tagged on Facebook...

Yes, you know the drill... It's one of those tag notes thing.

Since my blog posts are syndicated onto Facebook, I might as well post it onto blogger at the same time. So, here goes!

Btw, it's just for fun. take it with a pinch of salt or the whole Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia if you need to.

That's right! That tagging is back! (:
This is quite a fun quiz, go do! go do!

&& I'm uber sorry if I didn't tag you..I had to choose ONE person starting with that name. 
&& I chose people that first comes to my mind! Hehe

A. Aaron Chua
1) Do you love this person? LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF. SO, YES.

2) Is this person your enemy? NO.

3) Is this person taller than you? THE LAST I CHECKED, NO. WE'RE ALMOST EQUAL IN HEIGHT.

B. Barnabus Soh
1) What do you really think of this person? VERY OPTIMISTIC PERSON.
2) What's his/her favourite color? I'M GUESSING BLUE.
3) Ever danced with him/her? NOPE.

C. Caleb Liaw
1) Do you like this person? HE'S ALRIGHT.
2) Where did you meet this person? SASS. PHOTOGRAPHY.
3) How old is he/she? 16? 

D. Daniel Lim
1) How long have you known him/her? SINCE P4.
2) Biggest regret? ERM, WHAT REGRET?

E. Ethan Liew
1) Have you met his/her parents? NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF. NO.
2) Worst thing about this person? ERM, WORST WOULD BE THAT HE CAN BE IRRITATING AT TIMES.
3) Best thing about this person? HE LIKES MACS?

F. Foo Bo Mun
1) Have you ever dated this person? NO. I'M NOT GAY.
2) When is the next time you will see him/her? DUNNO. WHEN I GO BACK TO SINGAPORE?
3) Do you go to school with him/her? USED TO.

G. Gabriel Low
1) Is he a good listener? NOT REALLY. BUT TO BE FAIR, THAT WAS LAST TIME.
2) Have you ever lied to this person? CAN'T REMEMBER, TO BE HONEST. LIKE, WHO REMEMBERS WHEN THEY LIED AND WHEN THEY DIDN'T?!
3) Is this person nice? MOST OF THE TIME.

H. Hamsan
1) What year is he/she in? SEC 5, I THINK?
2) Is he/she your best friend? WELL, I RARELY TALK WITH HIM, BUT HE'S A GOOD FRIEND. NOT THE BEST I HAVE, BUT DEFINITELY A NICE GUY.
3) Ever done something illegal with this person? LIKE WHAT? TAKE PHOTOS IN A NO-FLASH AREA IN ITALY? NAH.

I. Ian Ng 
1) What is this person's favourite food? I'M GUESSING CHERRIES. HIS EMAIL ADDRESS HAD THE WORD CHERRIES IN IT. 
2) How did you meet this person? CLASSMATE SINCE P2 ONWARDS, OTHER THAN IN P3.
3) Do you trust him/her? YEAH, WHY NOT?

J. Jeany Liong
1) Does he/she have any siblings? 2 BROS, 1 SIS. CUZZ'N!
2) Do you know his/her favourite song? NO. BUT I KNOW SHE ONCE LIKED HARAJUKU GIRL BY GWEN STEFANI. SO, IM GUESSING SHE'S A GAGA OR LILY ALLEN FAN.
3) What would you do if he/she confessed that he/she liked you? INCEST! NO!

K. Kevin Chiam
1) How old were you when you first met? 8. IN P2.
2) How did you meet? IN P2-7.
3) Ever danced with this person? NO.

L. Lim Chin Jie
1) What wouldn't you have done if you had never met this person? GEEZ, I DUNNO. PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED GOD AS MUCH AS I HAVE NOW IF IT WEREN'T FOR THIS GUY.
2) Do you like him/her? YES!
3) Would you go to Disney World with this person? ERM, SURE. WHY NOT? AND WHY DISNEY WORLD?

M. Marcus Giam
1) Is this person older than you? NOPE.
2) Is this person single? YES. VERIFIED. HIS FACEBOOK PROFILE SAID SO.
3) How many times do you talk to him/her in a week? NOWADAYS? NEVER. LAST TIME? MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK. CHOIR! SCHOOL!

