photo credit: Saad Sarfraz Sheikh
Quick update at the cost of my own chances to win these tickets! My buddy, Wilfrid, is running a small contest open to anyone who fancies a chance to win 2 tickets to the Asian Civilizations Museum. Apparently there will be a “Treasury of the World” exhibition from 12 Feb to 27 June 2010. Interested parties, please check out his blog at Wilfridwong.com.
The iPhone allows the ability to sync photos between your PC and your mobile device via iTunes. It’s nothing new or cutting-edge about it, but it is a nice feature to have for organization of your photos, which you can use as wallpaper on your iPhone. The operation is generally simple and fast, but there are instances of issues encountered by users as reported on the Web.
Some users experienced issues syncing between Vista 64-bit and iTunes. Some had images that were corrupted after syncing. I suspect these were the teething issues experienced about 1 to 2 years back, as I experienced none of these, probably because I am using the lastest version of iTunes. What problems I did have were that after completing a sync, some of the image thumbnails were different from the actual photo when you click on it. As I scrolled through the images, the photos just did not seem correct. Some photos seem to have been randomly placed in the wrong folder. I am using Windows XP on my laptop, but that probably was not causing the issue.
I tried deleting the affected folder and re-synced my phone, but that only caused corruption to a different folder. Finally, I decided remove all photos from my photo and synced it first. Then I re-selected all my photos and did a sync once again. That did the trick. However, if you add more photos or folders at a later time, without clearing those on the phone, there is a possibility that the thumbnails will not match the actual photo on the phone again.
iTunes actually creates a folder named “iPod Photo Cache” under your “My Pictures” folder on Windows. There are many subfolders created here containing files with the extension of .ithmb. The cleanest solution will be to deleted all folders in this cache directory, and then perform a sync. It solved my issue once and for all, and I am a happy man again 
Tags: iphone
Time flies. It always does, especially so when your hands are tied and your brain is fried. Hmm that rhymes!
Quite a lot of stuff has happened in the months of October and November, which is really too much to cover in a single post. I should be embarking on another new adventure this coming December, if not January 2010. Can’t go much into details here, but it is definitely interesting to me.
This post is really about the use of my relatively new iPhone and the time-savings it allows me since my switch from the old Nokia E90, which was a pain to use for web browsing in comparison.
Now, I check my corporate emails via the iPhone, post statuses on Facebook and Twitter (which I do not really like), play web-based games – all the power you need in your palm. Not the Palm Pilot which had a great headstart but sort of lagging behind now in the face of fierce competition.
I installed the Wordpress 2.0 iPhone App today, which prompted me to write this short post, with photo taken using the iPhone camera of course. While this app lacks the full functionalities of the web-based admin features, it is good enough for quick posts to my blog. It works great for me! Now I can simply “pen” down my thoughts, without the need for the full-fledge browser. The iPhone is like my PC, and I do not even need to boot up and wait for the irritating Windows.
Another reason why I love the iPhone since my switch from Nokia. Cool.
My friend Scrumpiness, who is currently on the same project as me, suddenly came up to me and said, “I’ve found a possible project anthem!”. So he smugly played Mad World by Tears for Fears off his iTunes. And it goes like this:
Mad World
by Tears for FearsAll around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrowAnd I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
‘Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
LOL, somehow the lyrics are so appropriate. We had a good laugh about it. That’s the mood of the project, that’s why we’re leaving. The next moment, he mass-mailed it to a couple of other guys on the team.
Dou Fu Fa, a beancurd dessert, I had in Hong Kong in a very very hard-to-find location. Actually it was not that hard to find, provided you know where to look. This shop is a very traditional stall that mainly sells beancurd and this dessert made from beancurd. This dou fu fa is so smooth it just flows down your throat! Another great find in Hong Kong!
Every year, most Singaporean males go through the process of training up for their IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test). The current requirement of the NS Men is to pass the IPPT within a one-year window of your birthday. You may try as many times as you like, even if you managed to pass but will like to achieve a better result (and reward). As I age, I find it harder and harder to meet the grade. This is sometimes a case of the mind being willing, but the body says, “I give up! Stop torturing me!”.
