Happy new Year!

It's 2008!

Well, sort of... when i blog this, it's 11:48pm 31 Jan 07.

In SG, it's 12:48am 1 Jan 08.

but anyway, happy new year!

Take care of the Earth!

Why I post like crazy.

Why am I publishing posts after posts like crazy?

Well, perhaps I'm schizophrenic. [ooo.... big word..]

But I choose to do them as and when I like!

Ok, fine, it's to inflate the number of posts I get in December 07 as compared to December 06.

And Yes, I need to inflate [ah, the irony] viewership or this blog is not worth my effort!

ok, i know there's, like, at least 1 reader out there...

Are you reading this? If you are, then probably it's a post-apocalyptic world. [hey, the ice age was an apocalypse] [ooo... another big word!]

Ok, enough bantering. Just tag my tagboard when you're here. Comment on my banner! Heck, mock me!

Addiction...

I am addicted to Apple's Wireless Mighty Mice.

I am addicted to BBC.

I am addicted to Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Creams.

I am addicted to Marvel-related stuff.

I am addicted to iPods.

I am addicted to Razr2s.

I am addicted to low hygiene standards.

I am addicted to not touching holiday homeworks.

I have major addiction problems.

Addiction| They are harmful...

new banner!

hope you like it!

What's with October?

I seem to post 2x as much in October of each year. Look at the Archives!

[pimping parts of my blog... how cheap of me...]

08| New Year's Resolution AND Predictions

I realised that having 3 different posts talking about the future is very tedious when reviewing.
Hence, this year, I decided to combine all those crap and put them all in one single post. It's like an entire A Cappella group singing in the same G major! how delightful!

Let's start things off easy for me. the easy thing to do is...

My predictions

Apple will release iPhone in Singapore on M1.

Sony's PS3 will get a refresh.

Refer to Apple predictions for Macworld. [12 points there.]

In Heroes Season 3, Sylar will kill Nathan Petrelli [or try to.]

there will be 10 new Mac Games from the major publishers in 2008 [EA, Ubisoft, Valve, id]

Somebody will become my enemy. It's not betrayal. Did i get you? Good! you're paying attention! now comes the New Year's Resolution!

I may need to remove the tagboard once. On each blog that I have.

My New Year's Resolution

I shall get 5 A1s for my O Level

I shall do badly for CA1, especially for Chemistry.

I shall make more enemies than I have now in school.

I shall NOT make new friends in 2008.

I shall join minimum 2 study groups gatherings in 2008

I shall try to apply to go somewhere outside Singapore for my post-OLVL studies

I shall go to 4 different countries in 2008, even though it's my OLVL year

I shall CONTINUE to blog during my OLVL study period!

I shall watch 2 NC-16 movies next year. [hey, Heroes Season 1 DVD was NC-16, and besides, my 16th birthday is next year.] [HA! to the Dec-bies!]

I shall ace English Oral.

I shall survive choir performances. [morning assembly, Musical, etc.]

I will make sure the other PA guys respect Melvin.

if that plan backfires, I will make sure somebody else takes over.

I guess BenSee isgetting pissed with me. That's gonna need a fix.

For the first time in 10 years, I will go back to Indonesa to celebrate Chinese New Year with the family.

I will eat a total of 3 pints of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream throughtout 2008.

I shall get my blog on the "Blog of Note" list!

and my photo [1 of] will be marked as an "Explore" Picture

I'm no longer buying anymore iPods. Nor iPhones.

I may buy a gaming console. think PSP...

I may get a Blu-Ray player to call my own...

I shall make around 300 posts in 08

I will change the blog skin 3 times.

I will not get the things I put on the wishlist

I will leave Singapore for the UK or US or AU by 2009.

