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the otnaicus daily

Edition 268 – iPhone 3G

And so I woke up at 9.30am on Saturday, 23 August 2008. Saturday – a day that I can sleep in, a day that I can have a lazy morning before heading off to church. But no. Saturday, 23 August 2008 was to be a special Saturday that I had to get up early, shower, change, and head down to ComCentre at Exeter Road. Why?

All because I have reserved the iPhone 3G and have made an “appointment” to purchase it that morning at 11am.

So I took the train down and I was expecting a looooong queue when I got there. But surprisingly, the queue was relatively short and moved along pretty quickly. Took me all of an hour to get through the queue and get the iPhone in my hands. But I must say that the queue was very orderly and SingTel even handed out refreshments in the form of  pack of chips and a bottle of water for those in the queue. All in all, a pretty good experience.

SingTel build a temporary structure that looked a bit like the Apple Store on New York City’s 5th Avenue. So all the iPhone related transactions took place within that structure. 50 counters were available within the “cube”. Once I got in, I was at a counter within one minute. The only not-so-good thing was that activation of the iPhone was slow, probably because of the amount of traffic being generated. The guy serving me even suggested that maybe Apple only had one activation server. But I was in pretty good spirits and just waited patiently for all the necessary paperwork and transactions to be performed.

A quick personal review of the iPhone 3G. Whatever you have read in the reviews hold. Even the much talked-about 3G reception problem is true. This morning, when I came into the office, the 3G reception dropped to nothing, when previously, on my Nokia N70, the reception was full. Switching to 2G will help a lot. It brought my reception up to full. And it is definitely a fingerprint magnet. Can’t wait till I get my Invisible Shied, which, in my opinion, is the best screen protector around. Check it out here.

To summarize, the iPhone is not that bad a product. The keyboard does take getting used to but after a while, you can type pretty quickly. I hope there’s a proper solution to the 3G reception problem. It may not be noticed much in the USA, but in Asia and Australia, 3G is big and coverage is pretty much everywhere. So Apple, please buck up on this!! Haha, as if Apple would read my blog.

Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 252 – Mukka Express

Mukka Express cappuccino maker 

My new, non-tech gadget. It’s a gadget for the kitchen. It’s called the Bialetti Mukka Express. And the ticket to daily cups of cappuccino brewed, not using a cappuccino maker, but on the stove top. Makes a pretty decent cup of cappuccino too, complete with a nice thick foam on top that doesn’t seem to disappear over time. And the versatile maker can also make a decent cafe latte and black coffee. Brilliant little thing.

cappuccino The secret to this maker? A nice little valve that pressurizes the steam from the boiling water and the releases it, thus steaming the milk and creating that layer of foam that is so widely associated with a cup of good cappuccino.

Downside to this gadget? The cleaning after each brew. Not terrifically difficult to clean. In fact, it’s quite easy to clean. But when you’re used to getting your fix from Starbucks and not cleaning after getting that cup of coffee, one would feel lazy to do all the cleanup after one brew. And the price is pretty steep too. But it definitely costs way less than a standard pressurised espresso maker.

So for a coffee lover who want a good cup in the morning but doesn’t want to splurge on getting an espresso maker, this is a good trade-off. Can be purchased at Takashimaya’s household department at level B1. Cost for a 2-cup maker: $180+

Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 231 – Happy 2008!

Presenting… The first entry for the year of 2008! Happy New Year to one and all. I pray and hope that this would be a fantastic year for all!

I’ve been wanting to do a reflection for 2007 but I haven’t gotten around to doing that. 2007 has been a year filled with ups and downs for me. I think there are more ups then downs, which is definitely a good thing. But there are also events that can be considered as both an “up” as well as a “down”.

One such event is my temporary posting to Taipei. It is an “up” because it’s good exposure for me; a place where I can learn and pick up. It’s a project where I can take a lead role in certain aspects and can learn what a project is like from start to finish. A “down” because I have to spend so much time away from Singapore and Debbie and the rest of my friends. A “down” because I’ve only spent 6 weeks in the past 6 months in Singapore. I do pray that this project is going to end soon.

Directing for a live satellite broadcast on God TV was definitely another “up”. The first night service of Emerge 2007 was broadcast live on God TV, a Christian satellite channel, and I had the honour of directing that service. It was definitely an experience not to forget. Felt like any other service, but there was this added pressure to do well and not to commit mistakes that I have often criticized about while watching a live production. And the sight of the satellite uplink equipment outside Expo Hall 8 made it all so real.

Another highlight: directing for Christmas 2007 drama. First time taking a drama production in Expo. It’s very different when you have to lead a team, especially a team of volunteers who have sacrificed their time to be a part of this team. We had lots of fun and intense times, but we sure made a difference this Christmas. 51,000+ in attendance. The experience was good. And I feel all ready to take on the next drama production.

It’s either that I can’t remember the “downs” in this year, or it’s really all “ups” and no “downs”. But whatever it is, I know that God has been behind all that has happened in 2007. And I just thank God for having brought me through 2007.

And to all my friends who has been there for me, a very big thank you. Happy New Year again to one and all! Cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 214 – Windows Live Writer

Amazingly, Microsoft has released a application called Windows Live Writer. Although it’s still in beta, it’s beginning to impress me. I’m using it to write this review and I’m making this review up as I go along.

On first run, Live Writer, or Writer for short, will ask you for your blog URL and login credentials. From there, it’ll configure itself. For me, I’m using WordPress. Writer detected that and even downloaded some layout files for the current theme I’m using. It also works on LiveJournal and Blogger. Pretty cool stuff.

Windows Live Writer Web Layout View

On creating a new post, the editing interface in the Web Layout view gives you a WYSIWYG view of your blog entry. Just take a look at the picture above and you’ll know what I mean. Just looks like how the post will look when you post it online. Pretty cool. And there’s also a Web Preview view that simulates how the entire blog site will look like when you’ve posted the entry.

Anyhow, I shan’t go on ranting about this piece of application for too long. Can check it out for yourselves. Download it at http://writer.live.com. It’s still in beta but it’s functioning quite well. I know I’ll be using this application to post for a while… Cheers… :Þ