I voided the warranty of this laptop not even within a week of using it. See, I bought this laptop with the intention of installing Linux on it--speciflcally: Manjaro. But, I thought I'd try Ubuntu first.
First off, I like the keyboard. Call them 'chiclet' style or 'island' style, I got used to the keys after spending a short time typing on them. Now, I am used to full sized keyboards and love numpads to death, but the keys on this laptop took just a little bit getting used to, and within days, I was quickly typing away.
At first, I thought the lack of buttons on the touchpad would sting, but boy was I wrong. Double finger taps and slides work nicely. Tapping and clicking work as intended. No complaints here. For a 11.6 inch laptop, the touchpad is a comfortable size and a joy to use.
I'm glad Insert, Delete, Pgup, Pgdown, Home and End keys are available even if you have to use the Fn key to activate Home and End. I use these keys and can't live without them.
Now, on to the bad.
With only 2GB of RAM, the system feels sluggish and woefully inadequate at handling tasks. Granted, this was my first time using Windows 8.1 since my trip from 98 > XP > Vista, but boy was this machine struggling at times to keep up.
The N2840 Dual Core processor won't be winning any awards any time soon but fire off a few tabs in Chrome, listen to music on YouTube and watch performance plummet.
Maybe I'm an idiot. But I couldn't exactly pinpoint what was causing disk activity to hit 100%. Was it the HDD slowing things down due to excessive and constant read/write operations? Or, was it the underpowered system from the get go?
Now, I am looking forward to throwing in an 8GB stick of RAM and swapping out the HDD for a SSD drive. As much as I'd love to use Windows 8.1 as my daily driver, and, also use the Acer Aspire ES1 while retiring my old HP laptop (which still works -- though it lags at times), I'm having second thoughts on Windows 8.1 (with Bing).
I've not spent enough time with the Metro Interface, but I don't like it nor dislike it enough to wish it away.
I'm going to either install Manjaro eventually, but will give Ubuntu 14.10 a try first, right after getting a SSD.
So here's a Super Macro shot of a plant in my home.
I carry the Samsung WB 650 previously and found the zoom very satisfying to use. With full manual functions including manual focus, the camera performed well enough for my amateur needs.
But back to the Olympus, it's a shame that the XZ-10 lacks manual focus though, which actually proved to be a bite in the bum. However, snappy performance and good burst shooting in such a small compact sized camera makes the package tasty.
It is pocketable, and more so than the XZ-2 which is a very tempting camera too. Now, while the small sensor may prove to be its downfall, the bright Zuiko lens on the XZ-10 pulls its weight on images so far.
From a full charge and with barely less than 2 hours of use and fiddling around with controls, the battery dropped 1 bar out of 3. I'm not sure if this is cause for concern. I hope the battery gives at least 200 shots.
I've not tested movie recording in detail yet but so far, video looks usable. Don't expect image quality to rival the best DSLRs in the market. This is a pocket camera with manual functions housing a small sensor. With that, the images are a delight to look at. I will play around with the camera and report with further findings with better shots in the future.
For the 3rd year, Ride to Sunrise promises the same great night cycling experience with hundreds of cyclists lighting up the night on their bicycles. Foldies, road bikes, mountain bikes, cheap bikes, expensive bikes and rented bikes--you name it.
Starting from East Coast Park and ending at People's Association HQ, riders will pedal approximately 75km with safety riders and road marshals guiding the way. Alas, with delays and bad timing on the part of my pals, I ended up registering and cycling without the company of friends.
The plan
The original plan was to cycle out at 5pm from Yishun to East Coast Park. Google maps advised a 21km route via walking, which should take me 1.5hrs via cycling. This is with another 1.5hrs overhead should I need to rest, and refer to the map to reorient myself. With a trusty little compass attached to my bike, I was confident of finding my bearings.
A quick lunch at 12pm and I headed to bed for a rest. Though, I was really quite pumped to even nap properly. For about 2.5hrs, I flirted with sleep but never really dozed.
I'd open my eyes, and the bright glare of the sunlight bouncing off my room comforted me. It'd be great.
It rains
That was until I woke up near 3. Because I wanted to now set off at 4pm at a leisurely pace and settle dinner, any plan had to be called off when dark clouds loomed. I showered and the skies showered with me.
