Registered as one waaaay back but never an active member. I used Linux for a very short while, just to try it out.

The timestamp of this screenshot is 15-Sep-1997! Win 95 SE I think. The Message Dialer app you see was a locally designed app that allowed one to send messages to my alphanumeric PAGER (remember those??) through my US Robotics modem!

The “My Computer” icon shows it’s a Pentium 133 that I was running back then!

Having a chat with fellow Descent player, Eternal Champion. I really miss those guys, Phalanx, Mav, Smirnoff… where are you guys now? Also note ICQ. The real first IM platform that started it all.

This is a 320×320 pixel screenshot of my Sony Clie. Doesn’t look all that different from the iPhone now huh? There were some really nice games and utilities there. I actually love the ‘pixel’ look of it.

Sometimes I find a graphic I like and just keep it for my personal consumption. I think this came off some article about tech support and I actually remember myself doing that to my PDA back then! Maybe once. Or twice.

An avatar I did for myself when I was a little more active member in the RAV4 Expedition club.

Once of the many Palm devices I used to own. I think I still have this somewhere! Really!

Another one of those random images I kept. I would like to think that recently, I have started to walk down the OTHER path.

Now, every geek would like this.

1. Some apps just crash upon startup. Perhaps they need to be updated for iOS 4.

2. All my photos disappeared once when I started “Photos”. When I started it again, it showed something like “rebuilding camera roll”. When I got my photos back, the chronological order was lost and some photos missing. Not sure if it’s just a one-off thing. I sure hope so.

3. The camera is indeed snappier. It takes each shot much faster – it seems.

4. You can view places within the Photos app now. Interesting.

5. If you receive an email with a date within it, tapping on it allows you to create an event at the stated time. It even works for phrases such as “lunch tomorrow”. Very nice.

Yep. So I downloaded a beta copy of iTunes 9.2 and iOS 4 Gold Seed as well. Spent 1 solid hour reorganizing my apps from 11 screens down to 2. Wow.

I do like it so far.

Double-tapping gives you a row of recently used apps. Tapping on any one of them brings the app back but not always from where you left it. I think it depends on the app, which may need to be updated to support this new service.

Double-tapping and swiping right will reveal an orientation lock toggle and iPod controls. Now, the orientation lock toggle is great. It replaces SBsetting’s equivalent, which is one of the big reasons why I would jailbreak my iPhone, as I read a lot in bed. When orientation lock is enabled, a tiny icon appears in the status bar, so that’s neat too.

Other than that, Mail gives you threaded view of your emails. Not sure if I really want that, I think it is better implemented on the Gmail Android app actually. And of course, I already mentioned that you can now organise your apps into “folders” by simply dragging and dropping icons onto one another. I didn’t realise there would be a limit of 12 apps per folder, but that does make sense since more would mean a scrollbar within. But it also means I have like 2 folders of “photography” apps though.

Speaking of which, there is now a digital zoom function, up to 5x. Just tap once when in the Camera app and a slider should appear. I don’t think I’d use it though since it’s obviously not as good as an optical zoom.

(Reluctant doggy model)

And yes, you can customise your wallpaper as well – no more inky blackness behind your icons, and I like the new variety of wallpaper options.

There’s probably more I haven’t mentioned, but overall, good. The only problems I have encountered would be my 2do app crashing about startup (have tried removing and adding back), and iBooks is not available yet, though I was prompted randomly to download it OTA, which then failed and directed me to iTunes, which told me that iBooks could not be installed. Hmm. In time I guess.

My favourite bit of it:

We have never been more connected or more lonely. We have never been so wealthy and yet yearned for so much we don’t yet have. We are so far from where we started, few of us even know when, why or how individualism came into its own, let alone what we gave up for it.

So we consume. Mindlessly, insatiably. We buy things we don’t need, eat when we’re not hungry

http://prettycurious.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/time-for-a-wephone/

Ordered this on Monday and it was magically on my office desk this morning! Nice.

My MacBook Pro, hmm about 2 years old now, recently visited eServ@Wheelock. It wasn’t a good experience but at least there are a couple of shining stars at eServ. In short, my LCD was changed (twice), bottom chassis replaced, Superdrive replaced (couple of times too), logic board (twice – since I got the MBP), and so it is nearly brand new! The battery had 350 cycles on it and forcing my mac to shutdown suddenly even if it reads 15 minutes on the meter… so I decided to get a new battery. With this batt, I’d say the MBP is 98% brand new!

I still love this generation of MBP, and hope to continue to use it as long as I can. Perhaps an upgrade to faster RAM and a bigger hard disk is now in order… hehe.

Update 10 Apr: Rather disappointing. I have been only able to get an average of 2.5 hours from the new battery. I have tried calibrating it as well as per Apple’s instructions to no avail. The battery’s max capacity has also already dropped from the original 5600mAh to 5503mAh.