About the last resolution...
It's not confirmed yet, but I may leave Singapore for a different pre-university system. I may take the SATs in the states, I may take the As in the UK, I may do something else different in Australia, maybe IB, but It's quite unlikely that I will continue to study in Singapore. Ya, I guess I did say I want VJC, but my parents seem kind of unhappy with me being in Singapore with my guardians, or me alone in an apartment. either way, they prefer me in the States or UK. or AU. Oh well...

Erm, no, it's not goodbye yet. don't "sayonara" me yet. like I said, it's not confirmed.-

small stuff!

My A380 [S$6.90 from Toys 'R' Us @ VivoCity.]
next to an iPod Touch. [16GB, S$628 from EpiCentre during SiTex 07]


Branding everywhere?
Motorola Razr2 V8, [Rp 3,900,000 from Dusit Mangga Dua]
iPod Touch [again]

reply to bun-zai/ [via choir blog. in case he edits my post, at least it's safe on da ron files.]

//to all...

////just to clarify,

`I like Bohemian Rhapsody...

`I love Queen/ [the  original singer of the song...]

And I didn't know nobody here listens to Top100 iTunes songs except me, apparently...

like, hello? Kanye West? that guy ripped off Daft Punk...

Geez, Ben...

k. geek-talk over.

while my bro's gone...

I get to play with his tech toys!!!

Firstly, i need a game console...

He gave me 2 options: his PS3, or his Wii.

Wii it was, then. [he didn't have any Blu-ray discs...]

then, I saw some other peripherals.

Apple Mighty Mouse, or Apple wireless keyboard?

Mighty, duh?!

Yes, I'm weird.

p.s.: I have an A380. Anyone wanna see it? I'll post a pic if anyone requests it...

Link: Hopes & Dreams for SY2007

For Academic Studies...

-Wish to get top in 2 subjects [Physics, Math.]
-Wish to get top 10 this year. last year was a bad year for me. [yay!]
-Wish to know more about psychology [erm, yay? you learn something new everyday...]
-Wish to pass HCL tests and get a B3/A2 for 普通华文 'O'水准考试 2007. [barely., O lvl pending...]

For Physical Fitness...
-Wish to be able to pass 2.4
-Wish to be able to do 1 pull-up / chin-up by April / May
-Wish to Pass NaPFA

For CCAs...
-Wish to fix the conflicts in choir... mainly Paul-BenSee, ShawnChui-EThan
-Wish for Choir as a whole to get a Gold
-Wish for PA to be more disciplined and "popular" amongst the teachers.
-Wish for Silver again for this year's Math Olympiad competition
-Wish to participate in a Photography Competition
-Wish to get my photo displayed somewhere in school... (maybe Ms Seah's homeroom>?) [choir concert poster!]
-Wish to "vandalise" Miss Gan's Music Rm., but please Miss Chua in d process and give Ernest and I an A for d Art Vandalism project. (Miss Chua gave the instruction... We, Ernest and I, do the orders... Miss Gan gave the green light...)
-Wish to do Psychotheraphy on someone from any CCA.
-Wish to teach Psychology by linking to a psychology 101 page such as this one (the link i provided is where I get all my psychology information from for now...).

Looks like half, i guess...

LOL, expiry dates...

From: Happy belated B'day to...

"Ernest (20 December)

Happy B'day, Ernest! As a b'day present, I'll stop calling u names... including "ernie"!!!"

That's one year ago...

Well, Ernest, your birthday this year has past...

ERNIE!!!

Review| Predicitions for 2007

Link: My Predictions for '07...