No biggie, I'll hail a cab later. At 5.30pm, dinner was key as my tummy made itself known that hunger must be gotten rid of. I cannot stand hunger for long as it robs me of my brain. Food's all that I think of when my tummy rumbles.
With the protective capabilities of the Uniqlo parka, I should do well in this heavy rain with strong side winds. Vegetarian economic rice was the order of the day.
My Nexus S apparently took on a little water as I can see the shape of water smudges beneath the screen. It worked still.
Head out
Nearer 7pm, I readied the bicycle and booked a SMRT cab. Later, the cab driver rejected me as he claims his car boot was too small to fix fit my mountain bike. No biggie, I was advised to call Comfort which I did. Cab driver was nice to help me fit the bicycle in the backseat, after I removed the front wheel. Dad came down to provide assistance too. It was a nice gesture, though not necessary as removal of the wheel was a one man job.
Still, the cab driver was a nice fella.
Arrived at East Coast Park (Carpark C3) at around 8.15pm where I found some cyclists with the same RTS jersey. Registration would start at 8.30pm, but the Facebook page announced that registration starts at 7.30pm.
This would not be the first time in the night that something goes wrong.
If there was any safety briefing, then I am not aware of it. Likewise with the many hundreds of others scattered around the registration point with many in sight, but not in range of the loudhailer. No mention nor visual indication was made to gather cyclists for a briefing whatsoever. Nothing.
Still, I hold the belief that cyclists would know what to do.
I was proven wrong within the first minutes of pedaling.
Roll out
We were released in batches, with some guy holding and waving a flag to signal the start of the event and release of cyclists in groups. What use were the groups? I had no idea. Especially when cyclists overtook each other on the right, and left while breaking away from their groups to race ahead.
I happened to fall into group 2 just behind 2 safety cyclists. These 2 guys would yell commands and bark for cyclists to give way or avoid obstacles. What they failed to do was to give hand signals. So, rather than echoing what they yelled, I gestured with my hands the appropriate hand signs.
Whether the cyclists behind me echoed the same sign down the line, I do not know but will not be surprised if nobody did. I suspect that some cyclists aren't confident of holding onto the handle bar with just one hand while making a gesture with the other. This was no biggie except that some signals could really be motioned.
It is no fun to have to brake suddenly just because the front rider slows down which causes a chain reaction in a shorter-than-comfortable time frame.
Wait what?
At the first pit stop which was somewhere in East Coast Park still, I made a new buddy, Dom. Or was it Don? I'm sorry buddy cyclist person guy. I learned from him that his group of safety cyclists made no effort to yell commands or gesture. This was appalling. I also learnt that due to the close proximity of riders, there were bumps and some cyclists fell.
This affirms my belief that it is safer to ride in the front of the pack. We both agreed on that and attempted to cycle to the front. Noting that a group of cyclists were beginning to cluster somewhere ahead, we took it as a sign that rest was going to be over and we would be cycling again.
Sure enough, we heard a horn blare, or so we thought, and riders were on their way.
It was interesting to note that cyclists were still coming into the pit stop with a time gap of more than 20 minutes. The rubber band effect was so big that the time gap would extend in later stages.
But never mind that, Dom and I would blaze ahead to catch the front of the pack.
We were cycling relatively quickly as I felt my heart rate go up while I overtook cyclists. As we turned a bend to the left and got ready to exit East Coast Park, I noticed that there were no safety cyclists with the orange jersey.
Wait what?
Moving on
Still, I told myself that this would be fine and there could be safety cyclists somewhere in the front.
I later learnt that we were on our own. Our pack of about 30 cyclists, so far away from the main group that we were referring to the official map and took cues from road marshals who guided us, eventually made it to the 2nd pit stop.
What made this ride special were the fact that we rode together. People from all races came together, laughed and had fun. There was once or twice where the group broke up because fatigue set in for some riders along with difference in speeds owing in some part to the nature of our bicycles.
A mountain bike can't quite go as fast as a road bike, as a foldie with smaller wheels can to a mountain bike on the same distance with similar cadence. Our energy levels were really sapped, especially with several inclines to climb.
Couple that with hunger, thirst and sleepiness setting in, and these factors threaten to put a damper on one's performance. The group took a wrong turn at a junction and that allowed us to bunch up and pedal again. We still made it to the 2nd pit stop, as mentioned earlier.