N. Nigel Chen
1) Is this person your boyfriend/girlfriend? NO.
2) Have you seen this person cry? NO. OH WAIT, NO, I THINK... ERM,... NO.
3) Do you know this person's middle name? YES. CHEN. LAST NAME: YONGQIANG.

O.Ong Zong Ren (sorry, dude. you're the only guy whose name genuinely starts with the letter 'O') 
1) Are you related? NO.
2) Could you live with this person? DUNNO.
3) Do you believe this person is gay? NOPE.

P. Paul Tan
1) Have you ever been to the mall with this person? ERM, NO.
2) How about a sleepover with them? DOES CHOIR CAMP COUNT?
3) Does this person have a job? ERM, STUDENT?

Q. Quek Ernest (yes, I'm cheating a bit here. But seriously, none of my FB friends start with Q, so next best option: surname.)
1) Does this person drink alcohol? I THINK NO.
2) Have you seen this person dance? I THINK YES. HE DOES A LOT OF STUPID THINGS, I WON'T BE SURPRISED IF THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS YES. SO YES.
3) Where do they work? THEY? ERM, HE'S A STUDENT AT NGEE ANN POLY, SO SINCE YOU ASKED 'WHERE', MY ANSWER IS NGEE ANN POLY/

R. Raymond Liew
1) Have you heard this person sing? YES. CHOIRMATE.
2) Do you think this person will repost this? LIKELY, BUT NOT HIGHLY. 51% CHANCE.
3) Whats one thing you would change about this person? HIS EMO-NESS. AND I DID TRY, DIDN'T I? LOL. JK. ERM, HIS HAIR, ASSUMING HE'S LIKE ERNEST QUEK - REFUSING TO CUT HIS HAIR JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN'T NEED TO.

S. See Y. H. Benjamin (That's his name on Facebook.)
1) Is this person taller than you? YES. AND IT ISN'T FAIR.
2) Do you enjoy spending time with him/her? YEAH-NO. HE'S A FENEMY!
3) Does he/she live close to you? NO. TECHNICALLY, I DON'T LIVE IN SINGAPORE ANYMORE. SO UNLESS 850KM (SIN-JKT) / 10000+KM (SIN-LHR MINUS A BIT TO BRIGHTON/HOVE) IS NEAR, NO.

T. Tan Zexun
1) Would you do anything for him/her? NOT ANYTHING. MOST THINGS.
2) Have you been to his/her house? YEP. PUNGGOL.
3) Is this person a dipshit? FAR FROM IT.

U. Uncle (took this off my mobile phone address book. yes, another cheat. no choice.)
1) Is this person in a relationship? HE'S MARRIED.
2) Do you know where he lives? YES. AND I KNOW IT VERY WELL. 
3) What colour hair does this person have? THE SPECTRUM - BLACK TO GREY TO WHITE.

V. Veknesh
1) Do you see this person a lot? USED TO. ART.
2) When did you meet her/him? ERM, ART?.
3) Is this person your friend? YEAH. HE'S ALRIGHT.

W. Walter Chan
1) Is this person quiet or loud? MOST OF THE TIME, SOFT. BUT FOR SOME REASON, WHEN HE'S WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE (ESP. TIM LUM), HE CAN BE QUITE LOUD. 
2) Name a friend that both of you are close too? ERNEST QUEK?
3) What color eyes does this person have? BLACK, I THINK. HIS FACEBOOK PROFILE PIC DOESN'T HELP MUCH.

X. Xiang Yong
1) Why are you friends with him/her? ERM, CAN'T REMEMBER, ACTUALLY. I THINK IT'S SOMETHING TO DO WITH BAND OR RECESS.
2) Have you ever gone anywhere with them? I DON'T THINK SO.
3) What is one thing you would change about them? DUNNO.

Y. Yoanda Dewantoro
1) Does this person wear make-up? PROBABLY. I CAN'T TELL. 
2) Does this person play any instruments? DON'T KNOW. DOES A BLACKBERRY OR AN iPHONE INSTRUMENT APP COUNT? OH WAIT, IT DOES. SO YES! I SAY YES!
3) What is his/her favourite sport? DUNNO!

Z. Zachary Foo
1) Does this person have MSN/AIM? YEP!
2) Ever gone shopping with him/her? ERM, NOT THAT I REMEMBER...
3) Does this person have any special skills? HE CAN PLAY BASKETBALL. AND HE CAN CONTROL HIS DAD'S VERY, ERM, ORGASMIC BUT PITIFUL DOG.