1. Sony will look really cool in 2007. [oh contra re...]

2. Blu-ray + HD-DVD multi-burners and readers will appear. [yes. LG!]

3. New MacBook Pro with Blu-ray.
4. Bit Torrent will be a way of LEGAL distribution. [sort of.]
5. the rumoured Apple iPhone will be called iChat Mobile. [no. still iPhone.]
6. OS X Leopard, a 13.3" MacBook Pro (metallic), a Mac Mini with independent GPU, a Widescreen iPod, iChat Mobile, iTV and an iSight will ALL be released on MacWorld.
7. When i mentioned iSight, i mean an Apple Digital Camera with a memory card and stuff. (Apple no longer sells iSight cameras, so reuse the name!)
8. The iPod lineup will be all flash-based by the holiday season.
9. Microsoft will sue Apple. Apple will sue Adobe. Adobe will sue Microsoft. Why? beats me, but it IS a prediction!
10. Wireless-N devices will start appearing, but adoption rate will be slow.
11. SED TVs will really appear in 2007, during the holiday season.
12. Google will work with Linux. on what? I don't know. [Android.]
13. Google will reopen "Google Ask" service, but in a different form, name, and function.
14. XBOX 360 - New model with HD-DVD, larger HDD, HDMI.
15. PS3 - New Unit by 2008. Slimmer design, more cores / less heat (it's one or d other), more RAM, dual HDMI (as in earlier rumours), more HDD space, lighter weight. and SMALLER box.
16. CD and DVD sales will rise. iTunes sales will rise. everything else will fall.
17. AMD will overtake Intel with a new processor.
18. PSP2?
19. Nobody remembers the Origami PC by Microsoft.
20. Windows Vista will only be something people upgrade to because their current systems are slow.
21. Terabyte Hard disk drives by July.
22. Steve Jobs will announce his retirement date... and it will be after Bill Gates retire.
23. Wi-Bri will fade. Wireless-USB will be a successor to the Bluetooth.
24. Google will face competition... and trample them all!!!
25. There will be 5 hosts on the BOL podcast next year.

F5F5!!!

2007 Resolution review.

link: "New Year's Resolution Final Version"

-i shall watch more youtube 

[i did]
-i shall upload videos to the internet somehow... be it vlogs or youtube. 

[i did. Physics project, Art trip video, Esmond's video]
-i shall survive sec 3 life. 

[i barely did]
-i shall install XP MCE 2005 on my Mac, despite Vista's existence. 

[didn't]
-i shall buy no more than 10 albums in 2007. 

[2 furtado, 1 feist, 1 timbaland, 1 agapella, 1 kanye west, 1 mika, 1 Aly & AJ, 1 Natalie Imbruglia, 1 James Blunt, 1 KT Tunstall. that's 11. whoops!]
-i shall watch more tv thanks to my tv tuner.

[SEA Games counts, right? no? oh darn.]
-i shall get someone a birthday present for once.

[erm... Ernest?]
-i shall make more video calls and less smses instead.

[never happened.]
-i shall get cable tv from starhub. no more free-to-air channels for me. btw, i love BBC.

[never happened.]
-i shall watch BBC.
[watching]

-i shall try to ensure a silver for SYF.

[YAY!]
-i shall get a red iPod Nano. PRODUCT ( RED )

[half of it. iPod nano? yes. RED? no.]
-i shall visit Apple Centre 10 times in 2007.

[yup.]
-i shall go out during the weekends for leisure 20 times (or more), without my guardians for once.

[not 20, but enough for this to pass by my definition]
-i shall get a B3 minimum for 'O' Level Chinese Language Exam.

[pending.]
-i shall be an amateur counsellor.

[FAIL]
-i shall change my email address.

[FAIL]
-i shall move away from friendster permanently.

[yup. on FaceBook. sort of.]
-i shall spend S$300 on iPod accesories in 2007. (in 2006, i spent $250 on the Altec Lansing speakers, Silicone case, battery packs, radio remote and charger)

[nope.]
-i shall keep my 5G iPod in great condition.

[ya right.]
-i shall keep my MacBook Pro in great condition.

[yup]
-i shall not buy any new iPods released in 2007. (i can still buy a Nano 2G)

[FAIL. i bought 2.]
-i shall buy music from iTunes.

[hey, i did! OK Go's free treadmill thingy track!]
-i shall join a photography competition.

[did. failed. but i joined!]
-i shall remain a geek.
[lame resolution.]