And thus, I failed again in my last window. Which resulted in my having to attend RT (Remedial Training). Phase One of RT consists of eight sessions of twice per week. On the eighth session, we go through another round of IPPT to determine if we need to go through Phase Two. Well, I failed again… on 2 stations – chin-ups and 2.4km run. I needed 3 chin-ups, but I did 2. Technically I did 4, but had 2 discounted as the instructor said I did not fully straighten my arms and I kicked… he must have mistaken me for the guy before me. For my run, I missed by a mere 13 seconds, which is actually not that close if you know that a world-record 400m sprint takes over 40 secs. Ok, at this point I request that the reader stop laughing at my plight, and work with me on the strategy to pass the 2.4km run 
The below drawing shows the target timings of consistently clocking 2 minutes for each round of the track, such that we finish with a timing of 12 minutes. What happened on my last test, is shown with the “actual” (approximate) timings of each round. The first round was fine, as I clocked in below the target of 2 minutes. But as I progressed, my heart rate quickened, my panting gets louder and my feet gets heavier. Each round finds a slower and more tired man crawling past the finishing line.
Notice that my last round was actually quicker than the previous two. That was because my mind kicked in upon seeing the timings at the end of the 5th round and I knew I had to stretch my legs and put in more effort to catch up. However, that was probably too late, as my body and mind was already deflated at that point, and I found it hard to push myself. Imagine if I had shaved off say an average of 5 seconds from each of the previous 5 rounds to give me 25 seconds, I would have made it.
This brings me to my epiphany from the analysis of how I failed my 2.4 km run.
- Preparation. It goes without saying that no success is possible without a fair amount of preparation work. Be it lifting weights in the gym or sprinting from your apartment to the bus stop, every little bit helps if you prepare beforehand.
- Consistency. As strategized in the above diagram, if I had prepared and clocked in 2 minutes for each round, passing the 2.4km run would have been quite easily achievable. And even with a slight buffer, I should not have to play catch up in the last round if the previous rounds were better.
- Last minute effort is doomed. There comes a point when you are so far behind, that no amount of effort put in the end, can save your butt.
Drawing a parallel of the above to my current project work, I can see a lot of causes for concern. Although the project has been going on for a long while, I see many areas in which we are not prepared. There are no contingencies, skillsets of the people are lacking, the processes are not put properly in place… the list goes on. Being poorly prepared, we find ourselves playing catch up all the time. Even when we fall behind in schedule, there was not enough done upfront to bring the state of affairs back to a reasonable level (saving the 5 secs each round). Finally, we are currently in the last lap of the run, and we find that no amount of effort put in will be enough. The project team is tired, their minds sapped of energy, they carry out their duties day-to-day going through motions. No amount of whipping from Indiana Jones will be able to push them forward.
Thus, from my new-found insight, I think my current project is doomed for failure 
OMG… just looking at the picture reminds me of the savory taste of the roast goose we had in Hong Kong. For any tourists who wants a taste of the best roast goose, you gotta try this! The crispy skin, mixed with a little plum sauce, and its tender meat, feels just amazingly good in your mouth. Other dishes in this restaurant are pretty good too, but nobody, and I mean nobody should ever go into this restaurant and not order the roast goose. Have I mentioned it’s really good?
Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant is situated at Sham Tseng, 9 Sham Hong Road. Accessible via public buses. The prices are reasonable to me – definitely worth a trip if you have never tried.
This is a post-trip blog on my recent visit to Hong Kong with Warden, which was just for five days from the 12th Sep to 16th Sep. Coincidentally, we found out just about a week before the trip that one of Warden’s friends will be traveling there with his girlfriend as well, which was from 11th to 15th! How about that?
It so happened as well that in the week of 7th to 11th, I was supposed to work the night shift. Just as well. On the night of the 11th Sep, I was frantically trying to clear up the work, and whipping my team to hurry up. Unfortunately, I was in office up til 3:45am and I just barely had time to rush home, grab a quick shower and off we went to the airport. At least the 6am flight did not leave without us! Immediately after the flight took off, both Warden and I were dead to the world, and I hardly remembered much of the forgettable Jetstar flight from Singapore to Hong Kong.
