Ok so I know this blog’s been neglected for quite some time. I just can’t find the time or bother to blog much nowadays. The typical day involves 8 to 5.30 work before coming home with barely a few hours to myself. Fridays have never seemed so blissful in my entire life.

Rant…

Anyway, recently got a new laptop, the ASUS G51Jx. Brilliant gaming machine, absolutely terrible computer. I won’t bother ranting much about it here, maybe I’ll post the review I wrote for another site here soon, but until then let’s just say I am sorely regretting getting this machine. Mainly because I could have probably gotten an equally powerful desktop for maybe two thirds the price, and more importantly one that has a BIGGER SCREEN.

1920 by 1080 on a 15 inch screen is way too much. Text is all painfully small for my eyes, and I gotta toggle everything to zoom in. But there are some apps that simply won’t let me enlarge the text (e.g. Steam) and I gotta suffer by squinting at everything it throws on screen.

The solution to this all? Get an iPad for web-surfing.

The iPad was stupid…

The perfect solution IMO, though a thoroughly annoying one for me. When the iPad first launch I was firmly in the camp of what’s-Apple-doing-it’s-just-a-larger-iPod-Touch. In recent weeks, I’ve played around with the iPad twice at Apple stores, and now desperately want one.

Mind you, it’s not just me. For the first time ever, you actually gotta queue up at Apple stores just to play around with one of their products on display. Maybe you’re saying, “Sure, Singaporeans love to queue anyway”. For once though, Singaporeans aren’t just flocking to try the iPad out. At the store in Funan, while I was playing around with the iPad (after having waited for at least 5 minutes), iPads were literally FLYING off shelves. Every single person in the store seemed to be leaving with an iPad in hand. And the majority of them obviously weren’t hardcore Apple fans or anything that would fall for anything Steve Jobs introduced. Most of the people I saw were pretty damn old. You know, the kind who can’t tell a USB port from a rectangular hole. Or the type who couldn’t tell the differenc between a Mac or a PC.

Perhaps that’s what’s so enticing about the iPad. It’s simplicity. The iPod Touch gives off the impression of being a tech-gadget. A small, handy device for the tech-savy, maybe because it resembles mobile phones so much. And older people tend to be intimidated even by their mobile phones. The iPad on the other hand feels like a simplified notebook. A really simplified notebook at that. Why? Because it has a screen comparable to that of a laptop. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do for the tech-illiterate to think it’s really a better version of those complicated laptops.

Apple knows what it’s doing

I guess it doesn’t matter how stupid an Apple product sounds on paper. Fact of the matter is that Apple knows what it’s doing. The tech-savy crowd can scream all they want about how the iPad is a joke, but the fact remains that it appeals to the average consumers in ways no other device has ever done before. Heck, after playing with it for about 10 minutes, I already want one, and I used to think Apple had taken a step in the wrong direction by creating a big iPod Touch.

This goes to show that for all the knowledge we geeks have about technology, we have no idea what really resonates with the majority of people.

Alien Swarm

First off, the game looks bloody brilliant and awesome. Four guys battle through hordes and hordes of aliens, kind of like Left 4 Dead except in top-down view. I’ve been wanting a game like this for AGES. No idea why no other studio has actually come out with a decent top-down co-op shooter for the PC. Oh well, at least it’s finally here, and it’s FREE! This game has everything I ever wanted.

The only problem? Thanks to NS I won’t have enough guy friends who would be interested in this game to play it with me. One of the funnest times of my life were in lower sec when I would come home everyday, fire up DoTA, Skype with my friends, and jabber away whilst playing the game. I hated DoTA (mainly ’cause I’m terrible at it) but playing with friends over Skype just makes it soooo much fun. L4D with Skype was similar, if not better, though I didn’t play it much unfortunately. This game is probably going to be as much even more fun when played co-op with friends IMO.

The one problem? Everyone’s in NS. Meanwhile I’m clocking 8 – 5.30, so I probably won’t have much people to play with. Probably going to have to play with strangers then, which will be hardly as fun.

Oh and of course there’s that matter of whether my four-year old iMac can even handle this to begin with…..

So I just watched Toy Story 3 a couple of days ago. And damn is it amazing. It’s one of those few movies that make me want to pay to watch it again. It’s been so long since the last Toy Story movie, and I really couldn’t fathom how they could tell another story based off these same old characters again. But then again I had forgotten one crucial thing: it’s Pixar.