-i shall be mocked at. (this is easy)

[again, lame resolution.]

-i shall switch to Starhub mobile soon. (Singtel service is good, but not enough)

[erm, 2008?]
-i shall come up with my idea of solutions to political situations that arise on my blog. nobody will care or listen.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog more. blogging appears to have a positive impact on my vocabulary.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog in chinese more often.

[sort of.]
-i shall blog in bahasa melayu / bahasa indonesia more often.
[once.]

-i shall star a vlog.

[FAIL]
-i shall drink more choya.

[i just did. Christmas party 2 days ago. 1 shot glass!]
-i shall drink sparkling drinks in 2007.

[Big Gulps galore!]
-i shall NOT top any subjects anymore. that's plain childish competition.

[oops.]
-i shall not make a crude joke like the resolution i mentioned just before this one.

[lol...]
-i shall pass NAPFA. my hands are somewhat wider right now.

[erm... i don't get the second part of that resolution.]
-i shall not be sarcastic at all.

-ok, i shall try to avoid sarcasm.

[was i sarcastic this year? I think i avoided it quite well this year. proud of you, Ron!]
-i shall remain girlfriend-free for the next 2.8 years. (JC1: i shall learn more about female peers and JC2: I shall choose to like someone)

[one year down, 1.8 to go.]
-i shall forget 2006.

[true...]
-i shall suffer from amnesia.

[huh? where am i?]

Passed: 26.5/42

YAY!!! I passed 2007!

[k, that was retarded.]

my Christmas wishlist.

I don't ask for much this year.

I just want a Motorola Razr2.

could be a V8. could be a V9.

And I think I'm getting it soon...

i hate it when quek is right...

see picture.

red arrow = my house.

yellow arrow = sea.

scale is at bottom left corner.

see for yourself.

blogging from the airport

For once, I don't need to takE out my laptop just to blog at the airport. And now, they have wireless@sg here.

anyway, thanks for all the well-wishes. [not as if I'm going off the grid.]

going back to indo tomorrow...

well, choir concert's finally over...

i'll be leaving for indo tomorrow afternoon...

see ya in SG on Jan 1st! [or 2nd]

ya, ill be gone only for one week... instead of the usual 1.5 mths...

can't wait till after Olvl...

can't get guitar hero? hanbell hero!

Handbell Hero"

it's guitar hero for the christmas season... when you can't get "Guitar Hero", yet christmas songs are supposedly "in"...

blogging at macdonalds at toa payoh

I'm out w/ bensee n raymond. Alone.

K. Sounds cliche, but I'll explain.

Bensee went to cut his hair. Raymond went to do something (I really forgot.)

I was joking to raymond that if I were a Heroes character, I may be like peter petrelli. I absorb others' abilities. Like, nwadays, I am more amnemic, like raymond, but I am starting to improve my running and swimming, like ms gan and my dad in the respective sports.

Oh, I met with lots of ppl today. There was ms chua xin yuan. She was walking around citylink mall when we met her. Bensee was like panting like crazy and pointing at her to attract her attention. LOL.

Then, we went to esplanade. Turns out agapella was performing at esplanade concourse at 6.45pm today and tomorrow. When we watched the performance, we mat ms gan and cherie, the bride whom we performed for last year.

Bought gifts for saints choir gift exchange. Must say, I'm glad luke suggested this exchange thing. A great chance for ppl to bury whatever hatchet they may have amongst each other.

Btw, happy birthday ernest quek!!!

Blogged on an iPod touch.

how I blog on an iPod touch faster than on a PC or Mac

iPod touch has essentially a keybord which you don't have to waste energy pushing down. Just touch and go. Really smooth. Really fast. As long as I don't use commas. On my mac, not only am I slowed down by a conventional mechanical keyboard, but I'm also distracted by idiots who cannot tell that my purpose of being online is to just update my blog, if not do some really important stuff involving communication (hey, I never said I was antisocial or really lifeless).