I think it was Hougang park. Memory is failing me. Helping myself to a can of 100plus and bottle of mineral water, I managed to pour the isotonic contents into my bottle of blackcurrant + salt cordial mix. This was my first time making my own cordial isotonic mix from home and I see why it makes drinking that much more palatable.
We rested for nearly 50 mins as the main group finally arrived.
Then, just before setting off, somebody vomited. An official instructed for everybody to get on their bikes and prepare to head out. It was the longest stretch of bikes with blinking lights that I've ever seen and was a part of. I saw an SCDF ambulance too but had no idea if it would be used to ferry the person who vomited. I hope he or she is alright.
Road marshals lead us to safety
Aetos auxiliary police rode beside us and stopped traffic at junctions and slip roads to allow us in cycling without stopping for much of the journey.
Kudos to them and the volunteers who stood tirelessly throughout the night and waved light sticks while cheering us on and directing the pack. We rode through Punggol, then Yishun Dam (hey!) through Yishun Avenue 1 and Mandai Road and eventually ended up on Race Course Road which lead to the People's Association HQ.
De-registration was the final thing to do. A quick scan of the NRIC and I got my finisher's medal. Awww yeahh!
General comments, cock-ups and oddities
While registering for the event, I prepared my NRIC and memorized my four digit participant ID. There were a total of 4 lanes with each lane dedicated to a group of IDs. My ID fell into the last lane and I only knew that because a girl repeated over and over again on the lane numbers, instead of using her loudhailer. I don't get that.
The cock-up? Someone had the bright idea to toss the participant ID tags, which you get after registering and you clip it somewhere on you or your bike so officials know you are legit (I think) and which also contains your name and address and details so if you ever lose a limb, they know who to call.
But, back to the ID tags. Someone apparently emptied the ID tags onto the floor in a pile, thereby messing up the order. I gave him my NRIC and told him my ID, only to have the poor fella look through a box and exclaim something to the effect of "oh my god". He later found my ID after looking back at the volunteers who were standing around the pile of tags on the grass.
Safety officials should gesture appropriately instead of only yelling commands. Though some riders did motion, not everybody did.
Also, cyclists overtook on the left which was dangerous as some may overtake on the right to filter left which could cause a collision, seeing as how it nearly happened a few times. On the whole, the event was a splendid success, if we overlook these issues.
Aetos marshals did remind cyclists to keep to one lane but as group dynamics have it, we ended up taking 1.5 or 2 lanes, causing vehicles to pile onto the 1st lane and having buses unable to overtake us simply due to our sheer numbers.
I imagine the bus drivers must be feeling pissed off as they were missing stop after stop.
I must also mention that the packed breakfast that was handed to me, came in poor form. The top was broken. The rice was particularly dry too. I was pretty sure my box was the only one broken. Though, this wasn't a damper.
Going home
With my phone about to die, and it having absorbed water into its innards earlier, my charging mechanism acted wonky. I lost data connection and the phone acted up several times with it turning incredibly laggy and non-responsive.
A quick reboot and plug to the external charger, and I was back in business with Google maps pointing the way.
Flirting with the idea of hailing a cab back, I tried twice but no cab wanted to stop. No biggie, I remembered the distance wasn't too far and the direction was pretty straight forward. Literally just head straight home from where I was. Literally that.
So I backtracked to Race Course Road and Farrer Park MRT and saw a road sign pointing towards Balestier Road. That's Toa Payoh! Following the sign soon led me to another which indicated that I was on the right path towards Ang Mo Kio.
A quick check on Google Maps told me all I needed to do was head straight.
Then I got to Lentor and it was simply a matter of visualizing home and a nice warm shower.
Lastly, I think there was another RTS rider behind me at Lentor Road who was on the same path, right after Yio Chu Kang MRT. I thought I saw a blue jersey in my handlebar mirrors. I knew someone was behind me when I heard music that did not fade away after around a minute. But I was too concentrated on getting home that I did not turn back.
Then I got home and showered and crashed like a tree felled by a chainsaw. The end.
P.S. I'm too lazy to upload the lousy photos taken from the Nexus S.
P.P.S. I'd join RTS 2014 but perhaps rent a bicycle instead of using my own.
We should never stop improving and bettering. Read, exercise and mingle with the right crowd. Take care of your body, both internally and externally. Don't waste time on things that don't matter. Don't do things you have no interest in.
Trust that these actions will lead you the right way. The world is a complex interconnected highway of cars passing by and chock full of beings, many clueless and more aimless. But are they really?
