Shutdown Day - The (Horror) Movie

As we cruise into the month of March and the big day gets closer, I am beginning to feel a slight tinge of panic. How do I go a day without my computer and gadgets? They are so much a part of my daily life that the thought of going one whole day (that's 24 whole hours!) without them is daunting.

If you're like me and suffer from separation anxiety, here's some fun things you can do with your laptop without even powering it up.

This video is rated PG - Pitiful Gadgets.

Tears are rolling down my face as I watch this video. *sniff*

The Truth Is Out There

Some months ago, I wrote that I am jinxed. I mentioned that during a certain time of the year, things around me, even brand new ones, will konk-out for no apparent reason. Strange but true.

But there's more. There is another strange phenomenon that has been plaguing me for years which only my wife has witnessed - and constantly laughs about. But it is serious - to me anyway. The thing is, everytime I wash my car, it'll rain after. Again, strange but true!

For a few weeks, the weather has been warm with no rain in sight so I decided to take my car in to my regular place to get it washed and vacuumed last Friday. With the sun high in the sky and temperatures at about 34 degrees celsius, I was dead sure I had beaten the "Rain Gods". I cruised into the car wash with a little smirk on my face. As soon as the hoses were turned on, the skies turned a menacing shade of grey and by the time my car was spotless and making its way out of the car wash, it started to drizzle. So much for spending ten bucks to get the car looking good.

Today was no exception. I decided to wash my car myself and seeing that it was a hot day, it would be ideal. But at the back of my mind, I knew that the guy up there had his finger on the "rain" button just itching to push it. Nevertheless, I persevered and trooped down to my car with two pails full of water. I poured one pail over my car to get rid of the dust and as soon as I did, the sun decided it was his break time. I didn't let that stop me. I washed and wiped my car till it was spotless. Then.... oh well, you can see from the picture.

My wife thinks I should take my car and my rain inducing act to drought stricken countries to help.

*sigh*

Ditch Your Computer Day!

Just yesterday, I read and blogged about the passing of Mr Robert Adler, the man who invented the remote control - a device I absolutely cannot live without. We take so many of these devices, gadgets and inventions for granted without even an inkling of who invented them or considered if we'd be able to survive without them.

As a gadget addict / freak / aficionado / fanatic / buff / devotee / enthusiast, I am fully aware that I cannot function like a normal human being without my gadgets for a day. This is why when I leave my home, my laptop, 2 smartphones, my iPod Video, my internet-banking security token, a 2GB thumb-drive and two remote controls (one for my car's security system and the other for my home's security system!) goes with me. This does not include my gadget-laden car which I drive everywhere.

So as a personal challenge, I have decided to give this a go. On 24 March this year (a Saturday), I will not turn on any of my PCs or laptops. To make things more difficult, I'm going to ditch my smartphones and settle for one cellular phone without any of the fancy bells and whistles. Anyone also keen to take up this challenge?

Now, all I have to do is to key this date into my smartphone's organiser to remind me of the event. *wink*

Picture above : My outdoor geek-kit. My other smartphone (not in picture) was used to take this shot.

Farewell To The Father Of Remotes

When my son was born, I wished for him to have interest in medicine, law, business or anything other than the field of Information Technology and hankering after gadgets everyday like a love-sick puppy (read: like his Daddy). With my luck, I knew my wish would not be granted and this was confirmed when my little boy took his first glimpse at my array of remote controls. His eyes brightened, he started to drool and then desperately (and recklessly) reached out to grab one. Since then, he'd kick up a ruckus if he failed to get his saliva-coated hands on it.

A week later, I promptly got him a t-shirt which said "Hand over the remote and no one gets hurt". He wears it proudly. *sigh*

We use remote controls everyday. We reach for it subconsciously when we want to change the channel on reruns of Seinfeld, to pump up the volume when we hear our favourite song on MTV or to pause Flightplan when we need to go take a tinkle. Do we know who first invented the remote control - a device used by almost everyone in the world? His name was Mr Robert Adler. Sadly, he died last week at the age of 93 and it is a shame that the world was none the wiser.

With this entry, my little boy and I bid a fond farewell to an inventor that brought a great deal of convenience to the world.

Thank you, Mr Adler. I couldn't have become the remote toting couch potato I am today without you. I am eternally grateful.

Burden Of Reality

Last night, I watched a late night movie on the tele called "Barbershop". I think it was released in 2002 and it starred some pretty well-known rappers and actors like Ice Cube, Cedric The Entertainer and Eve.