A Microsoft Store Birthday party?!

Apparently, Microsoft is opening retail stores near a few Apple Retail
Stores in the States.

But one thing that just surfaced (no pun intended) about their store
is that you can (I'm not kidding) hire the place for 2 to 3 hours for
a private birthday party. That's right. Microsoft has one-upped Apple
in innovative thinking. Boom, baby!

Now, you're probably thinking that I'm joking. Well, maybe all this
hearsay are just rumours. But until it's verified, let's bask in the
mental images of a birthday bash at a Microsoft store.

If your mind is blank, here. A link with nice visual inspiration.

http://macsoda.com/2009/07/29/i-cant-wait-until-my-next-birthday/

Music to wake up with

Yes, it's one of my sensible consumer advice- what music should you
listen to wake up with?

Well, here are my top choices...

•Poppiholla by Chicane
•It's A New Day by will.i.am
•Shake It by Metro Station
•Underdog by Kasabian
•New Shoes by Paolo Nutini
•Life in Technicolor (ii) by Coldplay
•When Love Takes Over by David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
•Clocks by Coldplay
•Bulletproof by La Roux
•Jai Ho! By AR Rahman feat. The Pussycat Dolls
•Good Morning by Kanye West
•Nine in The Afternoon by Panic At The Disco

There you go! 12(+1) tracks for you to choose from. Put 'em in your
phone, set yor alarm, and see if it works!

Sent from my iPhone

Twitter! Help!

This is taken from Facebook.

Ronald Liong has devolved from blogging to twittering. That's why his blog is stagnant. I blame Stephen Fry & John Mayer.

Well, I'm sorry if I made anyone think I stopped blogging. I will not. I love blogging, and I'll continue to blog. So there!

Rest assured, people!

Anyway, back to proper topic discussion...

I want to talk tech today. Specifically, the cellphone market.

For the longest time, people had lots of options when it comes to cellphones - they buy a cellphone, say a Nokia 8310, maybe with a contract with a telco, or they could go on prepaid/pay-as-you-go SIM cards. They pop in the SIM, and voila. Communication wherever you go with adequate reception.

But this is not 1999.

Today, we have smartphones, we have mobile web browsers on our Androids, our Blackberry, our iPhones, our Palms, and they have apps, some of which let you IM. You can get email, you can play multiplayer games, you can check stock prices, weather, send MMS, voice chat, video call, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

It's a perfect world, right?

No.

It isn't.

Amidst all this "wow" factor, one thing fails to amuse me. 

Well, when I say one thing, what I really mean is "a list of things".

First: The signal issue.

I was having an IM conversation with Ryan this morning - on my iPhone, on way to school. That is, until the bus passed a road leading to the city train station. Yes, a road that is used by many to go from the train station to the beach - the most important road for visitors - does not have signal. This, people, is the cruddy network I love to hate - O2. Supposedly the largest network in the UK. Why is it that these companies have so many subscribers feeding them with so much money, yet they can't fix simple signal problems?

Second: The evil middlemen.

Telcos like to lock in their customers. From 24-month contracts, to locked phones, they've been finding ways to retain customers, whilst supporting "number portability" to make it easier for customers to come in. In countries like Singapore, where the competition laws are stricter, customer-locking is (thankfully) considered illegal, with the exception of the 24-months contract idea. However, elsewhere, you find iPhones that are useless once the contract ends or when you leave the country. Yet, the owners of these phones pay through the nose to be able to use the phone. This is not the worst, though. Some telcos lock down features in the phone. O2 prevents tethering on my iPhone, even though I can probably do it from a Windows Mobile smartphone. Verizon in the US locks the bluetooth in many phones. Frustrating, isn't it? You spent $1000 (long term cost) on a phone with a bluetooth chip which you know is there, but has been locked down, and then after your contract is up, you cancel your line, and you end up with a paperweight, because your phone is locked to the carrier you signed up with initially. And it's not as if their service was fantastic.

Third: The lack of innovation.

