Personal Computing — No comments
14
Sep 10

Gadget year

The times we live in are shaping up to be more and more heavenly for gadget geeks, not that I am one of course. :-)

Nevertheless, I have upgraded/acquired a few items in the last 6 months.

  • LG PJ350 42″ plasma TV: Despite plasma being a relative older technology and perhaps out of fashion given the flood of low-energy LED TVs in the market, this relative economical plasma TV (with the lower 720p resolution) has excellent picture quality to rival many of the more expensive (and larger) LED/LCD TVs, and very comfortable on the eyes too.
  • Sony PS3: I never thought that I’d succumb to the computer games bug but once I got this console (with the intention of using this as a BlueRay player at some point), I am hooked on some of the beautiful game titles available! I will try to review some of the games I am playing now at a later date.
  • AC Ryan PlayonHD: What can I say, a media player that can be easily upgraded (essentially a Linux machine) to play multiple formats, combined with network storage means the ultimate in convenience – watching movies on TV in the living room or on a laptop via Wifi.
  • Network storage: Although I am mainly using network harddisks made by Buffalo, there are certainly quite a few budget choices to choose from these days.
  • Panasonic Lumix LX3 (2nd hand): This was more or less an impulse decision. After being somewhat frustrated by the quality of videos on the equally good Fujifilm F200EXR (the low light department is excellent), I decided to give the reputed LX3 a try when I saw the quality of videos to be had with this camera.

Popularity: 12%

TV/Movies — No comments
13
Sep 10

The wonder years

My copy of The Wonder Years that I ordered last week has arrived today! All of 6 seasons, spanning from 1988-1993, crammed into 8 DVDs!

The Wonder Years was about the growing pains and uncertainties of a teenager Kevin Arnold, with the turbulent 60s-70s US as the backdrop. There is plenty of nostalgic and contemplative music from that period, which I feel was also a big drawcard. This TV series will always have a special place for me (along with Happy Days as a matter of fact) probably because I had recently completed high school and was fresh into university and was still able to relate to some of the issues portrayed in the series. The quality of the video is actually not very good, seemingly recorded directly from normal TV broadcast. But heck, I will take this bootleg collection any day since it seems more and more unlikely that this series will to ever be officially released the entire series because of licensing rights for the numerous songs (more than 200 according to a reviewer on Amazon) used throughout the series.

A quote from the show sums up the trials of growing aptly.

When you’re a little kid you’re a bit of everything; Scientist, Philosopher, Artist. Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time.

Popularity: 9%

Inspirational — No comments
13
Sep 10

What you are in love with

What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

Father Pedro Arrupe, 1907-1991
Spanish Priest, Doctor and Social Activist

Popularity: 8%

Inspirational — No comments
16
Jul 10

Grace

Comforting words!

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

Alan Cohen
Inspirational Author, Speaker and Teacher

Popularity: 79%

Faith — No comments
15
Jul 10

Here and how

Seems to me that many (if not all) religions* give comfort and hope to people for what happens “after”. However, are all of them equally active in doing some good now, in this world we live in? I salute those people who give selflessly to improve the lives of fellow human beings who may or may not have the same beliefs.

* Including notorious cults.

Popularity: 14%

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