I like the iPod touch a a typing device. That was why I insisted on typing an attendance list on my iPod touch than on a t9 keypad of a nokia phone. It's easy, by this is easier.

Don't just get a mac. Get a $649 Internet-to-the-toilet device. And an iPod. And a smooth youtube browser. And a basic calculator. Did I mention a video iPod?

Props to bensee.

if bensee never existed, you won't get catchy one-liners like "ben see can't see".

He's an awesome teacher in essential life skills. Such as debating, getting perfect pitch by becoming partially deaf (just like himself), and by utilizing reverse psycology to retrieve an object back, such as a mobile phone which he will hide and claim to not have.

He's a jerk.

December... a slow month...

by now, i think you should have realised, judging from how I seldom update my blog with posts. All the good stuff occurs before thanksgiving. then, the earth comes to a standstill. well, not really. it's just a time when people start buying and buying. Not fun for the lifeless people like me who do nothing but to talk about the stuff that happens.

by the way, a warning to potential iPod touch / iPhone users. Typing on a normal 10" keyboard may feel a bit different after a while.... Man, does tactile plastic keys feel weird or what.

Anyway, I haven't gotten any orders of choir concert tickets [well, from those who ordered via me, anyways.]. If anyone wants to go for our concert, please do not hesitate to sms me! then, I'll call you on how I'm gonna get the ticket to you! then, I'll probably have to o to your house or we can meet somewhere to make the payment. it's $12 per ticket.

K, back to the tv for me. bye.

The touch| an awesome Internet device for the toilet

blogging from my toilet while listening to nelly furtado and doing my business. Talk about multitasking.

Anyways. It's raining at this time (6AM). Supposed to be running today (choir prac) but I wonder how...

Concert tickets, anyone???

P.s. I hit 21 WPM in the iPod touch typing test. Not bad for a non-tactile keyboard, eh?

Dock.

I was wondering...

Normally, I place my dock on the bottom...

but recently, I moved it to the left...

and I often turn on hiding...

Anyway, I was wondering...

Where do you place your dock?

and do you set it to hide?

magnify?

It's a 'Mac user'-only poll...

Predictions for MacWorld Expo 2008

Macworld Conference and Expo begins 14 January 2008. The Steve Jobs Keynote will be on that day.

So here are some of my predictions for what Steve Jobs / Apple may be announcing on keynote day...


1. Mac Tablet Reader AKA MacBook mini [the tablet]
It's out there. the rumours are everywhere. to quote Nike: Just Do It.
These things will have multi-touch 10" screens,
run on 32GB and 64GB SSD / 80GB to 160GB HDD [think iPod Classic].
it'll NOT have a slot for DVDs / CDs.
Est. Price: S$949

2. Refreshed MacBooks + MacBook Pros
Intel is releasing new processors in January. Apple normally follows suit with new laptops notebooks.
Oh, Apple purhased new 13.3" LED-backlit screens. Think LED-backlit MBs. Bright!
And also, Intel GMA X3100. upgraded Graphics!
Same prices as present.

3. iPhone w/ HSDPA: Preview ONLY
This will come out at the end of next year, but Apple must get FCC approvals first. So why not announce it here and now first?
HSDPA, 2nd camera, but maybe some features they can preview now...
[think iPhone firmware 1.1.3 or 1.1.4: video recording, voice memo, voice commands]
Est. Price when iPhone is out in SG much later next year: S$699

4. iTunes 8
Rip your DVDs @ US$3.99 per DVD.

5. Mac Mini + Apple TV fusion
both products were dying anyways, so why not fuse them? Mac nano! [SSD, no CD/DVD again]

6. Partnership with Activision-Vivendi for new Mac Games
they did it with EA. Now move along! Activision is merging with one of the most popular developer for the Mac, Vivendi. [they do WoW, the "only" game on a Mac]

7. Return of the NBC
Maybe on iTunes.

8. Mac Pro update.
New Intel Xeon Hi-K Metal Gate processors, new CTO for the Graphics [think ATi HD2600 PRO], new Hard Drive option [1TB x 4 = 4TB!], new CTO option for BD-R/BD-RW!