This morning, I woke up at 5am. That’s a really rare occurrence, usually only when I really have to wake up for something I cannot avoid, like army duties or an early flight. But this morning it’s different. I woke up before the sun did, to have a hike at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

I did curse a bit, and putting on my contacts proved to be more difficult than usual. But by 5.40am I was in the car, and reached the Diary Farm Nature Park carpark at 6am sharp. Wari, colleague and friend from more like 10 years ago, came by soon. It was great to meet him again. I must say I am inspired by him to move my lazy butt and do more of such activities. And yes, this was his idea.

So since it was so dark, we decided that we should go for breakfast too. We drove to a nearby coffeeshop, and had roti prata and teh o (no milk, Wari said. I’d want to pee if I did. Hmmm… we then went back to the carpark, and sent off, with nothing more than a bottle of water each and RunKeeper activated on my iPhone. Here’s the end output from Runkeeper. Surely not as accurate as Wari’s advanced Garmin 405 but good enough for now.

So off we went. We started slowly on the Wallace Trail. Wari was nice to make sure I don’t suddenly get into a difficult route. Wallace Trail was nice and peaceful. Something that even wifey will do I reckon.

It wasn’t long before I was trying to catch my breath. Wari’s pace was good but I had to try to keep up.

That’s Wari. And that’s the start of what is known as the KNNCBB stairs. Locals will know what it means.

Up and up we went. It never seemed to stop. I wasn’t too excited because I wanted a more natural hike. Not to climb stairs! I got my wish, but later.

We finally reached the top of the many ‘flights’ of stairs.. and rested for a while, drinking water and sharing some raisins. Then we moved on.

Here Wari is pointing out our location I believe. I wasn’t pay a lot of attention as I was really quite tired already!

Along the North View Path, Wari told me that he has something interesting to show me. I was really curious.

Nothing there right?

Wrong! It’s a geocache! Wheee! And my first encounter! I was sooo excited!

Wari examines the find. He has found this before BTW, but it’s a real treat for me!

I left my business card as my contribution! I had nothing else but US dollars and bank cards!

We then moved on. We kept going till we reached the summit. It was really quite physical and I admit I am in bad shape. But if I do this every week, wow, I will surely be fit!

Here we go… another long deck of stairs… Wari………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some funky roots or trunk or whatever you call it.

Hint! Taking the side can be easier than the stairs.

Only one way to go… yes, yes. UP.

After a bit, we reach the summit. There are some people doing some taichi thingy there.

And even a person puking. I hope he is ok…

Wari KNEW I wanted a photo. So here I am.

Onwards we went. I thought it was downhill all the way. After all, we have reached the summit right? Well yes, but then again not really.

We do climb mostly down…

But we still need to climb up sometimes… Augh. We are moving along the Summit Path to the Rock Path. Now this is where it got really fun! My absolute favourite part of the entire hike.

We are basically going down a path strewn with big rocks. And it gets quite steep.

It’s hard to see here but you have to start to grab roots and vines or whatever you can to guide you down.

And down…

That’s me!

So I really enjoyed the rock path. I just wish it was MUCH longer. And that we didn’t need to start to move UP again.. augh.

I love this shot. The camera didn’t capture it well, but the light is beautiful.

Yay we are moving down again. Towards the cave trail I believe. Caves? Oh yes… there were two Wari pointed out.

Here’s one. I tried to take a photo of the inside, but the FX7 had nothing to focus on.

And there’s another.

W
Wow! It’s just begging to be explored! But of course. It’s locked. Damn.

Here’s a stream that ends up on a pool of water at the bottom. It looks so crystal clear and feels cool that I wanted to fill my bottle with it. But of course, I didn’t.

Some massive aloe vera/pandan leave LIKE plant. Wari poses next to it so you have something to scale it against.

We note a spot where we can see the concrete jungle beyond.

Wari points out a trail which has been closed, though still on this old map. We are going to take that closed trail.

We spot some water silos. What were they used for? Wari said there used to be some kampung here. In the hills? How inconvenient!

The rungs of the metal ladder are rusted. It won’t hold my 70kg+ but hmmm I am curious to go up. I didn’t la.

Another view of the silos. Or water tanks. Or whatever you want to call it.

We are nearly at the end of our hike. We spot a roof and gravitate towards it.

I love abandoned houses. I think of how people have lived in here before.

And we are finally out. Some pretty plants greet us.

We take this path back to our cars and off we went for a drink at Rail Mall. Phew! It’s not exactly over though. After our drinks and some kaya toast (I realise we both hate the slabs of butter in the kaya toast), Wari guided me to another part of the nature reserve, to show me the bike trail.

I cannot imagine anyone going up this very rocky upslope! Maybe with a full-sus bike… I know I can’t. No illusions there.

We walk on till we see this sign.

And there’s the slope. From bottom looking up. I can’t wait to try it! Maybe next weekend.

So that’s it. It was a WONDERFUL way to spend my Saturday morning, and I really really enjoyed it. THANK YOU Wari, for being an excellent guide, and introducing me to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and yes, to my first encounter with a geocache too. More adventures to come!