Unprecedented

Ever since their first Toy Story movie in 1995, Pixar has had an unprecedented record as far as movie studios go. Producing hit after hit after hit, there has yet to be a Pixar movie that I didn’t love. It really is eerie to think how they have never made a “bad” movie. Meanwhile other directors and producers just can’t stop screwing up when it comes to filmmaking. Pixar films on the other hand have always had a very high level of quality to them, so much so that when you sit down for a Pixar film, you know that you’re in for a treat. It’s more or less a given nowadays that anything Pixar touches will turn to gold.

Best Pixar Movie Ever. Period.

But I have to say, with Toy Story 3, Pixar has outdone themselves.

I’d probably consider Toy Story 3 to be my favourite Pixar movie of all time. And that’s saying something, considering how contenders for that title include precious gems such as Finding Nemo, Ratatouille (a highly underrated film in my opinion) and The Incredibles.

The first half of the movie really set up the premise well – Andy’s been growing up and neglecting his old bunch of toys. They eventually find themselves unwittingly donated to a daycare centre where hilarity, drama, action and suspense all ensue. In fact, the major action set piece spans half the movie, and it doesn’t feel forced unlike some of the other action set pieces included in other Pixar films. Every single moment of the huge action set piece was so enjoyable to watch and thoroughly creative throughout. While the final scene of this movie is probably the most emotionally stirring scene in a movie I’ve ever watched.

And this was all told through an animated film, with a bunch of plastic toys as the characters. No wonder Pixar rules.

What’s next?

I’m pretty excited for Pixar’s next few films. The only qualm I have is that I gotta wait another year before I can get another Pixar film. All 11 films they’ve produced to date have been absolutely astounding, and I just can’t wait to see more. Cars 2 is coming next year, sequel to 2006’s Cars, widely considered to be Pixar’s worst film. Though being “Pixar’s worst film” translates into “pretty awesome movie” when compared with the junk other animation studios are putting out.

2012 is going to be awesome. We’re getting not just one but TWO Pixar films that year. A sequel to Monsters Inc. in November and a new film, Brave, in June. Brave is supposedly set in “mystic Scotland” and features a headstrong girl, something about her father’s kingdom and royalty, and “unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark ancient curse”. Sounds pretty Disney-ish to me, which makes me kind of tentative.

Though knowing Pixar, everything they touch is gonna turn to gold.

Damn vuvuzelas

But this is E3. You can’t ignore it. Kind of like the World Cup of the gaming world. Except without those damn vuvuzelas. Them horns really ought to be banned. But that’s a rant for another time.

This year’s E3 really blew me away to be honest. With regards to hardware, there was so much new stuff that a new Xbox 360 design is probably the weakest announcement. Motion-control has certainly caught on in a huge way, with Sony announcing its Wii Remote-esque Move and Microsoft its peripheral-less Kinect (originally Project Natal, a technology which I went crazy over). Of course, Nintendo has been doing motion-control for ages now (3.5 years to be exact, since the Wii first released), and it seems they’re constantly breaking new ground with the Nintendo 3DS. A handheld-console that displays 3D graphics without the need for clunky glasses? Oh and not to mention 2 cameras in front so that you can take pictures in 3D? I’m in. Unfortunately the damn thing doesn’t release till Q1 2011.

Just those 3 announcements were big enough to carry the show IMO. The rest of it, while not groundbreaking, was still entertaining nonetheless. The expected announcements of sequels to long-standing franchises (Gears of War 3, Fable 3), as well as the showcasing of some new IPs. And of course a couple of games that took advantage of the new motion controllers. Pretty neat stuff, though it’s still too early to say how successful the Kinect and Move will turn out to be.

Poor ol’ me

Alas, as with every year, I probably won’t get my feet wet with all the new stuff that’s been announced at E3. I have yet to get a current generation console, despite being the avid gamer that I am (or rather was, before my MBP’s display decided it didn’t want to work anymore). The Kinect and Move are intriguing to say the least, though I suspect that as with the Wii, it’s only going to be fun with people around. Standing alone in a room flailing your arms around at your TV is just stupid.

Plenty of new games I hope I eventually get the chance to play of course. I already have a huge backlog of games that want to but have yet to play at this point in time, and its only going to grow. Who knows when I’ll ever get a chance to make some headway in starting on the list.

One thing’s for sure though. If they don’t release Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 on the PC, I might be forced to get a console Damn that game looks awesome.

