need it but I'm not the majority of users out there. For the record, I often like a quick snap with a simple camera, too.

via Daring Fireball.

It reads "big"

Contrary to the previous post, this Chinese word actually means big. It came about when the hawker wrote on the takeaway packaging to indicate that the portion is large. I'm ashamed to say that the packaging might not be the biodegradable type. We're not quite there yet in Malaysia.

Miniature Effect

I've always find it interesting how blurring some areas, in this case top and bottom, could turn certain images into miniatures. Wikipedia calls this the diorama effect or diorama illusion. For the initiated, you can check it out here. For me, I'm just satisfied with just blurring portions of the image... XD

Epilogue - What's after Apple’s September 10 event?

A motion co-processor aptly named M7? Remarkably suitable for tracking motion? May I join the foray and speculate that Apple's wearable device(s?) is coming really soon? O.o

What's after Apple’s September 10 event?

64-bit Mobile Computing 
Apple looks set to spearhead 64-bit mobile computing now that it is using the 64-bit A7 processor in its flagship phone (and here I was getting worried how Apple will compete with all those quad and not so octa-core processors). There is no doubt that the new iPad and iPad Mini will follow suit. However, 64-bit mobile computing will not be exploding into the scene sometime soon because there are plenty of legacy 16-bit devices out there… even Apple’s own iPhone 5C is still “yesterday’s technology” so it’d be obvious not many developers will go that direction anytime soon. Perhaps when the iPhone 6 comes out next year end then… At the same time, I’m worried that app prices will be increasing due to the efforts required to make higher quality apps to match the iPhone’s hardware…

Mobile Photography and Video to the Next Level 

I’ve always been mighty impress with HTC for coming out with its larger but less megapixels sensor for its flagship HTC One and here I am, highly impressed with Apple for making its sensor larger while maintaining the pixels. Hopefully, together with better and faster optics, image quality will improve. There’s also burst mode and Apple’s adding in an extra “warmer” LED for better coloured flash photography. Video is further enhanced with 120fps capture with ability to select later which part of it you’d want to go slow motion.

The Serious Smartphone
Apple's doing the right thing to give new buyers the whole iWork suite. But I'm saddened that at the time of writing, existing iOS owners are left out. I hope I misinterpreted it all... Anyway, new iOS device owners at least get to do more office productivity stuff (and further stress out) with their iOS devices. Luckily, there's also iPhoto and iMovie to balance things a bit.

False Sense of Security? 

I don’t know about you but despite the new fingerprint sensor I can’t help feeling that hackers will be able to crack through the phone’s security in no time… or maybe not.

All New Experience
iOS 7 will bring a whole new and fresh experience to the stale iOS of yesterday. I can’t wait to try it out and I hope it improves battery life for the current crop of iPhone 5.

Still Managed to Surprise
Just when I thought every possible news were leaked, Apple proved that it could still surprise and I hope when Tim Cook promised us an exciting season this fall, he really meant it.

Concept - The Phone That Never Goes Obsolete

What if your phone come in blocks and that every part of it can be upgraded? Change to a better camera, a more powerful battery, faster processor at your convenience. Replace a broken screen like a LEGO block. Sounds too good to be true? Yes, for now. But everything starts with a concept, right?

via Engadget.

Reminder for Writers

I like this. It's so contemporary!

“Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.” 

– George Singelton

 via Go Into The Story.

One of our favourite drinks, Ribena, to change ownership

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd., Japan's second largest drinks maker known for its beer and whiskey  is about to buy our favourite sweet, but nourishing blackcurrant drink Ribena from GlaxoSmithKline Plc. for a whopping sum of £1.53 billion. The transaction will also include energy drink Lucozade.

While GSK felt that the two drinks lack global presence, they will help the Japanese company expand its presence into Britain, Nigeria, Malaysia and other countries. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be completed by end of this year.

via Reuters.

Ironically, referring to the photo below, digital camera sales are not mushrooming...

I can understand how digital camera sales are declining the world over. I wouldn't be lugging around my digital camera, be it compact or DSLR or even mirrorless when I am at work. Now that there are phones that take reasonable photos, I seldom carry any cameras, unless I'm on holiday, I suppose. For work, I'd use my phone to snap away. Below is a photo of... ummm... mushrooms that I took with my phone during a late working night.

However, I do not deny that the current crop of compact cameras offer better photo qualities than even the best phones. Needless to say, DSLR are almost the best of the crop. It's just that, people are lazy to carry something that is difficult to fit into a jeans pocket, for instance. I do still lust for digital cameras and my current wish is to own a mirrorless Sony NEX. Well, I don't mind Sony's latest innovation, the QX10 and QX100 "lens cameras" either!

XD

New Robocop Trailer

Next year's Robocop reboot sees a much more mobile and agile cop than the previous movies, ages ago.

Mars Solar Eclipse!

This is perhaps something we don't see everyday... Of Mars' larger moon Phobos passing in front of the sun. At first glance, it's really not as spectacular as the ones we often see on Earth but remember, this is taken from Mars! Wow!

via PetaPixel.

What of Nokia's Future?

With the focus mainly on Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s devices and services division, not many have looked at what remains of Nokia’s future. Engadget has it here.

Nokia will continue to focus on its Here Maps (which I’ve used on the iPhone when it first launched but was not very impressed so I decided to stick withWaze and Google Maps. Now with more time, perhaps the company could make it stand out from the more established apps.

Next up, Nokia will stick to developing and building network infrastructure, now being LTE networks as the primary focal point. Besides this, Nokia will also concentrate on advance technologies, looking for business opportunities.