We have 3G. We have HSPA. Basically, we're supposed to have internet in the air right now. Broadband internet, not dial-up speeds. However, it seems that the telco companies do not want you to use this network. AT&T has shown us why, with their crappy data network in San Francisco - Silicon Valley, iPhone town, etc. But why is it that these companies - companies which are able to gain lots in revenue, do not want to rush into finding ways to solve the problems of this demand for wireless data connections? You want 4G connection to your laptop, don't you? You want to walk around with your Nokia N- or E-series phone and read the news, don't you? You want instant access to information, don't you? What if I tell you you can? And what if I tell you that it's possible, but that's a caveat?

Telcos hate to innovate. They hate change. They want to control things. That's why we see O2 blocking the BBC iPlayer. That's why we see AT&T blocking Skype. Yet, we see the underdogs trying to take advantage of all this. 3 (Hutchinson) in the UK is selling phones with Skype capabilities, and letting people use them on their network without having to pay a cent. Yes. Free Skype on 3. Never pay for a single phone call again! That's one example of telcos thinking outside the box. Giving customers choice. They might lose money on people using Skype, but on the flip-side, how many people really use Skype? They gain customers who would have otherwise gone onto an iPhone, had O2 allowed Skype.

Closing words...

Personally, I think there needs to be more government intervention over Telco networks. Ban subscriber retention tactics such as locking of phones or features; push them towards upgrading their networks and coverage; make mobile broadband available for all; ban phone exclusivity (but allow subsidising of phones). Protect the consumers, but also, spur the growth of the telecommunications industry in the country!

The mobile phone networks have a different purpose nowadays. They're not just for making phone calls or sending an SMS. They're the gateway to the information superhighway 2.0. They're the tools for twittering and emailing. They allow news to be sent to you in an instant, while allowing you to IM with a friend thousands of miles away. They let you video call somebody across town, while they let you navigate your way through a town. The phone is not just a phone anymore. It shouldn't be. Because we're in a new century.

da Moon landing - 40 years on, it's 40 steps back.

I was reading a column by the London Mayor Boris Johnson in The Daily
Telegraph this morning. He was talking about how our culture is one
where we are so afraid of taking risks, and yet we also have fears
that are quite irrational

http://www.boris-johnson.com/2009/07/20/the-new-vetting-and-barring-database/

His column was mainly on this new arcane plan to have a database of
adults who want to enter a school, specifically those who come to give
a talk or share about their books. Why, you ask? Well, they're afraid
children's book writers are perverts.

But I want to talk more about the tangent he used. About the moon
landing.

40 years ago, when the Soviets and the Americans were in the space
race and the cold war, there was a competition to see which form of
society - capitalist or communist - was the more powerful one. In
other words - who can go further?

That's 1969.

Moving on to July 2009, in a different century, where are we in space?

Well, let's give credit where credit's due. There were several more
lunar landings after Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins. But guess when
the last one was. 1972.

Now guess where the destintion of the furthest HUMAN spaceflight was.

The moon.

That's right, After humankind made that giant leap in 1969, humans
stagnated for 4 years. Then, humankind took a couple of steps back.

Why is it that while we have Moore's Law in computers, we do not have
the same in the distance we have flown into space?
Why is it that after 40 years, we have not figured out how to make
space flight accessible to people in general?
Where is Virgin Atlantic today?
Why have we not been able to explore Mars in person? Why have it
always been robots that go there?
Why can't Nasa bring Hubble back home? Why must they let it sink?
Don't you want to inspire the next generation of rocket scientists?

Perhaps the space race reflects how humans work - we only move forward
if somebody applies pressure. It's like teenagers - if nobody told us
to do something, we won't. And if we're told to do something, we still
don't do it, because we're just moaning about this and that. We don't
have the motivation to care about space anymore - money over
discovery, knowledge, and the desire to learn. It's all about the
economy and the cash today, isn't it? That's what people look at.

Look at China. In recent years, they've sent a few people into space.
I sense that China will overtake USA in the space race in 20 years'
time. Not because they want to promote communism. But because they
have the ambition to see people in space, regardless of the risk.

Nasa has softened, especially over the past few years, with the
Columbia accident in 2003. It's major accidents that cost human lives
that make Nasa hesitant about taking risks. Let's face it - they've
burnt out. They've posed themselves with a limit - health & safety
regulators and more red tape. They want to reduce the amount of risk
they're taking, so that they can reduce the number of accidents that
occur.

It's like a person who was in a road accident. After the crash, he
doesn't want to expose himself to more danger, so he stops driving.