In the past, I at least had the glimmer of hope of “Maybe I can get one of these!” But being in NS now means there’s absolutely no way I can get an iPhone. No way am I going all Frankenstein on it and plucking out the camera, especially not when it can now even record HD video (720p, 30fps on a mobile phone camera!). I’m just going to have to sit on the sidelines patiently, watching as everyone else snatches up one of these. I’m going to have to sit through another new iPhone announcement next year (assuming Apple keeps to its current trend of refreshing the iPhone hardware every year) without being able to actually own one of them. One thing’s for sure though, my next phone is going to be an iPhone.

As for the announcement itself, I have to say this 1.5 hour long keynote is probably the most entertaining one in recent times. Packed with pretty meatty announcements (thought there was that lull in between of inviting developers up on stage at one point), it sure was entertaining when Jobs essentially went “TURN OFF ALL YOUR WIFI, NOW!!!” Poor live-bloggers.

However, this occasion’s “One More Thing…” sure was disappointing, especially compared to the announcements that preceded it.

Now I’ve watched some Apple keynotes that date back to the 1990s (wow we’re actually in the ’10s) and Steve Jobs’ “One More Thing…” announcements back then were usually mind blowing to say the least. Or at least they were genuinely exciting or intriguing. This time though, their “One More Thing” turned out to be nothing more than video calling.

Seriously? Video calling? My SE Z610i from 4 years ago could do that. Sure, the iPhone 4 does it better. But 4 years on it had jolly well do a better job. Even worse, Jobs didn’t even bother trying to show off any hidden features of video calling. All the iPhone did was simply that, video calling, and nothing more. Yet the way he sold it was as if video calling was something completely new to the world, which it is obviously isn’t. I’m still mystified as to why they decided to market video calling (and seriously, calling it FaceTime doesn’t make it cool) as something that’s “revolutionary”.

Apart from that though, some of the stuff is pretty revolutionary IMO. Can’t wait for 2 years later when I can finally actually get an iPhone. Oh wells.

Current US law limits energy companies’ liability for lost business and local tax revenues from oil spills to $75m.

So energy companies only need to pay claims for compensation up to $75m? When you consider that:

But experts warn that BP’s total liability for the spill could run into billions of dollars.

That means if BP was an American company, they could be saving billions of dollars thanks to a law that makes no sense. Food for thought.

Oh wells, of course I could be misinterpreting everything thanks to my dismal understanding of stuff like that.

That is all.

Is Cambodia Dredging its Rivers to Death?

The gist of the article is that Cambodia is over-dredging (ie. cleaning out the bed of a body of water, like rivers or harbours, in this context its referring to collecting sand from the sea bed I’m guessing) its rivers. Besides the obvious environmental damage, its affecting the lives of Cambodians as well, as fishermen have to go further out to sea to find fish to feed their families with. The reason behind collecting all this sand? Singapore’s high demand for it.

FTA:

This booming Cambodian trade, according to the report, is fueled by Singapore’s voracious appetite for sand. Since splitting off from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore has become one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and as its importance has grown, so, too, has the country. According to Global Witness, since the 1960s, the island of Singapore has increased its size by 22%, or 130 square kilometers (50 miles), and the country has plans to expand at least another 50 square kilometers (20 miles). This has made Singapore one of the world’s biggest importers of sand. After Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam limited or banned sand exports because of the environmental impact of dredging, Singapore has increasingly relied on Cambodia, the report says.

Even more damn-ing stuff:

The result has been “ecologically and socially devastating,” says the Global Witness report. The NGO accuses Singapore of “hypocrisy on a grand scale” for presenting itself as a leader on green issues — even hosting the World Cities Summit with the theme of “Liveable and Sustainable Cities of the Future” — while burying its head in the sand, so to speak, and ignoring the environmental consequences in Cambodia. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Singaporean Ministry of National Development countered, “The report suggests that the Singapore government seeks to import sand without due regard to the laws or environmental impact of the source country, in this case, Cambodia. This is not true. We are committed to the protection of the global environment, and we do not condone the illegal export or smuggling of sand.” The statement added that sand is supplied by private entities that are contractually obliged not to cause adverse impact to the environment of the source country and must comply with its laws.

While Singapore sure wants to make sure that all regulations are upheld on her end, there’s little check and balance on the Cambodians’ side. It is Cambodia after all. The article goes on to elaborate on how the figures of the amount of sand exported that are reported by the government over there are purported by an NGO to be way too low to be accurate. It’s China’s Great Leap Forward all over again, except this time it’s the government itself who’s reporting false figures.

