GOJIRA - L'Enfant Sauvage (Official Video HD)

1966 Singapore Grand Prix

The Science of Procrastination - And How To Manage It

New kid on the block

Dynamism - Tainell U-Touch 500
UMPCs have been virtually extinct ever since Apple's iPad appeared.

As usual, I was moaning about this on UMPC Portal. One comment recently pointed out a new UMPC.

Haven't heard of Tainell before, but the specs look respectable. Price is quite expensive though. The highest spec version is selling at US$1,199.

Didn't manage to find a review online.

Muse - The Making of Exogenesis

Pomodoro (Italian for tomatoes) Technique

Most Popular Productivity Method: The Pomodoro Technique

Been using this tool recently. Working quite well for me, although I am still refining my workflow to incorporate this process.

More info at the official website below.

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Modern Family

ABC.com
Am hooked on Modern Family; now catching up from Season 1 onwards... Finding it difficult to find streams that work. Just remembered a trick that my brother discovered. English shows found on Chinese video sites. Chinese shows found on English video sites.

Prime example here.

BBC Formula 1 2012 - 06 Monaco GP - McLaren duo Hamilton and Button swap...

An example of why BBC is still better than Sky in its coverage of F1. Great segment, with the sporting Mclaren drivers trying out presenting and producing respectively.

Great video shot with the Nex-5N, and the detailed setup provided by Johnnie Behiri is great. It does show that a consumer camera can achieve great things, but quite a lot of additional gear is needed. Just look at notes under the video.

• Lenses: the kit 16mm f/2.8 and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lenses (my decision using those lenses was based on their "off the shelf availability").
• Creative style: "Sunset". Settings: contrast -3, saturation -1, sharpness -3.
• Format: AVCHD 1080/25
• Tripod: Sachtler DV8 SB
• Rig: Vocas
• Camera bag: Kata FlyBy 76
• Audio: Tascam DR-100 recorder, Sennheiser G2 EW100 wireless system, Sanken Lav mic, Cos 11D
• Electronic VF: Cineroid Metal HDMI version
• Light: Cineroid mini LED light L2C
• Editing: Adobe Premiere CS2 with Cineform Neo4k
• Color correction: Cineform “FirstLight”

Subaru BRZ- First Drive Roadtrip

Useful tips on how to shoot a car review video. Maybe it's weird to talk about that, but that's what came to my mind while watching it.

• piece to camera
• shots of non-car stuff to act as fillers (e.g. paying toll, filling up at petrol stations)
• shots of the scenery
• wide shot of both cameraman and driver from back
• music and actual audio fade in and out  

Camera comparison - HTC One X, iPhone 4S, Xperia S, Galaxy SII, Lumia 800

Camera phones on test: HTC One X, iPhone 4S, Xperia S, Galaxy SII, Lumia 800 - Pocket-lint
I like how they stitched sections from the different handphones together into a hybrid photo, like the photo below. Readily shows the differences.

Unplugging from the Net

I'm leaving the internet for a year | The Verge
Am happy that the writer is trying out this experiment of staying offline, but I suspect most of us would not be able to do it.

Not because we're addicted, although this is one factor, but because our work requires us to use the Internet, e.g. to be contactable via email.

I would like to try a lite-version of this experiment though. Deleted my Facebook account once, but had to restart it for work purposes. Perhaps I can start with rationing usage.

Transformers Prime

The cartoon graphics may look quite kiddy, but the plotline and action are not. Great storytelling, and quite a bit of severed metal. Worth a watch in my view. Am on to Episode 5 already.

Text is the easy part

The Verge at work: sync your text everywhere, never lose an idea again | The Verge
Of the solutions mentioned, I use Simplenote and Dropbox regularly.

As highlighted in this blog post title, syncing text is relatively easy compared to syncing all kinds of information, from office documents to PDF files, and finding them using a good search function.

Am trying to use Evernote more often, especially as a quick way to save webpages. Google Docs (now incorporated into Drive) does provide a good search within PDF feature.

HTC ChaCha - My fight against full-touchscreen phones

Long story short, I bought a 2nd hand ChaCha recently.

Initial comments

1. Memory for installing apps is insufficient, but after 2 factory data resets and deleting some apps, I have 26MB of internal storage left 
2. Camera is not fantastic, but high auto ISO results in less blurry shots
3. QWERTY keyboard is great, but needs a gentle touch compared with the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro
4. Sense UI is great. Used in conjunction with Launcher Pro, typing on the homescreen immediately starts a Google search for apps, settings, and other info. Also,  shortcuts at unlock screen mean one can quickly go to a app from the lock screen
5. Battery life is not great, as expected from feedback seen in reviews

Fei Comodo - The Air Is Cold Tonight

Bemoaning the disappearance of tactile controls in handphones

How can we get manufacturers to start making handphones with proper buttons again?

With the onslaught of touchscreen-only devices, buttons have been disappearing. Directional pads (D-pads), QWERTY keypads, dedicated function keys (e.g. camera shutter), even the most basic Home/Back/Menu and Call/End keys have gone away, to be replaced by touchscreen versions which are a pale shadow of their peers.

Landmark 1st Drupal Camp in Singapore

DrupalCamp Singapore 2012

Attended the 1st ever local Drupal Camp today. It was a great experience.

What is Drupal? It's a software that allows you to run a website. It's similar to Wordpress, but with more customisable options.

Even though I only downloaded a copy of Drupal to try out on my laptop a day earlier, the sessions were understandable and not too techy.

Attendees were friendly and I had several thoughtful discussions (both tech and non-tech topics). The speakers and topics were of sufficient variety, and the organisers (who were all volunteers) did a great job.

Will definitely encourage more people to try out Drupal :)

• Drupal overview
• How to install on a local computer for testing

Nokia e6 - Full Review - Part 1 of 2

Only Android experts need apply (not me)

HTC ChaCha - Rooted to Life (Part 2)
The amount of work, just to make the Chacha usable. Too 'cheem' for me, I'm afraid.

The next evolution for the X100 & G12

Preview: Fujifilm X-Pro1

OMG, Fujifilm just made a Leica M9. Just look at the size similarity. (photo from dpreview.com)

Coming in February. Estimated body price US$1,700 [S$2,200]; lens at US$650 [S$840].

Canon also just announced its G1 X, estimated price US$800 [S$1,000].