It wasn't there nor at the police station where I hoped a kind soul may have picked it up to return.
So, it's a quick call to POSB and my card was immediately invalidated. My real loss was the coins and roughly $12 in dollar notes contained within the plastic card holder.
Actually, my real loss was the plastic card holder. It served me well for close to 2 years. :(
But I'll get over it. May the kind Buddha card that I've kept in the plastic card holder bless whoever finds my stuffs too. It all ends well I suppose. :)
Sunday was Bouldering and Swimming day at Yishun Safra and it absolutely wrecked my body, in a good way. Now, the muscle and body ache is pretty much a given, considering my overall weakness in strength and endurance but over time, I hope to surpass myself every single time.
Running and cycling has certainly improved my cardiovascular fitness and I look forward to the body being able to push and sustain itself for longer periods of time without me gasping for air after a particularly strenuous session.
I've not climbed before but bouldering was mad fun! The falling part scares me but that forms part of the thrill too. I've not swam proper in years and yesterday was a good day.
This Sunday morning is Stadium Running Day. That means I take my lazy ass down to the stadium (any stadium) and jog my heart out until I collapse on the ground panting my weak lungs out.
Except that it rained as soon as we met up and stepped out of Woodlands MRT station. After a good near 45 minutes of sitting and watching the rain subside, we headed for the tracks in our Vibrams. The EL-X soaked in the water and it was a squishy running experience. However, grip was fine and the EL-X wrapped around my feet like a second skin. While sprinting, I was overly concerned about the puddles and imagined myself stepping into one, losing grip, then slipping and cracking a bone or two.
That didn't happen. The EL-X stood up to the task.
Now, Vibram pal went through the same condition as me. Our last toes were in pain while wearing the Vibrams. Years of footwear not keeping up with our feet growth meant that we had last toes which were misshapen. The toe didn't grow up to be a tall, striking lad. No, it grew up as a man who got hammered and grew width-wise instead. Vibram pal conquered that pain.
I have to go through that rite of passage.
I will need to break in the EL-X before hitting it hard again. My calves hurt and it is a challenge to stand up after sitting down. Even my thighs feel the stretch. Perhaps sprinting in new Vibrams after having worn cushioned shoes all this while isn't such a great idea.
Then again, I am not courting pain and injury. My joints feel fine. At least they feel fine now. I'm hopeful that constant activity in the EL-X will see the toe pain go away, along with strengthening of the calf muscles.
Vivobarefoot shoes caught my eye in my quest to revive my fitness regime and get back into shape. I am a scrawny fella, though years of cycling built my quads and gave me substantial leg power. My arms flail about like thin strands of spaghetti though.
Time to fix that, and I needed to get outdoors. My old Brooks running shoes gave way, creaked and basically fell apart at the sole. Then I bought a pair of budget Adidas running shoes which were on sale. Not even more than 10 times did I wear those shoes and here I am with a new pair of shoes.
Originally, I had my sights on shoes from Vivobarefoot. The distributor somehow closed his head office today when I went to the place with a pal. So, it's off to Novena Velocity mall where we looked around at minimalist running shoes. Because barefoot is actually beneficial to your health and body.
Never did I suspect nor thought that I'd get my hands, and feet, on a pair of Vibram FiveFingers. The EL-X caught my eye when I strolled past the rows of VFFs. After also looking and trying a pair of Vivobarefoot shoes, I looked at the VFFs and decided they would fit nicely into my regime.
One, VFFs are minimalist and offer the second-best feel of going barefoot. Offering enough protection, yet allowing you to feel the ground and every bump and imperfection of surfaces, you feel different.
It's like learning how to walk again. I shall update again when I dive straight into jogging tomorrow with said pal, who also rocks a Vibram FiveFingers KSO in black.
May the EL-X last me more than a year. The lightest and most minimalistic shoe is the EL-X by a wide margin and I hope they stay that way, until Vibram releases new models. I look at shoes so differently now.
Heck, surfaces feel differently and these shoes offer feedback like no other. You really have to try it to understand what I mean. Short of going barefoot that is.
Someday, I'll ride around the island and make new friends and meet new people. I need to pick up my balls and talk to random strangers who pass me when I'm on my bicycle.
Here's a log of my rides.