9. BD-R
Available as a CTO option on Mac Pro [ref. no. 8], on MacBook Pros, on iMacs. Screw Mac nanos and MacBooks.
est. price difference for upgrade from SuperDrive to BD-R: S$500

10. Apple TV: literally
a 50" 30" iMac. Comes with wireless keyboard + mouse and Front Row remote. oh, built in TV tuner. and yes, it has Blu-Ray.
Est. Price: S$6,600.00

11. Cinema Displays
still up to 30", new prices, no more 20", iSight intergrated.

12. Revenge of the QuickTake
A camera! duh. a video camera. iPhone-like design. or maybe a new iPod Touch with camera. [bummer.]



You know what, that number 12 was retarded. I'm changing it to this number 12 below...



12. One More Thing: Steve Jobs: CEO no more...
Bill Gates' final CES keynote is in 2008, Steve has beated Bill already. now, rest, retire, let someone else take over!
Steve has helmed Apple as CEO since 1998 [the iCEO thing doesn't count. Neither does the pre-1990s thing] 10 years is a long time. let someone else take over! Phill Schiller or Tim Cook could take over. EDIT: Rumours has it Jony Ive is the next in line.

Freaky happenings...

It's December!!!

It's, like, the friggin final month of the year!!!

Anyway, I've been encountering out-of-the-ordinary stuff recently...

Let's start with yesterday.

Yesterday, I was taking the MRT from Changi Airport to City Hall via Tanah Merah, after fetching my parents to the airport.

When the train left Expo and was going towards Tanah Merah, the train accelerated, and then decelerated before coming to a complete halt, just around 20meters away from Expo. Then, not long after [around 10s], the train left as per normal. However, just as the train is in between Expo and Tanah Merah where there's the slopes and different tracks thingy, the train came to a halt again. for 3 whole minutes! Everyone on the train was like, "err... ok... wtf is going on?" Anyway, that's the first odd happening.

Number 2: as I was saying, I went to City Hall, coz I wanted to go to HMV. It's @ CityLink Mall. CityLink Mall had some sort of a blackout. All their yellow/white incandescent [i think?] lights went off for a moment. However, during the "blackout", the lights in all the shops and the blueish fluorescent tube lights at the ceiling above the escalators were still on. Weird, huh?

P.s.: Props to HMV for still stocking older 'pop' music albums like
'Whoa, Nelly!' and 'FolkLore' by Nelly Furtado and
"Speak For Yourself" by Imogen Heap.
HMV was the only store that still stocked these titles. Other shops, like CDRama [cheap, but not very good inventory], Borders [messy catalogue], That CD Shop [weird stocking method] didn't have it. HMV rocks!!!


Oh, btw, I forgot to say, on the day I bought my iPod Touch, I bought a Sennheiser CX300 in-ear headphones. Tested it on the train, on my guardians, in the toilet, and on my bed. it's comfortable, it's got awesome sound quality, nice bass, great-enough sound isolation [better than my PX200], but the cable is too short, too springy, and makes an irritating sound when the cable moves. Oh, the hissing sound from the headphones is irritating, too. Rating from me:

iPod earphones: 5/10
Sennheiser PX200: 7/10
Sennheiser CX300: 8/10

blogging on an iPod touch

yes, I finally bought an iPod touch. Feels really good to type with, and fast and accurate too. Really loving it so far. Too bad it isn't an iPhone. Can't make phone calls with this thing, now can I?

Anyway, we still have tickets for our choirs concert. Please support us by buying tickets and coming to our concert.

P.s. My parents are in SG, and my mom just had a surgery. Hence I couldn't blog the past few days. Will make it up soon.