It's these forms of 'rational' behaviours that has caused my
generation - the 1992 generation - to miss out completely on the
meaning of "humans on the moon". What is it like to be in space? What
is it like to be on the moon? Heck, what's Martian air like? We only
know the answers to these questions in theory, nothing more.

If only I was born in the US in 1948. Perhaps I would stand a chance
to risk death to see the big white rock that passes the night sky
wherever I am on Earth.

Well, this teenage hippy's knowledge of space is mainly thanks to
digital cameras and expensive datalogger that are out there, but also
those brave people who were willing to risk themselves so that they
can learn more about space.

God bless those astronauts - past, present, and future. May we see man
explore Mars in the near future. If we have the ability to make things
heavier than a car fly, surely we can deliver people safely to Mars
and beyond. This universe is so vast, yet we've only touched so little
of it.

That Beatles' Tingly feeling

Warning: This post contains lots of conspiracy theories, speculation and Beatles talk. Just so you know.

Maybe it's just me, but I have been getting this feeling that something quite jaw-dropping is going to happen this September.

If don't get what I'm pointing at, look at my friggin' post title.

Hear me out on this theory: I've been trying to figure out why The Beatles' Catalogue has never been on iTunes, with the exception of the members' solo works. It came down to a list of terms that all parties could not agree on, as well as certain conditions that were not yet right.

Before I go on to say what's on this list, perhaps I should clarify that there are certain common factors that people blame on as the stumbling block, but actually aren't. MJ (who held the rights), McCartney, Ringo, Yoko, Olivia Harrison, they all want the deal. 

The stumbling blocks (in my deduction, after doing some research) came down to money, politics, and the goods.

a) Money

If George Harrison's son is to be believed, there was a big issue with the pricing. If you remember, songs cost 99cents or 79p per track. Well, Perhaps The Beatles deserve a little bit more? That's what the music label and the band members / members' spouses felt.

Now that iTunes has a higher pricing tier ($1.29/£0.99), Perhaps they're happier now?

b) Politics

Apple Inc. vs Apple Corp. was a pretty significant stumbling block that stopped the music of not just the Beatles, but also the members' songs, from being sold on iTunes. They settled in 2007, and McCartney's songs were available for download not long after. So what about the Beatles as a band?

When McCartney was interviewed in late 2008, he said that "The record company was taken over by new people quite recently, so there is a gridlock of sorts.". Which record company? Some say it's EMI (which I doubt, since EMI and Apple were in cahoots in releasing the iTunes Plus DRM-free service). Others point to Apple Corp, claiming the Apple Inc vs Apple Corp lawsuit I mentioned above. It could also be ATV/Sony - the 'label' Jackson owns - which holds the rights to the catalogue. We might never know. But perhaps this politics hullabaloo is not the issue anymore. Why? Well, You probably heard of the "Rock Band: The Beatles" game that's coming on the 9th of September 2009 (09.09.09). That's one way to get Beatles Tracks in digital form right there! Surprised? Well, let me move on to my third point...

c) The Goods

Let's face it. The Beatles' music is mostly recorded in the 60's - the pre-moon-landing era. And we know what happened to the moon landing tapes, don't we all? The original tapes were erased, and whatever that was left had to be remastered because it looked... well... genuinely in need of tweaks courtesy of some specialists. The same is true of music recordings. You have to remaster those old records. Make them sound more MP3 than gramophone. Heck, add stereo! 

This is probably one of the most important piece in the puzzle that was missing. The digital remastering of the entire Beatles Catalogue. Only once this has been done, then are those Beatles tracks a) deserving of being sold online, and b) deserving of a $1.29/£0.99 per track price tag.

So, now that the Beatles tracks are being/have been remastered, the arrows of lawsuits have been chucked away, and the pricing settled, perhaps we might see that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band" album alongside "Thriller" on the iTunes album chart?

Summary:

Factors that have probably hindered the Beatles Catalogue from being on iTunes...

*Pricing

*Past discrepancies

*Digitizing & Remastering needed

*The perfect date - 09.09.09, in conjunction with the Rock Band game and Remasters CDs.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/03/10/the-beatles-mp3s-itunes-mccartney-strike-400-million-deal/

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/10/30/the-beatles-rock-band-makers-to-release-new-video-game-in-2009/

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/02/mccartney-says-label-execs-holding-up-beatles-itunes.ars

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/11/24/beatles-to-itunes-stalled-says-mccartney/

On work-life balance part deux

Note to self: remember your blog title before hitting "Send".