Sigh, why must it come to this

I’m not an environmentalist by any sense of the word. I’m one of those who, from time to time, forget to switch of lights and fans when I’m not using them. The main reason why this article even caught my attention is due to Singapore’s involvement in this whole fiasco. It’s just plain unpleasant to know that your country is harming the environment and the lives of others, regardless of the reasons. Now, come to think about it, with the number of civilian casualties rising and the many other ways in which Iraq and Afghanistan have been affected, I can’t begin to imagine how the average American feels; what with the War on Terror and everything.

It’s unfortunate that so much harm has to come out of exporting a seemingly insignificant thing. Singapore’s appetite for sand isn’t going to abate anytime soon, and I highly doubt Cambodia will stop exporting it anytime soon. With a profit-driven private company acting as the middle man for this transaction, this situation can only go from bad to worse in my opinion.

The world is f**ked up

When you’re a kid and you keep hearing the grown-ups around you going “The world sucks!”, you usually have no idea why they say so. But this case here is probably one of those reasons why. Under the circumstances, there’s really no easy way to diffuse the situation. The Cambodian political system isn’t going to change any time soon. As Singapore continues to expand by reclaiming more land and developing the IR and Sentosa, you can’t blame the government for needing so much sand. And it’s not like there’s an easily available alternative to Cambodia after Indonesia banned sand exports 3 years ago.

Yet, with so many problems and with so much at stake here, there’s little doubt to me that this story is going to get swept under the carpet very soon and everyone’s going to forget about it. Heck, even the Haiti earthquake which killed thousands of people just 4 months ago has more or less been forgotten by the mass media by now. Let alone the environment and a couple of fishermen from a developing country.

Can you imagine this on your wrist at all times! The possibilities for a device like this are endless. Using it as a phone would be awesome, just for the sake of being able to talk to your watch. Of course I’d never do that, at least not in public, you’d look like a complete idiot talking to your wrist. Though it’d be quite cool to be able to make calls using a watch which was paired with a bluetooth headset!

Oh but of course, LG has already demoed a watch that doubles as a phone as well. Multiple times at that. No, I’m not kidding. Of course, in typical LG fashion, it is extremely clunky. You gotta navigate through all the menus via 3 small buttons that are squeezed onto the side of the watch-phone. Ridiculous if you ask me.

When is someone going to create a touchscreen-watch-phone? Hopefully it’s done by Apple though. Most other companies would just completely screw up the user interface and make it clunky till the point where it’s almost useless. Say what you will about Apple, but they sure do know how to design amazing user interfaces.

Actually, I just googled “touchscreen watch” and it seems like such a device has existed since 2002. Doesn’t seem as appealing as the idea of having an iPhone on your wrist though. *shrugs*

Oh and in case anyone reading till this point is still confused, the above image is a mock-up…

… unfortunately

Oh well, it seems like iPads still won’t be coming to Singapore anytime in the near future yet. According to the press release, the only Asian country getting an iPad any time soon is going to be Japan. Seems like I won’t get to see iPads all over Singapore yet.

Not that I intend to buy one in the near future. Still, my opinion of the iPad has done a 180 degree turn. When it was first announced, I scoffed along with everyone else, labelling it a large iPhone and nothing else. But now that it’s finally released and you see some of the Apps that are available for it. Damn… mind-blowing to say the least. Or at least my mind was blown. Now if I had about $800 spare cash, I’d almost definitely get one. That is if it ever comes to Singapore.

Still, it’s funny how there are some push-cart shops in shopping malls that are already selling silicon cases for the iPad. Regardless of the fact that I can probably count the number of imported iPads floating around Singapore right now on one hand.

One thing’s for sure, if I ever get an iPad, I’m not gonna uglify it by putting a silicon case on it.

I just made the mistake of visiting the VJC blog again. It’s thriving now to say the least. While it does feel good to know that I was the one who (literally) revived it, it sucks to not still be a part of Subjectif, writing away about all the fun stuff that goes on around VJ. There’s never going to be another Musicfest for me, or another JC lecture (ah, fun times playing Bridge at the back of the LT while the lecture was going on), or all the other fun stuff. Now it’s just the mundane, never-anything-new environment of the office. If I’m working in an office to serve my NS, I wonder how the majority of NSFs are coping. They must be pining for school.

Sigh, I miss school.