All da best, Nokia!

Riddick Review

I’ve never seen the previous two Riddick movies so this is going to be based on what I watched so here goes: Vin Diesel’s titular character Riddick was reluctantly crowned as the new leader of the Necromongers (or something like that) and he decided to visit his home world. He was tricked and brought to a different world, attacked and left for dead by evil Karl Urban’s minions whom I guess wanted to take over the throne.

And so Riddick had to survive by fending off the planet’s indigenous species and got to tame a crossover between a zebra and hyena as his pet “dog”. Later, he came across a bounty hunter station and activated the emergency beacon so that bounty hunters would come for him… and he could hijack their ship and get off the country. Two groups of bounty hunters came, one for his head as bounty while another to find out the truth about what happened to his son in the first movie, Pitch Black.

The movie proceed to become a mix between The Thing and Aliens as the bounty hunters hunt for Riddick and Riddick tries to get a ship while fending off scorpion-like aliens.

Vin Diesel is his usual tough self while the bounty hunters are a mixture of cool and arrogance bordering on stupidity. There is really nothing new in the plot that we’ve not seen but I suppose Vin Diesel fans and followers of the series would rejoice.

Vin Diesel fans? Not his best but passable, I guess. 3/5
Riddick fans? I can’t say because I’ve not watched the previous two but there’s plenty of that character.
Action? 2/5
Story? 2/5
Effects? Aliens ok but the part with them riding bikes in the rain is not. 2/5
I’d summarise this as only an average movie for fans. 2/5

Smart Watches - What I hope from Apple

There were Pebble and others. Then, Sony came before Samsung and the latest from both are compared here (I'm mighty impressed with Sony making their watches compatible with any Android 4.0 phones, a learning from a company that used to make Memory Sticks). Now even Qualcomm's announced one. But the rumour that started all these was of the Apple version and there's still no sign of it.

Whatever it is, I can't help hoping it will take the queue from the previous iPod Nano - detachable little thing that can work as a music device (and hopefully more) with plenty of straps to choose from - WITHOUT its shortcomings, of course. It was unfortunate that was discontinued and replaced with the current larger version. Or perhaps that's Apple's plan all along so that they can announce a smart watch (I think there will be an official word for "smartwatch" eventually) that is like that? Wishful thinking again, I know, but hope is a driver.

Tech Slangs Updated to Online Oxford Dictionary

The online edition of the Oxford English Dictionary updated its vocabulary list including some words that've been widely used to describe the current technology world and some of the fun words are:

• Digital detox (noun – informal) - A period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world.
• Emoji (noun – plural same or emojis) - A small digital image or icon used to express an idea or emotion in electronic communication
• Geek chic (noun informal) - The dress, appearance, and culture associated with computing and technology enthusiasts, regarded as stylish or fashionable.
• Hackerspace (noun) - A place in which people with an interest in computing or technology can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge.
• Internet of things (noun) - A proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.
• Phablet (noun) - A smartphone having a screen which is intermediate in size between that of a typical smartphone and a tablet computer.
• Selfie (noun – plural selfies – informal) - A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

 via TechnologyTell.

Pandas’ Snack Time

Let's start the weekend watching pandas during their snack time:

Have a nice weekend!

Elysium Review

Believe it or not. There will be a time when Earth will be diseased and polluted to the point where the rich will pay to live in an utopia outpost sort of place (with machines that can cure all illness and extend life up to 3 times of the typical lifespan) that orbits the planet while the majority poor ones continue to live and suffer here. Such is the setting of Elysium.

The movie stars Matt Damon as a high tech criminal but still poor that decided to go straight and work his way up in a factory manufacturing droids to police Elysium and control Earth citizens. However, one work day turned out badly with him getting exposed to radiation and had only 5 days to live. Of course, only those miracle machines in Elysium can save him and so the movie really kicks off from there. He made a deal with the bad guys to steal the memory out of his evil boss' mind because he didn’t give a damn when he got exposed to radiation. He gets physically fitted into an exoskeleton with lots of drilling and hacking and become kind of super. In return he gets sent to Elysium.

Off he went to steal but of course things went bad, lost his best buddy and got hunted but he did manage to steal a, coincidentally, program that could reset the whole Elysium that will turn the tide of things. Along the way, he met his childhood sweetheart (whose daughter is dying of leukaemia and also needs the miracle machine). His original journey to save himself became one that could save the world! Oh yeah, it’s that kind of movie!

Effects are ok and there is nothing much to really act out. This is the first time I see an evil Jodie Foster, the controlling figure in Elysium. Interesting but there’s really not much acting skills required in this movie. Action sequences are not over the hill. All in, good for an entertainment but I doubt it’ll become a classic.

Story - extreme setting of what the world is becoming now. 3/5
Looking for lots of action? 3/5
Effects? 3/5
Acting? There’s really not much and not necessary. There’re lots of desperation, though. 3/5
Overall, an above average movie that’s not great. 3/5

And the trailer:

Fahrenheit in Malaysia!?

I don't have the slightest idea why this particular air-conditioning remote control in the hotel I'm staying in is in Fahrenheit! We use Celsius here in Malaysia!!! Thankfully there is Google to help translate it to 24 degrees Celsius for me! Otherwise I would be freezing or perspiring without knowing why. XD

The Star Wars Misquote

Darth Vader NEVER said "Luke, I am your father!" or similar iterations in the same sentence. Gasp!

via Blastr.

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.