In case you didn't read the previous part to my blog post, I was
lamenting about whether my choice was correct — coming to the UK,
spending more of my parents' money, on what I used to assume to be
better quality education.

Well, there is an upside to studying in the UK rather than in SG, I
guess.

For once, I found my work-life balance. In Singapore, it used to be
school, CCA, homework, and then sleep. With a bit of facebook in
between. Now, my weekends are free, giving me time for volunteer work,
church, going to the pier, the mall, etc. Heck, Wednesday evenings are
now movie nights out for me. That's something I could have never done
in Singapore

And best of all - I've been getting my 7-8 hours of sleep. Sweet,
sweet dreamscenes.

Also, weirdly enough, I don't have problems waking up. All I use to
wake me up is my iPhone. Nothing else. Nothing too sophisticated. Just
a 20s clip of "It's A New Day" at 6.58am (or 7.57am when I have
lessons starting at 10am).

Well, that's work-life balance for you!

Sent from my iPhone

On work-life balance.

Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right choice coming to the UK to
carry on with my education.

Why would I ask that question?

Well, it just seems a bit wrong, in my opinion. I'm paying quite a lot
more than I would have in Singapore, for what is supposedly a better
education. But is it really better? I mean, the syllabus here seems so
much simpler than what my classmates are doing in Singapore. And they
are learning so much more than I probably am. It just feels odd to me.

My other concern is about the university I aimed to go to. LSE. Been
hearing quite a bit of negative press about the way the institution
operates. On how the lecturers spend so much time on projects outside
the classes, they barely have time to teach the students, thus
affecting the quality of the education. Would I want to go to a
university that has a built a good reputation, only to be taught by no-
one?

Maybe I should have gone through 2 years at NJC. Then again, I'd
probably say the grass is greener on the other side of the world.

Sent from my iPhone

Rant: keyboard standardisation

If you're reading this on my Facebook Notes (admit it - you don't visit my blog at ronfiles.blogspot.com anymore, do you? you just read my notes and bear with the horrible text layout of my blog posts), Hi.

Anyway, enough nonsense. I'm here to rant. To rant about a topic that has bothered me ever since I visited the Regent Street Apple Store one fine Sunday.

I've always been living in places where the currency is either the dollar (Singapore), or where there's no legislation to include the currency symbol on computer keyboards because, to be frank, doing so won't boost the economy by billions in their currency. Or would it? (Indonesia). But we all know that the world's de-facto currency - the one currency every currency exchange convertor app on my iPhone seem to base their conversions on - is the US Dollar (we all know the RMB will soon take its place. but who cares. Not IBM, not Apple, maybe Lenovo, but nobody else).

Well, call me cynical, but I believe all keyboards should have '§' in place of '$' on the number 4 key. So, when you press shift, it'll put the currency of the regional settings in your computer - if you set your Mac keyboard for the UK English, pressing Shift-4 will give you £ rather than $. If you're in China or Japan, you'll get ¥. If you're in Indonesia, you'll get Rp. It's like printing money - you want to automate the process, or else you're going to make your fingers run a 5k.

Now, why do I think this should be done? Well, I was walking into an Apple shop just today to check my suspicion on whether the UK keyboard on the Macs are different. I mean - think about it. If I were Apple, and I build these unibody enclosures using water jets, this process is going to be expensive, I shouldn't have too many variations in the cutting process, right? One standard keyboard layout for the international market. Not one for the EU, one for the US + Asia-Pacific, one for the Japs, etc. Well, apparently, Apple doesn't think so. They actually have a different cutting layout for the Unibodies in the EU/UK from the rest of the world. To illustrate this, you can look on Flickr, or you can read my description:

Note: For keys with 2 notations being referred to, the first is upper-shift character, the second is the lower shift'

1. The key where '~`' normally goes has '±§'.

2. The 'alt option' key has 'alt ⌥' displayed.

3. The number 2 key shows '@€' instead of just '@' for the upper case. Erm, ok, so what do I get when I hold shift down?

4. For number 3, the uppercase is '£' in place of '#'. Not good for HTML web coders, because to get '#', it's 'Alt-3' instead of the 'Shift-3' you're probably used to.