It tells the story about a guy named Calvin (Cube) who runs a barbershop that was passed down to him after his father passed away. He works hard to keep it going but is not very successful. After two years, he decides that he has had enough and sells it to an unscrupulous man who initially promises him to keep the barbershop going but later does not keep his end of the bargain and plans to turn the barbershop into a gentlemen's club. Calvin does not realise how important the barbershop is to him until his wife reminds him of how much it meant to his father and how so many people in their community depend on the barbershop not just for their hair-cut but to keep the cohesiveness of the community intact.

On any other occassion, this would have been just another movie but recently, certain developments made the storyline tug at my heart heavily. Although I am not sure of what the outcome of my situation is going to be but I can say upfront that either decision will be painful - one physically, one mentally.

I promise to share more when I can.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Gong Xi Fa Cai - that is the traditional greeting exchanged between Chinese people during the Lunar New Year celebrations. That's today and the celebrations span across 15 days.

Although I don't celebrate Chinese New Year, I love this season because of the festive goodies and the holidays, of course. It is usually a 2-day holiday in Singapore but because today is a Sunday, we get an additional day. So, I'm only back to work on Wednesday!

Wishing all my Chinese friends and fellow bloggers a very Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year.

The image is the Chinese character for prosperity. It is traditionally displayed upside down because "upside down" in Chinese sounds like "arrival". So, the upside down character for prosperity symbolises arrival of prosperity.

Happy V-Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

V-Day doesn't just mean Valentine's Day this year. It also means V-ideo Day too - iPod Video, that is. That's what my lovely wife got me for Valentine's Day. That's a whole 80GB of love right there. By geek standards, that's more than a lifetime's worth. Mrs Prem loves Prem and she knows Prem loves gadget. How sweet is she??

In the less than 24 hours since I received this beauty, I've got it loaded with a whole bunch of videos, more than 2 days worth of music and even hooked it up to my widescreen TV.

My apologies for the blury picture. This was taken with my Treo. It usually takes great shots but today, it appears to be too jealous of the new "addition" to the family.

Note to Mrs Prem : Thank you for the absolutely amazing gift. Happy Valentine's Day, dear!

Perspective

This is a brilliant video. Enjoy.

An Apple A Day?

To start off, I apologise to all visitors (that's all 5 of you!) regarding the recent spate of Apple related posts (see this, this and this) turning this blog into what some might just call a fruit basket. I'll try to keep these to a minimum but before I sign off on this almost impossible task, here's a heads-up....

Apple will be having a one day only sale on its products on 9 February. That's tomorrow!! I am not sure how attractive the discounts will be but I am definitely looking forward to checking them out. And as much as I wish I could share "the love" with everyone, the sale appears to be for Singapore-based customers only.

You can count on me being online from midnight.

Update (9/2/07 1:55 am) : Sale has not started yet. Geez...

Vinyl Irony

I love vinyl records. Having been a freelance deejay from the mid-80s till the late 90s, I was frequently working with records. For those of you born after 1990, records are how we old fogeys listened to music before CDs were born. Vinyl records not only delivered great sound (yes, much better than CDs), they last a whole lot longer than CDs if well-maintained.

Many friends describe my music collection as "insane". I might have about 700 odd CDs (and growing - I've lost count) and a good 500 pieces of 12" vinyl records. I only switched to CDs because a lot of music is no longer pressed onto vinyl - which is a really sad thing. So, I constantly tell my wife that I need to shower lots of tender loving care upon my beloved record collection. And in case they get damaged, I am working out a schedule to "digitize" them. "Protecting the music by migrating them from the analogue to the digital world", I always say.

But THIS is not what I had in mind when I said "protecting the music"!!

A company in the US is taking old 45s (that's old-school slang for a 7" vinyl record) and turning them into iPod cases!! How cruel is that? Among the vinyls they are crucifying to protect iPods include gems like Band Aid's Do They Know Its Christmas?, Starship's Nothing Gonna Stop Us Know, Bananarama's Venus, Olivia Newton-John's Physical (this was once banned from airplay in Singapore for being "too suggestive"), Pet Shop Boys' Always On My Mind and the kicker - Revolution by The Beatles.

But what really upset me was the use of Sly Fox's Let's Go All The Way. I used to do a real killer live mix of this track together with Shout by Tears For Fears and Rock Me Amadeus by Falco. It was my signature mix so I take this very personally.

But personal issues aside, I applaud the guys for their ingenuity. I'd rather these gems of the past live on this way than to be cast aside or tossed into the incinerator like garbage. It is also a reminder to current and future iPod toting youngsters how music was enjoyed generations before.

Keen to get one? Pop on down to their website.

Wonder if they'll just send me the records intact if I request. *wink*