Help us improve Tasks

Official Gmail Blog
I've used Gmail tasks since it first started, so I'm glad that Google is asking for feedback on how to improve it. It's still a little lightweight on features at the moment...

Star Wars - The Clone Wars, Season 3

I wonder if there is such a thing like a "nostalgia effect". I ask this because Season 3 of the Clone Wars has been really sucky.

There's no other way to put it. It started off with a couple of "prequel" episodes, with each episode expanding on a particular episode in Season 2.

Then there were a few "political" episodes with little or no action scenes. They couldn't even do a "normal" episode (Episode 7 - Assassin) properly.

Really sad when you see a great series losing its touch. A bit like seeing Rooney with such poor form and betraying everyone with his "stunt"...

Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma

Cool. A university project looking at how to cover news stories involving violence.Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma

Panasonic Lumix DMC GF1 HD 20mm 1.7 TEST

Nice video taken with the GF1. It's tempting me away from the Pentax K-r...

We forgot that smartphones were first designed for business

RANT ALERT:
Why is it so hard to find a smartphone with a good todo app/system?

And don't get me started on the flood of touchscreen-only devices on the market.

I just want an app with the following
- reminders that go off even after the deadline
- sync with desktop or website

I just need a browser that does the following
- mobile mode (no need to scroll left and right)
- fast (like Opera Mini 4.2 on a Nokia E71)
- support Flash

The search continues...

Disconnect to Connect

Ajay Banga, New MasterCard Chief, Wages ‘War on Cash’

NYTimes.com
Interesting directive implemented by MasterCard's new CEO.

"For example, Mr. Banga shook up the company by declaring that any request to headquarters not acted upon in two weeks would be automatically approved — a directive meant to speed decision-making."

Though I wonder how much of the above is advertising puff...

Caterham Monaco

Britain's Best Driver's Car 2010

Fujifilm Finepix X100

The camera that caught my attention during the recent Photokina product announcements was the Fujifilm Finepix X100.

Everytime I use my Pentax K100D for street photography, I find it difficult to stay discreet, which is one of the key conditions required for producing quality candid shots.

With so many developments on the mirrorless interchangeable lens-format front, I was looking intently at the Panasonic GF1 and the Samsung NX100 (also announced at Photokina).

But the Fujifilm X100 showed that there was still space for a new category in digital photography. Granted, Sigma already had a line of APS-C fixed focal length cameras, but reviews of the DP1 & DP2 weren't encouraging.

Also, the X100 had an extra trick up its sleeve, which was a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder.

One of the minus points that held me back from buying a micro Four-Thirds camera was the lack of a optical viewfinder.

Now, I can only hope that the X100 isn't too expensive. Of course, I would still need to check its quality. Last but not least, I hope it will be available in an all-black paintjob (not a fan of the silver/black retro look).

Amazon Kindle 3 WebKit Browser Review

Boy am I tempted to buy the Kindle after watching this video. Trendsmobile is selling at S$369...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - The episode just after 9-11

Just one word: Respect.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
September 11, 2001
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Sick Puppies "All The Same"

Sick Puppies "All The Same" from Ryan Simone on Vimeo.

Why I deleted my Facebook & Twitter accounts

My standard answer to friends and colleagues... "They were taking up too much of my time".

But maybe another reason is more technical. I was using both as advocacy tools. I was putting up various human rights related content.

But it wasn't working. Both systems were "closed"; postings were not searchable via internet search engines. The search functions in both systems didn't do any better. I was constantly trying to find "that post" which I had highlighted something important.

For a while, I tried a hybrid solution. Post on Blogger, and a plugin allowed those posts to appear in Facebook. But it still wasn't an elegant system...

Hence the decision to remove myself from Facebook and Twitter. 2 months on, and I must say that I enjoy time away from them.

Star Wars The Clone Wars 3x05 - Corruption

The latest episode of the Clone Wars was weird. And I was not the only one who felt it.

Posted by: Son of a Bith | October 9, 2010 12:28 PM
Did anybody else besides me get what this episode is really saying? It has a hidden message: DON'T DRINK THE TEA!Ponder that phrase for a second.

The reference to the current socio-political situation in the US wasn't just limited to the Tea Party. There were quite a few comments on big corporations, and their harm on common folk.

The Pitfall of Productivity Porn

Lifehacker
Great to see Lifehacker being conscious of the dark side of seeking better productivity. Quite a few of the apps that I uninstalled (see here) were productivity apps that I never really got to try out. Ouch!

X10 Mini Pro - App culling

My X10 Mini Pro has been getting slower by the day. So I decided to bite the bullet and cull some apps. As I am still hesitant about rooting the handphone, I could only uninstall the apps that I had installed myself. Full list below. Hopefully, this massive extermination will help my phone run a little faster.

evernote
goggles
google translate
actioncomplete
blogger-droid
bugme! lite
easytether
gdocs
gtasks
handcent
mapdroyd
mnote
note everything
seepu
shuffle
skyfire
wordpress

BTW, I just encountered another problem. After a reboot, the phone seems to think that it is new, and asks me to confirm my language and also complete setup & importing of contacts. I have to cancel the process, and all is ok again. It's quite annoying.

Star Wars to the rescue

I was just writing in my diary that I was tired of writing about the same stuff all the time, mostly negative stuff like the lack of time, insufficient sleep, feeling alone, etc.

Then I suddenly remembered that Clone Wars was back (Season 3). Managed to view episode 1, which featured an apt theme; teamwork.

Maybe that is the key to breaking the cycle of negativity & despair. :)

Mood altering songs

Was criticising the musical taste of a DJ, but all was forgotten when Duran Duran's Come Undone came on.

That was one of the first english pop songs I heard when I was a teenager.