5. The Tab key, Caps Lock key, and shift keys are shown with their representative logos rather than text. What's so difficult, Apple? STANDARDIZE, PLEASE!

6. The most horrible bit that probably costs Apple quite a bit - the 'enter return' key to your right and '|\' key above it? They swap places. Well, when I say they swap places, the |\ key keeps its size, but it shifts down one row to occupy the left 60% of the enter. The leftover bit on the right and the empty space above is one key - the Enter key. So Apple has to remove a little strip. The result is a horrible looking keyboard.

My rant is - why can't we standardise? Why can't the world conform to one keyboard layout global, then make special versions for the specific needs  of specific customers (e.g.: a numpad for accountants, a specific layout for Chinese people to help in typing Hanyupinyin (I can't type fast in Chinese, and I came with the conclusion that the Qwerty ain't cutting it for the Chinese. They MAY need something different). These are variations - I know. But at least they should be variations that are BTO - built to ORDER. If people didn't specify specific needs, give them the International keyboard with the § logo above the number 4 key! Let them decide what currency they often use. Let people map other currency symbols to keys the logically corresponding keys - alt-y for ¥, alt-s for $, alt-e or alt-c for €, you get my point.

On the subject of standardisation, it seems Lenovo is trying to act smart with one of their latest 'keyboard breakthroughs'. Not that you can innovate a lot if the keyboard whil keeping it to be what it should be - a cheap human-interface device that is mass-produced in factories in Mumbai, Guangzhou, or Taiwan. Nothing too complex. Well, not sure how much money or effort Lenovo spent on this, but they came up with a new keyboard layout for their latest Thinkpad based on some findings of user habits on the keyboard.

1. a 'taller' escape, and

2. a 'taller' delete key (Delete as in real delete. not the backspace on MacBooks that have been labelled as delete. That's another rant topic on its own there)

Firstly, bravo to Lenovo for a bigger delete key. They realised that people often tap 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete', whether it's to log in or to kill programmes. I have no objection to that.

Secondly, wtf, Lenovo? You researched on keyboard technology, and all you found that was significant enough to take action on was just two things? Really? You didn't think there's a few things you might have forgotten, or might be of actual use to people?!

I can name you a few.

1. The "Print Screen" key - Super misleading. It doesn't print the screen, does it. No. It copies the screen and places it in the clipboard, ready to be pasted. Now, where do you think I'm going with this "Screen Grab" idea?

2. The "Pause Break" and "Screen Lock" key - They do absolutely nothing on most people's keyboard. I suggest deleting them. No pun intended.

3. F1 - F12 - They mean absolutely nothing to me on a PC. On a mac, i know what happens when I press on them. F1-F2 adjusts the backlight, F3 launches Exposé, F4 for Dashboard, F5-F6 for keyboard backlight, F7-F9 for media, F10-F12 for speaker/headphone volume. that's minimum one purpose for each Function-key on my Mac. And no, I don't need to press the fn key on the bottom left hand corner to activate them. But Lenovo, your Function keys do nothing without the Fn key. Why? Don't answer me with a press release, answer with action! Speak to Microsoft!

4. Page up, Page down, Home and End - Erm, If you have a trackpad, why don't you add scrolling to the trackpad? It seems so clumsy having two separate places for the scrolling-related 'devices' (i.e.: the trackpad/mouse/navigation point and the Home/End/Page up/down keys)

5. An Eject key - I find it quite illogical having to press a button on the disc drive to have the disc tray pop out in the opposite direction of the force you exert. Newton's 3rd Law of Motion is "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". Well, in the case of the disc tray, the opposing reaction is slightly larger, because the computer hates your fingers, and wants to shove it away. So why not follow Apple and put an eject key on the keyboard? I'm sure many consumers will think it makes more sense after a while.

6. Alignment - Make the Caps Lock key as wide as the Tab key, and the Enter key as wide as the two keys above it on the International layout (remember what I said about UK/EU keyboards?). Then everything in between shifts left . What do you get? A pretty neat Row 1 and Row 2 of the alphabet keys! Now, play around with row 3, and you get all the alphabets laid out neatly! much more pleasing to see. Perhaps more pleasing to type on? Only one way to give it a shot, isn't it? Do a proper longitudinal study this time, Lenovo. You did an observation on 30 employees to make adjustments on the Delete and Escape keys. That's not proper enough in most books, yet you found a 'revalation'. Try a proper study, and see what else you find!

