No reviews this week, since I’ve not done my homework and preparation due to a crazily busy work schedule. I thought I’d just post an update about what’s going on in my life so you’ll know I’ve not “blog-faded”.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that this is the month of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While USA and most of the world were amazed by the prowess of Michael Phelps, much of Singapore held our breath as we watched our table-tennis team smash into the finals of the Women’s Table-Tennis Team event. Although our team (Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei) lost to China’s team (Zhang Yining, Wang Nan and Guo Yue) in the end, we were still elated that the paddlers have earned a Silver medal. This is the nation’s first Olympic medal in 48 years. Way to go girls!

Thanks to my new toy, the Samsung SGH-P960 (you can read my brief product review there), I get to catch much of the action while on the commute through the trial mobile tv service that I’m participating in. The Samsung is a loan set from Singtel (the telco I’m subscribed to), and I get to play with it until the end of October. I might do a more lengthy product review of the phone on this blog at the end of the trial, so keep a lookout for it.

That’s all for now. I’m going to get some late lunch now. Bye!

Tags: life, musings, Olympics, technology

After a 3-month hiatus, I’m pleased to announce that I’m finally back to blogging again! This time should be for good, well at least until I start getting busy with whatever drops in my lap again.

Won’t be doing any podcast reviews today, since I’ll need some time to do some research and preparation first. I have added a few new podcast subscriptions to my iTunes during this time, and they’re all very good. So a keep a lookout for my upcoming reviews for those!

Meanwhile, let me just give a brief update on what’s been happening to me and the world around me in the past 3 months. First and foremost, as some of you know by now, I’ve FINALLY gotten a promotion. After working in my current company for 4 years, I’m now OFFICIALLY a Senior Software Developer. Naturally, the pay package has been adjusted slightly to match the new position. It was a reasonable adjustment, though the final figure is still on the low side, compared to what some of my peers are earning outside. Nonetheless, I’m a happier worker now.

The fact that I’m typing this new blog entry also means that I’ve finally completed my final-year modules. Well, almost. I’ve completed the final assignment, which is due for submission next week. There will be a project presentation in the following week. And then I sit and wait for results. Then if all goes well (please pray for me, folks), I can finally make the necessary arrangements for graduation. FINALLY! Woo-hoo!

On a sad note, my god-brother’s mom passed away 3 weeks ago, just before Mother’s Day. She died of cancer. I only found out a few days later after reading a couple of entries he left on his blog where he mentioned that his dad was devastated during the funeral. He himself was feeling very sad, but for the sake of his dad, he had to stay strong. I can fully understand that feeling. My own dad passed away 11 years ago, and I had to tell myself to be strong for my mom. If you will, please pray for the repose of the soul of my god-brother’s mom and my dear dear dad, as well as for my god-brother’s family that they will be strong.

Another tiny tiny tragedy that happened recently was that I broke the LED display on my newly bought Creative ZEN Stone Plus MP3 player, after careless dropping it on the floor Thankfully the player still works in terms of audio. I just can’t see what I’m doing when I’m fiddling with the settings. The bf checked with the nice people at the Creative store near his office, and they confirmed that the 1-year warranty I had on the device was not going to cover the repair if I choose to send it in (what can I say, I was careless), and the cost of repairing the LED was going to be S$69. WHAT!!!! The player cost me S$99, and the repair is $69?!?! I might as well get a new one! Urgh!

Well, that’s all for now. Will try to get the podcast reviews ready by next week. Watch out for it!

Tags: life, musings, rant, technology

The Lion City is abuzz with IT Show 2008 exhibition which started yesterday (6th March 2008) and will end this Sunday (9th March 2008). It claims to be the largest IT/electronics exhibition of it’s kind in Singapore. And did I mention that admission is free? It’s no wonder that the IT-savvy and gadget-loving folks flood the exhibition halls in search of good bargains on computers, laptops, digital cameras, MP3 players, game consoles, printers, flash drives, etc. Being the semi-geek that I am, I make it a point to go to the IT Show on a yearly basis. Hence, I made an appointment with the bf and the both of us took the afternoon off from work to avoid the evening crowd.

Before heading to the exhibition hall, we had steamboat at the Chong Qing Hotpot restaurant in the basement of the Suntec City, where the exhibition is held. It was cold since it had been raining for days. The best time to have some steaming hot spicy soup. Yummy!

Tags: life, musings, technology

A friend of mine forwarded this joke to me via email. I had a good laugh out of it, so I thought I’ll share with all of you as well. Enjoy!

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look in the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, lets just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.
COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If it’s a long movie I also want to see reel 2, 3 & 4. Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great! With what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I’m at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue ’1″.
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue ’1″.
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue w?
ABBOTT: The blue ’1″ is Real One and the blue ‘W’ is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there’s three words in ‘office for windows’
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it’s the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren’t many other Words left. It pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn’t even part of Office.
COSTELLO: STOP! Don’t start that again. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

A FEW DAYS LATER . . .

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’…….

Tags: Humor, technology

It’s been a while since my last blog. It’s been a busy week, with lots of bug-fixing, researching, head-cracking, brainstorming and such. Thankfully, the weekend has finally arrived, and now I can rest and relax a bit before the next busy week begins.

As I’ve mentioned on Facebook and Twitter, I attended the Microsoft Server Launch Wave 2008 with my product leader, Edward, on Thursday (21/2/2008). We were given a glimpse of the soon-to-be launched Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 as well as the recently launched Visual Studio 2008. It was a spectacular event, well at least the breakfast buffet was very spectacular. Ed and I ate to our hearts content. Compensation for making me wake up at 5:30am and leaving my house before the sun rose, so that I can arrive at the convention centre at 8am. The product demos were pretty impressive, but apparently it didn’t impress our CTO much when Ed reported to him about the seminar. I enjoyed myself at the seminar, where I also met 2 of my ex-classmates, both of them MVPs (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) and regulars at events like this. We chatted a while and introduced Ed to them. Ed and I then visited each of the partner booths at the seminar, where I happily handed our my business card in exchange for freebies. I ran out of business cards that day and I made a mental note to bring more the next time I attend such an event.

That day was also the 15th day (and last day) of the Chinese New Year octave or yuan xiao (元宵), also known as the Lantern Festival or deng jie (灯节) as there were often lantern shows in the evening. It marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities and is also traditionally known as the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day in the west, because back in the old imperial days, it was the only chance young women had to get out of the house and to meet young men and fall in love. I met the bf for lunch, since I was in town for the Microsoft seminar. Ed joined us as he didn’t want to carry my heavy bag of freebies back to the office for me alone.

In the evening, I celebrated yuan xiao with mom by eating tang yuan (汤圆), or glutinous rice balls, a traditional dessert eaten on yuan xiao. It signifies reunion/unity and “sticking” together in times of good and bad. That same evening was also the night where the results of the S$10,000,000 lottery were announced. Just as most Singaporeans, I also bought some lottery tickets in the hope of winning something. But alas. none of my tickets won. Sigh.

I’ve picked up a couple of new podcasts in the past few weeks, and I’ll talk about them here probably in the next entry, so keep a lookout!

Tags: life, musings, rant, technology