1) Sunday: 1hr 15mins
2) Wednesday: 1hr 25mins
3) Thursday: 1hr 47mins
Maybe I'll start a videolog through YouTube. The channel shall contain my inane mumblings and musings about life and stuff that nobody cares about. It'll be great.
Because I think I am rather brilliant at coming up with ideas, but not quite so at making them work, a new tumblr blog shall be created and its URL a secrecy. Following along the lines of "Write One Post Per Day", the blog could ultimately contain 365 posts.
As to whether that blog and its idea could work, well, that's another matter entirely.
For 2012, I sought to write a post every day on another tumblr page eventually amassing 365 posts though I did not manage to stick to the "Write 1 post a day" schedule.
That wasn't so much a goal nor a resolution. I just felt like it could be done and had to. What waited at the end was a feeling that can be described as "Honey from the bee gods, lacing my tongue with a shit eating grin on my face".
That came out all wrong.
Nevertheless, for 2013, I'll not only make one Goalesolution (See, I just created a word--a mashing of "Goal" and "Resolution"), but several. Actually, resolutions are silly.
So, let's try this:
1) Never raise your voice nor allow anger to hijack your mind and body.
If we achieve immortality and live forever with no need for air, food, water and sustenance, could it then really be true that we may get stuck in a place somewhere?
Think about it. You're alone, and you accidentally get wedged in between two buildings in a remote location where nobody can reach you. You have no hope nor chance to free yourself. Yet, you cannot die.
I am deeply appreciative of a group of strangers coming together to count down to the new year for without them, I shall be caught blissfully unaware when the clock strikes twelve.
This means the start of the year 2013. I wish everybody a happy new year and may peace, prosperity and progress be with all.
Oh, and this blog is still alive and kicking for I shall make my triumphant return to it after a year's worth of blog post in another tumblr that shall not be linked for now.
With the sound of fireworks going off somewhere in the distance, things start to look up already. :>
This is a review of the Nexus S. It is the official poster child of the almighty Google. When Google places its weight behind the Nexus S, you know it is going to be the best phone in the world. Why is the Nexus S the best phone in the world? Because Samsung and Google collaborated on the phone. Also, the phone would kick your ass, and the ass of your dog, and your goldfish too while you sleep. It also takes fantastic pictures. You can upload the pictures that you have taken, with the best phone in the world, on sites like Facebook and tumblr. Can your digicam do that? No. No it can’t. Can your digicam make a call? No. No it can’t. Can your digicam perform a search on Google using the power of the human voice? Bam. 3 to the Nexus S. 0 to your snapper. The Nexus S is black. SUPER LCD makes the images pop and stand out on its 4 inch screen. Once, I watched a video of a boxing match on YouTube on the Nexus S. The images were so vivid, I suffered facial injuries due to the eye popping colors. I had to see a doctor for bruises on my right cheek. True story. The Nexus S makes pancakes, boils your water and acts as a paperweight. There are also many other uses for the phone. Such as, making calls and texting people. It is sleek, fast and you can multi task on it. Battery life was so good, I had to buy another Nexus S just to deplete it. The other day, I accidentally left YouTube running a full High Definition video on loop while I dozed off. When I woke up, the battery charged itself to full capacity. This is proof of the superiority of the Nexus S. Can your handset do that? No. No it can’t. True story. 5 days ago, I dropped the Nexus S on the floor out of spite for it being so bad ass. It bounced back and gave me a kick to the face. I handled it like a maiden after that incident. Cool story bro. You can play games. Free games. Games that are free, on the Nexus S. Can your oven do that? No. No it can’t. Give up. The Nexus S is the best phone in the world. Also. Can your fat cat play mp3 files? No. No it can’t. Indeed, the Nexus S just screams in your face of overwhelming badassery in a tight package. Lastly, the screen is curved. Does your phone have a curved screen? No. No it does not.
It's been some time since I got my hands dirty in writing HTML and CSS code. The HTML5 and CSS3 specifications sure makes me excited about the future of web design, coding and development.
5 hours of non-stop coding makes my head spin. It's nap time.
<a href="http://speedtest.10fastfingers.com"><img src="http://speedtest.10fastfingers.com/badge/1_wpm_score_DP.png" alt="Typing Test Score" /></a><p>Visit the <a href="http://speedtest.10fastfingers.com">Typing Test</a> and try!</p>
Code not working for some reason. Some really fast fingers on the international score list there!