7. WASD - draw arrows on them.

There - 7 adjustments that a 17-year-old can suggest, I wonder how many have a) been researched, b) been patented, or c) been thought of by manufacturers who want to maximise profit, even if it means to reduce the number of keys they have to mould, print, and assemble.

To be frank, the keyboard has come a long way, dating back from the days of the typewriter. From a thing only used by clerks and reserved for businesses, the keyboard has become a cheaply mass-produced item that is used by billions. However, as with other things that have come over from last century into the 21st, I really think it needs to get an update. Like the electric car is to cars, the keyboard still hasn't met its breakthrough successor. Perhaps one is due. Or perhaps we're just too stubborn and lazy to move on, like people are hesitant to switch from XP to Vista because it's so new and different?

What do you think?

Links to the Lenovo new keyboard story:

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/lenovo-gives-new-thinkpads-huge-escape-and-delete-keys-20090626/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hMsY-TXFBvywngIu4rBc4dD-0rTAD991T3280

music chart for the moment.

Haven't done one in a while, have I?

Before I start, is it just me, or do I start every music chart post with these 6 words: "Haven't done one in a while"?

I guess that's how you know what to expect of my blog. a music chart every time I feel like doing one.

Well, enough garbage talk. Let's get into it, shall we?

No. Not yet.

Because I thought to myself: Why come up with yet another chart to which I give only 5 minutes to think about?

So, this time, I'm doing something different. Because I realised that my Last.fm account has matured enough and gathered enough stats about my listening habits over the last 2 years, I'd just use it to make this week's chart(s).

So, let's start with something amazing that just happened.

The all-time Artists chart.

You know I'm a big Corrs fan. They've trounced this chart ever since I started using Last.fm. 

Well, guess what. Not anymore. Because at number one, it's no longer The Corrs.

1		Coldplay			740
2		The Corrs			733
3		Hillsong United			612
4		Nelly Furtado			461
5		Keane			384
6		cnet.com			330
7		Hillsong			299
8		Jack Johnson			288
9		John Mayer			279
10		Jason Mraz			273

What does it mean?

Coldplay's now officially my most favourite band! The stats say it all!

Now, let's move on...

The all-time Albums chart

I was expecting Viva La Vida or a Corrs album to top this chart. Guess what? It's neither.

1		Jack Johnson – Sleep Through The Static			287
2		John Mayer – Continuum			279
3		Hillsong Live – This Is Our God			268
4		Jason Mraz – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.			265
5		Hillsong United – The I Heart Revolution: With Hearts As One [Disc 2]			244
6		The Corrs – Borrowed Heaven			229
7		Fall Out Boy – Folie À Deux			223
8		Nelly Furtado – Loose			210
9		Hillsong United – The I Heart Revolution 1: With Hearts As One [Disc 1]			202
10		Coldplay – Viva la Vida			196

Never thought of that, did you?

Ok, that's the Last.fm charts. Now, the proper 'proper' chart, now that you know how I write my charts. But just so I don't overtax you, I'll make this chart a short one.

chart for the moment...

1. 

David Guetta & Kelly Rowland

When Love Takes Over

2. 

Paolo Nutini

Candy

3.

La Roux

Bulletproof

4.

Agnes

Release Me

5.

Black Eyed Peas

One Tribe

Ok, 3 charts down. I have one more chart. 

Well, when I say chart, I really mean list. I just want to give a list of music that I'm delving into lately. As you probably know by now, I want to be a DJ.

BUT, the likelihood of ...

a) my parents approving of that, 

b) me achieving success in becoming one, and 

c) me actually spinning a record or 2 ...

... is pretty much naught. 

Oh sh*t, I just said zero the Brit way. eww.

Anyway, yes, I'm not gonna be a DJ. It's a dream of mine, but I probably can't, shouldn't, and won't one. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean I can't listen to music that I think would be fun to mix. So here's a list of artists/bands I'm starting to listen to.

•Sigur Ros.

•David Guetta

•Múm (as recommended by Miss Gan. Listened to a few tracks. Pretty interesting Icelandic band. Very misleading name, though. )

•La Roux

•Empire Of The Sun