The Airport Express train from the Airport to my sister’s place in Tsing Yi took like 15 mins and we were soon depositing our stuff on the floor of her tiny apartment. Needless to say, I was very impressed with the comfortable train ride. The next moment, Warden received a SMS from her friend, who wanted to go to the Peak that evening. That was not really in the plans, but on hindsight, it was a stroke of luck that we went there when we did, as you will see why later.
Warden and I walked one of the trails of the Peak, which took us about an hour. It was hot, humid and we really should have turned back once I had taken a few shots of the view, the second half of the trail was not that exciting for us.
On Sunday, the second day of our trip, we went to have a look at the famous gigantic Buddha perched on a hilltop. It was hot and humid again, and worse still, the haze was pretty bad. Nevertheless, we managed to climb the steps to the top and had a view of the surrounding area.
The day after, Monday, was where things got interesting. Firstly, it felt good that while Warden and I were in our casuals, the throngs of people boarding the MTR were in their work clothes in the morning. We also had news that Typhoon Kuppo had reached the shores of Hong Kong and had hit level 3. As we were headed for Macau, my brother-in-law advised us to get back around 5pm in the evening, in case the typhoon level goes up. Good advice, it turned out.
Macau is well-known as a gambler’s paradise, as much as it is known as a World Heritage site. Its famous almond biscuits are also much sought-after by tourists, to be brought back home as souvenirs and gifts. We were told that a visit to the Venetian will be worthwhile, and true enough, for a first-timer, I was awed by the interior decorations and the entertainment held within. As it was pouring cats and dogs outside, we were much grateful that the indoors gave us some respite from the bad weather. After the Venetian, it was 6pm when we reached the Macau Ferry Terminal. When the ferry left the shores and headed back for Hong Kong, it was still typhoon #3. Yet, five minutes later, it was announced that typhoon signal 8 had been declared, and that our trip may take longer than usual. Warden turned to me and asked if it was safe, and I replied “Yes” without giving it much thought. What else can I say right? So Warden went back to sleep, while some of the people around us started throwing up about halfway through the journey.
When we finally reached the Hong Kong Kowloon Ferry Terminal, where our friends were waiting for us to deliver the Macau almond biscuits, we discovered that we had taken the last ferry out of Macau! OMG, were we lucky or what?!
Luckily for us, the typhoon’s fury simmered down the next morning. We spent the rest of the time visiting Stanley Market, and saw what appeared to be the aftermath of the typhoon. Warden got her chance to spend more time to shop, and shop, and shop… and we visited the Avenue of Stars on the last day, before more last minute shopping.
There was minor panic when we were coming back at the Hong Kong Airport. For some strange reasons, Jetstar did not indicate which Terminal we were supposed to go to, so we took our chances and headed for Terminal One. Unfortunately, we had to check in at Terminal 2! Pffffttttt… so off we rushed to get our tickets, then grabbed a quick dinner from Burger King (which costs quite a bit more than in Singapore), then headed for the Gate. It seems like Terminal 2 in Hong Kong is unlike Singapore’s where no flights actually take off from there! It was simply check-in counters, shops and food, then after going through the gates, we were transported via bus to the plane. So travelers on the way out of Hong Kong beware, do not get caught like we almost did!
Most of the time, we want to capture a sharp image and freeze action in time, by using a fast shutter speed. Most times, I get involuntary blurred effects due to camera shake, or the subject moving 
There are times when you will achieve very good results by deliberately setting a slower shutter speed, for beautiful effects such as the creamy flow of waterfall or trailing lights from passing vehicles. One of the interesting effects you can achieve in-camera is to rotate the camera while using a slow shutter speed.
This was done by setting my aperture to f/11, exposure at 1/10 and turning the entire camera while the shutter is depressed. Had to try a couple of times for the best effect.
